Re: Cypherpunk criminalization

[Kent Crispin <kent@songbird.com>]

On Wed, May 21, 1997 at 07:16:03PM -0800, Tim May wrote:
> At 5:41 PM -0800 5/21/97, Kent Crispin wrote:
> 
> >I don't think this problem can be "fixed" in any meaningful way.  You
> >just argued that the problem is a consequence of "perfectly logical
> >game-theoretic reasons".  There is nothing in the crypto-anarchy
> 
> Game-theoretic reasons depends on the rules of the game. 

The game of personal power isn't going to change.

[...]

> But more rules need to change. Many of us (most of us?) expect strong
> crypto to be a catalyst for some major changes. You, Kent, obviously
> disagree,

Yep.  I disagree.

> and push for more government involvement to shore up the existing
> rules.

False.  How *do* you come up with these?

> You are not evil, as per my point, but your kind will be swept aside,
> possibly violently but probably through a shut-down of the Livermore Labs.
> 
> (My spies within LLL tell me of desperate efforts to find alternative
> funding sources, e.g., the "Extreme UV" project. Ultimately, hopeless. A
> government lab which loses its main raison d'etre cannot reconfigure itself
> as a "think tank" for private industry. Gimme a break.)

Well, your spies aren't doing a very good job.  The new buzzword is 
"stockpile stewardship" -- and in the face of a comprehensive test ban 
treaty, there is no way to be sure that things will go off when you 
want them to.  So the importance of computer simulations has grown, 
and lots of money is being put into that.  These new teraflop 
machines cost lots, and need lots of infrastructure -- the one on tap 
in the 3 year timeframe, I hear, requires over 10 megawatts of 
electricity (that includes the cooling).

Still, computers are probably cheaper than physical tests...but I'm a 
computer scientist, and not a physicist...

[...]

-- 
Kent Crispin				"No reason to get excited",
kent@songbird.com			the thief he kindly spoke...
PGP fingerprint:   B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44  61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55
http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html