CDR: Re: Re: Jim Bell arrested, documents online

[Greg Newby]

On Mon, Nov 27, 2000 at 10:29:54AM -0500, Trei, Peter wrote:
> 
> 
> > ----------
> > From: 	Greg Newby[SMTP:gbnewby at ils.unc.edu]
> > "de puta madre!" 
> > 
> > But seriously, folks: How would you work with a like-minded
> > distributed group to murder someone?  Preferably with guaranteed
> > no risk of discovery or prosecution to the participants.  
> > 
> > - Would we need to assume the someone would be the "hands," e.g.,
> > your good ole' professional hit-man?  How would s/he be contacted?
> > 
> > - How would the person be paid?  How would the money be collected
> > from the different people who pay?
> > 
> > - What trust model would work?  Would it be more desirable for
> > all players to be completely anonymous?  Cells of people who know
> > each other?  
> > 
> > - Could this all be done legally (without the individuals who
> > are planning and paying needing to commit any crimes)?
> [...]
> >   -- Greg
> > 
> Um, governments and organized crime achieve this goal on a
> regular basis.
> 
> Governments by having an effective monopoly on violence in a 
> given area (George the Second bears the blood of over 300 
> people who presented no threat to society (they were already 
> incarcerated)). 
> 
> Organized criminals by having the resources and manpower to
> effectively separate the person ordering a hit from the person
> doing the hit, and to cover up the evidence.
> 
> Beyond that, even non-distributed murders are often unsolved,
> especially when there is no pre-existing link between murderer
> and victim (eg, many serial killers).

Right, I agree.

But what I'd like to consider is a recipe for "plain ordinary"
folk to conspire anonymously to commit murder.

Not just any murder: murder for some of the people who (some
people on this list have said), are needing killin'.

If a bunch of crypto anarchists or whoever decide to knock off
Bill Gates or Al Gore (who really didn't invent the Internet
well enough...), you can bet someone will come looking pretty hard!

Again, I see this as a serious problem in applied cryptography.
  -- Greg