Re: Private and Public
Hmmm... my post may well ignite some flames; but I can't go along with the notion that this list is for purely tech discussion. Encryption is a social and political issue as well as a technical one, isn't it? I would think that it's more dangerous to ignore the social and political ramifications than to have them out publically. It seems to me that encryption poses LOTS of dilemmas for any government. I chose just one -- taxes -- for my post. And looks like there are quite a few viewpoints on that one, with regards to the government's right to examine your income sources. The fact the encryption schemes are classified as military (or military-type) material and so are subject to comparable controls by the State Department should alert us to this fact. So to insist that we stick to Greatest Primes and Modulo seems... unrealistic. Of course, if the discussion seems pointless or irrelevant to you... there's always the delete key. My :9&53xS+ (= digital $.02) worth. On Mon, 8 Nov 1993, Nick Papadakis wrote:
What do you think?
I think you are inviting a political flame war on what is supposed to be a technical list. Please take it to alt.privacy.
- nick
Arthur Chandler says:
Hmmm... my post may well ignite some flames; but I can't go along with the notion that this list is for purely tech discussion.
I'm sorry that "you can't go along" with that, but I'm afraid that you don't have much choice: it isn't your list. Many of us have gotten burned out from a number of very long arguments on this list, and politics was not part of the charter to begin with. If you insist on discussing it, might I suggest that there are many places where the discussion would be appropriate, like talk.politics.crypto, alt.privacy, talk.politics.misc, or many other places? .pm
Encryption is a social and political issue as well as a technical one, isn't it?
It is, and I think that aspect merits discussion. I'd simply like to see it occur in some other venue, where I can avoid it more easily. I just nearly signed off cypherpunks (and many good people did) because the list was clogged with pointless flaming. I don't want to see it happen again, and trying a bit of restriction based on technical content is one way to do that. Look at it this way: there are n places (alt.privacy, alt.security, extropians, sci.crypt) where you political types can flame merrily away. Where can I go for a rest from the flames? Let cypherpunks be that place. I'd like to see only high-quality technical posts, and occasional well-thought out commentary and pointers to the political developments elsewhere. I'm tired of the terrible tyranny of the voluble, where the debate becomes controlled by those with nothing better to do than type first and think later (if ever). Not that I mean to imply that's what your doing -- I'm just gun-shy. Cheers, - nick P.s. Some people get very upset if you quote private email publically without permission. I'm not one of those people, but I thought I'd let you know before you actually meet one.
Hmmm... my post may well ignite some flames; but I can't go along with the notion that this list is for purely tech discussion. Encryption is a social and political issue as well as a technical one, isn't it? I would think that it's more dangerous to ignore the social and political ramifications than to have them out publically.
Encryption is a social a political issue. This list however is a collection of people interested in the technical aspects of using encryption to increase privacy (crypto-privacy). Some of the people on this list may be interested in discussing the social and political issues, some of the people on this list may not be interested in discussing the political and social issues. The *one* thing that all subscribers to this list have in common is an interest in the technical aspects of crypto-privacy. Lets keep on topic. Like someone has said to the list before we are a collection of people with different goals and views, lets work together as long as we have to and no longer.
participants (4)
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Arthur Chandler -
Nick Papadakis -
Perry E. Metzger -
Timothy Newsham