Re: Brin on privacy

Michael Lorrey (retroman@tpk.net)
Fri, 20 Dec 1996 19:37:30 -0500


John K Clark wrote:
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>
> Hi David:
>
> >brin@cts.com Sun Dec 15
> >They'll [power centers] still screw us if they ever get the
> >chance. Your complacency seems strange, given your
> >prescription for paranoid encryption.
>
> Power exists in society (fortunately, I'd hate to live in a powerless world)
> and like matter, energy, information, and everything else in the Universe,
> it is not distributed evenly; after all, we've known for more than a century
> that the aether does not exist. Raging against power centers is like raging
> against electromagnetism.
>
> >Bullshit. Kazynski would use PGP if he could.
>

As would be his right until the moment he actually commits a crime that
violates another's individual rights. Guns don't kill people, people
kill people.

Tools like PGP are needed to rebalance our system which is heavily
weighted for those in power in both governments and corporations (they
have their own secrecy system, known as "proprietary rights") to keep
their secrets whil being able to lay you bare. Once our culture becomes
rebalanced, thanks to PGP and possibly Super-FOIA legislation which may
be needed, because people can keep secrets if they wish to, most wont
need to, because power centers will find invading your privacy to be not
a profitable practice.

>
> >When OTHER Kazynskis want to do it, they most certainly will.
>

Yeah, and he made his bombs out of materials available at the local
hardware store. Should we ban hardware stores?

>
>
> >I know that men who escape accountability often conspire
> >together to rob other men of their liberty, and then their
> >women and wheat.

Yeah, the government currently has its own security/privacy system
called the classified information system, which it uses to enforce its
monopoly on keeping you down whenever it feels like it. It uses this
capability to steal technology from inventors, which it then gives to
its defense vassals to make huge profits off the inventors tax dollars.
Until either governments are stripped of the ability to keep secrets, or
individuals are given equal capability (thanks to PGP) the repression
will continue. This is why they were so hot at Phill Zimmerman, he
released it internationally without applying for a copyright, so the
feds had no advance notification to be able to block him. If extropy
were a religion, Phill would be a Saint.

Frankly Dave, I'm surprised that you take this view. Look at the latest
spy case. If Pitt's espionage actually causes the death of any
government assets, he can get the death penalty. This is obviously not a
free society when governments can keep secrets enforcable with a death
penalty. Governments will only cease to practice secrecy when their
citizens are able to force them to open all their doors. Espionage
should be an accepted method of government oversight, not punishable
with death.

>
>
>
>

-- 
TANSTAAFL!!!

Michael Lorrey --------------------------------------------------------- President retroman@tpk.net Northstar Technologies Agent Lorrey@ThePentagon.com Inventor of the Lorrey Drive Silo_1013@ThePentagon.com http://www.tpk.net/~retroman/ --------------------------------------------------------- Inventor, Webmaster, Ski Guide, Entrepreneur, Artist, Outdoorsman, Libertarian, Certified Genius.