List Archive (Was: Re: p2p, anonymity and security)

bscott at ntisys.com bscott at ntisys.com
Fri Mar 12 09:13:01 EST 2004


On Fri, 12 Mar 2004, at 2:01pm, invalid at pizzashack.org wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 11, 2004 at 10:40:15PM -0500, bscott at ntisys.com wrote:
> >   You're the only person I have ever met who thinks a publicly archived,
> > publicly accessible, open-to-anyone-who-subscribes mailing list has any
> > expectation of privacy.  
> 
> Then I suggest you look at the archives of some mailing list software
> mailing lists...  The idea is often brought up there, for the very same
> reasons I brought them up here (originally)

  Care to provide some specific references?  Vague claims in the style of
"other people *do to* agree with me" don't really carry much weight with me.

> Personally, I find the notion that I should be required to provide
> personally identifying information to the whole world in order to
> participate in a public forum to be offensive ...

  Uhhh... now I think you're just being unreasonable.

  The word "public" is an antonym for "private".  The very use of the term
"public" implies that you are giving up some privacy.  Please consult your
dictionary if you are unclear on this.

  *How much* privacy you give up, of course, depends on the scope of the
forum, and the efforts to which you go to hide your identity.  The Internet,
being world-wide, is about as large a forum as you can get.  On the other
hand, all you need to offer to participate in *this* forum is an email
address.  Furthermore, as your own messages indicate, it doesn't even need
to be a *valid* address, after subscription.  If you used a throw-away
account on a free mail service, and took steps to hide your IP address, this
forum can be about as anonymous as one can get and still be on the Internet.

> ... and contrary to the priciples by which the United States of America
> was founded.  It does not need to be, and should not be so.  That so few
> people value their 4th amendment right to privacy is a travesty.

  Now you just sound like a conspiracy nut.  I value my 4th amendment
rights, thank-you-very-much.  However, I really don't see how on Earth you
can consider providing an email address to participate in a public email
forum a form of unreasonable search or seizure.  Get a grip.

-- 
Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
| The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do  |
| not represent the views or policy of any other person or organization. |
| All information is provided without warranty of any kind.              |




More information about the gnhlug-discuss mailing list