From: Mac Norton <mnorton@cavern.uark.edu>
Date: Wed, 6 Sep 95 19:20:50 PDT
To: "Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>
Subject: Re: Collection of personal info
In-Reply-To: <ac73a1e41f0210048666@[205.199.118.202]>
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.950906211454.8489Q-100000@cavern>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain




On Wed, 6 Sep 1995, Timothy C. May wrote:
> I don't really disagree with Mac, at least practically speaking.
> 
> (At a much deeper level, much deeper in terms of philosophy, I'm not even
> sure _disseminators_ of information have any real necessity to be correct.
> This is the issue of truth, reputation, etc. that we discuss so often. But,
> I admit that the legal system does not support my anarcho-capitalist
> extreme position, which is why I say I don't disagree with Mac,
> "practically speaking.")

Well, scratch me deeply enough, I'm not sure I'd disagree 
with Tim, "philosophically speaking."  The problem is, as
all the truly wise philosophers recognized, we must live
in the world.  And given the number of us who must do so,
that entails rules.

With that caveat, none of the below is insufferable to me. 

MacN

> However, even if I were to start distributing the results of "Tim's
> BlackNet Dossier Service," I don't think there's any justification for
> people insisting that they have a right to "inspect" my records.
> 
> I think the current U.S. law is not too far from my own views. The credit
> reporting agencies have an obvious interest in having accurate
> information--except for the folks in the Witness program--and will
> eventually correct errors. (Not everyone is happy with the speed, but this
> is life in a world of finite resources; and I acknowledge that there are
> pathological cases of incorrect identity, etc.)
> 
> I still favor free market alternatives to top-down government "protection."
> 
> And, lest anyone think I'm lapsing in my basic beliefs, I lean toward
> throwing out _all_ laws about libel, slander, and false information. After
> all, "what is truth?," to coin a phrase.
> 
> --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."
> 
> 
>