Cypherpunks, Enclosed below is a call for help. imp-interest deals with Internet commercial protocols, with special interest in secure billing. The future of cypherpunks' goals, most obviously digital cash but also much of the rest of our varied agenda, ranging from privacy to freedom on the net, is deeply tied in with what direction the emerging world of Internet commerce chooses to pursue. Will these businesses move us towards a world of freedom and privacy on the net, or a world in which our credit card numbers and IDs will be tracked to "ensure accountability", and our every purchase and data access on the commercial Net tied to our True Names to build lucrative marketing databases and fodder for future snoops? Contrariwise, what insights can those pursuing the everyday practicum of net.business contribute to the cypherpunks vision? It would be a tremendous advance, I daresay more important than stopping Clipper (important as that task is), to get Internet commerce on board with the commercial privacy-enhancing protocols of Chaum et. al. -- digital cash, DC-nets, per-organization pseudonyms with transferable credentials, etc. And contrariwise, to invigorate those protocols with doses of practical, real-world business considerations. Those of us with an interest in promoting free and private Internet commerce, and motivation to pursue this, I urge you to get deeply involved in the "imp" movement. Nick Szabo szabo@netcom.com Forwarded message: Date: Sun, 31 Oct 93 22:00:54 PST From: ptrubey@shl.com (Phil Trubey) Message-Id: <9311010600.AA25672@technet1.shl.com> Subject: Increasing subscriber base No offence meant to anyone subscribed to this mailing list, but this mailing list does not seem to have enough of a critcal mass of interested people to ensure a good level of dicussion and the ability for collaborative work. I am suggesting that we advertise the existence of this list to a selected few other mailing lists and newsgroups to increase awareness and participation. If there are no violent objections I can send out a short note to cypherpunks, com-priv, the Internet List of Lists. .... Phil Trubey | Internet: ptrubey@shl.com Systemhouse Inc. | Voice: 310-809-5491 | Fax: 310-860-9668