The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto
Timothy C. May 1988
A specter is haunting the modern world, the specter of crypto anarchy.
Computer technology is on the verge of providing the ability for individuals and groups to communicate and interact with each other in a totally anonymous manner. Two persons may exchange messages, conduct business, and negotiate electronic contracts without ever knowing the True Name, or legal identity, of the other. Interactions over networks will be untraceable, via extensive re-routing of encrypted packets and tamper-proof boxes which implement cryptographic protocols with nearly perfect assurance against any tampering. Reputations will be of central importance, far more important in dealings than even the credit ratings of today. These developments will alter completely the nature of government regulation, the ability to tax and control economic interactions, the ability to keep information secret, and will even alter the nature of trust and reputation.
The technology for this revolution–and it surely will be both a social and economic revolution–has existed in theory for the past decade. The methods are based upon public-key encryption, zero-knowledge interactive proof systems, and various software protocols for interaction, authentication, and verification. The focus has until now been on academic conferences in Europe and the U.S., conferences monitored closely by the National Security Agency. But only recently have computer networks and personal computers attained sufficient speed to make the ideas practically realizable. And the next ten years will bring enough additional speed to make the ideas economically feasible and essentially unstoppable. High-speed networks, ISDN, tamper-proof boxes, smart cards, satellites, Ku-band transmitters, multi-MIPS personal computers, and encryption chips now under development will be some of the enabling technologies.
The State will of course try to slow or halt the spread of this technology, citing national security concerns, use of the technology by drug dealers and tax evaders, and fears of societal disintegration. Many of these concerns will be valid; crypto anarchy will allow national secrets to be trade freely and will allow illicit and stolen materials to be traded. An anonymous computerized market will even make possible abhorrent markets for assassinations and extortion. Various criminal and foreign elements will be active users of CryptoNet. But this will not halt the spread of crypto anarchy.
Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions. Combined with emerging information markets, crypto anarchy will create a liquid market for any and all material which can be put into words and pictures. And just as a seemingly minor invention like barbed wire made possible the fencing-off of vast ranches and farms, thus altering forever the concepts of land and property rights in the frontier West, so too will the seemingly minor discovery out of an arcane branch of mathematics come to be the wire clippers which dismantle the barbed wire around intellectual property.
Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wire fences!
《加密无政府主义者宣言》译文
Timothy C. May
一个幽灵正在笼罩着现代世界，一个加密无政府主义的幽灵。
电脑技术正处在一个变革的临界点。它将为此提供了可能：个人及群体以匿名的方式交流互动——两个人可以交换信息、做生意、谈电子合同而并不知道对方的真名和法律身份。在网上的交互行为将无法追查，因为通过使用加密协议、加密包和反干预工具进行大量复杂的重编路由，可以几乎完美地保证加密不被破解。信用会变得无比重要，在交易中比今天的信用评级更重重要得多。这些发展将彻底改变政府监管的性质，限制其征税和对经济活动的控制、隐匿信息的能力，甚至彻底改变信任和信誉的性质。
这场技术将带来一场社会革命，同时也是经济革命——在过去十年里，理论曾有论述。这些方法基于公钥加密、零知识证明交互系统，以及用于交互、认证和验证的各种软件协议。一直以来，欧洲和美国的学术会议在密切关注这些技术，这些都是国家安全局密切监测的会议。但直到最近，计算机网络和个人计算机的发展速度才使这些想法变得可行。接下来十年，这些技术的发展速度会更快，使这些想法在经济上可行，并不可阻挡。高速网络、ISDN（综合业务数据网）、防篡改工具、智能卡、卫星、Ku 波段发射器、多 MIPS 个人计算机，和加密芯片等正在发展的技术，都将成为赋能技术。
国家当然会试图减缓或阻止这种技术传播，理由是国家安全——毒贩和逃税者也会用这些技术，以及对社会解体的担忧。其中许多担心都是有道理的；加密无政府状态将允许国家机密自由交易，并允许非法和被盗材料进行交易。一个匿名的计算机化市场甚至会使暗杀和勒索交易成为可能。各种犯罪和外国势力将成为加密网络的活跃用户。但这不会阻止加密无政府状态的蔓延。
正如印刷技术改变并削弱了中世纪行会和社会权力结构的力量一样，密码学方法也会从根本上改变企业的性质和政府对经济交易的干预。与新兴信息市场结合，加密无政府主义将为所有图文素材创造一个流动的市场。像铁丝网这样看似微不足道的发明，使大片牧场和农场的围栏成为可能，从而永远改变了西部边境的土地和产权概念。看似微不足道的发现也出现在了小众的数学分支中，成为剪线钳，剪开束缚知识产权的铁丝网。
起来，你们除了铁丝网什么也不会失去！
