Re: BoardWatch on digital cash

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

Stanton McCandlish writes:

> See current (July 1994) _BoardWatch_, pp. 60-63.  There's an article on an
> e-money scheme called NetCash.  Unfortunately it is utterly stupid, but
> BW is giving it a semi-endorsement.  Some of you d-c afficionados might
> like to disabuse them of some notions. 
> 
> Some of the flaws:
> 
> 1) not cryptographically secure
...rest of flaws elided...

Indeed, there are many kinds of "digital cash" or "digital money"
being floated. I suspect the term is about to join "Information
Superhighway" and "infobahn" in the popular media.

But all but a very few of them are polar opposites of what we as
Cypherpunks want. Microsoft wants home banking, VISA wants it, and
various cryptographically-incompetent schemes are being proposed.

As you on this list all know, these are Bad Ideas.

What we can do to head them off or to deploy the right kinds of
systems is the challenge ahead of us.

Our apparent victory in the Clipper matter (the public scorn for
Clipper, the editorials against it, the weaknesses exposed, and the
favorable articles about CPs) may serve us in good stead. But it will
be a tough struggle, as things are moving fast behind the scenes.

(My greatest fear: legislation to support home/cable banking, with
restriction on competitors.)


--Tim May



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