October 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: "If you use encryption, you help the terrorists win"
by Major Variola (ret) 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

At 02:52 PM 10/24/03 -0700, Tim May wrote: >The U.S. had plans >for the contracts to deploy cellphones to go to American companies, but >the local puppets must have had no fear of the Americans, as they went >with a better bribe: mostly Arabic cellphone providers will deploy the >initial system. Yes, but who makes their equiptment? How do you say backdoor in Arabic? >So, what would happen if even 5% of the cellphones were encrypted with >a sufficiently-strong system (Eric's 3DES would presumably be enough)? Those 5% get a special visit from the Colonial Eye for the Arabic Guy, (a Fox production) where they get to wear a nifty black hood complemented by a spiffy nylon bracelet for both hands. And then they get some special counseling from the friendly boys from interrogation. Its amazing how far a cell phone will go up a rectum when you really want an answer... What they need is good stego.

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"If you use encryption, you help the terrorists win"
by Tim May 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

I predict we'll soon be seeing a new thought control campaign with this theme, that "if you use encryption, you help the terrorists win." Similar to the heavy advertising (paid for by Big Brother, and hence by money stolen from taxpayers) with the theme that lighting up a doobie helps Osama, that taking an Oxycontin (sorry, Rush!) is equivalent to flying a plane into the World Trade Center. Why encryption? Why now? Perhaps Eric B. can comment on the status of encrypted cellphones, of whichever flavor, but it occurs to me that some people in Iraq desperately need them. I refer of course to those trying to expell the American soldiers occupying their cities and, as Anne Coulter put it and as senior Army officials agree, "occupy their country, take their oil, and convert them all to Christianity." You see, the landlines and central offices were largely wiped out in the War for Oil. So what is now going in is what makes sense for nearly all developing--or flattened--countries: cellphones. The U.S. had plans for the contracts to deploy cellphones to go to American companies, but the local puppets must have had no fear of the Americans, as they went with a better bribe: mostly Arabic cellphone providers will deploy the initial system. And of course this is why there are a lot of subcontractors with ties to the NSA, DIA, ASA, etc. now in Iraq monitoring communications. (Partly to track down Saddam's whereabouts, as he may use a cellphone, if he's careless. Recall the tale of Pablo Escobar.) So, what would happen if even 5% of the cellphones were encrypted with a sufficiently-strong system (Eric's 3DES would presumably be enough)? And if not encrypted cellphones, encryption of the usual sort, over networks. I wonder what would happen to someone found carrying copies of PGP into Iraq? (Which is not to say copies are not already widely circulating, or readily downloadable, etc.) It seems clear to me that the puppet state of Iraq (maybe we could dub it "The Puppet Republic of Iraq"?) will not allow significant use of encrypted cellphones, or perhaps even encryption over networks. If the daily attacks on the crusaders continue to rise, and there appears to be some kind of coordination, the intelligence agencies will be called to task on why they are not intercepting (or jamming) the coordination channels. If the expected attacks in Saudi Arabia and other soft targets happen on schedule in the next few weeks, we might even see reintroduction of crypto ban proposals inside the U.S. We should not assume the war for crypto is won. --Tim May "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship." --Alexander Fraser Tyler

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"If you didn't pay for it, you've stolen it!"
by Tim May 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

Hollywood Preaches Anti-Piracy to Schools Thu Oct 23, 3:09 PM ET By RON HARRIS, Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO - As part of its campaign to thwart online music and movie piracy, Hollywood is now reaching into school classrooms with a program that denounces file-sharing and offers prizes for students and teachers who spread the word about Internet theft. The Motion Picture Association of America paid $100,000 to deliver its anti-piracy message to 900,000 students nationwide in grades 5-9 over the next two years, according to Junior Achievement Inc., which is implementing the program using volunteer teachers from the business sector. "What's the Diff?: A Guide to Digital Citizenship" launched last week with a lesson plan that aims to keep kids away from Internet services like Kazaa that let users trade digital songs and film clips: "If you haven't paid for it, you've stolen it." The program appears to be working, with students in dozens of middle schools announcing that they will not enter their school libraries. Said one student: "These libraries let lots of kids read the same books...that's like Kazaa lets lots of people listen to songs!" Another one added that they are joining a Christian Coalition program to shut down parties that other students run. "They are, like, letting kidz listen to music and stuff," said one banner-toting teenybopper. TM: the last two paragraphs were of course added by me. But the point is still valid, that much of Hollywood's claims about "illegal listening" are not really any different from "reading without buying" books and magazines in libraries. The more urgent issue is this crap about corporations buying time in public schools. If I had a kid in a school and it was proposed that Nike, Time-Warner, Coke, or Intel would be buying teaching time, I'd tell them to stop it pretty fucking quick or face the Mother of All Columbines. --Tim May

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Re: [mnet-devel] DOS in DHTs (fwd from amichrisde@yahoo.de)
by Steve Schear 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

At 03:21 PM 10/20/2003 -0700, Morlock Elloi wrote: >Looks like the only way to shield from DOS is to raise the cost of DOS. This >will eventually eliminate the low cost of Internet bandwidth, one way or >another. You don't get nearly the same amount of DOS on your telephone as you >do on Internet, right ? Because telephone call is not free and/or it's >traceable. And there has been creditable prototyping in this area, e.g., Camram. But not many skilled coders seem to have jumped on these projects to help out. >NDL can happen. Compare it to the early situation with cars or guns. No >regulation in the beginning, you could buy or make your own and do as you >please. I know people who still do. >Then, when commerce began to depend on both (transport of goods and >force monopolies) they got regulated. I see no difference between that and >computer with an Internet link. NDL is a possible reality. It used to be >normal >to drive or carry a weapon without license. These days, they catch you sooner >or later and beat you into pulp. Same thing. Dreaming about it not happening >will get you nowhere. I think the U.S. Constitution will stand in the way of widespread adoption of NDLs. They may have regulated firearms, though these laws are widely ignored by citizens, but I have yet to see a license for owning a typewriter or PC proposed. They have already ruled numerous times that the Internet is deserving of at least as free and access as print media and political flyers (which can be anonymnous and still pass legal muster). steve

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RE: Support the Bush-Orwell '04 campaign!
by Trei, Peter 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

> From: Sunder[SMTP:sunder@sunder.net] > Subject: Support the Bush-Orwell '04 campaign! > http://www.cafeshops.com/grandoldparty/76732 > Cute, but actually putting George Orwell on the ticket would actually be a very nice counterbalance to Ashcroft, etal (or course, he's dead, and foreign, but thats not his fault). Here's another list of slogans that is floating around: > Proposed Bush - Cheney Slogans for 2004 elections > > Bush/Cheney '04: Compassionate Colonialism > Vote Bush in '04: "It Has Incumbentory Advantitude" > Bush Reloaded > Bush/Cheney '04: "You're either with us or against us!" > Bush/Cheney '04: Apocalypse Now! > Bush/Cheney '04: Because the truth just isn't good enough. > Bush/Cheney '04: Deja-voodoo all over again! > Bush/Cheney '04: Don't Change Whores in Midstream > Bush/Cheney '04: Four More Wars! > Bush/Cheney '04: Leave no billionaire behind > BU__SH__! > Bush/Cheney '04: Less CIA -- More CYA > Bush/Cheney '04: Making the world a better place, one country at a time. > Bush/Cheney '04: Putting the "con" in conservatism > Bush/Cheney '04: Thanks for not paying attention. > Bush/Cheney '04: The last vote you'll ever have to cast. > Bush/Cheney '04: This time, elect us! > Bush/Cheney '04: Because We're Gooder! > Bush/Cheney: 1984 > Bush/Cheney: Asses of Evil > George W. Bush: It takes a village idiot > Vote Bush in '04: It's a no-brainer!

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Support the Bush-Orwell '04 campaign!
by Sunder 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

http://www.cafeshops.com/grandoldparty/76732 ----------------------Kaos-Keraunos-Kybernetos--------------------------- + ^ + :25Kliters anthrax, 38K liters botulinum toxin, 500 tons of /|\ \|/ :sarin, mustard and VX gas, mobile bio-weapons labs, nukular /\|/\ <--*-->:weapons.. Reasons for war on Iraq - GWB 2003-01-28 speech. \/|\/ /|\ :Found to date: 0. Cost of war: $800,000,000,000 USD. \|/ + v + : The look on Sadam's face - priceless! --------_sunder_(a)_sunder_._net_------- http://www.sunder.net ------------

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PhysicsWeb - Utopia theory (fwd)
by Jim Choate 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

http://physicsweb.org/article/world/16/10/7 -- -- Lo! Men have become the tools of their tools - H.D. Thoreau ravage(a)ssz.com jchoate(a)open-forge.com www.ssz.com www.open-forge.com

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ABCNEWS.com : Scalia Ridicules Court's Gay Sex Ruling (fwd)
by Jim Choate 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

Why does anyone listen to this punk....leave it up to him and women would be barefoot and pregnant and non-anglo's would still be 5/8 human. The guy is a bigot. Strict adherence to the words of the Constitution, this nitwit hasn't -ever- stuck to the words or the intents. Just another two-faced liar like Lincoln. 'Conservative'....indeed. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20031023_2301.html -- -- Lo! Men have become the tools of their tools - H.D. Thoreau ravage(a)ssz.com jchoate(a)open-forge.com www.ssz.com www.open-forge.com

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NOWAR - Leader of India's largest movement to speak (fwd)
by Jim Choate 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 07:15:36 -0500 From: NOWAR <pat(a)thirdcoastactivist.org> To: nowar(a)lists.tao.ca Subject: NOWAR - Leader of India's largest movement to speak Hello, all. We have just received news of a unique opportunity to hear an important speaker. Medha Patkar, one of the most respected political activists in the world, will be speaking in Austin the evening of Nov. 4 (specifics below). This is a rare chance to hear directly from someone on the cutting edge of resistance to the reckless uses of state and private power that threaten so many lives and livelihoods. Patkar founded and leads the Naramda Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement), the largest nonviolent people's movement in India. Over the course of two decades -- through relentless organizing, demonstrations, and hunger strikes -- the movement has been the voice of hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples and peasants who are losing their land and way of life to large dams on the Narmada River. Like so many large centralized development projects, the benefits of these dams go to a small elite and the costs are borne by ordinary people. The movement has won policy changes in World Bank and other multilateral funding agencies but continues to face hostility from the Indian government and often violent police responses -- and continues to resist through nonviolent civil disobedience. With significant leadership and participation from women, the nonviolent satyagraha (insistence on truth) has refused to back down. Visit http://www.narmada.org to learn more about the struggle. Patkar also spearheads the National Alliance of People's Movements, a powerful network of more than 150 mass-based movements across India. NAPM is a non-electoral, secular political alliance of peasant, tribal, dalit, women and labor groups that are critical of corporate globalization and offer alternative development plans. Patkar's work has been recognized through countless international awards, including the Right to Livelihood Award (known as the alternative Nobel Prize), Goldman Environmental Prize, a Human Rights Defender's Award from Amnesty International, the Magsaysay Award, and Global Villager Award. Patkar's lecture, "Who pays for progress?", will focus on policies that inhibit sustainable development and people's non-violent struggles for social justice. The talk will be Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the LBJ Auditorium in Sid Richardson Hall (the one-story building directly east of the LBJ Library and Museum) on the University of Texas campus. Free parking is available in the lots on Red River just south of Dean Keeton (26th St.) Map available at http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/srh.html Because the event happens in just over a week, it's important to spread the word widely so as many people as possible can hear Patkar. Please forward this information to any relevant email lists and web sites. Flyers can be downloaded from http://ThirdCoastActivist.org The primary sponsor of the event is the Austin chapter of the Association for India's Development, a nonprofit organization promoting grassroots efforts for health care, education, small enterprise, alternate energy, environmental action and people's rights in India. For more information, visit www.aidaustin.org or www.aidindia.org. Co-sponsors will be announced later. For more information, contact Harish Sharma, 695-7983, aidut(a)uts.cc.utexas.edu. Information about this and many other events can be found at http://ThirdCoastActivist.org In Solidarity, the Nowar Collective

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RE: C3 Nehemia C5P with better hardware RNG and AES support
by pgut001＠cs.auckland.ac.nz 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

"Lucky Green" <shamrock(a)cypherpunks.to> writes: >Peter wrote: >> In case anyone's interested, there's a cpu die photo at >> http://www.sandpile.org/impl/pics/centaur/c5xl/die_013_c5p.jpg >> showing the amount of real estate consumed by the crypto functions >> (it's the bottom centre, a bit hard to read the label). > >I fail to understand why VIA bothered adding AES support into the CPU. When >was AES last the bottleneck on a general-purpose CPU? Apart from the obvious "what cool thing can we fit in -> <- this much spare die space?", the obvious target is SOHO routers/firewall boxes. My spies tell me that it's already being used in a number of products like this, and the addition of AES will help the process. Hardware SHA-1 in the next rev makes it even better, since you can now do IPsec and SSL tunneling purely in hardware (and then you lose it all again in the crappy Rhine II NIC, but that's another story). >The bottleneck tends to be modular exponentiations, yet VIA failed to include >a modular exponentiation engine. Strange. Not for SOHO use it isn't, the initial handshake overhead is negligible compared to the constant link encryption overhead. The alternative is to do the crypto externally, for which you're paying for an expensive and power- hungry crypto core capable of doing a zillion DH/RSA ops/sec that gets used once every few hours. The alternative is to load or load your standard firewall firmware into a Nehemiah and offload all the crypto and RNG stuff. Peter.

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