🚀 go-pugleaf

Perry E. Metzger (pmetzger@snark.shearson.com) wrote:

: The only thing needed to change the FBI's proposed built-in tap
: capability from something restrained by the need for court orders into
: something used as an instrument of opression and terror by a
: dictatorship would be a change of attitude towards the equipment and a
: little coup d'etat -- the technology would be sitting right there in
: their hands. The only thing needed to change the encrypted list of all
: private keys in the country into a similar instrument would be a
: similar change in attitude, but this time you could likely read
: people's old messages as well! This, of course, ignores the day to day
: abuse of our privacy that will doubtless occur. (I will point out for
: completeness that when our society is fully disarmed by the anti-gun
: nuts, all that will be required for the criminals to trample over us
: and loot at will is an emergency (like the recent hurricane in
: Florida) and all that will be required for our whole society to be
: held captive is a military coup. I realize, of course, that some
: people disagree with this last point, but then again some people like
: Dorothy Denning seem to think we should hand over to "trusted third
: parties" copies of our private keys, on the basis that "we can trust
: them -- after all, the government will protect us.")

Overheard in St. Petersburg (Not Florida):

"Alexei, can you believe that in the United States the people must _register_
their keys so the authorities can read their communications? I am so
glad we live here."

Perry's point about the parallels with strict gun control echo my own
concerns. Because of fears of what crimes _some_ people may commit,
basic rights are taken away. 

: (Gawd, I feel like Cassandra here. Is anyone listening?)

Yeah, I'll bet a lot of folks at NSA, FINCEN (Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network), DEA, State, CIA, and the FBI are reading these
posts. What we are doing by protesting these trial balloons is
alerting them to the level of anger. And we're potentially upsetting
the tidy little plan to place "reasonable" restrictions on our
pricacy. 

(If I suddenly get an IRS audit, due to my postings about black
markets and anonymous information markets, I'll let you folks know. No
smiley this time.)


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^756839 | PGP 2.0 and MailSafe keys by arrangement.