It is imaginable that, with the widespread use of digital cash and encrypted monetary exchange on the Global Net, economies the size of America’s could appear as nothing but oceans of alphabet soup. Money laundering would no longer be necessary. The payment of taxes might become more or less voluntary.
Predictor: Barlow, John Perry
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 article, John Perry Barlow writes about the Clipper Chip (an encryption method for communications which will scramble material but give the government a “key” to unscramble any materials it wishes). He addresses his concerns about the Internet’s impact on business – mainly “digital acccounting” or monetary exchange: ”It is imaginable that, with the widespread use of digital cash and encrypted monetary exchange on the Global Net, economies the size of America’s could appear as nothing but oceans of alphabet soup. Money laundering would no longer be necessary. The payment of taxes might become more or less voluntary. A lot of weird things would happen after that… I’m pretty comfortable with chaos, but this is not a future I greet without reservation.”
Biography:John Perry Barlow helped found the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1990 with WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) members Mitch Kapor and John Gilmore in direct response to a threat to free speech. Barlow’s was one of the loudest voices in the battle to keep the Internet unfettered while still encouraging that it become a tool available to everyone. (Advocate/Voice of the People.)
Date of prediction: October 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Economic structures
Subtopic: E-cash
Name of publication: Communications of the ACM
Title, headline, chapter name: A Plain Text on Crypto Policy
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
www.eff.org/Publications/John_Perry_Barlow/HTML/plain_text_on_crypto.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Bizzell, Natalie