October 2001 - cypherpunks-legacy

FINALLY! we can buy Staria
by Dr. Evil 25 Oct '01

25 Oct '01

(is that the correct plural of Starium?) http://www.tactronix.com/s100.htm NOW TAKING PRE-ORDERS FOR DELIVERY IN DECEMBER 2001/JANUARY 2002 Very Limited Quantity Available A 50% Deposit Will Reserve Your Units Today!! 1-10 Units $995 USD Each 11-20 Units $936 USD Each 21-50 Units $884 USD Each 51 Units+ Call For Price What do people here think of this? My initial thoughts are: Pros: 1. Voice encryption is great. It's the Last Great Encryption Taboo (the other is file encryption, but that's not nearly as taboo as voice). I'm glad to see something on the market which addresses this. Obviously, all traffic, including saying hi to grandma, should be encrypted. 2. The unit looks very easy to use. I could travel anywhere in the world with it (well, anywhere that it's legal) and plug it in and press one button and it works. That's great. Cons: 1. I would like to see an open source reference software implementation, or some way to verify that there are no "naughty bits" in this thing. I know, open source isn't much of a business model, but with encryption products, it seems almost essential. 2. It's expensive. It costs more than a PC. However, $2k for two units is small compared to the value of data it could be securing, so for many users, the price will be fine. 3. A minor nitpick: It uses 3DES. What's wrong with AES? I think I would like to buy some of them, but I can't decide if I want to be an early adopter, or wait for cheaper and better versions to come out.

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DoD Cries for Help
by John Young 25 Oct '01

25 Oct '01

Protect your own loved ones and save $300 billion in annual defense funding, $30 billion for intelligence and umpteen billions more for hapless Health and Human Services, Justice, FBI, Congress, Supreme Court and not least the Presidency riding its sad nag of anti-terrorism bassackwards. -----

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Would you like your frog flash cooked or freeze dried
by Subcommander Bob 25 Oct '01

25 Oct '01

>Indeed. The frog has been adjusting to the heating water rather too >well. It's time to flash cook the frog. How about freeze-drying and milling him? Wait until spores show up in hospitals... if you want to kick it up a notch.

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Corporate welfare, the end of competitive bidding, or both?
by Declan McCullagh 25 Oct '01

25 Oct '01

10. Pentagon under pressure to delay or divide Joint Strike Fighter contract By Brody Mullins, CongressDaily Supporters of the Boeing Co., bracing for yet another big loss, are pressuring the Pentagon to delay or divvy up a massive new contract for next-generation fighter jets to replace the military's existing wing of warplanes. Allies of the aerospace giant fear that granting rival Lockheed Martin Corp. the entire $200 billion joint strike fighter contract would deal a devastating blow to Boeing, even as its commercial aircraft business continues to reel from last month's terrorist attacks. Republican Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond and Democratic Sen. Jean Carnahan, both of Missouri, back a proposal to force the Pentagon to award the loser of the fighter jet contract with one- third of the project's manufacturing. Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1001/102401cdam2.htm

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Starium patents?
by Khoder bin Hakkin 25 Oct '01

25 Oct '01

Declan writes: >I happened to hear from Lee Caplin of Starium today. ... >Also, Lee says Starium has filed for patents on a desk phone, answering >machine and conference phone. One wonders what they have that is patentable. Given that we've been using laptops with PGPfone/Nautilus/SpeakFreely for a while. Maybe the concept of an answering machine with PK exchange? Is this supposed to be nonobvious?

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Thank You For Your Interest..........
by mini.atmbiz＠laposte.net 25 Oct '01

25 Oct '01

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House chairman doesn't want "parochial" issues to stop wiretap bill
by Declan McCullagh 25 Oct '01

25 Oct '01

Parochial issues like privacy, maybe? -Declan --- News Advisory For immediate release Contact: Jeff Lungren October 24, 2001 202-225-2492 House Passes Anti-terrorism Legislation Sensenbenner Urges Senate Action Today WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House today passed anti-terrorism legislation by a 357-66 margin. H.R. 3162, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.), is expected to be considered by the Senate today or tomorrow and then sent to President Bush for his signature. "Today, the House came together in a bipartisan manner to pass landmark anti-terrorism legislation which provides federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies the tools they need to combat the scourges of international and domestic terrorism. Our country remains vulnerable to terrorism and our President needs this bill to fight the clear and present danger posed by Al Queda and other terrorist organizations," said Chairman Sensenbrenner. "I have heard that certain Senators have placed holds on this anti-terrorism bill to press their own parochial issues. This is the time to dispense with business as usual. It is time for leadership; I urge the Senate to pass this legislation today."

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Google bends for feds
by Khoder bin Hakkin 25 Oct '01

25 Oct '01

Dozens of government agencies have rushed to pull sensitive information off their websites and Google has backed their efforts by clearing the cache of shuttered websites from its search engines, a Google spokeswoman said. Suppression Stifles Some Sites http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,47835,00.html

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Re: Retribution not enough
by Steve Schear 25 Oct '01

25 Oct '01

At 05:24 PM 10/19/2001 -0400, someone wrote: >Retribution will satisfy our need for justice, but it won't make us safer >from terrorism. > >The terrorists have told us why they attacked America. There are three >reasons. Hint: it's not because we're wealthy and good. If you read the CP archives a bit you'll see I am not clueless in this regard (e.g., the "America need therapy" thread) I fear the maxim "Pride goeth before the fall" may well be nailed to our country's headstone. > >We have failed to heed George Washington's advice to avoid entangling >foreign alliances. We will only be safer if we heed his advice. The direction of all recent administrations has been to expand globalization (i.e., interdependency) thus increasing economic risks and narrowing diplomatic choices. In the short term, and we have no idea what the long term consequences will be, globalization as its now practiced has is some ways behaved similarly to welfare state income redistribution, creating dependencies, poverty and resentment. > >Thanks for the link to the funny song, though. Da nada

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A THREAT From My CoConSpiritOrWhatEver
by sonofgomez709 25 Oct '01

25 Oct '01

"Somehow we all end up paying for what we do." -Bill Clinton [ Source: http://www.thewinds.org/1997/06/cia.html ] CJ Parker <sonofgomez709(a)yahoo.com> http://profiles.yahoo.com/sonofgomez709 http://members.w-link.net/~sog/INDEX.HTM http://jya.com/cejfiles.htm "The True Story Of The InterNet" The Xenix ChainSaw Massacre http://www.technopagan.org/politics/xenix/ WebWorld & The Mythical Circle Of Eunuchs http://www.technopagan.org/politics/webworld/ InfoWar: Final Frontier Of The Digital rEvolution http://www.technopagan.org/politics/infowarriors/ Space Aliens Hide My Drugs http://www.technopagan.org/politics/sahmd/

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