Subject: [Raven] Two Cents... "Self Correcting Problem..."

From: Andrew Spencer <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 08:45:01 -0700

Been watching this debate for awhile and thought I'd add my two cents... Please
forgive me if I don't communicate this as well as I'd like but I take this
conclusion for granted..

If you look back to history I believe you will find that no country has been
perfect in its dealing with new technologies... Anything new allows for a
break, a discrepancy in the way things were done. An upset of power.

Telegraph did it... Phones do it... Now we see Internet playing a part in
revolutions and Political Actions in different countries...

You can't engineer for politics... Nor can you electrical or mechanically
engineer a societal solution. Apples and Oranges... Different mind sets and
goals...

What's my point?

Attempting to engineer a collection of protocols and Internet access that
allows anyone to do anything is chaos.  Engineering a data system that allows
anyone to tap any part of it at anytime is "Collosal". It has nothing to do
with politics. 

The reason ISPs (I've worked for 3) didn't originally filter content or trap
usage is because of the cost, expenditure, and technical difficulty. It takes
machines an order of magnitude more powerful to track and trap content, then to
just let it pass through. And our margins are only getting tighter. Currently I
donot keep any mail log for more than 36 hours... 

As to the political...

Don't open that Pandora's box, you might even let hope out.

The right and wrongness of humans and their political societies can only be
judged over time. In my humble opinion any government that cannot cajole
compliance out of 80-90% of its populace without heavily relying on new
technologies to control its people has a high potentiality for failure. Nuff
said.

Flipside, any society that cannot expend the necessary research to implement
technologies in their fashion, doesn't get them in that fashion...  if you
can't afford it, you don't get it... Self correcting problem...

Capitalism works quite well... If China wishes to pay me X number of dollars to
devise a Network system for their needs it will work out... They can make their
own network with Internet "portals".. Government shave many options.. If they
can garner the capital they can make any solution "Viable" for short term... 

I personally have nothing against any body politic that wants to perpetuate
itself with little or no divergence, but they can't ask the IETF to work on
their behalf.

The Internet, having gained most of its growth from Educational Facilities
around the world to share email, and to share computer resources, has deep
roots in the free flow of information for its own sake. Its quite arrogant for
any body politic or organization  to expect an organization based on these
principals to proactive assist in this manner.

If you want to tap my communications, as a United States Citiizen, and you feel
I am enough a government threat, you can tap my communications at the source.
Technically it's much easier than tapping 10-20 points in between. If you tap
my computer and all points of access.

If I encrypt, you tap at the point of decryption.

If I am extremely paranoid and take extra precautions (which at this moment I
don't) you are not looking at the average citizen. You are looking at someone
with reasons and motivations that may or may not be valid.

Let me make this point exceedingly clear. You are looking at someone who falls
into a 5-10% class of exception. Not the rule. Most people I know don't even
know how to remove a cookie from their browser, let alone use PGP encryption.
That's the average.

In the counterpoint, if you are looking at 30-40% using encryption then you
have a greater problem. A populace that feels they have to protect themselves
from data intrusion. That's a differnet problem.

Another reality point, if you have any government that works against the wishes
of more than 20% of the population you have a problem that writing any Internet
protocol will not solve. That's the design of a democracy/republic. It allows
the populace to effect change to keep the government, and the people, in sync.
Problems do correct themselves, no matter what. 

 In time it will unravel, and either they will be wrong and dealt with
accordingly, or the other party (FBI,CIA,NSA,DOJ) will be dealt with
accordingly. In 80-90 years there is always a conclusion.. (Death and taxes ;-)

Let the mix of humans, ideas, memes, politics, words, with impending resolution
continue ad infinitium, Amen...

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Note. The above ideas are not in anyway connected with my employer, they are
merely the ramblings of one person. They are written in the hopes of
understanding and enjoyment, not malice or harm. If they in anyway create
problems for you, I suggest not re-reading them. ;-)

Andrew Spencer 			"No mysteries... only solutions..."
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