Declan McCullagh wrote:

I've been on cypherpunks long before I got my press credentials. The topics genuinely interest me, and this is one of the few jobs where I can follow them full-time. If I wanted to make a decent living, I would have taken that job as a management consultant instead. (Some of us aren't independently wealthy, Tim.) Mercenary? Not quite. Journalists don't get paid a whole hell of a lot.

And Declan's articles genuinely interest 'me'. Having done a variety of 'reports' ranging from business reports to press reports, I recognize that they have to be written so as to be readable to those with no deep-rooted background in the events or issues being reported. While those who faithfully follow the CypherPunks list and the issued discussed here may find his reports somewhat shallow, I try to read them from the perspective of those who have an interest in the issues but only limited knowledge concerning them. From this perspective, Declan's reports do a good deal to enlighten the masses in regard to whatever issue he addresses. -- Toto "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" http://bureau42.base.org/public/xenix/xenbody.html