Re: Fight, or Roll Over?

[tcmay@sensemedia.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 10:10 PM 7/13/95, Robert A. Hayden wrote:
>On Thu, 13 Jul 1995, Douglas Barnes wrote:
>
>> Since the Anti-Electronic Racketeering Act of 1995 might as well
>> be called the "Anti-Cypherpunk Act of 1995", I'm surprised to see
>> Tim throw in the towel already, when the bill hasn't even made it
>> through committee yet.
>
>I don't think Tim threw in the towell on this bill, but has come to
>realize that the overall war on privacy cannot be won by concentrating on
>the individual battles.  We've ALL got to take a deep breath and come up
>with a different plan of attack; a plan that the TLAs and spooks will be
>unable to defend against.  Right now, as long as we're kept busy with
>individual bills and initiatives, they have us just where they want us.

Exactly!

By causing us to go into paroxysms of activity every time they throw a new
piece of legislation over the transom, we dissipate our efforts in more
promising areas.

There's a place for lobbying--and I'm even a member of the EFF. But
lobbying is best done by those with lobbying backgrounds, legal
backgrounds, and a penchant for fund-raising.

There was once talk, in April of '93, about the Washington, D.C.
Cypherpunks group adopting "lobbying" as their own special focus area, with
educational visits to Congressional aides and attendance at crypto-related
hearings. Nothing came of this, for whatever reasons.

Why do I mention this? Most Cypherpunks live far from Washington, and our
influence is minimal. Few can travel to D.C. on even an occasional basis,
etc. (Ironically, EFF is evacuating D.C. I won't get into what their
reasons might be, but certainly they will now have even less effect. I'll
say one thing: the leaders of EFF may have realized what a trap lobbying
can become, and have chosen to instead focus on other areas.)

Anyway, Cypherpunks is a worldwide, technological-oriented group. We can do
more by spreading technology and undermining repressive legislation than we
can by being just another ineffectual lobbying group.

As I said in another message, if folks want to do it, fine.
Organizationally and financially, we are not equipped for lobbying. No
budget, no leadership, no bylaws, no tax filings, no report writings,
nothing. (Some of these things are important for lobbying, some are less
so. The "leadership" part is pretty important: who could claim to "speak"
on behalf of Cypherpunks? Nobody.)

I suggest a different organization, a different mailing list, for this effort.

--Tim May


..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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