The Privacy/Untraceability Sweet Spot

[Aimee Farr]

Tim May:

> So I guess my candidate submission for the P.E.T. workshop might not be
> well-received: "BlackNet; Case History of a Practically Untraceable
> System for Buying and Selling Corporate and National Secrets.

No, you want E.E.T. -- "Espionage-enhancing Technologies."

Some of you need a lawyer on your shoulder. Like a little parrot. *squawk!*
ECPA Section 2516(1)(p); FISA, if that includes being controlled by aliens
from outer-space; USC Title 18 1831.

>Think about where the markets are for tools for privacy and untraceability.

Believe me, I am.

Section 1831 Economic espionage
(a) In General - Whoever, intending or knowing that the offense will benefit
any foreign government, foreign instrumentality, or foreign agent,
knowingly -
(1) steals, or without authorization appropriates, takes, carries away, or
conceals, or by fraud, artifice, or deception obtains a trade secret;
(2) without authorization copies, duplicates, sketches, draws, photographs,
downloads, uploads, alters, destroys, photocopies, replicates, transmits,
delivers, sends, mails, communicates, or conveys a trade secret,
(3) receives, buys, or possesses a trade secret, knowing the same to have
been stolen or appropriated, obtained, or converted without authorization,
(4) attempts to commit any offense described in any of paragraphs (1)
through (3), or
(5) conspires with one or more other persons to commit any offense described
in any of paragraphs (1) through (3), and one or more of such persons do any
act to effect the object of the conspiracy, shall, except as provided in
subsection (b), be fined not more than $500,000 or imprisoned not more than
15 years, or both.

Section 1837 Applicability to conduct outside the United States
This chapter also applies to conduct occurring outside the United States if
(1) the offender is a natural person who is a citizen or permanent resident
alien of the United States, or an organization organized under the laws of
the United States or a State or political subdivision thereof-, or
(2) an act in furtherance of the offense was committed in the United States.

Your idea does seem to offer promise as a vehicle for treason, espionage,
trade secrets, malicious mischief, piracy, bribery of public officials,
concealment of assets, transmission of wagering information, murder for
hire, threatening or retaliating against Federal officials, a transactional
environment for nuclear and biologic weapons, narcotic and arms
trafficking....sweet spots. *shakes head*

This is not legal advice. It's an obituary. :)

> think of people selling their expertise when some guild says they are
> forbidden to.

I talked about this before, as an OSINT channel for the U.S. Government.

o BlackNet has legitimate intelligence applications.

o For it to work in a "secrets market," you would need to tap the ground
channels and have the analytics. Intelligence isn't a Chia pet..."just add
BlackNet and watch it grow!" Surely, untraceability does not equivocate to
instant source cultivation.

o You can get what you need by listening to the right person. Once you've
spotted and recruited the right person, THEN you need a transactional
channel, but only if you want to pursue a source relationship -- and you
usually do. You need analysis, not information. The problem isn't the lack
of a fence -- but the difficulty in defining your collection goals, spotting
the right person, knowing what to elicit, and having the analytics to refine
an intelligence product. Self-offerings are viewed with suspicion. Can a
third-party spot talent for you?  Talent: businessmen, academics and
informants. That's a very HUMAN high-touch problem.

o A holistic solution would cut down the costs of stealth, transfer risk,
and possibly would assist in spotting, but I don't know that zero-contact is
all it is represented to be. Is the equivalent of an anon e-bay going to
answer your strategic issues? You have to define and meet your collection
goals.

o Anonymity can be a problem. You need authentication. You would like
blinded biometrics.

o I would think the ROI would be where you can shoehorn into existing
intelligence channels and groundwork. That's either a sovereign, an
intermediary wrapped in the skirts of a sovereign, a defense contractor, or
an untouchable intermediary. If not bona-fide intelligence, you're left with
the criminal element, IRA and so forth. Most move product and still have
distribution channels. Yeah, the IRA would like digital cash, they are
buying arms with offshore debit cards.

o It seems like _damn bad timing_ for a discussion in this context. This
should be couched in terms of a beneficial application, rather than
something subversive. It's like the fall of Knights Templar in here. What
happened to the pilgrims' safe passage?

~Aimee
L'Empireur doit jtre considiri comme le messie des idies nouvelles.