From: Zooko Journeyman <zooko@xs4all.nl>
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 23:37:27 +0800
To: cypherpunks@Algebra.COM
Subject: side effects of techno-arms-races considered beneficial
Message-ID: <199709221527.RAA06323@xs2.xs4all.nl>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



A million monkeys operating under the pseudonym 
"Will Rodger <rodger@worldnet.att.net>" typed:
>
> The one exception I recall is the position taken by the Competitive
> Enterprise Institute. The CEI took the position that no regulation at
> all was needed and that marketplace forces would police the Net.
> Their view, for better or worse, is not very visible elsewhere.
> 
> Another solution, of course, is a techno-arms race solution to
> privacy. That works for readers of this list, but that's not who the
> FTC worries about. Libertarians will, of course, shudder at the
> notion that they should.


Cypherpunks know the underlying math.  Cypherpunks have seen 
the future-- in the long run, privacy wins the techno-arms 
race (barring quantum computation etc.).  So if the battle goes
to the techno ground, we win, and everyone who values their 
privacy wins.  (_Not_ just the techie elite.  Tech comes to the
masses, too, including privacy tech.)


If the battle takes place in the Byzantine halls of power and 
opinion, then I'd say the outcome is anyone's guess.  See the
current U.S. legislative debacle.


* Creation of laws is likely to do more harm than good -- this
 is one reason to abjure legislation and lobbyism and work on 
 coding and distributing.


This much is already known to my readers.  I'd like to add 
another detail:  Techno arms races have positive side effects!
Ratings systems, reputations, markets, scripting languages, CPU
tech, distributed computing, information security and smart 
agents technologies which enhance our privacy tech, or which 
are enhanced by our privacy tech, or both.


* Even a _good_ law which _solves_ a problem interferes with 
 the development of technological solution to the problem.  A 
 solution which might have had broader applications.  This is 
 another reason to abjure such kludges.



Regards,

Zooko, Journeyman Hacker

P.S.  Anybody remember that stupid phrase from Wired: "To hack
politics down to its component parts and fix it."?  Egh.  I'd 
sooner code a critical system in COBOL while stupid and/or 
malicious strangers edit my code and my development environment
without warning.  Which is to say:  I wouldn't try!

P.P.S.  Because "Techno arms races have positive side effects."
is why I like spam.  It forces people to learn about killfiles,
digital authentication, resource management, denial-of-service
attacks and suchlike.  Unless a law manages to silence the
offensive speakers and return the masses to their inflexible,
insecure environments.