Re: USPS

You didn't quote the full thing:

At 5:14 PM 8/22/96, Bruce M. wrote:

>Web Week, July 8, 1996, p3

>    The Postal Service's attorneys have told the USPS that the tampering
>part of the current federal law would transfer to the electronic space,
>and that the mail fraud portion might also apply...
>
>    "We're a trusted third party," Saunders said.  "We don't have any
>interest in learning your trade secrets. However, we do have an interest
>in your reading habits, and we sometimes send, unsolicited, samples of
>child pornography to our customers, and then notify the proper authorities
>that one of our customers has taken the bait."

(Though I made up this last part, it represents reality. Postal inspectors
frequently collaborate with various national and international authorities
on matters involving pornography, fraud, pyramid schemes, and the sending
of various sorts of contraband. While FedEx, UPS, Airborne, etc., may
occasionally cooperate when a crime is called to their attention, I know of
no cases where Federal Express, for example, has become a willing and
leading partner in setting up stings. This is why the "Postal Service,"
despite nominal status as a a quasi-independent corporation, is actually
yet another enforcement arm of the government.)

The Postal Service probably has zero chance of getting into the e-mail
business in any fashion, much as they might want to. Businesses see too
many advantages in direct transmission, and are unlikely to hand the USPS
some money for the dubious benefit of slowing down the mail and (maybe)
adding some kind of signature. This is a case where businesses are fully
able to understand the role of independent encryption, signatures,
credentialling agencies, etc.

"Postal anarchy" is already the accepted norm for e-mail.

--Tim May



We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Licensed Ontologist         | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

The USPS does have a role in the world of e-commerce, but I think it's 
likely to be much less than they think. Bilateral agreements are often 
more efficient for long-term work, but for general one-off transactions, 
it's cheaper to have a _small_ number of commonly trusted third parties.

For this reason, I think it would make a lot of sense to have DMVs serve 
as certification agencies (a role they fill today).

You don't necessarily have to trust them any more than you trust a 
drivers licence for applications where 100% certaintiy is what you need, 
but for your typical commercial situation it'll do fine. 

Simon.

p.s. 
 has anyone done any studies on the cost of making different kind of 
trust decisions (both of the 'trust a CA' and various orders of the web 
of trust model? (i.e. trust as introducer^n) 



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