Re: IRS LEARNING . . .

[Anthony D Ortenzi <ao27+@andrew.cmu.edu>]

>Anyway, back to cryptography, I do suspect that the government will
>eventually point to digital cash as justification for controlling all
>of cryptography. Or they will refuse to back it up in court as legal
>tender, thus helping undermine it. I know there's this concept called
>"reputation" that's supposed to take the place of the government
>enforcing contracts, but I have a hard time understanding just how it
>will work for very large transactions between individuals (like buying
>a house or even a used car).
>
>Phil

Think of ATM's... we use them and assume that our money is safe...
people are comparing credit cards to digital cash... the main difference
is that the credit-card companies guarantee payment, and it's NOT OUR
MONEY... also.. we get receipts for ATM transactions, would we get
encrypted receipts by e-mail that contained transaction info in a
verifiable format?  Would it be possible for a third party to somehow
carbon-copy all of your receipts to them?

It's mind-boggling, the need for security as the computer age rules our
lives...

			Anthony Ortenzi
			ao27+@andrew.cmu.edu