From: Bill Stewart <stewarts@ix.netcom.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 18:34:22 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Signing nyms' keys (Was: Report on Portland Cpunks...)
Message-ID: <199601260940.BAA26328@ix7.ix.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


>> Over time, some nyms take on a distinct identity of their own. [...] The
>> thought, therefore, as I imagine it would be "You don't know I am in person,
>> but you can count on me to be who I am, with this style and set of views,
>> and I say that this guy is another actual person with the same."

This much can be accomplished by the nym-user signing all messages 
with a consistent key.  However, a signature does somewhat assert that
the signer believes the keyholder is the same John Doe that folks in the
signer's circle of acquaintances expect, and that the purported keyholder
(who may still be anonymous/pseudonymous) really holds the key,
and maybe that the keyholder is the only person with that name whose
key he's signed.
#--
#				Thanks;  Bill
# Bill Stewart, stewarts@ix.netcom.com, Pager/Voicemail 1-408-787-1281
#
# "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" used to mean us watching
# the government, not the other way around....