On 17 Feb 2000, lcs Mixmaster Remailer wrote:
> Wired reports at
> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34376,00.html:
>
> This should be an excellent antidote to the ravings of paranoids and
> conspiracy freaks. The United States is now leading the world towards
> ELIMINATING restrictions on cryptography! Given these policies, it
> will be politically impossible for the U.S. to put domestic restrictions
> into place.
I suspect the actual intent is to bring China more in line with western
ideals (not that they are ideal mind you). The quotes from Freeh over the
last day or so w/ respect to crypto and the DDoS attacks are enough to
dispel this idealistic interpretation.
> Folks, the crypto war is being won, slowly but surely. For years
> doomsayers have predicted the eventual criminalization of crypto usage.
> But the actual trends have consistently been in the opposite direction.
True, but very little of the motivation has been from an acceptance of
more individualistic interpretations of philosophy. It's simply if we want
to do that then this must be allowed, even though they'll be able to do
something else with it as a side effect.
> It is time for the pessimists to take off their crap-colored glasses and
> see the world for what it is. The cypherpunk movement has been tainted
> for too many years by naysayers and downright nutcases whose paranoid
> conspiracy fantasies have twisted their view of reality. Last year's
> absurd descent into Y2K fearmongering was the sad culmination of this
> trend.
It's always struck me as odd that many of the 'leaders' of the cypherpunk
philosophy don't act upon it as well as promote action by others...<shrug>
> What are the prospects for true financial privacy through cryptography,
> given the current legal and regulatory system? What are the missing
> pieces of the puzzle, what code is needed to take the next step into
> the future originally envisioned by cypherpunks?
Unless we begin now to build into the technical specifications such
requirements then the prospect is poor. It's one of the un-sung aspect of
the Open Source movement; the ability to produce not only standards but
operable code of verifiable source to bypass completely the 'official'
networks.
One aspect of this I'm interested in is building small indepedant
name-spaces that connect a community of users. One of its primary
requirements is the development of completely independant name resolution
spaces that get gateway'ed as needed into the 'official' network.
I also think the current network architecture is fundamentaly limiting.
However, I also believe there is a solution. That solution is distributed
computing at the fundamental level. I believe Plan 9 is a step in this
direction. It's support of crypto (though it is DES) at the lowest levels
as well as the idea of seperate display, process, file servers while also
eliminating the 'priviliged user' concept are all bellweathers of what is
coming with 'Internet Appliances'.
>From a hardware perspective I believe concepts like Transmeta are the way
to go. The old concept of a DynaBook should probably be revisited. This
will require ubiquitous networking cheaply, the ability to encrypt a
packet except for minimum routing information, the use of encryption built
right into a file system and its apps. The devices need to also include
basic AM/FM/TV/Cell/Wireless capability as well. It would be really nice
to be able to buy higher price models with GPS and radio scanners.
The right to use encryption on the amateur radio bands needs to be tested.
The ability to use packet over bands like CB should be encouraged. The new
regulations concerning low-power indy radio stations are a good indication
of how to go about this. Assuming a person has two computers and two CB
walkie-talkies of sufficient power a 1200 packet system can be built for
less than $100 (e.g. QST & ARRL articles).
>From a legal perspective the concepts of 'civil liberty' and the authority
of the state need to be re-examined from a fundamental level. One that is
based not in British commen law but the precepts of democratic society
(which nobody will argue applies to G.B.). The utility of patents and
copyrights also need to be re-examined. One of their original uses was to
help a new startup flourish because the transportation times were so
great. Jefferson makes several comments with respect to copyrights and the
fact they were based on English commen law and he wasn't sure that was the
right approach. The recognition of 'inalienable rights' as just that is
critical to a fundamental advancement in the quality of our government.
A selection of encrypted filesystems for an Open Source OS. It needs to
come configured as a two NIC firewall system and have intrusion and
network analysis software installed and configured. This is doable today
and exactly why some of the more 'economicaly enabled' Cypherpunks haven't
come out with a CryptoLinux is beyond me. Anyone who buys a notebook
should be able to have CryptoLinux installed creating a CryptoBook.
As to educating future Cypherpunks, there needs to be some sort of process
where local groups would get together and work through various Cypherpunk
related material. We sometimes do this at the Austin meetins when somebody
brings a paper or book to discuss.
I believe a new form of political activism needs to take root. That
activism should be based on federal effects but action at the state level.
One proposal I've made is an organization one joins. The goal would be to
develop proposals to the state legislatures to be ratified as
constitutional amendments. Whatever authority or power the federal level
has the states if acting in a 3/4 majority can deny without option for
appeal or examination by the Supreme Court.
>From a philosophical perspective a more distributed world view needs to
take root. It needs to be based along the Gaian thoughtline.
Cypherpunks should move toward operating their own 24*7 site hosting the
mailing list and other material. The CDR should have hundreds of nodes. If
you subscribe to this mailing list then you should be meeting once a
month (idealistic I admit).
____________________________________________________________________
The future is downloading. Can you hear the impact?
O[rphan] D[rift>]
Cyber Positive
The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate
Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087
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