9.14.1. Besides Clipper, Digital Telephony, and the National
Information Infrastructure, the government is interested in
other areas, such as e-mail delivery (US Postal Service
proposal) and maintenance of network systems in general.
9.14.2. Digital Telephony, ATM networks, and deals being cut
- Rumblings of deals being cut
- a new draft is out [John Gilmore, 1994-08-03]
- Encryption with hardware at full ATM speeds
- and SONET networks (experimental, Bay Area?)
9.14.3. The USPS plans for mail, authentication, effects on
competition, etc.
+ This could have a devastating effect on e-mail and on
cyberspace in general, especially if it is tied in to other
government proposals in an attempt to gain control of
cyberspace.
- Digital Telelphony, Clipper, pornography laws and age
enforcement (the Amateur Action case), etc.
+ "Does the USPS really have a monopoly on first class mail?"
- and on "routes"?
- "The friendly PO has recently been visiting the mail
rooms of 2) The friendly PO has recently been visiting
the mail rooms of corporations in the Bay Area, opening
FedX, etc. packages (not protected by the privacy laws of
the PO's first class mail), and fining companies ($10,000
per violation, as I recall), for sending non-time-
sensitive documents via FedX when they could have been
sent via first-class mail." [Lew Glendenning, USPS
digital signature annoucement, sci.crypt, 1994-08-23] (A
citation or a news story would make this more credible,
but I've heard of similar spot checks.)
- The problems with government agencies competing are well-
known. First, they often have shoddy service..civil service
jobs, unfireable workers, etc. Second, they often cannot be
sued for nonperformance. Third, they often have government-
granted monopolies.
+ The USPS proposal may be an opening shot in an attempt to
gain control of electronic mail...it never had control of e-
mail, but its monopoly on first-class mail may be argued by
them to extend to cyberspace.
- Note: FedEx and the other package and overnight letter
carriers face various restrictions on their service; for
example, they cannot offer "routes" and the economies
that would result in.
- A USPS takeover of the e-mail business would mean an end
to many Cypherpunks objectives, including remailers,
digital postage, etc.
- The challenge will be to get these systems deployed as
quickly as possible, to make any takeover by the USPS all
the more difficult.
By Tim May, see README
HTML by Jonathan Rochkind