From: curt@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Curt Welch)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk
Subject: My world (was: Caller ID block?)
Date: 12 Dec 92 00:17:19 GMT
Reply-To: curt@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Curt Welch)
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD

I wrote:
>>People that want their priviacy, can block their number.  If they then
>>have problems getting through to someone, they have a choice.  They can
>>either not talk to that person (on the phone), or they can do the fair
>>thing, and reveal their number.

In alt.cyberpunk, ratner@owlnet.rice.edu (Logan Joshua Ratner) writes:
>Who's to say that's the "fair thing?"

I do.  But you're quite right, this isn't an obviouly "fair" thing.  Many
people think it's not and their opinions are just a valid as mine.

I wrote:
>>Overall, I'm a strong believer that privacy and secrecy is the root
>>of all evil.  And you should always try to eliminate any form of
>>this evil.  In that respect, I think caller ID is an obvious step
>>in the right direction.

In alt.cyberpunk, ratner@owlnet.rice.edu (Logan Joshua Ratner) writes:
>Overall, I believe invasion of privacy is the root of much evil.
>I value mine and resent any overt intrusion therein.

That's fair.  A lot of people feel that way.  I'm not one of those people.

>What I do
>behind closed doors is nobody's business, as long as I don't harm
>others.

Yes, I agree with this.  But I feel that using a phone to call someone
outside your home, isn't "behind closed doors".  If you called from one
extension to the other in your house, then that would be "behind closed
doors".

The way I see it, using the phone to call someone is like traveling to
their house and knocking on their door.

Here's where the "my world" stuff starts...

I'd like to see a world where anything people did in public, was public
knowledge.  The phone system, in my ideal world would be public.  All
the records of who called who and when, would be public information that
anyone could access.  And the phone calls themself would be recorded, and
anyone could access those recordings.

If you wanted to have a private conversation, you should be able to use
encryption (an encryption system that not even the NSA could break.)
This would effectivly turn the phone line into "priviate property" for
the length of the call.  You could not, however, hide the fact that
a call was placed.  That would still be part of the public record.

You could have a private phone system located on priviate property (like
in an office building) and make private phone calls using that.  But once
you made a call outside of that office building, you would be "on record".

In my world, there would be video cameras and microphones recording
everything that happened "in public".  And anyone could access these
recordings (over the public computer networks.)  And all the hardware
that made and stored these recordings would also be in the public, so
you could monitor their operation to make sure no one was tampering
with them.

And anyone could set up these cameras.  It wouldn't be something
controlled only by the government (though most of the cameras would be
paid for and operated by the government.) Anyone could buy a camera and
set it up in any public place.

In this world, there would be a clear definition of which places were
public, and which were private.  You couldn't wander into an area that
was priviate (or public) without knowing it.

This would drasticly reduce crime in public places.  Only the insane would
commit crimes in public places, because you wouldn't be able to get away
with it.  All the "normal" interactions that you do with strangers would
be done in public.  All retail stores, parking lots, roads, etc., would
be public places.

All government offices would be public places (except where they could
justify national security issues.)  And when the day comes that we have
a world government - there won't be any national security issues.

They've already started this with CSPAN.  I'd like to see it extended
to every government office.  It would but a quick end to a lot of the
frad waste and abuse that's currently going on.  I work in a government
office and I would have no problem with this. (Granted, it would be very
strange at first, and take some getting use to, but I think it would
go a long way to solving a lot of the problems with the government.)

A lot of other services would be "public" also.  Like day-care centers and
and schools (government funded and priviate).

Once you have the technology that can create this world, with a clear
distinction between public and priviate places, then the concept of
"behind closed doors" takes on a new meaning because it's easy, in
law, to define what was "behind closed doors" and what wasn't.

In this new world, many things that are illegal now, I think
should made legal behind closed doors.  Things like using drugs.
The concept of socially unacceptable shouldn't apply (in many
cases) to what people do in private (as long as you don't harm
others in the process).

You might argue that this world would never work, because people would
set up large private clubs and centers where they could live and work
without being monitored - thereby defeating the whole concept.  But I
don't think this would happen.  I think over time, most people would
end up prefering the safety of the public areas (even at the expense of
being monitored).

I've talked about this "new world" concept to many of my friends, but I've
yet to find a single person that thought the idea was anything but crazy.
No one seems willing to give up any of their "privacy", even if it would
mean an end to much of the crime we live with today.

USENET is very much like this "public" world I dream of.  Everything you
do, good or bad, is recorded and available for everyone to see.  You
can't lie about what you said.  It's all a matter of public record. 
Everyone has an equal voice, everyone has equal power, and everyone has
equal protection.

Curt Welch
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk,sci.electronics