RE: What can one do for remail operators?

> I am interested in doing something to support the remailer operators
> that put their necks on the line for us cypherpunks.
>
> I have noticed people like Detweiler (dunno who he is) who are basically
> awed by the fact that a remailer crashes when you send your VM swap
> file through it, or people using it to do "nanny-nanny-boo-boo, you
> can't catch me, so pween off" messages, et al.
>
> I would like to something in support of these people who are noble
> enough to keep things running even when EVERYONE it seems is out
> to get them.
>
> If I knew any around here, they would get a free beer, and if
> the operator of Soda's remailer or Julf was in my area, they
> would get the whole keg ;).
>

I think the single most important thing we could do for remailer operators
would be to figure out how to make the remailers *truly* *anonymous*. That
is, we need a net.hack of some sort that allows remailers to send their
messages in a way that leaves no trace whatsoever of the original poster
*and* leaves no trace of the remailer itself.

Net.veterans will perhaps recall a thread I started a while back along
these lines... this is a technical problem, and I have the utmost
confidence that the skills to solve this problem are around here somewhere.
If I may make a humble suggestion, I would suggest that this problem is
more immediate and pressing than many of the issues currently being
debated.

  Philippe

From: Philippe Nave <pdn@msmail.dr.att.com>
   Date: Thu, 28 Jul 94 09:03:00 MDT

   I think the single most important thing we could do for remailer operators
   would be to figure out how to make the remailers *truly* *anonymous*. That
   is, we need a net.hack of some sort that allows remailers to send their
   messages in a way that leaves no trace whatsoever of the original poster
   *and* leaves no trace of the remailer itself.

I don't think that's possible.  A host can always tell what other host
connected to it to deliver the mail.  That's a requirement of the TCP
connection.

However, what I think remailers *can* do is create a web of remailers
that's large enough that removal of any one site isn't going to affect
the web.  That pretty much means that the web needs to automatically
keep track of all the web members, and the software that creates the
chain of messages needs to query that list.

-russ <nelson@crynwr.com>    http://www.crynwr.com/crynwr/nelson.html
Crynwr Software   | Crynwr Software sells packet driver support | ask4 PGP key
11 Grant St.      | +1 315 268 1925 (9201 FAX)  | What is thee doing about it?
Potsdam, NY 13676 | LPF member - ask me about the harm software patents do.

Philippe Nave <pdn@msmail.dr.att.com> writes:

>I think the single most important thing we could do for remailer operators
>would be to figure out how to make the remailers *truly* *anonymous*. That
>is, we need a net.hack of some sort that allows remailers to send their
>messages in a way that leaves no trace whatsoever of the original poster
>*and* leaves no trace of the remailer itself.

Hmmm...  If you could do this, you wouldn't need remailers, would you?
This is what remailers are for.

Hal