-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Bruce Baugh writes:

...

If, on the other hand, I sign "Toxic Avenger"'s key, then what benefit is this for third parties? Since Toxic Avenger is, by intention, _not_ linked to a real person, I'm not saying that I feel confident that this key really belongs to any particular real person. What am I saying?

Over time, some nyms take on a distinct identity of their own. [...] The thought, therefore, as I imagine it would be "You don't know I am in person, but you can count on me to be who I am, with this style and set of views, and I say that this guy is another actual person with the same."

So are you saying that by signing a nym's key, you're asserting that you know _the individual(s) behind the nym_? If so, would this association not weaken the anonymity of the nym whose key you've signed? Furthermore, by signing a nym's key you place yourself at risk. If you sign the nym's key with your own key -- or sign using the key of your own nym, and that nym is subsequently "outed" -- then anyone wishing to find the individual(s) behind any nym whose key you've signed can attempt to coerce you into revealing this information, since you have claimed to know it. - -- Martin Janzen janzen@idacom.hp.com -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMQand23Fsi8cupgZAQGmqQQAk7bRYJNxhsw9xHDgoL7fEiZ7faLDeuR9 bYEYnj7tZRWMRaVudEn1G3tsaHF7MS/DuOPRWci6v3dQ742Y8amlqytGWcdpNLn+ qR5RtRvKyDaWR0pi3j+WQ6y8y0WyFrVk1z8/cFKVQWfZvgs1Zjs6R87DWreiN2hr 1Ywm0AA+BIg= =4phF -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----