Bitcoin was born in 2008 and it was put into operation in 2009, but the seed that would give it life had already been growing in "a petri dish" decades ago. One of the most relevant documents that predicted the present we live in today was the Cryptoanarchist Manifesto, written by Tymothy C. May
One of the main germs in that "plate", without which it would be impossible to understand the birth of Bitcoin and some of its fundamental pillars and desires, is the cryptoanarchist Movement, It had its golden age in the late 80's and early 90's.
El cryptanarchism it is an ideology or strategy that is in favor of the use of asymmetric cryptography to enforce the principles of privacy and individual liberty.
The term was popularized by Timothy C. May, and described by Vernor Vinge like the cyber realization of the anarchocapitalism. Crypto-anarchists aim to create cryptographic software that can be used to avoid prosecution and harassment when sending and receiving information on computer networks. Timothy C. May writes about cryptoanarchism in Cyphernomicon.
Today we bring a very special article for Bitcoin lovers, the cryptocurrencies, and the cryptographic economy: the translation of the cryptoanarchist manifesto written in 1988.
It is a short document, it only takes a few minutes to read, but it sure gives you food for thought.
It has no waste and predicts present times so precisely that it impacts, especially in the use of Bitcoin-like technologies and the perception that governments, financial institutions and power groups will have about it.
Says so:
Cypherpunks of the world,
At the meeting of 'Physical Cypherpunks', held yesterday in Silicon Valley, many of you asked me to make more content of the material that we have approved in our meetings available electronically, so that it can be accessible and read in full throughout the entire list of Cypherpunks, spies, curious and anyone who wants.
Here is the "Crypto Anarchist Manifesto" that I read in September 1992 at the founding meeting. Its origins date back to mid-1988, when it was distributed to some like-minded techno-anarchists at the "Crypto '88" conference and again at the "Hackers Conference" that year. I later gave talks about this in 'Hackers' in 1989 and 1990.
There are some things I would like to change, but for historical reasons I am going to leave it as it is. Some of the terms may be unfamiliar to you ... I hope the Crypto Glossary that I just distributed is helpful.
(This should explain all the crypto terms that are in my signature)
–Tim May
The cryptanarchist manifesto
A spectrum is emerging in the modern world, the spectrum of crypto anarchy.
Computing is on the brink of providing the ability for individuals and groups to communicate and interact with each other completely anonymously. Two people can exchange messages, conduct business, and negotiate electronic contracts, without ever knowing the Real Name, or the legal identity, of the other. Interactions over networks will be untraceable, thanks to the widespread use of encrypted packet rerouting on tamper-proof machines that implement cryptographic protocols with almost perfect guarantees against any tampering attempt. Reputations will play a crucial role, far more important in deals than credit ratings today. These developments will completely alter 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 surely it will be a social and economic revolution) has existed in theory for the last decade. The methods are based on the public key encryption, interactive test systems zero-knowledge, and various software protocols for interaction, authentication, and verification. The focus so far has been on academic conferences in Europe and the US, conferences closely monitored by the National Security Agency. But only recently have computer networks and personal computers become fast enough to make ideas workable in practice. And the next 10 years will bring enough additional speed to make these ideas economically feasible and, in essence, unstoppable. High-speed networks, ISDN, 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, attempt to delay or stop the spread of this technology, citing national security concerns, the use of this technology by drug traffickers and tax evaders, and fears of social disintegration. Any of these concerns will be valid; Cryptanarchy will allow the free commercialization of national secrets and the commercialization of illicit and stolen materials. An anonymous computerized marketplace will even allow the establishment of horrible murder and extortion markets. Various criminal and foreign elements will be active users of the CryptoNet. But this will not stop the spread of crypto anarchy.
Just as printing technology altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the structure of social power, so cryptological methods will alter the nature of corporations and government interference in economic transactions. Crypto anarchy, combined with emerging information markets, will create a liquid market for any material that can be put into words and images. And just as a seemingly minor invention like barbed wire made it possible to enclose large ranches and farms, thus forever altering concepts of land and property rights at the borders of the West, so too the seemingly minor discovery From an arcane branch of mathematics it will become the pliers that dismantle the barbed wire around the intellectual property.
Get up, you have nothing to lose except your own barbed wire fences!
Timothy C. May
tcmay@netcom.com
408-688-5409
WASTE: Aptos, CA
Higher Power: 2 ^ 756839
Crypto Anarchy:
encryption, digital money, anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero knowledge, reputations, information markets, black markets, collapse of governments.
PGP Public Key: by arrangement.
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