Cypherpunks, Happy Thanksgiving! I sent the following message to the "Extropians" list, a list centered around discussions of politics, technology, the future, "uploading," transhumanism, and the like. (As with our list, they can be subscribed to with the "-request" form. Several requests for more information about our list prompted me to write this summary piece. Inasmuch as our existence has been publicized in Mondo, on alt.hackers, and in various references in messages, I felt it appropriate to tell them a few things about what the list is about. Our address is at the very end of the article, so there's a minor obstacle for truly casual readers to overcome. I'm forwarding it to you folks because we've had a lot of new subscribers ourselves, and they may like to hear some of this stuff. I apologize to those who are getting this twice. -Tim May Forwarded message: To: Extropians@gnu.ai.mit.edu From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May) Subject: Cypherpunks List Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 10:51:01 PST The Cypherpunks List -- A Thanksgiving Message I guess it's time to say a few words about the "Cypherpunks" list, which I've referred to several times in the last few months. Eric Hughes, the list administrator and initial organizer of our first meeting, has also mentioned the group in several places, and the latest "Mondo 2000" actually gives the address, so the information's pretty much out by now. We've avoided the "cattle call" form of invitation, where public announcements are made and subscribers flood in. But we also haven't gone to the other extreme of requiring some puzzle to be solved (as with posting to "alt.hackers," which usually requires some hacking of the posting software to "get in.") Cracking a cypher is not a requirement, though some probably think it should be. A few points: * The name "Cypherpunks" started out as a pun by Jude Milhon, an editor at "Mondo 2000," when she said "You guys are just a bunch of cypherpunks!" We initially debated calling our informal group something more staid like "The Cryptography Research Society," partly to protect ourselves by emphasizing the "research" aspects, but the joke name stuck. So, like it or not, it's "Cypherpunks." It turns off some, turns on others. C'est la vie. * Note that we have very little to do with the Gibsonesque vision of punked-out outlaws and virtual reality escapades, though in fact some of our members are active in Bay Area start-up companies doing VR. I would say Vernor Vinge's "True Names" is more descriptive of what we're doing. * About a hundred or so folks are on the list, including some journalists (gulp!), and even some "*.mil" sites (!!). But since what we're doing is strictly "research," we are of course safe. * The focus is on cryptology, anonymous remailers, hardware support, PGP, digital cash, "dining cryptographers" nets, and so on. Too much to recapitulate here. * By focussing on "research" into these areas, we feel we are safe against attack by government agencies. Time will tell. These issues of security, privacy, remailers, digital pseudonyms, etc., are hot topics in the crypto community, and all we are really doing is applying these ideas and doing experiments, the better to learn. (Some of the work on "webs" of trust in PGP systems, on issues with anonymous remailers, and on the development of "digital reputations" lies in uncharted territory, that is, we're doing true research.) * Several Extropians are active on the list, as you may have gathered from cross-posts and comments. * Because many of the early members live in the Bay Area (Northern California, Silicon Valley), we've had three physical meetings so far. John Gilmore, a founder of Cygnus Support, has graciously offered his facilities for our meetings, which typically happen on Saturday afternoons. The schedule gets posted on the list, of course. * Some exciting progress has already been made. Eric Hughes and Hal Finney have implemented a PERL-scripted remailer which provides anonymous forwarding (though the security is only "manual"), and 2-way remailers with digital pseudonyms seem imminent. Integrating PGP into mailers remains a problem, as those of you who use PGP already know, and several of our members are working with the PGP and MacPGP teams. * "Crypto dongles" to attach to RS-232 ports are being pursued by Yanek Martinson (an Extropian as well), George Gleason, John Draper ("Cap'n Crunch"), and others. Lots of enthusiastic debate. * FIDONet users are also involved, including Tom Jennings, the founder of FIDONet, in 1984. This brings an exciting new flavor for most Internetters. * Like the Extropians list, the Cypherpunks list is relatively free from flames and personal attacks. We all realize we're interested in roughly the same goal, even though some are Libertarians (naturally) while others are Socialist, Marxists, and Act Up! activists. (Interestingly, we've never had any real flames on politics. We almost never argue political views. This may of course be alien to readers of the Extropians list! :-} ) * So why isn't the list sent out in encrypted form? A little thought will reveal the uselessness of encrypting a widely distributed list that's essentially open to anyone who sends in a request! Still, there is some talk of encrypting in the future, partly to weed out the casual readers (for whatever reason) and partly to just get the volume of encrypted messages up. If you've read this far, and are really interested in joining the list, send a request to "cypherpunks-request@toad.com". This is standard list procedure, of course. But please don't then complain about the list volume! --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^756839 | PGP Public Key: by arrangement.