"Anonymity is bad," says a source who wishes to remain anonymous

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

I'm not going to dig up the exact quote, but I was struck by a couple of
"comments" on crypto policy recently. One involved some crypto news of
several days ago, and one was reported yesterday in the "San Jose Mercury
News," in an early glimpse of what the NRC report would say.

In both cases--and these were not the first such cases I've seen--a source
"who wishes to remain anonymous" is announcing just how bad and dangerous
crypto, anonymity, remailers and stuff like that are.

"But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted that any
computer system that did not include a way for authorities to decipher data
would 'pose very costly and time-consuming problems' for law enforcement
officials."

[SJMN, C1, 1996-05-30]

""Anonymity is bad," says a source who wishes to remain anonymous."

The definition of irony, I'd say.

--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,
Licensed Ontologist         | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."