Ross's TCPA paper

[Anonymous]

[Repost]

Bear writes:

> A few years ago merchants were equally adamant and believed
> equally in the rightness of maintaining their "right" to not
> do business with blacks, chicanos, irish, and women.  It'll
> pass as people wake up and smell the coffee.  Unfortunately
> that won't be until after at least a decade of really vicious
> abuses of private data by merchants who believe in their
> god-given right to snoop on their customers.

My God, how low the cypherpunk list has sunk.  Here we have someone
not only demanding that merchants be forced to deal with pseudonymous
customers, he invokes civil rights laws to support his argument!

Where's Tim May when we need him?  His racism is odious but at least
he's not trying to force other people to follow his beliefs.  I'm sure
he'd have a thing or two to say about our wonderful civil rights laws
and Bear's proposal to extend similar regulations to cyberspace.

Here's a clue, Mr. Bear.  The cypherpunks list was founded on the
principle that cyberspace can enhance freedom, and that includes freedom
to associate with whomever you choose.  Racism is evil, but the solution
must lie in people's hearts.  Pointing a gun at them and forcing them
to act in a politically correct manner (which is what civil rights
regulations really do) is no solution to the problem.

> So yeah, I think that the right to privacy implies the right to
> use a pseudonym.  For any non-fraudulent purpose, including
> doing business with merchants who don't know it's a pseudonym.
>
> And I think that's a constitutional right, whether the merchants
> happen to like it or not...

And of course any reference to the constitution betrays utter cluelessness
when talking on an international mailing list about technology which
spans national borders.  Unless you are prepared to be bound by the
Iraqi constitution, Mr. Bear, don't ask us to be governed by yours.