AP Al Qaeda

[Nomen Nescio]

John Young writes, regarding Assassination Politics:

> AP is a touchy topic for Cypherpunks, whoever they may
> be. It is likely the USA is attempting to link AP to Cypherpunks
> for prosecution, so not many will want to talk about the
> topic.

Cypherpunks pioneered the use of encryption and anonymity for many
purposes, but one of them was precisely this: to allow discussion of
forbidden subjects.

> So my opinion is that AP is a lure set out by the authorities
> to entrap the unwary, Cypherpunks among them. I believe 
> that Bell and Johnson have been, and are continuing to be, 
> a part of that lure, whether witting or unwitting.

That's bullshit.  Surely you can't deny that AP was conceived by
Bell exactly as what it was claimed to be, a tool to be used against
government agents who overstep their authority and violate the rights of
American citizens.  (And as an important consequence it would therefore
encourage governments to behave legally and respectfully towards their
citizens, as they should.)  Bell certainly did not conceive of AP as a
way of entrapping cypherpunks.  He didn't even know about cypherpunks
when he came up with the idea.

> AP is highy suspect, and becoming more so as it gets
> additional promotion, not by whatever adherents it may
> have but by its opponents. I expect AP to be used to
> advance the anti-terrorism industry now booming.
>
> Just keep in mind that AP is a joke among knowledgeable
> technologists for its unworkability, but a wonderful joke
> on those who believe it's anything more than a taunt.

Total bullshit again.  Sure, AP requires anonymous digital cash, but so do
most other elements of the cypherpunk vision.  Would you say that crypto
anarchy, information black markets, and commerce among pseudonyms are
"a joke"?  These are just as hypothetical as AP at present.  It's entirely
possible that some form of anonymous cash will be developed in the
next few years, and once that happens AP will be trivial to implement.
It's far from a joke, it is a very real possibility.

AP is part of the dark side of the cypherpunk dream and it must be faced
rather than evaded.  The real problem with AP is not that it would be
illegal, because much of what cypherpunks call for is presently illegal.
Rather, the problem with AP is that it is mob rule at its worst.  There
are no checks and balances.  It is the height of folly to suppose that
AP would be used only against those whom cypherpunks themselves oppose,
like corrupt government agents.  AP could be used against anyone who
has a high profile.

If AP were implemented, there is no question but that Jim Bell would
be one of the first targets!  All those people who found himself on
his list, along with their heirs and successors, would want revenge.
Everyone involved with the assassinations would be anonymous except
Bell himself, making him the most prominent target of their wrath.
Other notable supporters of crypto anarchy would follow soon, such as
cypherpunk founders May and Hughes.  The people involved with the digital
cash would be targets as well, and so on.

Despite these unpleasant facts, once digital cash exists, AP will be
inevitable, along with many other forms of anonymous murder-for-hire.
Cypherpunks have discussed these possibilities from the very beginning.
To pretend that AP is somehow outside of the scope of cypherpunk thinking,
a hoax or joke perpetrated by outsiders as a lure, is just absurd.
With crypto anarchy you have to take the bad with the good.

What, then, is the solution to survival in a world of assassins at large?
It is simple, and it is in fact the same as the solution to the problem
of how to discuss AP in a world in which even mentioning it could get
you arrested, the problem which led to John Young's dissembling above.
Perhaps the alert reader will be able to conceive of the solution for
himself.