Why is cryptoanarchy irreversible?

[Timothy C. May]

At 9:20 PM +0100 11/9/96, Anonymous wrote:
>Peter Hendrickson <ph at netcom.com> wrote:
>
>> What are the benefits of being a cryptoanarchist?  Maybe you get
>> to double your income.  Most people won't see this as worth the
>> trouble.
>
>If you don't have enough to eat, doubling your income is worth the
>trouble.
>
>Crypto-anarchy benefits the poor more than the rich.  The underlings
>of society are going to love it.

In fact, they basically already practice it. Not with computers, of course,
but in terms of not reporting cash income, not reporting tips, engaging in
barter work with others, and gambling in various non-sanctioned markets.

(Numbers games and sports betting are huge markets. Interestingly, such
markets also validate much of what we say about "reputations." After all,
when was the last time you heard about a bookie being sued in court for not
paying up? And private justice is administered, as welshers are disposed of
directly, without a  long, expensive trial. Nearly everything in "crypto
anarchy" has direct parallels in "underworld and black markets." Some say
they are really the same thing. Perhaps.)

--Tim May



"The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM
that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology."
[NYT, 1996-10-02]
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay at got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."