From: liberty@gate.net (Jim Ray)
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 1995 23:24:41 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Encryption Politics (was Re: "Dear Newt" Letter...)
Message-ID: <199511221444.JAA137201@tequesta.gate.net>
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Phill <hallam@w3.org> wrote:

<snip + slight reformat>

>If you make it a party issue you will not only lose but risk turning the 
>clock the other way. At the moment everyone knows that the export control 
>laws are not stopping people from getting PGP. It is not a good idea to
>rub peoples noses in it.

Why not? It gets the issue talked about when it otherwise wouldn't be.
The cypherpunks are the Dr. Kevorkians of stupid US export laws.

>It is easy to ignore export violations by turning a blind eye. It is 
>difficult to turn a blind eye when people are so anxious to announce what
>is going on.

Exactly. I plan to go to the Nandotimes article at URL
http://www2.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/info/info429_4.html
and see what it looks like with a few substitutions like
"cars," "highways," and "doorlocks" for words like "encode"
or "encrypt." Sarcasm is often the last refuge libertarians
have in these humor-impaired times, but it keeps me sane. :)

>Phil Z. is not having problems because he wrote PGP, he
>is having problems because he made sure the FBI couldn't pretend they
>did not know what was going on.

Well, not exactly. I believe from what I've seen here before that
it was Kelly Goen(sp?) who did this. Of course, I've advocated
everyone taking legal responsibility for Kelly's actions as a kind
of protest against creeping Naziism in "our" government (see my
"An Old Idea" post, buried somewhere in the c-punk archives).

>If you make encryption a party issue then one of those Grassley bills
>will pass and the President in power may not veto it.

Encryption _IS_ a party issue, and quite possibly an effective one
if we used it correctly, for the *Libertarian* Party! The actions
of both "major" parties would have been [IMO] bad PR if the media
decided to do their jobs (I know, big "if"). There is, of course, 
institutional L. party resistance to putting the individual right
to strong encryption on the "front burner" because our "generals,"
despite a consistent record of losing battles, insist on fighting
the last war (that is, when we aren't busy fighting eachother).
<sigh>
JMR

 [Who takes this opportunity to remind SO FL cypherpunks of the
  party at 7:30PM on Wed. Nov. 29th.]


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Regards, Jim Ray --  http://www.shopmiami.com/prs/jimray

 "This year will go down in history, for the first time a civilized
  nation has full gun registration!  Our streets will be safer, our
  police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead in the
  future." -- Adolf Hitler, 1935

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