Correction about who opposes crypto regulations....

At 2:16 AM 9/8/95, hallam@w3.org wrote:
>>Nope.  but the patriots & the cyPHerpunks share a common goal, and belief
>>that it is none of the government's business what we think or want to
>>share with our computers.
>
>Poor you, the only major political party to come out with a pro crypto
>statement
>is a socialist party.

On the contrary, the Libertarian Party has come out strongly in favor of
cryptography and privacy, and they are consistently either #3 or #4 in
popularity. (I believe Peace and Freedom is usually #4 and LP is usually
#3.)

Their home page (http://www.access.digex.net/~lphq/lphq.html) says: "The
LPHQ is the center of activities of the Libertarian Party, the third
largest political party in the U.S. We stand for individual liberty, both
in terms of personal and financial freedom."

It is impossible to argue that the Libertarian Party is opposed in any way
to the right to encrypt, and their 1994 platform makes this clear:

"We oppose all  proposed regulations of civilian research on encryption
methods. We also  oppose government classification of such research or
requirements that deciphering methods be disclosed to the government."

I point this out not to argue in favor of the LP here, but to correct a
seriously incorrect statement.


--Tim May



---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
Corralitos, CA              | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839      | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

On Thu, 7 Sep 1995, Timothy C. May wrote:

> On the contrary, the Libertarian Party has come out strongly in favor of
> cryptography and privacy, and they are consistently either #3 or #4 in
> popularity.

The US Libertarian Party Platform supports crypto, and the LP has issued
press releases critical of the FBI Telecom (wiretapping) Bill and Clipper. 
The LP was also part of the coalition against internet censorship this
year. 

The LP is the third largest political party in the US, and party members
hold over 150 elected and appointed public offices in the U.S.  They will
again have a presidential candidate on the ballot in all 50 states next
year as they did in the last election, and a potential LP presidential
candidate (Harry Browne, http://www.rahul.net/browne) will be in the
CityVote debates which will be nationally televised next month.  The LP
was also the first party to have a female candidate who won an Electoral
College vote.  For more details on the LP, you should go to 
http://www.lp.org/lp

-Thomas Edwards