This is related to the recent thread entitled "p2p, anonymity and security".
One thing I see a lot in crypto and privacy discussions is the concept of "anonymous trust". In context to the discussion in question, it applies to the desire for a peer-to-peer system which can be trusted to protect the anonymity of users of said P2P system. The term "anonymous trust" is an oxymoron. It is an inherent contradiction. Case in point: In order to provide anonymity, you have to be able to trust other members of the system. Their system could be hijacked by trojan software, or they might be a hostile force. Said hostile force might be using a modified version of the system which is programmed to lie about the anonymous nature of the connection. If their identity is anonymous, you cannot know anything about them. If you *do* know, then, by definition, it is no longer anonymous, and it can thus be traced, given sufficient effort. The peer you connect to on a P2P network might be some guy in Asia... or it might be a honey-pot configured by RIAA storm-troopers. You cannot know. Something to keep in mind. -- Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do | | not represent the views or policy of any other person or organization. | | All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
