From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 09:54:34 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: USPS
Message-ID: <ae422fd400021004704e@[205.199.118.202]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


You didn't quote the full thing:

At 5:14 PM 8/22/96, Bruce M. wrote:

>Web Week, July 8, 1996, p3

>    The Postal Service's attorneys have told the USPS that the tampering
>part of the current federal law would transfer to the electronic space,
>and that the mail fraud portion might also apply...
>
>    "We're a trusted third party," Saunders said.  "We don't have any
>interest in learning your trade secrets. However, we do have an interest
>in your reading habits, and we sometimes send, unsolicited, samples of
>child pornography to our customers, and then notify the proper authorities
>that one of our customers has taken the bait."

(Though I made up this last part, it represents reality. Postal inspectors
frequently collaborate with various national and international authorities
on matters involving pornography, fraud, pyramid schemes, and the sending
of various sorts of contraband. While FedEx, UPS, Airborne, etc., may
occasionally cooperate when a crime is called to their attention, I know of
no cases where Federal Express, for example, has become a willing and
leading partner in setting up stings. This is why the "Postal Service,"
despite nominal status as a a quasi-independent corporation, is actually
yet another enforcement arm of the government.)

The Postal Service probably has zero chance of getting into the e-mail
business in any fashion, much as they might want to. Businesses see too
many advantages in direct transmission, and are unlikely to hand the USPS
some money for the dubious benefit of slowing down the mail and (maybe)
adding some kind of signature. This is a case where businesses are fully
able to understand the role of independent encryption, signatures,
credentialling agencies, etc.

"Postal anarchy" is already the accepted norm for e-mail.

--Tim May



We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Licensed Ontologist         | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."