...

Look, folks, we all know that 99% of what David Sternlight posts is garbage. Why don't we all pledge not to answer any of his posts, and then he'll go away.

Thanks Perry for a great idea. Add my name to the list.

It is not surprising that some members of cypherpunks mailing list failed to answer well-reasoned arguments of Prof. Sternlight. It is sad but not at all unexpected that some of us resorted to ad hominem attacks and attacked the person of Prof. Sternlight instead of trying to refute his arguments. It is reprehensible that after the ad hominem attacks failed to silence a progressive and socially-responsible scientist such as David, the same people are desperately trying to organize a boycott of his postings. This boycott and fake "pledges" IMPOSED on members of Cypherpunks list by those who were thought to have AUTHORITY on this list are contrary to the notion of freedom of speech. Dr. David Sternlight is undoubtedly one of the best experts in cryptography and Government Information Policy, who is generous enough to share his observations with us. We should thank you, David, for taking your time and helping Cypherpunks to reach new heights in our understanding of what should be the proper role of the government. Please continue posting to our mailing list. There are people who are interested in your views! We have seen how so called "scientific establishment" on usenet -- a bunch of "physicists" not known for anything but their intolerance to novel ideas -- tried and failed to silence Prof. Archimedes Plutonium. A real tragedy was prevented by a small number of freedom lovers like myself who supported Archimedes in his tough times. Protect freedom of speech! Do not let evil libertarians silence an opposition scientist! Dmitri Chesnokov.