Zyobot
Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
When it comes to technology, we always hear disturbing anecdotes and read alarming stories about how it'll facilitate all kinds of centralization and population control by malevolent technocratic overlords with deep pockets and good (albeit fading) marketing that have convinced us to buy their stuff and bankrolled wall-to-wall propaganda campaigns to desensitize us to the negative side-effects. And honestly, I can't disagree.
Alternatively, there are those who hold out hope we can use technological advances to "decentralize" the means of production and exchange through channels that governments around the world simply aren't equipped to stamp out completely. At least, so says Timothy C. May, prime Crypto-Anarchist and the author of this piece here.
Keeping in mind this was written in 1988, the means by which May's vision might be achieved — 3D printing, cryptocurrency, and decentralized networks — have advanced tremendously within the past 35 years. No doubt criminals will take advantage of these or that governments will try to regulate so-called "Crypto-Anarchy" into oblivion, but as I see it, they're not invincible and their hold won't last forever.
Instead, the tech will just keep developing, and while the consequences may not be as "rosy" as May or other Crypto-Anarchists make it out to be, they may be a sufficient force to be reckoned with for savvy stakeholders to realize they can't squash and will simply have to live with. Too bad we don't seem to have enough of those people, as is, which makes me worry how the Establishment will react as soon as they realize they can't just outlaw it and except everyone to obey straight away.
Alternatively, there are those who hold out hope we can use technological advances to "decentralize" the means of production and exchange through channels that governments around the world simply aren't equipped to stamp out completely. At least, so says Timothy C. May, prime Crypto-Anarchist and the author of this piece here.
A specter is haunting the modern world, the specter of crypto anarchy.
Computer technology is on the verge of providing the ability for individuals and groups to communicate and interact with each other in a totally anonymous manner. Two persons may exchange messages, conduct business, and negotiate electronic contracts without ever knowing the True Name, or legal identity, of the other. Interactions over networks will be untraceable, via extensive re- routing of encrypted packets and tamper-proof boxes which implement cryptographic protocols with nearly perfect assurance against any tampering. Reputations will be of central importance, far more important in dealings than even the credit ratings of today. These developments will alter completely the nature of government regulation, the ability to tax and control economic interactions, the ability to keep information secret, and will even alter the nature of trust and reputation.
The technology for this revolution--and it surely will be both a social and economic revolution--has existed in theory for the past decade. The methods are based upon public-key encryption, zero-knowledge interactive proof systems, and various software protocols for interaction, authentication, and verification. The focus has until now been on academic conferences in Europe and the U.S., conferences monitored closely by the National Security Agency. But only recently have computer networks and personal computers attained sufficient speed to make the ideas practically realizable. And the next ten years will bring enough additional speed to make the ideas economically feasible and essentially unstoppable. High-speed networks, ISDN, tamper-proof boxes, smart cards, satellites, Ku-band transmitters, multi-MIPS personal computers, and encryption chips now under development will be some of the enabling technologies.
The State will of course try to slow or halt the spread of this technology, citing national security concerns, use of the technology by drug dealers and tax evaders, and fears of societal disintegration. Many of these concerns will be valid; crypto anarchy will allow national secrets to be trade freely and will allow illicit and stolen materials to be traded. An anonymous computerized market will even make possible abhorrent markets for assassinations and extortion. Various criminal and foreign elements will be active users of CryptoNet. But this will not halt the spread of crypto anarchy.
Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions. Combined with emerging information markets, crypto anarchy will create a liquid market for any and all material which can be put into words and pictures. And just as a seemingly minor invention like barbed wire made possible the fencing-off of vast ranches and farms, thus altering forever the concepts of land and property rights in the frontier West, so too will the seemingly minor discovery out of an arcane branch of mathematics come to be the wire clippers which dismantle the barbed wire around intellectual property.
Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wire fences!
Computer technology is on the verge of providing the ability for individuals and groups to communicate and interact with each other in a totally anonymous manner. Two persons may exchange messages, conduct business, and negotiate electronic contracts without ever knowing the True Name, or legal identity, of the other. Interactions over networks will be untraceable, via extensive re- routing of encrypted packets and tamper-proof boxes which implement cryptographic protocols with nearly perfect assurance against any tampering. Reputations will be of central importance, far more important in dealings than even the credit ratings of today. These developments will alter completely the nature of government regulation, the ability to tax and control economic interactions, the ability to keep information secret, and will even alter the nature of trust and reputation.
The technology for this revolution--and it surely will be both a social and economic revolution--has existed in theory for the past decade. The methods are based upon public-key encryption, zero-knowledge interactive proof systems, and various software protocols for interaction, authentication, and verification. The focus has until now been on academic conferences in Europe and the U.S., conferences monitored closely by the National Security Agency. But only recently have computer networks and personal computers attained sufficient speed to make the ideas practically realizable. And the next ten years will bring enough additional speed to make the ideas economically feasible and essentially unstoppable. High-speed networks, ISDN, tamper-proof boxes, smart cards, satellites, Ku-band transmitters, multi-MIPS personal computers, and encryption chips now under development will be some of the enabling technologies.
The State will of course try to slow or halt the spread of this technology, citing national security concerns, use of the technology by drug dealers and tax evaders, and fears of societal disintegration. Many of these concerns will be valid; crypto anarchy will allow national secrets to be trade freely and will allow illicit and stolen materials to be traded. An anonymous computerized market will even make possible abhorrent markets for assassinations and extortion. Various criminal and foreign elements will be active users of CryptoNet. But this will not halt the spread of crypto anarchy.
Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions. Combined with emerging information markets, crypto anarchy will create a liquid market for any and all material which can be put into words and pictures. And just as a seemingly minor invention like barbed wire made possible the fencing-off of vast ranches and farms, thus altering forever the concepts of land and property rights in the frontier West, so too will the seemingly minor discovery out of an arcane branch of mathematics come to be the wire clippers which dismantle the barbed wire around intellectual property.
Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wire fences!
Keeping in mind this was written in 1988, the means by which May's vision might be achieved — 3D printing, cryptocurrency, and decentralized networks — have advanced tremendously within the past 35 years. No doubt criminals will take advantage of these or that governments will try to regulate so-called "Crypto-Anarchy" into oblivion, but as I see it, they're not invincible and their hold won't last forever.
Instead, the tech will just keep developing, and while the consequences may not be as "rosy" as May or other Crypto-Anarchists make it out to be, they may be a sufficient force to be reckoned with for savvy stakeholders to realize they can't squash and will simply have to live with. Too bad we don't seem to have enough of those people, as is, which makes me worry how the Establishment will react as soon as they realize they can't just outlaw it and except everyone to obey straight away.
