From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 94 19:11:34 PST
To: hfinney@shell.portal.com (Hal)
Subject: Re: Detweiler abuse again
In-Reply-To: <199402150209.SAA13346@jobe.shell.portal.com>
Message-ID: <199402150311.TAA29366@mail.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



I support Hal's proposal that as many remailer operators as possible
attempt to filter Detweiler's postings. All it will take for Detweiler
to get through is one who doesn't filter, and who supports encryption,
but this will still make it harder for folks like Detweiler to abuse
the system.

Cryptographically speaking, in a sense, there is no such thing as
"abuse." That is, we can't wring our hands and ask the "authorities"
to "do something." That's the old way of looking at things.

The new way is to use filters, to have postage paid mailers (someday),
and to have users do filtering of their own. Filtering those who
"abuse" the systems we have is just part of the "reputation system" we
are pushing for.

A few comments on Hal's posting:

> I got a lot of complaints today about copies of Tim's old "Blacknet" posting
> being sent to inappropriate groups:

Needless to say, it wasn't me who posted this. Ironically, I've never
posted it to Cypherpunks, either. I sent it out to several folks prior
to a nanotech meeting, to make some points about the impossibility of
bottling up the knowledge of how to do nanotechnology (someday), and
apparently one of the recipients sent it through a remailer to
Cypherpunks. From there, it went out to several other lists and
newsgroups.

Life in the age of cyberspace.

...much stuff deleted...

> > Received: from handel.cs.colostate.edu by alumni.cco.caltech.edu with SMTP
> > 	(8.6.4/DEI:4.41) id RAA23522; Mon, 14 Feb 1994 17:45:34 -0800
> > Message-Id: <199402150145.RAA23522@alumni.cco.caltech.edu>
> > Received: by handel.cs.colostate.edu
> > 	(1.37.109.4/16.2) id AA28603; Mon, 14 Feb 94 18:45:32 -0700
> > Date: Mon, 14 Feb 94 18:45:32 -0700
> > From: lawrence detweiler <detweile@CS.ColoState.EDU>
> > To: hfinney@shell.portal.com
> > request-remailing-to: comp.sys.ti.explorer@news.cs.indiana.edu
> > subject: Introduction to Blacknet
...

> It seems Larry is sending this posting to lots of inappropriate groups
> using several different mail-to-news gateways.  This is a good way to
> get remailers shut down, which may be his ultimate goal.

This certainly seems to be the case. Detweiler is apparently devoting
his entire life to this sort of nonsense. He keeps escalating the
level of attack.

> I call upon remailer operators to block incoming messages from Detweiler's
> known aliases.  Thos using the slocal-based "cypherpunks" remailer perl
> scripts can add the following lines near the front of their maildelivery
> files.
> 
> # Filter Detweiler
> >From ld231782@longs.lance.colostate.edu  file  ?  /dev/null
> >From 	an12070@anon.penet.fi  		 file  ?  /dev/null
> >From 	detweile			 file  ?  /dev/null

> Unless his access to the remailer network is blocked, he will be able to
> continue to abuse the system until it gets shut down.

Yes, things are very serious. He'll probably change remailers and will
likely pick other articles from Cypherpunks he thinks will do maximum
damage, either in spreading views the recipients will be shocked by,
or just in using the remailers to mailbomb them and thus increase the
pressure to (somehow) shut the remailers down.

Should we "tone down" our speculations and scenarios? Probably too
late, anyway, as Detweiler already has dozens of controversial posts
he can use...the "Secrets of Stealth" post comes to mind, as well as
many of the calls to arms and proposals for digital money for tax
evasion. In any case, I don't think we should let his abuses stifle
our free discussion of ideas and plans. That would be conceding defeat
and adopting a wimp's outlook. Best that we learn to deal with it in
other ways.

As serious as this is, we knew this kind of concerted attack on the
remailer network was going to happen eventually.

My condolences to Hal and the other operators for having to face this
new threat. Maybe we can learn from it and emerge stronger.

--Tim May

-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
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W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
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