December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Nuclear Weapons Material
by jdd＠aiki.demon.co.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In message <paBMkOwscIgG070yn(a)io.org> Mark Terka writes: > Not to mention the fact that without tritium, the "trigger" for nuclear > weapons (and extremely expensive and rare at $ 100m a gram) all you have > is a radioactive paperweight. To the best of my knowledge, tritium is not used in nuclear weapons (meaning A-bombs), only in thermonuclear weapons (H-bombs). One of my teachers was involved in the Manhattan project; he never mentioned any need for tritium. -- Jim Dixon

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Re: Voluntary Governments?
by jdd＠aiki.demon.co.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In message <199408230610.XAA15960(a)netcom3.netcom.com> "Timothy C. May" writes: > Jason Solinsky wrote: > > Easily. They could deny you access to services of greater value than the > > tax being imposed. MIT weilds this power quite successfully. This thread > > Jason is confusing markets and governments. > > A movie theater that sells tickets is not "taxing" its patrons--it is > selling access. A university that charges tuition is not "taxing" its > customers. > > [ complications deleted] > > To call all negotiated prices "taxes" is, bluntly, > absurd. It also cheapens the language by throwing away the essential > distinction between market prices and taxes. Jason's use of the term 'tax' in a special sense is no more an abuse of the language than the attempt to change the conventional meaning of the word 'government'. He says that institutions like MIT govern the behavior of their special populations, that they can impose levies on their users, and that they can enforce rules against their users without the use of physical force. > In any case, something is a "market price" if one can walk away from > the transaction. I know of almost nothing the U.S. government calls a > "tax" that taxpayers are free to walk away from, to not pay (and thus > not receive the service). You can walk away from almost all US taxes by walking away from the USA. I have. What about luxury taxes, fishing licenses, flying licenses, and so forth? If you insist on calling these 'market prices', you begin to really rip the fabric of the language. -- Jim Dixon

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Death & Taxes
by frissell＠panix.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Steve Witham & Jason W Solinsky seem to be sowing a bit of confusion about government and taxes. Steve says: >This is the "monopoly on force in a geographical area" definition of >government. It's also pretty much government as we know it. It's a >fundamentally bad idea and it's what James and I are against. But I don't >think it's a good definition of "government." It *is*, however, the definition that my very commie-liberal poly sci department taught me when I was studying with them. Also "That institution charged with the authoritative allocation of values in society." >The reason is that what most people mean by "government" is a set of >services, the main ones being what James calls "true law": police, courts, >and defense--protection services for large numbers of people. Experts in taxonomy always try to define a species by the characteristics that *distinguish* it from other species. Not those characteristics that are the same. Governments are distinguished by their claim of monopoly on judging the appropriateness of uses of force within a given geographic area. Thus the symbol of a king's office is often a mace (club) and a sword. The American Eagle has arrows clutched in one claw. And in most times and places only the sovereign and his cronies are allowed to carry weapons. The peasants are prohibited from doing so. Jason says: A cybergovernment says "Do as we say or you can't communicate with our citizens" MIT says "Do as we say or go somewhere else" US democrats say "If you don't like US laws, move somewhere else" Actually, if you are a citizen you are bound by US tax laws even if you move to Alpha Centauri. Or if you are a narco terrorist you need not even be a citizen. MIT remains largely consensual. Governments do not. If they become mere market actors as I expect that they will, then they will no longer be the sorts of monopoly institutions that we refer to with the word -- "government." Actually "Self-Government vs. Others-Government" is the real split (with thanks to the Advocates for Self Government. DCF "You speak Treason!" - The Lady Marion Fitzwalter "Fluently!" - Sir Robin of Loxley Not from the politically correct version.

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Zimmerman's use of PGP
by Bill O'Hanlon 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

As anyone who has ever sent an encrypted "Really neat program, Phil!" message to Phillip Zimmerman knows, he doesn't run PGP where he reads his mail. He has to download messages to decrypt on a local machine. All of the cute elm/vi/emacs/mh/pine scripts you wanna post won't help him. -Bill (P.S. Back when he didn't get so much mail, if you'd done the above, you'd get a response in a couple weeks, telling you this. He mentioned that he saw the irony of the situation -- that the inventor of PGP couldn't make convenient use of it.)

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archives for cypherpunks?
by PatHuff＠world.std.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Do any archives exist for this group? I would be intereted in scaning them. Pat. PatHuff(a)world.std.com

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Re: Voluntary Governments?
by rah＠shipwright.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 3:14 PM 8/23/94 -0400, Perry E. Metzger wrote: >Russell Nelson says: >> In our high school we had a student government. We had no prisons >> and no guns. >> >> Then you were a club. > >Indeed. [snip] >(I once was part of a >debate held by Columbia University's Philolexian Society on the topic >"Resolved: Student Government is Amazingly Lame", in which I noted >that the low probability of a student government coup d'etat complete >with tanks rolling about the campus, and of the following student >government dictatorship run by a student military junta, demonstrated >that the student "government" wasn't a government but a weak way to >keep students placated, devoid even of the mild entertainment the >occassional revolt could bring.) Alas. How true. One of my friends got elected student government president at the University of Missouri by standing outside polling places in a clown suit bribing people to vote for him with play money. Later that year, I authored a student senate declaration of war against the University of Wisconsin. They had originated the concept of snickerocracy, or rule by clowns, and as potential competition for scarce laughs had to be destroyed. The declaration passed unanimously. We passed the hat in the bars for our defense budget (to be spent by the sacred Council of War, COW for short), and sent four determined and somewhat inebriated agriculture majors to Wisconsin's dairy barns to collect one ton of bullshit and deposit it on their student union steps at 3 am. In their defense, I must say that the administration generously let us (the senate) vote on the allocation of about $1.3 million of the university's money (somewhat less than 1% of the total, I believe), which made for a lot of sand in the old sandbox. And, I got to meet both Timothy Leary and Ralph Nader out of the deal. I have trouble telling them apart to this day... Ah, Yout'! Adulthood is terminal, Bob Hettinga ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) "There is no difference between someone Shipwright Development Corporation who eats too little and sees Heaven and 44 Farquhar Street someone who drinks too much and sees Boston, MA 02331 USA snakes." -- Bertrand Russell (617) 323-7923

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Re: Voluntary Governments?
by rah＠shipwright.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 2:37 PM 8/23/94 -0500, Jim choate wrote: >Can't speak for MIT but I can speak for UT Austin, they do have cells to hold >prisoners. The security forces at that school attend the Tx Dept. of Public >Safety training school and hold state law enforcement positions. The last >thing you want to do is really piss one of these guys, you would end up >in one of the state prisons for several years, Huntsville probably. The University of Chicago, where I went for awhile, has the third largest police force in Illinois, after the Chicago PD and the State troopers. They have guns and cells. During the Cambodian days of rage, the administration had an interesting tactic. The acquiesced to the students' demands and took their pictures as they left. Then they expelled them all. Not violent, really, but harmful, maybe. "Hyde Park, where Black and White stand shoulder to shoulder against the Poor." (Nichols and May[not Tim]), Bob Hettinga ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) "There is no difference between someone Shipwright Development Corporation who eats too little and sees Heaven and 44 Farquhar Street someone who drinks too much and sees Boston, MA 02331 USA snakes." -- Bertrand Russell (617) 323-7923

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Re: Voluntary Governments?
by elton＠sybase.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Right ... I had taken this offline, but it looks as though it ain't quite dead yet. Kindly stop reading now if you wish this subject would go away. Consolidating two messages from Jim Dixon: >Jason's use of the term 'tax' in a special sense is no more an abuse >of the language than the attempt to change the conventional meaning >of the word 'government'. and >You can't simply take over the ownership of words in the English >language. 'Government' is indeed the name used for an entity that >exercises authority or enforces laws. Of course we can -- it happens all the time. However, this time I haven't usurped the meaning of anything. Force -- the threat or actual use of violence -- is the essence of government. You just said so yourself: "enforces laws". Here's the closest applicable dictionary definition of "government", taken from the Random House Dictionary of the English Language: "1. the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states; direction of the affairs of a state, community, etc.; political administration." This is amplified by looking at "govern" in the same dictionary: "1. to rule by right of authority, as a sovereign does." "Rule", or "political ... control" are only ever exercised through force. People keep using that word, "enforce", without looking carefully at it. >From the same dictionary: "to put or keep in force; compel obedience to." "Enforcement", regardless of the dry dictionary definition, is the essence of government. Without the power to enforce arbitrary rules, there can be no government. There are several methods of achieving compliance with a set of rules: social pressure (shunning, as some religious sects do); withholding of goods or services (the degree that Jason spoke about being denied); and topical application of violence ("enforcement"). Of these, the first two are related, and are commonly practiced by social units that don't recognize the right to use force on one another. The last named is the only one that results in physical damage to the person being "ruled", and is also the only one that can physically prevent that person from engaging in the proscribed behavior. The others can make life bloody unpleasant, but they won't terminate it. One other thing: >I grew up in a small town of 5,000. It had a city government. The >county government was in the same town. No one denies that California >has a government, I think. And then there was the US government. And >we had city police, the sheriff's office, the Highway Patrol, and the >FBI paid an occasional visit. Uh ... you _do_ understand that that's a specious argument, yes? What do you suppose the outcome would be if your home town were to legalize marijuana, and then attempted to prevent the DEA from enforcing the overriding federal law? Yes, we have a distributed government, with each layer operating under the authority of the next layer up; but each layer can only add restrictions, never remove them, and each enforces its restrictions by the same method as the layers above it: main force. Further, each attempts to prevent other agencies from enforcing sets of rules counter to the ones they themselves enforce. That's what makes them true "governments", rather than some other social institution. Here, someone will surely object that by this definition, the Mafia can be considered a government. Well, if they can successfully kick the existing thugs off of some plot of ground, and then defend it against all comers, then yes: that's exactly what they'll be. How else do you suppose that governments become established? -- Elton

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Zimmermann/NSA debate postponed
by Philip Zimmermann 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The debate between Philip Zimmermann and Clinton Brooks from NSA has been postponed. The debate organizers, the World Affairs Council decided today (Tuesday) that there were not enough attendees preregistered to proceed with the debate at this time. The debate had been scheduled for Thursday, 25 August, in Thousand Oaks, California. A major conference organized by the World Affairs Council, scheduled for 27 October, will have the debate included in the conference. When those plans firm up, there will be detailed announcements with more lead time. I'm sorry if this change in plans inconveniences anyone who planned to attend the debate, but I had nothing to do with their decision. --Philip Zimmermann

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Re: NSA Spy Machine and DES
by Ian Farquhar 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Aug 22, 9:48pm, Phil Karn wrote: > >do, which is something I really doubt. As Phil Zimmerman pointed out some > >time ago, there are lots of other interesting applications which SIGINT > Actually, I believe it was me who said that. At least I also did. I stand corrected. It was indeed Phil Karn, and not Phil Zimmerman. Ian.

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List of reliable remailers
by Raph Levien 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi all, I have written and installed a remailer pinging script which collects detailed information about remailer features and reliability. To use it, just finger remailer-list(a)kiwi.cs.berkeley.edu There is also a Web version of the same information, at http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~raph/remailer-list.html Please let me know about any other remailers which I missed. I've only included remailers which can mail to arbitrary addresses, so I already know chop and twwells are missing. If you've got a Web page, please feel free to include a link to this page. If you think your Web page is relevant to the subject of remailers, let me know and I'll link it in. Comments and suggestions welcome! Note to remailer operators: this script generates hourly ping messages. If you don't want that, let me know and I will take your mailer off the list, or increase the interval between pings. Raph Levien

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Re: Brands cash
by Rick H. Wesson 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hal, I liked your description of Brans Cash. I'd like to turn your description into psudo-code or Perl whichever comes first and you are more comfortable with reviewing. Anyone lese interested in developing a bit of perl as an example of Brands cash in action? -Rick

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List of reliable remailers
by Raph Levien 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi all, I have written and installed a remailer pinging script which collects detailed information about remailer features and reliability. To use it, just finger remailer-list(a)kiwi.cs.berkeley.edu There is also a Web version of the same information, at http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~raph/remailer-list.html Please let me know about any other remailers which I missed. I've only included remailers which can mail to arbitrary addresses, so I already know chop and twwells are missing. If you've got a Web page, please feel free to include a link to this page. If you think your Web page is relevant to the subject of remailers, let me know and I'll link it in. Comments and suggestions welcome! Note to remailer operators: this script generates hourly ping messages. If you don't want that, let me know and I will take your mailer off the list, or increase the interval between pings. Raph Levien

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CEB 8 - I GUESS I'LL JUST HAVE TO DO IT MYSELF!
by Gary Jeffers 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

CYPHER_REBELS" ELECTRONIC BOOK (CEB) 8 - I GUESS I'LL JUST HAVE TO DO IT MYSELF! Fellow Cyphers - rebel/punks, I have decided to do the CEB myself. I am going to post it on Cypherpunks about once a month & on other lists as well. The CEB will exist as an often updated & posted file. I now need contributions of text. I need the WNSTROM steganography program internet source location & a concise write up of it. I also need the same for PG shell program. I also need a concise write up of how to use remailers, how to chain them, etc.. The CEB will be an up to date source to show locations of best privacy software, essential information, & electronic privacy concerns. PUSH EM BACK! PUSH EM BACK! WWWAAAYYY BBBAAACCCK! BBBEEEAAAATTTT STATE!

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pgp -c,no initialization vector, possible bug, pgp 26ui
by 0x7CF5048D＠nowhere 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Darn, the remailers keep truncating this! In pgp 2.6 UI When pgp is called with the -c switch, the routine idea_encryptfile in crypto.c is called from main in pgp.c. > status = idea_encryptfile( workfile, tempf, attempt_compression); >int idea_encryptfile(char *infile, char *outfile, > boolean attempt_compression) >{ > FILE *f; /* input file */ > FILE *g; /* output file */ > byte ideakey[16]; > struct hashedpw *hpw; Note that idea key is a 16 bytes. Now idea_encryptfile calls squish_and_idea_file in crypto.c with this 16 byte key. > /* Now compress the plaintext and encrypt it with IDEA... */ > squish_and_idea_file( ideakey, f, g, attempt_compression ); Now squish_and_idea_file calls idea_file in the module crypto.c with the same 16 byte key. >static int squish_and_idea_file(byte *ideakey, FILE *f, FILE *g, > boolean attempt_compression) >{

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No Subject
by dfloyd＠runner.utsa.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I most likely will get toasted for this, but here goes: I notice tons of fear and loathing, and this feeling of 1984 is upon us, etc. I seriously wonder who is trying to create a repressive government. Clinton cannot pass a simple crime bill, much less become Big Brother. Congress has to do tons of head butting to vote for a pay raise, much less turn the US into a totaliarian society. I DO agree on one thing. If there is something st00pid proposed, like Clipper, etc., then people have all rights to toast the puppy, but I don't think we have an Outer Circle/Inner Circle just yet. (From a lowly prole,)

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Electronic Postcards
by Ben Goren 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Dear Editor, Most everybody I know puts almost all mail in an envelope before dropping it in the mailbox. The only time we do otherwise is when sending a postcard that says, "I'm here, wish you were fine." So why does everybody send all email in a way that's just as easy to read as a postcard? Why, then, all the fuss over ASU officials reading electronic postcards? If you don't trust the various system operators through whose computer your message might pass, put your email in an envelope--by encrypting it. If you use the most popular email encryption software on the Internet, PGP--Pretty Good Privacy, written by Philip Zimmerman and now maintained and distributed by MIT--then even the National Security Agency, the super-secret government agency entrusted with electronic surveillance, would resort to a beating with a rubber hose before expending the computer power necessary to decrypt your messages. And that's making the rather doubtful assumption that such power even exists. In other words, only my friend John could tell you that - -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE----- Version: 2.6 hIwCHxG346w4ZyEBBACo5V85syKa2oJ+TpgR5/NFqiSlFLXxSTFQghLb0owAHHqN 9cAmaJB7kvMWq3vKIP/p9s+DCFtuPLe2FF3UFYc9iOibd4LrxWPZpHzHN0DvqiCm 1M8HxJ+DgUpWHZ2jwTTZL/2XR3sfbqw6NyGgDrMspNLXsPu4WN9jctumUfyS/KYA AADRbSMnDQQZFC040LykyL783+ezN8EnLlBRZeXxqSs1fjULqybj0t9x9Sb4EGKG S3KvFUuGfvSBmrx/IKsDyAZ/5LZuFk0KhdGI/a3zP8/Bt4umQQOtIlwh3Kl/qV7I 42sh8Cx1tgXnDrfDav3pXOjlCwcjp8ChvHy79YUcUMuCGnm80fs+I7YjMKeHHlm0 qPcYE3AZRkfu8dRqisD+raXn8bpgzvyvEaFs5IMJjIhb9n3i5UaU3C3HmsvNrAps 3MTgfhDTN+XkrsaJygTvva67/5Q= =FQw9 - -----END PGP MESSAGE----- Really means, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Since I've deleted the original, even I couldn't tell you what it says except from my own fading memory. Because of an obscure code of laws known as the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations, strong cryptography, including PGP, is classified right up there with anti-tank missiles. Never mind that any program that is readily available in the States is also readily available abroad, there are stiff fines and prison sentences for those who export cryptography from the US or Canada. Thus, if you wish to get a copy of PGP for yourself--absolutely free--you must get it directly from MIT. Use anonymous FTP--which you can do from any computing site on campus--to connect to net-dist.mit.edu, and get the file /pub/PGP/README. It contains instructions on how to get the software. While a technical description of how PGP works is beyond a letter to the Editor, I would be more than happy to provide such via email to those who ask. Just write to me at Ben.Goren(a)asu.edu And, of course, PGP-encrypted messages are most welcome. Yours truly, Ben Goren Faculty Associate School of Music 5-0429 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 Comment: My key is not 'escrowed' with any government agency. iQCVAgUBLlrPMkNl71nP8jvVAQGyVAP9HyYZcmhssvvtFMrZ6kISvs4jXsgvx5ZT UHJYzcmtMXoQOP+xYZeLh31ILiX8glJXUeq1n49HNIRh10YPxAeAj3zVQCWlBIbX SjMEQpYDdNpE8sTULL0nmKlGq5P9q89KEfHlT8C8CZyS0+0ZaY2dFs4uYGaFdDq4 zyCVVTrEyUk= =lbBs -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Note to those receiving this message as a Cc: This letter is in response to a front-page article and an editorial in Arizona State University's student newspaper, the _State Press._ The one described and the other decried a draft resolution which would formalize the current policy of allowing administrators to examine any account on any university computer for no cause other than "reasonable suspicion." b& -- Ben.Goren(a)asu.edu, Arizona State University School of Music net.proselytizing (write for info): The battle is over; Clipper is dead. But the war against Government Access to Keys (GAK) goes on. Finger ben(a)tux.music.asu.edu for PGP 2.6 public key ID 0xCFF23BD5.

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Re: THE H.E.A.T. IS ON
by Peter Murphy 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Since I don't get Acapulco H.E.A.T where I am, I wonder if you could answer me this question - Is the show another Aaron Spelling production? Peter Murphy.

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Re: Voluntary Governments?
by jdd＠aiki.demon.co.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In message <m0qd0At-000I8SC(a)crynwr.com> Russell Nelson writes: > Date: Tue, 23 Aug 94 18:15:12 GMT > From: jdd(a)aiki.demon.co.uk (Jim Dixon) > > I grew up in a small town of 5,000. It had a city government. The > [etc] > So drop the word 'exclusive'. > > The government still excludes non-governmental authorities from using > violence. > > In our high school we had a student government. We had no prisons > and no guns. > > Then you were a club. Or, you were a government whose rules were > enforced by other governments. The discussion here is about the use of common words in the English language. You are decreeing that Jason and I and most of the rest of the English-speaking world follow one restricted usage, yours. This is a form of linguistic imperialism. Sorry, I will keep on using the word in the ways permitted by most dictionaries. There is also an odd form of cultural imperialism here. The USA has a form of government that is unique to it. Like the people of most large continental nations, Americans think that the rest of the world is just their own country with a few changes in details. It isn't. There are many cultures where individuals are expected to use violence. In the Afghan countryside (at least in the Pathan area), all males over the age of 13 or so are expected to carry guns and to use them. When I was there there was no central government in the American sense. Government was local. There was nothing resembling a constitution, in fact there was no written law, as far as I know. The elders met and came to decisions. Those decisions, which were of course informed by Islamic tradition, had the effect of law. There was a competitive government in Kabul, but its influence was limited to the roads. In remote areas, the Kabul government could frighten people with the jet fighters donated to it by the Russians, but it had little day-to-day control. At least theoretically all Kshatriya caste Hindus and all Sikhs are warriors. I have never been in the Arab countries, but I believe that in many of them people are expected to use violence under certain circumstances. This is sanctioned by their reading of the Koran. Women are really stoned to death by their neighbors for adultery. No intervention by "the government" is necessary. What you are saying is that, effectively, these are not 'real' countries and their peculiar forms of government are not real, because they do not follow the American model. Turn the clock back 100 years and America was not so different. It is true that in the West people carried guns and were expected to use them under certain circumstances. Jason's point is that if you turn the clock forward 50 years, you are likely to find entities exercising governmental powers in cyberspace. They will use sanctions to coerce uncooperative people to follow norms. These sanctions need not be backed by the use of physical weapons. They will also collect something like taxes. It may be that the terms used will not be 'government' and 'taxes', but that is what they will be. -- Jim Dixon

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Re: Voluntary Governments?
by dance＠cicero.spc.uchicago.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Jim Choate says: >Can't speak for MIT but I can speak for UT Austin, they do have cells to hold >prisoners. The security forces at that school attend the Tx Dept. of Public >Safety training school and hold state law enforcement positions. The last >thing you want to do is really piss one of these guys, you would end up >in one of the state prisons for several years, Huntsville probably. > >Schools can use physical force against their students. I have personaly seen >assaults on the presidents office when a group of students took it over in >the late 80's because of UT Austin holdings in S. Africa. I have seen them >knock the holy shit out of students for nothing more than simply refusing to >move fast enough. The officers stormed the office in full riot gear with >M16 automatic rifles and smoke grenades. > >I suspect that MIT's security forces, even though it is a private school, >hold 'peace officer' ratings and this implies that they can carry weapons >at any time (though they don't usually). This holds for the small community >college that I work at now as well. The officers don't carry guns as a regular >part of their uniform except during registration when there are large amounts >of cash on campus or when important officials visit the campus(es). The University of Chicago's Security officers are sworn Chicago police; they are given full police powers, if only limited jurisdiction. Lucky for everyone here they choose not to exercise *any* authority. Trying to neither be foolish nor a lightweight.... _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ It's dangerous to be right _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ when the government is wrong. _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/ --Voltaire _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/

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Zimmermann/NSA
by Loren Fleckenstein 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The World Affairs Council has cancelled the Aug. 25 crypto policy debate between PGP author Philip Zimmermann and NSA official Clinton Brook because of low interest and rescheduled it for Oct. 27 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. I will post more details as they become available. Although I'm disappointed for selfish reasons by the delay, the rescheduling may work to everyone's advantage. The later date gives the World Affairs Council more time to line up news media coverage. One network news magazine has expressed interest in taping the event for repackaging in some type of feature on encryption and civil liberties. Also, National Public Radio has expressed an interest as well. I've rearranged my schedule to attend the event and will prepare a transcript of the debate to upload to any BBS, forum or news group that will carry it. Stay tuned.

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Remailer pings.
by remailer＠rebma.rebma.mn.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I regret sending this to the list, but other attempts to contact the people involved haven't been successful. I won't send more than this one message. The remailer at rebma.mn.org is connected via a UUCP link. Rebma picks up its mail in the middle of the night, Central Standard Time. There are a half dozen people who are pinging the remailer on an hourly or half-hourly basis. You can do the math, I'm sure. There is no point in pinging this particular remailer in this way. You won't get up-to-the-hour reports on its availability, since it doesn't pick up the mail until late in the evening. You aren't adding to the traffic mix in any useful way, because your messages aren't chained and are only encrypted once, to the remailer. If you think it's a problem for the enemy to do traffic analysis on identical messages from the same person over the same mailpath that are sent every hour on the hour, you're an idiot. And there's an even better reason. People who do this for any length of time are added to the Detweiler list, and the remailer becomes useless to them in any form. I recognize that people are trying to provide a remailer service. I realize they are trying to do a good thing. It just doesn't apply, here, in this case, for this remailer. Once a day would be sufficient, because that's all the more often the mail is retrieved from my service provider.

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Brands cash in perl
by Rick H. Wesson 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Below are two Perl psudo-Functions as I see Brands Cash as described by Hal (hfinney(a)shell.portal.com) Am I comming close or am I way off, Personally I understand code better than the written word and I can loose lots in the translation. If this is on the "right track" then where does $g come from, can I take it from the modulo of a PGP key? # mPrime(m') is passed as $CASH with the two submitter generated # Check values $A and $B. &GetChallenge returns the random challenge # we requested as $c0, the two additional ones ($c1 and $c2) were # supplied by the depositor. sub Deposit{ local($CASH, $A, $B) = @_; if(($A*$B) == $CASH){ ($c0, $c1, $c2) = &GetChalenge; $Catch = $A*($B ^ $c0); $Check = $Amt^$c1*$g^$c2; if($Catch == $Check){ sql("insert into account Balacne=Balance+$CASH"); print "ALL OK; CASH Accepted\n"; }else{ print "Double Spender!!\n" &CatchCriminal($CASH); }else{ print "You Lie!!!\nStop making up stuff\n"; &CatchCriminal($CASH); } } # Supplied with a users account number, however this happens via a form # or E-Mail, we generate m' and sign and deliver it... sub mPrime{ local($Acct, $Amt, $g) = @_; $RandomNumber = &GetHugeRandomNumber; $Acct = sql("Lookup $Person's Account"); sql("update Balance=Balance-$Amt where AccountID=$Acct"); $CASH = $Amt**$RandomNumber * $g**($Acct*$RandomNumber); sql("Intert $CASH into outstanding insterments"); return(&Signed($CASH)); }

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Neutron sources, alpha sources, pulling dragon's tail
by Brad Dolan 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Various comments on this thread, all lumped into an easy-to-ignore wad: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: IN%"werewolf(a)io.org" To: IN%"cypherpunks(a)toad.com" CC: Subj: RE: Nuclear Weapons Material > > iqg1550 says: > > Let's all rejoice at the birth of the latest member of The Horsemen of > > The Criminal Apocalypse -- The Nuclear Weapons Material Smuggler. > > I'm sure his four siblings will make plenty of room for their baby brother. > > I will point out, of course, that anyone who can afford the tens of > millions to hundreds of millions the smugglers are reportedly charging > for critical masses worth of Plutonium and Uranium, odds are that they > can afford to buy un-escrowed secure communications equipment... Not to mention the fact that without tritium, the "trigger" for nuclear weapons (and extremely expensive and rare at $ 100m a gram) all you have is a radioactive paperweight. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This misconception was put to rest by a number of postings such as the following: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: IN%"psmarie(a)cbis.com" To: IN%"werewolf(a)io.org" CC: IN%"cypherpunks(a)toad.com" Subj: Nuclear Weapons Material > Not to mention the fact that without tritium, the "trigger" for nuclear > weapons (and extremely expensive and rare at $ 100m a gram) all you have > is a radioactive paperweight. The "trigger" isn't tritium. Tritium (along with lithium 6) is used in fusion bombs. A fission-only device, ala Hiroshima or Nagasaki, doesn't require any. The trigger in the center of the plutonium core is a neutron source, polonium if memory serves correctly. Tritium is a beta emitter. --Paul ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: IN%"ghio(a)chaos.bsu.edu" "Matthew Ghio" To: IN%"cypherpunks(a)toad.com" CC: Subj: RE: Nuclear Weapons Material pstemari(a)bismark.cbis.com (Paul J. Ste. Marie) wrote: > Mark Terka wrote: > > Not to mention the fact that without tritium, the "trigger" for nuclear > > weapons (and extremely expensive and rare at $ 100m a gram) all you have > > is a radioactive paperweight. > > The "trigger" isn't tritium. Tritium (along with lithium 6) is used > in fusion bombs. A fission-only device, ala Hiroshima or Nagasaki, > doesn't require any. > > The trigger in the center of the plutonium core is a neutron source, > polonium if memory serves correctly. Tritium is a beta emitter. A neutron source is usually a light element with a high neutron/proton ratio, coupled with an alpha emitter. I believe the Nagasaki bomb used beryllium-9. An alpha particle impacting a beryllium nucleus will fuse with it, forming carbon-12, and the binding energy will eject a neutron. I think aluminum and a few other light elements will undergo similar reactions to release neutrons in the presence of alpha particles. Polonium is primarilly an alpha emitter. It would work as part of a neutron source, but it is not a particularily good choice because its half-life is only 138.4 days (polonium-210). This makes it expensive to obtain, and impractical to store. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Plutonium itself is a decent alpha emitter. Seems like I've been around a Pu-Be neutron source somewhere ( but not too close!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: IN%"ecarp(a)netcom.com" To: IN%"ghio(a)chaos.bsu.edu" CC: IN%"cypherpunks(a)toad.com" Subj: RE: Nuclear Weapons Material > Polonium is primarilly an alpha emitter. It would work as part of a > neutron source, but it is not a particularily good choice because its > half-life is only 138.4 days (polonium-210). This makes it expensive > to obtain, and impractical to store. They used to use polonium in static eliminators in darkrooms - don't know if they use them anymore, though. -- Ed Carp, N7EKG Ed.Carp(a)linux.org, ecarp(a)netcom.com Finger ecarp(a)netcom.com for PGP 2.5 public key an88744(a)anon.penet.fi If you want magic, let go of your armor. Magic is so much stronger than steel! -- Richard Bach, "The Bridge Across Forever" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can still buy those neat little brushes intended to remove dust from negatives. Each comes with a polonium source to help kill the static charge holding the dust. I've got one right next to my Sunshine Health Mine radon-emitting pillow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: IN%"ecarp(a)netcom.com" To: IN%"perry(a)imsi.com" CC: IN%"werewolf(a)io.org", IN%"cypherpunks(a)toad.com" Subj: RE: Nuclear Weapons Material > Mark Terka says: > > Not to mention the fact that without tritium, the "trigger" for nuclear > > weapons (and extremely expensive and rare at $ 100m a gram) all you have > > is a radioactive paperweight. > > This is sheer ignorance. First of all, tritium is not nearly that > expensive. Its quite cheap, in fact, and can be manufactured without > that much trouble. Second of all, tritium is not a necessary component > of non-thermonuclear (i.e. hydrogen) bombs. Third, tritium isn't a > "trigger". Lastly, an ordinary A-bomb is just a way to bring together > a critical mass of a fissionable material, like U-235 or Plutonium. > Once a critical mass is in one place the chain reaction will handle > the rest. Quite true. All you really need for a fission bomb is a casing to hold everything together, 2.2 kilos (or so) of U-235 (or a sufficient quantity of critical mass other stuff <grin>), and something that will hold it together long enough for it to fission. And no, Taylor, holding them together in your hands won't work (unfortunately)... hehehe :) [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well, you can do it - only you just get a pffutt instead of a bang. A couple of folks at Los Alamos have tried it. Regrettably, they're no longer with us. I think the practice was called, "pulling the dragon's tail." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ bdolan(a)well.sf.ca.us

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An asshole using PGP
by tcmay＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I just received a PGP-encryptd message from Douglas Floyd, just after explaining carefully the work that's needed to decrypt PGP messages. I dutifully clipped the article, moved the text into my text editor, fired up MacPGP, entered my key, etc. The message was banal, and is included below: ---begin his message--- What's wrong with putting your private key on a UNIX box? (Obviously, I AM root on the boxes I have the key on, and the boxes are firewalled to boot.) ---end his message--- There was no need for this to be PGPed, no need even to ask it, period, as I had already made the point about the dangers being for boxes one is *not* root on, etc. I conclude from this that Douglas Floyd is just an asshole. One I don't plan to ever respond to again. Only a prick would make a point to send me a PGP message, encrypted to my published key, only to make such a point. For some reason the number of fools and lightweights around here has jumped dramatically in recent months. --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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