From: root@rmsdell.ftl.fl.us (Yanek Martinson)
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 93 14:54:23 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: ANON: un-filterable pseudonyms
Message-ID: <m0nU2HH-0002ZcC@rmsdell.ftl.fl.us>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> In my off-line newsreader, Eudora, (which ironically is also the subject of
> the message attached below--must be a plot), it's easy enough to mark all
> the stuff from some anonymous site for deletion.

This is only possible if there are few, well known, anonymous sites,
and/or if all anonymous aliases look similar, such as an1234.

How do you know if KSDF32@KMUVAX is an anonymous address, or a real
user login?

I also expect to see pseudonyms that look like real names.  I don't think
it would be too hard to pick a random first and last name from a list
of real names, and create a From: line like jsmith@someplace.edu (John Smith)
which will look just like a regular address.

Even the remailers that don't create reply-able aliases could generate
random real-looking From: lines, just to make the posts look non-anonymous.

The only possible solution would be to ignore all messages not from addresses
you trust.  This is basically the "don't talk to strangers" policy.


--
Yanek Martinson
yanek@novavax.nova.edu