Jeff Gordon, Usenet, and the cypherpunks mailing list

[Declan McCullagh]

A thought just occurred to me, and perhaps I'm totally off base.

But I've been watching both the prosecution and defense attorneys stumble 
over technical terms (London had no idea what a mailing list, Leen was 
talking about "encryptions"). Clearly Gordon has more of a clue[*] but 
that's not saying much.

I suspect Usenet discussions are far more inflammatory than what happens on 
the cypherpunks list, but the prosecution is not veering in that direction 
at all.

My suspicion is that it's just *easier* to monitor cypherpunks, and even 
tech-impaired IRS agents can figure out majordomo. Usenet takes more effort 
-- it's why I don't read it anymore -- and perhaps things would have been 
far different if the list went the alt.* route after the Great List Storm 
of '97.

-Declan

[*] Gordon is the aggrieved party (something like three of the five 
"stalking counts" are him claiming he feels threatened). He is also the 
lead witness for the prosecution. He is also the lead investigator during 
Bell I, Bell II, and Bell III. He is also the lead witness-management 
worker for the prosecution, telling lackeys when to bring the next witness 
into the courtroom. He is also the technical expert, bringing up digital 
photos and turning the courtroom screens on or off. He is the 
case-management guy, correcting London when the attorney doesn't know which 
house is which on the photo.

But even though Gordon is a key witness, he is not sequestered. Even though 
he is the aggrieved party, he is the investigator. Even though he has 
personal animus toward the defendant, he seems in charge of the 
prosecution's case.