January 2001 - cypherpunks-legacy

MS Product Activation for Windows (licensing)
by Blank Frank 10 Jan '01

10 Jan '01

With all the hoopla over the release of the final version of the Linux 2.4.0 kernel last week, Microsoft Corp.'s delivery of an interim beta version of its Windows 2000 successor, code-named Whistler, got lost in the shuffle. But according to Whistler testers, Microsoft issued build 2410 of its next version of Windows on Thursday. New in this build are many user-interface tweaks, as well as the incorporation of new anti-piracy code. ... No more casual copying? The most potentially controversial addition to Whistler 2410, however, is anti-piracy code that Microsoft is calling "Microsoft Product Activation for Windows," (WPA) according to testers. The technology is similar to the Office Activation Wizard that's part of Office 2000. WPA will tie a Windows product key to one specific PC in order to reduce casual copying. In order to "activate" it, a customer will send data about the installation, such as product ID number and hardware identifier, to a Microsoft-run license clearinghouse. The clearinghouse won't allow the use of the customer's product key on a PC different from the one originally activated. Microsoft plans to deliver WPA in all 32-bit versions of Whistler except those sold to volume-licensing customers and the so-called "Royalty OEM initial install images" provided to PC makers, said sources close to the company. Microsoft is expected to add similar anti-piracy technology to Office 10 and Visual Studio .Net, sources said. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2672131,00.html

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[alg] gpg with gnome clients (fwd)
by Jim Choate 10 Jan '01

10 Jan '01

____________________________________________________________________ Before a larger group can see the virtue of an idea, a smaller group must first understand it. "Stranger Suns" George Zebrowski The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- -------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 16:27:26 -0600 From: geoffrey <monkey(a)blackhat.net> Reply-To: alg(a)austinlug.org To: alg(a)austinlug.org Subject: [alg] gpg with gnome clients Does anyone know of a good gnome email client ( ala balsa ) which has strong support for gpg ( as does mutt)? I have some people from the spoonfed MS world who have discovered the need/use for email crypto, and they are having a horrible time getting pgp to work completely correctly with anything: eudora/OE, etc. So, I felt that this might be the perfect opportunity to wean them from the Redmond teat by showing them how that job, plus all others they usually perform can be handily done in Linux. Since they are from the Windows world I thought that I would soften the transition by using gnome. I can't stand KDE; so, don't suggest kmail. geoffrey -- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Windows 2000 ... Some things you just outgrow. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Key fingerprint ===> B83C C6E1 68F8 CEC9 8636 86B5 1F0E 9D33 E749 1BA6 Public key available upon request.

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Review of History Channel's NSA documentary
by Declan McCullagh 10 Jan '01

10 Jan '01

[The documentary aired again twice this morning on the History Channel, and it's a fair bet it'll show again later this week. --Declan http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,41063,00.html History Looks at the NSA by Declan McCullagh (declan(a)wired.com) 2:00 a.m. Jan. 9, 2001 PST WASHINGTON -- As anyone who watched Enemy of the State knows, the National Security Agency is a rapacious beast with an appetite for data surpassed only by its disregard for Americans' privacy. Or is the opposite true, and the ex-No Such Agency staffed by ardent civil libertarians? To the NSA, of course, its devilish reputation is merely an unfortunate Hollywood fiction. Its director, Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, has taken every opportunity to say so, most recently on a History Channel documentary that aired for the first time Monday evening. "It's absolutely critical that (Americans) don't fear the power that we have," Hayden said on the show. He dismissed concerns about eavesdropping over-eagerness and all but said the NSA, far from being one of the most feared agencies, has become one of the most handicapped. One reason, long cited by agency officials: Encryption. The show's producers obligingly included stock footage of Saddam Hussein, saying that the dictator-for-life has been spotted chatting on a 900-channel encrypted cell phone. That's no surprise. The NSA, as Steven Levy documents in his new Crypto book (which the documentary overlooks), has spent the last 30 years trying to suppress data-scrambling technology through export regulations, court battles, and even personal threats. Instead of exploring that controversial and timely subject that's tied to the ongoing debate over privacy online, "America's Most Secret Agency" instead spends the bulk of an hour on a history of cryptography starting in World War II. Most of the documentary could have aired two decades ago, and no critics are interviewed. One of the few surprises in the otherwise bland show is the NSA's new raison d'etre -- infowar. [...]

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Book Review: The secrets of cryptography
by An Metet 10 Jan '01

10 Jan '01

by Joel Enos January 08, 2001 J At last, a book about secret codes that isn't boring or too technical! As any kid from any era knows, the pinnacle of privacy is the secret code (from decoder rings to James Bond to Harriet the Spy and beyond). So why is it that when most authors write about cryptography (or, as Steven Levy abbreviates it, "crypto") they leave out the fun factor and simply veer off into computer geek-speak about lines of data and whatnot? Who knows? And who cares now that Levy has written the definitive story of crypto so far, keeping all the excitement and drama surrounding the topic intact. Levy's latest work (he's also the author of "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution," which, when it appeared, made the term a permanent part of our Silicon subculture) has a writing style that's a seamless blend of his other lives, chief technology writer for Newsweek (thus a brisk, to-the-point tone), freelance writer for Wired ("Crypto" is speculative and analytical as much as it is informative) and for Macworld (while the book isn't techie, it's obvious Levy is, and, when he has to, he can explain code, and what it takes to crack one, quickly and easily). The result is a riveting story that begins with the meeting of Mary Fischer and Whitfield Diffie in the late '70s and moves on to the present-day controversy surrounding the delicate Internet balance of privacy vs. freely available information. The story does explain the background you'll need to comprehend what cryptography is (divisions between public and private keys, where they came from, etc.) and why it's important (many of us may not realize we reap its benefits every day, on everything from ATMs to online shopping), but sticks to the human element of the tale rather than simply "the facts." In the end, you get a history lesson and a new set of questions to ponder (such as, where is this all going to go?) filtered through the people at the core of the controversy. Levy interviewed basically all the privacy luminaries, from Fischer and Diffie to Phil Zimmerman (head of Pretty Good Privacy). From them, he's managed to create what reads more like a novel than a history book -- and certainly comes off nothing like a computer history book. Empowering the people For those who want to jump right to the juicy bits, the best section of Crypto is "Crypto Anarchy" focusing on Zimmerman's "hatred of Big Brother" and his drive to "write his own public key encryption program -- for the people" and the subsequent government backlash. Levy includes just enough verbatim legislation from the infamous U.S. Senate Bill 266 from 1991 (as worded by then head of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Joseph Biden) to strike fear in the hearts of all encryption nuts and privacy advocates. And his portrayal of Zimmerman as the freeware rebel flying around uploading PGP to the Net via a laptop, acoustic coupler and various pay phones is priceless. All in all, "Crypto" is a good introduction to a relatively young public policy issue (how private will the government allow us to be with our electronic communications?) that is only now starting to be addressed or even understood.

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History Channel television show on NSA (fwd)
by Jim Choate 09 Jan '01

09 Jan '01

____________________________________________________________________ Before a larger group can see the virtue of an idea, a smaller group must first understand it. "Stranger Suns" George Zebrowski The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- -------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2001 16:38:19 -0500 (EST) From: "P.J. Ponder" <ponder(a)freenet.tlh.fl.us> To: cryptography(a)c2.net Subject: History Channel television show on NSA The 'History Channel' cable TV network will air a show about the NSA tomorrow night January 8, at 8 pm Eastern. Their website says this about it: America's Most Secret Agency The National Security Agency, America's most secret and controversial agency, is charged with safeguarding the nation's strategic intelligence information and decoding the secret communications of our enemies. For only the second time in its nearly 50 year history, the N.S.A. allowed cameras inside its Ft. Meade, Maryland, headquarters, and the director, Lt. General Michael V. Hayden, sits for a rare interview and addresses issues such as privacy. Tune in and find out if Big Brother is watching you!

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Work from Home! Minimum Income Guarantee!
by Rob 09 Jan '01

09 Jan '01

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Update on NIST crypto standards (fwd)
by Jim Choate 09 Jan '01

09 Jan '01

____________________________________________________________________ Before a larger group can see the virtue of an idea, a smaller group must first understand it. "Stranger Suns" George Zebrowski The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- -------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 09:18:15 -0500 From: Steve Bellovin <smb(a)research.att.com> To: cryptography(a)c2.net Subject: Update on NIST crypto standards (fwd) Forwarded with permission. There is also going to be an announcement on modes of operation; http://csrc.nist.gov/encryption/tkmodes.html should have the information within the next month or thereabouts. ------- Forwarded Message

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DCSB: Ted Byfield; ICANN, Intellectual Property, and Digital Commerce
by R. A. Hettinga 09 Jan '01

09 Jan '01

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- [Note that the Harvard Club is now "business casual". No more jackets and ties... --RAH] The Digital Commerce Society of Boston Presents Ted Byfield, Moderator, Nettime (among other things...) ICANN, Intellectual Property, and Digital Commerce Tuesday, February 6th, 2000 12 - 2 PM The Downtown Harvard Club of Boston One Federal Street, Boston, MA Through an erratic process intended to "lessen the burdens of government," the Clinton administration transferred governance of the Internet's essential functions to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. In trying to cement its status, ICANN has sought to transform the net's cooperative structures into a hierarchical contractual regime geared toward expanding and enforcing intellectual property claims. The result of ICANN's deviation from its technical coordination mandate into a captured policy-making proxy for an absent-minded US government is a centralized namespace that privileges the demands of late-adopters over innovative expansions of DNS. This talk will provide a survey of ICANN's activities to date and how they may advance alternative models and extensions of DNS as a decentralized, cooperative system that is more secure and less subject to political whim. After working for over a decade as decade as an editor focusing on intellectual and cultural history, Ted Byfield joined the faculty of Parsons School of Design in New York City, where he teaches about the social and political aspects of design. In addition to writing and lecturing about areas where the technical and cultural collide, he is a member of the rump Boston Working Group, co-moderates the Nettime mailing list, and serves as an boardmember and advisor for various New York-area cultural organizations. This meeting of the Digital Commerce Society of Boston will be held on Tuesday, February 6th, 2000, from 12pm - 2pm at the Downtown Branch of the Harvard Club of Boston, on One Federal Street. The price for lunch is $35.00. This price includes lunch, room rental, A/V hardware if necessary, and the speakers' lunch. The Harvard Club has relaxed its dress code, which is now "business casual", meaning no sneakers or jeans. Fair warning: since we purchase these luncheons in advance, we will be unable to refund the price of your meal if the Club finds you in violation of what's left of its dress code. We need to receive a company check, or money order, (or, if we *really* know you, a personal check) payable to "The Harvard Club of Boston", by Saturday, January 3rd, or you won't be on the list for lunch. Checks payable to anyone else but The Harvard Club of Boston will have to be sent back. Checks should be sent to Robert Hettinga, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02131. Again, they *must* be made payable to "The Harvard Club of Boston", in the amount of $35.00. Please include your e-mail address so that we can send you a confirmation If anyone has questions, or has a problem with these arrangements (we've had to work with glacial A/P departments more than once, for instance), please let us know via e-mail, and we'll see if we can work something out. Upcoming speakers for DCSB are: March 6 TBA April 3 Scott Moskowitz Watermarking and Bluespike As you can see, :-), we are actively searching for future speakers. If you are in Boston on the first Tuesday of the month, are a principal in digital commerce, and would like to make a presentation to the Society, please send e-mail to the DCSB Program Committee, care of Robert Hettinga, <mailto: rah(a)shipwright.com>. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 7.0 iQEVAwUBOlttV8UCGwxmWcHhAQHyQgf9EFME11YN9QQUHfMidGJW/Jl4JYS4kz+c O+aS217xG7jrHhSzcobImq4Be16XkSz90hNEGfPEikOhOjbv0MHDQue5nOnJy9dN 5TCydlsSbD3Sz2f29FdpU+yV0MM2/puGDFGzZ3mdLFJJENGmAUdmy4FJGZbyLuSI PWeOikiuRYfuJlsQrzGNT+v6AzvB0DbzufCgGN2nNFRVXdHJny/p3HYj2ZH+53ZR e4pR1fhRzsK0xA3aQrMBErdGZcOR7iWrDj5va0DMjhw8ZdXQhQDNcQWigdCOnNx6 heY6pvuvSJDLMWb0sV+1QB6NKagKdiYP8U1S6iU1/49/lXToJH2LLw== =zbvY -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- ----------------- 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' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe from this list, send a letter to: Majordomo(a)reservoir.com In the body of the message, write: unsubscribe dcsb-announce Or, to subscribe, write: subscribe dcsb-announce If you have questions, write to me at Owner-DCSB(a)reservoir.com --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- 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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DCSB: Ted Byfield; ICANN, Intellectual Property, and Digital Commerce
by R. A. Hettinga 09 Jan '01

09 Jan '01

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- [Note that the Harvard Club is now "business casual". No more jackets and ties... --RAH] The Digital Commerce Society of Boston Presents Ted Byfield, Moderator, Nettime (among other things...) ICANN, Intellectual Property, and Digital Commerce Tuesday, February 6th, 2000 12 - 2 PM The Downtown Harvard Club of Boston One Federal Street, Boston, MA Through an erratic process intended to "lessen the burdens of government," the Clinton administration transferred governance of the Internet's essential functions to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. In trying to cement its status, ICANN has sought to transform the net's cooperative structures into a hierarchical contractual regime geared toward expanding and enforcing intellectual property claims. The result of ICANN's deviation from its technical coordination mandate into a captured policy-making proxy for an absent-minded US government is a centralized namespace that privileges the demands of late-adopters over innovative expansions of DNS. This talk will provide a survey of ICANN's activities to date and how they may advance alternative models and extensions of DNS as a decentralized, cooperative system that is more secure and less subject to political whim. After working for over a decade as decade as an editor focusing on intellectual and cultural history, Ted Byfield joined the faculty of Parsons School of Design in New York City, where he teaches about the social and political aspects of design. In addition to writing and lecturing about areas where the technical and cultural collide, he is a member of the rump Boston Working Group, co-moderates the Nettime mailing list, and serves as an boardmember and advisor for various New York-area cultural organizations. This meeting of the Digital Commerce Society of Boston will be held on Tuesday, February 6th, 2000, from 12pm - 2pm at the Downtown Branch of the Harvard Club of Boston, on One Federal Street. The price for lunch is $35.00. This price includes lunch, room rental, A/V hardware if necessary, and the speakers' lunch. The Harvard Club has relaxed its dress code, which is now "business casual", meaning no sneakers or jeans. Fair warning: since we purchase these luncheons in advance, we will be unable to refund the price of your meal if the Club finds you in violation of what's left of its dress code. We need to receive a company check, or money order, (or, if we *really* know you, a personal check) payable to "The Harvard Club of Boston", by Saturday, January 3rd, or you won't be on the list for lunch. Checks payable to anyone else but The Harvard Club of Boston will have to be sent back. Checks should be sent to Robert Hettinga, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02131. Again, they *must* be made payable to "The Harvard Club of Boston", in the amount of $35.00. Please include your e-mail address so that we can send you a confirmation If anyone has questions, or has a problem with these arrangements (we've had to work with glacial A/P departments more than once, for instance), please let us know via e-mail, and we'll see if we can work something out. Upcoming speakers for DCSB are: March 6 TBA April 3 Scott Moskowitz Watermarking and Bluespike As you can see, :-), we are actively searching for future speakers. If you are in Boston on the first Tuesday of the month, are a principal in digital commerce, and would like to make a presentation to the Society, please send e-mail to the DCSB Program Committee, care of Robert Hettinga, <mailto: rah(a)shipwright.com>. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 7.0 iQEVAwUBOlttV8UCGwxmWcHhAQHyQgf9EFME11YN9QQUHfMidGJW/Jl4JYS4kz+c O+aS217xG7jrHhSzcobImq4Be16XkSz90hNEGfPEikOhOjbv0MHDQue5nOnJy9dN 5TCydlsSbD3Sz2f29FdpU+yV0MM2/puGDFGzZ3mdLFJJENGmAUdmy4FJGZbyLuSI PWeOikiuRYfuJlsQrzGNT+v6AzvB0DbzufCgGN2nNFRVXdHJny/p3HYj2ZH+53ZR e4pR1fhRzsK0xA3aQrMBErdGZcOR7iWrDj5va0DMjhw8ZdXQhQDNcQWigdCOnNx6 heY6pvuvSJDLMWb0sV+1QB6NKagKdiYP8U1S6iU1/49/lXToJH2LLw== =zbvY -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- ----------------- 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' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe from this list, send a letter to: Majordomo(a)reservoir.com In the body of the message, write: unsubscribe dcsb-announce Or, to subscribe, write: subscribe dcsb-announce If you have questions, write to me at Owner-DCSB(a)reservoir.com --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- 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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DCSB: Ted Byfield; ICANN, Intellectual Property, and Digital Commerce (fwd)
by Jim Choate 09 Jan '01

09 Jan '01

____________________________________________________________________ Before a larger group can see the virtue of an idea, a smaller group must first understand it. "Stranger Suns" George Zebrowski The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- -------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 16:02:47 -0500 From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah(a)shipwright.com> To: cryptography(a)c2.net, coderpunks(a)toad.com Subject: DCSB: Ted Byfield; ICANN, Intellectual Property, and Digital Commerce --- begin forwarded text

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