Fw: Your paper on criminal contracts

[jdb10987@yahoo.com (jim bell)]

For some reason, my first attempt to upload this didn't seem to 'take'.      Jim Bell
 

   ----- Forwarded Message -----
  From: jim bell <jdb10987@yahoo.com>
 To: Ari Juels <juels@cornell.edu> 
Cc: "runting@gmail.com" <runting@gmail.com>; "akosba@cs.umd.edu" <akosba@cs.umd.edu>; Cpunks List <cypherpunks@cpunks.org> 
 Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 2:50 AM
 Subject: Re: Your paper on criminal contracts
   
Your paper: Â  Â https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCsQFjACahUKEwiF_b_E7IfIAhWQmIgKHc_tAuY&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arijuels.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F09%2Fpublic_gyges.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHOBvCYwJ5Aq0CmHTOY53sGdRs5Sw&sig2=L_lh-zCi016f7Y3jbKVKlQ&bvm=bv.103073922,d.cGU
Thank you for your reply, Dr. Juels, 
Once you read my essay, I think you will understand my concern about the motivation for your research, and its potential consequences. Â  Superficially, and certainly to someone unfamiliar with my idea (Assassination Politics essay), Â I'm sure it sounds useful and indeed beneficial to try to prevent the construction and operation of "criminal contracts". Â  One problem that I see, as a lifetime libertarian, is that "criminal" may mean no more than "what the government wants to ban" rather than an actual victim crime. Â Worse, governments are powerfully motivated to prevent developments that will someday likely destroy them.
I suggest that you study the analyses of Bob Vroman  http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=009ape ;   ,    http://www.mail-archive.com/cypherpunks-moderated@minder.net/msg02068.html     and  of Bob Murphy,  www.anti-state.com/murphy/murphy17.html   (although the Murphy essay might not be available, except as an archive.)  as well as by R.  Sukumaran   http://www.idsa.in/strategicanalysis/CryptologyDigitalAssassinationandtheTerrorismFuturesMarket_rsukumaran_0404.html. ;
Further, consider

 https://github.com/isislovecruft/patternsinthevoid/blob/master/content/anarchism/game-theory-anarchism-ii-how-information-can-smash-the-state.md
https://c4ss.org/content/1157

series -- anti-state.com

https://www.reddit.com/r/Anarcho_Capitalism/comments/2jo578/arguments_for_against_insurrectionist_ancapism/


There is a lot more where this comes from.

Keep in mind that when I wrote the AP essay, technologies such as Tor, Bitcoin, and especially Ethereum and Augur simply did not exist. But today they do, or at least they soon will. Â And that, I consider to be an extremely good thing.
So perhaps you will understand that I consider that trying to prevent _all_ "criminal contracts" from being formed is a major, and indeed dangerous mistake. Â While I do not believe that such an effort can ever succeed, I think it would be best not to try.
          Jim Bell

    

  From: Ari Juels <juels@cornell.edu>
 To: jim bell <jdb10987@yahoo.com> 
Cc: "runting@gmail.com" <runting@gmail.com>; "akosba@cs.umd.edu" <akosba@cs.umd.edu> 
 Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2015 2:32 PM
 Subject: Re: Your paper on criminal contracts
   
Dear Mr. Bell,
Thank you for your original note and follow-up. Weâ??re indeed planning to read your essay and cite it as appropriate in our next paper revision (slated to come out in January).
Yours,
AJ



From: jim bell <jdb10987@yahoo.com>
To: "juels@cornell.edu" <juels@cornell.edu>; "runting@gmail.com" <runting@gmail.com>; "akosba@cs.umd.edu" <akosba@cs.umd.edu>; Cpunks List <cypherpunks@cpunks.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2015 10:14 AM
Subject: Your paper on criminal contracts

Dear Professors Juels (http://www.arijuels.com/) and Shi (runting@gmail.com), and Ahmed Kosba  akosba@cs.umd.edu :    I've found a reference to your recent paper, http://www.initc3.org/publications.html. ; "The Ring of Gyges: Using Smart Contracts for Crime."   Perhaps you are not aware, but 20 years ago (1995-6) I wrote an essay on a very similar subject.  I called it "Assassination Politics".  cryptome.org/ap.htm .                 Jim Bell





   

  
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