ANOTHER FAVORABLE ARTICLE

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  SANDY SANDFORT               Reply to:  ssandfort@attmail.com
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Punksters,

Strong encryption got another boost from the hard money crowd.
The newsletter, /Strategic Investment/ featured an article
called, "Escape to Cypherspace [sic]: The Information Revolution
and the demise of the income tax."  It was written by James
Bennett who is the "Technology Editor of /Strategic Investment/
and is writing a book on nanotechnology for the M.I.T. Press.

Here is the first paragraph:

         Readers of /Strategic Investment/ are already aware
    of the crucial role of the microchip in eroding the
    power of governments over their citizens.  Recent
    developments herald an expansion of this role that
    promises to dwarf the effects seen to date.  Just as
    atomic theory was seen as an arcane interest in 1939, so
    this development, known as public-key encryption, is now
    familiar only to a handful of academics.  Yet in the
    coming decade, it may create consequences which change
    the life of everyone on the planet even more than the
    atomic bomb.

Following this was some history and theory of public key.  He had
several nice paragraphs about PGP, the Clipper chip and the
united front put up by "hackers and mainstream communications and
computer companies" in opposing the Clipper.

He explicitly mentions (and approves of) the threat offshore
banks using encryption technology pose to taxing authorities.

At one point he writes:

    This development [cypherspace commerce] will accelerate
    rapidly existing trends towards breakdown of large
    institutions and hierarchical structures.  Governments
    will have much of their revenue base undercut--and any
    attempt to tighten the screws on taxpayers will just
    increase the escape to Cypherspace.

But he later opines:

    Some observers of this trend predict a coming "crypto-
    anarchy" where governments fall apart entirely under the
    pressure of anonymous communication.  This is not
    likely.  Governments have shown an amazing adaptability
    over the millennia as they adjust to developments such
    as large-scale slavery, feudalism, gunpowder and
    industrialization.

Quite a favorable article, over all.

 S a n d y

>>>>>>    Please send e-mail to:  ssandfort@attmail.com    <<<<<<
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On cypherpunks you wrote: 
> Punksters,
> 
> Strong encryption got another boost from the hard money crowd.
> The newsletter, /Strategic Investment/ featured an article
> called, "Escape to Cypherspace [sic]: The Information Revolution
> and the demise of the income tax."  It was written by James
> Bennett who is the "Technology Editor of /Strategic Investment/
> and is writing a book on nanotechnology for the M.I.T. Press.
> 
> Here is the first paragraph:

Could you give me a pointer for more info on this newsletter?  Sounds like
it's right around where I'm ending up philosophically...

Also, I quietly took my unilateral Detweiler non-response pledge a couple
weeks ago.  I think he's getting bored with us, actually.  Unfortunately,
he's shown up on imp-interest...

Thanks,
Joe

Joe Thomas wrote, responding to Sandy Sandfort's message:
...
> > Strong encryption got another boost from the hard money crowd.
> > The newsletter, /Strategic Investment/ featured an article
> > called, "Escape to Cypherspace [sic]: The Information Revolution
> > and the demise of the income tax."  It was written by James
> > Bennett who is the "Technology Editor of /Strategic Investment/
> > and is writing a book on nanotechnology for the M.I.T. Press.
> > 
> > Here is the first paragraph:
> 
> Could you give me a pointer for more info on this newsletter?  Sounds like
> it's right around where I'm ending up philosophically...

I haven't seen this newsletter myself, though I knew Jim Bennett was
writing up something along these lines. Jim attended our first
physical Cypherpunks meeting, in the fall of 1992, and may even still
be reading this list. (Jim?)

Ironically, Jim was one of the folks who first heard about "crypto
anarchy" in the summer of 1988, at the home of Phil Salin and Gayle
Pergamit. I spoke to a group of around a dozen and got a good
reaction. One of the listeners, Dave Ross, came up with the "anonymous
escrow service," the escrow agent "Esther" who his mutually anonyous
to both Alice and Bob, but who is motivated to be an honest broker by
reason of this anonymity. (Simply, an escrow agent is interested in a
continuing revenue stream set by reputaion...this is why most
businesses "work" even when in most cases they could theoretically
rip-off or "burn" their customers.)

It's gratifying to now see the word spreading. Speaking of which, you
should all be aware that the "Wired" piece on "Crypto Rebels" is
available online from the "infobot" service at "Wired." To retrieve
it, send a message to "infobot@wired.com" and in the _body_ of the
message (which should be otherwise blank) include this line:

GET 1.2/features/crypto-rebels

There is a whole command set, and index of articles, available. I
believe the simple messages HELP and INDEX are the ones you want.

(P.S. I don't think case matters, so HELP or help should both work.)

--Tim May

-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it.