FWEE!: alt.prematurity

[internaut@aol.com]

*/ Ladies & Germs, /*

Certain cpunks have called for the immediate establishment of
alt.whistleblowerson Usenet. I have noted a certain respect for engineering
matters in these notes, but a lack of acknowledgement for the "other"
business involved in setting up a serious whistleblower service. I beg your
attention for a moment whilst I toss in my two cents:

As I am the person doing some of the legwork to establish the body of
Users/Subscribers for the alt.wb service (in my spare time), I would like to
request that this action NOT be taken at this time. I am as anxious as anyone
to see this become a reality, but I have learned over the years that both
information services and sex can be ruined by prematurity. You're welcome to
screw up your sex lives by cumming in your pants too soon, but PLEASE don't
give saddle this potentially IMPORTANT information service a huge birth
defect by putting it out before I am ready. There, I've admitted it, I am not
ready yet (nor are the Users). If it flies before I can set up the org's that
will take advantage of it, it would not be a good thing, IMHO.

I have mentioned prematurity before this and have been roundly ignored, to my
chagrin. Alas...

I am not suggesting that we can't begin exPERimenting in SOME way to get the
technology right, but I AM saying that we have a LOT of work to do if we want
this service to mean anything. On the other hand, if we're just a bunch of
engineers jacking off over our ideas, and not true crusaders trying to invent
a new method for busting sniveling government weasel-embezzelers, then who am
I to stop y'all?

Gee, Dave, just _why_ is it a bad idea right now?

- Not enough people are educated enough to use it. I have spoken with
Congressional staffers, media people and several activist orgs. They all need
either email accounts, PGP software and some readme files (or all three)
before they can take advantage of any WB info. They're not even sure how to
approach the issue of verification and we'll have to help them with this
concept. Imagine Picasso pitching the wonders of Assymetry to an audience of
People Who've Never Heard of Painting.

- We haven't figured out who'll be polled to send in msgs and exactly HOW
we'll offer them some sort of anonymity and what they need to do afterward.
It should be a select group at first, but we have not established the
guidelines for this service. Putting it out without any kind of guidelines
could be disastrous. This is the Trusted Reputation Issue. Please do not
underestimate this.

- Not a single cpunk has yet submitted any suggestions to me for the
Guidelines as I have asked twice. Not one person. Do that first, O Verbose
Ones! After we build such a document and have prominent people (such as
Nicholas Johnson, former FCC head under L.B.Johnson - "eh... no relation")
sign statements of support based on it (as discussed before, with I think,
nearly unanimous approval), then we can more _safely_ proceed. Have you heard
of the Declaration of Independence? They prepared that document well, got all
their Ducks in a Row and it's lasted for over 200 years. How many decades do
you think a good WB system could last/evolve for? I ask only that you engage
your long-range vision for a moment.

- Except for good ol' John Gilmore, no one has sent me their pubkey for the
list of volunteers after I publicly requested same some weeks back. Belly up
to the Bar, Dewds.

- ?

There are other excellent reasons to keep it in our collective pants for a
while, but if THESE don't convince you, then perhaps I am asking the wrong
group of folks to help get this started properly. I suggest that we set up a
dummy area and begin to conduct some experiments ala Tim May's F117A bogus
post. Hopefully, this will allow our more impatient members to spew to their
heart's delight while the rest of us continue with the legwork and phonework
to give it social armor.

Anybody can put a box out on the street and say "everybody put your
complaints in here," but it takes some real thinkers to put out a serious
whistleblower system.

Lastly, I ask your forgiveness for all my sins...

   dave

PS: Only kiddin', I never sin. Well, hardly ever these days. Well, pretty
often then, but I keep it to a few times a day. OK, well, maybe hourly, but
I'm really acting in the best interest of everyone. OK, I lied, I sin and sin
and sin every second of my existence.                    ...So sue me!