RFC Crypto Anarchist Manifesto

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

Kudos, Tim, for adept mix of philosophy and gritty specifics, 
for brevity and wit.

When the mood strikes you, an update would be appreciated.

And, please, comments from those who have not seen this before 
or who may have forgotten.

John

--------------------

The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto

Timothy  C.  May
tcmay@netcom.com


A specter is haunting the modern world, the specter of crypto 
anarchy. 

Computer technology is on the verge of providing the ability 
for 
individuals and groups to communicate and interact with each 
other 
in a totally anonymous manner. Two persons may exchange 
messages,
conduct business, and negotiate electronic contracts without 
ever
knowing the True Name, or legal identity, of the other. 
Interactions
over networks will be untraceable, via extensive re-routing of 
encrypted
packets and tamper-proof boxes which implement cryptographic 
protocols
with nearly perfect assurance against any tampering. 
Reputations will be
of central importance, far more important in dealings than even 
the
credit ratings of today.
 
These developments will alter completely the nature of 
government 
regulation, the ability to tax and control economic 
interactions, the
ability to keep information secret, and will even alter the 
nature of
trust and reputation.

The technology for this revolution--and it surely will be both 
a social
and economic revolution--has existed in theory for the past 
decade. The
methods are based upon public-key encryption, zero-knowledge 
interactive
proof systems, and various software protocols for interaction,
authentication, and verification. The focus has until now been 
on
academic conferences in Europe and the U.S., conferences 
monitored
closely by the National Security Agency. But only recently have 
computer
networks and  personal computers attained sufficient speed to 
make the
ideas practically realizable. And the next ten years will bring 
enough
additional speed to make the ideas economically feasible and 
essentially
unstoppable. High-speed networks, ISDN, tamper-proof boxes, 
smart cards,
satellites,  Ku-band transmitters, multi-MIPS personal 
computers, and
encryption chips now under development will be some of the 
enabling
technologies. 

The State will of course try to slow or halt the spread of this 

technology, citing national security concerns, use of the 
technology by
drug dealers and tax evaders, and fears of societal 
disintegration. 

Many of these concerns will be valid; crypto anarchy will allow 

national secrets to be trade freely and will allow illicit and 
stolen
materials to be traded. An anonymous computerized market will 
even make
possible abhorrent markets for assassinations and extortion. 
Various
criminal and foreign elements will be active users of 
CryptoNet. But
this will not halt the spread of crypto anarchy.

Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the 
power of
medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will 
cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of 
corporations 
and of government interference in economic transactions. 
Combined 
with emerging information markets, crypto anarchy will create a 

liquid market for any and all material which can be put into 
words 
and pictures. And just as a seemingly minor invention like 
barbed 
wire made possible the fencing-off of vast ranches and farms, 
thus 
altering forever the concepts of land and property rights in 
the 
frontier West, so too will the seemingly minor discovery out of 
an 
arcane branch of mathematics come to be the wire clippers which 

dismantle the barbed wire around intellectual property.

Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wire fences!


-- 
.................................................................

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 | PGP Public Key: by arrangement