From: Omegaman <omega@bigeasy.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 15:57:40 -0800 (PST)
To: Martin Minow <fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu
Subject: Re: [Declan McCullagh: "A List Goes Down In Flames," from Netly]
Message-ID: <199702142357.PAA18119@toad.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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> The only other alternative I can see would be to limit membership --
> but not limit what members might write. 

The notion that there are "members" in some kind of formal fashion is 
inherently un-cypherpunk in my book and would most likely be 
rejected.

> Having been "on" the net for over 15 years -- and with experience in
> both ends of the censorship/moderation problem  (I'm probably the
> only Cypherpunks member to have had a book "banned in Boston"), I'm
> sorry that a handful of sociopaths managed to destroy this
> experiment in anarchy, but I suspect that this was inevitable.

In your 15 years on-line you should KNOW that it's an inevitable 
cycle inherent to anarchic forums like cypherpunks.  But the notion 
that cypherpunks is dead and destroyed is silly.  Cypherpunks will 
(and already are) reform and renew as is, I believe, necessary.  
Whether or not the name cypherpunks is used and embraced is 
irrelevant.  Those interested in cryptography as a tool of personal 
privacy and freedom will inevitable congregate in the self-organizing 
fashion that "cypherpunks" have always recognized.

The "human judgement" you are referring to is leadership.  Leadership 
is not necessarily anathema to cypherpunks.  Leadership is provided 
by those who try to post signal and ignore the noise.  Those who 
continue to push the discussion forward.  

People inevitably tire of robust forums such as this.  The sociopaths 
and the leaders come and go in waves.  Let the forum mutate in 
whatever way it chooses.
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Omegaman <mailto:omegam@cmq.com>|"When they kick out your front door,
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Send email with "get key" as the| -- The Clash, "Guns of Brixton"
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