Most "digital cash" does not deserve the name

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

At 11:04 AM -0500 11/30/96, William H. Geiger III wrote:

[stuff about various non-anonymous "digital cash" systems snipped]


><sigh> Big Brother comming to a bank near you.
>
>Does anyone understand the implications of a society moving to an
>electroinc cash based system??

Yes, many people understand. See messages over the past several years on
this list (before the S/N dropped to recent historic lows). See the many
discussions here and elsewhere of _real_ "digital cash."

"Digital cash" and "electronic commerce" are such hot concepts now that all
sorts of non-anonymous, fully traceable systems are being touted as
"digital cash."


>All trasactions will be recorded, moitored, tracked & analysed. This is
>not just the government that one has to worry about but corporations also.
>
>Insurance industry:
>
>- Gee Mr. Jones seems that you buy too much junk food & red meat. Our
>actuaries say this makes you a "high risk".
>
>- Gee Ms. Smith you speend too much money at the bars. Our actuaries say
>you are a high risk for DUI & accidents.

These are indeed reasons to someday be even more concerned than now about
traceable transactions.

(Just for the record, what the hypothetical insurance companies and
employers are doing by using data they have obtained should not, in a free
society, be illegal in any way. All information contributes to
decision-making, about loans, credit, insurance, employment, etc. In a free
society, it is up to people to not disclose that which they do not wish
remembered.)

--Tim May


Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside"
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: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."