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Re: [E-CARM] PKI, CAs, TTPs &c.

(Ooops.  Meant this for spki, not cert-talk, sorry.)

At 04:32 PM 3/27/98 -0500, you wrote:
>In summary:
>	The signature on the document establishes intent.
>	Identity is asserted by the certificate.
>
>	Saying that my key is my name is equivalent to 
>	saying that my pen is my name.  This is nonsense.
>
>	My key is what I use to - among other things - establish
>	intent and provide integrity.  My pen is used for the same
>	purpose.
>
>	My X.509 certificate is what I present to assert an identity.
>	My birth certificate (and other credentials) do the same
>	in other contexts.
>
>John

Unfortunately, saying "My name is Me" is also nonsense.  So what is me?

In the end, "me" is a suitably consistent history of suitably traceable
behaviors, as far as anyone can really be concerned.  It is fundamentally
statistical, except in my own mind (I *know* what I did.)  With the
increasing importance of online presence, this is the only long-term
answer to "who I am".  Which (if any) of the infrastructures posited
thus far help us to refine the two uses of "suitably" I employed in the
first sentence, with regard to an arbitrary relying party?

___TONY___


Tony Bartoletti                                             LL
SPI-NET GURU                                             LL LL
Computer Security Technology Center                   LL LL LL
Lawrence Livermore National Lab                       LL LL LL
PO Box 808, L - 303                                   LL LL LLLLLLLL
Livermore, CA 94551-9900                              LL LLLLLLLL
email: azb@llnl.gov   phone: 510-422-3881             LLLLLLLL

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Tony Bartoletti                                             LL
SPI-NET GURU                                             LL LL
Computer Security Technology Center                   LL LL LL
Lawrence Livermore National Lab                       LL LL LL
PO Box 808, L - 303                                   LL LL LLLLLLLL
Livermore, CA 94551-9900                              LL LLLLLLLL
email: azb@llnl.gov   phone: 510-422-3881             LLLLLLLL
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