October 2000 - cypherpunks-legacy

CDR: Susan Landau on crypto policy
by R. A. Hettinga 31 Oct '00

31 Oct '00

--- begin forwarded text

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CDR: Re: Bush Calls Administration Encryption Policy "Outdated"
by mmotyka＠lsil.com 31 Oct '00

31 Oct '00

> Bush Calls Administration Encryption Policy "Outdated" > Responding to a question about encryption technology in an ongoing > Internet debate, Texas Gov. George W. Bush castigated President Clinton > and Vice President Gore for what he called "outdated" technology policy. > "The Clinton administration has repeatedly been slow to recognize the > realities of the international market for encryption products regulated by > our nationís export laws," Bush said in a written response posted on the > Web White & Blue Web page. > Read the article: Newsbytes @ > http://www.newsbytes.com/news/00/157435.html > This Bush bit may sound positive but I expect increasingly draconian legitimate access legislation from both parties. Neither of them can be trusted and they will settle for nothing less than an absolute right to gather information and force key disclosure when they can't read it. If they can't have what they want today they will work towards tomorrow. Nonstop, like ants or termites. Mike

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CDR: IRS Tentacles grow
by anonymous＠openpgp.net 31 Oct '00

31 Oct '00

IRS Can Access Offshore Credit Info By Catherine Wilson AP Business Writer Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2000 7:38 a.m. EST MIAMI In a sweeping tax-evasion probe, the IRS has been granted access to thousands of MasterCard and American Express credit card accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in three offshore banking havens. U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan on Monday agreed with the IRS that cardholders may have violated U.S. tax laws and that their identities are not readily available from other sources. The court order allows the IRS to issue summonses for charge, debit and credit cards issued by banks in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and the country of Antigua and Barbuda in 1998 and 1999. Investigators want to look at such things as car, boat and airline ticket purchases and hotel and car rentals to learn whether the account holders are living beyond their reported means. The investigation is one of the largest targeting offshore accounts in the history of the Internal Revenue Service. MasterCard International spokeswoman Sharon Gamsin said in a statement that the company has "a long history of cooperating with governmental agencies." But she also said MasterCard keeps transaction records only by account number, with the bank keeping personal information. Judy Tenzer, a spokeswoman for American Express Travel Related Services Co., said, "We are now speaking to the IRS to get a better idea of what theyre looking at." Neither spokeswoman would answer questions. Offshore accounts are legal for U.S. taxpayers, but they must file forms with the IRS about them and pay taxes on income earned in the United States. The three nations targeted by the IRS have long been known as offshore tax havens and favorite spots for drug money launderers. Promoters of offshore accounts boast that income can be sheltered because the U.S. government cannot penetrate some foreign banking secrecy laws. But the IRS believed it could avoid those laws by getting records through the Miami headquarters of the companies Caribbean operations. The IRS does not know how many accounts created by U.S. citizens and residents are involved but believes the number to be in the thousands. Banks in the targeted islands require customers to open bank accounts before obtaining credit cards. So obtaining the names of the cardholders produces the names of the bank account holders as well. Fifteen countries and territories have been blacklisted by a 29-nation task force for failing to cooperate in the fight against money laundering. The Bahamas and Cayman Islands are among them, but officials in the Cayman Islands promised in June to end tax-haven practices within five years. Daniel Mitchell, a tax expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, worried that the IRSs blanket record request would affect financial privacy. "We should not be trying to enforce a worldwide tax regime," he said. "It tends to lead to cartel-like behavior, OPEC for politicians, for lack of a better phrase." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20001031/aponline073856_000.h…

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CDR: Words to live by
by anonymous＠openpgp.net 31 Oct '00

31 Oct '00

"The advantage of lone wolf and small cell activity is that it is untraceable and is the best use of our meager resources- no membership dues, rental of meeting halls, driving, lodging and time-off for endless conventions," Curtis says in an article on his Web site. "All of your personal and cell resources go to exactly what you want them for, not to a "leader" who lives off you." And rather than terrorizing people in public, the 26-year-old Curtis says, racists should strive to work in secrecy. His site includes articles advising against answering police questions under any circumstances. "Remember, talk is cheap!" one article says. "But when it involves law enforcement authorities, it may cost you, or someone close to you, dearly. Remember the 5 words -- I have nothing to say. It has worked for us many, MANY times." "Hate site threat to public, group says" http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cti722.htm

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CDR: identity theft
by anonymous＠openpgp.net 31 Oct '00

31 Oct '00

Bruce McKim DOB: 2/26/69 Soc Sec. No.: 212-04-8280 Martin Benjamin (for classified) DOB: 7/6/68 Soc. Sec. No.: 089-56-3596 Mary De Wolfe Stone DOB: 7/7/63 Soc. Sec. No. : 047-60-6209 http://cryptome.org/usa-v-qaeda-po.htm

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CDR: when the Fedz come..
by anonymous＠openpgp.net 31 Oct '00

31 Oct '00

you are not being paranoid enough. The FBI managed to get a search warrant based on logs from a firewall, that showed my IP only connecting, not even logging in, hours after news of the cracking had appeared on news sites. If they can get a search warrant this easily, your data is not safe, sitting on your hard drive. For the past two months Ive been living in this dorm, I locked my doors, securified my boxes, and backed up my essential things. I never even imagined the federal government would just let themselves in and take it. excerpt from http://devrandom.net/~dilinger/ as seen on /.

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CDR: Re: Ho to KICK OUT Junkbusters users
by Nomen Nescio 31 Oct '00

31 Oct '00

Igor Chudov wrote: > One of the most popular features, aside from math help, is "Talk to > Splotchy", which is a conversation with an Eliza-like AI program. But > unlike Eliza, Spltchy is more like a chatterbox with a lot more > personality. Some people even have cybersex with Splotchy. > Also, I have a "talk to George W Bush LIVE" section at > bush-2000.algebra.com. Basically the same thing but politically > educated. Has anyone had cybersex with your incarnation of G W Bush? [shudder]

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CDR: RE: Zero Knowledge changes business model (press release)
by Trei, Peter 31 Oct '00

31 Oct '00

I can't help but feel that this is a weakening of ZK's position regarding privacy. The critical paragraph is: > >Zero-Knowledge is committed to deploying systems that are > >transparent and accountable. In keeping with this policy, > >MPS will incorporate third party verification and split > >encryption key structures, as well as provide consumers > >with access to white papers, independent auditors' reports > >or other materials that assure a company is doing what it > >claims. With MPS Zero-Knowledge strengthens its commitment > >to building responsible systems that empower consumers to > >control the disclosure and use of their personal > >information, while still enabling businesses to thrive in a > >data and relationship-driven marketplace. > I don't want to be 'assured that a company is doing what it claims' (with my personal information). Companies change policies at whim. What a firm's founder may fervently believe could become a curio of corporate history after the next board meeting. Look at Amazon's recent policy change, for example. Also, data in the possession of a corporation and me is always less secure than information possessed only by me. Instead of being assured that the company is acting in accordance with their stated policy du jour (or at least, their lawyers' spin on it), I want to know that they CAN'T abuse my personal data, because the don't have any. That is the confidence which ZK's original scheme was intended to produce, and which the introduction of this plan seems to seems to suggest is no longer considered a high priority at ZKS. It may be that the ZK's product 'Freedom' is proving a financial bust (I won't use it until I can buy nyms for cash at CompUSA). I understand the drive to meet payroll and pay off VCs, but I can't help but be saddened. I understand that some transactions require more state than "Here's an order, some money, and a shipping address", but in a great many cases, corporations by policy ask far more than this. The most egregious example I've seen is a cheap travel site which, when you register, suggests that you tell them your 'favorite internet password' as a key to get get back to your account. I hope that ZKS's new service doesn't simply "culminate in the deployment of a tailored privacy layer that integrates seamlessly with the client's existing enterprise applications".... but rather looks at their business and informs them of the absolute minimum of data they need to acquire, and how long to keep that data, if they need to keep it at all. I don't want to rely on a 'privacy layer' under the control of an entity which will profit from silently circumventing it, or be subject to leaks and third party seizures of data. Peter Trei Disclaimer: The above represents my personal opinions only.

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CDR: ELIXIR automated signal collection
by Bo Elkjaer 31 Oct '00

31 Oct '00

Hi I'm looking for information concerning a SIGINT system with the codename ELIXIR. I don't know much about it except that was (is?) deployed by the US Air Force, probably in the United Kingdom, initially in the late 80'ies. I have located one former USAF Analyst who claims to have worked with the system. He's in Florida now, but was in the UK 1983-1987. Any info on ELIXIR will be much appreciated. Yours Bo Elkjaer, Denmark >>Bevar naturen: Sylt et egern.<< >>URL: http://www.datashopper.dk/~boo/index.html<< >>ECHELON URL:<< >>http://www1.ekstrabladet.dk/netdetect/echelon.iasp<<

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CDR: Bush Calls Administration Encryption Policy "Outdated" (was Re: GigaLaw.com Daily News, October 31, 2000)
by R. A. Hettinga 31 Oct '00

31 Oct '00

At 5:19 AM -0800 on 10/31/00, GigaLaw.com wrote: > [POLITICS] > Bush Calls Administration Encryption Policy "Outdated" > Responding to a question about encryption technology in an ongoing > Internet debate, Texas Gov. George W. Bush castigated President Clinton > and Vice President Gore for what he called "outdated" technology policy. > "The Clinton administration has repeatedly been slow to recognize the > realities of the international market for encryption products regulated by > our nationís export laws," Bush said in a written response posted on the > Web White & Blue Web page. > Read the article: Newsbytes @ > http://www.newsbytes.com/news/00/157435.html -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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