[79335] in Cypherpunks
Re: Rejecting Dialog with Government Vermin
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Declan McCullagh)
Thu May 1 00:21:14 1997
In-Reply-To: <v03007800af8bfad5d5a0@[207.167.93.63]>
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 18:03:43 -0400
To: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Cc: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Reply-To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
At 11:33 AM -0800 4/29/97, Tim May wrote:
>EFF had the right idea in getting out of Dodge. Now if only Declan, Brock,
>and all the other cyber-journalists can get out of D.C. and find real
>jobs...
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
visit Manhattan once a month but I don't think I could live there. Too
grey. Still, I'm thinking about moving out of my cozy Adams Morgan flat
into a West Virginia farmhouse in a few years. Only a 90 minute commute --
and outside the blast zone.
>It's a waste of time to write to politicians. Or to call them. Or to
>negotiate with them. Or to spend any amount of time listening to them.
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.
To reach that goal, tactical decisions to work with friendly legislators
are sometimes necessary. Rep. Rick White (R-Microsoft) is far from sterling
on all Net-issues, but he has repeatedly introduced legislation that would
prevent the FCC from regulating the Net. (The Democrats killed it each
time.) Though I confess I place more hope in the courts than I do the
bureaucrats and lawmakers; they may do the right thing yet on crypto and
the CDA, two areas where Congress has failed to act or has done the wrong
thing.
I realize that saying "tactical decisions to work with legislators are
sometimes necessary" is not exactly in keeping with the Crypto Anarchist
Code. But that's okay. I never was a true believer in the first place: I
don't think that anonymity, public key cryptography, and digital cash will
undermine the nation-state completely. Instead, technology will shift taxes
from income to consumption. Wherever I live within the U.S., I suspect the
statist authorities will remain able to tax my transaction when I buy a
loaf of bread at the corner store.
-Declan
-------------------------
Declan McCullagh
Time Inc.
The Netly News Network
Washington Correspondent
http://netlynews.com/
