🚀 go-pugleaf

Carl writes,
> That's a different point, though.  What I'm trying to point out is that you
> deal with me in a very real sense but you've never met me and aren't likely
> to.  Therefore, we don't need physical contact in order to communicate.
...
> If I can move money around with only my key and get caught in a love
> triangle with only my key, what more do I have to do?  :-)

I disagree with the strong form of your claim, Carl, but agree with a
weak form.

If your claim is "It doesn't matter if someone is intercepting all our
messages; one electronic entity is the same as any other," then I disagree.
Many people trust their ability to tell "what kind of person" is on the other
end of the wire, after they've corresponded for a while.  There's a world of
difference, to such a person, between "you" and "you plus a thousand people
listening in, including the FBI and the Washington Post".

But I agree with the weaker claim, that it's reasonable to correspond
with and trust an electronic persona.  We should therefore strive to 
provide a means by which each persona-owner can make sure that his or
her persona is being accurately transmitted to the world.  My secure
newsgroup, if it works, could do this.  "Persona Certificates", as 
proposed for the PEM project, are another way.  They would allow people to
register "persona" public keys, labeled as such, using the same certificate
mechanisms as for personal or organizational use.

I think personas reliably associated with public keys are a good thing.
However, I believe there are times when it's still a very good idea to
require a person's physical presence.  It takes 20 years to create a person.
It takes 20 minutes, or perhaps 20 hours or 20 days, to create a fictitious 
electronic person complete with a history of correspondence.  It all depends
on how much stability you need, I guess.


[ Marc Ringuette | Cranberry Melon University, Cucumber Science Department  ]
[ mnr@cs.cmu.edu | 412-268-3728 |      ".surivorter erutangis a ma I"       ]
[ ripem public key:                                                         ]
[   MFkwCgYEVQgBAQICAgADSwAwSAJBALu5OFJmAZ4hhNMBXyA5YeMBQFZhbXJ7yapG        ]
[   VkAqMMGmyAx2k2A7EfLgwu9NRqDYCyTdwDXU5lvPLG7o36Lnw6UCAwEAAQ==            ]
[ ripem is unix-based, using RSA and a PEM-like format; send mail for info. ]