Begin forwarded message:

From: Rayservers support <support@rayservers.com> Date: September 27, 2009 12:08:55 PM GMT-04:00 To: gold-silver-crypto@rayservers.com Subject: Re: [gsc] Fwd: Save the date! Computers, Freedom, and Privacy: June 15-18, 2010

On 09/27/09 13:45, Rayservers support wrote:

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On 09/27/09 12:18, R.A. Hettinga wrote:

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On Sep 27, 2009, at 8:03 AM, pintle wrote:

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Would another Internet make a difference? If so, what would it be like? What would it take? How much more expensive would it be? The "Internet" is a network protocol.

lol! :D

To answer the first question, the corollary to what RAH said is "another protocol". Just in case it was not obvious.

If you want an analogy, here it is: First there was telnet, second there was ssh. The rest is left to the imagination of some clever geeks.

OK, lets get started. I hereby invite clever geeks and people who can read English and use computers to chime in.

The idea-domain-space of the bits that make what appears in front of you is done by the following magic:

A) Manipulating bits that are "persistent" B) Moving bits between boxes that can then choose to persist them C) Displaying the bits in human readable form

Now, it is clear that the set of instructions "software" that does it, it finally rich and complex enough to create this nice desktop with e- mail, instant message, voice, document editor, web browser and accounting software. With crypto.

That about sums it up.

Lets talk about the telnet to ssh revolution (plaintext to ciphertext as normal for A&B)

1) telnet vs ssh: It finally became possible to say "fsck" remotely without some government censor getting all upset.

2) http vs https: The SSL boys fucked it up for the web. Same thing is achieved as with ssh, but I have to get "certified" at some SSL certificate vendor* otherwise the idiots who programmed my browser will pop up all sorts of annoying messages.

* No offence to the certificate vendor who I know reads this list. This rant is a summary of what Iang has articulated here: http://iang.org/ssl/

3) e-mail -> PGP email. Wonderful. Just a PITA exchanging keys. S/ MIME was broken from the start by trying to marry SSL to e-mail.

4) IM -> OTR. PGP on steroids. Good stuff. Why is this not a default? And why, when enabled it lets you blurt things out before it establishes a session? Why not patch this in to Thunderbird?

5) RTP -> SRTP -> ZRTP. The government would like you to use SRTP. Zimmerman has not been commercially successful with ZRTP. Why? [Rhetorical why. Discuss]. Twinklephone on Linux rocks, when it works.

6) blocks on disk -> loop-AES. Finally persisted data one can live with. I pay for my hard drive, know my password and its mine.

7) blocks on disk -> distributed storage with distributed erasure coding [see allmydata.org]. Nice. I do not pay for my storage, except, perhaps at some meta level. This is a problem.

8) FTP -> Bitorrent. (move to distributed download): "Free" - a problem.

9) HTTP -> TOR (move towards anonymity) "Free" - a problem. 10) E-Mail -> Mixminion (move towards anonymity) "Free" - a problem.

Finally we visit

C) Displaying the bits.

1) The hyper-link revolution and its effects (i) Makes persistent bits on a remote machine more useful than local bits - causes the client-server model to flourish - low latency high performance remote bit display (X-Windows) loses to Web browser - low latency high DPI printed bank statement loses to online banking - "server side" programming is chosen by anyone who wants to centralize command and control. Easily regulated. See e-gold.

(ii) Remote e-mail via web instinctively preferred - Communication history easily remembered via one password - *Feeling* of privacy, "no one can get my email off the computer"

(iii) Made the OS less relevant - Recall the mad scramble on IE.

+++++++ Paying for all this

1) Cost of hardware 2) Cost of OS and software: free. Unless you are a rocket scientist. 3) Recurring Cost : INTERNET CONNECTION

The next revolution will center around:

1) Its mine if I know the password to my encrypted bits 2) Its mine if I paid to store my encrypted bits somewhere. 3) I'll only pay for my bits. I won't pay for other people's bits. 4) I'll pay to move my bits. I won't pay to move other people's bits.

Regarding costs - The recurring cost of the internet connection paid to your ISP is what subsidises the "free" stuff. If I don't watch porn videos, I'm subsidising those who do.

Result: Lower cost.

The revolution in persistence will be

1) If there are enough computers on a UPS, I do not care so much about a hard disk. This is a direct consequence of distributed erasure coded main memory storage, bitorrent etc. Consequently - A CDROM only OS. Think: Knoppix + SSL web mail as a current working example.

Result: No incriminating data or even encrypted blobs

The next revolution in crypto protocols will be:

- Payment to move encrypted bits, Payment to store encrypted bits. - Anonymity will become economically cheaper than "I'm to lazy and have nothing to hide". [Chimneys... I hear a voice saying] - It will mean CISCO will be obsolete unless they embrace and adopt, in which case they will be an economic superpower. - It will mean Microsoft will become obsolete unless they embrace and adopt, in which case they will be an economic superpower.

And finally: WHAT is your payment deliverable in?

Lawful answers: Answer one: In peanuts, your Honour. :) Answer two: In GB of data stored, your Honour :) Answer three: In GB of data moved via my node, your Honour :)

Will you trade GB of data stored for Peanuts? or BMWs? or Gas?

*WHOSE liabilities are these, and WHAT will they deliver?*

Cheers,

---Venkat.

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