Second-Hand-Remailers

[faust@cd.chalmers.se]

Second Hand Remailers (SHR).

As more users get a taste of the sweet flavor of freedom, more remailers 
must be connected.

Not only to stand the pressure of the mail, but also to assure the cypherpunks
that they aren't using remailerX.cypherpunks.GOV!

As Mr. Zimmmerman so nice states in the PGP.DOC , we need a grassrot-like
organisation.

But how do we get this? Keeping a remailer on a system you don't own, are not
THAT appealing for the usual 'heck-I-want-freedom-FREE' person.

The answer is Second Hand Remailers.

A Second Hand Remailer is just like a ordinary cypherpunk remailer, with 
one difference, it only forwards mail to 'approved' systems, i.e normally
other SHR's or LHR's (Last Hand Remailers, like those existing today.).

In this way, the owner of the account of a SHR will be able to check up ALL
forward-to-adresses before he starts, and thus keeps HIM from getting any 
flame for pumping GIGs of bad things into the net.

(Since there will only be few LHR's , operators who don't want to have 
 anonymously postings in their newsgroups/systems can easily keep track of 
 which to refuse mail from.)

Since the mail only passes thru the SHR's and will not be dropped into the net
by the SHR but rather thru a LHR,
(which, btw even can be a remailer.GOV if you don't care about the reciever and
 don't include any revealing signatures, like encrypting with your public-key.)  
the SHR's can't really be blamed for anything.

This fact that you can contribute to the great fight for freedom without 
risking anything, must certainly appeal to all you cypherpunks?

What we just need is to change the script for the ordinary remailers to first
match the remail-to adress with a aproved list of other remailers.
This should not be hard, should it?

Imagine, if we just can find an easy way for the ordinary user to set up a 
SHR, there will be no way to stop or track the remailing since there will be
thousands of remailers available and many will be 'friend-of-a-friend's and
maybe not even published.
(you trade SHR adresses with people you trust in the same way as you introduce
 new public keys of people you trust to other by signing them.)

And, when more remailers get's into the scene, there will be a possibility
to make adress-headers by chaining SEVERAL SHR's with one or more LHR's.
The SHR's can be chosen among people who you know and whose computers are
located near you.

But with increasing chains, there will be increasing header-sizes, and there
will most certainly go down some SHR's/day so you have to update your headers
often.
This two fact forces us to install some kind of header-site where you can 
pick up a fresh adress-header for a given pseudonym, preferly together with
that pseudonym's public key.
(and send your new header when a SHR's you used have bailed out.)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, we need a service exactly like the
PGP-key server but who also supports adress-headers!

Regards, Faust 		- Ziffer macht frei -