[Arm-netbook] Urgent statement on Cryptocurrency ethics

[Philip Hands]

Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <lkcl at lkcl.net> writes:

> ---
> crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 22, 2018 at 9:45 AM, Philip Hands <phil at hands.com> wrote:
>
>> I'd like to announce a revolution in data privacy.  Individuals can take
>> control of their data, and ensure that it doesn't leak into the hands of
>> people that they don't want to have it.
>>
>> Just install PGP.
>
>  hurrah! :)
>
>  so let's think about that case for a minute... PGP/GPG were designed
> for encrypting / signing static data.  if that was all that was
> involved, crypto-currencies would have been replaced by people using
> PGP/GPG to sign static text files containing "money" or the digital
> representation of the same.

You miss my point completely.

What I was saying was that we have the existing experiment of a
decentralised system, capable of providing a significant benefit to the
public, if only they were willing to take some responsibility.

We ran the experiment for decades, and the point at which it partially
succeeded was when the likes of whatsap provided people with a way of
avoiding responsibilty.

I therefore suspect that citing benefits of crypto-currencies that will
acrue, if only the public would take responsibilty for themselves, is
pointless.

Cheers, Phil.
-- 
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