Key Servers

Brad Huntting huntting at glarp.com
Mon Nov 15 17:51:13 PST 1993



> I don't see what you mean by key servers for only true names.
> How do you know that a true name isn't just a false identity
> created with a real account on some system? How do you differentiate
> a true name from a unix account?

The whole concept of a true name is a fantasy.  A persons name is
neither unique nor unchanging.

My passport reads "Brad Huntting", but if tomorrow I decide I want
to be called "@*!" (pronounced "crash boom bang") instead, then
that's my name.

Even today I go by many written names:

	Brad
	Brad Huntting
	Bradley E Huntting
	Brad E Huntting
	Bradley Enoch Huntting
	beh
	huntting
	Enoch (mabey not)

That's case insensitive and doesn't include the hundreds or thousands
of e-mail addresses which mean me.

The point is, a name is a handle.  It doesn't need to be unique or
static, all it needs to do is refer to someone or something in a
reasonably unambiguous way.

Besides, if I understand your idea of what a "true name" is (the
name your parents or your government have assigned to you), then
the whole idea of having a "true names" pgp key server is outrageously
bigoted, since the vast majority of people cant write their "true
name" in ascii.


brad






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