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 * Reply to msg originally in CYPHERPUNKS

> From: [email protected] (J. Michael Diehl)

> I had heard a rumor that fidonet forbade encrypted e-mail, but I
> had to find out for myself.  Well, they do.

No, they do not.  This is a myth, and you have drawn a mistaken
conclusion from your experiment.

This thread has already run off into left field by the time I got to it,
but to try to drag a little reality back in, I submit the following:

FIDOnet has within it SECURENET, which is a netmail-handling network
specifically for encrypted netmail.  Mail points not wishing to handle
PGPed or other encrypted netmail are provided with software to
automatically remove PGP netmail and re-route it into the FIDO SECURENET
network.

FIDOnet has at least two conferences specifically for PGP and other
public-key encryption system discussions and key exchange, PUBLIC_KEYS
and KEY_DROP (if I remember correctly).

Now, the point most internet people forget is that FIDOnet hosts are
hobbyists with 100% privately-owned machines and generally pay for the
entire participation of their userbase out of their own pockets,
excepting a few who get some dollars here and there from their generous
callers.  As a completely justified consequence, they can decide if they
allow encrypted traffic _on their individual BBSs_.  In that there is
considerable fear of the consequences of illegal activity being
conducted on their BBSs via encrypted mail, many sysops (such as the one
you mention, leaving aside, for now, that he apparently confused a PGP
key with an encrypted message) do not wish to take the risk and forbid
encrypted traffic.  They also monitor e-mail, if only incidentally
during the course of routine system maintenance, and notices to this
effect are generally contained in log-on screens and new-user info
files.

In that these sysops are extremely, _personally_ vulnerable, they are
generally more cautious than those internet folks who can hide behind
institutions and businesses.

In spite of this, there are a very large number of FIDOnet sysops who
participate in SECURENET and encourage the spread of encryption
technology to the general public.