December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Encryption and Self-Incrimination
by wcs＠anchor.ho.att.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I wasn't actually the person who said self-incrimination protections don't apply; that was somebody replying to my post; unlike Mike Godwin, I'm not that pessimistic yet (nor am I a lawyer), though a few badly defended cases would be all it takes to get some bad Federal precedents set. Mike Ingle sent me a reply with a bit more information; the case is in Canada, and if I'm not misinterpreting it (I read his reply way too late at night :-), the wiretapping was by the University (presumably with sniffers or equivalent), and I'm not sure if the police are involved yet or if this is still in the university investigation phase. Rules for throwing people out of school are of course different from rules for throwing people in jail, Canadian rules are different, and some universities have honor codes which simplify some of the processes. (Some other universities have minimal respect for due process, which also simplifies things a lot, albeit negatively.) Bill # Bill Stewart NCR Corp, 6870 Koll Center Parkway, Pleasanton CA, 94566 # Voice/Beeper 510-224-7043, Phone 510-484-6204 # email bill.stewart(a)pleasantonca.ncr.com billstewart(a)attmail.com

1 0

Happy Holidays
by bart＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

As one who reflexively deletes all of Larry's posts under whatever his name-of-the-moment may be, I sometimes wonder if I'm missing some gems hidden in the mass of text. I have presumed, and hope, that those still reading him, will share anything of value. :-)

1 0

Re: Happy Holidays
by jkreznar＠ininx.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Especially in this season of good will, the idea that ``taxation'' and ``civility'' are somehow compatible cannot go unchallenged. Above all, ``civility'' must mean that relations among people be by mutual consent, or not at all. Government is the institutionalization of exactly the reverse: the imposition by the politically victorious upon all others, the forceful supplanting of personal choice by collective dictate. It's the institutionalization of enmity. Democratic political government, aka tyranny of the majority, will soon succeed in inducing a new dark age on Earth, one that may never end. An individual who yearns to be free must overcome his mortality and leave the Earth. This will soon be practical. Meanwhile, strong cryptography and the cypherpunk agenda may provide a temporary defense. John E. Kreznar | Relations among people to be by jkreznar(a)ininx.com | mutual consent, or not at all. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLRq8rcDhz44ugybJAQEJIgQAq2FO6b9GvgSmpcP1H5qIP8rkDMH5FEu9 6FNxMt+jLofPFMz7NtbgqcXg45KlZXBzdPgiCQKLWKTjcG1e2KF+4wB34gIIPDTF fMOFVDh3f3cNTojBVcFUvMpdC3p+Z/qTy90jgEoVoqWj8NpbBVqqbMegpiNlGePg glsqEaKMh6A= =/W55 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

1 0

mail poster
by Eric Hollander 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Sorry for the crossposting, but: I've added a new service to my remailer. For those of you for whom it is easier to send mail than to post directly to the net, or for those of you who want to post anonymously, I now offer a posting service. To use this service, send mail like this: To: hh(a)soda.berkeley.edu Post-To: alt.sex.masturbation Subject: what I like to do and your mail will be automatically posted to alt.sex.masturbation, WITH YOUR NAME ON IT. If you would like to post anonymously, use the following header format: To: hh(a)soda.berkeley.edu Anon-Post-To: alt.sex.masturbation Subject: what I like to do and it will be posted ANONYMOUSLY. If you would like to crosspost, use the following type of header (note that there is no space after the coma): To: hh(a)soda.berkeley.edu Anon-Post-To: alt.sex.masturbation,rec.arts.sewing Subject: what it's all about But be warned: excessive crossposting is a Bad Thing. I know that this type of service is open to all kinds of abuses, so please, try to be mature about it, or it will be shut down, or even worse, I'll track down who you are and do something nasty. A note to UCB users: This was crossposted to the ucb groups because this is the only mail-to-news gateway that I know of that posts to the ucb.* groups. Also note that hh@soda still supports its full remailer functions. Usage of the remailer is detailed in soda.berkeley.edu:/pub/cypherpunks/remailers. A further note on headers: Some mailers do not allow users to easily modify headers in mail. However, you can still use this service. To do so, send a message like this: To: hh(a)soda.berkeley.edu Subject: Big Fun :: Anon-Post-To: alt.sex.masturbation [body of message goes here] In other words, make the first line of the body of the message two colons (::) and then my remailer will treat the next line after that as part of the message header. Have fun! e

1 0

Cyperwonks
by Harry Shapiro 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Is anyone monitoring Cyperwonks? Is anything really happening there? /hawk -- Harry S. Hawk habs(a)extropy.org Electronic Communications Officer, Extropy Institute Inc. The Extropians Mailing List, Since 1991 EXTROPY -- A measure of intelligence, information, energy, vitality, experience, diversity, opportunity, and growth. EXTROPIANISM -- The philosophy that seeks to increase extropy.

1 0

Re: Merry Christmas CyberAnarchists
by Mike Ingle 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Interesting reading, but can you imagine how long it took him to type it in? Five or six hours, easily. He didn't scan it, either. The typos were the kind a human would make, not scanner errors. There is something strange about LD's latest postings. It appears whoever it is, is telnetting in from another machine and feeding them into longs.lance.colostate.edu's smtp port. They are not doing a HELO before the message. Either he is being spoofed, or his account is cancelled and he's posting from another machine, or ?? any ideas? Received: by toad.com id AA20727; Thu, 23 Dec 93 22:42:34 PST Received: from longs.lance.colostate.edu ([129.82.109.16]) by toad.com id AA20723; Thu, 23 Dec 93 22:42:19 PST Received: from dolores.lance.colostate.edu (dolores.lance.colostate.edu [129.82.112.18]) by longs.lance.colostate.edu (8.6.4/8.6.4) with SMTP id XAA00629; Thu, 23 Dec 1993 23:42:17 -0700 Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1993 23:42:15 -0700 From: "L. Detweiler" <ld231782(a)longs.lance.colostate.edu> Subject: Happy Holidays To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com, cypherwonks(a)lists.eunet.fi Cc: ld231782(a)longs.lance.colostate.edu Message-id: <199312240642.XAA00629(a)longs.lance.colostate.edu> Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT X-Authentication-Warning: longs.lance.colostate.edu: Host dolores.lance.colostate.edu didn't use HELO protocol X-Mts: smtp

1 0

Re: anonymous video rental store
by Jim choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > > Hi, > > Thanks for the insightful comments! > > > The engineering library at UT Austin used to have it under the glass at the > > check out desk. > > The checkout record or the court order? > > best regards, > > Nick > szabo(a)netcom.com > Uhhhh.......the check out records of course!.......;) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

1 0

Re: It had to happen...
by Jim choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Strange, I thought it was always 72 hrs.... I think we need a real lawyer at this point..:) Happy Holidays.

1 0

Privacy and Public Libraries
by Michael Edward Marotta 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND YOUR PERSONAL PRIVACY by Michael E. Marotta <mercury(a)well.sf.ca.us> Generally speaking, librarians are very sensitive to the issues surrounding privacy. As a rule, they protect the privacy of their patrons and they especially resist law enforcement requests for information about anyone's reading habits. There are some exceptions. A librarian can be coersed or cajoled into releasing privileged information. Unless they are very sure of their principles, an effective police interrogator will break down their resistance. Possible ploys run from pleas for professional assistance in criminal cases to good cop/bad cop. Here in Michigan, we have 455 MPA 1982, "The Michigan Library Privacy Act." In a recent case involving a librarian I met, the sheriff harassed the staff at a small, rural library. They refered him to her. She told him that her hands were tied: she was forbidden by law from doing what he asked. He went away. I have heard of other librarians in other states going to jail, having no law to fall back on. Also, here in Livingston County, we have MANUAL cards. You write your name. I can look at any book and see who read it. This is a violation of the law. Since no remedies obtain, I can't get a lawyer interested. My protest to the library was met with "We are changing. It will take some time." Furthermore, when working onsite at a Ford Motor Company plant in Louisville, I discoverd that the Shelby County Library also relies on hand- written checkout cards. However, here in Fowlerville, the librarian instituted card numbers several years ago, so our village of 3,000 is in compliance. Is yours?

1 0

RE: Cyperwonks
by Pat Farrell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In message Fri, 24 Dec 1993 06:08:48 -0500 (EST), Harry Shapiro <habs(a)panix.com> writes: > Is anyone monitoring Cyperwonks? Is anything really happening there? I'm subscribed. There was a little initial activity about electronic democracy, and nearly nothing else. Of course, you get an occasional LD rant, but those are instantly unread and deleted - I took the pledge... Pat Pat Farrell Grad Student pfarrell(a)netcom.com Department of Computer Science George Mason University, Fairfax, VA Public key availble via finger #include <standard.disclaimer>

1 0

Re: Cypherwonks
by remail＠tamsun.tamu.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Is anyone monitoring Cyperwonks? Is anything really happening there? I'm on there. Detweiler succeeded in signing up a whole bevy of net.fascists to discuss 'electronic democracy' and defame cypherpunks, including: David Lawrence (runs the Usenet new newsgroups vote) consensus.com (commercial groupware company) David Sternlight Julf (provided the site for the list, but has since declared he will only passively support it) Joe Baptista Since somebody started forwarding all of Detweiler's noise on cypherpunks to cypherwonks, the same flame wars Detweiler started on cypherpunks have broken out there and dominated the list as they've done here. I recommended forwarding your old archived Detweiler/an12070 rants to cypherwonks in response to Detweiler posting his slanderous crap. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To find out more about this anonymous remail service, send mail to remail(a)tamsun.tamu.edu with the word "remail help" as the only words in the subject field.

1 0

Talk.politics.crypto is mostly about Detweiler
by tcmay＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Cyphertentacles, The new crypto newsroup, talk.politics.crypto, is almost wholly devoted now to the flames and rants of Detweiler and people respoding to him. I checked for the new messages there this morning and this is the list I got back: 1 The Data Highway Patrol Olaf Seibert 2 + CRYPTOANARCHIST INFILTRATION ALERT Lvx Fiat 3 + CRYPTOANARCHISTS ARE LIKE DRUG DEALERS Pablo Escobar 4 + THE CRYPTOANARCHIST CONSPIRACY S.Boxx 5 + THE GLORIOUS 1000 YEAR CRYPTOANARCHIST REICH The Allied Forces I know you're tired of Detweiler discussions, but I thought this to be an interesting snapshot of things. --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: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it.

1 0

pseudoparanoia and poison
by an12070＠anon.penet.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

We just wanted to let you know that we are going to really start firing up all our *real* tentacles over the next few weeks beyond what we have already been using. We gave you the chance to give up after the attacks from an12070 alone, an obviously pseudonymous entry point. We have attempted to adhere to a code of ethics for as long as possible and give you every opportunity to surrender. But increasingly, to catch conspirators and saboteurs we must think and act like them. Since our previous efforts have been only marginally effective, we are going to shift our campaign to rely much more heavily on the same type of unidentifiable entry points that you promote. We have been stockpiling them over the past few months in preparation for exactly this kind of eventuality, hoping that we wouldn't have to resort to anything this treacherous. (Some in important positions may have noticed the `blip' increase in new Internet subscribers lately at the public domain sites around `out there'. But we won't be more specific, so that you can play the delightful game of `name that tentacle' without meddlesome biases.) It's extremely costly and burdensome to support such an infrastructure, especially at the scale you work at, as you are well aware, but our members are as fanatical as you are and as creative and ingenious with the coordination. And careful study of your own techniques and software has given us an excellent starting point! Like S.Boxx was fond of saying, everyone *knows* that `he' is pseudonymous. And what havoc `he' has wreaked! Imagine what we can do with *true* tentacles, *more* than all of yours combined! All exercised with the utmost, meticulous, professional, untraceable, undetectable quality! S.Boxx was just our warmup measure, our way of playing nice and hoping you would relent. We had a lot of fun laughing together (or perhaps _at_ each other!) but in war, allegiances are torn violently in the face of the Enemy. One cannot have mercy on the Enemy, because the Enemy will not have mercy on us. We are going to work into this nice and gentle, too, emulating exactly your own modus operandi. Of course, we didn't really give a damn about anyone guessing S.Boxx loyalties. It was part of the fun to watch people who supposedly promote `privacy' to do everything possible to invade his! But these new tentacles will be *completely* indistinguishable from everyone else in cyberspace, *even* your brainwashed followers, we assure you. Oh, and they will also be indistinguishable from all the *real* people who have begun to understand the true extent of your own corruption. And you will be meeting them in the most interesting places! On all the `key' mailing lists, in the newsgroups, and in your mailboxes, perhaps even in the published journals like RISKS and CUD. After all, if the Enemy points his gun at you, one has to be the first to draw if one wants to live. We will no longer trade our compassion for betrayal. We do not enjoy slowly bleeding to death. Let us see how you enjoy the same experience. The most effective poison is that which goes undetected to the end! Reminds us of one of our favorite words, `insidious'. (Hee, hee.) Yes, regrettably, it does lead to an extremely paranoid atmosphere where previously constructive activity is sabotaged, but as they say, all is fair in Love and War. Fighting fire with fire and all that. Hopefully, in the long run, the cure won't be worse than the malady, and the host will fight off the parasite instead of dying from it. The next few months will determine whether hair of the dog that bites can cure the illness. Remember, ``On the internet, no one knows if you are a dog...'' ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help(a)anon.penet.fi. Due to the double-blind, any mail replies to this message will be anonymized, and an anonymous id will be allocated automatically. You have been warned. Please report any problems, inappropriate use etc. to admin(a)anon.penet.fi.

1 0

Impuning my reputation by association
by collins＠newton.apple.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hello, I paraphrase, not quote, you in this message. Please tell me if the meanings I have extracted from your posts are not what you intended. I suspect, however, that whatever you might have intended, I attribute the same meanings to your posts as the majority readers. You say that there are no honest cypherpunks, only liars, slinking cowards, and people too stupid to realize they are being 'taken'. You attribute many characteristics, particularly immoral ones, to cypherpunks, which throughout the rest of this message I will summarize with the words: lying, liar, etc. If a cypherpunk is: 'anyone engaged in traffic on the cypherpunk list', then both you and I are cypherpunks. I believe myself to be honest, forward, and intelligent. I assume, of course, that you believe the same of yourself. Therefore, there must be at least two honest 'punks. Since you cannot easily verify that my beliefs about myself are true, it could be that there is only one honest 'punk. (From the old testement: "If, even one righteous man dwells therein, I will stay My hand.") If a cypherpunk is: 'anyone who uses cryptographic tools for the purposes of fraud', then there can be no honest cypherpunks by definition. I have never, am not now, nor do I intend to in the future, use cryptographic tools for the purposes of fraud, deception, character assassination, or other wrongs. Regardless of which definition of cypherpunks you, "L. Detweiler", believe, people to whom you speak will assume the _first_ definition, which as a set, contains you, me, and other potentially honest individuals. If you didn't mean that definition (they will not even bother to think to themselves), you would have used the word 'criminals' or a derivative, thereof. You tell people "all cypherpunks are liars". If they pass the initial paradox (that you, a cypherpunk, are telling them you are liar), by presuming your honesty, and therefore, necessarily, your exclusion from the set, then they must now believe the false notion that I, Scott Collins, _am_ a liar. -1- "L. Detweiler" tells people 'Scott Collins is a liar'. -2- I, Scott Collins, am not a liar. My beliefs (including, like our Justice system, a general presumption of innocense) about other cypherpunks does not even come into play here. The issue is: you are impuning my character. I leave the logical conclusion of statements -1- and -2- as an exersize for the reader. It seems that you have made yourself my judge, and worse, an executioner. How will you ensure Justice? How will you find, with certainty, the Truth? Or, do you consider the persecution of innocents to be 'acceptable losses'. The precedents set in every written guideline of moral behavior that I have read are exactly opposite this. In our legal system: a) defendents are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and b) are guaranteed due legal process. In the major religions with which I am familiar, it is only the deity who may judge and punish, not man. There are bad things in this world, and I hate those things. You and I even agree on what some of those things are. But I ask you this: Who are _you_, to judge me? Who are _you_, to persecute me? Scott Collins | "Few people realize what tremendous power there | is in one of these things." -- Willy Wonka ......................|................................................ BUSINESS. voice:408.862.0540 fax:974.6094 collins(a)newton.apple.com Apple Computer, Inc. 5 Infinite Loop, MS 305-2B Cupertino, CA 95014 ....................................................................... PERSONAL. voice/fax:408.257.1746 1024:669687 catalyst(a)netcom.com

1 0

Re: pseudoparanoia and poison
by jim＠bilbo.suite.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > Remember, ``On the internet, no one knows if you are a dog...'' On the Internet, everyone knows you're Detweiler...

1 0

list
by jvarley＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I don't know if this is the right address, but please add me to the list. Thanks. -- jvarley(a)netcom.com | "...Soul of a woman was created below!" Tomes on IRC | --Led Zeppelin

1 0

No Subject
by 155yegan%jove.dnet.measurex.com＠juno.measurex.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Subj: Encryption & self-incrimination > >Isn't there a limit as to how long they can lock you up for contempt of >court? Most crimes do have a maximum sentence I don't believe so; recall that MD in Washington DC who would not tell the judge where her daughter was for fear that the father could find out from open, public court records and abuse her further. Terry Egan (egan_t(a)measurex.com) ,-

1 0

Reveal your key or else.
by Mike Ingle 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Since the Canadian case, there's been a lot of talk about the problem of being coerced to reveal your key. If the coercers play by no rules whatsoever, there isn't much you can do. If they suspect you of having encrypted data, they will beat it out of you. If they do play by some sort of rules, a technical solution might save you. Steganography can hide your data, but then you have the steg program itself. If they find the program, they have reasonable grounds for assuming you have hidden data, particularly if you have large quantities of the sort of data which can conceal files, such as sounds and graphics. So what you need is the ability to hide both the "real" secret data and some decoy data at the same time. This could be done using something like MD5 as a random number generator. Suppose in the near future you have some type of storage device which can hold a few gigabytes. You record some audio off the radio, deliberately choosing a noisy station, and store it on your drive. Now there is no digital master to compare it against, and the least significant few bits are pure noise. Now just take a passphrase, append a 32-bit counter, and start counting and taking MD5's. For each one, you get 16 bytes of pseudorandom data, which is reproducible only if you have the passphrase. Use each four bytes as a pointer into your sound file, storing one bit of the hidden data in the lsb of that location. This would be such a good transposition cipher that you might not even have to encrypt the hidden data first. You can use two pass- phrases to hide two different files in the same sound file. There is always the possibility of a collision - both passphrases write to the same bit - so you will need an error correction code. Now when they demand your passphrase, you give it to them. And they find something - bogus personal letters, financial records, some mildly indecent .GIF's, pirate software, anything that is worth hiding, but not prosecutable. Of course, there is another passphrase which unlocks the real data, but you don't tell them about that one, and they have no way to prove it exists. Unlike Secure Drive, this could not work in real time. You would need enough memory to dump the steg data into a RAM disk, work with it, and then re-write it into the hidden file. But it could be done, and if the courts rule that you have to hand over your keys or rot in jail until you do, it may be our only recourse. --- Mike There are no good governments. There are bad governments, and worse governments, and really horrible governments, but no good ones.

1 0

Best sig yet
by Mike Ingle 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From alt.conspiracy: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- FBI-CIA-KGB-NSA-BCCI-DIA-DEA-FEMA-KKK-FOIA-CONTRA-TRILAT-BATF-INS-IRS-MI5 JFK-RFK-MLK-MKULTRA-COINTELPRO-ILLUMINATI-P2 /|/~|~|| /|<~|~ |~>|~><~ CFR-ADL-BLUEBIRD-OSS-ONI-SOE-BIS-MOSSAD-AIDS /~|\_| ||/ |_>| |_>|_>_> THULE-ARTICHOKE-OTO-NSA-BILDERBERGER-40 CTTE SLA-VELIKOVSKY-SDI-INSLAW-TESLA-LAROUCHE-TSS ( 5 1 0 ) 5 3 2 - 6 2 4 8 JIM JONES-GURDJIEFF-ABSWEHR-T.4-WACO-CROWLEY EFF-PGP-RHIC/EDOM-PANDORA-CAN-ENIGMA-BEARDEN GHELEN-SPETZNAZ-SS-MASONS-ODESSA-TAVISTOCK-WFMH-REUCHELIN-EUGENICS-OCCULT ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Notice NSA is the only one mentioned twice) and the best line from a reply to a Detweiler post: (blah blah) [ long rant deleted ] (blah blah) Now if everyone took that approach...

1 0

fastest remailer
by nate＠VIS.ColoState.EDU 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Does anyone have a recent list of time-delays to different remailers? thanks, -nate -- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Nate Sammons <nate(a)VIS.ColoState.Edu> <nate(a)yuma.ANCS.ColoState.Edu> | | Colorado State University Computer Visualization Laboratory | | Data Visualization/Interrogation, Modeling, Animation, Rendering | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0

Random numbers again
by jerry＠terminus.dell.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Well, I've finished my prototype version of my hardware random number generator. According to preliminary work the numbers are truely random and evenly distributed. The circuit plugs into the parallel port(bi-directional mode) and presents 8 bits of data on the data lines. You can quickly generate 10k bytes of data with this device. I am intrested in hearing from anyone that wishes to take a look at some data to measure the randomness of the data. If anyone is interested I will provide two sets of data, one from my random number generator and one from a pseudo-random number generator. The circuit uses some 555based timers and some RC networks. A lot of people will not believe that this circuit is truely random, but it works out to be, under some conditions. It boils down using two variable, independent, periodic functions to generate one bit. Due to temperature effects, oscillator stability, circuit noise, and some other factors, the error in frequency and phase of the two oscillators is larger effect than the measurable characteristics of the circuit. In this circuit, I use the 555 timers as the oscillators (with the restistors and capacitors determining the frequency). The second periodic functions is the PC in a loop polling the parallel port. The whole circuit can be built for $5-$10 worth of parts. It should also be possible to rig it up as a passthrough device, in case you don't have an extra parallel port. -- | Jeremy Porter ----------------- Dell Computer Corp. ---- | Systems Engineering --- jerry(a)terminus.us.dell.com -------- |------------------------------------------------------------- | Support your Second Amendment rights to encryption technology.

1 0

The Cyber Lexicon of 2030 AD
by Mike Godwin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

eff.546: Cylex: The New Cyber-Lexicon eff.546.0: Mike Godwin (mnemonic) Thu 23 Dec 93 10:28 Antoinette LaFarge, a student in my class this fall at the School of Visual Arts, developed as her term paper this lexicon from the year 2030. Comments and additions solicited. eff.546.2: Mike Godwin (mnemonic) Thu 23 Dec 93 10:31 DDB2030.12.17.20:20:21GMT Homebase: ~U.S. Government Publishing Office. Download to: Mike Godwin, Electronic Frontier Foundation. Status: digsig not verifiedÑno-interrupt. Checklist: autolott yesÑupdate yesÑimages noÑdtp format noÑsearch yes (art, pub, law)Ñupdate editor: Antoinette LaFarge. Filename: *Cylex* File begin: Note on usage: *boldface* type indicates word being defined; _italic_ type indicates word defined elsewhere in Cylex or used as an example. *Antilex*: (n) a variant on _Cylex_Ê published by a shifting coalition of _e-pubs_Ê who feel that Cylex is often both inaccurate (because slanted toward the government viewpoint) and out of date. *autolott*: (n) short for *auto*mated *lott*ery, this is the standard form of lottery now run by most major companies, the federal government, and all state governments except Utah. Most digital transfers now automatically cause the destination/recipient to be encoded and dropped into a lottery pool, from which prize drawings are then made. This form of lottery, in which one does not have to actively play to win, is an outgrowth of the credit-card pools of the 1990s. Autolotts were devised in part as a corporate marketing method to get around the highly successful _doorman_ programs. *black bank*: (n) an underground institution for generating and distributing digital signatures outside the government-approved three-bank scheme. Black banks tend to be small and to go in and out of business quickly as they are usually unable to sustain the integrity of their security schemes and thus can lose all their business literally overnight. Although not technically illegal, they cater to an amorphous and shifting population of criminals and _clans_ who for one reason or another don't trust the integrity of the national digital-signature scheme. The Russian, South African, Korean, and Caribbean mafias are all known to run their own black banks. *bureaucrat*: (n) obsolete; see _hulk_. *bodyguard*: (n) general term covering localized software that searches out and destroys viruses, worms, trojan horses, scavengers, and other net wildlife. The U.S. government has imposed severe restrictions on bodyguards to ensure that they don't run loose in the net. (See also: _cannibal, hulk._) *borden*: (n) any nondigital object that figures as evidence in a legal proceeding, especially under criminal law. Since most legal proceedings are now carried out entirely in cyberspace, lawyers have largely lost the ability to sway juries by showing them physical evidence of crimes. In cases where such evidence is important, prosecutors (rarely defense lawyers) often pursue strategies to get the case transferred from cyberspace to real- space courtrooms. Hence (v) _to borden_ means to obtain or try to obtain such a change of venue. The word derives indirectly from the bloodstained ax that played such a prominent role in the conviction of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her parents. See also the phrase: _borden of proof_. *cannibal*: (n) a special form of _bodyguard_ that will wipe out everything on its home computer net, including itself, once activated. Popular among criminals for destroying digital evidence beyond the possibility of recovery, they can be set to react to time delays, improper logons, remotes, and other tripwires. There are a number of different types of cannibal, only a few of which are dangerous to humans. Those incorporating explosives are known as _challengers_ (in reference to an early space shuttle that blew up, taking out seven astronauts in the process), while those causing electrocution of the person trying to access the data are known as _headhunters_. *cat-tag*: (n) a digital signature for corporations and other businesses; legally required for all business e-mail and data transfers over the net. The word is a short form of "catalog tag" and also probably a back-formation from _dogtag._ Cat-tags came into use after the first flood of digital junk mail; the ensuing consumer protests brought about the adoption of cat- tags that could be screened by _doorman_ programs. The government used the controversy to institute compulsory registration of digital signatures in so-called _name banks_. Cat-tags are handled by one of the three major signature banks, the First National Name Bank (a subsidiary of Citicorp). *clan*: (n) a type of on-line voluntary organization formed among private individuals to exchange information and pursue group activities in a limited forum. The word is an acronym whose expansion is disputed; according to most authorities it stands for *c*ompound *l*ocal *a*rea *n*etwork, but popular etymology usually gives it as short for *c*ol*la*borative *n*et. Clans sprang up in the wake of the Clinton administration's disastrous health care reform and the information deluge released in cyberspace by the gradual dismantling of the copyright laws. In order to reassert control over the quality of information, advice, and services given and received, people spontaneously started forming small, tightly knit groups on the net, usually in the form of _lockout_ forums. Typically, a clan is started by a few close friends, and over time they gradually lock in new members of complementary professions. For example, a group that had no doctor member would recruit someone compatible from the on-line and/or off-line community. However, there are also highly specialized clans, such as the craft clans and the _Tertians_. Some clans have membership fees, but most work primarily on a barter system, such that members work a certain numbers of hours a year for each other. It is considered a mark of status to be recruited by a prestigious clan. *Cylex*: (n) the on-line lexicon of slang continuously published and updated by the U.S. government in accordance with a 2003 mandate of Congress. In a series of landmark discrimination cases, it was argued that since slang is such a vital aspect of cyberspace life, anyone who couldn't master it is effectively excluded from large parts of the net. Moreover, the speed with which net slang evolves serves to bar anyone who isn't a net regular. Hence, Cylex was set up as a _tilde_ resource to equalize access to the net. It can be downloaded by anyone, at any time. In theory, it is kept up to date; however, the true lag time is considered to be between six and eight weeks. In addition, there are always pockets of long-term ex- Cylex slang on the net; these tend to be formed by people who intentionally use slang (rather than encryption) as an exclusionary method and actively resist having their terms become transparent to Cylex. Since Cylex depends greatly on volunteers (its paid staff is small and the project is permanently underfunded), it is not difficult for determined groups to keep personal slang Cylex-opaque for relatively long periods. *DD*: (n, a) acronym for *d*ownload *d*ate, usually given in numerals in the form DDyear.month.day.hour:minute:secondGMT. The standard international dating procedure on the net, it is sometimes extended to include fractions of a second. DDs are normally the first term in any downloaded data and may be further subdivided into _DDB_ (*d*ownload *d*ate *b_egin, at the start of transmission) and _DDE_ (*download *d*ate *e*nd, at the end of transmission). "Created on" dates are still sometimes seen, especially attached to certain fixed forms of artwork, but are considered obsolete because unverifiable. (See also: _genealogy, sourcing_). *digsig*: (n) semi-official slang for *dig*ital *sig*nature; the U.S. government in particular avoids the use of the otherwise universal _dogtag_. *diy forgery*: (n) 1. a plan, diagram, or other type of instruction for making and/or performing artworks issued by artists themselves, usually through the _Municipal Dump_. 2. an object or process created using such instructions. Most artists do not actually make objects anymore but simply register the plans and/or instructions with the MD, which holds them in a database and distributes them at a nominal charge. One popular activity is to combine several different sets of diy forgery, either simultaneously or sequentially. (See also: _kunstmorph_.) Diy forgeries (short for *d*o-*i*t-*y*ourself *forgeries*) are sometimes referred to as authorized forgeries. *dogtag*: (n) slang for digital signature generally, derived from the military slang for tags recording one's identification number. Usually used to refer to digital signatures of individuals, while _cat-tag is reserved for business-related digital signatures. Dogtags are handled by two of the three major signature banks, the _Federal Name Repository_ (under the Federal Reserve Bank) and 21st Century Names (a subsidiary of Time Warner). *doorman*: (n) a computer program used to screen incoming data, especially e-mail and junk mail, for unwanted items. Doormen became popular after the federal government began to deliver subpoenas electronically and disputes arose over the point at which an e-subpoena could be said to have been accepted. Any item that passes a doorman is now considered to have been received by the gateway computer and hence also by its registered owner. Most doormen also incorporate _bodyguards_. *doormat*: (n) an ineffective _doorman_. *download from/to*: (v) _download from_ means to copy data off a data source such as a net; _download to_ means to copy data to such a data source. Download to has completely replaced the now-obsolete _upload to_, which fell out of use as the hierarchical (and psychological) distinctions between large (central, multiuser) and small (personal) computers vanished in the late 1990s. *dwarfing*: (n) a common method for including _source_ information in digital files by reducing the information packet greatly in size and embedding it in some other part of the data. As dwarfing often involves actual data compression as well, it is one of the more difficult forms of hidden sourcing to recover. *e-* : prefix for electronic; used generally as a synonym for on- line and specifically to differentiate something from its off-line counterpart; e.g., an _e-zine_ would normally refer to a zine that has no real-world counterpart. *e-cash*: (n) digital money. Coins and bills are ordinarily used only for very small purchases and also on the black market. *e-pub_: (n) an electronic publisher, as distinct from a _p&t publisher_. *Federal Name Repository*: (n) federal name bank for generating and storing the digital signatures (encryption keys) that replaced social security numbers as of 2009. The government now generates a pair of keys for every child as soon as its birth is registered; the public key serves the same functions as the old social-security number and in addition is used to encode certain data throughout an individual's life that will be accessible to that person only. The child's private key is kept under wraps at the FNR until his or her 18th birthday, at which point it is turned over to that individual alone. *fortune hunt*: (n, v) a search for hidden information in data files (such as e-catalogs, e-zines, and e-books) that entitles the finder to a prize. These are in vogue among puzzle enthusiasts generally but nowhere near as popular or lucrative as the _autolotts_. *genealogy*: (n) a new specialty within the field of art history and criticism, genealogy consists of interpreting artistic trends and developments by tracing the ramifications of _source_ lists through different generations of image transfer, duplication, alteration, etc. Genealogists tend to be looked down on by traditional art historians because most of their data are inherently unreliable. *Generics*: (n) an e-zine published by the _Municipal Dump_ and featuring the theory and practice of generic art. In the 1990s, the activities of the Museum of Forgery and others brought about a shift in focus from brand-name art (e.g., Leonardo's Mona Lisa) to generic categories of art (e.g., "mona- lisas"; that is, works related to the Mona Lisa). Each issue of _Generics_ normally has a person, style, period, or individual work as its theme, and generic works created by artists on that theme are published. Making appropriate attributions (rather than listing works under the names of their actual creators) is a central activity of _Generics_. As a rule, issues are updated annually; the two most popular issues, on baldessaris and posthumous duchamps, run over 1000 pages of hardcopy apiece. *hibachi*: (n) a photograph known or presumed to have been altered; much in use by the legal profession. The term came into use in the late 1990s, often sarcastically, when a series of court cases hinging on disputed photographic evidence led to severe restrictions on the use of photographs (and later videos) as evidence. The phrase traces back to a remark by a Vietnam War general, William Westmoreland, who dismissed a famous photograph of napalmed Vietnamese children running down a road as a "hibachi accident." *homebase*: (n) the original source of data or other information, usually presumed to be a guarantee that it is unaltered and/or of high quality. Early concerns about the need to protect against data piracy through more stringent copyright laws vanished when it became clear that people were willing to pay for homebase material in order to protect themselves against corrupt or infected files. (It was actually possible to market homebase material for some time before the advent of _dogtags_ and _e-cash_ made it really practical to do so.) *hulk*: (n) also: Hulk. An ineffective _bodyguard_. The term comes from the name of Hulk Hogan, a one-time professional wrestler; the implication is that a hulk looks like it's doing its job but does not do any real damage to its opponent. Hulk replaces the formerly popular _bureaucrat. *hypgnostic*: (n) variant spelling of _hypnostic_. *hypnostic*: (n) a computer program that can induce varying levels of hypnosis or trance states in the user under controlled conditions. Usually in the form of rapidly metamorphosing, often geometric images combined with a sound track, hypnostics are an outgrowth of research into the long-term neurological effects of screen-saver programs. Although they have become popular adjuncts to meditation, therapy, and recreational drug use, there is continuing controversy over parallel military research that has led to the development of programs that can induced severe disorientation, hallucination, phobia, catatonia, schizophrenia, and other forms of mental breakdown. Hypnostics are also implicated in the premature development of cataracts, and most regular hypnostics users suffer from semi-permanent facial tics in the region of the eyes. *interrupt*: (n, a) used to signal that a data transmission will not go through as requested or will be terminated before completion; normally followed by reason for the interrupt. *kunstmorph*: (n, v) an activity in which one chooses two artworks and creates a metamorphic sequence between them. Most popular as a digital process, it is also a common off-line activity among the craft _clans._ *lockin*: (n, a) a part of cyberspace to which one has a password. Similarly, to _lock in_ (v) means to give someone a cyberpass. *lockout*: (n) any part of cyberspace to which one does not have the password. Similarly, to _lock out_ (v). *MD Pound*: (n) a recycling center run by the _Municipal Dump_ in most major cities to which anyone can bring artworks for destruction, exchange, or recycling. MD Pounds work on an exchange principle; for every pound of materials one donates, one is entitled to take away an equivalent poundage. They grew out of the environmental aesthetic, which recognized that artists who created much more than they destroyed were guilty of a form of littering. The MD Pound logo features the mustaches of Salvador Dali, a notably prolific 20th century surrealist. *Municipal Dump*: (n) an institution formed by the Macarthur Foundation in 2117 to act as a clearinghouse for nonobject artists. The name comes from the common slang used to denote museums generally and New York's Metropolitan Museum in particular ("municipal dump" replaced the formerly popular "mausoleum"). The MD's main functions include maintaining a digital database of artworks, publishing _Generics_, and distributing _diy forgeries_. The MD also maintains MD Pounds_ in major cities. The MD logo features the mustache-and-goatee from Marcel Duchamp's famous _L.H.O.O.Q. _ One occasionally sees MD referred to as M2_D2_ because of a prevailing belief that the institution's "secret" name is Marcel Duchamp's Municipal Dump. *name bank*: (n) 1. a repository for generating, distributing, and storing public and private keys for data encryption 2. a registry for digital signatures. As money became fully electronic at the turn of the century, banks took over the business of security for their customers' digital signatures. Eventually, due in part to the proliferation of competing public- key encryption schemes, Congress moved to restrict name banks to three: one for government transactions, one for business transactions, and one for personal transactions. Most people have keys in at least two of the three banks. (See also: _Federal Name Repository._) *no-interrupt*: (n, a) used to signal that a data transmission will go through as requested; compare _interrupt_. *picon*: (n) short for *p*ersonal *icon*, a picon is a graphical or other data-generated stand-in for an individual, much used in place of names, signatures, and/or photos on vidphones, nets, and elsewhere. Picons can be protected under trademark law only if they are registered in the National Picon Database, in order to avoid multiple instances of the same picon. However, they are not accepted by the government or for legal purposes in lieu of dogtags. (The corporate equivalent of a picon is a logo.) *p&t*: (a) also: pnt. short for *p*oint *&_ *t*ouch, p&t refers to things that are tangible or real-world as opposed to intangible (hyperspatial, cyberspatial, mental). Generally used as a shorthand for object-oriented; e.g., a _p&t publisher_ as opposed to an _e-pub_. Often used to imply that something is old-fashioned, as in _his artwork is real p&t stuff_. *source*: (v) to source means to give credit to one's sources of materials, especially those being substantially altered. Sourcing became a widespread norm even before the death of copyright meant that one could source one's materials without fear of being sued for copyright infringement. Some people advocate making sourcing a legal requirement, but because that would obviously be unenforceable and because source data are often unverifiable, this movement has never really gotten off the ground. Accurate sourcing is a point of pride for most artists, and since source lists (or genealogies) can become quite long and complex, a number of ingenious ways of either hiding them or displaying them have been developed. (See: genealogy, transparency._) *source hunt*: (n, v) an attempt to recover hidden source information in a data file. Source hunting became popular among puzzle enthusiasts and was a precursor of the now more generally popular _fortune hunt._ Many filemakers, especially artists, offer prizes to source hunters to spur general interest in their work. *Tertian*: (n, a) originally: Orbis Tertian. Tertians are members of Orbis Tertius, an unusual _clan_ linked by the common project of realizing a special edition of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ mentioned in Jorge Luis Borges's short story "Tln, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius." In Borges's story, a certain edition of the Britannica contains extra entries that refer to another world, intriguing details of which are given in the story. Orbis Tertius was founded by a group of writers specifically to alter the _Britannica_ in conformity with Borges's story, and the Tertians subsequently continued to extend the fiction at great length. It was a court case arising out of the activities of the Tertians that led to the final extinction of copyright law when the _Britannica's_ publishers lost their attempt to bar the Tertians from altering the encyclopedia without permission. _Homebase_ editions of the Tertian Encyclopedia are consistent bestsellers (subscribers are entitled to get it updated on request). *tilde* (*~*): printer's mark, adopted for use to signify that material is free of all restrictions on alteration, copying, publication, etc., including the normal convention of _sourcing. *transparency*: (n) a common form for source information to be included in digital files, especially object-oriented image files. Transparencies are a layer of information included in a file and assigned an object color of transparent (or background, paper, etc.). To recover them, one must know how to search for invisible objects in such files, a procedure that varies from application to application. (See also: _dwarfing_, _source hunt._) *wormfare*: (n) electronically based warfare, especially attacks directed at the computer command and control structures of other nations, as by net wildlife. *wormfood*: (n) any computer software or hardware that is poorly protected against intrusion from worms, viruses, and other net wildlife. :File end DDE2030.12.17.20:21:53GMT eff.546.4: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Thu 23 Dec 93 14:32 Gosh, how very Stanislaw Lem of her. eff.546.5: Trying to get in touch with my inner grownup... (sforslev) Thu 23 Dec 93 18:50 *Cybercrap*: (n) Term common at Evanston High School in the early 1990's. It refers to technical jargon that is like the love of God - It passeth all understanding. eff.546.6: Mike Godwin (mnemonic) Thu 23 Dec 93 22:48 I actually rather like her name--Antoinette LaFarge--which I assume is either a fake or an adopted name. She told me she took my class because she's interested in issues relating to forgeries. I like "dogtags" and "cattags" myself. Also, "wormfood." eff.546.7: Information Superhighwayman (gjk) Fri 24 Dec 93 06:02 Her name and interests suggest she has a very dark side. Introduce us? eff.546.8: Mike Godwin (mnemonic) Fri 24 Dec 93 07:57 I'm not sure you're up to meeting her, Jack.

1 0

No Subject
by ltech1!ltech1!mercury＠heifetz.msen.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Electronic Democracy: A Bibliography of Articles by Michael E. Marotta "Hannah Information Systems Offers Legislative Services," Michigan Computer News. Win?/Spr? 1988 "Online Government," FOCUS, August 1988. "Computers Facilitate Legal Research," Greater Lansing Business Monthly, September 1988. "Data General at the Grass Roots," FOCUS, September 1990. "Electronic Government," TELECOMPUTING, Nov/Dec 1990. "Online Databases Serve Law Libraries," LIBRARY MOSAICS, Jan/Feb 1993. "Digital Democracy," MICHIGAN COMPUTER USER, July 1993. "The Citizen as Watchdog," PC TODAY, November 1993. "Legislation Online," WHOLE EARTH REVIEW, Winter 1993.

1 0

Pseudo-spoofing the Gov't
by Michael Edward Marotta 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

What happens when governments are online and someone pseudo-spoofs the state legislature? Writing about "Free Willy" I said that as a mere user, I had no way to know whether or not this came from president(a)whitehouse.gov except by the content. If the content passed a style analysis, then I would have to accept it as real. The SOURCE of my problem is the parameters for email chosen by the administrators of a point, two systems away from me. Mark@blackplague, suggested that there was no problem at all: "You just have to learn to read mail headers to get the gist of what they are saying." Well, yes, but this is the header I saw: Message 5/12 From President(a)whitehouse.gov Dec 19 '93 at 2:13 pm pst Return-Path: <heifetz!toad.com!owner-cypherpunks> Return-Path: <President(a)whitehouse.gov> Date: Sun, 19 Dec 93 14:13:02 PST That's all I saw. And I said that in my original post. The problem remains unsolved for me. The message came from the White House, was picked up at heifetz and I got it here. Seems clear. Mark@blackplague suggests: A big clue is when it has "Apparently-To:" in the header... But I see this all the time. I have an account on the Well. I transfer email from there to my local system with a forward file. Proves only that the mail was forwarded from one system to another. And again, I didn't see any of that, myself. I was merely comparing the analysis of headers offered by two 'punkers to show that the "solutions" offered differed from each other. The problem remains. Nothing on a computer can be trusted. PGP? Sorry, it's not for users. I see these PGP Keys appended to messages all the time. Garbage characters. I have no intention of grabbing them, making them fields in a record or records in a file or files in a database, on the unlikely chance that someday I might want to send a secret message to someone. Speaking as a mere user, when the government cracks down on crypto, no one will care. By comparison, the mainstream magazine INFORMATION WEEK tried to make a story out of Alona Shores. No one cared. Also, consider that Prodigy hasn't gone out of business. I get their free diskettes whenever I can and then reformat them for my own use as backup media. But 99% of Prodigy's clients were unaffected by the Burning Issues. By comparison, in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, pirates from Cilicia lived by kidnapping people and selling them as slaves. They thrived because slavery was accepted. They raided and destroyed the freeport Delos. No one cared much. They erred when they nabbed rich Romans. Pompey shut them down. But slavery wasn't ended. The pirates weren't erased: they merely became (respectable) subjects of the Romans. We live in a society that accepts slavery. Before you "revolt" remember Spartacus: Pompey shut him down, also. We COULD verify "Free Willy" of course. (stop me if you've heard this) The White House publishes its public crypto key. Using its private key, it sends out a message. The published key unlocks the message and we know it came from Willy Himself. Great idea. Until and unless there is a paradigm shift, it will never happen. That shift could mean an end to browsing the newsies, since you'd have to have a key for every source. What happens when governments are online and someone pseudo-spoofs the state legislature?

2 1

Re: Reveal your key or else.
by jpinson＠fcdarwin.org.ec 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Mike Ingle writes: >Since the Canadian case, there's been a lot of talk about the >problem of being coerced to reveal your key. If the coercers play by stuff deleted.. >Steganography can hide your data, but then you have the steg program >itself. If they find the program, they have reasonable grounds or >assuming you have hidden data, particularly if you have large >quantities of the sort of data which can conceal files, such as >sounds and graphics. So what you need is the ability to hide both the >"real" secret data and some decoy data at the same time. This could >be done using something like MD5 as a random number generator. Actually, there is a somewhat easier method that uses the one- time pad technique. Take your confidential text and xor it with a random byte file (your key) and call the output file "secret.msg". Then copy the random file off the hard drive and store in a secure location, perhaps off-site, and wipe all traces of the random key file from your disk. Now, type up you Mother's chocolate cookie recipe, and other goodies and pad it so it is the same size as the "secret.msg" file and xor this file with your "secret.msg" file. Rename the output "secret.key", and hide somewhere on your hard drive. (but don't hide it too well). If some one finds "secret.msg", and demands the key, you give in (after some arm twisting), and confess that the "secret.key" is the key file they want. When "secret.key" is xor'ed with "secret.msg", out pops the cookie recipe. Later, you can fetch the "real" key, and restore your original data. Of course, as Mike Ingle suggests, a more believable approach is to xor the encrypted file with some mild pornography instead of a cookie recipe recipe. (One of the great ways of lying is to plead guilty , but to a lesser crime). Of course this technique could be used against you as well. Someone would could xor your "secret.msg" file, with nuclear bomb secrets, and pretend to find this "key" somewhere else in your house. Following the same logic, one can produce a key, that when xor'd with Microsoft's "command.com", will produce output revealing Microsoft's secret plans for word conquest :-) Jim Pinson

1 0