From: jrk@sys.uea.ac.uk (Richard Kennaway)
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 93 09:37:15 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Cypherwaffle on spoofing
Message-ID: <28946.9310181639@s5.sys.uea.ac.uk>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Arthur Chandler writes:
>  What I find odd is the number and  vehemence of posts ON A LIST DEVOTED 
>TO ENCRYPTION saying "Hey, it's a  fact of life, accept it" -- even  
>dragging out Machiavelli's profoundly  mistaken "if you can't enforce 
>it,  don't prohibit it."

"It's a fact of life" is a fact central to the, ahem, cypherpunk cause.
Virtual personas are here.  The only question is how this will change the
way people deal with each other over the net.

>Of all the groups  on the Internet, I would 
>think that  this one would be in a special position to say "put your 
>digital John Hancock on your post if you want to to taken seriously."

That is one possibility: people start signing posts with IDs that
verifiably mean something over a wider range of net and RL spaces than just
a single small world like cypherpunks@com.toad.  Personas which consist
only of postings here might come to be taken less seriously, even if their
content appears useful and constructive.

I do not see what authoritarian action is needed, desirable, or practical. 
I would rather see a consensus emerge over how to behave in this new
environment.

I notice you didn't sign your post.  Can I conclude that you do not want it
to be taken seriously?

--                                  ____
Richard Kennaway                  __\_ /    School of Information Systems
Internet:  jrk@sys.uea.ac.uk      \  X/     University of East Anglia
uucp:  ...mcsun!ukc!uea-sys!jrk    \/       Norwich NR4 7TJ, U.K.