One of the problems we're facing with "Cypherpunks" services is that they are catch-as-catch-can, or, bluntly, "flaky." Archive sites stop being archives, remailers vanish overnight (*), and other experiments pop up and then vanish with regularity. (My favorite example, and one which always makes me smile, is the example of a remailer in Europe a couple of years ago which became inoperative with the message: "The foo remailer will stop operating tonight because I have to take my laptop with me for the summer to Portugal.") I'm not criticizing these folks. Rather, I'm just saying something pretty obvious, that _persistence_ is important. This probably means commercialization, or formalized business relationships. With such persistent business set-ups, "the show must go on." Another reason for digital money. --Tim May Notice: With 1000 people on the Cypherpunks list, and many on other lists I am on, nearly every article I write generates at least one question, request for more information, dispute with my choice of words, etc. I have been trying to respond to these, usually privately, but the burden has become too much, and I no longer plan to respond to trivial or ephemeral points. If you don't hear from me, this is why. Some requests for pointers to information will still be handled, but I advise people to learn how to use the archives and/or search tools. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."