4 ms·

There’s a ton of material on that site- any other lists you can recommended exploring?

dleslie 6y ago
You could do worse than reading the book, which is an interview with some key players: https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/cypherpunks/ https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/cypherpunks/ Or this: https://cryptoanarchy.wiki/getting-started/what-is-the-cypherpunks-mailing-list https://cryptoanarchy.wiki/getting-started/what-is-the-cyphe...
- yesenadam 6y ago
  Thanks, looks great. It's by Julian Assange and a few others. First words of the book: "What is a Cypherpunk? Cypherpunks advocate for the use of cryptography and similar methods as ways to achieve societal and political change. Founded in the early 1990s, the movement has been most active during the 1990s “cryptowars” and following the 2011 internet spring. The term cypherpunk, derived from (cryptographic) cipher and punk, was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006" So I thought, hmm that sounds like the crypto-anarchy that was discussed on HN the other day. And your 2nd link has a page on that[1]. Indeed they sound like the same idea – one is the people, the other is the system they want. Cyber-equality. Defined, rather, by the system they don't want: the powerful able to read the communications of the less powerful, but not vice versa. Is there anyone (openly) arguing this would be a bad thing? (Also I'm wondering why I've heard about bitcoin/blockchain a million times but didn't even know what these words meant!) [1] https://cryptoanarchy.wiki/getting-started/what-is-a-cypherpunk https://cryptoanarchy.wiki/getting-started/what-is-a-cypherp...
  - dleslie 6y ago
    The American and Australian governments have both advocated strongly, recently, for the ability of law enforcement to decrypt civilian communications. Of course, there's plenty of other countries that would desire this imbalance of power, as well. Examples: https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2017/10/12/us-government-calls-for-responsible-as-in-breakable-encryption/ https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2017/10/12/us-government-ca... https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/805032627/trump-administration-targets-your-warrant-proof-encrypted-messages https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/805032627/trump-administratio...
  - grep_name 6y ago
    > Is there anyone (openly) arguing this would be a bad thing? I guess you missed the EARN IT bill last year? It happens so often I've lost track of it. The EFF and various organizations have to push for it every year, it's disheartening. At this point I think we need a constitutional amendment for encryption, but I'm not sure if the public sentiment is right for that now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_Wars
    - yesenadam 6y ago
      Thanks for the link. Am Australian (like Assange), not in USA – sounds like you are, and am assuming I am too. Also, I guess I meant, is there anyone aside from those in power arguing for it!

You could do worse than reading the book, which is an interview with some key players: https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/cypherpunks/ https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/cypherpunks/ Or this: https://cryptoanarchy.wiki/getting-started/what-is-the-cypherpunks-mailing-list https://cryptoanarchy.wiki/getting-started/what-is-the-cyphe...

yesenadam 6y ago
Thanks, looks great. It's by Julian Assange and a few others. First words of the book: "What is a Cypherpunk? Cypherpunks advocate for the use of cryptography and similar methods as ways to achieve societal and political change. Founded in the early 1990s, the movement has been most active during the 1990s “cryptowars” and following the 2011 internet spring. The term cypherpunk, derived from (cryptographic) cipher and punk, was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006" So I thought, hmm that sounds like the crypto-anarchy that was discussed on HN the other day. And your 2nd link has a page on that[1]. Indeed they sound like the same idea – one is the people, the other is the system they want. Cyber-equality. Defined, rather, by the system they don't want: the powerful able to read the communications of the less powerful, but not vice versa. Is there anyone (openly) arguing this would be a bad thing? (Also I'm wondering why I've heard about bitcoin/blockchain a million times but didn't even know what these words meant!) [1] https://cryptoanarchy.wiki/getting-started/what-is-a-cypherpunk https://cryptoanarchy.wiki/getting-started/what-is-a-cypherp...
- dleslie 6y ago
  The American and Australian governments have both advocated strongly, recently, for the ability of law enforcement to decrypt civilian communications. Of course, there's plenty of other countries that would desire this imbalance of power, as well. Examples: https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2017/10/12/us-government-calls-for-responsible-as-in-breakable-encryption/ https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2017/10/12/us-government-ca... https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/805032627/trump-administration-targets-your-warrant-proof-encrypted-messages https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/805032627/trump-administratio...
- grep_name 6y ago
  > Is there anyone (openly) arguing this would be a bad thing? I guess you missed the EARN IT bill last year? It happens so often I've lost track of it. The EFF and various organizations have to push for it every year, it's disheartening. At this point I think we need a constitutional amendment for encryption, but I'm not sure if the public sentiment is right for that now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_Wars
  - yesenadam 6y ago
    Thanks for the link. Am Australian (like Assange), not in USA – sounds like you are, and am assuming I am too. Also, I guess I meant, is there anyone aside from those in power arguing for it!