Editing Cypherpunk (section)

==== Early discussion of online privacy ====
The list was discussing questions about privacy, government monitoring, corporate control of information, and related issues in the early 1990s that did not become major topics for broader discussion until at least ten years later. Some list participants were highly radical on these issues.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Those wishing to understand the context of the list might refer to the history of cryptography; in the early 1990s, the US government considered cryptography software a [[munition]] for export purposes ([[Pretty Good Privacy|PGP]] source code was published as a paper book to bypass these regulations and demonstrate their futility). In 1992, a deal between NSA and SPA allowed export of cryptography based on 40-bit RC2 and RC4 which was considered relatively weak (and especially after SSL was created, there were many contests to break it). The US government had also tried to subvert cryptography through schemes such as [[Skipjack (cipher)|Skipjack]] and key escrow. It was also not widely known that all communications were logged by government agencies (which would later be revealed during the [[NSA warrantless surveillance controversy|NSA]] and [[Hepting v. AT&T|AT&T scandals]]) though this was taken as an obvious axiom by list members{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.exabeam.com/information-security/clipper-chip/|title=Clipper Chip: How the Government Wanted to Put a Backdoor in Your Phone|date=April 2, 2019|website=Exabeam|access-date=December 6, 2020|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125093337/https://www.exabeam.com/information-security/clipper-chip/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The original cypherpunk mailing list, and the first list spin-off, ''coderpunks'', were originally hosted on [[John Gilmore (activist)|John Gilmore]]'s toad.com, but after a falling out with the sysop over moderation, the list was migrated to several cross-linked mail-servers in what was called the "distributed mailing list."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/1997/01/msg02001.html|title=Re: Sandy and the Doc|website=Cypherpunks.venona.com|access-date=5 September 2020|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182210/http://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/1997/01/msg02001.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/1997/02/msg00627.html|title=Newgroup -- distributed mailing list on the way?|website=Cypherpunks.venona.com|access-date=5 September 2020|archive-date=30 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030160503/http://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/1997/02/msg00627.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''coderpunks'' list, open by invitation only, existed for a time. ''Coderpunks'' took up more technical matters and had less discussion of public policy implications. There are several lists today that can trace their lineage directly to the original Cypherpunks list: the cryptography list (cryptography@metzdowd.com), the financial cryptography list (fc-announce@ifca.ai), and a small group of closed (invitation-only) lists as well.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Toad.com continued to run with the existing subscriber list, those that didn't unsubscribe, and was mirrored on the new distributed mailing list, but messages from the distributed list didn't appear on toad.com.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/1997/02/msg02277.html|title=Switching to full traffic mode|website=Cypherpunks.venona.com|access-date=5 September 2020|archive-date=30 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030150847/http://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/1997/02/msg02277.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As the list faded in popularity, so too did it fade in the number of cross-linked subscription nodes.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

To some extent, the cryptography list<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mail-archive.com/cryptography@metzdowd.com|title=Cryptography|website=Mail-archive.com|access-date=2010-08-15|archive-date=2021-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323181052/https://www.mail-archive.com/cryptography@metzdowd.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> acts as a successor to cypherpunks; it has many of the people and continues some of the same discussions. However, it is a moderated list, considerably less zany and somewhat more technical. A number of current systems in use trace to the mailing list, including [[Pretty Good Privacy]], [[/dev/random]] in the [[Linux kernel]] (the actual code has been completely reimplemented several times since then) and today's [[anonymous remailer]]s.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}