From: "Omegaman" <omega@bigeasy.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 19:25:15 +0800
To: Black Unicorn <unicorn@schloss.li>
Subject: Re: What is the EFF doing exactly?
Message-ID: <199609051928.OAA19142@bigeasy.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> If anyone objects the officals responsible make a wide gesture and say "We
> didn't take away your phones, CRIMINALS took away your phones."

Indeed. It appears the Unabomber has taken away the privelege of 
dropping stamped mail weighing over 16ozs into street-side mailboxes. 
One is now instructed to take these packages to a post-office mail 
clerk for mailing.

(Of course it's unclear just what would be done if a package 
weighing over that magical 16ozs was left in a mailbox)


> The real question is this, what are you going to do to anihilate anonymous
> communication, because if you think its harmful that's what you have to
> do.
> 

What strikes me as odd is that the arguments against anonymous 
communication are nearly identical to those against strong crypto.  
ie. the same four horsemen flare up in these discussions.  Yet we 
have parties who are ostensibly pro-crypto but anti-anonymity.

To put it in a nutshell, in a free society I can have a private 
conversation, but I must essentially announce that I am having one 
and who I am having that conversation with?


Do you believe the benefits of privacy outweigh the costs?  Do you 
feel the same about cryptography and believe it to be an essential 
tool to advance the privacy of individuals?  

Then you _must_ be an advocate of anonymity and anonymous 
communications.  Privacy as a right and a reality does not exist 
without the capability for anonymity.

me
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