Re: May's Banal Rant

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

A member of the Cypherpunks list, who sometimes contributes articles to the
list, engaged several of us in a discussion of some topics. He requested
that we respect his desire not to have his opinions published, which I am
honoring.

However, some interesting topics were raised, and I spent a couple of hours
responding. Rather than letting the points drop into the black hole of such
sublists, I will post my responses here, editing out all references to his
identity.

Things would be so much easier if he'd just post his views to the list. I
surmise that his reasons for not posting have less to do with not wanting
to be associated with my views, as if that is possible in a free society,
and more to do with paranoia about what his employer will think.

--Tim

This is my article:

>Date: Mon, 2 Jun 1997 10:03:56 -0700
>To: xxxx
>Subject: Re: May's Banal Rant
>Cc: xxxx

(He commented that I am marginalizing myself and my compatriots by my angry
views. I replied:)


>The list was just as "intense" in 1993, for example. Any reading of the
>traffic after the Waco incident in April of that year will show this
>clearly. And 1994 was also intense, what with the heated discussion of
>anonymous assassination contracts, use of crypto by some associates in
>White Aryan Resistance and other politically incorrect groups, and so on.
>
>(There was even Froomkin-described "cannibalism" that year, as the list
>_exploded_ in condemnation of Jerry Berman's EFF-led sellout on the
>Wiretap Bill (aka Digital Telephony, aka CALEA, etc.). In fact, this
>"cannibalism" was practiced by nearly everyone outside the specific axis
>which made the Grand Compromise. It is widely believed that this event led
>to the flight from D.C. of EFF and its current marginal status as a mover
>and shaker. (Other reasons, too, I've heard from those who were present.
>I'm not claiming to be "ahead of the curve," to use Marc's
>characterization, on this one. He was there, I was not. But clearly the
>support of DT/CALEA had a major, traumatizing effect on EFF. )
>

(He predicts that "moderate" list members will leave the list because of my
articles. He says he stopped posting months ago because he saw the general
trend getting worse. )



>I hadn't seen essays from you in a long time, xxxxx, nor from yyyyy. It
>seems that a lot of folks have "been there, done that" on writing essays,
>regardless of their ideological points of view. Even Detweiler writes very
>few essays.
>
>Many of the former active contributors are now with crypto companies or
>Internet companies in one form or another. Hal Finney is with PGP, a bunch
>of folks (Barnes, Parekh, Green, Sandfort...) are with C2, some were with
>xxxxxx (as you know), and so on. A bunch of others are doing security or
>crypto work at the various companies, including Netscape, Intuit,
>Microsoft, Excite, Qualcomm, etc.
>
>(There are also reasons for them to "tone down" their rhetoric. Some of
>them have sent me e-mail saying they agree with my points (or disagree, as
>the case may be) but do not feel comfortable posting publically, given
>their present employment with these companies. This is a natural
>development. Go back and read the rhetoric in 1992-5 about controversial
>issues....many of the essayists of even the most controversial pieces then
>are now at companies and are understandably less vocal. So?)
>
>Plus there have been the usual spin-off lists. Lewis McCarthy decided, I
>presume, that he had internalized the political message of Cypherpunks and
>wanted only a C and C++ forum, so he created "coderpunks." Perry Metzger,
>certainly no stranger to libertarian ranting, decided apparently that he
>wanted to control which rants got distributed so he created "cryptography."
>
>This is also natural. If you don't like who is left on Cypherpunks, and
>who is posting, then either leave it or post the kind of stuff you'd like
>to see.
>
>Those who never post anymore are in a poor position to criticize others
>for what they post.

(He claims I have marginalized myself and says he expects either no reply
from me or a venomous one.)


>Well, this is a response. I don't think it's venomous. It's what I think.
>
>It's true that there are relatively few "primer" essays on Cypherpunks
>these days; the time for that was in the early years, especially the first
>year. Many of those essay writers who wrote long articles on public key
>systems, signatures, etc., are now in the companies mentioned above. Plus,
>having already done it there is little incentive to do it again.
>
>So? This is the natural evolution of any community.
>
>I'll stop now.
>
>All I can say is that if you find the Cypherpunks list no longer to your
>liking, the choice is obvious. Or, if you want to stay but want the
>discussions moved in other directions, write articles in these directions.
>You can hardly complain if you're silent.
>
>--Tim May
>
>

There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
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: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."