R.I.P. (was: Re: A 'Funky A.T.M.' Lets You Pay for Purchases Made Online)

[Steve Schear]

At 18:57 2003-07-24 -0700, Tim May wrote:
>On Thursday, July 24, 2003, at 05:11 PM, Justin wrote:
>
>>Tim May (2003-07-24 19:50Z) wrote:
>>
>>>We should also fight the use of sloppy language in the press when
>>>mundane electronic funds transfer systems are called "digital cash."
>>
>>Is there anything to fight?
>>
>>The only instance of "digital cash" on google news (there's one
>>reference to "digital cash registers", which I'm not counting) is an
>>article about proffr's "x needs killing" comments.  The article doesn't
>>abuse the term "digital cash", though it does abuse the term "listserv".
>>
>>The term doesn't appear in print often enough to matter, IMO.
>>
>
>PLONK.
>
>Way too many fools on Cypherpunks these last several  months. Maybe it's 
>time to kill it.

I think its been dead for some time now.  Most of those on the list are The 
motto "cypherpunks should have written code" is emblazoned across the 
tombstone.

As some of you know there have been a number of aborted attempts, few 
serious, to build a digital cash (Chaumian sense) code base from which to 
catalyze useful commercial ventures.  During the go-go '90s all the 
talented coders on this list were off chasing the bubble rainbow and had no 
time for such pipe dreams.  Now that many are un- or under-employed there 
still doesn't seem to be any activity by those active on this list in this 
critical infrastructure area.  All the recent work that is being done 
(e.g., Orlin Grabbe's ALTA/DMT http://orlingrabbe.com/redirect.htm, Patrick 
McCuller's Lucrative http://lucrative.thirdhost.com, YodelBank 
http://yodelbank.com/, InvisibelNet http://invisiblenet.net) has been 
undertaken by real cypherpunks, a few monitor this list but rarely if ever 
post.  I can only conclude that with the exceptions of the early CPs, who 
helped build the first remailers and such, most list members now are losers 
and sycophants.  Time to move over for the next crop of motivated 
libertarian cypherpunks.

The cypherpunks are dead, long live the cypherpunks!

steve


"We are much beholden to Machiavelli and others that write what men do, not 
what they ought to do."
-Francis Bacon