Your argument seems "obviously right" in hindsight. Very well written.

Where do you think the tolls could/should go?

BTW, I don't suppose there's a recording from your recent talk in Cambridge, is there?

I'd plug the Obfuscated TCP project currently under rapid development by a friend of mine:

http://code.google.com/p/obstcp/
http://code.google.com/p/obstcp/wiki/Reasoning
http://obstcp.blogspot.com/

It, or something like it (such as the Pirate Bay-sponsored system that got mentioned on Slashdot today) could significantly protect against wholesale eavesdropping and packet mangling by network operators -- or, at the very least, raise the cost of doing so by orders of magnitude.

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Separately, if you can get your head around the use of OpenPGP (as implemented by GnuPG and friends), it can -- if used correctly! -- help secure sensitive documents and emails.

Human-usable frontends like Enigmail and Seahorse provide much friendlier interfaces than the standard command-line tools:

http://enigmail.mozdev.org/
http://www.gnome.org/projects/seahorse/

Recent updates to the humble system clock in the latest GNOME release (which will ship in the new Ubuntu due next month) add similar functionality -- including a useful day/night world map and local weather information.

See also: http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/2.22/#sect:gnome-panel

Unfortunately, the event -- and the room with the BBC Micros in it -- is not open to the general public.