At 10:36 AM -0800 3/1/00, Declan McCullagh wrote:
>Of more relevance to this list, perhaps, is yesterday's testimony of the
>FBI's Michael Vatis with the bureau's usual crypto-complaints:
>
>http://www.house.gov/judiciary/3.htm
>convicted terrorist Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the World Trade
>Center bombing, stored detailed plans to destroy United States airliners on
>encrypted files on his laptop computer.
Unsurprising. And a major reason I have long argued that crypto rights
should _never_ be based on the once-popular whines of "show me just one
example of a criminal who used cryptography." Using this argument is a
recipe for disaster.
>http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34659,00.html
>
> U.S. Wants Less Web Anonymity
> by Declan McCullagh ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
> Currently no laws require U.S. Internet
> users to reveal their identity before
> signing up for an account, and both
> fee-based and free services offer
> anonymous mail, Web browsing, and
> dialup connections.
And, critically, the U.S. Constitution provides a solid base that speech
need not be linked to a True Name. From the basic language of the First to
the recent cases (Talley, IIRC) about anonymous pamphlets.
Further, any person is free to incorporate into his writings the excerpted
writings of others (modulo copyright laws, which are not relevant for
obvious reasons). This means that "anonymous recommenters" are fully
protected.
"Hey, AnonymousRemailerFoo, look at what AnonymousSenderBar just sent me:
"Request-Recommenting-To: AnonymousRemailerBaz.....
--text....""
Of course, an anonymous remailer is just as protected by the First as this
hypothetical (and contrived) anonymous recommenter is, but it may help some
to see just how far-ranging the implications of banning anonymous speech
would be.
--Tim May
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
"Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.
