Re: Put up or shut up!

["Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>]

To elaborate on some points I just made....

>My forum is this list, and a few related places. It's a forum comparable,
>modulo the times, to the forums other thinkers have had.

I should also add that I am not encouraging _others_ to break the laws I am
unwilling to break myself, for financial reasons. You won't find me
cheering on people to stop paying taxes, selling secrets about the B-2
bomber to Iran, and so on.

>Your mileage may vary, but this "amateur anarchist" intends to keep on
>doing what he's doing and is not interested in "crossing the line" to the
>point where his assets will be seized.

I believe I am more valuable--in terms of meeting the goals I think are
reasonable for myself and others, and in terms of ultimately moving
things--by doing the work I've done. Now, there are some on this list who
believe I should have been programming Macintosh applications instead of
writing, and some who apparently believe I should be refusing to pay taxes
and fighting the IRS in court, but I believe working on the implications of
"crypto anarchy" is both interesting and important.

Who, after all, pushed for "remailers" at the first Cypherpunks meeting?
Who first (to my knowledge) described how to use the LSB of a digital image
to steganographically store messages, in sci.crypt posts in 1989? Who has
talked for many years about the implications of digital cash for so many
things, including tax policies and government's ability to control
transactions? Who coined several phrases, including "Big Brother Inside"
(in the Intel logo), "National borders are just speed bumps on the
information highway," and other such slogans? Who has attended most
physical CP meetings in the Bay Area (a half dozen others have, too)? Who
wrote a 1.2 MB FAQ on key issues?

Sorry if I sound defensive, but I chafe when I hear nonsense about "Put up
or shut up."

Going to jail is rarely an effective option. Losing my assets and having to
go back to work as a chip physicist even less so.

Look, I've talked about some fairly controversial ideas. But, I think, even
the various lawyers on the list--Brian Davis, ex-DA, Michael Froomkin, law
prof, Black Unicorn, occupation unknown, Greg Broiles, recent law school
grad--will have to admit that nothing I have said as an opinion about what
_might_ happen, about what the implications of strong cryptography might
be, etc., or about what I would _like_ to see happen, is "prosecutable" in
any reasonable sense. Sure, Eugene Debs was thrown in jail for arguing the
military draft was unconstitutional (so much for _his_ free speech), but
that was then and this is now. I don't believe any single post I have ever
made could actually result in prosecution, as I have committed no crimes.

(Nor, for that matter, do I think Jim Bell has ever really "crossed the
line." While some of his posts come perilously close to advocating the
murder of public officials, none of them seem to actually do so, nor to
provide any proof that he is actually conspiring to create an actual
system, even if conspiracy to create such a system could be found to
violate a specific law, absent any actual murders, etc.)

So, I'll "put up or shut up" by continuing my present path. I reject the
idea that one must lay on the tracks as a sacrifice of one's self to the
Cause. Usually it's better to suvive and continue fighting in other ways.

--Tim May


"The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM
that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology."
[NYT, 1996-10-02]
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I 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: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."