Cypherpunks and terrorism

[Nomen Nescio]

The terrorist attacks present a real-world situation which has ties to
the recent discussion about morality.

What are the roles of we who provide technology that aids terrorists
as well as honorable people who seek the shield of privacy?  Do we bear
a share of the responsibility for the deaths and other consequences of
terrorist attacks such as we have seen today?

Today, remailer operators are shutting down their services.  Why?
Do they feel shame and guilt at providing a service which could foster
destruction?  Maybe they should have thought of that before deciding
to run a remailer.  Or are they merely fearful of being blamed for the
attacks or their aftermath?  That would be a rather cowardly action,
to run a service which can cause harm but to run and hide as soon as
the heat is on.  (Thankfully, a number of remailer operators continue
to courageously offer their services.)

It is likely that the effects of the attack will include restrictions on
American freedoms.  Since the attacks were all carried out by hijacked
airliners, chances are that this is where security will be focused.
Increased security checks for passengers and employees are a certainty.

There may be some additional measures with wider implications.  Perhaps we
will finally see a national ID card which must be carried at all times
and shown on demand to law enforcement personnel.  Workers in sensitive
industries may have to go through more stringent background checks.  At
this point there is no indication of any significant Internet component,
so it is not too likely that we will see new restrictions there.

The net result is a decrease in the freedom that we all cherish.
This is a paradox.  The technologies we support can lead to violent
actions which end up hurting our goals.

The question we must all face, then, is whether we are doing more harm
than good?  How much good do remailers and encryption do, balanced
against the harm which they can cause?  We should all reflect on this.
We must be sure that our actions promote our goals and not set them back.