On Wed, 24 Feb 1993, Kelly Goen wrote:

...

I think the idea is just that it is an e-mail account. I don't think you have any disk quota or such and probably can't even telnet or ftp from it. The idea for this is privacy. The best way to keep someone from reading your files is to make it so that they can't get their hands on 'em.

George

it really doesnt work out... MANY ways are inherent in the scheme to eventually match a face with an account. If you always pay in cash, if you always where a mask(WAIT MASK??? well I think you get the IDEA) credit cards will; eventually be traced and bank accounts discovered unless one started taking their precautions before the information age... now the only absolute privacy/anonymity will be the ones that can insure it with technology cheers kelly --

I'm not saying that the phony email-account scheme has a lot of merit, but it could surely be implemented: simply pay by money order from your local Christys each month, and, of course, order the initial service from a mail drop or something. I actually think the most reliable privacy methods are low-tech (e.g., pay for things w/ cash instead of checks or credit cards) but they involve sacrificing some of the convenience we may be accustomed to. Personally, I get my access free, and I wouldn't want to pony up the bucks to pay for a duplicate account... Peter