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RE: Encryption for the Masses
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We live in a society where freedom is largely an illusion and where
Big Brother doesn't fear protest by the general population. In most
cases, simply creating a crisis is enough for individuals to not only
give their liberties up but to actually plead for their liberties to
be taken away in the name of safety and security. What they don't
realize is that the sheep are begging the wolves to protect them.
It's not the militia guy next door that I'm worried about -- he pretty
much tells us what he's up to. What I'm afraid of is the NSA reading
my email and listening to my phone calls without my knowledge.
So how do we get the masses to realize that we aren't talking about a
potential threat, but are actually already living in a Big Brother
society with very few secrets. We can continue to bury our heads in
the illusion that we really are free, but we have to ask ourselves
whether we are more free today than we were ten years, five years or
even a year ago. If the answer is no, then there is a serious
problem.
So excusing my rant, my point is that when the average individual
wakes up and realizes that his or her life really is an open book and
that every piece of email sent has been filtered through a computer
somewhere, that every posting to a newsgroup has been archived and
just may pop up and haunt them in the future, when they realize that
the only privacy available to them is the privacy that they claim and
defend then, and only then, will we see a change in crypto policies
around the world. When the citizenry begins demanding accountability
by elected officials for the privacy that they've sold, for the chains
they've placed on their constituents and for the oaths they have
broken then we'll see the tide change for the better.
Until then, the rest of us will have to wage the fight to protect the
ignorant.
____________________________________________________
J. Richard Wilson
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-----Original Message-----
From: Joel O'Connor [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, 09 December, 1998 10:26
To: Anonymous
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re:
They say education is power abd naybe they were correct. I agree with
the fact that more people need to use encryption, the problem (as you
stated) is that people do not understand how to use it, or even know
it exists. Unfortunate for us, fortunate for big brother. While the
only way we can counteract this debate is through empowerment, the
question remains, how do you spread the word to up to a million
people, enough to get their interest and keep it, enough to take the
time to teach them how to use the tools. I work for an IT department
and the users I train rank from intelligent to "where the hell did you
come from?!" Teaching people who have no want or need is the hardest
part, just ask Christians, they know what it's like. Our greatest
problems lie within our inability to train and make use of what lies
in front of us, if people don't see the need, then why would they?
Another point, some people feel that if they have nothing to hide,
then why use it. An acquaitance of mine has the same stubborn
attitude, what steps do you take to thwart that? That excuse bothers
me beyond belief, but it is a common thought that if you need to take
the steps to hide something, then it must be wrong. God help us. . .
---Anonymous <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I think setting up mirror sites of crypto archives
> across the world is a great idea. However, I also
> think we need to focus on getting more and more
> people to use crypto. I would guess that the vast
> majority of computer users worldwide see no use
> for encryption in their day-to-day lives -- and
> even those that do don't also use it.
>
> If everybody in the world is using encryption, it
> is going to be extremely difficult for "democratic"
> governments to tell them they can't use it any more.
>
> Unfortunately, it's easy for governments to blame
> crypto for terrorism and a host of other crimes,
> simply because the average citizen doesn't understand
> the concept of an "electronic envelope".
>
>
>
==
Ogre bounces like sonar. . .Peace.
Ogre
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