October 2001 - cypherpunks-legacy

Seven days
by mattd 06 Oct '01

06 Oct '01

>Envelope-to: mattd(a)useoz.com >X-Sender: mattd(a)pop.useoz.com >X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.0 >Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2001 06:40:56 +1000 >To: mattd(a)useoz.com >From: mattd <mattd(a)useoz.com> >Subject: inneresting tale > > >Liberty and safety in conflict >Tuesday 04 September, 2001 >By NATHAN COCHRANE >Between them, the views of engineer Dave Farber and columnist Dan Gillmor >reach into the homes, coding dens and boardrooms of the people who build >the technology that surrounds us. >The trends they see fill them with deep disquiet, tinged with some hope of >a better future. And by some cosmic coincidence, they were brought >together last week, holidaying at adjacent hotels just up the road from >the Opera House in Sydney. >"The enabling of retro-active ethics generated by these enormous files of >information are just dangerous, dangerous to a free society," Farber says >of the accumulation of private details in huge databases. "Because some >day you could run into a person who knew how to use them: a government, a >demagogue." >He says one way to protect our privacy would be the use of digital rights >management technology, which, under international copyright laws, makes it >a criminal offence for anyone to break. Despite this, the US Digital >Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), to which our own Digital Agenda Bill >strikes an uncanny resemblance, is "asinine" and "encourages sloppiness" >in crypto systems, he says. >"That (DMCA) law is incredibly damaging ... to just about every part of >the Bill of Rights," Farber says. " It's sufficiently asinine so it will >probably be struck down. >"If I were a country who isn't committed to it, I would start thinking, >well, what are you trying to protect? >"(You) will have the cost transferred from the company to law enforcement. >I would look very, very carefully at what you're buying for that and what >you're losing. I think you lose too much." >Gillmor, on a mission to "excise" Microsoft from his personal life, >recommends people wait until next year to buy a new PC. At home he runs a >Mac, mostly for his music, which he once played professionally, and Sun's >StarOffice on Linux to write his IT column. >"... (This) is not the news the industry wants, but ... I would wait until >probably March until I bought a new computer system ... with (Windows) XP >on it because I would not be very trusting of its reliability." >Farber is blunt: "Don't touch it". >"It's different to (Windows XP) Professional; fundamentally different," >Farber says. "Apparently, it's a bad scene ... and if you look in the >manual, you cannot upgrade from Home to Professional. And that's sort of >strange." >While others claim to be Father of the Internet, Farber, the Alfred Fitler >Moore Professor of Telecommunications at the University of Pennsylvania, >could at least claim to be its eccentric uncle. This elder statesman of >the digital age was the primary thesis adviser to Jon Postel, who died in >1998, who authored the first handbooks for driving the Internet: the RFC >or Requests for Comment series. He has been labelled "powerful" and >"visionary" by industry sources. But when Farber talks in his broad New >Jersey accent, geeks, suits and silks do listen, as happened when he >witnessed in the Microsoft anti-trust trial and when he was the US Federal >Communications Commission chief technologist. Moderated postings to his >Interesting People e-mail list go to more than 25,000 subscribers several >times a day. >Gillmor's column in Silicon Valley's local newspaper, San Jose's Mercury >News, and his online weblog at siliconvalley.com, poke fun and a dose of >serious inquiry at the heart of the IT industry. "Desktop computing has >been emptied of innovation because people realised there's no way to make >money out of it, so it's all moved to the new platforms, which is the >Internet, which is the one thing so far Microsoft doesn't control," he says. >Farber greets with a homemade business card, printed on a budget inkjet >printer, which bears his caricature. He answers his mobile phone with a >snapped "Dave", and delights in unique turns of phrase that one day should >be gathered into a FAQ for posterity. >His favorite quote is from US revolutionary, inventor and Declaration of >Independence signatory Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential >liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor >safety." >"I put myself now in the future and I say if you had a rational >(anti-communist US Senator) Joe McCarthy who wasn't drunk all the time, >what could he do in the current world? Phenomenal," Farber says. >"He wouldn't have to say with a haze: `Did you ever meet ...?' He could >now say: `You traded electronic mail; you visited this website', which is >now 20 years later declared subversive." >He fears the technology being invented at the world's research institutes >will be turned on its creators and the rest of us. >"At a certain company in Redmond, I said a good idea was to read two >books," Farber says. "One is one of my favorites (Neal Stephenson's), >Snowcrash. The other is re-read (George Orwell's) 1984 and make sure >you're not putting in everything necessary to make that happen." >Gillmor has concerns about Microsoft's push to control the Internet >through its .NET initiative, and believes recent attempts by the Linux >GNOME user interface founder, Miguel de Icaza, to support it are "naive". >"My chief concern on .NET right now is the authentication structure that >requires the use of Passport, which is completely undocumented technology >and completely proprietary and the only allowed authentication system," >Gillmor says. >He says individuals should "triangulate" to subvert the influence of big >companies. His personal computer is a Mac, he uses the services of the US >number-three ISP, and gets his pay-TV from satellite rather than the >dominant cable operator. >"It would be helpful for everybody if lots of people made decisions not >solely based on what's the easiest thing to do today," Gillmor says. >"My deepest worry is citizens have actually concluded they're willing to >sacrifice their liberty for this illusion of safety." >Farber: "Someone sent me a note saying, `You know, Australia was very >lucky; they sent you (the US) the Puritans and us the criminals'. >"Sounds like you've got a lot of Puritans also." >LINKS Dave Farber - www.cis.upenn.edu/~farber/ >Dan's column - www.siliconvalley.com/opinion/dgillmor/

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Taking advantage of diversions
by Meyer Wolfsheim 06 Oct '01

06 Oct '01

A colleague in San Francisco just sent this to me after seeing it on the evening news. http://kxtv.com/news-story/October2001/100401/MARIJUANA-DECISION.htm Federal agents seized all patient and client records from a doctor and a lawyer who gave out medical marijuana licenses and legal advice, respectively. I wonder if this stunt would have been pulled in more peaceful times. Public outcry will not be nearly as great as it would have been, simply because we're distracted by other news. Lovely. -MW-

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Stop Getting Ripped OFF By Your Long Distance Company 20136
by o30o3tto30o3＠yahoo.com 06 Oct '01

06 Oct '01

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Re: Anthrax...coincidence?
by Steve Furlong 06 Oct '01

06 Oct '01

"Dr. Evil" wrote: > > > Center for Disease Control Investigating Second Anthrax Case > > By Chris Dolmetsch > FORTUNATELY, this stuff is not contagious. Either you have it or you > don't. I'm not sure I believe that, or much of anything else put out regarding a bioagent. ("We have everything under control. Just continue to pay your taxes and do what we tell you and everything will be all right.") Are there any real doctors or vets on the list who can confirm it from their own knowledge? (Sorry, I don't think I want to trust the word of a "Dr Evil". <grin>) I figure the spores have to come from somewhere, and they seem to be grown in animals and then released to spread. According to the CDC page on the subject, "Anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and domestic lower vertebrates..., but it can also occur in humans when they are exposed to infected animals or tissue from infected animals". Humans are animals, aren't they? Do the spores reproduce only in herbivores? Well, maybe I'm just cynical from experience with the government's lying and concealing for our own good. SRF -- Steve Furlong Computer Condottiere Have GNU, Will Travel 617-670-3793 "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly while bad people will find a way around the laws." -- Plato

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Re: Another Golden Moment of law enforcement
by Ali Baba 06 Oct '01

06 Oct '01

> "A CONFIDENTIAL FBI list of 370 people suspected of > helping Osama bin Laden's terrorist network has > leaked out. > > The names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail, > and social security codes of the suspects were > posted on the internet by Finland's Financial > Supervision Authority (RATA)." > You mean the were... (wait for it) RATA'd out?...

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Thawte Founder Fails Russian 'Web of Trust'
by Bill Scannell 06 Oct '01

06 Oct '01

http://cgi.canoe.ca/CNEWSSpace0110/05_tourist-ap.html Russian officials reject tourist MOSCOW (AP) -- Officials rejected a South African Internet tycoon's bid to fly to the International Space Station because he made unreasonable demands, Russian news agencies reported Friday. Mark Shuttleworth, 27, underwent a month of tests and preparation at the Star City cosmonaut training center outside Moscow over the summer. But the Cape Town native failed to conclude a contract to become the second tourist in space. California tycoon Dennis Tito, who reportedly paid $20 million to Russia's cash-strapped space agency, made an eight-day trip to the station last spring. "All attempts to bring Shuttleworth's conditions into correspondence with regular practice have been abortive," the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Russian Space Agency director Yuri Koptev as saying. Koptev said that Shuttleworth had insisted on a minimum of two weeks in space, instead of the eight to 10 days the space agency favored. "This demand would throw off the flight schedule," Koptev said. Koptev said that Shuttleworth had also expected a free second flight to space if the first spacecraft failed to dock with the station, ITAR-Tass reported.

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Jim Bell Justified???
by CJ Parker 06 Oct '01

06 Oct '01

During my PreTrial InFarceRation, at a time when the Federal GovernMint was attempting to pressure me into giving up my right to an extradition hearing, Linda Lou informed me that Jeff Gordon had asked her to tell me that if I waived extradition, that I would be able to get proper medical treatment once I was extradited to Washington. This, of course, turned out to be a BaldFacedLie, but regardless, one has to ask oneself what kind of LowLifeBottomSuckingScum would attempt to pressure a citizen into giving up one's legal rights by suggesting that relief from medical torture and abuse is conditional upon making one's prosecution, and unavoidable conviction, easier for the GooberMint. There is a reason that the Feds object to the Citizens paying too close a scrutiny to them personally. It is because Federal Employees who use their positions to ShitOnTheConstitution and commit Ethical Atrocities understandably live in Fear of the Citizens. Jim Bell's prosecution did not reflect his danger to anybody, but his danger to the Fears of the Justice Criminals who recognize that, according to the Values&OR&Ethics of the Founding Fathers, THEY [TM] would be Targets... In Reality, THEY [TM] Prosecute Only ThemSelves... FuckTheseMorons!Monger #05987-196

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Another Golden Moment of law enforcement
by Null＠null.com 06 Oct '01

06 Oct '01

Any way to recapture this moment? http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/10/06/wbus… Blunder puts FBI suspects on internet "A CONFIDENTIAL FBI list of 370 people suspected of helping Osama bin Laden's terrorist network has leaked out. The names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail, and social security codes of the suspects were posted on the internet by Finland's Financial Supervision Authority (RATA)."

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Anthrax found in Florida
by Anonymous 06 Oct '01

06 Oct '01

A man in Florida has been infected with anthrax, according to the CDC. <http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2001pres/20011004b.html> But don't freak out, they say. Don't buy a gas mask or antibiotics. Don't panic. Get back in your cubicle. Keep working. Stay at your desk. Under no circumstances should you try to find some ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic which might be useful in treating inhalational anthrax. <http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS01030.html>

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Threat Recognition Testing (fwd)
by mmotyka＠lsil.com 06 Oct '01

06 Oct '01

Very interesting and worth more reading. I would guess that even if it moves beyond the lab it will be treated like the polygraph. I wouldn't be surprised though if it is possible to train one's brain to move from state to state at will. Defocus your vision and visualize your training.

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