[51786] in Cypherpunks
Re: rhetorical trickery
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vladimir Z. Nuri)
Sat Mar 9 20:02:56 1996
To: Mutant Rob <wlkngowl@unix.asb.com>
Cc: cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 08 Mar 96 21:31:11 EST."
<199603090231.VAA01548@bb.hks.net>
Date: Sat, 09 Mar 96 16:55:22 -0800
From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
>> there is an infamous case of a child pornographer or pedophile in
>> California that is sometimes cited by law enforcement representatives
>> as a good example of the evils of encryption: supposedly he encrypted
>> his diary and it couldn't be unlocked by them. this was mentioned in
>> the article.
>>
>> but I have a question: how did they know it was his diary?
>
>If I remember some earlier discussion about that case from a few years
>ago, the file was called "diary.pgp".
how did they know it was *his* diary?
granted, this is highly suggestive, but again not conclusive.
it could be his friend's diary, or a diary of his flowertending,
or whatever.
sure, a government agent could insist, "well, don't be a bonehead.
it's obviously his diary, and surely contains all his crimes against
children".
ah yes, just as, obviously, even before trial, "the man is a criminal"
