Asendmail Status & Politikal Rant

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Ben Holiday wrote:

<Asendmail Status report deleted>

>On to politiks:
>
>I understand that the entire concpet of this program is a bit
>controversial, and I can accept that.  Personnaly I am not certain exactly
>how to feel about it.  I suppose that I am not thrilled about the idea of
>cloaking the mailer this way, but at the same time I perceive it as an
>evil of requirement.

Yes. Yet another example of Unintended Consequences.
I seem to be hearing that meme more-and-more these days.

>I beleive very strongly that remailers SHOULD exist,
>whether or not the CoS, or the FBI agree; and I am willing to be a bit
>impolite if thats what needs to be. My only hesitation is that I'm afraid
>now might be to soon.

Absolutely, I think no fair observer could say that "we" [I know,
"there's no 'we'"] "started it." Your concern is valid, IMO, but
it should be balanced with the equally-valid fear that later might
be too late. I have said this many times, both privately and in
public, but it bears repeating: "Things are likely to be worse
after the election." Like many here, I am surprised, and somewhat
happy [easy issue for my political party] that the administration
is making GAK3 noises now, and still trying to Newspeak it into
the word "escrow." <"Escrow"-rant resisted to save bandwidth>

...

>Anyway, someone raised the argument that the problem was political, and
>that a technical solution would do more harm than good - maybe you're
>right, I can't see the future, But it seems to me that I read somewhere
>that "Cypherpunks Write Code". This statement is amazingly profound in its
>implications.

You are right, but it all interacts, IMO, in a "team effort."

cypherpunks DO write code, and politico-crypto-punks like me admire
your work greatly.We also talk about it, and try to spread it around
in order to "protect" it. Users are far better off if someone besides
me writes their software, :) but I can help them install PGPetc.
without too much trouble. [Besides, 2/3 of the Cybergate-cypherpunks
seem to write excellent code. I could never compete!]

>Anonymous communication on the net depends on the technical solutions
>embodied in the current remailing software, and cryptography applications.
>If, years ago, the cypherpunks had decided that a publicity campaign,
>political lobbying, and apologizing were the right course of action,
>anonymous speach on the internet would be virtually non-existant today. If
>the cypherpunks decide today that coding is not the answer, where will
>free speach on the net be in 5 years? I think it is very naive to beleive
>that the world is going to change enough, quickly enough, that remailers
>will become accepted, and protected, methods of speaking - no matter how
>politically correct we try to be.

Sadly, despite my and others' political work to make this statement
untrue, I must again agree with Ben Holiday.

>Why do we see big business and big government launching a full frontal
>assault on the remailers, while the mailing lists continue to operate
>without incident? Because the enemy's of free speach recognize where the
>true threat to their opression lies. Relying on politics to preserve our 
>rights is like throwing down your gun and asking the bear to please not
>eat you.

Agreed.

>The powers that be want us to shut up. The programs that we write are the 
>weapons that will defend our right to speak. 

Yes, and many like you fill another important function for us, a
function for which many of you take personal risks and spend a lot
of unpaid time (and I thank you).

Without comparing the particular goals, individuals, or any other
aspects of earlier movements to the "Internet Privacy movement"
of today, I see examples from recent history of how we interact
without always knowing it. First, and despite current anti-gun
sentiments among many of the same people, I think that the Civil
Rights movement in the '60s _would_ have suffered more brutality
from law enforcement and the KKK were it not for the armed Black
Panthers, who had a diametrically opposed strategy. Second, the
more recent "environmental" movement has profited by continuously
spinning off more radical factions of itself [ex. "Earth First!"]
to make its positions seem more reasonable and reduce the chances
of compromise. The key to success seems more to be the capability
of more radical action, and yet avoidance of violence or even the
advocacy of violence among the mainstream to maintain either
good PR, principles, or both, while continuing the political-
legal fight. The "threat" of a technical solution "weapon"
forces any political opponents to show their cards before they
play (or just lie) and ideally involves (because it requires)
*no* physical violence whatsoever. Despite opinions to the
contrary, "war is [still] the health of the state." -- I forget
who said that, sorry.
JMR

Regards, Jim Ray -- DNRC Minister of Encryption Advocacy

"Why is it that hundreds of government and university machines can
 operate what amount to anonymous remailers, and no one pays any
 attention, and yet cypherpunks are threatened with jail time for
 what is essentially the same thing?" -- Ben Holiday
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PGP id.E9BD6D35 51 5D A2 C3 92 2C 56 BE  53 2D 9C A1 B3 50 C9 C8
  <liberty at gate.net>       http://www.shopmiami.com/prs/jimray
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