Re: your mail Re: on anonymity, identity, reputation, and spoofing

[owen@autodesk.com (D. Owen Rowley)]

  > From: m5@vail.tivoli.com (Mike McNally)
  > D. Owen Rowley writes:
 >  > Personally I think that accountability is going to be required as the
 >  > price for reasonably secure encryption, reasonably open access, and
 >  > reasonably secure privacy of data.  IMNSHO, it is unreasonable to
 >  > expect an anarcho-libertarian outcome to these issues. If you can
 >  > prove me wrong I will be thrilled.
 
 > By whom is accountability going to be required?  How will it (or how
 > can it) be implemented?  What sort of mechanisms can be expected to
 > reliably and universally evolve in the decentralized anarchic network
 > we know today that will make "paying the price" a meaningful concept?
 > I con't prove you wrong because I cannot understand what you predict.

The comercial use of internet is growing at a very fast rate, and it is 
predicted to overtake other uses in scope eventually.

wide scale networks provide capabilitys which are very attractive to
a variety of business enterprises.

I suspect that a first pass will be made to try and use internet and the 
current suite of protocols and services as they are now.
I also suspect that such attempts will flush out a whole raft of problems and
deficiencies along with  those who exploit such things.
Hopefully new protocols and services can be developed which will minimise 
vulnerability and maximise protection for bussiness assets while allowing
us as much freedom as possible.

Nobody really knows what those things will be, and it is sorta problematic to 
make public laundrey lists of vulnerabilitys without some sort of idea
how to deal with cleaning up the mess. We are going to have to learn by 
example.

My main point though is that eventually business will find decentralised
anarchic networks to be hostile territory, and will move on to less
vulnerable, more reliable networks where user authentication, and 
accountable security are provided.

It may be that there will be barriers between the anarchic networks and
the business-place networks,that require users to provide proof of identity
before they can pass.

 >>It seems to me that multimedia extensions have an *unfolding of the lotus
 >>like effect upon the issues involved.
 
 > Explain: is it because of the medium itself or because of the nature
 > of information that'll be available with multimedia delivery systems?

yes.
:-)
seriously.. note that you asked "because of the medium itself".
It's multiMedia, thats jargon for multiple mediums interacting with each
other, and presenting data interactively on multiple fronts.

It means an unfolding from two dimensional thinking ( text) to three
dimensional thinking ( virtual reality ).


 >  > I also see very little regarding potential for breaking the mind machine
 >  > link, or biologic interfaces?
  
 > Uhhhh, OK.

perhaps you are unaware of some of the more starling things that are being 
done with biofeedback interfaces.

but even more simply than that..

lets take something mundane and achievable like hand gestures sensed by
the data-glove.

you want to get a privileged message to a colleague. If you can 
both access a data-space in real time and view an interactive simulation
of each other in a prileged manner that insures no one else can capture
and render either view, all you need to do is communicate via
ASL or even a proprietary sign language, via the dataglove interface.
this is very doable.. right now.

let the Intelligence analysts chew on that!

BTW, that scenario was suggested to me by an individual of my 
aquaintance who lives on the other side of the --uh-- tracks.
he was very keen to be able to have such privileged communication,
and cost is no factor to him, he pays in cash.
(I should point out that I turned down the offer to contract the
application)


we are about to enter into an era of computing that provides quite a bit
of potential to evade surveilance just because of the sheer multitude
of possibilities. This is what is really driving those who want to do
surveilance mad. Don't be surprsed if the ultimate result is draconian
restriction in order to reduce the odds that are currently in our favor.
Don't be surprised if you see your decentralised anarchic net go away
and never return.

LUX ./. owen