Re: Philosophy of information ownership

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

At 7:38 PM 5/28/96, Bruce Baugh wrote:

>In many cases, sure it is. I can't see how giving you the information to
>establish that I can pay a bill I owe you should be in any sense treated as
>a license do anything else with that info. A great many transactions are
>finite, and ought not have lingering implications or side deals dangling off
>the end.

Most lenders are interested in these things:

* past history of paying bills, especially for monthly bills such as VISA
(and when one applies for and accepts a VISA card, it is explicitly made
clear that repayment/deliquency information will be reported to credit
agencies...most people of course _want_ this information reported, as this
is largely what "establishing a credit history" is all about).

* lenders for larger items, such as cars and houses, will want collateral
and some evidence that the monthly repayment amounts are achievable (even
if a loan is secured by a car, for example, it makes no sense for them to
lend money to an unemployed 18-year-old and then have to spend money and
time retrieving the car, etc.

* other factors which have historically affected loan repayment
probabilities, such as age, sex, ethnic group, religion, educational
background, etc.

(Note: Some of these criteria are of course no longer legal to officially
use, even if their strong and clear correlations.)

Note that "credit" is not a right. Credit, like insurance, is a kind of
"bet" a lender is making. A bet that he will get his principal back, with
interest. To help him make this bet, people offer evidence of past good
faith in loans, and choose to reveal their current salaries, ownership of
other assets, etc.

In no way is this coerced. Anyone is free to eschew credit, avoid borrowing
money, and pay with cash or checks for all purchases.

>In the long run, this is where anonymous payments come in. In the meantime,
>I muddle on as best I can.

No, anonymous payments have very little to do with credit. See above.

--Tim May

Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software!
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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,
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