Re: Politics do not belong here

Jer-
	I'm sorry, but I feel so strongly about your message "Politics do
not belong on this list" that I was compelled to reply...
	Where else should the poltical implications of  encryption be
discussed, if not amongst those who are most involved in its creation and
proliferation?  The political use and misuse of power is central to the
issues regarding encryption, and these ramifications should be discussed as
the technology is in its infancy. Encryption technology can be used as a
tool to empower the individual, or it can be used as a means to lend a
false security to the individual in his communications. If in fact the
Clipper Chip with its easily obtainable (by government agencies) escrow
keys is allowed to be implimented, we may in fact be assisting the
government to effect a survelliance state of a maginitude never before seen
in society. As American homes become host to "interactive" technologies, we
need to realize the increased ability this brings for surveillance by both
government and capitalistic enterprises. Encryption is one viable solution
to re-instate the privacy equlibrium in the face of such a condition- this
is where its power lies. 
	Encryption, then, is not merely a mathematical tool, but also a
sociological one; to discuss merely the technological and not the social
and moral implications of this techology would be to not realize its full
potential as a mediator to the coming state of "Big Brother is watching
You". Politics, then, is not periferal but central to the discussion of
encryption technology.

     Julie
__________________________________________________________________________

Julie M. Albright
Ph.D Student
Department of Sociology
University of Southern California
albright@netcom.com

Excerpts from internet.cypherpunks: 2-Apr-94 Re:  Politics do not
belong.. by Julietta@chaph.usc.edu 
>         I'm sorry, but I feel so strongly about your message "Politics
> do not belong on this list" that I was compelled to reply...
[.. stuff that I agree with follows ..]

Many apologies. Aparently I was not clear enough in defining what I
meant by politics. I was refering to bickering about the correctness of
liberals or conservatives, left or right, etc. Cryptography is
political, a point which I alluded to in my original post, but unless
you're in the Cryptoparty or the Big Brother party, which party line you
subscribe to matters little. Politicly, cypherpunks is a one-issue list,
and flaming about "my party is better than yours" serves only to clog
peoples' mailboxes and create discord.
I'm not quite sure I'm being clear here (it's kinda late), what I mean
to say is that IMO, you should check your non-crypto-related idealogy at
the login prompt when posting to this list.

Excerpts from internet.cypherpunks: 2-Apr-94 Re: Politics do not belong
.. by Greg Broiles@ideath.gold 
> I don't think there is one agenda shared by all
> list subscribers. As I see it, "cypherpunks" follows the Earth First!
> model of (dis/anti) organization - there are no leaders, there is no
> "policy", there is no voting, there is no platform.

Saying that Earth First! doesn't have an agenda is, as I see it, wrong.
They exist to protect the environment. As in any organization, they are
not homogeneous, but there is an underlying direction. The same with
cypherpunks. The very name implies some sort of drive towards widespread
strong encryption. Not everyone agrees on how to go about it, but one
can definatly perceive an agenda (probably "thrust" is a better word).

Greg Broiles continues...
> Our differences and disagreements are
> significant but they can also distract us from shared goals.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Jer

darklord@cmu.edu | "it's not a matter of rights  / it's just a matter of war
finger me for my |  don't have a reason to fight / they never had one before"
   Geek Code and |                                    -Ministry, "Hero"
  PGP public key | http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr25/jbde/

> 
> Many apologies. Aparently I was not clear enough in defining what I
> meant by politics. I was refering to bickering about the correctness of
> liberals or conservatives, left or right, etc.

Well, now that we've gotten THAT straightened out..  
I guess its always helpful to be clear in one's wording, hmm? 
Hopefully this will be the end of this thread- I'll go back to lurking
again for now. By the way- am reading 1984 again- I
think we should definetly get those NSA shirts out "We're just running a
little late"! Scary!

Ciao for now..

                                Julie

____________________________________________________________________________
Julie Albright
Ph.D Student
Department of Sociology
University of Southern California
albright@netcom.com