From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 95 20:38:34 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Timothy C. May: Mini-mailbombs and Warning Letters
Message-ID: <ac8f659c0302100475d5@[205.199.118.202]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 6:33 PM 9/27/95, Travis Corcoran wrote:

>I'm not sure whether you're objecting to someone asked for your key,
>or the fact that they did it through a semi-automated process.

If you go back to my original message you'll see that I was discussing the
rising number of spams, advertisements, and "automatically-generated"
posts.

What I call a robo-warning was this:

"  P.S.  This mail was composed by my mailreading sftwr, which
        automatically scans incoming mail, looking for failed keyserver
        requests, and prompts me whether it should automatically send this msg
        on my behalf.  If there is a bug w this sftwr (for example, you never
        PGP sign your msgs, so this entire msg makes no sense), or if you're
        interested in the software itself (mail-secure.el: a package in lisp
        for emacs; this is just one of the many crypto/privacy related things
        it does) please mail the author of this package ( tjic@openmarket.com)
        for details.


As to whether I needed to respond to your robo-warning about how your
automatic scan of incoming mail produced some kind of Signature Failure
Condition Red at your end, I just ignored your message. (As others will
attest, when people ask me for my key in a non-automated way, I usually
send it to them. I often regret this, as they then send me PGP-encrypted
mail with innocuous contents---the same reason PRZ hates to get PGP mail.)

My _overall_ point was not to attack Travis C., who I don't think I even
mentioned by name, but to point out that great care must be taken in
running automated mail-response programs (including "vacation" programs,
"I'm away from my terminal" messages, and these kinds of automated PGP
messages).

Finally, since Travis is making a fairly big deal over my citing of his
post (though anonymously, as I recall), I'd like to see the post he claims
I signed. If it has a PGP signature, it's probably an obvious spoof or
satire.


>If anyone has a constructive suggestion as to how this mail could be
>changed to convey more information or to be less "threatening", please
>mail me.

Simple, don't bother to ask in the first place. Or ask informally, in
ordinary English. Skip the "This mail was composed by my mailreading sftwr,
which automatically scans incoming mail, looking for failed keyserver
requests..." nonsense.

On a list with well over 1000 people, I don't need some fraction of them
running their own "key etiquette agents" inspecting my posts for
conformance to their preferences.

--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."