Crypto-anarchy

Crypto-anarchism is an ideology that expounds the use of strong public-key cryptography to enforce privacy and individual freedom. It is a cyberspatial realization of anarchism. Crypto-anarchists aim to create cryptographic software that can be used to evade prosecution and harassment while sending and receiving information in computer networks.

Using such software, the connection between the identity of a certain user or organisation and the pseudonym they use is almost entirely unprovable unless the user reveals the connection. It is even difficult to say which country's laws will be ignored, as even the location (country) of a certain participant is unknown. In a sense, the encrypted anonymous networks (the "cipherspace") can be regarded as an independent, lawless territory. However, participants may voluntarily create new laws using smart contracts or depend on online reputation.

Motives

• Defense against surveillance of computers and Internet communication is important to crypto-anarchists. They try to protect against things like telecommunications data retention, the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy and Room 641A, among other things. Crypto-anarchists consider the development and use of cryptography to be the main defense against such problems, instead of political action.
• Evasion of censorship, particularly internet censorship, are viewed as important to protecting the freedom of speech. The programs used by crypto-anarchists often make it possible to both publish and read information off the internet and other computer networks anonymously. Tor, I2P, Freenet and many similar networks allow for anonymous "hidden" webpages only accessible by users of these programs. This greatly helps whistleblowers and political opposition in oppressing nations to spread their information.
• The technical challenge in developing these cryptographic systems is tremendous, which interests some programmers into joining the projects.

Criticism

• Crypto-anarchism is often criticized for making it easy and safe to illegally share files, such as copyrighted movies and music. Depending on the software used, sometimes large (compared to the rest of the internet) amounts of easy to access child pornography also gather in these types of systems.
• It is also very easy for criminals to make use of the networks to coordinate sabotage and terrorism. Assassination markets is a good example that crypto-anarchism could be used in this way. [1]

Counter-criticism

In response to the criticism, crypto-anarchists argue that without the ability to encrypt messages, personal information and private life would be seriously damaged. A ban on cryptography is equal of the eradication of secrecy of correspondence. They argue that only a draconian police-state would illegalize cryptography. In spite of this, it is already illegal to use it in Russia and France, and to export it from the USA, among other countries.[2]

Of course, such freedom could be abused by criminals. Crypto-anarchists claim that criminals are already communicating anonymously, the networks will just bring the benefits such as privacy and freedom of anonymity to the ordinary people.

As a twist, crypto-anarchists (and cypherpunks) argue that the laws of mathematics are stronger than the laws of man, and that crypto-anarchism therefore is inevitable: As long as there is a minimum of free speech, it is impossible to stop people from transmitting encrypted messages. Thus, it is impossible to stop the spread of crypto-anarchism.

To truly enforce a ban on the use of cryptography is probably impossible as cryptography itself can be used to hide even the existence of encrypted messages (see steganography). It is also possible to encapsulate messages encrypted with illegal strong cryptography inside messages encrypted with legal weak cryptography, thus making it very difficult and uneconomical for outsiders to notice the use of illegal encryption.

Plausible deniability

Crypto-anarchism relies heavily on plausible deniability to avoid censorship. Crypto-anarchists create this deniability by sending encrypted messages to interlinked proxies in computer networks. With the message a payload of routing information is bundled. The message is encrypted with each one of the proxies and the receiver public keys. Each node can only decrypt its own part of the message, and only obtain the information intended for itself. That is, which node is the next hop in the chain. Thus, it is impossible for any node in the chain to know anything else but the previous and next node in the chain or what information they are carrying to the receiver as those parts of the information are hidden. The receiver also does not know who the sender is, except perhaps by another destination, digital signature or something similar. Who originally sent the information and who is the intended receiver is considered infeasible to detect. See onion routing for more information.

Thus, with multiple layers of encryption, it is effectively impossible to know who is connected to any particular service or pseudonym. Because summary punishment for crimes are illegal, it is impossible to stop any potential criminal activity in the network without enforcing a ban on strong cryptography, and this is probably impossible as seen above.

Deniable encryption and anonymizing networks can be used to avoid being detected while sharing copyrighted or otherwise illegal information, such as movies, music, computer games and information that the users are too afraid to share on the ordinary Internet. It could be anything from anti-state propaganda, reports of abuse, whistleblowing, reports from Chinese dissidents and child pornography. The latter is a major problem in Freenet.

Anonymous trading

Untraceable, privately issued electronic money and anonymous internet banking existed for a while in these virtual communities that could be used to trade anonymously. DMT and Yodelbank were examples of two such anonymous banks. Anonymous trading is easier to achieve for information services that can be provided over the Internet. For example, the developers of I2P receive anonymous/pseudonymous monetary support from the I2P community. Providing physical products is more difficult as the anonymity is more easily broken when crossing into the physical world. Untraceable money makes it possible to ignore some of the laws of the physical world, as the laws cannot be enforced without knowing people's physical identities. For instance, tax on income for online services provided pseudonymously can be avoided if no government knows the identity of the service provider.

Final note

This should not be confused with the use of the prefix "crypto-" to indicate an ideology or system with an intentionally concealed or obfuscated "true nature". For example, some would use the term "crypto-fascist" to describe an individual or organization that holds fascist views and subscribes to fascist doctrine but tries to hide this agenda from those outside of itself. However, Timothy C. May's "Cyphernomicon" indicates that the term "crypto-anarchist" was partially intended as a pun on this usage, even though he did not intend to conceal his beliefs or agenda.

See also

• Cipherspace
• Cryptography
• Cypherpunk
• Data havens
• Digital gold currency
• Entropy (anonymous data store)
• Freenet
• Hacktivism
• Illegal prime
• Infoanarchism
• Jurisdictional arbitrage
• Libertarianism
• Onion routing
• Online reputation
• Pseudonymity

External links

• The Cyphernomicon by Timothy C. May ("Cypherpunks FAQ and More" from 1994; Need serious updating but still excellent.)
• A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow
• Invisible Net
• GNUnet, Anonymous file sharing