Here's another thought about how crypto anonymity can improve public safety. Today, a lot of police activity is based on informants and "anonymous" tips. Policemen build up relationships with underworld characters who can give them information about criminal activity. In return, the police may offer favors, immunity from arrest, perhaps even cash or contraband in some instances. Some people have claimed that "anonymous sources" are an excuse sometimes used to cover up illegal police activity. An illegal wiretap is used to acquire information, then a warrant is obtained based on this information with the claim that it was actually acquired through an anonymous informant. With the warrant in place, the wiretap is now done legally, and evidence is produced which can be used in court. One problem with anonymous tips is that the people making them are taking a risk. If word gets out that a certain person tipped off the police to some criminal act, they may be targetted for revenge. Personal meetings between police and informers are often necessary (perhaps for payoffs to occur) and these are risky for all involved. Crypto anonymity could make anonymous informing easy and safe. Of course, not all tips would be valuable, but some fraction would be helpful in preventing crimes. Crypto pseudonyms and signatures could be used for informants to develop reputations so that those who have been accurate in the past will get the most attention. Digital cash could even be used for payoffs from cops to informants "under the table", with no need for dangerous face-to-face meetings. A system could even develop in which police would have to bring to a judge not just a blanket claim that there was an anonymous informant, but more substantial evidence, in the form of a digitally signed statement by a pseudonym known to have produced useful information in the past. This could reduce the problem of imaginary informants invented to excuse illegal police activity. Polyanna -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- mQA9AisGm6sAAAEBgLsub7XIi32DjNFKJmGFajDNNIeql4RBmHG/mh9Ns58aBgMv wGRi0KkZ0YIYZZnLpwAFEbQkUG9seWFubmEsIGMvbyA8Y3lwaGVycHVua3NAdG9h ZC5jb20+ -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----