From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 95 09:11:44 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com (Cypherpunks Mailing List)
Subject: Re: pseudonyms & list health
Message-ID: <ac7072bf0602100490af@[205.199.118.202]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 6:13 AM 9/4/95, Futplex wrote:
>Deranged Mutant writes:
>> My worry is about abuse.  One would prefer to save endorsements and find
>> a way to remove thumbs-downs... also how to prevent one from overdoing a
>> thumbs-up or -down certification for a person (either to inflate or de-
>> flate a reputation).
>
>A few nuisance lawsuits from people who were given thumbs-downs might do the
>trick, as with employment recommendations in the U.S. :[

A good point that deserves further comment. Employers have taken to _saying
nothing_ about past employees, for fear of lawsuits by disgruntled job
seekers. So much for free speech, courtesy of the American legal system.

But as we can't changed the litigious nature of American society (and maybe
European society--I don't know), the emphasis ought to be on digital
systems and reputations by pseudonyms.

Hal's comment about transferring credentials is one approach. Sort of an
automated version of "Pr0duct Cypher says the work of Sue D'Nim is good."

At this point, not enough pseudonymns to make it very worthwhile, but someday...


>ObTim: As in other reputation markets, some people will spread their blessings
>more liberally than others. They do this at the risk of diluting the worth of
>each credential granted. It all comes out in the wash.
>
>A reviewer named Susan Granger, for example, is known to me as a person who
>routinely lauds lousy movies. Thus it's simple for me to ignore her positive
>recommendations (I've yet to see a negative review from her). In fact, when
>I observe that a new film prominently features her seal of approval in its
>advertising, I take that fact as an indication of the lack of praise from
>more discriminating reviewers. So a nominal "positive" credential may be
>interpreted as an implicit negative credential, depending upon context.

Another good point. I always think: "Ah, they couldn't get either Siskel or
Ebert to endorse it." As Futplex notes, endorsements by second- or
third-tier endorsers are often a _negative_ endorsement.

--Tim May


---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
Corralitos, CA              | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839      | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."