Date: Fri, Mar 12, 1993 (07:51) From: Cliff Figallo 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