From: "Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 20:16:09 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: The EFF
In-Reply-To: <199702141704.JAA03249@netcom10.netcom.com>
Message-ID: <v03007800af2ae8818f1a@[207.167.93.63]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 9:36 AM -0800 2/14/97, Declan McCullagh wrote:

>As for the "rift," may observers said at the time that DT was a Jerry
>Berman "appeasement and capitulation" scheme. Note Berman no longer works
>at EFF. Note EFF is no lnoger in DC.
>
>And yes, I've read Tim May's essay on his EFF membership. I probably would
>have had the same reaction.
>

It might be a useful minor footnote for me to say that I did end up
renewing for a later year (though I kept getting mail as "Tim Mat"). I was
semi-persuaded that they'd learned their lesson.

I stopped paying attention to them a while back, though, and haven't
considered renewing. They just came to seem to be irrelevant as a
"membership driven" organization. (There were reportedly only about 2000
individual members as of not too long ago, and the EFF does little
recruiting for new individual members. They are definitely not following
the NRA or AARP models.)

Their legal work support has been very nice, of course.

As for Berman, he put on the "SAFE" forum, which I thought was very well
done. So, he redeemed himself, for me.

(I don't really understand personally whether the Digital Telephony (CALEA,
Computer Assistance for Law Enforcement) thing is Just Bad, or Really Bad,
or Even Worse, or Inconceivably Evil. No one seems to know what is expected
for Internet telephony providers, for example, or whether DT/CALEA could be
used to shut down remailers, as some of us fear. If DT/CALEA turns out to
be Really Bad, or Even Worse, I'll have to put Berman back on my list of
less desirable folks. :-})

--Tim May

Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside"
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,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."