Here’s the table of contents and summary of WIRED Volume 1, Issue 3 (May/June 1993)—famously known for its cover story “Rebels with a Cause (Your Privacy)”:
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Contents & Highlights
🔒 Cover Feature: “Rebels with a Cause (Your Privacy)”
Written by Steven Levy, this article was WIRED’s first mass‑media exploration of the Cypherpunk movement, profiling early privacy activists like Tim May, Eric Hughes, and John Gilmore.
It examined the growing tension between government agencies (e.g. NSA, FBI) and a community pushing for accessible, strong cryptographic tools to protect personal privacy.
Key Themes in the Issue:
Crypto as Political Activism: Coverage of how cryptographic technologies (like Diffie–Hellman public‑key crypto and PGP by Phil Zimmermann) became tools of empowerment and resistance.
Profiles of Cypherpunk Leaders: Deep dives into the individuals behind the movement—Tim May (author of the “Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”), Eric Hughes (The Cypherpunk mailing list), John Gilmore (free‑speech advocate and early crypto sharer).
Early Predictions of Mass Surveillance: The issue predicted many modern concerns around data tracking, corporate surveillance, and erosion of digital anonymity.
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Why It Matters
Visionary Impact: Long before mainstream awareness, this issue laid out the digital‐era challenges we now face—data collection by big tech, government overreach, and the need for encryption as a civil liberty.
Symbolic Cover: The masked figures and American flag imagery underscored themes of anonymity, grassroots rebellion, and concern for privacy rights—a powerful motif that continues to resonate in privacy-conscious circles.
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Summary Table 🧩
Article / Feature Theme
Rebels with a Cause Privacy advocacy via cryptography
Cypherpunk ideology Decentralization, software‑driven privacy
Profiles: May, Hughes, Gilmore Founders behind early cypherpunk tools
Tech vs. Surveillance Government attempts to control encryption
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Although this issue is best known for the Levi‑written Crypto Rebels cover story and its pioneering spotlight on Cypherpunks, specific page-by-page article list isn't widely available online. But based on various analyses, Levy’s feature dominates and sets the tone.