From: "Joey Grasty" <jgrasty@gate.net>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 11:27:15 +0800
To: Sam Quigley <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: remailer network/winsock remailers
Message-ID: <199607260008.UAA29844@osceola.gate.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Sam wrote:

> 
> Hi,
> 
> I've been unsubscribed from the list for a while, and only recently 
> rejopined, so this issue may well have been addressed in my absence.  If 
> not, though, here:
> 
> It occurs to me that, with the invention of the winsock remailers, we 
> have the potential to establish a very widespread and distributed network 
> of part-time remailers.  Specifically, it seems like there are a lot of 
> users who are only connected to the internet for short periods (PPP/SLIP) 
> or who only have full control over their machines for short periods.  
> These computers could not normally be used to run remailers as mail 
> would bounce when the computer/remailer software is down.
> 

Actually, the way the WinSock Remailer works is that the user's ISP spools
the mail and the remailer fetches it from the mail spool via the POP3
protocol.  Thus, as long as the mail spool does not overflow, messages
will not be lost.

As I develop the remailer, one of the features I'm adding is the ability
of the remailer to fetch only the messages with valid remail headers and
leave the remaining messages in the mail spool.  In this way, the 
mail spool is shared between the user and the remailer.  The only 
disadvantage is that all of the improperly formatted messages end up
in the user's mailbox.  An annoyance.

Another feature I'm adding is the ability to remail outgoing messages
through another remailer to hide the origin of the message.  This is to
hide the presence of the remailer or to provide a discardable account that
takes all the heat for spams, harrassment, etc.  Thus, a limited stealth 
capability is achieved.  A third feature is to accept inputs from a 
message pool, say alt.anonymous.messages, and remail them through another
remailer.  These are both attempts to increase the number of available
remailers and to develop some way to make remailers more resistant to
governments and other speedbumps on the internet.

Regards,

--
Joey Grasty
jgrasty@gate.net [home -- encryption, privacy, RKBA and other hopeless causes]
jgrasty@pts.mot.com [work -- designing pagers]
"Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random digits is,
of course, in a state of sin." -- John Von Neumann
PGP = A7 CC 31 E4 7E A3 36 13  93 F4 C9 06 89 51 F5 A7