August 1993 - cypherpunks-legacy

Software Patent Institute
by Anonymous 10 Aug '93

10 Aug '93

I saw this recently and thought it might be of interest to some people on the list with strong feelings about IP. -S.? Software Patent Institute c/o Industrial Tech Inst. 2901 Hubbard St./ PO Box 1485 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1485 (313) 769-4083 Fax: 313-769-4064 spi(a)iti.org SPI "folklore" database The SPI is now operating, and we are asking the software community to help us build, our "folklore" database by sharing with everyone the concepts and techniques which they find so familiar, but which the US Patent and Trademark Office generally cannot identify as prior art, since they lack any specific reference to the technique in question. We must help the USPTO do its job better, so that patents are not granted for techniques that have already been invented but were lost in the "folklore" prior to the creation of our SPI folklore database. [There's more to the letter, but I just wanted to give an idea. Contact them for more information if you want. -S.] ------- End of Forwarded Message

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August Bay Area cypherpunks meeting
by Eric Hughes 10 Aug '93

10 Aug '93

ANNOUNCEMENT ============ August Bay Area cypherpunks meeting Saturday, August 14, 1993 12:00 noon - 6:00 p.m. Cygnus Support offices, Mt. View, California Topics this time include the usual assortment of mailer topics, politics, protocols, and rant. There will be a discussion of the Twain privacy service and privacy.net, among others. Meetings are the second Saturday of every month, at the same location and at the same time. There is frequently an informal dinner at a restaurant chosen by concensus at the meeting. DIRECTIONS ========== [Directions to Cygnus provided by John Gilmore. -- EH] Cygnus Support 1937 Landings Drive Mt. View, CA 94043 +1 415 903 1400 switchboard +1 415 903 1418 John Gilmore Take US 101 toward Mt. View. From San Francisco, it's about a 40-minute drive. Get off at the Rengstorff Ave/Amphitheatre Parkway exit. If you were heading south on 101, you curve around to the right, cross over the freeway, and get to a stoplight. If you were heading north on 101, you just come right off the exit to the stoplight. The light is the intersection of Amphitheatre and Charleston Rd. Take a right on Charleston; there's a right-turn-only lane. Follow Charleston for a short distance. You'll pass the Metaphor/Kaleida buildings on the right. At a clump of palm trees and a "Landmark Deli" sign, take a right into Landings Drive. At the end of the road, turn left into the complex with the big concrete "Landmark" sign. Follow the road past the deli til you are in front of the clock tower that rises out of one of the buildings, facing you. Enter through the doors immediately under the clock tower. They'll be open between noon and 1PM at least. (See below if you're late.) Once inside, take the stairs up, immediately to your right. At the top of the stairs, turn right past the treetops, and we'll be in 1937 on your left. The door is marked "Cygnus". If you are late and the door under the clock tower is locked, you can walk to the deli (which will be around the building on your left, as you face the door). Go through the gate in the fence to the right of the deli, and into the back lawns between the complex and the farm behind it. Walk forward and right around the buildings until you see a satellite dish in the lawn. Go up the stairs next to the dish, which are the back stairs into the Cygnus office space. We'll prop the door (or you can bang on it if we forget). Or, you can find the guard who's wandering around the complex, who knows there's a meeting happening and will let you in. They can be beeped at 965 5250, though you'll have trouble finding a phone. Don't forget to eat first, or bring food at noon! I recommend hitting the burrito place on Rengstorff (La Costen~a) at about 11:45. To get there, when you get off 101, take Rengstorff (toward the hills) rather than Amphitheatre (toward the bay). Follow it about ten blocks until the major intersection at Middlefield Road. La Costen~a is the store on your left at the corner. You can turn left into the narrow lane behind the store, which leads to a parking lot, and enter by the front door, which faces the intersection. To get to the meeting from there, just retrace your route on Rengstorff, go straight over the freeway, and turn right at the stoplight onto Charleston; see above. See you there! John Gilmore

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getting wired #2
by Steven Levy 10 Aug '93

10 Aug '93

>Can anyone tell me how to get a copy of Levy's "Wired" article? If it's any comfort I can't get any myself. The issue is sold out and there are very few even in the WIRED office, so few that they won't spare 'em. What's worse, it's very hard to Xerox the article since it is printed on a weird background. If you can't get it anywhere, let me know and I'll try to get one to you, but I would appreciate it if you (and anyone else) wrote the editors at wired.com and told 'em you would like to see reprints of the story. Steven

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Cypherpunks write code
by fergp＠sytex.com 10 Aug '93

10 Aug '93

Can I entice someone to post the Cypherpunk charter statement again? I've been looking at the FAQ that Eric Raymond started, and need to to fill in some gaps.... This has taken way too long and I thought perhaps I might toss a few free moments into adding some text. Cheers, Paul Ferguson | "Government, even in its best state, Network Integrator | is but a necessary evil; in its worst Centreville, Virginia USA | state, an intolerable one." fergp(a)sytex.com | - Thomas Paine, Common Sense Type bits/keyID Date User ID pub 1024/1CC04D 1993/03/15 Paul Ferguson <fergp(a)sytex.com> Key fingerprint = EE D2 93 7D 04 6D C6 05 AC 36 AD 9D 8E 4F 41 58

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RE: Digitized for posterity
by fergp＠sytex.com 10 Aug '93

10 Aug '93

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- On Tue, 10 Aug 1993 00:27:04 -0700 (PDT), "Jeremy R. Smith" <uunet!eis.calstate.edu!jersmit> wrote - > I know what you mean..out here in California, not only do they > have digitizd photos, they've also got mag stripes on the back of > the licenses. Supposedly to hold your driving record, etc. Make > me nervous though. Almost nervous enough to learn how to reprogram > mag stripes. The digitized photo doesn't really bother me that much, now that I think about it (the picture really makes me look like my name should be 'Festus" or something along those lines), but the mag stripe did. Funny how all those little magnetized electrons can get scrambled so easily. ,-) Cheers. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.2 iQCVAgUBLGeGhZRLcZSdHMBNAQGV1QQArhQxmEBzG1AmngaI5BaGj7qHZ54Y0ghO Mzj7tH5Km88NFVy3F/N+vt6ckCBD6af7Hn5HSgBeU646NQTUuDdBjlmzhWK42sWp qxOHrolJSUJThZHKnJyip9Bat9t8igat7xN2xguUnmhIrllO3GegRmoBGxicZGSm 9N3ajjNQgak= =v8oM -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Paul Ferguson | "Government, even in its best state, Network Integrator | is but a necessary evil; in its worst Centreville, Virginia USA | state, an intolerable one." fergp(a)sytex.com | - Thomas Paine, Common Sense Type bits/keyID Date User ID pub 1024/1CC04D 1993/03/15 Paul Ferguson <fergp(a)sytex.com> Key fingerprint = EE D2 93 7D 04 6D C6 05 AC 36 AD 9D 8E 4F 41 58

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Digitized for posterity
by Duncan Frissell 10 Aug '93

10 Aug '93

To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com F >Digitized photographs, in the database of F >the state. (insert appropriate F >parable here) Naughty, naughty. You should have a nice all paper UK license obtained without ID and a car owned by a New Hampshire-based corporation. Is it rape if you say yes? Duncan Frissell "One is not required to own any car (even the one you're driving) a driver's license from any jurisdiction on earth is acceptable for (automobile) drivers in the US." Privacy costs so little and means so much. Frissell & Associates. --- WinQwk 2.0b#0

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Re: Wolf's got a thing or two to say
by collins＠newton.apple.com 10 Aug '93

10 Aug '93

Hello, The message in question was ascii armored with a missing checksum. You can trick PGP into ignoring the missing checksum by decrypting to the screen (only). It is an example of the fact that most messages are more work to decrypt than they are worth upon reading (at least to me, since I do not know or know of 'Wolf', 'Nancy', 'Rose', 'David' or 'Officer Cooper 171' or any of their interactions). Scott Collins | "Few people realize what tremendous power there | is in one of these things." -- Willy Wonka ......................|................................................ BUSINESS. voice:408.862.0540 fax:974.6094 collins(a)newton.apple.com Apple Computer, Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, MS 301-2C Cupertino, CA 95014 ....................................................................... PERSONAL. voice/fax:408.257.1746 1024/669687 catalyst(a)netcom.com What follows is the de-armored text of the message "(fwd) Wolf's got a thing or two to say": ----------cut here---------- Hello friends. I hope you are all well. I am doing better today than before. I get a little more livelier every day. I am not in the mood to talk about the situation right now, though. I would like to first of all thank each an every one of you for the SCADS of mail I have recieved in response to my post about what happened last Monday night. I am not very good at those name things...where everyone who writes someone gets listed in a thank you note. And I am not very good at promptly answering mail either. And I am not very good at ever getting around to answering all of the mail I recieve. I wish that I were better about this, but I am simply too busy. I have tried to send a thankyou note to as many of you as I can personally. I know for a fact that there are many replies that I recieved that went unanswered, and for that I hope no one takes it personally. I am not in any way trying to say that every bit of individual support is not as important as any other. I read every piece of mail I get! And I respond to it if I can. I want for all of asar to know...I thank you for being here for me and I know who is out there on my side! now...I have something else that is on my mind... I will admit that I have neglected to read every post in the thread that got ignited by Nancy's RE: David post. I know that I have not been able to locate the post by Rose that keeps getting reffered to. Oh well, too bad...I still have some things to add on my behalf and simply because seom something about this thread is very disturbing to me. I am going to place a spoiler here b/c I am fearful that what I am about to say my be flame bait. I think it might offend some of you and I do not want to get into a situation like that again. I have carefully considered what I would like to express, but I get t he feeling that there are some people who are looking for a debate no matter what. So if you want to square off and hash this thread to pieces, then of course you are certainly free to do so, but I will be much more comfortable with this if my $.02 are inserted right here and now... ************************************SPOILER************************************ this will discuss my feelings concerning some of "did she do the right thing" and some of the symantic discussions that are taking place as a result of some responses to my post that is most certainly enough lines... I agree with whoever in response to this thread posted that this is emotionally charged stuff. I have been a little charged by it myself. Since I have not read Rose's part in this I cannot relate to that area of the discussion. Obviously Rose is upset that someone said something negative to her. I will try not to be cynical about it, b/c I am feeling a little bit upity and I do not want to be rude. I am simply a bit disturbed by Nancy's original post about my having "gotten David arrested". On my behalf...call it symantic quibble if you will, but it is what I did to protect myself and I am angered that it seems to have been questioned even no especially when even David didn't question it once he had a period to calm himself. No I have read where everyone thinks that for one reason or another I did the right thing to protect myself. But let's face it, guys. David got himself arrested. As for police and police brutality and fairness and justice, well, look at the perr peers around you. Many of us have very little faith in the justice system of this USA. If we had more maybe more of us would have tried a long time ago to seek out the justice we deserve for the violations we have suffered. I am not quick to call the police either, let me tell you. My first experience with trying to get police to help me with being harrassed by Dez (where I was being forced to practice prostitution and being beaten and ravaged regularly) led me to getting punished by Dez since he had so conveniently bought off parts of the police department in my home town. I got the shit beat out of me first by the cops then by Dez. So I know how fucked up the police an be. Luckily this is a different town and a different life (well almost). As I sit here and think of the policeman, officer Cooper 171, beating David's head against the roof of his squad car my stomach is turning. David is badly bruised and one of his eyes got cut. Now I am sorry that he has had to endure this. I think it is wrong...and I am almost certain that the force used to restrain him was a bit excessive. I know David and he will not fight impossible odds. Still, I am thankful that he got a little taste of hell that night with respect to what he put me through. He is a little bit sensitive to what he did to me. None of this is meant to excuse or justify his behavior, b/c I find it totally unacceptable and abhoring at the very least. I am sorry for the fucking injustices of the world. There are in fact many. Like the girl who tried to seek justice for being gang raped but had a bad reputation so they told he to get out of their faces that they had no time for her little case. That was not just a case, that was her life. Just like Nancy's friend who served 2 years for a crime he probably did not commit. It is an injustice. I think we all agree that injustices do happen in every area of our society. What are we here for? ARe we here with hopes that we can pinpoint the exact place where society went wrong and change it? no I do not think that is it (stop me if I am wrong) I think we are here to give care and support to one another b/c we have all suffered some pretty haneous injustices and the care we get from one another often helps to serve some purpose towards ending that cycle. As for Rose...was she being manipulative? well, I do not know. I have felt that way at times, but I have also done that at times myself... I firmly believe in the childhood come-back "takes one to know one" and I know that when I see someone manipulating it is only because I have done it myself that I am able to see it. And yes it sometimes takes a bit of tough love to break behaviors like that. I think we all love Rose...I know that we feel for her...she seems to be in so much pain... I do not think we are here to pass judgement on her... and I do not think we are here to keep someone from being taken in by a situatio n that we may percieve as harmful to them (within the infrastructure of the group). We have all heard at one time or another someone on here tell us about boundarie s andd it is still up to us as individuals to set them. I hope that from asar more than any other place there is more tolerance of people learning that and feeling out just how to go about that. And at the same time I think that this is the place where I first learned how to enforce them as well, so I hope that all of asar understands that many of us are still trying on some of these new clothes.... as for the RE: David thread, well, I guess I have had my say. I am looking at this from this perspective right now, and my perspectives are always subject to change. So if I haven't hurt anyone's feelings or run anyone off, then good. I do not step out and speak my mind like this often and it always feels good when I do... flame me if you must just put a spoiler in it so that we will have some warning I am up and down right now so I am tyring to be careful about some of the stufff I read. that is enough ranting for tonight I think. wolf ----------cut here----------

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Digitized for posterity
by fergp＠sytex.com 10 Aug '93

10 Aug '93

They got me. At the DMV. Today. Yuck. Bought a new (used) car and had to do all that fun stuff -- license, tags, etc, ad nauseam and decided to get my license updated to reflect my new mailing address while I'm there. Of course, I expected it, because my wife had it done to her earlier this year, but seeing the final product leaves a knot in your throat. Digitized photographs, in the database of the state. (insert appropriate parable here) Ptheewww! At least they were quick about it. Too bad they don't have dial-in service. ,-) Cheers, Paul Ferguson | "Government, even in its best state, Network Integrator | is but a necessary evil; in its worst Centreville, Virginia USA | state, an intolerable one." fergp(a)sytex.com | - Thomas Paine, Common Sense Type bits/keyID Date User ID pub 1024/1CC04D 1993/03/15 Paul Ferguson <fergp(a)sytex.com> Key fingerprint = EE D2 93 7D 04 6D C6 05 AC 36 AD 9D 8E 4F 41 58

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Re: ANON: Re: how does it work
by peter honeyman 09 Aug '93

09 Aug '93

> While you're at it, another source for traffic analysis is DNS requests; dns requests are not generally logged, so i guess you're considering a generalized net snooper in your threat model, in which case discovery of dns requests is the least of your concerns. peter

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Big Brother's New Eyes -- Economist, August 7th
by gnu 09 Aug '93

09 Aug '93

The Economist magazine has two articles on monitoring of citizens' activities in its August 7th issue, and mentions the problem on the cover. In its editorial on p. 16, it comes out in favor of anonymity: "Even if the anonymous technologies are more expensive and less convenient than the data-scooping alternative, the price will be worth paying." It also reports on road-toll charging systems starting on p. 71, with a minor mention of anonymous toll payment. The headline is "Big Brother is Clocking You" with a subheading of "The technology that promises fewer traffic jams may damage your civil liberties." The Economist is one of the truly outstanding magazines of the decade, by the way. It sounds stogdy but it is anything but, and it tends to spot trends long before the rest of the world has noticed them. John

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