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1995-01-03
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Date: Fri, Mar 12, 1993 (07:51)
From: Cliff Figallo <fig@well.sf.ca.us>
Subject: File 5--Computer Freedom and Privacy III Conf. (Report 5)
Actually, Vint Cerf was the co-inventor (with last year's Pioneer
Award winner Robert Kahn) of TCP/IP. The one you forgot was Paul
Baran, "inventor" of packet switching and the Telebit modem
protocol.
I say "inventor" because all of these people would be the first to
tell you that all of this has been collaborative and evolutionary.
I
was privileged to be able to arrange for the recipients to come
here
to accept the awards and they are all very gracious and humble
people.
John Perry Barlow gave the lunch speech Thursday, matching Bruce
Sterling's second-day-lunch presentation, the mind-blowing event of
*last* year's CFP in Washington. J.P. did nothing to dim what may
become the tradition of having the conference peak at this
particular
point in the schedule. Barlow's point, delivered in his
characteristic blunt, frank, to the point, human-centered style,
was
that our access to the tools that can guarantee us absolute digital
privacy can be _over-used_ by us, the technical elite. We are
already
more knowledgeable and sophisticated about communications than any
branch or agency of government and we have the ability to maintain
that lead. If we decide to escalate a "war" of privacy, it may
force
the government's hand and we may actually end up contributing to a
constriction of free flow of information and a resulting damage to
the
community-fostering potential of electronic networking. Barlow's
appeal to us, was to practice moderation and to pay attention to
the
meta-effects.
He strung together so many provocative statements (I had high-level
functionaries of both the CIA and FBI in my line of sight as he
spoke)
that many eyebrows were raised and twitching and even I was shaking
my
head in disbelief. I'll get the transcript and post it here as
soon
as possible. Big Fun.
Aside from that, a lot of action, as usual, was taking place in the
hallways. The session on Digital Privacy (including Dorothy
Denning
and the issue of the FBI's Digital Telephony scheme) was a good
high-level discussion which as appreciated by all as giving good
exposure to the major conflicting points of view. This being by
third
CFP and my eighth year being concerned with these issues, I see all
the usual suspects discussing the usual issues, making incremental
progress toward resolution. Some of these issues can only be
solved
when the technology and the people have been in the microwave long
enough. No major breakthroughs will happen at this conference, but
it
does build the trust that face-to-face often brings.
Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253