At the EFF end-of-RSA ball in SF last night David Chaum stood up and said a few enigmatic words: "Great to be here, and what's really important now is that we all come together and have a common approach. I've looked at the old ecash and, (wry smile) there were a few problems. But I've got some ideas about how to fix it and make it available in a way which avoids the kind of wars we've had in the past. I had wanted to make more of an announcement tonight, but the legal stuff is (as always) taking longer than I'd anticipated. So, thank you." [applause] <Personal bits snipped> I have to believe that he's trying to "do the right thing". After all, he showed up at a patent-expiry party at the invite of cryptorights.org and eff and was pal-ing around with the leadership. My impression in watching [...] him is that he is quite a lonely guy. People treat him with deference as a demi-god, but he's not really engaged with the current "scene". <Snippage> <Somebody's .sig> --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'