From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 01:22:22 +0800
To: Fisher Mark <cypherpunks@cyberpass.net>
Subject: RE: Br'er Tim and the Bug Hole
In-Reply-To: <2328C77FF9F2D011AE970000F84104A7493430@indyexch_fddi.indy.tce.com>
Message-ID: <v03102802b090d5290cea@[207.167.93.63]>
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At 6:39 AM -0700 11/13/97, Fisher Mark wrote:

>I think you are falling into the "map _is_ the territory" mistake here,
>Bob.  Tim is just speaking his mind, lucidly and forcefully as usual.
>(The same way you do, which is why I enjoy reading both your posts so
>much, although your prose styles differ so greatly.)  Tim isn't "waving
>your Glock at the local sherriff" -- he is talking about his actions if
>law enforcement decides to violate the Constitution personally upon him.
>Although it is certainly the case that all rights, at their boundaries,
>may be observed more in the breech, I don't think the situation is so
>bad _yet_ that Tim has to lay awake nights worrying about a no-knock.

Indeed, I'm saying I plan to defend myself should a Donald Scott-type
predawn raid occur. (The FBI fax about gun stockpilers, the Northwest
connection, the Jim Bell sentencing at about the same time, and other
indicators tell me that the upcoming months could be crucial.)

>Tim, I guess I see you as someone who has spotted a bunch of
>thunderclouds on the horizon, so you have decided to stock up on
>raingear before the deluge.  But, with a little luck and a lot of common
>sense on the part of the populace, neither Tim nor anyone else will have
>to go through that particular hell.  As one additional datapoint, when

Yep, "there's a storm coming." A great line from a great movie.

Those "increasing numbers of laws I'm a felon under" are how the government
threatens those who speak out, those who exercise constitutional rights.
Civil forfeiture, RICO, and selective prosecution are becoming major tools
to suppress dissident actions.


>Tim, from what I understand of what he said, is just getting prepared if
>the worst comes.  One of the functions of this list as I see it is just
>this sort of preparation, which can often stave off the actual worst.
>If those who would desire this sort of power over the population are
>made aware that the population won't stand for it, they are less likely
>to continue to seek that level of power.

Just so.

Frankly, I have a lot more interest these days in practicing down at the
gun range than I do in trying to "do crypto" by, for example, wading
through the SET specs.

(I heard some talks on SET at last year's Hackers Conference, and it was
mind-numbingly boring stuff. Several pounds of bureaucratic bullshit. And
nothing to do with Cypherpunks goals, either. Just a credit card company
spec, about as Cypherpunkish as exploring printer driver protocols.)

For those forced by their employers to work on SET, may you pray at the
Temple of SET, San Francisco Zodiac Chapter. I'll be somewhere else.

--Tim May

The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^2,976,221   | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."