December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

golf stuff
by ballman＠t-1net.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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Re: [NOISE] Re: Nazis on the Net
by Rich Burroughs 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:26 PM 4/22/96 -0700, Rich Graves wrote: >E. Allen Smith actually might have written: > >>I've seen various quotes from Randy Weaver in various publications, >>including Time and other non-right-wing ones. None of them indicated him >>as an actual neo-Nazi or racist > >BWAHAHAHA!!! This is from the DOJ report on the Ruby Ridge shooting: "Weaver first came to the attention of the BATF in July 1986 during its investigation of a series of bombings in Coer d'Alene, Idaho in which the Aryan Nations was believed to be involved. BATF asked Kenneth Fadeley, a confidential informant, to assist its investigation by obtaining information about people attending an upcoming World Aryan Congress who might be engaged in illegal activities.[FN23] Thereafter, Fadeley portrayed himself as a weapons dealer who catered to motorcycle gangs and, in this role, managed to be introduced to high level members of the Aryan Nations in Northern Idaho.[FN24] In July, 1986, Fadeley attended the World Aryan Congress at Hayden Lake, Idaho. During this assembly, Fadeley was introduced to Weaver, who was at that time of no particular investigative significance to BATF.[FN25]" Weaver may have just been attending the World Aryan Nations Congress for the beer and chicks... Portions of the report are online at http://isdn33.eng.uc.edu/~rabagley/ruby/ruby.toc.html Rich ______________________________________________________________________ Rich Burroughs richieb(a)teleport.com http://www.teleport.com/~richieb See my Blue Ribbon Page at http://www.teleport.com/~richieb/blueribbon New EF zine "cause for alarm" - http://www.teleport.com/~richieb/cause

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Re: 5th protect password?
by jamesd＠echeque.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 06:19 AM 4/23/96 -0700, Sandy Sandfort wrote: > didn't Unicorn offer Mr. Bell a > wager on this issue? Isn't the ball in Mr. Bell's court to put > his money where his mouth is? Yeah: fifty thousand dollars. Not that it makes the slightest difference. On the extropians list a number of very large bets were made and accepted, but nobody ever paid up. (Or very few -- I know of no cases.) When somebody proposes a bet that is substantially larger than the likely cost to his reputation if he weasels out, one can expect that, if he erred, he will not pay. Now if Unicorn had proposed a bet for one hundred dollars, then I would sit up and take notice. A hundred dollars is real money. Fifty thousand dollars is hot air, like one kid says, "I bet you I am right", and the other kid says "I bet you a zillion dollars you are wrong". If somebody proposes a bet that is larger than the likely reputation cost of weaseling, we should ignore the bet and subtract from the guys reputation as if he had already weaseled, since the events of the extropian list show that that is the most likely outcome. All of us have been wrong from time to time on matters where we were sure we were right. Anybody who was serious about paying would not make such ridiculous bets. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

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arbiter/escrow agent for hire
by bryce＠digicash.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I hereby offer to be arbiter and escrow agent for cypherpunks bet settlements. My conditions: 1. I won't deal in old-fashioned currencies. Mark Twain U.S. Dollar ecash or Merita Bank of Finland Finnish Mark ecash or First Digital Bank cyberbuck ecash only, please. 2. I don't handle bets larger than USD300.00, or FIM1500.00, or cyb300,000.00. These are just my arbitrary comfort limits. (It's also large enough to cover the kinds of things that go on here, IMESHO.) 3. My fee per bet is USD5.00 or FIM50.00, or cyb7000.00. This is for "simple", winner-take-all bets. For other arrangements, make me an offer. 4. I have to have an explicit description of how the bet will be settled which is acceptable to me. This will be known as the "bet description". a. It has a dearth of loopholes and ambiguities, both with regard to the subject of contention and with regard to the settling procedure, including settling agents and settling schedule. b. It doesn't require me to be the "settling agent" who does the research or performs the experiment or whatever. Before I am committed to the job I will require 3 items to be submitted to me: 1. Acceptable digital signature upon the "bet statement" from each bettor. (Note that PGP signatures from PGP key pairs which are not connected to me via the Web of Trust, or which are not verifiable by me via an out-of-band connection, are not acceptable digital signatures. This is because of the MITM attack problem, not because I need True Names to be connected to the signatures.) 2. My fee. (I don't care who pays it-- One or both bettors or spectators.) 3. Amount of the bet from each bettor. This chunk of money will be known as the "ante". Note that depending upon the details of the "bet statement", each bettor may submit a different ante. (Yes, up front. Yes, I get antes from both bettors. Yes, I keep them while the bet is being settled. Why do you think my fee is so low?) Final Notes: 1. I reserve the right to reject any bet for any reason. Although my fee is non-refundable, the antes are refundable in this case. If I exercise this right after the antes have been delivered, I will return them to their respective owners. 2. The bettors may _not_ unilaterally or unconditionally reserve the right to cancel the bet after having signed the bet statement and submitted their antes. Provisions for cancelling the bet after that point, if desired, should be written into the bet statement. 3. I don't do currency exchange. If your betting partner submits his ante in Finnish Marks and you win then you are getting Finnish Marks. If you submit an ante in cyberbucks and then I cancel the bet, you are getting cyberbucks refunded to you. Please contact me via e-mail (PGP preferred) if you wish to engage my services. Cordially, Bryce, Escrow and Arbitration Agent Serving the cypherpunks Mailing List Since 1996. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2i Comment: Auto-signed under Unix with 'BAP' Easy-PGP v1.1b2 iQB1AwUBMX4VUkjbHy8sKZitAQGOQwMAzsITvGj54RvUnwr0DWXbtbiQeMRIOZMv igN2qUVArkP8TsC8/KkMaSlxD1jEVdGcDj+UGegLIO8Jfq62NCkz41LSUSNi1nWY 0/pNUikhSAFZ2DAh6u42K45HmhPAypeC =eS7Z -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: DES as a stream cipher
by Rick Smith 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

karl(a)geoplex.com ("Karl A. Siil") asks: >As this sounds like a previously solved problem, I wanted to find out about >using DES (or any block cipher) as a stream cipher, i.e., in a manner that >keeps input and output data length equal. I don't want to use a true stream >cipher, as I want to use the same key for multiple messages and stream >ciphers tend to place the bulk of their overhead in the re-key. Since stream >ciphers have "memory," I would have to "re-key" to the same key for each of >my messages. I would rather key something like DES once and run it in CBC >mode or use some other form of IV. The right answer depends on the types of attacks you're interested in countering. The classic reference is probably Voydock and Kent's "Security Mechanisms in High Level Network Protocols," from Computing Surveys in 1983. I think Stallings recently put together collection of paper reprints for IEEE Press that included this one. This paper is particularly nice since they present various streaming modes and then talk about the vulnerabilities associated with them. So it's not crypto algorithms so much as how to use them. Rick. smith(a)sctc.com secure computing corporation

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GIV_way
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

FiTi reports on a Lisbon money laundering conference: 4-23-96: "Long arm of US law threatens business." The extra-territorial reach of US law poses a growing threat to non-US companies doing business, even indirectly, with that country, an expert on money laundering said yesterday. Mr Rowan Bosworth-Davies told a conference in Lisbon that US courts had been "consistent in concluding that US law enforcement interests outweigh a foreign nation's interests in preserving the confidentiality of its banking or its business records". 4-24-96: "US prosecutor attacks bank secrecy laws." A US federal prosecutor yesterday told banks that they are no better than prostitutes if they transmit money without knowing their customers or the purpose of the transaction. Mr John Moscow said: "The ancient concept that bank secrecy must be preserved to keep a gentleman's financial affairs confidential -- dating back to the days when only gentlemen had cheque accounts, and their servants did not -- must give way to the current reality. GIV_way

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Re: [NOISE] Re: Nazis on the Net
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Rich Graves <llurch(a)networking.stanford.edu> >E. Allen Smith actually might have written: >>I've seen various quotes from Randy Weaver in various publications, >>including Time and other non-right-wing ones. None of them indicated him >>as an actual neo-Nazi or racist >BWAHAHAHA!!! I assume that you are thinking I'm incorrect? Incidentally, I classify a racist as someone who says "this race is evil and should be killed/enslaved/tortured/whatever." Someone who says that different races shouldn't live together is a separatist; it's only when they start having seperate but equal being anything but equal (e.g., apartheid) that it crosses the line into racism. Thus, I don't regard Charles Murray or Richard Herrnstein as racist, for instance. >Here's a URL for a *highly sympathetic* piece on Weaver that complains >that, "I will be happier when the press stops demonizing Weaver -- in >subtle and not so subtle ways -- in news stories and editorials. He is >referred to so consistently as "White Separatist Randall Weaver" that one >would be forgiven for assuming that his parents gave him the first name >"White," while "Separatist" was some old family name handed down from his >maternal aunt": >http://www.omnet.com/What-I-Think/col.09-01-95B.html Yes, it doesn't give any information to call him a racist... it gives information to call him a separatist. I don't support either, but I call the former more evil than the latter. If you thought I had claimed that Weaver wasn't a separatist, you've misread me. >Here are some *highly sympathetic* URLs that mention that Weaver was a >white separatist/Aryan Nations wacko: >http://www.scimitar.com/revolution/by_topic/firearms/enforce/rubyridge/setu… >http://eagle.tamu.edu/~carlp/Liberty/Weaver.Case.AR.html They both, yes, state that he was a white separatist. They don't state that he was an Aryan Nations member... just that the FBI was trying to use him to infiltrate the Aryan Nations. One doesn't have to be a member of something before recruitment by an undercover (or intelligence) operation to be useful for infiltrating it - you just have to be someone that that organization would accept. As a known white separatist, Weaver becoming an out-and-out racist would be more believable than, say, you or me becoming an out-and-out racist. Often, those who are already members of such an organization will be more resistant to turning - more emotional committment, more watchfullness for attempts to frame/entrap, etcetera. >A slightly more balanced piece from the New York Times: >http://eagle.tamu.edu/~carlp/Liberty/Weaver.Case.NYT.html Which, again, doesn't give any evidence that he was an actual racist, as opposed to a white separatist. >FWIW, the Anti-Defamation League, which I am *well aware* has said sily >things about militias and skinheads in the past, mentions Weaver in this >report: >http://www.almanac.bc.ca/cgi-bin/ftp.pl?people/w/weaver.randy/aryan-nations I'm glad you mentioned their unreliability; otherwise I would have had to. This one I haven't been able to check (connection refused), but I wouldn't believe them in any case if they did claim he was a racist. >I have also heard Weaver cited quite favorably on the Stormfront list, >which has repudiated Timothy McVeigh because his friend Terry Nichols has >a Filipino wife. This makes McVeigh a Race Traitor by association, of >course. Well, yes, a martyr is quite helpful to most movements. Of course he's going to be cited favorably, so long as they can't find any ideological problems such as the one you mention with regards to Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh. Thank you, you've done my research for me. -Allen

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Re: Bernstein ruling meets the virus law
by frantz＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 2:43 PM 4/22/96 -0700, Steve Reid wrote: >Things are only black and white in lawmaker's dreams. :-/ Note also that there are programs which replicate and maintain themselves on several machines in a network in order to provide reliable network services (e.g. print spooling). (The people at Xerox PARC, who did almost everything first, experimented with this kind of program.) If lawmakers are to come up with a rational law, a big if, they will have to differentiate between a bug in a "tame" worm which lets it get loose as a virus, and a virus which was meant to be destructive from the get go. And then they will have to decide what to do about the virus that was designed to write, "Hi Mom!" on as many screens as possible with no malicious damage, and bugs in it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bill Frantz | The CDA means | Periwinkle -- Computer Consulting (408)356-8506 | lost jobs and | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz(a)netcom.com | dead teenagers | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA

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SHA_dow
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Three US papers report on hardly any intelligence reforms endorsed by Don't Worry, Boys, Clinton in response to the ole-boy Brown's CIA-CYA-all-the-way dark shadowisms. SHA_dow

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[Flatulence] Re: EYE_suk
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Is it just me, or is this sentence funny? > Underscoring the high-level attention the problem is > getting, the field exercise last week included Deputy > Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick and other senior > officials in Washington, with Gore's staff getting a daily > briefing. Cheers, Bob Hettinga ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "If they could 'just pass a few more laws', we would all be criminals." --Vinnie Moscaritolo The e$ Home Page: http://thumper.vmeng.com/pub/rah/

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Re: Meta: The Arguing about the Terms of the Wager Continues
by jamesd＠echeque.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 11:45 PM 4/23/96 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote: > And so the back-and-forth continues...taking up even more list space > arguing, waffling, finessing, rebutting, disputing, and on an on. > > Exactly as several of us have predicted. True, but one should note that it is Jim Bell that is weaseling, and that Unicorn is not weaseling. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

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Re: 5th protect password?
by Sandy Sandfort 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C'punks, At 07:58 AM 4/23/96 -0700, James Donald wrote: >Yeah: fifty thousand dollars. >Not that it makes the slightest difference. > >On the extropians list a number of very large bets were made and >accepted, but nobody ever paid up. (Or very few -- I know of no >cases.) As much as I like the Extropians, personally, they haven't got a clue how to implement practical social systems. It is trivial to set up a wagering system that works--and you don't need all the "polycentric" blah blah. >Now if Unicorn had proposed a bet for one hundred dollars, then >I would sit up and take notice. A hundred dollars is real money. >Fifty thousand dollars is hot air... a) I proposed that a bet of $100 which Jim Bell ignored. That should have made you sit up and take notice. b) Unicorn has the 50Gs and I'm confident he would have paid up if necessary. >... Anybody who was serious about paying >would not make such ridiculous bets. This is a non-sequitor. Anyone serious about winning WOULD make such a bet. Do you really think that a legal scholar as good as Unicorn would just shoot from the hip without knowing he had it in the bag? S a n d y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Re: Golden Key Campaign
by Hal 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I appreciate the temperate responses to my knee-jerk diatribe against RSA's involvement in the golden key campaign. The key logo doesn't actually resemble RSA's very much, although the small versions do seem similar to the golden keys shown in Netscape's browser. So far as I know though Netscape hasn't threatened any lawsuits to make people take crypto off the net so I don't object to that... Now that the patent situation with regard to public key encryption has changed due to the RSA/Cylink split, it appears that the patent which claims to cover all PK encryption has been seriously weakened. There are other PK encryption systems than RSA which are just as good, such as El Gamal or Rabin encryption. Rabin encryption would have the advantage that it could be used with existing RSA keys as long as the modulus is a Blum modulus. PGP at least has always used Blum moduli, perhaps for this eventuality. So an alternative encryption program could use Rabin encryption and work with the existing infrastructure of PGP keys. It would not of course be compatible with PGP for encryption and decryption. This doesn't solve the signature problem; I'm not sure if there is a signature algorithm which could use RSA public keys but which is not covered by the RSA patent. In any case since PGP key certificates use RSA signatures it would not appear to be possible to validate key signatures without infringing on the RSA patents, so that cancels out a lot of the advantages of using existing PGP keys. Hal

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Re: Nazis on the Net
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

E. ALLEN SMITH writes: | (one reason for Hiroshima and Nagasaki being right | was the Japanese alliance with Germany) Was Dresden also right? (more died than at Hiroshima) The firebombing of Tokyo? (10% died in one raid). Stalins execution of his own people? Look at facts, not propoganda, before coming to such conclusions. The conventions of war (namely the aim of keeping civilians out of it, along with good treatment of prisoners) evolved over many centuries, but then come the Brits and the Yanks to destroy it all with their indiscriminate bombing of civilians, using the "they can stop the torture simply by surrendering," and "those bombs saved countless [American/British] lives!" excuses, and directing attention away from their own attrocities by spreading propoganda such as soap made from Jews. Then to direct attention away from themselves even further, the victors judge the defeated at Nuremburg for "war crimes," when the accusors themselves were guilty of terror bombing, the worst war crime of them all. | and the Holocaust (people who claim | it didn't happen are calling my paternal grandfather a liar). Does anybody really claim it did not happen? I doubt it. I assert that those who express doubt over details of the current story (such as the numbers that died in the camps, the existence of gas chambers, or whether Hitler gave an order to systematically kill Jews) are referred to by the media as saying that the Holocaust didn't happen, but that is *not* what they are saying. With regard to your grandfather being liar, that is hard to say without knowing precisly he has said, but if he states that, eg, Dachau was a terrible place, riddled with disease and starvation and terrible conditions, and hundreds of thousands of people died, then who would disagree with him? If on the other hand he asserts that he saw gassed Jews at Dachau, then he is mistaken (although not necessarally a liar.) --- The Nuremberg Trials...had been popular throughout the world and particularly in the United States. Equally popular was the sentence already announced by the high tribunal: death. But what kind of trial was this? ...The Constitution was not a collection of loosely given political promises subject to broad interpretation. It was not a list of pleasing platitudes to be set lightly aside when expediency required it. It was the foundation of the American system of law and justice and [Robert Taft] was repelled by the picture of his country discarding those Constitutional precepts in order to punish a vanquished enemy. U.S. President, John F. Kennedy

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Golden Key Campaign
by Dave Banisar 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

PRESS RELEASE Wednesday, April 24, 1996 URL: http://www.privacy.org/ipc/ Contact: Marc Rotenberg, EPIC, 202/544-9240 Lori Fena, EFF, 415/436-9333 Barbara Simons, USACM 408/463-5661 Kurt Stammberger, RSA, 415/595-8782 ------------------------------------------ INTERNET PRIVACY COALITION FORMED Golden Key Campaign Launched Groups Urge Good Technology for Privacy and Security Senator Burns to Introduce Legislation ------------------------------------------ WASHINGTON, DC -- A new coalition today urged support for strong technologies to protect privacy and security on the rapidly growing Internet. The Internet Privacy Coalition said that new technologies were critical to protect private communications and on-line commerce, and recommended relaxation of export controls that limit the ability of US firms to incorporate encryption in commercial products. Phil Zimmermann, author of the popular encryption program Pretty Good Privacy, expressed support for the effort of the new coalition. "It is time to change crypto policy in the United States. I urge those who favor good tools for privacy to back the efforts of the Internet Privacy Coalition." GOLDEN KEY CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED The Coalition has asked companies and Internet users to display a golden key and envelope to show support for strong encryption technology. Copies of the logo are available at the group's web page on the Internet. According to Lori Fena, director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the purpose of the campaign is to educate the public about new techniques for privacy protection. "Society's feelings about privacy have not changed, only the medium has," said Ms. Fena. US industry has pressed the US government to relax export controls on encryption as consumer demand for software products has increased. They cite the fact that foreign companies have been able to sell strong products in overseas markets that are now restricted for US firms. Jim Bidzos, President and CEO of RSA Data Security, said that US firms continue to face excessive burdens. "Encryption is the key to on-line commerce. Government regulations are simply keeping US firms out of important markets." The Internet Privacy Coalition is the first attempt to bring together a broad base of companies, cryptographers and public interest organizations around the central goal of promoting privacy and security on the Internet and urging relaxation of export controls. Dr. Barbara Simons, chair of the public policy committee of the Association for Computing said, "The broad support for the Golden Key campaign shows that the reform of encryption policy is a shared goal for companies, users, and professional associations." SENATOR BURNS TO INTRODUCE LEGISLATION The Internet Privacy Coalition is being established as Congress considers new legislation to relax export controls on encryption. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) today introduced legislation that would relax export controls on commercial products containing technologies for privacy such as encryption. Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said "We believe that Senator Burns has put forward a constructive proposal. We look forward to working with him to ensure that good tools for privacy and security are widely available to Internet users." Hearings on Senator Burns bill are expected to take place in early June. The proposal has already gathered support from a bipartisan coalition in Congress. For Internet users who are interested in following the debate about encryption policy, the IPC has set up a Web page with information about encryption regulations, court challenges, legislative developments, and organizations and companies involved in the campaign. The Internet Privacy Coalition was established by more than a dozen of the nation's leading cryptographers, and thirty associations, companies, and civil liberties organizations committed to strong privacy and security technology for all users of the Internet. URL: http://www.privacy.org/ipc/ ---------------------------------------------- A KEY, AN ENVELOPE -- Both are historic means for communicating privately and protecting personal information. Today, encryption tools provide this privacy in the electronic world. The Golden Key Campaign is being launched to raise awareness and support for the preservation of the right to communicate privately and the availability of new techniques which make it possible. Privacy, a fundamental human right, has been affirmed by the US Supreme Court, the constitutions and laws of many countries, and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Privacy must be preserved as we move from paper to electronic communications. The Internet Privacy Coalition is urging members of the net community to display a Golden Key & Envelope symbol on their Web pages to show support for the right of privacy and the freedom to use good tools of privacy without government restraints. ----------------------------------------------

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Support for crypto bills is building
by John Gilmore 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

[From FARNET's Washington Update. This is interesting principally for the note about the number of co-sponsors.] SEN. BURNS' ENCRYPTION BILL TO BE INTRODUCED BY END OF NEXT WEEK The third encryption bill aimed at blowing the administration's key-escrow policy out of the water is set for introduction probably late next week. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) will introduce a bill that is similar to both the Leahy and Goodlatte bills already in the Senate and House, respectively. Both prohibit a mandatory key-escrow system for the use of encryption in the United States. Both also significantly lift export restrictions on encryption software and hardware. (Export approval would be granted for any bit length that is already generally available in foreign markets. Current policy restricts the export of encryption hardware or software products with keys greater than 40 bits long.) Hill staff said yesterday that they saw strong support for the encryption bills forming in both houses. Thirty-eight co-sponsors have signed on to the Goodlatte bill in the House so far. The Burns bill is expected to garner the support of Sen. Leahy who also has a bill in the Senate. The House bill has been referred to the Judiciary committee and may be also referred to the House Committee on International Relations. The Senate expects to hold hearings in the Senate Commerce Committee sometime in June. While proponents are working to get the bill(s) passed this year, because of the elections this fall, it will be a tight schedule. Furthermore, the bills' supporters are trying to keep the three pieces of legislation from being referred to any of the intelligence or law enforcement committees where some of the strongest opposition is likely to arise. Strong encryption is generally regarded as extremely important to the success of electronic communications. The Clinton administration's various proposals for strict export restrictions and a mandatory key-escrow system have met with significant opposition from industry, privacy groups and netizens alike. Just this week, a court in California ruled that "source code" for encryption programs is speech, and therefore protected under the First Amendment. The case came at the instigation of a programmer who was forbidden to place his source code for an encryption program that he had developed on the Internet in order to get discussion on its merits from his colleagues. The ruling was just a preliminary step in order to continue with the case. It could, however, clear the way for the overruling of export restrictions on encryption source code.

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Re: [NOISE] Re: Nazis on the Net
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: IN%"wombat(a)mcfeely.bsfs.org" "Rabid Wombat" 23-APR-1996 21:57:59.91 >I'm typing green letters on a black background. All you people with black >characters on a white background should go talk on another 'net. I never said I approved of separatism; I just consider it slightly less evil than racism. It's sort of like the distinction between Chinese censorship of the Net and American (attempted) censorship of the net - both are evil, the American one is just less so because it doesn't go as far. The distinction between racism and separatism isn't as great, admittedly. -Allen

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CO$
by SBinkley＠atitech.ca 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi, lately we have had numerous threads on the CO$, and its threats to remailers, and the such, I am quite interested in the discussions regarding the cult, and want to know if anyone out there knows of a mailing list that deals with it that I can join. /sb

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Majordomo patch will be available
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Here's the information on the majordomo patch to do the confirmation: >Allen, the patch to do this that you asked about is gonna be distributed as >part of the new majordomo beta, and will be freely available. -Allen

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Childporn found in UCSB Dean's Computer
by Hal 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This from my local hometown paper in Santa Barbara. It illustrates the use of search rather than subpoena to collect information in criminal cases, as well as the dangers of having unencrypted files lying about: UCSB dean faces charge of child porn possession by Melissa Grace News-Press Staff Writer UCSB Dean David M. Kohl, under investigation for misues of universify funds, is facing a more embarrassing charge - possession of child pornography. While searching Koh's home for evidence in the investigation into the dean's alleged misuse of about $20,000 in fees charged to students applying to medical schools, campus police discovered photographs in Koh's computer files depicting minors engaging in or simulating sexual conduct. The pictures were downloaded by the 52-year-old professor into his computer from the Internet. his lawyer said Kohl was unaware of the contents until he opened the unsolicited files, which were sent by an Internet user whom Kohl does not know by name. Kohl has no criminal record, and because of that the pornography charge was filed as a misdemeanor, according to the District Attorney's Office. No charges have been filed against Kohl for his possible misuse of university funds. The police found two computer disks, with approximately 15 files containing the sexually explicit, graphic material, said Stanley M. Roden, one of Kohl's lawyers. [...] Roden explained that Kohl had been exploring what are known as chat rooms on America Online when he was approached by another user and asked if he was interested in seeing unspecified files. "David never showed, disseminated, paid for, asked for, or looked at them again," said his attorney. [...] Possession of child pornography locally is an unusual charge according to campus and city police and watchdog groups for the Internet and child pornography laws. "There have been no arrests here for child pornography over the last 10 years," said Santa Barbara Police Department Lt. Nick Katzenstein. The university police department's chief, John L. MacPherson, said he has never before had a complaint about child pornography. I also heard an interview with the lawyer on the radio this morning. He claimed that this would be a "test case" because Kohl had only had the files in the privacy of his own home and never looked at them after realizing what they were. "As soon as he needed a disk, that one would have been erased," he said. It's too bad Kohl didn't use software which automatically and transparently encrypts his floppies. Then they would have tried to subpoena the key, thinking that the floppies might have incriminating info related to the embezzling charge, never dreaming that they contained child porn. That would have been an interesting case. Hal

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Returned mail: User unknown (fwd)
by Moroni 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 15:24:36 -0400 From: Mail Delivery Subsystem <MAILER-DAEMON(a)locrian.scranton.com> To: moroni(a)locrian.scranton.com Subject: Returned mail: User unknown The original message was received at Tue, 23 Apr 1996 15:24:33 -0400 from moroni@localhost ----- The following addresses had delivery problems ----- tc(a)scranton.com (unrecoverable error) X(a)scranton.com (unrecoverable error) ----- Transcript of session follows ----- ... while talking to lydian.scranton.com.: >>> RCPT To:<X(a)scranton.com> <<< 550 <X(a)scranton.com>... User unknown 550 X(a)scranton.com... User unknown >>> RCPT To:<tc(a)scranton.com> <<< 550 <tc(a)scranton.com>... User unknown 550 tc(a)scranton.com... User unknown ----- Original message follows ----- To: tc(a)scranton.com Subject: Returned mail: warning: cannot send message for 4 hours (fwd) From: Moroni <moroni(a)scranton.com> Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 15:24:33 -0400 (EDT) cc: X(a)scranton.com ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 14:57:32 -0400 From: Mail Delivery Subsystem <MAILER-DAEMON(a)locrian.scranton.com> To: moroni(a)locrian.scranton.com Subject: Returned mail: warning: cannot send message for 4 hours ********************************************** ** THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY ** ** YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESEND YOUR MESSAGE ** ********************************************** The original message was received at Tue, 23 Apr 1996 10:44:18 -0400 from moroni@localhost ----- The following addresses had delivery problems ----- tcmay(a)got.net (transient failure) ----- Transcript of session follows ----- tcmay(a)got.net... Deferred: Connection refused by mail.got.net. Warning: message still undelivered after 4 hours Will keep trying until message is 5 days old ----- Original message follows ----- To: tcmay(a)got.net Subject: huh no mail From: Moroni <moroni(a)scranton.com> Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 10:44:16 -0400 (EDT) Tim, I m not getting the mailing list for cypherpunks . This is the second no third time that I know about where entire lists have disappearedon me. One was religoius , but I wrote that off as them not liking my handle. Then I got a notice from the nueron digest that my mail was bouncing back to them and that they were cancelling my sub. That was ok too as I wasn't THAT interested in them .Now my beloved Cypherpunks is not being deliverd to my door(computer)and that hurt (even with the flaming and noise). Have I been left off because I get too much mail to my provider?Is it because I have recently only lurked and added nothing of worth? Anything else? Thanks in Advance moroni

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crypto in .ja (fwd)
by David Lesher 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: X-URL: http://www.us.net/~steptoe/276915.htm > Emerging Japanese Encryption Policy > > By Stewart A. Baker {} > Summary: The emerging Japanese consensus on cryptography This is worth reading for what it says about the US policy, if indirectly. -- A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz(a)nrk.com & no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

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Re: "Separate but equal" as a racist doctrine
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: IN%"tallpaul(a)pipeline.com" 24-APR-1996 03:36:53.30 >For some considerable period of time the doctrine of "separate but equal" >was one of the major racist theories in the U.S. I am quite aware of this; I grew up in the South. In practice, it wasn't seperate but equal; it was separate but unequal. This was the intent of the persons pushing it, which made them racist. (They are also justifiably classified as racist on many other grounds). >People who wish to organize for racist ideology behind this doctrine while >proclaiming they are not racists merely place themselves in the old racist >camp. Their organizing for (and their denials of) racist ideology does not >make them less racist, just less honest. Persons who wish to organize for _racist_ ideology, yes. But assuming that every separatist is actually a racist is about like assuming that everyone on this list is an anarcho-capitalist; while correct in the majority of cases, it isn't correct in all. (You and I are both exceptions, for instance.) -Allen

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Re: [NOISE] Re: Nazis on the Net
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: IN%"richieb(a)teleport.com" "Rich Burroughs" 23-APR-1996 14:15:55.60 >In July, 1986, Fadeley attended the World Aryan Congress at Hayden Lake, >Idaho. During this assembly, Fadeley was introduced to Weaver, who was at >that time of no particular investigative significance to BATF.[FN25]" >Weaver may have just been attending the World Aryan Nations Congress for the >beer and chicks... Yes. For instance, I am a member of the Extropy Institute - but I'm _not_ an anarcho-capitalist, even though that's one of the things that the Institute stands for. >Portions of the report are online at >http://isdn33.eng.uc.edu/~rabagley/ruby/ruby.toc.html However, one reference in this report to Weaver's calling for a meeting to oppose the "Zionist Occupation Government" does provide an argument for calling him a racist of the anti-Semitic variety. On the other hand, the only person claiming this is the FBI's informant; the truth of his statements has been called into doubt. So far as I can tell, it's uncertain. -Allen

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[Fwd: CyberDoctor]
by SBinkley＠atitech.ca 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------6DF66DED67CB Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------Ma rk Buckaway mark(a)uunet.ca +1 800 463 8123 UUNET Canada Technical Support +1 416 368 6621 UUNET Canada Inc. support(a)uunet.ca Internet Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------6DF66DED67CB Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Received: from cicerone.uunet.ca ([142.77.1.11]) by mail.uunet.ca with SMTP id <264090-5>; Tue, 23 Apr 1996 15:26:55 -0400 Received: from ghost.uunet.ca ([142.77.1.100]) by cicerone.uunet.ca with SMTP id <177226-4>; Tue, 23 Apr 1996 15:26:28 -0400 Received: from ghost.uunet.ca ([142.77.1.100]) by ghost.uunet.ca with SMTP id <52805-24166>; Tue, 23 Apr 1996 15:26:22 -0400 Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 15:26:19 -0400 From: Andrew Herdman <andrew(a)ghost.uunet.ca> To: Office Support <office(a)ghost.uunet.ca> Subject: CyberDoctor Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.960423152458.12136F-100000(a)ghost.uunet.ca> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Return-Path: <@cicerone.uunet.ca:andrew@ghost.uunet.ca> X-Mozilla-Status: 0001 This really should have been for funny, but I suspect others might get a chuckle out of it as well. Andrew -------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tatsuhiro Ikeda <ti08+(a)andrew.cmu.edu> Newsgroups: news.admin.misc,pgh.opinion,news.admin.censorship,pgh.config Subject: CyberDoctor: READ THIS! Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 23:20:16 -0400 Organization: Senior, IM - Graphic Communications, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA CyberDoctor, This is from a pirated account at Carnegie Mellon. This was posted without ANYONE's permission or knowledge. I have been watching you activities with keen interest. I am a firm supporter of overthrowing the cabal of UUnet, and admire your bravery in defeating this evil organization. There's something you should know. In 1967, the organization that became known as UUnet was founded by a secret military cabal headed by David Lawrence, formally of the DIA and NSA. I was Lawrence's right-hand man, because of my experiences as the leader of a black operations group in charge of Psychological Warfare in Vietnam. One of our experiments was to, of course, manipulate communications to our advantage. We overthrew anyone who got in our way. In 1968, it was decided by UUnet to start genetic engineering on humans, in an attempt to create the ultimate double agent in censorship activities. We succeeded, and our agents have been surrepticiously implanted in key points all over the Internet. But some of the experiments went awry. I was one of those experiments. Because Lawrence is a meglomaniac who feared being found out by Senate probes, he turned on me. On October 17th, 1971, I was kidnapped against my will by Lawrence's goons. They attempted to brainwash me and injected genes in me that would cause me to censor anything against my will. I escaped before it was too late, and have been posing as a college student among other things for the last 25 years. After deep regression hypnosis, I recalled that one of the genetically engineered human experiments was a person by the name of John Grubor. He failed to fall under our control, and so he was left to die. A competing secret arm of the military revived him and gave him a new identity, as well as erased all his memories. Cyberdoctor, you are that John Grubor, and even worse, you are David Lawrence's bastard son by genetic engineering. This sick twist of fate was partly inspired by the movie, "The Empire Strikes Back", Lawrence's favorite movie of all time. Lawrence knows that you are still alive, no doubt, but he is not concerned. Why? Because in 14 days, 3 hours and 14 minutes, there is a 99.9% probability that your genes will mutate and you will become David Lawrence's identical genetic twin. You will censor and join the UUnet cabal against your free will, and there's nothing you can do. But I can save you. First, why am I breaking the silence? Because Lawrence tried to kill me, and my identity as a Pittsburgher is being blown. I will dissapear after I send this post from this pirated account. I can offer you salvation before I leave, as I have done to other innocent victims of "Operation Genetic Censorship". Go to the corner of Wood and Liberty and wait at the Bus Station at midnight. First be sure to close ALL your email accounts and logoff for good. That will let my agents know you are ready. Wait there, and my men will come and get you. They take you to a lab where they will execute you, but cryogenically freeze your brain until the technology exists to make a new body and replace your genes. I promise it will be painless. We already have 10 people (brains) in stasis cambers. It may sound desparate, but what's worse? Becoming a censor or indefinite stasis? Furthermore, the board has already decided that this must be carried out. No more censors must be born. I am powerless to stop them. I am only making it easy for you to accept. So close your accounts now, and prepare to meet us. It is the only option left. You have no one you can trust, not even yourself. REMEMBER TO CLOSE YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNTS FIRST. In solidarity, Deep Throat --------------6DF66DED67CB--

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Re: ApacheSSL
by Bill Stewart 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 01:50 PM 4/20/96 +0000, umwalber(a)cc.UManitoba.CA wrote: >An ISP that I have ties with is looking to set up a secure server. >Currently, they are running Apache. I told them that for ~$500 they >can put on Apache SSL and be all ready. However, they want to buy >Netscape (for the name, I've already given them the 40bit gospel), >put it on a separate, firewalled machine, allow no access to it, etc, >etc. Is all this paranoia necessary? If they're handling money, then, yes, the paranoia is probably necessary. Aside from the 40-bit vs. 128-bit issue, one of the big security risks of SSL and similar systems is that the server they run on is typically sitting right out there on the Internet waiting for somebody to crack it, and keeping credit card information on the same rather than handing the encrypted information across some secure interface (whether a firewall or dedicated RS232 or whatever.) A bulletproof 128-bit interface doesn't help if it's running on a cracked machine. Putting it on a separate firewalled machine is a Good Thing. # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com, +1-415-442-2215

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Re: CO$
by Jim Byrd 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 03:21 PM 4/23/96 -0400, Scott Binkley wrote: >Hi, lately we have had numerous threads on the CO$, and its threats to >remailers, and the such, I am quite interested >in the discussions regarding the cult, and want to know if anyone out >there knows of a mailing list that deals with it that I can join. There's no particular mailing list, but there is a very active discussion group at alt.religion.scientology. There are numerous web pages, a good place to start is http://www.cybercom.net/~rnewman/scientology/home.html. It has pointers to many other pages. Also, many of the critics (including several who have been raided, sued, or threatened) show up on IRC channel #scientology. Be careful of what you post in alt.religion.scientology, or the cult could start emailing threats to you too.

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Internet Watchdog
by Mark M. 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I found this on the Fringeware mailing list and thought it would be of interest. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 16 Mar 1996 17:58:26 -0600 From: FringeWare Daily <email(a)fringeware.com> Reply-To: Jim Thompson <jim(a)SmallWorks.COM> Subject: 1984 - I'll be watching you Sent from: jim(a)SmallWorks.COM (Jim Thompson) Algorithm Inc. -- WatchDog tracks where Internet users go, what they look at [The Boston Globe, 22-Feb-96, p. 54, by Hiawatha Bray] Ever get the feeling that your computer is watching you? Mine has been keeping an eye on me and I don't much like it. I've been trying out a clever, creepy piece of software called WatchDog that tracks every move I make on my office or home computer. Despite its name, Internet Watchdog doesn't track just on-line activity; it keeps a log of every program running. The program was created by Algorithm Inc. in Atlanta, and is being marketed by Charles River Media in Rockland. I've run Internet WatchDog on my home machine for about a week now, and I have only one problem with the product -- it works. It's a superb piece of software that makes my skin crawl. Blame it one experience. Years ago, I worked at the US Postal Service on an electronic mail sorting machine. In those days, Postal Service managers assumed that all workers were lazy and dishonest. We were constantly watched through video cameras and two-way mirrors to make sure we weren't stealing anything. And computers monitored us at the sorting consoles to make sure we put forth our maximum effort. Programs like Internet WatchDog could bring some of that flavor of paranoia to business offices all over America. But David Pallai, president of Charles River Media, says that's not what he has in mind. Pallai's goal was a less intrusive, more efficient way to monitor the Internet. "We did not believe in censorship or blocking, " Pallai said. Internet blockers like SurfWatch or Cyber Patrol rely on lists of naughty 'Net sites drawn up by a sort of Legion of Decency. It's a job Pallai didn't want. Besides, so many new sites open every day that these blocking programs must be constantly updated, and customers must pay for the privilege. "We decided that what we need is something that monitors, as a telephone bill monitors calls, instead of blocking a program," Pallai said. Internet WatchDog is available in Windows or Macintosh formats. It starts whenever you turn on the computer. You can switch it off, but the program will tell your boss if you do. The boss gets a password that lets him or her read the information that Internet WatchDog has filed away. Internet WatchDog stores a log of every important computer event. It remembers when you turned the machine on, the name of every piece of software you've used and when you used it. Start up your Internet dialer or a copy of Doom, and it's there. Do you occasionally download photos from the Internet? Don't save them on your hard drive. Internet WatchDog searches the drive and lists every file in the GIF and JPEG formats, the most popular way to distribute pictures on the net. So keeping files with names like NEKKID.GIF isn't a smart idea. The slickest, spookiest part of Internet WatchDog is its automatic screen capture. The software keeps count of the changes in pixels - the thousands of tiny glowing dots on your computer screen. If enough of the pixels change, the program knows that some new image has flashed up on your screen. When that happens, it takes a screen snapshot, marks it with the date and time, and files it away. Even if you don't change screens, a snapshot will be taken every 15 minutes. Then the boss can see the same images you've been looking at all day. The program will save up to 10 megabytes of data - more if the boss asks for it. You can go back in time and see exactly what an employer (sic - TT] was doing on his computer on 2:15 last Wednesday. Internet WatchDog has only been on sale for a few weeks, but already, Pallai has gotten lots of feedback. "When I hear from the CEOs, they love it," he said. "When I hear from employees, they hate it." I'll bet. Of course, employers aren't the only ones who can use Internet WatchDog. Pallai is also selling his products to parents and school systems who want to monitor children's use of computers. Indeed, Pallai estimates that about 60 percent of his customers so far have been parents and school systems. Snooping on the kids is fine with me. Children were made to be monitored. It's using this stuff on grown-ups that I don't care for. Even Pallai isn't entirely thrilled. To make Internet WatchDog a little less intrusive, he tweaked some features. For instance, the program doesn't spy on you in secret. It announces its presence when it starts up. Pallai decided not to include a feature that would identify every Internet site you visit. And there's no versions for networks yet - Pallai's not sure he wants a network administrator to look in on every worker's computer anytime he likes. "We were trying not to make it too Big Brotherish," he said. But other firms are selling snoop software designed for network use. Much of it was developed to ensure that workers aren't using pirated programs on the job, but it can also be used to analyze every move you make on your computer. And the rise of the Internet has given companies a big new reason to track corporate computer use. After all, it's the company's machine and the company's time. Your boss has every right to keep an eye on you. Still, it adds an unwelcome hint of paranoia in a world that already has enough to go around. Soon, we may all be staring at our computers, wondering whether they're staring back.

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Re: CO$
by Dana W. Albrecht 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Hi, lately we have had numerous threads on the CO$, and its threats to > remailers, and the such, I am quite interested > in the discussions regarding the cult, and want to know if anyone out > there knows of a mailing list that deals with it that I can join. This isn't really cypherpunks material, but since we *have* had so many threads on the Co$ (for better or for worse), here are some recommended sources of information: (1) Ron Newman's Web Page. http://www.cybercom.net/~rnewman/scientology/home.html (2) Marina Chong's a.r.s. Web Page summary. http://www.cybercom.net/~rnewman/scientology/marina.html (3) The Usenet group alt.religion.scientology. (High volume). I'd recommend visiting (1) first, as it provides excellent background information. (2) provides a good master index to Scientology information (both pro and con) on the net, and provides a good starting point for exhaustive surfing. (3) is the standard discussion group. Hope this helps! And now back to our regularly scheduled crypto discussion... Dana W. Albrecht dwa(a)corsair.com

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Text-based Steganography...
by pcw＠access.digex.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I'll be giving a talk on text-based Steganography this Friday at the Newton Institute in Cambridge, England. 10 am. The talk will discuss how to disguise data as innocuous looking text for all of the usual reason one wants to hide something. -Peter Wayner

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Java, distributed OO revision control
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

in some earlier essays posted here I have been exploring some of the ramifications of Java and the distributed computing model it gives rise to, suggesting that many new standards are on their way to deal with the unique associated programming complexities. here are some more thoughts along this line. Java clearly was designed to allow the integration of objects located anywhere in cyberspace, although this is not yet realized in widespread practice. even as part of the basic standard it proposes a naming hierarchy (i.e. object namespace) that includes internet domain names. the problem of distributed objects is somewhat interesting and I believe will lead to many new advancements but also require many sophisticated new practices on the internet. however, these are the "same problems" that have been repeatedly encountered in the past, just re-rearing their heads in a way that begs for systematic treatment. consider the problem of software that uses a lot of different components built by other people. I create a Widget X that uses Gadget A,B,C, all of these being different pieces of code maintained by other people somewhere on the net. each of these pieces of code may go through revisions that make earlier conventions obsolete, or worse yet, introduce unexpected bugs. this is a very basic problem of software development whether you are within a company or within cyberspace, but it is going to become far more prevalent once distributed objects are in place. how can we deal with this complexity? == one idea that occurs to me that would be very powerful in tackling these problems would be a "distributed object oriented revision control system", DOORCS. many here are familiar with revision control systems that work on program files. what I imagine is a RCS that allows individual objects to be checked in and checked out, and keeps track of earlier versions of objects. let's say then that I write my Widget X. I could "freeze" the versions of the objects A,B,C that I want to use if each of these designers was using the DOORCS-- they commit to keeping earlier versions of their code in place so that my own code is stable. this is *not* the same as me copying their code into my own directories, which is highly undesirable from the point of view of development, because it forks off the lines of geneology. hence when my code runs, it names the version of the objects that it is using over the network. so when people create new versions of objects, my code is guaranteed stable. all kinds of interesting embellishments on this system can be put in place that might allow automation of software jobs and chores that take a very long time in our current system, some of which I will describe. imagine the problem of some code being revised, and the designer must spend time integrating the new changes into his system. what I propose would be that when people create objects, they also include an "intention" field that indicates things like: 1. how long this version is likely to stick around, if new versions are in the pipeline 2. how long this version will be kept around after new versions of the object are created, i.e. "expiration date" 3. whether new versions is/are going to be backward compatible this kind of information could be in fact applied on a method-per-method basis. now imagine that I run a program associated with my Widget X called "update". this program goes out into the object hierarchy and notifies me of new versions of my objects that are in existence. it might automatically adjust versions to new versions of the objects if they are supposed to be "backward compatible". it could tell me things like "so-and-so object that you are using is going to be replaced in [x] days", or "so-and-so version was replaced with a newer version". with this kind of information, combined in ingenious ways, I can actually measure the overall "stability" of my program based on the "stability" of all the parts. I can actually make design decisions about using different objects "out there" that are likely to be more stable, if that is my preference, or more "state-of-the-art" but buggy (the basic tradeoff going on here). now, here is where the fun can really begin. when all of these systems are formalized and standardized, you can write software that automates some of the very difficult tasks that many programmers face. I would wager the majority of time spent in large programming tasks is dedicated to some basic problems: 1. regression testing. adding new components and making sure the "whole" still works when you add new parts (objects). 2. locating bad modules when a regression test fails. imagine that these time consuming processes that take days of the lives of programmers could be *automated*! that is precisely what I am proposing would be possible with a very good DOORCS. here's how it would work: a person that creates an object also creates "assertions" or regression tests built into the object. these tests are run to make sure they pass for some version of all the objects that this object comprises. these assertions should be code that can be run with an exit status of "code passed" or "code failed". now, when new versions of the other objects are created, an automated "packager" could test the new versions of code automatically, and also isolate bad versions of the new objects that aren't backward compatible or introduce new bugs (i.e. "regress"). the automated "tester" would be similar to a binary search algorithm: it would start by adding all new modules, and then running the regression tests. if it passes, the new modules are considered trustworthy. if it fails, it can switch back and forth between previous and new versions of the modules, rerunning the regression tests, and automatically find the bad modules possibly very rapidly!! I claim that this is exactly what programmers often spend many of the hours in their day doing, and an automated means of doing this could possibly be quite revolutionary. furthermore, adding the "distributed" aspects of associated with cyberspace, and you have a sort of "holographic programming environment" in which everyone on the Net effectively becomes a cooperative programmer in the same company!! == now, consider some other interesting problems. often people have different ideas about where they want code to "go" in the future. a DOORCS system might actually track the geneology of a piece of code, and allow anyone, not merely the original creator, to create a new "branch" of development of any object on the net. viewed in this way, we have a sort of "object commune" in which everyone contributes what they want to the development of software, and it simply moves in the directions that are decided by mass consensus. you might have "breakings" and "mergings" as people diversify and unify different algorithms. anyone can decide to use any version of the object in the existing tree, or modify it accordingly. in fact this creates a sort of "software breeding ground" in which different objects are crossed, intermixed, and combined by programmers, the trees or geneology of which are tracked by the DOORCS. one concept to bring out in all this: what I am proposing is also a hierarchical method of revision control in which the granularity of control is very narrow, i.e. that of individual objects. it is this granularity or resolution that allows all the neat tricks and very streamlined version management. (today, most companies do RCS on the level of entire programs or files in those programs, which would not fully support all of these capabilities I've delineated.) in the view I am proposing, every piece of software is an "object" composed of other "objects". these objects all have their own versions, and some fixed combination of these versions, plus additional modifications can be named a unique version of the encompassing object. also, I like the idea of every object having a "maintainer" or an email address of where to send bug reports to. it seems that I am eternally finding bugs in other people's software when I try to write my own software, and in some ways this is an impossible fate to avoid (users invariably become bug finders). at least this way I would have somewhere to complain to. an object might actually store all of the bug reports or enhancements that have been sent to it from the net, and when the maintainer goes to modify that object, he can automatically call up all the associated comments! the maintainer may even find that various enhancements have already been added to his objects by others "out there" and he might take the task of "authorizing" (i.e. integrating into his "official" version) all the ones he finds most relevant and useful to his software. note that some of the things I am proposing can be handled by inheritance properties in language, and there is some similarity, but I don't consider current concepts of inheritance in general the proper mechanism for dealing with revision control, although it may be that new concepts of "inheritance" that combine it with the above revision control ideas find their way into languages. note also that I am very explicitly abandoning the idea that some programmers have, "if someone's new software doesn't work, then they should fix it, and not distribute buggy software". the whole concept and premise here is that BUGGY SOFTWARE EXISTS and cannot necessarily be detected by the PRODUCER of that software, and that a system ought to be devised in which the CONSUMER can have total freedom over what versions of the software he uses based on his own perceptions of its value or bugginess. the more that bugs and program development are seen as an inherent part of the process, the more beneficial the overall system in my view. == (there will be many people who object to all this as fantasy based on MONEY. "who will pay for it??" ask the unimaginative. I don't want to get into the economics of all this in this paper, only to say that I did explore this in an earlier paper, where I said that microcurrency combined with per-use-charges on objects could lead to a very interesting "vending machine software environment".) while all of these ideas may sound "pretty but unnecessary" at this moment, I think they will be seen as increasingly critical when distributed objects begin to catch hold on the Internet with the Java paradigm. many programs such as Makefiles were invented for the sole purpose of dealing with the associated complexity of programming, not the programming itself, and I think this trend will be continuing. increasingly, programming environments are not merely going to be programming languages, which is a very minor part of program development, but entire systems for the development of code. many programmers tend to oppose these new systems, insisting that "I could do all that by hand in the old days". but they really will save tremendous labor if done properly, and not create new limitations and burdens but instead give new freedoms and options to the programmer,

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Re: EYE_suk
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Responding to msg by adam(a)lighthouse.homeport.org (Adam Shostack) on Tue, 23 Apr 2:26 PM >Isn't the CIA forbidden from doing anything on US soil? Probably the CIA officers are linguists or analysts, maybe even cryptographers, who will be doing that they do at Langley and other US stations: processing foreign (non-US-citizen) intelligence coming into the country from a variety of sources. These roles would fit this paragraph of the article: To keep tabs on such potential foreign threats, around 25 CIA officers will be stationed alongside officers from the Defense Intelligence Agency the National Security Agency, and the FBI at an "all-source" intelligence command post to be established at an undisclosed location in the Atlanta area. Any CIA officers or agents or contractors here want to comment, top secretly? We're all compartmentalized, yes?

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Re: [NOISE] Re: Nazis on the Net
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: IN%"richieb(a)teleport.com" "Rich Burroughs" 23-APR-1996 17:19:45.60 >On Tue, 23 Apr 1996, E. ALLEN SMITH wrote: >[snip] >> However, one reference in this report to Weaver's calling for a meeting >> to oppose the "Zionist Occupation Government" does provide an argument for >> calling him a racist of the anti-Semitic variety. On the other hand, the >> only person claiming this is the FBI's informant; the truth of his >> statements has been called into doubt. >I'm sure it has been. That doesn't mean his report is untrue. Is the >standard of proof the same for both of these issues? We need proof to >establish that Weaver is a racist, but not to establish that the FBI >informant is lying? I require a higher standard of proof for worse accusations. I consider calling someone a racist a worse insult than calling them a liar. Furthermore, that this is an FBI _informant_ is a strike against the person to begin with in terms of trustworthiness. >Separatist/supremacist... I don't see much difference between them, and I >believe the former is largely just a cover story for the latter. Weaver >is no hero, IMHO, though I believe the govt. fucked up big at Ruby Ridge. I don't approve of either separatists or supremacists; I just see the former as not quite as evil as the latter. Calling Weaver a supremacist is most common among the organizations that seem to believe that such actions as at Ruby Ridge are just fine, so long as they are against their enemies; it appears to be a public relations ploy (although the evidence is admittedly uncertain). I don't call Weaver a hero, either, but the most evil ones at Ruby Ridge were the governmental types. -Allen

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Re: Nazis on the Net
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: IN%"nobody(a)REPLAY.COM" 23-APR-1996 18:33:53.11 [Neo-nazi holocaust revisionist bullshit deleted] My grandfather was among the people collecting the documents used at Nurenburg, and among those organizing the documents in question that were used in the trials. Look in the records for the Paris Documents Center, and you'll see his name - William H. Smith. (He would have been a major or a lieutenant colonel at the time, I believe). Anyone who tries to deny that the Holocaust happened - by which I mean that the Nazi government, probably with the complicity of the German people, comitted mass genocide, rape, and torture - is a fanatic, a moron, an ignoramus, or some combination of the above. It would have been better if the atomic bomb had been ready in time to use against Germany and Stalinist Russia. -Allen

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RISKS: Java security/privacy bug
by stevenw＠best.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From RISKS: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Apr 96 17:37:54 +0200 From: goldstei(a)iamexwi.unibe.ch (TERMINATOR) Subject: Java security/privacy bug We have found a privacy/security bug in the Java implementation of the Netscape Navigator. It is very easily possible for an applet to find out the pathname of the directory in which the Netscape Navigator was started. This information could then be sent back to a CGI program for logging. Clearly this information should not be available to an applet, as is indicated by the fact that applets are prevented from reading the "user.home" and "user.dir" system properties. When the Netscape Navigator is run under the Windows 95 OS, the pathname usually does not contain any critical information. However, when the Navigator is run under a multi-user network OS, such as UNIX, the pathname often contains the e-mail and/or login name of the user. In addition, the pathname might reveal details about the topology of the user's network, which an experienced hacker might be able to exploit. There are two ways to protect yourself from this problem: Either start up the Netscape Navigator in a directory whose pathname does not reveal any critical information, or disable Java altogether (Options | Security Preferences | General). A system administrator can protect his network by configuring the HTTP proxy server not to retrieve Java ".class" files. This bug is present in at least the following versions of the Navigator: 2.0 2.01 3.0b2 2.0GoldB1 2.01Gold and in the implementations for at least the following platforms: SunOS 4.1.2, 4.1.3, 4.1.4 SunOS 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 Windows 95, Windows NT IRIX 5.2, 5.3 HP-UX A.0903, A.0905 Linux 1.2.10, 1.2.13 FreeBSD 2.1.0-RELEASE OSF1 V3.2 We have not tested whether this bug also exists in Sun's HotJava browser. We will release full details of the bug as soon as Sun and Netscape have issued patches which fix the problem. Full details have been sent to Sun and Netscape. This announcements has also been posted to the "comp.lang.java" newsgroup and has been sent to CERT. Daniel Abplanalp and Stephan Goldstein (goldstei(a)iamexwi.unibe.ch) Berne, Switzerland ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Weller | Weller's three steps to Greatness: | 1. See what others cannot | 2. Think what others cannot stevenw(a)best.com | 3. Express what others cannot

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Re: PEP Announcement (fwd)
by rah＠shipwright.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hey, Amos! Talk to me about using your spiffy chain-remailing script button with the new Eudora... It asks me for a directory in an open box now, and urps... Cheers, Bob ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "If they could 'just pass a few more laws', we would all be criminals." --Vinnie Moscaritolo The e$ Home Page: http://thumper.vmeng.com/pub/rah/

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Cashless Society and the Coming Collapse
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

http://www.jcave.com/~whedonr/news2.htm The Cashless Society The October 31 issue of Information Week featured an article on the October 13 acquisition of Intuit Inc. by Microsoft Corporation for 1.5 billion dollars. Their vision is to create a world where all financial transaction are performed electronically. "Microsoft's vision of the future is clearly a world in which the majority of consumer and business transactions will take place online". Other companies are also rushing to enter the electronic transaction market place. Soon, there will simply be no need for cash, everything will be done on line. Automatic debits and credits from your bank and credit accounts will be performed in a few milliseconds. You will be able to purchase nearly anything in the world from your home via the electronic transaction. (Since the original writing of this article, Microsoft did not receive approval to make this merger with Intuit. However, the vision of Microsoft stays the same). America is already now seeing a widespread use of the "intelligent" smart cards. These cards are being used for telecommunications, medical information purchases, identification, and more. Western Union now offers a smartcard that you can purchase to make long distance telephone calls. The military has been issuing smartcards for some time now to all of it's personnel. California is issuing smartcards to all recipients of state benefits, including Social Security and welfare benefits. The federal government is considering plans to implement a smartcard for it's 3.1 million members for payroll purposes. This proliferation of smartcards has not been without it's perceived benefits. However, this new technology has created another problem, namely security. The security offered by the smartcard is not sufficient. Fraud, theft and abuse of smartcard technology has prompted for many officials to call for a more secure and personal means of transactions. A single card, useable anywhere in the world is being considered. But even this presents problems with the issue of security and privacy. An improvement on smartcard technology is now being formulated. For several years, microchips have been tested in animals to learn their effects, efficiencies and drawbacks. This technology is now perfected for use in humans. Instead of carrying several different types of smartcards, credit cards and identification, we are soon to be offered a single implanted chip that can contain information about us that anybody ever needs to know. Not until the last few years, has technology advance to the point where implantation of a microchip was possible within human flesh. This is a fulfillment of prophecy, for the Bible says "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead" (Rev. 13:16). Only very recently has technology made it possible to make such a mark in human flesh. With the widespread usage of computers and databases, tracking individuals and every financial transaction has now become a reality. These tiny chips are already being produced by the millions and millions today for a variety of electronic devices, including smartcards. We are on the verge of having these chips implanted in every human being. Are you prepared to take your mark? The Coming Collapse Another deceptive lie being propagated by the government and the media is our economy. The rate of unemployed workers in this country is being reported to us at only 3%. However, many private sources of information have this number much higher, closer to 9-10%. Some goes so far as to say unemployement is really 20%! Our government cannot afford the bad publicity of a recession. Statistics prove that nearly every major corporation has been downsizing staff by the thousands and thousands. Nearly 1 million positions have been abolished since the first of the year. Yet in the face of all this, our government continues to tell us that our economy is booming. Our federal deficit is also much higher then is being commonly reported. Deficit spending under President Clinton is at an all time high. Simply put, our nation cannot afford to continue on it's present course of overspending. In a report presented to President Reagan, a commission of 31 Congressmen stated that the United States would experience a financial collapse by the year 2012. Some forecasted that this coming collapse would happen by the year 2005. Consumer debt in America is the highest consumer debt in the history of the world, bar none. Many Americans live off of credit cards, always getting deeper and deeper into debt. The media portrays a fictitious world where we can "afford" anything. And if we don't want to "buy, buy, buy", then we are somehow dysfunctional or inadequate. The average American family has to work two jobs just to make ends meet. While our purchasing power continues to decline for every dollar we earn, there's always something new to buy. We are beset by self centeredness, self grandizement and narcissistic "needs". In a never ending downward spiral, we chase the holy grail of material wealth, urged on by the prophets of the press. Financial ruin, broken families, despair, hopelessness and stress related disease are often the end results. Thousands turn to alternate realities, including drugs, alcohol, adulterous relationships and other means of "release" from these financial pressures. America has been teetering on the brink of a financial disaster, unparalleled in human history. Efforts to avoid this collapse include the establishment of a new monetary system, including the issuing of new money. Currently, entire caravans of this newly minted money are being distributed around the country. A national and international recall of $100 dollar bills was proposed by Senators Patrick Leahy and John Kerry. This recall may quite possibly trigger the greatest financial collapse the world has ever seen. This financial collapse could be triggered overnight when mass panic, fear and distrust in the new monetary system becomes widespread.

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Re: RISKS: Compuserve "secure" login
by Bill Stewart 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Date: Thu, 04 Apr 1996 19:34:12 +0200 >From: Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein <eggenste(a)noether.informatik.uni-dortmund.de> >Subject: CompuServe's "secure login protocol": two steps forward, one back >Summary: a new CompuServe Information Service (CIS) logon protocol was >designed to prevent passive and active attacks (where the attacker >impersonates a CompuServe node) but a flawed implementation in the >WinCIM 2.0(.1) client software still allows active attacks. ... > .... HR=UR=MD5(S|Z|RA|RB|S) .... >I notified CIS about these weaknesses and I was informed that they are >"fixed" now, no details were given about the fix (source: Britta Herbst, >German customer support (11111.754(a)compuserve.com)) ... >I think this a good example how to half-ruin a good protocol by embedding it >into carelessly written code. In addition to the posted weaknesses (which were mainly implementation issues), there's another major problem with this - it means that the user's passwords have to be stored on the Host machine (or an authentication server) in _plaintext_, rather than storing a hash (e.g. like Unix passwords.) This means that if the host's password file is cracked, the entire system loses. You can do a little better than this by having the password file encrypted with a key which the login process / authentication server has, requiring theft/cracking of that key (difficult) as well as theft of the password file; the encryption could either be a symmetric-key system or public-key if you're willing to spend the decryption time, which CompuServe probably isn't. A couple years ago I found an obvious application of Diffie-Hellman which avoids this problem; unfortunately it turned out to be patented by someone from Siemens (first as a German patent and then a US patent, so it's definitely too much trouble to try to overturn the patent...) The basic approach is to use a commutative hash function, which lets both sides calculate HA(B) == HB(A) ; modular exponentiation worked fine. Of course, if you're allowing active attacks, there's always session hijacking... # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com, +1-415-442-2215

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Militias, reputation capital, unfounded rumor-mongering, and the DNS
by Rich Graves 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Anatomy of a paranoid troll: http://fight-censorship.dementia.org/fight-censorship/dl?thread=FBI+monitor… Someone sent a message to Declan alleging that the FBI, with the cooperation of ISPs, was reading/disrupting/censoring the email of people interested in "patriot" movements. Declan said hmm, I can see the FBI doing that, and forwarded the message to fight-censorship. I pointed out that the story was complete bullshit, which is easily verified (yvv.com's incompetence in managing their DNS affects all users, including postmaster(a)yvv.com, not just the paranoid), but evidently my reputation capital on the moderated fight-censorship list is so low that instead of my objections, subscribers to the fight-censorship list got to read another, more paranoid rant. I do not expect this story to die, even though it's completely false -- it's too good. The meme in the subject line is awfully strong, lots of people won't take the time to read more than the title, and who really listens to a FUCKING STATIST anyway. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction, but seldom in the way you think. -rich

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Re: You have been deleted
by attila 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

To: Black Unicorn <unicorn(a)schloss.li> From: attila <attila(a)primenet.com> Reply-To: attila <attila(a)primenet.com> Subject: Re: "You have been deleted" Addressed to: Black Unicorn <unicorn(a)schloss.li> Tim May <tcmay(a)got.net> ** Reply to note from Black Unicorn <unicorn(a)schloss.li> 04/24/96 03:01am -0400 = On Tue, 23 Apr 1996, Timothy C. May wrote: = = > its route and landed on my hill, abducting me for medical experiments I am = > too embarrassed to describe (except that Chelsea was also involved). I am = > back now, albeit subtly changed (for the better). = = That a medical experiment including Chelsea could improve a man is beyond = the bounds of reason. = = Mr. May, are you making this up? = attila sez: Not necessarily. it may be speculation or wishful thinking on the part of Chelsea, or even Bubba and Hillary. -- Obscenity is a crutch for inarticulate motherfuckers. Fuck the CDA! cc: Tim May <tcmay(a)got.net> Cypherpunks <cypherpunks(a)toad.com>

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Anonymous banking
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Speaking of the below information, what is anonymous banking like in Austria, Colombia, Venezuela, and Thailand? -Allen >Copyright 1996 Nando.net >Copyright 1996 Reuter Information Service >VIENNA (Apr 24, 1996 11:18 a.m. EDT) - The United Nations, fighting a >rearguard action against illegal drugs and money laundering, on Wednesday >turned its fire on sloppy banking laws and called on all states to ban a>nonymous accounts. [...] >Experts say anonymous bank accounts are a safe haven for drugs money and >are an ideal vehicle for laundering cash. >They say the drugs trade must be attacked at its roots by cracking down on >transfers of narcotics-based "dirty money." [...] >Drug barons use a number of ruses including anonymous bank accounts and >specially set up front businesses, such as restaurants, to channel large >sums of money and obscure its origins. The money comes out "clean," or >laundered. >Helmut Butke, who chaired the meeting of the 53-member Commission of >Narcotic Drugs, said the United States was the main sponsor of the >resolution which seeks to streamline and increase international cooperation >against money laundering. >The draft resolution, which was shown to Reuters, "urges states to prohibit >banks and other financial institutions from offering accounts identified >only by a number, anonymous accounts or accounts in obviously false names." >It also urges states "to take all reasonable measures to ensure that such >institutions are informed of the identities of beneficial customers in all >transactions." [...] >Austria, the only country in the EU which allows anonymous bank accounts, >was adamant its current legislation did not run counter to the resolution. [...] >The Vienna government is clinging on to its banking system, saying the >accounts were useless for money laundering as they do not extend to >deposits over 200,000 schillings ($19,000). >But Washington last year ranked Austria alongside Colombia, Venezuela and >Thailand in a league table of nations that tolerate money laundering.

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Re: arbiter/escrow agent for hire
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: IN%"bryce(a)digicash.com" 24-APR-1996 10:05:20.14 >1. Acceptable digital signature upon the "bet statement" >from each bettor. (Note that PGP signatures from PGP key >pairs which are not connected to me via the Web of Trust, or >which are not verifiable by me via an out-of-band >connection, are not acceptable digital signatures. This is >because of the MITM attack problem, not because I need True >Names to be connected to the signatures.) IIRC, currently Black Unicorn doesn't have any signatures on his public key of others. Therefore, this requirement, while understandable, could cause a bit of a difficulty in the current situation. >3. Amount of the bet from each bettor. This chunk of money >will be known as the "ante". Note that depending upon the >details of the "bet statement", each bettor may submit a >different ante. (Yes, up front. Yes, I get antes from both >bettors. Yes, I keep them while the bet is being settled. >Why do you think my fee is so low?) Chuckle. -Allen

8 15

Kill Files
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 2:04 PM 4/24/96, s1113645(a)tesla.cc.uottawa.ca wrote: >One must note that capital punishment is an excellent means of >unsuvscription. > > >(Ps. Just joking, Jason or whoever you are.) On a serious note, I hereby predict that the term "kill file" will soon be picked up by the clueless media and/or Congress as a sign that the Internet is dangerous. (I'm sure it already has been used as a negative, but I'm predicting a more visible focus on this term, however briefly. To the average American, it conjures up images closely related to Jim Bell's ideas!) I had one of our "unsubscrive" newbies asking me what I meant by "putting him in my kill file," and saying he was planning to let his site manager know about "your threat." --Tim Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: Nazis on the Net
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: IN%"tallpaul(a)pipeline.com" 24-APR-1996 00:24:46.89 >> It would >>have been better if the atomic bomb had been ready in time to use against >>Germany and Stalinist Russia. >It was ready "in time" to use against "Stalinist Russia" (which, BTW, was >Stalinist "Soviet Union,"). It was not ready to use against the USSR/Russia (as should probably be evident from current nationalist movements in the non-Russian portions of the USSR, Russia tended to dominate that union) before the USSR was an ally of the United States. (I refer you to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact between the USSR and Nazi Germany.) After the war, they were still tied by various agreements; by the time that it became obvious that Russia had broken those agreements, it had nuclear weapons and an attack would have been suicidal. -Allen

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Re: Meta: The Arguing about the Terms of the Wager Continues
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 2:07 PM 4/24/96, jamesd(a)echeque.com wrote: >At 11:45 PM 4/23/96 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote: >> And so the back-and-forth continues...taking up even more list space >> arguing, waffling, finessing, rebutting, disputing, and on an on. >> >> Exactly as several of us have predicted. > >True, but one should note that it is Jim Bell that is weaseling, >and that Unicorn is not weaseling. It doesn't matter too much who's mainly to blame--the result is the same. And game-theory-wise, there is little incentive to quickly push the wager to a well-defined final state. These "bets" are largely tail-feather displays, anyway, so the posturing and weaseling serves the purpose of one or more of the parties. Which is precisely why these bets take up so much list bandwidth. On the Extropians list, during the last few months I was on it, a huge fraction of the list traffic was devoted to such arguments (along with "pending court cases" involving one party filing charges against another, searches for mediators, countersuits, judgments, arguments about punishments, and on and on). Frankly, I thought that Black Unicorn claimed to have seen the error of his ways (in terms of debating with Bell) and was going to stop? --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: [NOISE] Re: Nazis on the Net
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: IN%"bryce(a)digicash.com" 24-APR-1996 06:43:13.96 >For what it's worth, Webster's defines: >rac.ism \'ra--.siz-*m\ \-s*st\ n 1: a belief that race is > the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and > that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of > a particular race 2: RACIALISM - rac.ist n [...] >Thus no two of "racists", "separatists" and "race-haters" >would be identical sets of people. ? >But with a high degree of overlap, I'd warrant. Fully agreed. I don't dispute that most people calling themselves separatists are racists; it's just that I'd prefer not to call someone a racist who isn't one.... just as I'd prefer not to call a liberal a Communist unless they are one. (Communist referring to the whole dictatorship of the proletariat business, not just state socialism - the former, which is not classical Marxism, is where the abuses of rights other than private property come in). >This means that Abraham Lincoln was a racist, by the way. Abraham Lincoln is one reason I _don't_ use the above definition; by mine, he'd be a separatist (wanted to move Blacks to Liberia, if I recall correctly). I trust that everyone involved in this discussion (with the exception of the neo-Nazi) would agree that Abraham Lincoln was better than those in the South who wanted to keep blacks enslaved? >(That definition isn't too good, though. "_The_ primary >determinant"? I would have to classify as racist those who >believe that race is _a_ primary determinant of those >qualities.) The definition is bad enough that I checked a concise OED for comparison; see the results and my commentary below. >Sorry to be off-topic, but if a thing is going to be >discussed I might as well try to add signal. (The "[NOISE]" >tag that I left in the subject line doesn't indicate noise, >but off-topicness.) Perhaps we could just drop the >"Cc: cypherpunks" part and continue this discussion? Thank you. The dropping of the cc:cypherpunks part would be rather inconvenient. This phenomenon is one reason that I'd like to see a list server capable of setting up mini-lists on demand, easily. >Concise Oxford Dictionary, 8th Ed., Copyright 1991 Oxford Univ. Press >/racism/ <<"reIsIz(@)m>> n. >1. > a. a belief in the superiority of a particular race; prejudice based on > this. > b. antagonism towards other races, esp. as a result of this. >2. the theory that human abilities etc. are determined by race. This has some differences from the Webster definition, specifically the inclusion of prejudice as a definer. The latter definition is silly. It is scientifically well-proven that different races have different physical attributes - blacks tend to have higher blood pressures, for instance. Is this definition saying that believing what is known is racism? Of course, with this definition I can see why Herrnstein and Murray keep being called racists. (Incidentally, I don't believe they are correct regarding the genetic component of intelligence as having a racial correlation - the existing (and unfortunate) environmental differences are a perfectly adequate explanation. Unfortunately, we can't tell the existence or non-existence of such differences until the genes affecting intelligence are significantly better understood; until then, the most pragmatic assumption is the lack of any such difference, given the lack of any obvious evolutionary cause for it. In other words, I call _The Bell Curve_ mistaken in its conclusions on race - not racist. Incindentally, I also believe that such differences are environmental for the emotional reason that I would be very uncomfortable believing otherwise. I don't think this is biasing my evaluation of the science, however.) Both of these definitions involve "superior" and "superiority"; I thus also looked this up. >/superior/ <<su:"pI@rI@(r)>>, <<sju:->>, <<sU->> adj. & n. >adj. >1. in a higher position; of higher rank ("a superior officer"; "a superior > court"). >2. > a. above the average in quality etc. ("made of superior leather"). > b. having or showing a high opinion of oneself; supercilious ("had a > superior air"). >3. (often foll. by "to") > a. better or greater in some respect ("superior to its rivals in speed"). > b. above yielding, making concessions, paying attention, etc. ("is > superior to bribery"; "superior to temptation"). I don't think anyone would disagree that blacks are currently (and unfortunately) in a lower position in US society overall. Moreover, the 2nd and 3rd part of the definition make "racism" as defined above a rather over-inclusive term. For instance, it would call any scientist who does a study and finds lower IQs among members of some race a racist. Such differences are well-known to exist, and (as I state above) are probably environmental in origin. In other words, unless one makes the "prejudice" and/or "antagonism" parts mandatory (in which case it would be narrower than my definition of racist, which essentially hinges on definite prejudice existing), the Webster definition of racism is over-inclusive by any reasonable standard. -Allen

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Crypto Software Review Wanted
by Travis Hassloch x231 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

There's a ton of only semi-organized stuff out there. I would like structured info... more that just a filename, without having to install it myself, etc... Review of the packages would be real nice. PS: I heard CFS requires having NFS installed (ick!) and someone mentioned this opens you up to "portmapper assisted attacks"... I've avoided NFS and RPC until now so I don't know... does this have any credibility? Will I have to install a firewall to protect NFS just so I can use CFS to encrypt on disk? :) CC me in the replies please, since I'm not on the list... although I might get on coderpunks if the volume is small. Hmm, I just noticed the cypherpunks-ratings list, I wonder if this is what I'm looking for... too bad it doesn't have a description or an info file. -- travis(a)evtech.com | Virtual Reality Bites | P=NP if (P=0 or N=1) There's a thin line between an email message and its signature.

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The Iron Mountain Report
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Some years ago the federal government set up a special [inaudible] group. For two-and-a-half years they met in secret at Iron Mountain, New York. Their findings were called "Report from Iron Mountain on the Possibility and Desirability of Peace." Their document, by some of the leading thinkers, was suppressed. Later, it was printed in a limited edition, with the *names* removed. Some were shocked by what they read. Throughout history, permanent peace was dangerous to established governments. War, and the threat of war, are the principal organizing force for most societies. They divert attention from *other* economic and political problems. War keeps the factories going, wasting government manpower and material that would otherwise be of surplus. Peace brings unemployment, the collapse of prices of goods and property, and knocks down the government. In simple terms, war prevents [economic] depression. (By the way, sooner or later, whatever nation loses a war is overthrown. So it has been all the centuries. The American ruling circles lost the Vietnam War. The aftermath is bound to scatter the rulers to the winds.) As the report says, in Europe, over the years, the typical standing army consisted of troops unfit for employment in commerce, industry or agriculture, led by officers unfit to practice any legitimate profession or to conduct a business enterprise. A large standing army is a form of social welfare program; a form of control of the population. War, and the threat of war, keep all levels of society busy. The newspapers are kept rich reporting it. Pundits are employed to mouth off. Wars speed up so-called scientific development. War goods do not have to show a profit or be the lowest price. In permanent peace there are vast cutbacks in research and development. And yes, wars kill off surplus population; young men with no good job waiting for them. The [Iron Mountain] report points out that the war system makes stable government of society possible. The end of war means the end of national sovereignty. Without an identified enemy, why would the CIA have a large secret budget to assassinate political leaders and overthrow other governments the White House does not like? To promote their secret agenda, the CIA has taken over a part of the savings and loan system to funnel men and money for "dirty tricks" here and overseas. The CIA likewise manipulates the federal bankruptcy courts to grab up companies for use as covert action fronts. In Chicago, this is done with the help of foreign intelligence agencies, such as Mossad. Chicago bankruptcy trustee William A. Brand (sp?) jr. is a top honcho of the CIA and other spy shops. In the name of national security, the mass media have been *ordered* to "soft pedal" or "stay shut" about spy agencies doing such things. The CIA involvement in bankruptcy court should have made headlines as the number one item on the evening TV news. Yet not one word is said by the liars and whores of the press. Play it again: Fermilab and weather modification. (312) 731-1505. New message Monday; we change it several times a week. Donations appreciated. Citizens' Committee to Clean Up the Courts, 9800 S. Oglesby (sp?), Chicago, 60617. For the latest on courts, banks, espionage agencies, political assassinations and the news media. On 24 hours.

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Re: Nazis on the Net
by tallpaul＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Apr 23, 1996 19:44:00, '"E. ALLEN SMITH" <EALLENSMITH(a)ocelot.Rutgers.EDU>' wrote: [misc. material against holocaust revisionism snipped] > > It would >have been better if the atomic bomb had been ready in time to use against >Germany and Stalinist Russia. > -Allen > It was ready "in time" to use against "Stalinist Russia" (which, BTW, was Stalinist "Soviet Union,"). Both your sense of history and geography continue to be deficient. --tallpaul PS: Since T.C. May and others wrote of the atomic bomb being used in the Pacific theater I see no reason however why E.A. Smith can't discuss the bomb in Europe. And, when I asked about the cypherpunk relevance to the Bell/May concern over atomic weapons I was told it was relevant because the Japanese Purple Code was involved. I infer that the new discussion on Europe is equally relevant to cypherpunks because of Enigma and VERONA.

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Re: Golden Key Campaign
by Hal 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: "Dave Banisar" <banisar(a)epic.org> > WASHINGTON, DC -- A new coalition today urged support for strong technologies > to protect privacy and security on the rapidly growing Internet. The Internet > Privacy Coalition said that new technologies were critical to protect private > communications and on-line commerce, and recommended relaxation of export > controls that limit the ability of US firms to incorporate encryption in > commercial products. > > Phil Zimmermann, author of the popular encryption program Pretty Good Privacy, > expressed support for the effort of the new coalition. "It is time to change > crypto policy in the United States. I urge those who favor good tools for > privacy to back the efforts of the Internet Privacy Coalition." I see that a lot of good people are involved in this, and it sounds like a worthwhile cause. But I have one thing I want to get off my chest. (Long time list readers will know that this is one area where I have trouble being completely rational.) The thing that worries me when I put crypto software up at my site is not the export restrictions. I can make people click a button promising that they are USA citizens or otherwise legal. A lot of other people do it and while it might get me into trouble eventually I think it demonstrates good faith. (There has also been some discussion on the cyberia list with regard to the communications decency amendment that "I am not a minor" buttons would be adequate defenses for that law, and this seems like a similar situation.) No, the thing that worries me most is patent infringement. And the main company I worry about is RSA, one of the sponsors of this golden key effort. Note that RSA's logo is a key, and we see the RSA key at the bottom of our Netscape screens all the time. I don't remember if it's golden. It seems ironic for RSA to be casting itself as a friend of the principle of availability of privacy tools when its own lawyers patrol the net to make sure there are no unauthorized encryption programs out there. They fought against PGP for years until Phil trumped them by going over their heads to MIT. Look what happened when Wei Dai announced his fine crypto library. It wasn't the NSA which come down on him. It was RSA lawyers who demanded that he pull his library off the net until he had it clean enough for them. I have not actually seen the new logo because I don't have a graphical browser here, but I hope it is not too similar to RSA's key. I hate to see that company rewarded when it is acting counter to the interests of people who need access to privacy tools. Hal

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