When, all of a sudden, you see a technical person start talking like a politician, then, unsurprisingly, political forces are at work.

SSL was not imposed to the world for it's security: it does not bring any.

SSL was imposed for the ability of the top to track (and alter in real time) the traffic of SSL:

- VPNs
- Firewall administration consoles
- Web sites, etc.

...for one single reason: being in a position to "follow the money" (and block it when 'unwanted').

There's nothing new here. Bitcoin just acts as a reminder.

For the non-long-term readers just educating themselves, what's the textbook alternative to PKI you have been copying?
thanks

In short, the 'textbook alternate' is the CAcert Assurance Programme, or CAP. It is a web of trust based on assurance by about 6000 assurers around the planet.

It works, it's auditable, it's reliable. The only thing wrong with it is that too few understand how good it is.

If MaidSafe rolls out successfully wont this make the above argument redundant? All websites will be secure and immune from state interference.