A cross posting from FidoNet PUBLIC_KEYS. It would be nice if some other cypherpunks could join the PUBLIC_KEYS echo. ;Date 29 Oct 92 11:28:07 From: Jesse David Hollington@1:125/33 To: Arol Ambler@1:125/111 Subject: Test

----------------------- Do not change this line -----------------------------< AA> Anyway, anyone who is concerned can always use some method that hides the AA> fact that any secret content is even being communicated. (Variations on AA> read every fifth word to see the real message, or other standard AA> methods).

It's funny you should bring that up. One of the major proponents of encryption here in Region 12 posted the following in the Regional Sysop Echo some time ago... ============================================================================= Having said that, I also wonder whether this insistence upon having everything in plain text isn't fostered by some sysops as a means of receiving information that they otherwise wouldn't be privy to. If one is truly paranoid ( *not* that I would fall into that category in anyone's wildest dreams...ahem), one should worry about why some netmail is read so assiduosly by passthrough systems in the first place. Fortunately, even mail that I send direct to nodes is quoted back and often passes through a whole variety of systems for their inspection and review. Since almost all of my netmail is incredibly innocent there might always be the possibility that some of it will come back to hover like a bad dream in some creative complaint. In broader legal terms, every other communication system avoids eavesdropping on mail. P.S. To understand how powerless you are to prevent encrypted text, read the leftmost letter of each sentence in the last three paragraghs downwards...ahem. =========================================================================== He raises a valid point. Sysops who are so paranoid about encrypted mail being sent through their systems should realize that they are really powerless to prevent it if somebody is determined enough to send a coded message to somebody else. I've sought legal opinions in Canadian law (I don't know how it is in the U.S.) and I've discovered that the less I know about mail passing through my system, the safer I am. If I keep every message on my system, and read them all, then I can be held liable if somebody routes something illegal through my system and it slips by me. If I kill all passthrough mail, and read nothing except what is addressed to me, I am operating under common carrier status, and can't be held liable any more than Federal Express or UPS could. As a result, it's actually better to *encourage* people to send encrypted mail through your system. The belief that if people are sending encrypted mail they're doing something wrong is a fallacy... then again, I'm preaching to the converted here. Cheers, Jesse. --- Maximus 2.01wb * Origin: On a Clear Disk You Can Seek Forever (1:225/1) -- tom jennings - via FidoNet node 1:125/555 UUCP: ...!uunet!hoptoad!kumr!fidogate!111!tom.jennings INTERNET: tom.jennings@f111.n125.z1.FIDONET.ORG