Received from toad.com([140.174.2.1]) by mercury.grill.sk.ca for <HumanGus-Peter@grill.sk.ca> Received (from majordomo@localhost) by toad.com (8.7.5/8.7.3) id IAA20555; Message-Id:<199702011555.IAA20555@toad.com> Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 08:40:04-800 To: cypherpunks@toad.com
From "Timothy C. May<tcmay@got.net> Subject: To Whom It 'May' Concern Reply-To: "Timothy C. May"<tcmay@got.net> Sender: owner-cypherpunks@toad.com
"We have met the enemy, and he is us." --Tim May Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside" We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------: Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money tcmay@got.net | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------: The 'Mark of the Toad'. That's what the Channel Government's news releases had called his grandfather's tattoo when they had displayed it in 3D color on GraphiCubes around the world. Jonathan's grandfather had the tattoo done in an era when there was little danger associated with being a member of the loosely-knit crypto-anarchists group known as the CypherPunks. Even after the beginning stages of InfoWar stirred its ugly head, Jonathan's grandfather refused to have his tattoo removed, as did most of the original CypherPunks list members. He considered it a badge of honor. For Jonathan, however, the Mark of the Toad had remained a mark of disgrace, forcing his family to flee for their lives and change their identities. Jonathan had managed to rise above all of this and put it behind him, becoming a normal, accepted member of the society around him. Now, however, his life of normality was being threatened. Toad.com. The original home of the CypherPunks mailing list. Jonathan had recognized the format of the message header immediately, having seen many like it in his grandfather's study as a child. Normally, only the Masters of Antiquity would be capable of discerning this header to be from a bygone era when InterNet transmissions were still carried largely over land-lines, but even they would probably not recognize the significance of the date, which was burned into Jonathan's mind from the countless hours he had spent poring over CypherPunks messages that he had purloined from his grandfather's hidden files. January 19, 1997. The beginning date of the 'moderation experiment' on the legendary CypherPunks mailing list. The beginning probe in preparation for the launching of InfoWar-an experiment which had failed miserably and had caused a delay in the plans of the Evil One. A delay caused by the damnable insolence of the terminal misfits among the CypherPunks. An insolence that was rumored to be fueled by the Circle of Eunuchs, fanning the 'flames' of dissent among the CypherPunks, helping them to resist the herding of their list members into the group-mindset desired by the Evil One. Jonathan sat frozen in his seat, once again, his brain locked from the major dichotomies being produced as a result of his present-in which the CypherPunks were a villainous band of rogues who had instigated the launching of Channel War II-and his past, in which his grandfather had been exposed both as one of the major players in both the launching of Channel War II, and as traitorous scum who had sabotaged the goals of the CypherPunks in that same historical battle. Jonathan's grandfather wasn't just a CypherPunk. He was the Fool. Jonathan reached for a bottle of Jim Beam and, in doing so, realized that he had subconsciously come to a decision. He would seek out Bubba Rom Dos. He would seek out the Circle of Eunuchs. Chapter 1 - Arnold / Chapter 2 - Jonathan