moving user ID Comments to --expert mode

[Robert J. Hansen]

On 2/3/11 5:47 PM, Daniel Kahn Gillmor wrote:
> Just to clarify this point:

This is not a clarification: this is a confusion.

> If i meet Robert in person, show him my gov't IDs, my fingerprint, and
> we exchange e-mails, Robert would probably be fine certifying this User ID:
> 
>  Daniel Kahn Gillmor <dkg at fifthhorseman.net>

Yes.  And my signature would mean exactly that: I'd seen two forms of
government ID, seen you face to face, verified fingerprints, and
confirmed your email address works.

> But i suspect he would not want to certify this User ID:
> 
>  Daniel Kahn Gillmor (I am really Robert Hansen) <dkg at fifthhorseman.net>

Correct.  Because the presence of my signature means something.  The
*absence* means *nothing at all*, and you're smart enough to know that.

I am under no obligation to make any signatures, and I am free to add
whatever conditions I want to it.  Maybe I don't want to sign your
certificate because you're a redhead, and I've never been able to find
it in my heart to ever trust a ginger.[*]  Maybe I don't want to sign
your certificate because it's a Thursday.  Maybe I don't want to sign
your certificate because I've just had a bad day and I can't be
bothered.  Maybe ...

If you see a signature from me, you know what it means.  If you don't,
then you can't draw any inferences whatsoever.  Why do you want people
to draw inferences from my unwillingness to sign a certificate, when
it's plainly obvious there are no inferences to be drawn from that?




[*] Quite tongue in cheek, given that I'm a redhead myself.