From: mccoy@io.com (Jim McCoy)
Date: Tue, 4 Oct 94 22:51:42 PDT
To: macorp!moonlight!ken@uu4.psi.com (Ken Landaiche)
Subject: Re: Cyber honor
In-Reply-To: <9410042343.AA05604@moonlight.noname>
Message-ID: <199410050551.AAA03112@pentagon.io.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Ken Landaiche writes:
[...]
> to which Jim McCoy responded:
> >Like what?  When identity is "weak" then honor has no meaning...
> 
> That sounded reasonable to me until Crim Tideson asked:
> 
> >I've created a pseudonym and a PGP key pair for that pseudonym.  ... 
> >I have no intention of revealing who "me" actually is.  ...
> >I want to make and keep a reputation.... 
> 
> So honor may after all have meaning in cyberspace, as some code of
> behavior that preserves one's "reputation".

But if creating a new identity is as easy as creating a pseudonym and a PGP
key pair then everyone could create several identities, one they use for
"honorable" work and others that they use when attempting to hack in to
AT&T or rob the digital bank...the lack of a link between the pseudonymns
means that "dishonorable" pseudonyms are disposable and without a means for
attaching a negative value to a reputation the reputation system as a whole
has a major flaw.

That is not to say that a system that provides for reputations with
anonymity is impossible, but it is not possible given the tools that are
currently available on the net.  If you want to take a look at a system
that would offer a workable base for a reputation system I would recomment
that you start with some of the credential systems of Chaum, Evertse, and
Damgard.  This would provide a foundation of unique identities and a method
for exchanging information linked to pseudonyms without giving up user
privacy. 

jim