From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Sat, 3 May 1997 01:37:49 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: The Virtues of Extremism
Message-ID: <v03007801af8fdde792a8@[207.167.93.63]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



It seems to me we're seeing an obvious manfestation of the classic "inside
the Beltway" mentality. The vocal SAFE suporters are so closely aligned
with the legislative process that they can't see the forest for the trees.

I won't even speculate too much about the dynamics of why this is so, but
it's been seen time and time again. Maybe it's that their vision becomes
tunnel vision, sort of like the way a pilot focusses on his altimeter,
tapping it and not quite believing it, as his plane crashes into the
ground. Maybe this is the only world they know, the world of lobbying.
Maybe they do truly believe it's "the best deal we can get."

Well, I am not inside the Beltway, and I don't think much of _anything_
Washington does. I refused to renew my membership in the National Rifle
Association when it became clear they were "playing the game," going along
with repressive, gun-grabbing legislation because "this is the best deal we
can get."

The NRA lost a lot of members with this stance, and saw gun ownership
rights eroded at every turn. The new leadership, elected after this fiasco,
pledged that no longer would they "work with" repressive legislation. We'll
see what happens. Meanwhile, as with the Cypherpunks movement, vastly more
radical steps are needed to sanction the gun grabbers like Swinestein and
her leftist allies.

(Hint: the more extremist organizations I now work with are probably one of
the areas I'm apparently committing putative felonies in. We don't treat
the gun laws as valid, and will defend our rights against any gun grabbers.
That we use PGP means we could easily face the maximum CDT-approved
sentence. As Marc Rotenberg reminded us, the CDT wrote: ""CDT strongly
urges you to report H.R. 695, the SAFE Act, out of the Courts and
Intellectual Property Subcommittee without amendment." Fuck Congress, and
fuck CDT.)

"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."

Now more than ever Cypherpunks need to take action. If SAFE becomes law,
every single organization which supported it should be held accountable.
That means PGP, Inc., if indeed PGP, Inc. supports this repressive
legislation.

Perhaps we should think about sending letters, summarizing the points we've
been making here, to all of these organizations which signed the letter
supporting SAFE. Perhaps many of the organizations spent little time
thinking about the issues. Perhaps Roger Schlafly should speak to his
mother (head of the Eagle Forum, as I recall) about the chilling effects of
criminalizing crypto use when  any of the tens of thousands of Big
Brother-defined "prosecutable offenses" are allegedly committed.

Perhaps we should ask Phil Zimmermann why PGP, Inc. supports this. Or
perhaps he'll finally see the light when some of his anti-nuke friends are
charged with using his own product, PGP, in connection with their
"prosecutably offenses" at the Nevada Test Site! That would be ironic
indeed.

It's time we simply give up on Washington and its criminal actions.
Washington is a cancer than can only be cured with a few megatons of
nuclear disinfectant.

--Tim May, still a felon, and soon to be even more of a felon if he uses
crypto in support of his activities

There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
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."