[79291] in Cypherpunks
Re: Rejecting Dialog with Government Vermin
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Declan McCullagh)
Wed Apr 30 01:17:09 1997
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 21:33:44 -0700 (PDT)
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
To: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Cc: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
In-Reply-To: <v03007809af8c50d008eb@[207.167.93.63]>
Reply-To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
I can't argue with the general assessment of DC as an artificial city,
built to suck in then spew out tax dollars and public policies. But that's
part of what fascinates and repels me: other towns have industries that
contribute to the economy. Here there is The Government.
Perhaps that's why it's hard, sometimes, to be a columnist here. If I call
up the FDA, ask them why they're considering regulating the Net, then
blast them in a column -- well, they're not going to return my phone calls
next time. The TIME affiliation helps, but bureaucrats aren't entirely
stupid -- they're not going to offer information and interviews to their
critics. Perhaps there's something to be said for the Washington Post "he
said, she said" style of reporting.
As for the Congress, Tim's overlooking one thing they _can_ do: repeal
some of the wackier, unconstitutional laws passed in previous sessions.
Apart from that, I agree that the country might remain more free if
Congress were to go home for a few years. The trend, as groups like the
ACLU, Cato, EPIC, and NACDL have chronicled, is towards greater erosion of
civil liberties, not greater protection of them.
I agree that Leahy is far from a friend of the Net, and I've had repeated
arguments from folks in advocacy groups who would like to position him as
such. If I recall properly, he's taken disturbing positions not just on
Digital Telephony but also on copyright -- and his crypto-bills are far
from perfect.
Time to go to sleep. I'm exhausted -- our soccer team, The Invisible Foot,
lost tonight -- and I have to be up early. Copyright, crypto, and
Net-regulation events tomorrow. Looks like we'll get a committee vote on
the SAFE bill in the afternoon, and Hill staffers tell me the "furtherance
of a crime" provision will stay in.
'nite,
Declan
On Tue, 29 Apr 1997, Tim May wrote:
> At 2:03 PM -0800 4/29/97, Declan McCullagh wrote:
>
> >Nah, I like being in DC -- though I agree that it's one of the cities most
> >likely to be taken out by a nuke in the next few decades. Until then, I'd
> >rate the city itself as surprisingly livable, much more so than New York; I
>
> That's damning with faint praise indeed. I grew up outside D.C., in
> suburban Virginia. Outside the crater wall, but still inside the pit, if
> you catch my drift.
>
> The "unlivability" for me, confirmed on return visits, is that it's a
> wholly artificial city, a seat of imperial power built solely as a haven
> for bureaucrats and suckers of pork. Outside of the Northwest region, the
> rest of the city is a welfare/ghetto/slum/crime mess...as I'm sure anyone
> who's been there will agree. The suburbs are hot and muggy in the summer,
> and monotonously suburban and flat.
>
>
> >Think of it this way: there are tactical and strategic decisions.
> >Strategically, I would like the Federal government to evolve into a form
> >that's consistent with the principles of individual freedom, peace, and
> >limited government enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. That means the
> >Federal government would have no role regulating speech online, or
> >restricting encryption, or funding Net-infrastructure, or ensuring
> >universal service, or banning spam, or setting domain name rules, or what
> >have you.
>
> These are all essentially the guarantees provided in the Constitution, esp.
> the Bill of Rights. Legislation qua legislation never makes these basic
> rights any stronger, only confuses them and weakens them. Congress could
> vanish for 10 years (and maybe it will if my buddy Abu can get that tramp
> steamer up the Potomac) and the basic principles of freedom you list would
> remain, and remain in a stronger form.
>
>
> >To reach that goal, tactical decisions to work with friendly legislators
> >are sometimes necessary. Rep. Rick White (R-Microsoft) is far from sterling
>
> I repeat: legislators only make things worse.
>
> You mention White. A better example of the problem is Patrick Leahy. Many
> of the Beltway rights groups sing his praises...and yet he's a statist
> piece of scum who I wouldn't spit on if I met him in a dark alley.
>
> The National Rifle Association tried this "tactical negotiation" stratagem,
> and watch rights erode with evey legislative act. Their "allies" would
> supposedly help them, while slipping in clauses very much the equivalent to
> the "use crypto in connection with a crime" clause now in the supposed
> "Pro-CODE" bill, and then when _other_ laws were passed these little
> clauses ended up doing more damage than the original bill!
>
> That "Pro-CODE" Bill is a case in point. The authors ought to be taken out
> and shot. (I mean this in a rhetorical way, though, as I have said, I won't
> cry any tears if a Ryder truck takes out those vipers nests and their
> accomplices.)
>
> The motto of the Crypto Rejectionist Alliance: No compromises, only actions.
>
>
> --Tim May
>
> There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
> ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
> Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
> tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
> W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
> Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments.
> "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."
>
>
>
>
>
>
