December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Sad news ... (... or not ;-))
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text From: Somebody Date: Tue, 06 Oct 1998 18:02:28 +0100 To: Robert Hettinga <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: Sad news ... Mime-Version: 1.0 Hi Bob, I figured you might be interested in today's news: DigiCash Amsterdam has officially gone bankrupt. Even though anyone can access the news (although probably not yet in electronic form), I'd appreciate if you don't mention me as being the one who told you this. I take it that the details will be brought to light in the coming few weeks. Anyway, I believe this is very bad news for all those who believe in "bearer certificates" or whatever one might like to call them. <Somebody's .sig> --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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Garment industry.....
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi, Sorry, I'm going to have to back out for the next few days because of work load (I've barely had time to read all the traffic), but ... To answer a qeuestion about the garment industry being monopolistic. Go back, read the original post on that issue *AGAIN*. Pay particular attention to the *PERIOD OF TIME I SPECIFICALY MENTIONED*. If you actualy read it all the way through, and slowly so you can comprehend it, you will find that your protestations about the industry being monopolistic *today* are irrelevant. My point was focused on 60-80 years *IN THE PAST*. In particular the 1920's and 30's. (If you're going to scream "foul", at least be at the correct yard line on the field) My mention of the phone book implied you'd have to go to the library and get a *PERIOD* phonebook (that was my mistake, any true anarcho-capitalist or free-market maven is not likely to actualy use real-world examples - they're so messy). And yes, they had phones then, you could even have them in any color as long as it was black. Though the point *CAN* be made that even today sweatshops are continouly being found in places like Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, etc. Just check your local newspaper. The reason that these are important is that they are indicators of a tendency of manufacturers to cut costs/overhead to the bone when left to their own wiles. This is a *VERY* negative indicator for those who feel that even an unregulated garment industry can exist in a regulated market, let alone a free-market. Again, businesses are run by people with the express intent of making money, in many cases at whatever cost to their employees and society as a whole. With this sort of psychological tendency the argument that free-markets will work is flawed. A commen comment in business classes and boardrooms today is to 'dominate the market'. That means *eliminate competition*. *THAT* means create a monopoly if at all possible and the laws to the contrary (which I hae yet to see anyone bring up a priori in these situations) be damned. Of course it should be pointed out that it's good legal and business practice *NOT* to mention these so that it can't be used against one as a premeditated intent. Something Microsoft seems to have forgotten in their raft of internal memo's about specificaly kludging DrDos. Another point I made several weeks to a couple of months ago regarded companies who *help* their competition in order to limit their ability to enter into specific markets as competitors seems to have born fruit. Over the last few weeks several internal documents from Microsoft were released (check the CNN and other archives) which seem to indicate a clear intent by Microsoft to *help* Novell and Apple with technology with the express intent of keeping them out of niche or target markets as competitors. Economic slight of hand... Course that isn't going to stop you from wailling for the dead (though could you keep it down so I can sleep since the temperature around here has finaly broken and it's not 90F at midnite). ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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RE: GPL & commercial software, the critical distinction (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > From: "Brown, R Ken" <brownrk1(a)texaco.com> > Subject: RE: GPL & commercial software, the critical distinction (fwd) > Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 06:37:43 -0500 > I do have trouble with the idea of the garment industry being > monopolistic. About 2 miles from where I'm typeing this, in Whitechapel > and Spitalfields in the East End of London, street after street is > packed with small sweatshops, "import export" businesses, tiny fashion > houses This is perfect if you don't mind being a participant... Could you get a phonebook and make a list of the sweatshops. Enumerate them and then select 10% (if that isn't too many) and find out how many and to whom they sew their garments for? > It looks as if the only monopolies you recognise are global ones where > one big company supplies most of the market for some good, worldwide. > At that level there are damn few monopolies Remember, you can't dominate a market that can't be saturated and you can't saturate a local market unless you find a mechanism to keep outside competition from moving in. Currently this is only possible in very strongly regulated markets in control economies. This implies that, at least today because of communications and transportation improvement, only markets that are global (though it might also work on a national level) can be dominated. That is an interesting aspect I hadn't hit on so far. I'll add it to the mix and see what brews up... Though, it does occur to me that the fact that OS/2 has a stronger faction in Europe than in N. and S. America in relation to Microsoft may be an indication that continental saturation is possible. Might be explained by the fact that most businesses are continental and not international in scope of sales. I've got to go back to work now...I'll check in as I get the chance... ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Free Market Monopolization Theory...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi, Here is the note that I made regarding the saturation of free market economies. Note that this is several months old and I haven't been diligent in keeping it fully up to date... Forwarded message: > X-within-URL: http://einstein/ravage/free.market.monopolization.html > This is the theory in its current working version: > > An unregulated (free-market) economy will inherently monopolize when, but > not necessarily only if, the following are present: > > - the commen assumption by current free market models that consumers > are rational is irrational. A consideration of succesful marketing > mechanisms and human psychology will clearly demonstrate that > consumers are at best partialy rational. This is the fault in all > anarchy models (eg crypto-anarchy), they assume in an axiomatic > fashion that all participants will cooperate for not only their > individual best interest but the cooperatives best interest without > sufficient recognition that these may in many cases be in conflict. > It is the same failing every form of government without a clear and > proscribed list of individual and state rights and limits has, the > assumption that some minimal set of behaviours or goals will satisfy > all participants in all cases. The theory 'What is best for all is > best for the one' is false. > > - the importance of cooperation for mutual benefit that is axiomatic > in current free market theories is false. Mathematicaly the prisoners > paradox provides maximum payoff when defection occurs at a relatively > high rate and in a random pattern. A primary goal of any business is > not to ensure the survival of itself and it competitors but rather to > eliminate competition through more succesful strategies. A rational > consumer will act irrationaly at times because it is in their long > term best interest. Therefore the distinction between rational and > irrational consumers is false. > > - the market is saturated, in other words the number of consumers at > any given time are equal to or less than the service providers ability > to provide that service (or resource). This means the long-term survival > of firms is a function of retained market share and raw resource share > control/ownership. > > - the technology and/or start-up costs are high in material and > intellectual factors. This minimizes the potential for new providers > to start up. Providers will also require non-disclosure and other > mechanisms to reduce sharing of information and cross-communications > except under controlled conditions. Expect an increase in certifications > and implimentation standards required to do business with the more > succesful of these providers. > > - an individual or small group of service providers have a small but > distinct efficiency advantage in technology, manufacturing, or > marketing. Over a long-enough time this market advantage will grow > and as a result widen the 'technology gap' between firms. > > - expect the most efficient firms to share their profit with the > critical intellectual contributors. This further reduces the > problem of cross-communication and new provider start-up. > > - expect to see the more successful providers to join in co-ops with > the less succesful providers. This will be under the surreptitous > goal of 'developing technology'. It's actual goal will be to cause > these smaller firms to commit resources to such enterprises. As soon > as it is strategicaly advantagous the primary providers will break-off > the co-op. This has the effect of further reducing the ability of the > smaller providers to react in a timely manner to market changes or > develop new technology due to resource starvation. > > - expect to see the less efficient providers to combine in an effort > to reap the benefits of shared market share and resources. Unless > this partnering provides a more efficient model and there is sufficient > time for that efficiency to develop these new providers will eventualy > fail or be joined with other providers. > > - expect to see the primary provider buy those less efficient providers > that don't fail completely. These purchases will be as a result of > some new or unexpected technology that will significantly increase > the market share of the primary provider -or- it will be with the > goal of eliminating this secondary technology and forcing those > market shares to do without or use the primary providers technology. > > - initialy prices for services will be low to promote purchasing but > as providers obtain larger market shares their prices will increase > over time and out of step with inflation and other market forces in > order to widen the profit gap. The strategy is one of 'use it or > starve'. > ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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RE: GPL & commercial software, the critical distinction (fwd)
by Matthew James Gering 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Brown, R Ken wrote: > Same applies to education - I might be able to pay for my > daughter to go to school but we want everybody else's kids > to go to school as well because my life is better if they do. > So we pay for it through tax. "SHOULD EDUCATION BE COMPULSORY AND TAX-SUPPORTED, AS IT IS TODAY? The answer to this question becomes evident if one makes the question more concrete and specific, as follows: Should the government be permitted to remove children forcibly from their homes, with or without the parents' consent, and subject the children to educational training and procedures of which the parents may or may not approve? Should citizens have their wealth expropriated to support an educational system which they may or may not sanction, and to pay for the education of children who are not their own?" -- Nathaniel Branden Absolutely not. But even if you take a strong socialist/statist position and answer "yes," how can you justify expounding on the evils of coercive monopolies, their arbitrary power, abuse and inefficiency, and then at the same time make Education, one of the most important services to society, a coercive monopoly?! This simply does not make sense. Education needs to be brought into the marketplace so it can be objectively evaluated. VALUED. As an entitlement, education is not valued as it should be, and as a monopoly there is no leverage to choose standards which to value, to discriminate service. The educational system has failed worse than any other industry, not for lack of supply and demand, but for lack of free competition. Matt

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Re: Echelon's Origin
by pgut001＠cs.auckland.ac.nz 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

John Young <jya(a)pipeline.com> writes: >The NSA released during the summer a Top Secret memorandum by Truman in >1952 establishing NSA as the lead COMINT agency for the USG: Located nearby at http://www.nsa.gov:8080/docs/efoia/released/jfk.html are documents related to the Kennedy assassination. Check out the COMINT reports, they were getting information from an awful lot of interesting sources, many of which appear to be telegrams or telexes or similar communications. The Truman memo may show the background behind Echelon, but these things show it (or at least its ancestor) in action. Wow. Peter.

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RE: GPL & commercial software, the critical distinction (fwd)
by Matthew James Gering 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Political power gums at the mean end of a gun, what political > power do monopolies have and how? err...*comes* from the mean end of a gun. ;) Matt

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Re: Garment industry.....
by Information Security 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> From: Jim Choate <ravage(a)einstein.ssz.com> > > To answer a qeuestion about the garment industry being monopolistic. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

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IP: SOROS: Must have economic "third way"
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: SOROS: Must have economic "third way" Date: Tue, 06 Oct 1998 08:56:17 -0500 To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: The London Independent U.K. Section http://www.independent.co.uk/ Soros calls for new cash restraints GEORGE SOROS, one of the world's leading financiers, launched a scathing attack yesterday on governments and bankers alike for causing a financial crisis so severe that it could topple the world's economic system. "I am very concerned because it will lead to basically the breakdown of the global capitalist system," he said. Coming from a pre-eminent global capitalist, his words are all the more striking because he advises new restraints on the movement of international cash. He spoke as the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank wrestled with a financial crisis that has wrecked Asia and Russia and now threatens Latin America. Mr Soros, in his speech and in a book to be published next month, attacks free marketeers - or "market fundmentalists," as he calls them - for weakening the world financial system, impoverishing developing countries and threatening democracy itself. Governments have botched their efforts to tackle the crisis. "The authorities have failed to control the situation," he said. "The G7 or the G whatever should have been shut into a room and hammered this out." Mr Soros said that in the future, limits would have to be put on the global casino to prevent it from destabilising states and societies. "Some restraints on capital movements would have been very useful to protect countries against the onslaught of the wrecking ball," he said. "The free movement of capital, totally free flow, is not advisable." Mr Soros is chairman of Soros Fund Management, a leading financier who speculated against the pound - and won handsomely - in 1992. But he has become increasingly convinced that pure capitalism is just as dangerous to the world as communism, and has become a leading advocate of an economic third way. "We have been living with and basing ourselves on a false model of how financial markets operate," he said. Markets are capable of tipping into instability so severe that it threatens the roots of democracy itself. "It is market fundamentalism that has rendered the global capitalist system unsound and unsustainable," he writes in his book The Crisis of Global Capitalism, a section of which was released yesterday. So great had financial instability become that "market fundamentalism is today a greater threat to open society than totalitarian ideology", said Mr Soros, who grew up under first Nazi, then Communist rule in Hungary. "Market forces, if they are given complete authority even in the purely economic and financial arenas, will produce chaos and could ultimately lead to the downfall of the global democratic capitalist system." The impact had been particularly hard on developing nations forced to follow the course set by western institutions and banks, he said. "Conditions have tilted too far towards the countries at the centre of capitalist system to the detriment of countries at the periphery. These conditions are unsustainable." The only way to recover from the present crisis was to organise flows of capital back into the developing countries, he argued, but so far the IMF and western governments had been unwilling to meet this challenge. City staff braced for tidal wave of sackings as banks cut back Morale among City high-flyers has reached rock bottom as they brace themselves for a wave of redundancies over the coming weeks as a result of the global financial crisis. Although redundancies have now, so far, been limited, the fear of real collapse and a return to the austerity of the early 1990's when blue chip firms like Goldman Sachs were laying off staff by the thousand, means conspicuous consumption and optimism are becoming a thing of the past. The latest to feel the chill are staff at Warburg Dillon Reed, one of the City's top securities firms who are braced for substantial lay-offs in the wake of last week's disclosures that the bank's Swiss parent has suffered serious losses from its investment in high risk hedge-funds. Insiders say that Warburg's 4,500 London-based staff expect announcements detailing cutbacks later this week. The latest quarterly survey of the UK Financial Services industry by the Confederation of British Industry and consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers yesterday showed business confidence among financial sector firms falling to its lowest for eight years. Firms which have already announced lay-offs since this present bout of turmoil hit financial markets include ING Barings, Robert Fleming and Japanese firms Daiwa and Nikko. One of the larger firms Merrill Lynch has already cancelled its Christmas Party and ordered staff to cut back on overseas travel, entertainment and the use of mobile phones in an attempt to save £150m this year. The firm lent billions to high risk hedge funds. Jobs cuts are expected to follow. It is widely feared that at least one big international bank could go under because of losses to these highly speculative investment operations despite last month's £2.4bn bail-out of Long-Term Capital Management by a consortium of big international banks. With nervous investors sitting on their hands, traders have had more time to spend in City drinking haunts to drown sorrows and swap tidbits about the latest bank to hit trouble. The cutbacks are likely to be even more painful this time round because of the speed with which this crisis has hit. Many firms were still out there trying to recruit until late into August, pushing up salaries for some categories of staff to stratospheric levels. Now those expansion plans have gone on hold. Prestige office developments in the Square Mile are being shelved as demand for space has vanished overnight. "First to rise, first to go," said Joseph Toots, a stockbroker, sipping a glass of zinfandel in a Broadgate winebar. "My job may be a trifle insecure at the moment, but who knows, lets wait until Christmas." Mr Toots knows his bonus which last year was "definitely six figure", will be minimal this time around. "Good thing I bought my house outright," he said. But it is not just sports car dealers and Dom Perignon stockists who are monitoring the situation with gloomy eyes. The downturn in the City is hitting at a time when High Street shops are already deserted as a result of the huge rise in the cost of borrowing since last year. Contrary to common perception the City is not the place where everybody earns a half million pound bonus; many thirty-somethings are pushing themselves to the limit, earning what sound like fat salaries until you hear their commitments. It is these middle-class, high-income people, whose wealth is more a prospect than a reality who may be hit the hardest. "We are going to have to have a serious rethink about everything," said Julia, a consultant. She says she and her husband are delaying the day when they will have to sit down and face financial reality. "We earn almost £100,000 between us, but with the mortgage and the school and the nursery fees (they have three small children) we're not going to survive like this." She says she was depending on her share portfolio to cover the mortgage on their three bedroom terraced house in Islington and it doesn't anymore. "The house may have to be sold," she says, "and god knows how we will afford the school fees." It may sound like a yuppie problem, but smaller things have been known to drive people into domestic conflict. Isobel Thacker, a banker, said the same problem has just made her cancel plans to move house. "I can't afford to move anymore, we're all staying put," she said. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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Re : IP: Microchip implants to foil VIP kidnaps
by Michael Motyka 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> ITALIAN dignitaries who fear being kidnapped are having > microprocessor homing devices planted in their bodies so police can > track them down if they are abducted. > Where can I buy one of these things for my cat? My master password is tatooed inside her upper lip. This brand new GPS system works through a metal barrier? For transport just tuck the subject in the back of an aluminum cargo truck and for long-term storage use a metal wharehouse. Contrary to popular belief there is not a technical solution for every problem. How about -well-paid- bodyguards? Ask an engineer to solve a problem you get Tom Swift and his amazing electrogenerating geodetector. Ask a politician to solve a problem you get a law. Ask a doctor to solve a problem and he'll either cut or medicate. Ask a soldier to solve a problem... And so on... I suppose ridiculous solutions are fine as long as they make money or fame for someone.

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