From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 09:53:02 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Abuse and Remailer Ethics
Message-ID: <199501171752.MAA21698@pipe2.pipeline.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


On Tue, 17 Jan 1995 anonymous-remailer@xs4all.nl (Name withheld on request)
said: 
 
>This comment is grossly unfair.  Obviously Homer is going to a lot of
effort to  
>operate his remailer in the best way possible.   
> 
>It's easy for others to be critical.  "head on a plate" is a strong term
to  
>use, given Homer made it clear he would not reveal the identity of an
anonymous  
>user without a court order.  Also, one wonders to what end remailers are
being  
>put by people who are worried about being "sold out". 
> 
>It's always been a good policy to use a foreign mailer in a chain where  
>anonymity is critically important.  That doesn't mean it's OK to make
Homer the  
>whipping boy. 
 
 
I agree that it's a bit much to expect the remailer operator to heroically
perform beyond what any of us would do in the same lonely spot under
duress. 
 
Tim has written recently on another list that the USG grabs enemies in
other domains when the national interests are at stake -- the 800-pounder
can define any of its actions legal, or to hell with legal niceties as the
Beast opts, the picky lawyers can sort it out later, or never. 
 
Does not Duncan and others have wisdom on this:  Don't roll over out of
ignorance and faint-heartedness, but do carefully protect your keister,
with feet-on-ground planning, mercury-technology and out-wits.  Watch for
signs of sneak attack through the guy being squeezed next door, or by a
cahoots-machine zipping psy-war toot-alarms to foster fearful quiescence. 
 
Some warning examples may be in the offing in the rising heat of dreaded
horse-threats to civil society.  If so, some will be arranged by
provocateurs like past G-guy tricks. 
 
So it goes.  So what.  Nesta said, it's fun to lance swollen infected
over-controlling heads.