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Interview: Phil Zimmermann on Bitcoin, Cryptography & PGP
1835 sats \ 7 comments \ @TheVladCostea 19 Oct 2023 bitcoin
Phil Zimmermann is the creator of PGP and the man who fought the US government in court to normalize open source cryptography.
Without his courageous actions, Satoshi Nakamoto wouldn't have had access to all the cryptography libraries that he used (such as ECDSA) and couldn't have hidden his identity (he used PGP and Tor for his communications).
I had the honor to interview Phil Zimmermann in Prague during the Proof of Work Summit and I'm happy and proud to share the recording with you. I've asked him about Bitcoin, I've asked him about Hal Finney (who was his first employee at PGP), and we've also talked about other cryptography projects that he finds interesting. He's the kind of cypherpunk who cares about privacy much more than creating sound money, and his work definitely reflects this path.
The interview is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts & Spotify (as well as many other podcast apps). If you want to search for it yourselves, look for Bitcoin Takeover Podcast S14 E15 with Phil Zimmermann.
Here you can find all the links, as well as time stamps and a full transcript: https://bitcoin-takeover.com/s14-e15-phil-zimmermann-on-bitcoin-cryptography-pgp/
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111 sats \ 2 replies \ @davidw 20 Oct 2023
Great questions and interview @TheVladCostea. Your knowledge and preparation was definitely on show. Could watch you guys for another 60 minutes.
Bit of a shame to see Phil talking up Bitcoin’s POW but talking down its ‘footprint’. Something tells me he doesn’t really believe the latter. He clearly understood the importance of double-spending. Or, perhaps he needs to spend more time on the project. With a mind like his, I’m surprised he hasn’t wanted to get his feet wet to be quite honest. To bring privacy to Bitcoin. But what a career and what an honorable gent. Thanks for your incisive and thoughtful questioning.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @TheVladCostea OP 26 Oct 2023
I would have interviewed him for 2 hours, but unfortunately we recorded at the end of a long conference day, after he gave the closing keynote speech and had to speak with everyone who approached him.
He was tired, told me I only have 20 minutes and somehow managed to get 30. Honestly, I'm honored that he talked to me at all and I'm happy that I was able to capture some views of his about which he doesn't talk during his speeches – he's mainly focused on telling the story of his legal battles from the 1990s, but doesn't mention Hal Finney or Bitcoin.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @davidw 27 Oct 2023
I suspected that was the case 😃 you would have had enough material I have no doubt, to go another 6 rounds.
You could tell he enjoyed the conversation as he was able to give more insight than he normally would in some of those areas, because of your past reading.
One of my favourite interviews of this year and that’s the first time I’ve heard Phil talk.
Which questions or topics would you have loved to dig deeper into, if you had had the time?
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1 sat \ 0 replies \ @ruS7Y 20 Oct 2023
What a legend. Good to hear him talk about hal.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cyphercosmo 11 Dec
You got to respect his uncompromising commitment to his beliefs, he could've "cashed in" his notoriety with some shitcoiners out in the wild but Phil is still concerned with humanity's problems like proper end-to-end encryption in basic communication like voice, video, and text.
I will tip my virtual cowboy hat to Mr. Zimmermann 🤠👆, I wish more software engineers are inspired by the altruism of people like him.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @jairunet 19 Dec 2023
Excellent interview, I am so glad I am checking stacker news ^^
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @smartwin 13 Jan freebie
Thank you Vlad for the opportunity to meet this warrior for freedom and privacy, he is underrated i hope more people will give respect for this people we need more people like him to be out there and follow their examples , we need to learn from them and respect them , thank you for your service Vlad