From: wcs@anchor.ho.att.com (bill.stewart@pleasantonca.ncr.com +1-510-484-6204)
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 94 00:40:58 PDT
To: hart@chaos.bsu.edu
Subject: Re:  Transport Mixes
Message-ID: <9408300739.AA22252@anchor.ho.att.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


An interesting suggestion, though I think putting the bags in bins 
marked "W.A.S.T.E." may do just about as well :-)
Aside from Tim's observation that the Enemy can often detect
hashish, bombs, etc., greatly reducing the utility of the system,
it's also a system designed for couriers to take bags back to
hotel rooms and steal the Newtons from them before routing them
on their way.

On a slightly mroe serious note, I have seen some transport remailer systems 
operating, though without the crypto hardware involvement.
I had a project that absolutely, positively had to get computers to 
Colorado overnight, but our building's shipping department insisted
on using their regular arrangements anyway.  The local carrier in
New Jersey assembled my boxes and anything else going to Denver in 
big crates, shipped them by and air-freight company to another local 
carrier in Denver, who unpacked the crates and delivered it locally.
I wasn't surprised when I got there that the equipment hadn't arrived -
what surprised me was that they didn't have a record that said that
my package number 12345 was in crate number 67890 which had/hadn't arrived.
"No, we just pack them, and when they get to Denver they'll open the crates
and see what's in each one.  You gotta problem wi' dat?"

(Since we weren't interested in anonymity, and were interested in reliability,
any future packages went FedEx so we could track them.)

I once talked with a guy who did his more private mail transactions
through a Mexican postal worker in Tiajuana; any mail that came
to the PO box would get put in bigger envelopes and mailed to his real address,
and he'd send the guy another $10 to cover the next package;
when he wanted to send mail privately, he'd mail it to the PO box
along with $10, and the guy would mail it to the real address.

		Bill