Re: Anonymity and cowardice
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: cypherpunks@toad.com Date: Wed May 14 11:34:45 1997
The time per year it takes for me to delete all these messages is about the same as the amount of time it took me to reply to your previous message plus the amount of time it will now take me to compose this reply. All back of the envelope, of course. All by choice, which is what we're talking about here..
I've been on this list for 18 months and have seen plenty of worthwhile posts from remailers. You're entitled to your opinion, but I strongly disagree. I guess I'll just never know..
So you're calling John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton cowards (anonymous authors of the Federalist Papers)? Many others have (also used anonymity to further the cause of liberty. I doubt your real name is "The Spectre" yet that is the name under which you are posting. Are you calling yourself a coward? The difference in all these cases (save mine) is that the people you listed would have been persecuted, if not prosecuted, for their actions. Now people are hiding out of fear and paranoia of something that in most cases doesn't exist. The people you mentioned never had to deal with this level of abuse, either.
In my case, it's simply the name i've old my email package to append to my messages. Anyone who really wants to can look me up at any time. - -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.2 mQENAzM2vJwAAAEH/1uuDgh1udD+DbU9ies8Lst3j7bmlM+m+aN0gVwerfx+uA14 AG6RDZwwCLwCZYxh0/AizW1b25nHs5XDFW7QIVo1/agtbyz3rt7plcp3wi+rXPxo zFPgILegG2k81mHYIYVJ1g9bEExVGsNc7GMthkaOjPL2VYirQPRtAa4ZZc6JuCLH I85xIcwuLppYajUU4WMMf4yz+5w1WtTlHdL9+ec6BHoF+fOhsF/8DMd5nveFl0aM G52t+z6okMw9vFjLbEtj0BbDRsMjRJNM5uFQWzU+nPEaUzVP+MySe/yrjR2P3dZa UKjpG3Er7U4DV7rb8mE20Wet10jJoALjG8yMZrUABRG0HVRoZSBTcGVjdHJlIDxz cGVjdHJlQG5hYy5uZXQ+iQEVAwUQM0qy66AC4xvMjGa1AQGNLAf/QY5SyC/jybOQ asYfNqhPFip0gZwUutOOgPdyrEsXoxFOWJ9OG95dzvNJ3of22zh4RLusUt5NT7lB DFUKiP4aQsNf5XmW+qk/R1nmqyO/XHAAAdIos2SGsYew2d3JatIlFZIQ+vMkEOC0 +oPotz7effhkDKeYl+Qdla9eZ1C47Be2NrA1sH26jKYhCob6VnAK+zAin8ZPEnb0 XEKQTMVdE2ehv2Q8PxygZhDI0L6sM6EgguvDWjJuGN4bIhxh22dAyNRJ7CVQsqwV rj4TtkAuqUb0nyQvD2xUeJcB/O+1LCH7oFBE4EG1qEIl7asVjEURrfej7OwxRrA0 J0Lc5tZToA== =tS4W - -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQEVAwUBM3nbmqAC4xvMjGa1AQHjLAf/QDq9v0zAjQhTLkTC773R6pN3a13z54s+ fsx4wYgg5zsTQhiwAsSs/0ROKQukLY660Yk4dZR8dbhoJKJmWpGKpuiOReP/XDPT jTijALMx31FGd8YdcSJORGPinHeU3MEZ8/ZklSUx2hbtS6/84lGzjZC93sT3xVfa ZA5QY/Z2lv9IS75rOQtIyBSublc7Un/AAs72rqjmq6rXzSp8UCtasAhqPgADSEgu 4A+VAzr8Jfq4mtwhx2W1W6amNTu0oKRSy+PNdCmrkD39+87/CsepDZ+OdnRK/Ebu 7bE7wA1ea6rw6mZg9Msje2M4p58vvomE4Q52iSkreD7CK7d325Baug== =SI22 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- On Wed, 14 May 1997, The Spectre wrote:
The difference in all these cases (save mine) is that the people you listed would have been persecuted, if not prosecuted, for their actions. Now people are hiding out of fear and paranoia of something that in most cases doesn't exist. The people you mentioned never had to deal with this level of abuse, either.
Not everybody in the world has the luxury of not worrying about being persecuted for what they write. In other countries, free speech is not a recognized right. Also, many people express unpopular opinions that might not cause persecution, but might mean losing a job or worse. It is also useful for "liberating" certain information. In another message, you said that ftp sites could be used for this same purpose. Most ftp sites keep logs, and any corporation or government agency that has had secret information divulged is going to get the logs from the server. As for your comment about "fear and paranoia of something that in most cases doesn't exist", how do you know it doesn't? Only a few decades ago, the U.S. government was conducting illegal, domestic surveillance on communists, war protestors, civil rights activists, and other groups the government didn't like. What's preventing something like this happening today? Mailing list messages and news posts don't disappear. Something you write today could be used against you years later. Mark -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3 Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBM3oL9CzIPc7jvyFpAQG1awgAsrUxvyHkhV8o9ZWbJ89YZBybgn050DWA 86JW3pXoohpXXRSPJCI87M/mVgZbbtF2H7yzGb624roPyEpVVc1n0X12ftD8tV3R BEjpoxaRm8L+oBVpVfyEVH0tUYNqRYdSDruW9+9K6lJua76r88ACGKwalY9MQJXW KWQ9Li/HeEgtUMCRcTFH8bRxP/US3/7JXdwj0dprq17xZcpKA4550AAIgREUsrkA WrNhtwzC4V+/w8V6B5dQU85I70LlplAbEkIRPNdEBu5iqUO5WX2eJVzyUM9qixm9 Py24UOM5YtYou1QVlsBHtHPcAN3BWdrzBCo/VNezaVTmTl2BBNz9aw== =90in -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Wed, 14 May 1997, The Spectre wrote:
So you're calling John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton cowards (anonymous authors of the Federalist Papers)? Many others have (also used anonymity to further the cause of liberty. I doubt your real name is "The Spectre" yet that is the name under which you are posting. Are you calling yourself a coward? The difference in all these cases (save mine) is that the people you listed would have been persecuted, if not prosecuted, for their actions. Now people are hiding out of fear and paranoia of something that in most cases doesn't exist. The people you mentioned never had to deal with this level of abuse, either.
The authors of the Federalist Papers would neither be prosecuted, nor persecuted. Read the history about what happened about the debate over ratification of the constitution. Since you are wrong about this bit of history (i.e. no serious personal consequences to the authors), I would like to know if you have a better reason. It is not cowardice for someone to hide their identity to not prejudice a reader. People might read "publius" and evaluate their arguments on their merits, but if they knew the authors were specifically A Hamilton and J Madison they might be dismissed as already knowing where they stood. Why do authors like Richard Bachman / Stephen King use pen names? Why do musicians like John Cougar --- Mellencamp alter their names? Are they all cowards too?
participants (3)
-
Mark M. -
The Spectre -
tzeruch＠ceddec.com