Because it *could* be something important. Would you mind storing pads if you knew it might contain a message that could overthrow a tyrannical government? Different people would have different motives.
Keeping in mind that you're talking about monitiring *all* the possible databases, here are some ideas: 1.) Suppose I force uploads to my pad server to contain several pads, some of them being previously submitted pads (from my server or some other server). Anyone observing would know that some of the data would, by it's nature, be randomly selected known pads. The most recent uploader would be less meaningful, since *anyone* might have stumbled on that pad. 2.)What if I run a pad database that doesn't indicate when a pad was released to me? Borrowing an idea from the cypherpunk remailers, you could submit a pad to me with a special header that tells me to wait "x" intervals before I make your new submission available. Or I could simply add a random amount of time. Or both. The observer might know *which* server it appeared on first, but it would be very hard to tell who submitted it, since it could have happened, say, two years ago. 3.) My pad server could take a certain number of pads and forward them to another server, making them that other server's pads. A pad that you actually submitted to me would belong to some other server. 4.)As soon as you decide to start posting information via this system, you start sending pads to pad servers (possibly before you actually post a "message"). This way you'll increase the number of pads, but you'll also make it harder for someone to know that you're posting a "message", since you may just be sending white noise. Everyday, an observer would have to examine everything you post in light of everything else you have ever posted (This quickly becomes an exponential problem, no?). [BTW, have you ever heard of the shortwave radio transmissions that are, allegedly, spy transmissions? I remember reading once that the amount of traffic on these stations has not decreased signigicantly since the end of the cold war, since noone wants the other side to have a hint that the amount of spying may have decreased or to have a hint when spying takes an upswing again. Understand?] It all has to do with obfuscation. From my limited experience with cypherpunk remailers, the major weakness is someone putting together when you post and when an "anonymous" message appears on the system. With this system, a message would not appear at one time, and hopefully not in one piece. You could probably even devise a system where the sender doesn't actually know exactly *when* the message was sent!
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Because it *could* be something important. Would you mind storing pads if you knew it might contain a message that could overthrow a tyrannical government? Different people would have different motives.
Keeping in mind that you're talking about monitiring *all* the possible databases, here are some ideas: 1.) Suppose I force uploads to my pad server to contain several pads, some of them being previously submitted pads (from my server or some other server). Anyone observing would know that some of the data would, by it's nature, be randomly selected known pads. The most recent uploader would be less meaningful, since *anyone* might have stumbled on that pad. 2.)What if I run a pad database that doesn't indicate when a pad was released to me? Borrowing an idea from the cypherpunk remailers, you could submit a pad to me with a special header that tells me to wait "x" intervals before I make your new submission available. Or I could simply add a random amount of time. Or both. The observer might know *which* server it appeared on first, but it would be very hard to tell who submitted it, since it could have happened, say, two years ago. 3.) My pad server could take a certain number of pads and forward them to another server, making them that other server's pads. A pad that you actually submitted to me would belong to some other server. 4.)As soon as you decide to start posting information via this system, you start sending pads to pad servers (possibly before you actually post a "message"). This way you'll increase the number of pads, but you'll also make it harder for someone to know that you're posting a "message", since you may just be sending white noise. Everyday, an observer would have to examine everything you post in light of everything else you have ever posted (This quickly becomes an exponential problem, no?). [BTW, have you ever heard of the shortwave radio transmissions that are, allegedly, spy transmissions? I remember reading once that the amount of traffic on these stations has not decreased signigicantly since the end of the cold war, since noone wants the other side to have a hint that the amount of spying may have decreased or to have a hint when spying takes an upswing again. Understand?] It all has to do with obfuscation. From my limited experience with cypherpunk remailers, the major weakness is someone putting together when you post and when an "anonymous" message appears on the system. With this system, a message would not appear at one time, and hopefully not in one piece. You could probably even devise a system where the sender doesn't actually know exactly *when* the message was sent!