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A cross posting from FidoNet PUBLIC_KEYS. It would be nice if some
other cypherpunks could join the PUBLIC_KEYS echo.
;Date 29 Oct 92 11:28:07
From: Jesse David Hollington@1:125/33
To: Arol Ambler@1:125/111
Subject: Test
>----------------------- Do not change this line -----------------------------<
AA> Anyway, anyone who is concerned can always use some method that hides the
AA> fact that any secret content is even being communicated. (Variations on
AA> read every fifth word to see the real message, or other standard
AA> methods).
It's funny you should bring that up. One of the major proponents of
encryption here in Region 12 posted the following in the Regional Sysop Echo
some time ago...
=============================================================================
Having said that, I also wonder whether this insistence upon having
everything in plain text isn't fostered by some sysops as a means of
receiving information that they otherwise wouldn't be privy to. If
one is truly paranoid ( *not* that I would fall into that category
in anyone's wildest dreams...ahem), one should worry about why some
netmail is read so assiduosly by passthrough systems in the first place.
Fortunately, even mail that I send direct to nodes is quoted back and
often passes through a whole variety of systems for their inspection and
review.
Since almost all of my netmail is incredibly innocent there might
always be the possibility that some of it will come back to hover
like a bad dream in some creative complaint. In broader legal terms,
every other communication system avoids eavesdropping on mail.
P.S. To understand how powerless you are to prevent encrypted text, read
the leftmost letter of each sentence in the last three paragraghs
downwards...ahem.
===========================================================================
He raises a valid point. Sysops who are so paranoid about encrypted mail
being sent through their systems should realize that they are really powerless
to prevent it if somebody is determined enough to send a coded message to
somebody else.
I've sought legal opinions in Canadian law (I don't know how it is in the
U.S.) and I've discovered that the less I know about mail passing through my
system, the safer I am. If I keep every message on my system, and read them
all, then I can be held liable if somebody routes something illegal through my
system and it slips by me. If I kill all passthrough mail, and read nothing
except what is addressed to me, I am operating under common carrier status,
and can't be held liable any more than Federal Express or UPS could.
As a result, it's actually better to *encourage* people to send encrypted
mail through your system. The belief that if people are sending encrypted
mail they're doing something wrong is a fallacy... then again, I'm preaching
to the converted here.
Cheers,
Jesse.
--- Maximus 2.01wb
* Origin: On a Clear Disk You Can Seek Forever (1:225/1)
--
tom jennings - via FidoNet node 1:125/555
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