Re: Let the Snake Oil Flow

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

At 4:38 AM 2/23/96, sameer wrote:
>>
>> Please don't misunderstand...I'm not _approving_ of snake oil, just
>> suggesting that maybe the list shouldn't go into paroxysms every time
>> someone reveals their Captain Midnight Decoder Ring crypto system.
>
>        Right. it's a tough call though. Suppose the list didn't go
>into paroxysms and someone lost big by using snake oil. Then our
>friends at FV will say "oh look at this crypto which lost people
>money". -- and we did nothing to prevent that opportunity.
>        I'm not saying that paroxysms are -good-, just that one should
>be wary of the consequences of what may happen if someone loses big to
>snake oil.

Right, a tough call.

Some people are more _interventionist_ than others. Me, I'm not too worried
that someone will "lose big" by listening to snake oil salesmen...people
lose big every day, by smoking, driving too fast, enlisting in the Army,
whatever. I long ago gave up trying to protect others.

(Why I participate so strongly in this list has various possible answers.
Nothing better to do is one theory. An interest in the implications of
strong cryptography is another theory. Being an introvert--in Jung's actual
terms, not the popular misinterpretation of Jung--is another.)

I guess I gave up on worrying too much about other people making the wrong
decsions. And given that "the Cypherpunks" have no organization, no role in
evaluating and recommending crypto code, except insofar as they act as
individuals, I don't worry too much about lost sheep going astray.

Those who used to believe in snake oil--the original kind--got culled out
of the population as a result. Religion now serves the same role,
especially Christian Science. Frankly, if people want to believe that First
Virtual is better than cryptography, or that Internet Security Guaranteed
can really guaranty security with their fabulations about prime wheels and
reusable one-time pads, then maybe the crypto-gullible will be culled--the
gullible are cullable.

--Tim May

Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1  | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."