From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
Date: Sat, 27 Nov 93 23:49:19 PST
To: hughes@ah.com (Eric Hughes)
Subject: Re: Banning any subscriber
In-Reply-To: <9311280456.AA04042@ah.com>
Message-ID: <199311280747.XAA15002@mail.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


One of my mischievous tentacles developed a mind of its own and
misbehaved. "Eric Hughes" said:  

> Much of the debate on cypherpunks magically incants 'reputation
> systems' to solve all sorts of sticky problems, but none have ever
> been implemented in software, except for killfiles, which are not
> effective against disruption in an anonymous environment.

Actually, I disagree. The Extropians list has an "::include" command
that can be used to specifically include only certain thread or
certain users (or any combination). I know for a fact that Dean
Tribble and Paul Baclace are doing an "::exclude all" and then a
selective "::include foo" to include certain threads and/or authors.

I would call this a classic example of a positive reputation system.

> Necessity is the mother of invention.  A motivated individual trying
> to disrupt a communications forum and who has to avoid a kill file
> will be necessary to create the need for a positive reputation system.
> Once the need is there, the software will follow.  LD could become the
> most valuable participant in the endeavor of creating a positive
> reputation system, namely, the irritant at the center of the pearl.
> 
> Let us encapsulate him well.

I agree. And I suggest the Extropians software is suitable for this.
It even used the Cypherpunks "::" syntax as its model, albeit with the
command on the same line as the "::'. My understanding is that this
software is available for our use--I will cc: Ray Cromwell on this
message to make sure he sees it (Harry Shapiro is still on this list,
I believe).

My main concern would be that the CPU demands on toad are too much.
Ray C. and Harry S. can tell us how many CPU seconds are needed to
process the Perl commands needed to filter; on a list with 500+
subscribers, some pressing needs to filter out a couple of addresses,
and an old machine (toad), I worry.

--Tim May, who generally finds it faster to hit "D" than to filter
(and, ironically, I keep all of the Detweiler/Pervert/S. Boxx/etc.
posts, both for archival value and because it's stuff I'll want to
reread in future years and perhaps use in a book I may write).


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it.