From: merriman@metronet.com (David K. Merriman)
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 94 22:24:13 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: SUFFERANCE remailers
Message-ID: <199409280523.AA15201@metronet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


>                  SUFFERANCE REMAILERS
>
>   Definition of SUFFERANCE REMAILER: A remailer that exists only so
>long as the U.S. Feds get around to outlawing it.; a sitting duck
>remailer. ; a remailer whose physical location may easily be found.;
>a remailer whose operator is vulnerable to the State's gun argument.;
>currently, the only kind of remailer there is.
>
>   Definition of FORTRESS REMAILER: A remailer whose physical location
>cannot be found. ; a remailer that does not require the consent of
>the State. ; a Freedom remailer.
>
>   Anybody got any idea at all how to build a Fortress remailer?
>                                             PUSH EM BACK! PUSH EM BACK!
>                                             WWWAAAYYY  BBBAAACCCKK!
>                                             BBBBEEEAAATTTT  STATE!
>
>

I see two modes of tracking a remailer: physical or electrical (signal)
tracing of it's connection(s).
The solutions I can think of, right off the top of my head, are to either
make it excessively difficult to find, or excessively difficult to *access*.
The first can be dealt with either by using a wireless link of some kind
(radio lan, comm laser, etc), or physical confusion of the link (running it
into a sealed room with umpteen bajillion other identical links so that it
wouldn't be possible to literally trace the cable). Another choice is a
touch more difficult, but not insurmountable: repetitive links physically
isolated (first option, multiplied), so that any given message packet could
be sent across any given non-physical link, and still arrive at the
remailer: array of wireless links on different frequencies
(frequency-hopping to confuzzle triangulation?), or bank of uncolliminated
or diffused (to increase the possible target area, per the first choice)
lasers pointed in different directions toward repetitive, dispersed optical
links.  Variation on the laser option would be to have a single Tx/Rx pair,
but bounce the laser beam off the moon (it's been done). The transfer rate
would probably eat dirt, but _do-able_.
The second is a bit tougher: I can't think of anything that isn't accessible
without sufficient motivation (I mean, the CIA built a damn ship for the
sole purpose of recovering a sunken USSR sub, f'chrissake). This is further
amplified by the fact that it wouldn't be strictly necessary to access the
hardware itself to take it off line: cutting power or comm links to it would
be just as effective as dismantling it, as would something like detonating
an underground nuke a few hundred meters away and just vibrating it to death.
If we're not limited by reality, hang it off a small nuke power source, link
it to a transoceanic cable, and drop it in the ocean (someplace nice and deep).

I'll leave any other options as an exercise for the rest of the list :-)

Dave Merriman
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