[109106] in Cypherpunks
RE: Transparent Society
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Trei, Peter)
Wed Mar 10 16:23:58 1999
From: "Trei, Peter" <ptrei@securitydynamics.com>
To: "'Jim Gillogly'" <jim@acm.org>, cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 15:34:35 -0500
Reply-To: "Trei, Peter" <ptrei@securitydynamics.com>
I expect the idea has been explored a number of times -
"I see you" by Damon Knight has a non-dystopic version,
in which a lone inventor perfects a distant viewer, which
can also view into the past (there is hardly an attempt
at a scientific explanation). The device is fairly simple,
and can be reproduced with common components.
The inventor goes to an elaborate pains to widely
disemminate copies of the device, and plans to build
more, while protecting his own anonymity (at least
for a while).
As a result, not only can government watch the people,
the people can watch the government (and the government
cannot prevent them from doing so). The social
results are protrayed as good.
I liked the story, but am skeptical of the 'goodness'
of the result. A government which is omniscient and
maintains a monopoly on the use of force can still exercise
dictatorship over an equally omniscient, but disarmed,
population. It just has not to mind being *seen* to be
a dictatorship.
I started off by putting [off-topic] in the Subject line
of this message, but have removed it since it actually
seems fairly close to the core interests of many list
members.
Peter
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Gillogly [SMTP:jim@acm.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 1999 1:27 PM
> To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
> Subject: Re: Transparent Society
>
> Peter Trei wrote:
> > Years ago (I think in the late 70's) I read a story in one
> > of the pulps (probably F&SF) of a society with ubiquitous
> > surveillance - cameras were everywhere, and anyone could
> > access any camera at any time at public terminals -. It
> > made quite an impression on me at the time, as a dystopia.
>
> I read one, perhaps in the 60's in Analog or its predecessor
> Astounding, that went even farther: the police had perfected
> viewing of arbitrary places at arbitrary times in the past.
> The plot was about how a guy committed a premeditated murder
> and got away with, knowing that all of his actions but none
> of his thoughts could be seen.
>
> --
> Jim Gillogly
> 18 Rethe S.R. 1999, 18:23
> 12.19.6.0.3, 11 Akbal 16 Kayab, Third Lord of Night
