Paul on Sat, 15 Feb 2003 15:41:03 -0500


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Re: [PLUG] how to lose your rights and freedom...


gabriel rosenkoetter wrote:

Mine's not. And I don't have to lead them to believe anything; I PGP
sign every email, so I'm demonstrably using encryption. (Signing is
no different than enciphering; it's just that you encipher a hash of
your message to a key that anyone who wants it can have.)


What if someone were to use a false signiture to contain a short, encrypted message? Who would know the difference, other than the people who check your signiture?

Your worry, then, is that the government will MAKE having tools be
illegal; that won't fly. That's presumptive guilt, against most
things our judicial system stands for. And if there's anything that
moves slower than the US legislature, it's the US judicial system.


Have you ever heard of "unlawful possession" or "possession...for an unlawful purpose"? For example, shooting people is illegal, and carrying a gun is illegal because it is the tool that fires the bullet. If you carry a gun you might intend to use it. If not, to cover all bases, the government has made possession illegal. One law leads to another until you have few, if any, options. You can get a permit to carry a gun. The government decides if you can have it. Even then, there are very few circumstances in which you could actually use the gun.


Should anything with the potential to be used in a criminal act become regulated by the government? Maybe even hair dryers because someone might try to electrocute another person by tossing it into a bath tub?! (Although, the electrical code that requires ground fault interrupt outlets is a good thing.)

The fear is that rights and freedoms are slowly being taken away while people are treated like children by their strict parents--the government. How far into the future will another revolution need to take place to win back those rights and freedoms? Better to protect them now than to try to win them back later?

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