Mr. Nessett gives a number of obscure uses for confidentiality and
anonymity. However, his argument can be totally refuted by examining
hard-copy technology.
Other examples are possible, but I think I have made my point. Confidential
and anonymous email can be used in both good and bad ways. However, once
used in a bad way, responsible people will want to find a remedy. As far as
I can determine (although, I may be missing something), once confidential
and anonymous email is supported, removing that support will be very hard.
Consequently, PEM will be viewed by some as the spawn of internet wizards
who have never read the Pandora myth. Ultimately, this could lead to its
diminished, if not discontinued, use.
The same case exists for the US postal service. I can generate a
letter, on paper, demanding that you pay some anonymous swiss bank
account money, and send it to you via US mail, without a return
address. And if I have the means, I can basically send it from
anywhere I want! And there is, again, no way to track me!
Just because the ability exists to abuse the system doesn't mean that
there aren't merits to the system. Why doesn't everyone send mail on
postcards? Because there are envelopes! Return addresses are a
feature, but are clearly not required. You also have the e-mail
equivalent of postmarks (received-by headers) to try to track
something down to its origin, but that doesn't stop me from sending
this letter to a friend of mine in California and having him put it in
a mailbox to be sent back to you, so it appears to come from Hollywood
as opposed to where I live.
Hardened criminals will find a loophole in any system designed, and
will exploit it. The point of these discussions, I hope, is to design
a system that works well for those who require such a system in order
to move their dealings into the electronic world.
-derek
Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, G MIT Media Laboratory
Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board (SIPB)
Home page: http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/warlord/home_page.html
warlord(_at_)MIT(_dot_)EDU PP-ASEL N1NWH PGP key available