349 lines
19 KiB
Markdown
349 lines
19 KiB
Markdown
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1. Introduction
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1.1. copyright
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THE CYPHERNOMICON: Cypherpunks FAQ and More, Version 0.666,
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1994-09-10, Copyright Timothy C. May. All rights reserved.
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See the detailed disclaimer. Use short sections under "fair
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use" provisions, with appropriate credit, but don't put your
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name on my words.
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1.2. Foreword
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- The Cypherpunks have existed since September, 1992. In that
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time, a vast amount has been written on cryptography, key
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escrow, Clipper, the Net, the Information Superhighway, cyber
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terrorists, and crypto anarchy. We have found ourselves (or
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_placed_ ourselves) at the center of the storm.
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- This FAQ may help to fill in some gaps about what we're
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about, what motivates us, and where we're going. And maybe
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some useful knowledge on crypto, remailers, anonymity,
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digital cash, and other interesting things.
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+ The Basic Issues
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+ Great Divide: privacy vs. compliance with laws
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+ free speech and privacy, even if means some criminals
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cannot be caught (a stand the U.S. Constitution was
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strongly in favor of, at one time)
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- a man's home is his castle...the essence of the Magna
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Carta systems...rights of the individual to be secure
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from random searches
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+ or invasive tactics to catch criminals, regulate
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behavior, and control the population
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- the legitimate needs to enforce laws, to respond to
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situations
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+ this parallels the issue of self-protection vs.
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protection by law and police
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- as seen in the gun debate
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- crypto = guns in the sense of being an individual's
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preemptive protection
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- past the point of no return
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- Strong crypto as building material for a new age
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+ Transnationalism and Increased Degrees of Freedom
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- governments can't hope to control movements and
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communications of citizens; borders are transparent
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+ Not all list members share all views
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- This is not "the Official Cypherpunks FAQ." No such thing
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can exist. This is the FAQ I wanted written. Views
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expressed are my own, with as much input from others, as
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much consensus, as I can manage. If you want a radically
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different FAQ, write it yourself. If you don't like this
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FAQ, don't read it. And tell your friends not to read it.
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But don't bog down my mailbox, or the 500 others on the
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list, with messages about how you would have worded Section
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12.4.7.2 slightly differently, or how Section 6.9.12 does
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not fully reflect your views. For obvious reasons.
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- All FAQs are the products of a primary author, sometimes of
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a committee. For this FAQ, I am the sole author. At least
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of the version you are reading now. Future versions may
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have more input from others, though this makes me nervous
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(I favor new authors writing their own stuff, or using
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hypertext links, rather than taking my basic writing and
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attaching their name to it--it is true that I include the
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quotes of many folks here, but I do so by explicitly
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quoting them in the chunk they wrote....it will be tough
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for later authors to clearly mark what Tim May wrote
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without excessively cluttering the text. The revisionist's
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dilemma.
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- The list has a lot of radical libertarians, some anarcho-
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capitalists, and even a few socialists
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- Mostly computer-related folks, as might be expected. (There
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are some political scientists, classical scholars, etc.
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Even a few current or ex-lawyers.)
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+ Do I Speak for Others?
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- As I said, no. But sometimes I make claims about what
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"most" list members believe, what "many" believe, or what
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"some" believe.
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- "Most" is my best judgment of what the majority believe,
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at least the vocal majority in Cypherpunks discussions
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(at the physical meetings, parties, etc.) and on the
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List. "Many" means fewer, and "some" fewer still. "A few"
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will mean a distinct minority. Note that this is from the
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last 18 months of activity (so don't send in
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clarifications now to try to "sway the vote").
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- In particular, some members may be quite uncomfortable
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being described as anarchists, crypto anarchists, money
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launderers, etc.
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+ My comments won't please everyone
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- on nearly every point ever presented, some have disagreed
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- feuds, battles, flames, idee fixes
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- on issues ranging from gun control to Dolphin Encrypt to
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various pet theories held dearly
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- Someone once made a mundane joke about pseudonyms being
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like multiple personality disorder--and a flame came back
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saying: "That's not funny. I am MPD and my SO is MPD.
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Please stop immediately!"
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- can't be helped....can't present all sides to all arguments
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+ Focus of this FAQ is U.S.-centric, for various reasons
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- most on list are in U.S., and I am in U.S.
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- NSA and crypto community is largely centered in the U.S.,
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with some strong European activities
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- U.S. law is likely to influence overseas law
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+ We are at a fork in the road, a Great Divide
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- Surveillance vs. Freedom
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- nothing in the middle...either strong crypto and privacy is
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strongly limited, or the things I describe here will be
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done by some people....hence the "tipping factor" applies
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(point of no return, horses out of the barn)
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+ I make no claim to speaking "for the group." If you're
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offended, write your own FAQ. My focus on things loosely
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called "crypto anarchy" is just that: my _focus_. This focus
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naturally percolates over into something like this FAQ, just
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as someone primarily interested in the mechanics of PGP would
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devote more space to PGP issues than I have.
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- Gary Jeffers, for example, devotes most of his "CEB" to
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issues surrounding PGP.
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+ Will leave out some of the highly detailed items...
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- Clipper, LEAF, escrow, Denning, etc.
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- a myriad of encryption programs, bulk ciphers, variants on
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PGP, etc. Some of these I've listed...others I've had to
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throw my hands over and just ignore. (Keeping track of
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zillions of versions for dozens of platforms...)
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- easy to get lost in the details, buried in the bullshit
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1.3. Motivations
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1.3.1. With so much material available, why another FAQ?
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1.3.2. No convenient access to archives of the list....and who could
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read 50 MB of stuff anyway?
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1.3.3. Why not Web? (Mosaic, Http, URL, etc.)
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- Why not a navigable Web document?
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- This is becoming trendy. Lots of URLs are included here, in
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fact. But making all documents into Web documents has
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downsides.
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+ Reasons why not:
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- No easy access for me.
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- Many others also lack access. Text still rules.
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- Not at all clear that a collection of hundreds of
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fragments is useful
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- I like the structured editors available on my Mac
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(specifically, MORE, an outline editor)
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-
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1.3.4. What the Essential Points Are
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- It's easy to lose track of what the core issues are, what
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the really important points are. In a FAQ like this, a vast
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amount of "cruft" is presented, that is, a vast amount of
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miscellaneous, tangential, and epiphenomenal material.
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Names of PGP versions, variants on steganograhy, and other
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such stuff, all of which will change over the next few
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months and years.
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+ And yet that's partly what a FAQ is for. The key is just
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not to lose track of the key ideas. I've mentioned what I
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think are the important ideas many times. To wit:
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- that many approaches to crypto exist
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- that governments essentially cannot stop most of these
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approaches, short of establishing a police state (and
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probably not even then)
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- core issues of identity, authentication, pseudonyms,
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reputations, etc.
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1.4. Who Should Read This
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1.4.1. "Should I read this?"
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- Yes, reading this will point you toward other sources of
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information, will answer the most commonly asked questions,
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and will (hopefully) head off the reappearance of the same
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tired themes every few months.
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- Use a search tool if you have one. Grep for the things that
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interest you, etc. The granularity of this FAQ does not
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lend itself to Web conversion, at least not with present
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tools.
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+ What _Won't_ Be Covered Here
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+ basic cryptography
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+ many good texts, FAQs, etc., written by full-time
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cryptologists and educators
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- in particular, some of the ideas are not simple, and
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take several pages of well-written text to get the
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point across
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- not the focus of this FAQ
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- basic political rants
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1.5. Comments on Style and Thoroughness
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1.5.1. "Why is this FAQ not in Mosaic form?"
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- because the author (tcmay, as of 7/94) does not have Mosaic
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access, and even if did, would not necessarily....
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- linear text is still fine for some things...can be read on
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all platforms, can be printed out, and can be searched with
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standard grep and similar tools
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1.5.2. "Why the mix of styles?"
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+ There are three main types of styles here:
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- Standard prose sections, explaining some point or listing
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things. Mini-essays, like most posts to Cypherpunks.
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+ Short, outline-style comments
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- that I didn't have time or willpower to expand into
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prose format
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- that work best in outline format anyway
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- like this
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+ Quotes from others
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- Cypherpunks are a bright group. A lot of clever things
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have been said in the 600 days x 40 posts/day = 24,000
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posts, and I am trying to use what I can.
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+ Sadly, only a tiny fraction can be used
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- because I simply cannot _read_ even a fraction of
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these posts over again (though I've only saved
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several thousand of the posts)
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- and because including too many of these posts would
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simply make the FAQ too long (it's still too long, I
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suppose)
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- I hope you can handle the changes in tone of voice, in
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styles, and even in formats. It'll just too much time to
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make it all read uniformly.
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1.5.3. Despite the length of this thing, a vast amount of stuff is
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missing. There have been hundreds of incisive analyses by
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Cypherpunks, dozens of survey articles on Clipper, and
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thousands of clever remarks. Alas, only a few of them here.
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- And with 25 or more books on the Internet, hundreds of FAQs
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and URLs, it's clear that we're all drowning in a sea of
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information about the Net.
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- Ironically, good old-fashioned books have a lot more
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relevant and timeless information.
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1.5.4. Caveats on the completeness or accuracy of this FAQ
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+ not all points are fully fleshed out...the outline nature
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means that nearly all points could be further added-to,
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subdivided, taxonomized, and generally fleshed-out with
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more points, counterpoints, examples
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- like a giant tree...branches, leaves, tangled hierarchies
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+ It is inevitable that conflicting points will be made in a
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document of this size
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- views change, but don't get corrected in all places
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- different contexts lead to different viewpoints
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- simple failure by me to be fully consistent
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- and many points raised here would, if put into an essay
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for the Cypherpunks list, generate comments, rebuttals,
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debate, and even acrimony....I cannot expect to have all
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sides represented fully, especially as the issues are
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often murky, unresolved, in dispute, and generally
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controversial
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- inconsistencies in the points here in this FAQ
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1.6. Corrections and Elaborations
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+ "How to handle corrections or clarifications?"
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- While I have done my best to ensure accuracy, errors will
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no doubt exist. And as anyone can see from reading the
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Cypherpunks list, nearly *any* statement made about any
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subject can produce a flurry of rebuttals, caveats,
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expansions, and whatnot. Some subjects, such as the nature
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of money, the role of Cypherpunks, and the role of
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reputations, produce dozens of differing opinions every
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time they come up!
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- So, it is not likely that my points here will be any
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different. Fortunately, the sheer number of points here
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means that not every one of them will be disagreed with.
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But the math is pretty clear: if every reader finds even
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one thing to disagree with and then posts his rebuttal or
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elaboration....disaster! (Especially if some people can't
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trim quotes properly and end up including a big chunk of
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text.)
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+ Recommendations
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- Send corrections of _fact_ to me
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- If you disagree with my opinion, and you think you can
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change my mind, or cause me to include your opinion as an
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elaboration or as a dissenting view, then send it. If
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your point requires long debate or is a deep
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disagreement, then I doubt I have the time or energy to
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debate. If you want your views heard, write your own FAQ!
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- Ultimately, send what you want. But I of course will
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evaluate comments and apply a reputation-based filter to
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the traffic. Those who send me concise, well-reasoned
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corrections or clarifications are likelier to be listened
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to than those who barrage me with minor clarifications
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and elaborations.
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- In short, this is not a group project. The "stone soup
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FAQ" is not what this is.
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+ More information
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- Please don't send me e-mail asking for more information
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on a particular topic--I just can't handle custom
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research. This FAQ is long enough, and the Glossary at
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the end contains additional information, so that I cannot
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expand upon these topics (unless there is a general
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debate on the list). In other words, don't assume this
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FAQ is an entry point into a larger data base I will
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generate. I hate to sound so blunt, but I've seen the
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requests that come in every time I write a fairly long
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article.
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+ Tips on feedback
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- Comments about writing style, of the form "I would have
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written it _this_ way," are especially unwelcome.
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+ Credit issues
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- inevitable that omissions or collisions will occur
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- ideas have many fathers
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- some ideas have been "in the air" for many years
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+ slogans are especially problematic
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- "They can have my...."...I credit Barlow with this, but
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I've heard others use it independently (I think; at least
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I used it before hearing Barlow used it)
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- "If crypto is outlawed, only outlaws will have crypto"
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- "Big Brother Inside"
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- if something really bothers you, send me a note
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1.7. Acknowledgements
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1.7.1. Acknowledgements
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- My chief thanks go to the several hundred active
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Cypherpunks posters, past and present.
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- All rights reserved. Copyright Timothy C. May. Don't try to
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sell this or incorporate it into anything that is sold.
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Quoting brief sections is "fair use"...quoting long
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sections is not.
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1.8. Ideas and Notes (not to be printed)
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1.8.1. Graphics for cover
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- two blocks...plaintext to cryptotext
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- Cypherpunks FAQ
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- compiled by Timothy C. May, tcmay@netcom.com
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- with help from many Cypherpunks
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- with material from other sources
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- <credited in angle brackets>
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1.8.2. "So don't ask"
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1.9. Things are moving quickly in crypto and crypto policy
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1.9.1. hard to keep this FAQ current, as info changes
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1.9.2. PGP in state of flux
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1.9.3. new versions of tools coming constantly
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1.9.4. And the whole Clipper thing has been turned on its head
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recently by the Administration's backing off...lots of points
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already made here are now rendered moot and are primarily of
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historical interest only.
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- Gore's letter to Cantwell
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- Whit Diffie described a conference on key escrow systems in
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Karlsruhe, Germany, which seemed to contain new ideas
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- TIS? (can't use this info?)
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1.10. Notes: The Cyphernomicon: the CypherFAQ and More
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1.10.1. 2.3.1. "The Book of Encyphered Names"
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- Ibn al-Taz Khallikak, the Pine Barrens Horror.
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- Liber Grimoiris....Cifur???
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- spreading from the Sumerian sands, through the gate of
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Ishtar, to the back alleys of Damascus, tempered with the
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blood of Westerners
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- Keys of Solomon, Kool John Dee and the Rapping Cryps Gone
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to Croatan
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- Peter Krypotkin, the Russian crypto anarchist
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- Twenty-nine Primes, California
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1.10.2. 2.3.2. THE CYPHERNOMICON: a Cypherpunk FAQ and More---
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Version 0.666
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1.10.3. 1994-09-01, Copyright Timothy C. May, tcmay@netcom.com
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1.10.4.
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- Written and compiled by Tim May, except as noted by
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credits. (Influenced by years of good posts on the
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Cypherpunks list.) Permission is granted to post and
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distribute this document in an unaltered and complete
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state, for non-profit and educational purposes only.
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Reasonable quoting under "fair use" provisions is
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permitted. See the detailed disclaimer of responsibilities
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and liabilities in the Introduction chapter.
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