December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Arnold Bowker and John Joslin vs. Privacy
by hroller Mixmaster 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

"Case Could End Anonymity of Computer Network Users" by Brian Bergstein (Associated Press) Anonymity and freedom of speech in cyberspace are being challenged by a Caribbean resort owner in a court case that could dramatically restrict the rights of computer network users. The resort owner and scuba instructor claim that they were defamed on a computer bulletin board by an anonymous user, and they asked a judge this week to force America Online to reveal the name of the subscriber so they can sue the person for libel. If Arnold Bowker and John Joslin are successful in obtaining the name, it could have serious implications for millions of people who use the Internet to think, write and debate in a world where they are identified by their ideas, not their names. Technology experts fear a morass of court cases that would hold computer users accountable for what they say anonymously. "What this case brings up is the specter of millions of libel suits every time there's a disagreement on the Internet," said Daniel Weitzner of the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington. "I think it's a critical issue." Several calls seeking comment from officials at America Online were not immediately returned Friday. Abraham Haddad, chairman of the computer science department at Northwestern University, said the anonymity of cyberspace should be maintained as long as it was not being used to commit a crime. "There's really a need to protect people's privacy as long as no laws have been broken," Haddad said.

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Anon Mail Sources of Remailers Keys
by nobody＠kaiwan.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Can someone post again the source for the various cypherpunks remailers public keys? I assume they are all in one file somewhere (likely on berkeley.edu) thats ftp'able.

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alt.cypherpunks
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi all, My vote is to let the folks on usenet sink in their own quagmire of ignorance about what we do. This list is no secret. If somebody wants to get into the 'game' let them bloody well subscribe. Ta ta. Jim Choate CyberTects ravage(a)einstein.ssz.com

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Re: (Noise) X-Files anarchist
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 3:56 PM 9/16/95, Dar Scott wrote: >I hardly watch TV ...blah, blah..., but I saw X-files last night. A very >minor character was a cryptohacker who--to his surprise--brute-forced a >military key for some files. He was described as an anarchist. > >To _my_ surprise, this anarchist was not associated with violence or >lunatic ravings. He was shown as reading a book entitled something like >Survey of Modern Conspiracy Theories. I see this as an improvement in the >stereotype of computer-associated anarchists. And this I see as a good >thing, since I think there is a lot that could be learned from anarchists. Vince Foster was technical advisor to "The X-Files." The NSA had him killed at Fort Darcy because he was getting too close to the Bilderbergers and their control of the secret UFO technology first given to the Nazis and then transferred to Winnemucca, Nevada as part of Operation Paperclip. The pilot who flew Bush in an SR-71 to negotiate with the Iranians to delay the release of the hostages and so defeat Carter in 1980 is also the author of "Nomenclature of a Conspiracy Cabal," one of the books shown in that episode. President Clinton, at the Underground White House near Edwards Air Force Base, OKed the hit on Foster, even though "The X-Files" was one of his favorite shows. The Greys must be appeased. --Klaus! von Future Prime, who actually has several dozen books on these and similar subjects

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Re: SPAM bait
by koontz＠MasPar.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

To: janet.dove(a)ledip.py Subject: Re: ===>> FREE 1 yr. Magazine Sub sent worldwide- 315+ Popular USA Tit

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Re: Digital Fingerprinting
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 6:57 AM 9/16/95, Alan Olsen wrote: >I seem to remember a software piracy case from a number of years back. The >case was settled by Apple showing that their code had been copied by the >copyright "easteregg" hidden in the roms. Made for a quick and effective >demonstration in court. (The story may be apocryphal, but it makes for an >example as to how such things do have a (supposed) valid use in protecting >code from being snagged by other companies.) And someone just cited the same (or very similar) example, where the "quick and effective demonstration" nevertheless resulted (they said) in an acquittal. So, which way did it go? --Tim May ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: "alt.cypherpunks" Newsgroup vs. Mailing List?
by Rev. Mark Grant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Sat, 16 Sep 1995 hallam(a)w3.org wrote: > One thought to ponder on. There is no real difference in terms of resources > required between a mailing list and an archive of a mailing list at a Web > site. The latter does avoid a large number of unnecessary dispatches however. However: a) You can't read it through a remailer (yet). b) Anyone watching the site can tell which threads you're interested in, and thereby determine what your real interests in this group are. c) It cuts off anyone who doesn't have direct net access, or can't afford long telephone calls. It's a lot cheaper to download a day's mail in one go than to spend three hours browsing a WWW site. Mark

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Re: "alt.cypherpunks" Newsgroup vs. Mailing List?
by dmandl＠panix.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 1:33 PM 9/16/95, hallam(a)w3.org wrote: >>Should there be an "alt.cypherpunks" type of newsgroup instead of this >>mailing list? > >Bad idea, it would simply mean that every kook on USEnet would add >alt.cypherpunks onto the crossposting line. We would have black >helicopters, gun >loons, Waco Wako's, Loonytarians and turkish government propaganda spamming >forever. A lot of people on the list seem to see it as a corporation that has to show X% growth for its shareholders every year. The list is a healthy size, and there are a lot of very bright people on it with very good ideas (a lot of the best people and best ideas in the field, in fact). Traffic is pretty high, too. I don't see any reason to try to increase our market share just for the sake of it. Even worse, it seems to me that what some people are suggesting (and this comes up at least once a year) will lead to increased entropy, with us, the EFF, EPIC, etc., etc., blending into one amorphous lobbying blob. This is a unique list of people doing VERY IMPORTANT work that no one else is doing. To tell you the truth, I think that to date cypherpunks have left a much greater mark on the world than the EFF and all of the others. No question about it. Again (as others have said over and over), if people are concerned about better lobbying, this isn't the place for it--and the good news for you is that there are plenty of other groups with the resources, staff, and mission to do it. So what's the problem? If you're embarrassed mentioning our name to your straight friends, c'est la vie. I wish I could show my boss my brilliant article in the new issue of ANARCHY, but I can't. --Dave. -- Dave Mandl dmandl(a)panix.com http://wfmu.org/~davem

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Re: Linking = Showing = Transferring?
by dsc＠swcp.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Suppose we interpret Linking = Showing as For all web pages x and y, Showing(x) and Linkto(x,y) --> Showing(y) Meaning: In all cases, if a page is being shown and it links to another page, then the other page is being shown. With this kind of transitivity I would not be surprised if a third of the web sites are showing pornography. For example (made up titles!), Transitors --> Electronics Distributers --> Ray's TV --> Springfield Businesses --> Bob's Photography --> Plenty Pictures --> Photography Resources --> Asian, Female --> World Nudity --> John's Porno Shop. The poor guy trying to be helpful to those learning electronics now has a pornopage. Perhaps some kind of fuzzy logic could apply. If one believes in such a thing. I wonder if I have a pornopage. Dar =========================================================== Dar Scott Home phone: +1 505 299 9497 Dar Scott Consulting Voice: +1 505 299 5790 8637 Horacio Place NE Email: darscott(a)aol.com Albuquerque, NM 87111 dsc(a)swcp.com Fax: +1 505 898 6525 http://www.swcp.com/~correspo/DSC/DarScott.html ===========================================================

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Re: The problem of playing politics with our constitutional rights
by phelix＠vallnet.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 22 Sep 1997 02:32:12 -0500, Alan <alan(a)ctrl-alt-del.com> wrote: >Mail is another hole. Eudora now distributes PGP 5.0 with the latest >version. (This version does not do RSA keys. You can get the plug in to do >those keys from PGP inc.) This is helpful, but there are many other >plug-ins that need to be written. Support for remailers is lacking. >Windows based code for Mixmaster is also a needed thing. A good interface >would help immensely. (Private Idaho was a big step in the right >direction. Integrated with a remailer people already use would be another >big step forward.) > Agreed. I think Remailer support could be a big opportunity. People may not understand/care-about encryption, digital signing, etc., but they definitely understand the need for anonymity. Question: If a free remailer plugin for eudora is released, can the remailers handle the increased load? Are there enough remailers? People will not tolerate more than a 24 hour delay for getting their messages delivers. What about spamming? Another Question: Since such a plugin uses (has the hooks for) encryption, would it be covered by ITAR? (i'm asking because I'm seriously considering making the eudora plugin) Anyway, the remailer 'network' needs to be strengthened. Right now, Raph's pinging service (or whatever private idaho uses) is the only way private idaho can tell which servers are up. Attack this point, and reliability when chaining remailers becomes uncertain. Imagine a TLA co-opting this service and altering the list to favor government friendly remailers. It also needs to be easier to set up a remailer. I'd like to see the software distributed in .deb and .rpm packages for Linux. Once set up, the remailer could automatically announce itself to the world (perhaps via a newsgroup post). The various listing services would pick up on this. The more automated it is, the better. >I am sure that people can think of all sorts of other ideas for needed >apps. But to make them usable for the "general public", the apps will be >needed to be written for Windows. (As much as I hate to think about it...) Private idaho needs to be rewritten (in Java possibly) to be simpler to operate. There should be one button to press to send a message without messing with what type and which remailers to use; the program could choose these things randomly (ok, it's not the best thing to do, but at least it's easy to use). It also should be updated to use pgp 5.0 (not exclusively, of course). If possible, also add support for the Eternity Service. Stenography Plugin for mail/news readers. It's our one (and possibly only) defense against GAK. You can't decrypt what you can't see. (watch for Stenography to be classified as encryption and be similarly restricted.) Is there any support for signed web pages? Is this covered by SSL?

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Jim Bell Letter
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

We offer a recent letter from Jim Bell that describes prison and his prospects: http://jya.com/jimbell4.htm It is published against his wishes, maybe. Read the letter to see the fear (or caginess) loss of freedom teaches.

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irs_1.html (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > From: maria(a)linux.nycmetro.com > Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 02:31:12 -0400 > Subject: irs_1.html > "These people have horrendous power, granted by (Congress)...it's > legitimate, but that's a big amount of power," a committee source, who > spoke on condition of anonymity, said. > > "To be able to take a residence on nothing more than a couple of > signatures," the source said, referring to the IRS's authority to > confiscate cars, homes and other property from people who owe taxes. > An IRS spokesman said the agency carried out the law as written by > Congress and that if mistakes were made, it tried to correct them. > "We deal with millions of taxpayers every year, and in the vast > majority of cases taxpayers feel that they are treated courteously and > professionally," he added. Talk about clueless.... ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there | | be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves. | | | | -Alan Greenspan- | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http:// www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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Re: Your mail
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

<---- Begin Forwarded Message ----> Sorry to do this to you. This is a love chain letter. Within 5 days you >must send it to 10 other people. On the 5th day a person you like will ask >you out, or >>tell you that they love you. If you do not send it you will have problems >>in future relationships. It has been going since 1877 and hasn't >>stopped since. >> >> >>Around the corner I have a friend, >>> In this great city that has no end, >>> Yet the days go by and weeks rush on, >>> And before I know it, a year is gone. >>> And I never see my old friends face, >>> For life is a swift and terrible race, >>> He knows I like him just as well, >> As in the days when I rang his bell. >>> And he rang mine >>> if, we were younger then, >>> And now we are busy, tired men. >>> Tired of playing a foolish game, >>> Tired of trying to make a name. >>> "Tommorow" I say "I will call on Jim" >>> "Just to show that I'm thinking of him." >>> But tommorow comes and tommorow goes, >>> And distance between us grows and grows. >>> Around the corner!- yet miles away, >>> "Here's a telegram sir" >>> "Jim died today." >>> And thats what we get and deserve in the end. >>> Around the corner, a vanished friend. >>> >> Remember to always say what you mean. If you love someone, tell them. >Don't be afraid to express yourself. Reach out and tell someone what they >mean to you. Beause when you decide that it is the right time, it might be >too late. Seize the day. Never have regrets. And most importantly, stay >close to your friends and family, for they have helped make you the person >that you are today. >> >> Pass this along to your friends. It could make a difference. The >difference between doing all that you can or having regrets which may stay >with you forever. >> >> >> >> >>*note* The more people that you send this to, the better luck you will have. >> >> "If life is a waste of time, and time is a waste of life", then let's all >get wasted together and have the time of our lives." >> >> <---- End Forwarded Message ---->

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List of reliable remailers
by Raph Levien 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I operate a remailer pinging service 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, plus lots of interesting links to remailer-related resources, at: http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~raph/remailer-list.html This information is used by premail, a remailer chaining and PGP encrypting client for outgoing mail. For more information, see: http://www.c2.org/~raph/premail.html For the PGP public keys of the remailers, finger pgpkeys(a)kiwi.cs.berkeley.edu This is the current info: REMAILER LIST This is an automatically generated listing of remailers. The first part of the listing shows the remailers along with configuration options and special features for each of the remailers. The second part shows the 12-day history, and average latency and uptime for each remailer. You can also get this list by fingering remailer-list(a)kiwi.cs.berkeley.edu. $remailer{'cyber'} = '<alias(a)alias.cyberpass.net> alpha pgp'; $remailer{"mix"} = "<mixmaster(a)remail.obscura.com> cpunk mix pgp hash latent cut ek ksub reord ?"; $remailer{"replay"} = "<remailer(a)replay.com> cpunk mix pgp hash latent cut post ek"; $remailer{"jam"} = "<remailer(a)cypherpunks.ca> cpunk mix pgp hash middle latent cut ek"; $remailer{"winsock"} = "<winsock(a)rigel.cyberpass.net> cpunk pgp pgponly hash cut ksub reord ?"; $remailer{'nym'} = '<config(a)nym.alias.net> newnym pgp'; $remailer{"squirrel"} = "<mix(a)squirrel.owl.de> cpunk mix pgp pgponly hash latent cut ek"; $remailer{'weasel'} = '<config(a)weasel.owl.de> newnym pgp'; $remailer{"reno"} = "<middleman(a)cyberpass.net> cpunk mix pgp hash middle latent cut ek reord ?"; $remailer{"cracker"} = "<remailer(a)anon.efga.org> cpunk mix remix pgp hash ksub esub latent cut ek reord post"; $remailer{'redneck'} = '<config(a)anon.efga.org> newnym pgp'; $remailer{"bureau42"} = "<remailer(a)bureau42.ml.org> cpunk mix pgp ksub hash latent cut ek"; $remailer{"neva"} = "<remailer(a)neva.org> cpunk pgp pgponly hash cut ksub ?"; $remailer{"lcs"} = "<mix(a)anon.lcs.mit.edu> mix"; $remailer{"medusa"} = "<medusa(a)weasel.owl.de> mix middle" $remailer{"McCain"} = "<mccain(a)notatla.demon.co.uk> mix middle"; $remailer{"valdeez"} = "<valdeez(a)juno.com> cpunk pgp pgponly hash ek"; $remailer{"arrid"} = "<arrid(a)juno.com> cpunk pgp pgponly hash ek"; $remailer{"hera"} = "<goddesshera(a)juno.com> cpunk pgp pgponly hash ek"; $remailer{"htuttle"} = "<h_tuttle(a)rigel.cyberpass.net> cpunk pgp hash latent cut post ek"; catalyst(a)netcom.com is _not_ a remailer. lmccarth(a)ducie.cs.umass.edu is _not_ a remailer. usura(a)replay.com is _not_ a remailer. remailer(a)crynwr.com is _not_ a remailer. There is no remailer at relay.com. Groups of remailers sharing a machine or operator: (cyber mix reno winsock) (weasel squirrel medusa) (cracker redneck) (nym lcs) (valdeez arrid hera) The remailer list here has been out of date for some time, but should be up to date now. I'm still working on updating the web page. Last update: Mon 22 Sep 97 6:48:37 PDT remailer email address history latency uptime ----------------------------------------------------------------------- cyber alias(a)alias.cyberpass.net ******+***** 10:29 99.99% nym config(a)nym.alias.net *+####+##### 1:02 99.98% cracker remailer(a)anon.efga.org +++++-++*+++ 30:09 99.86% jam remailer(a)cypherpunks.ca +++++-++++++ 39:28 99.85% redneck config(a)anon.efga.org #**#*-#**#*# 10:53 99.83% winsock winsock(a)rigel.cyberpass.net ----.---__.# 16:36:54 99.67% replay remailer(a)replay.com *+**** ***** 4:33 99.64% bureau42 remailer(a)bureau42.ml.org ----------- 3:50:50 99.64% neva remailer(a)neva.org +--* --- --- 3:48:40 99.08% mix mixmaster(a)remail.obscura.com ***** -***** 3:10:16 98.66% reno middleman(a)cyberpass.net ---- --+-+* 2:23:45 98.11% hera goddesshera(a)juno.com --.------- 8:36:27 97.55% arrid arrid(a)juno.com _.-----.- 12:37:56 95.99% squirrel mix(a)squirrel.owl.de ------- -- 3:02:31 94.18% valdeez valdeez(a)juno.com ----- 4:58:22 31.61% History key * # response in less than 5 minutes. * * response in less than 1 hour. * + response in less than 4 hours. * - response in less than 24 hours. * . response in more than 1 day. * _ response came back too late (more than 2 days). cpunk A major class of remailers. Supports Request-Remailing-To: field. eric A variant of the cpunk style. Uses Anon-Send-To: instead. penet The third class of remailers (at least for right now). Uses X-Anon-To: in the header. pgp Remailer supports encryption with PGP. A period after the keyword means that the short name, rather than the full email address, should be used as the encryption key ID. hash Supports ## pasting, so anything can be put into the headers of outgoing messages. ksub Remailer always kills subject header, even in non-pgp mode. nsub Remailer always preserves subject header, even in pgp mode. latent Supports Matt Ghio's Latent-Time: option. cut Supports Matt Ghio's Cutmarks: option. post Post to Usenet using Post-To: or Anon-Post-To: header. ek Encrypt responses in reply blocks using Encrypt-Key: header. special Accepts only pgp encrypted messages. mix Can accept messages in Mixmaster format. reord Attempts to foil traffic analysis by reordering messages. Note: I'm relying on the word of the remailer operator here, and haven't verified the reord info myself. mon Remailer has been known to monitor contents of private email. filter Remailer has been known to filter messages based on content. If not listed in conjunction with mon, then only messages destined for public forums are subject to filtering. Raph Levien

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Re: alt.cypherpunks
by goedel＠tezcat.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- >Hi all, > >My vote is to let the folks on usenet sink in their own quagmire of >ignorance about what we do. This list is no secret. If somebody wants to >get into the 'game' let them bloody well subscribe. > >Ta ta. I should mention that the literate programming mailing list somehow died when it moved to comp.programming.literate. Something about the nature of usenet took the life out of it. Besides, does anyone want the inevitable "How can I get my Win95 PC to run doom?" questions? -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQBgAwUBMFs3bHIf3YegbdiBAQEu7AJWLFim1gdvzCy1+WpPzr8lxcDMmYcxIOyH 3XqR+7YSfEoPEW23Gq73BBU658leNKspGwJQ1a+7qnFsDRL1+TEe/V4meOwfyoWq aNcn =YLv5 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Dietrich Kappe | Red Planet http://www.redweb.com Red Planet, LLC| "Chess Space" | "MS Access Products" | PGP Public Key 1-800-RED 0 WEB| /chess | /cobre | /goedel/key.txt Web Publishing | Key fingerprint: 8C2983E66AB723F9 A014A0417D268B84

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RE: Commercial Mixmaster
by Rich Salz 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>The concern is not "commercialization", per se, but rather the use >of "commercialization" as an excuse to build in "proprietary" >features (Back doors?) for which no corresponding source code is >involved. > >Since no one has made a good case for there even being a COMMERCIAL >market for Mixmaster, could there be other motives? ... > >No, I'm not accusing Lance. But if he no longer has the time to >support Mixmaster, then perhaps some other crypto-friendly group >should take over the task and keep it an OPEN system, with source >code available. In fact, even freezing Mixmaster as is would be >preferable to "improvements" that people don't/can't trust. This doesn't make sense. Someone wants to commercialize Mixmaster. You don't know who it is, but you since you can't see how to make money doing this, you suspect their motives. Yet on the other hand, you think they will be so successful that enough people will buy binary-only servers such that backdoors are a real threat, perhaps by forcing people to upgrade or otherwise breaking interoperability with the current free-source remailer network. You can't have it both ways. But even if you could, there's a solution. :) Download the source and start releasing "blender", a free-source anonymous remail system that is upwardly compatibly, *and based on* the current Mixmaster. /r$ s

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End-to-end cellular encryption needed - CDisk from Comverse Technology
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This is just one commercial product that implements most of what CALEA requires. The great thing about market economies is that we'll obtain the surveillance state at a competitive price. ====== Excerpts from "The CDisk Product Description", Reliable, Customized Solutions for Intercepting Calls from Cellular Switches Comverse's CDisk is a comprehensive digital audio system. It intercepts and captures call audio and data from cellular switches and distributes it to designated Monitoring Centers where it is processed and archived. In order to be effective, interception facilities for switches in cellular networks must offer * One system that supports all cellular networks. * Target subscriber management. * Access to all calls in which the target subscriber is a party. * Coverage of all types of calls. * Automatic collection of call data (Session Related Information - SRI), combined unambiguously into one conversation file. * Strict security provisions. CDisk meets the need with a mature, field-proven product CDisk covers all cellular networks: * Its field-proven interface connects with all major switches. * Its open system supports multiple networks and Monitoring Centers. * Its modular concept adapts simply to new standards and technologies. With CDisk's target-subscriber management tools, authorized users can: * Automatically process thousands of targets. * Add, edit and delete targets from the list. * Schedule start and end times, as well as define other conditions for interception. * Seamlessly cover targets across multiple networks. * For each target, define access rights for multiple Monitoring Centers, from organizations down to individual users. * Define priority targets. CDisk provides comprehensive call access by: * Covering all types of calls including voice calls, data calls - voice band modem, facsimile calls, short message service (SMS), unrestricted data calls. * Monitoring all types of call services, including call transfer, forward calls, diverted calls, conference or multi-party calls (CDisk accesses all parties involved.), call waiting. * Processing mixed voice and data calls. * Monitoring uncompleted and busy call attempts. * Supporting call diversion supplementary services. * Covering roaming visitors. Automatic collection of the following data for each target subscriber's call (Session Related Information): * Equipment ID - IMEI. * Called number, including cases of uncompleted calls (for MSISDN and IMSI). * Specification of the type of call (voice, data, fax, or SMS). * Conference call party numbers. * Diverted call number. * Target subscriber cell location - Location Area Identity (LAI) at call start and call termination. * Date, time, and duration of call. * Enabling users to listen to calls in real-time or in playback (after they are recorded).

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More on ECheques
by John Hemming CEO MarketNet 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

unicorn(a)polaris.mindport.net wrote: >> 1. I was not suggesting that you put your real bank account number >> in the program. A test number is perfectly adequate. >(But I will clone some checks and drain your account quickly). Really ..... how.

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side effects of techno-arms-races considered beneficial
by Zooko Journeyman 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

A million monkeys operating under the pseudonym "Will Rodger <rodger(a)worldnet.att.net>" typed: > > The one exception I recall is the position taken by the Competitive > Enterprise Institute. The CEI took the position that no regulation at > all was needed and that marketplace forces would police the Net. > Their view, for better or worse, is not very visible elsewhere. > > Another solution, of course, is a techno-arms race solution to > privacy. That works for readers of this list, but that's not who the > FTC worries about. Libertarians will, of course, shudder at the > notion that they should. Cypherpunks know the underlying math. Cypherpunks have seen the future-- in the long run, privacy wins the techno-arms race (barring quantum computation etc.). So if the battle goes to the techno ground, we win, and everyone who values their privacy wins. (_Not_ just the techie elite. Tech comes to the masses, too, including privacy tech.) If the battle takes place in the Byzantine halls of power and opinion, then I'd say the outcome is anyone's guess. See the current U.S. legislative debacle. * Creation of laws is likely to do more harm than good -- this is one reason to abjure legislation and lobbyism and work on coding and distributing. This much is already known to my readers. I'd like to add another detail: Techno arms races have positive side effects! Ratings systems, reputations, markets, scripting languages, CPU tech, distributed computing, information security and smart agents technologies which enhance our privacy tech, or which are enhanced by our privacy tech, or both. * Even a _good_ law which _solves_ a problem interferes with the development of technological solution to the problem. A solution which might have had broader applications. This is another reason to abjure such kludges. Regards, Zooko, Journeyman Hacker P.S. Anybody remember that stupid phrase from Wired: "To hack politics down to its component parts and fix it."? Egh. I'd sooner code a critical system in COBOL while stupid and/or malicious strangers edit my code and my development environment without warning. Which is to say: I wouldn't try! P.P.S. Because "Techno arms races have positive side effects." is why I like spam. It forces people to learn about killfiles, digital authentication, resource management, denial-of-service attacks and suchlike. Unless a law manages to silence the offensive speakers and return the masses to their inflexible, insecure environments.

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What will it cost to let Big Brother watch?
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

[This story was scheduled for page 18 of this week's Time magazine, but got cut at the last minute and replaced with a Diana investigation update. Background: Previous CBO cost estimates released in May and July focused on versions of SAFE that dealt only with exports. This estimate not only covers the costs of operating snooperware systems; it predicts that some products may drop crypto and users may abandon its use if such a requirement exists. Enjoy. --Declan] ****** ENCRYPTION What Will It Cost To Let Big Brother Watch? By Declan McCullagh High tech firms battling what they call an Orwellian anti-privacy bill in Congress are challenging a new government study. Last Friday the Congressional Budget Office stuck a price tag on a bill that would ban the manufacture of telephones, computers, and software that the FBI can't easily monitor. The amount consumers would pay: an estimated $200 million to $2 billion a year. But technology groups say the true cost would be astronomical. "It would be the greatest technological challenge the U.S. software industry is facing today, larger than the year 2000 problem. We don't know how to do this," says Jon Englund of the Information Technology Association of America. He says that since the CBO study focuses on computer programs and not the Internet, the true cost would be hundreds of billions higher. A huge chunk of existing technology would have to be redesigned, and plans to protect cyberspace from eavesdroppers would be derailed. That's an acceptable tradeoff, say the plan's backers. "Organized crime, drug organizations, and terrorist organizations have the ability to use encryption and render law enforcement folks unable to have access," says Rep. Michael Oxley (R-Ohio), a backer of the FBI's plan. The House Commerce committee is scheduled to vote on Oxley's proposal on Thursday. ------------------------- Declan McCullagh Time Inc. The Netly News Network Washington Correspondent http://netlynews.com/

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C-punks, marketing for the masses
by Greg Broiles 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- No disrespect intended, but I think that the various "let's sanitize the Cypherpunk message for mass acceptance" marketing/soundbite proposals are pointless. Cypherpunks is a mailing list, not a political party (or a platform). - From my perspective, the organizing meme for the list is not "strong crypto is really important, so let's write some and lobby our lawmakers to make sure it stays legal" but "strong crypto is here and is changing the dynamics of force, politics, and power, so let's see what we can do with it." (And no, I don't think it's important to spread that "meme" (a term I use with some trepidation) around to get "market share" for it. Ideas are not football teams nor initiative proposals.) I appreciate and support and have participated in various write-yer- legislator activities. They're useful short-term. But if Tim May and Duncan Frissell and the other list members who've dared to make predictions about the impact of crypto on government and economics are correct, what the government and the legislators want doesn't matter. If they're wrong, what we want doesn't matter. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMFsujH3YhjZY3fMNAQHfogP9HMEe6/N7B0q4cov8knythwuqha4yFmsR Yfxtp8/ukXhfJlJQ5Mb40AYWcNwWGXmzd8J2KzrYBntKN60SZnd/StRQfHs6rtre hLHZGss4bR1c9w0+Jsr3TKD5UQe2up2cEuY9u6qN6QyVK9h9QtfSHpJqb3bAZlla fA3GMtB2qlc= =Phdj -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Arab youths bypass government's CyberPatrol Net-censorship
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Badr knows his way around the Internet. He easily sidesteps government attempts to block access to the pornographic sites that have lured him and other young Arabs to the "information superhighway." "They close doors, but I can get in through windows," said Badr, a 20-year-old who scoffs at the struggles of conservative Arab governments to police cyberspace. With the Internet growing more popular, the sheikdoms of the Persian Gulf are becoming like Western parents trying to keep pornography away from children. But it's not just young people that leaders worry about in these strict Islamic societies, where women cover in black veils outside their houses and public mingling between the sexes is discouraged. Kisses and foul language are edited out of foreign movies, and magazines arrive with pages torn out and photos of women inked over in black to hide even a hint of cleavage. Enter the Internet and the cry for censorship of pornography - and in some cases politics - grows louder. All the region's Arab states but one, impoverished Yemen, which cannot afford an effort to police the Web, are working to limit access to Internet sites. Etisalat, the only Internet provider to the seven states of the United Arab Emirates, set up software blockades after government officials complained about free access to the Web. A "proxy cache server" cuts out sites deemed offensive by Etisalat, which is partly owned by the government. Khaldoon Tabbaza, publisher of the Jordan-based Arabia Online service, said some attempts at censorship get ridiculous. "There is software programmed to block sites which contain certain keywords such as nude, sex and breast. So if you're interested in getting access to information about Middlesex county in the United Kingdom, research about breast cancer or - a chicken breast recipe, you cannot," he said. Despite the government efforts, many Arab youths search out material on the Internet virtually unchallenged. Badr, the young Emirates hacker who showed off his Internet skills on condition only his first name was used, is evidence the system doesn't work. Clicking his mouse, he moved through a series of sites and soon he's looking at naked women and pornographic video images, complete with sound effects. Robert, a Lebanese who also insisted on using only his first name, thwarts an Arab taboo almost as strong as that against pornography - talking to enemy Israel. "I spend two to three hours online (several times a week) chatting with people in Israel. Its very interesting for me to exchange thoughts and opinions with the people I was brought up to view as my enemies," said Robert, a 24-year-old sales executive based in Dubai. "We do exchange some tough words when some sort of violence erupts in the region, but I think that is part of getting to know each other." Qatar and Oman are the only Persian Gulf states with even fledgling diplomatic ties to Israel. The other countries have no telecommunications or mail links to the Jewish state, but e-mail via the Internet sidesteps that. Qatar and Oman both try to block access to pornographic sites, however, using such software as "Cyber Patrol" and "Net Nanny." Kuwait's Communications Ministry is working on a system of blocking access to proscribed Internet sites. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, one of the most conservative Muslim countries, has yet to officially join the cyberspace age. It has set up a committee to oversee the introduction, but - with the wide range of Saudi taboos - few expect the Internet to soon enter everyday life in the kingdom. Still, even in Saudi Arabia, people find ways to track down scandalous Internet sites. Saudis who can afford it make long-distance telephone calls to dial up Internet networks in other countries, mainly in the Emirates and Bahrain, but also in Britain. The problems of censorship grow with the Internet's popularity. The Emirates' Etisalat has 20,000 subscribers and an estimated 100,000 users. Internet cafes have opened in Oman and Qatar and in Dubai, one of the seven states in the Emirates. An official at Qatar Telecommunications Corp., speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid offending government and religious leaders, conceded that access to offensive material on the Internet could not be completely blocked. But he insisted it could be controlled. Others simply refuse to recognize the problem. "Most of our customers come here for the fun of it," said Ali Mohammed, manager at an Internet cafe in Qatar. "They are not interested in pornography."

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Re: encouraging digital pseudonyms (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 17:45:58 -0400 > From: "Robert A. Costner" <pooh(a)efga.org> > Subject: Re: encouraging digital pseudonyms > Perhaps I am missing something here. I find it easy to distinguish type-I > anonymous traffic from nym mail. Anonymous mail usually comes from an > address like 'anon@' or 'nobody@' while pseudonymous mail will come from a > pseudonym. A pseudonym and an anonymous account are NOT the same thing. That is what you are missing. 'ravage' is a 'nym that I have been using since about '82 or '83 (I used 'ogre' and 'ghost' before that), I have NEVER used an account such as 'anon<foo>@bar.com' while I do generate traffic under other short-term 'nym's. The only reason anonymous mail comes as 'anon@' or 'nobody@' is because that is the way they are currently set up. If an anon-remailer were serious about long-term survival the output accounts would look just like the user accounts and not something as blatent as the above. Anonymous remailers will have arrived when they quit using the simple patterning as above and they figure out how to charge for their services (anonymous privacy is a commodity with a worth, seriously undervalued in todays market). ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there | | be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves. | | | | -Alan Greenspan- | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http:// www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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Persistent Persona
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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Interesting Statistic in WSJ
by Miner 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

% of labor pool working for S&P500 companies = 14 % % of labor pool working for government = 14.5% S&P500 increase in productivity is running about 3.9%/year Government 0.5% per year. The 0.5% is probably attributed to the ever increasing number of citizen units that end up in a prison working for 55 cents an hour, 1,000,000 plus units and counting. Do they offer licence plate stamping courses in jc?

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