The Remailer Crisis

[Timothy C. May]

> Jeff's response is exactly what I was hoping for! The "Cypherpunks
> distribution" version of Linux would be a great way to spread cheap
> remailer technology on cheap Linux boxes. Hell, I might even augment
> my Macs with one of these things!

One thing I should've noted is that a Linux-based cheap remailer is
mostly useless without a "live connection" to the Net. That's why I
mentioned hanging these directly off The Little Garden's net (i.e.,
putting the box in the same building as the physical net, to avoid
expensive connections).

What are the cheapest "live connections" (24-hour a day connections)
available? Where I am, about $100 a month, plus whatever the local
phone company charges for a dedicated line. ISDN is an option, but it
looks to cost $400-800 to get started, plus a monthly charge (which I
don't recall, except that I "gulped" when I heard it).

So, even an el cheapo 486-based Linux box, for perhaps $800 or so,
would need to solve the problem of a cheap, continuous connection to
the Net. (My supposition is that one approach is to share these
connections, hence my notion of hanging machines on other people's
nets.)

At $100-200 per month for connect charges, I don't expect a "cheap
Linux distribution" will cause many people to set up remailers.

What have I overlooked?

Are there options for several machines to share a connection? (I'm
sure there are....). Someone who already has a connection may be
willing to host additional machines, which could share some of the
charges.

--Tim May


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