Cypherpunks as a Terrorist Organization

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

At 12:19 PM -0700 8/18/97, Zooko Journeyman wrote:

>P.P.S.  No really-- I'm _not_ a cypherpunk, because cypherpunks
>appear to be overwhelmed with blind, self-destructive
>bloodlust since 1996 or so.  I'm just here to try talking some
>sense into the salvageable ones.

Yes, "B.", so you keep saying.

Fact is, many who remain on the list are reacting to government actions
which are far more "intense" than what we had seen in the 1992-4 period.
Things like the doublespeak of "mandatory voluntary" programs, the probable
illegalization of tools to protect communications, and the "New World
Order" machinations. (These being the behind the scenes pressures being
applied to European and Asian governments, vis-a-vis Wasenaar, OECD, the
secret meetings, the Orwellian language the governments are adopting to
describe "trusted third parties (who actually provide keys to the
authorities without telling the customer)," etc.)

Not to mention the "felonization" of increasing numbers of things. Physical
things that were bought fully legally are now "contraband." Except to cops,
who are buying them in ever-increasing amounts. The sheeple, though, cannot
be trusted to own the things the cops own freely. And I'm talking about
more than just "compliance tools" (aka toilet plungers).

As to us being more violent, I think this is utter bullshit, "B." Read the
archived traffic of the list in the period surrounding the burning of the
illegal religion in Waco, Texas. Or the traffic after a wife and son were
killed by the cop criminal Lon Horiuchi (whom some militia members have
placed a bounty on...the Feds have apparently placed this killer into the
Witness Security Program, run, ironically, by the same U.S. Marshal's
Service now in charge of Jim Bell's detention!)

I think you, "B.," have just gotten a lot more nervous that what many of us
are advocating is in fact warfare against the State. I get e-mail from
folks who were once active on the Cypherpunks list saying, in various ways,
that they can no longer be as visible about their participation in the
list, for multiple reasons.

First, the rise of search engines, archives, and employers routinely
running DejaNews and other search engine checks on potential employees and
consultants to see what sorts of folks they are. (Whether being active on
the Cypherpunks list will nix a job is pretty unlikely, but it's still a
worry to some.)

Second, the apparent state of war between Cypherpunks and governments.
After recent actions by freedom fighters to bomb stooge facilities,
governments are treating "militias" as quasi-criminal organizations. (There
are many nuances to this point. In the U.S., I don't think such
organizations have been outlawed, as the Constitution remains a protection
of sorts. But many have been investigated, and, as John Young noted
recently, the IRS treats membership in certain organizations as a threat.
And there is Clinton's Anti-Terrorism Act, which explicitly makes certain
kinds of financial and other activities illegal, even by Americans, which
involve support of "terrorist" organizations. It is not inconceivable that,
following outlawing of strong crypto in various countries, that the
Cypherpunks group gets classified as an organization or group which
supports terrorist goals, which is almost certainly true.)

Third, some of those who make the most extreme calls for the killing of
Feds, the bombing of government operations in various nations, etc., are
using remailers. Isn't this exactly what remailers are likely to be used
for?

Fourth, the arrest and prosecution of Jim Bell, with tax evasion and a
minor stink bomb case turned into a "federal case" because of his
controversial views. This has obviously angered and radicalized many. Some
of us have stocked up on more asault weapons and shotguns, placed alarms
around our property, and we are expecting a "raid." As I have said, if
black-clad ninja raiders try to hit me, I'll assume they're "home invaders"
and will open fire. (A Sheriff's Deputy once told me that even saying I
would defend my home against unwelcome intruders constituted a "threat" and
that he might order a detachment to visit my compound. So far, two years
later, he hasn't made good on _his_ threat. And now I'm more ready for him
than ever.)

Fifth, the censorship fiasco  on the list angered many of us. After it
ended, many of us were no longer quite as willing to be "helpful." I, for
example, no longer write _any_ introductory essays, nor do I waste my time
encouraging people not to be too flamism. I used to occasionally do this,
filling a kind of "elder statesmen" or "eminence grise" role, as some
others expressed it. No more. If my posts were being censored, which they
were, then the removal of censorship caused me--and apparently others--to
"call a spade a spade." So when "DeathMonger" calls for the killing of
Feds, who am I to suggest this discussion be squelched? Forcible
censorship, once tried, often makes it effectively impossible for _any_
kind of guidance or advice along these lines. (This is an utterly
predictable outcome of attempts to censor.)

Finally, and to recap some of these points, when the Cypherpunks list and
group first started, many did not take the "collapse of government"
promises too seriously. Now, with even Louis Freeh and Janet Reno saying
that strong crypto represents a major and urgent threat to governments
(they call it "law enforcement" and "tax collection," and also talk about
threats of unregulated gambling, unregulated access to medical data,
uncontrolled communication between cult members, and so on), it seems that
the dangers of crypto anarchy are being more widely trumpeted.

This has the effect of making what we actually say here seem more
"plausibly scary." I don't know if this is why some are avoiding the list
now, or for other reasons (the list has never full recovered from the
censorship fiasco

So, "B.," stop apologizing for reading the list. You're already a marked
man in their eyes...and search engines can already identify the True Name
who is posting the last year or two as "Zooko Journeyman." In a couple of
years, all search engines will have "known aliases" macros to automatically
ferret out the web of pseudonyms linkable to a poster. You can run, but you
can't hide.

And "democracy" is spinning out of control, being used by authoritarians to
convert the world into a security state. Restrictions on travel, new drug
laws, laws against images and words on the Net, and thousands of new laws
every years.

A frontal assault, using strong crypto to aid in the attacks by freedom
fighters and to destablize authority, makes more sense. When a government
official decrees that citizen-units may no longer do certain things which
were once quite legal and quite common (such as owning a gun for defense),
that official must expect certain repercussions.

We're in a state of war with the statists and tyrants. It's what Jefferson
and the other Founders expected to happen, and now the watering with the
blood of patriots and tyrants is happening.

It's what the Founders expected.  Get used to it.

If crypto anonymity tools were available to the Founders, they'd have used
them against the British. Likewise, strong crypto is already being used by
the freedom fighters in Palestine against the Zionist Occupation
Government. That PGP 5.0 is being used by Hamas should send chills through
the ZOG in Jerusalem, and is probably why Cypherpunks is about to be
classed as a "terrorist group."

(What happened to the Jews in WW II was terrible, of course, but that was
no excused for forcibly evicting vast numbers of "sand niggers" so as to
make room for Jewish settlers. Their sons and grandsons will now end up
paying the price, as freedom fighters drive them into the sea. Broken eggs
and all.)

--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."