December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Crypto AG
by Mixmaster 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>http://caq.com/cryptogate > >Are people familiar with this document? > >Why shouldn't NSA have implanted this kind of back-doors >in various software and operating systems as well? > >It seems to have worked so very well in the past. Keep on writing CypherPunks CryptoCode that's can be gobbled up 4 your M$ softwares.... Da Fedz are more than happy to GAK it up 4 U before thier morning doughnuts...... Nut$crape did it, Apple NeXT, maybe Cisco, more 2 follow.... TeeHee!

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Anguilla in the news
by Adam Shostack 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/science/sci-lizard-raft.html Adam -- "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -Hume

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Re: [Fwd: Here come the rafting iguanas] (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 14:30:10 -0400 > From: Robert Hettinga <rah(a)shipwright.com> > Subject: Re: [Fwd: Here come the rafting iguanas] > At 4:51 PM -0400 on 10/8/98, David Miller wrote: > > > Could the term "green iguanas" be symbolic of US currency? > > Naw... But I hereby nominate the green iguana to be the official mascot of > the cypherpunk crypto-refugee community on Anguilla. I'll see if the Austin Cypherpunks want to start holding our meetings at the Green Iquana Grill out on Lake Travis... ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius 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: > Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 14:15:12 -0500 > From: Petro <petro(a)playboy.com> > Subject: RE: GPL & commercial software, the critical distinction (fwd) > >> Umm... both of those are around because the governemtn made the cost of > >> delivering both alcohol and drugs prohibitively high, > > > >That's inaccurate. The Mafia pre-dated the US by several hundred years if > > So what? There was probably a government wherever the started, and > they probably started out providing services that their local government > prohibited. This begs the question, even when presented with evidence that supports such assertions you dismiss it out of hand. No point in even responding to your posts on this topic any further. ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius 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: Request for Assistance
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

You mean to tell me that the GOV is actually going to try to make a case against someone on *this* mailing list for sending threatening mail? Gimme a break! Have you actually perused any archives of this list? If you did, and filtered out any of the crypto/privacy-relevant posts, you'd be hard pressed to find *anything* that you could take seriously at all, let alone construe to be threatening. Unless of course you take space aliens hiding your drugs to be threatening. And what, you're from the IRS? What, was the IRS threatened? And this would surprise you how? Did they threaten to hide the IRS' drugs? Were they posing as space aliens? And how come you didn't contact me? Does that mean that I'm under investigation? Or do you just not like me? Or were you not sniffing my network connection at the time to make your illegal determination that I'm on the Cypherpunks mailing list? I'd have to agree with Mr. 'X' that you guys have a lot of nerve coming to this list and asking for assistance in what's probably an illegal and illegitimate investigation in the first place, looking to claim another victim in the seemingly never-ending destruction of the rights of the common man by the faceless fascist government regime. Or, to sum up, piss off. At 12:17 PM 10/8/98 -0600, X wrote: >Jeff, > >Good luck in your pursuit. I think, in the future, you might want to offer >us the customary 800 number to call you on to rat on our acquaintances. > >Two things worry me about your approach: > >1) how do you know what emails I get and why in the world do you think it's >any of your business? > >2) is this suspicion by acquaintance? > >I'm sure you already know this, but I just recently joined the list so I >know nothing about anything threatening on this list. The biggest threat I >see is from people publicizing that the government is sniffing out email >addresses and categorizing them based on what they _receive._ > >Dangerous pursuit, dangerous precedent. > >Watch what side you're on. > >X > >(although I have to admit, you have a lot of guts to come in here and ask >'free-thinking individuals" to help you gang up on a guy.) > >~> -----Original Message----- >~> From: Gordon Jeff INSP [mailto:Jeff.Gordon@inspection.irs.gov] >~> Sent: Thursday, October 08, 1998 8:42 AM >~> To: 'm1tca00(a)frb.gov' >~> Subject: Request for Assistance >~> >~> >~> Hello, >~> >~> The IRS and United States Attorney's office are looking for assistance >~> in a criminal investigation involving threatening messages which were >~> posted to the Cypherpunks mailing list. This e-mail address was noted >~> to be one of those which receives the Cypherpunks list. I would >~> appreciate it if you would contact me to discuss whether you would be >~> willing to assist us in this matter, and what records or information you >~> have relating to the Cypherpunks list. You can contact me at this >~> e-mail address or at (503) 326-2787. >~> >~> Thanks >~> >~> Jeff >~> >~>

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Forwarded mail...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 21:21:32 +0200 > From: Anonymous <nobody(a)replay.com> > > HOW MUCH CODE DID 'CYPHERPUNK' TIM MAY EVER WRITE? > How much have YOU written (as if anyone really cares)? ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Something else about 'freedom'...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

It doesn't mean the creation of a social or economic state (or lack of one) that promotes the abuse or belittlement of others 'freedoms'. I'd still like to see an explanation of how anarcho-capitalist or free-market promoters expect this to be resolved. My suspicion is that this sort of opportunity is *exactly* what they want. Then *they* get to be the ones using force for coercive ends. ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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No Subject
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Is there an offhand reference to ECHELON in the second paragraph? National Counterintelligence Center Counterintelligence News and Developments Volume 3 September 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.nacic.gov/cind/SEPT98.htm More on French Spying The French magazine Le Point reported in mid-June that France systematically listens in on the telephone conversations and cable traffic of many businesses based in the United States and other nations. The article also reports the French Government uses a network of listening stations to eavesdrop and pass on commercial secrets to French businesses competing in the global economy. The article goes on to state that the French secret service, DGSE, has established listening posts in the Dordogne (Southern France) and also in its overseas territories, including French Guiana and New Caledonia. The article attributes to an unnamed "senior official within this branch of the French secret service" the claim, "This is the game of the secret war," adding that U.S. listening posts do the same. The magazine report says Germans who bought into the French Helios 1A spy satellite system are being given access to political and economic secrets as part of a Franco-German agreement to compete with a commercial information agreement between the United States and Britain. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mexican Hackers Mount Attack According to an August 1998 Reuters report, a small group of computer hackers have declared electronic war on the Mexican state. They have plastered the face of revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata on the Finance Ministry's Web site and claim to have monitored visits by Mexican Senators to X-rated Internet sites. They also have vowed to attack official databases for incriminating numbers and publicize government bank accounts, cellular phone conversations, and e-mail addresses. So far the cyber pirates, who say they are a trio of Mexicans, appear to be more a nuisance than a serious threat, but they are serving as a wake-up call for computer security in Mexico, experts said. One of the hackers stated during an online interview with Reuters that "We protest with the weapons we have and those weapons are computers." The hackers surfaced in February when visitors to the Finance Ministry's official Web site were surprised to find Zapata staring back at them.

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Re: I thought of an initialy regulated industry!... (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1998 19:58:31 +0000 > From: Michael Hohensee <mah248(a)is9.nyu.edu> > Subject: Re: I thought of an initialy regulated industry!... (fwd) > > What specificaly is there about the relationship between natural gas and > > gasoline that leads you to believe that the comparison of lethality between > > the waste products of a coal plant vurses a nuclear plant is such that the > > waste of a nuclear plant is more lethal because there is more toxic > > byproduct and it is in higher concentrations? > > Absolutely nothing. That's my point, not yours --or at least not the > point you made in your previous post. It is *exactly* the point I have made from day 1. If you believe otherwise the mistake is yours. ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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WSJ on NYC Smart Card Pilot
by David Watts 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Technological Glitches Trip Up New York Debut of Plastic Cash By PAUL BECKETT Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Smart cards invaded New York last year, when four of consumer banking's most sophisticated players began one of the biggest real-world trials of plastic cash. But right from the start, the closely watched effort slipped on an unforeseen banana peel: technology. In a test with far-reaching implications, Chase Manhattan Corp., Citicorp --now part of Citigroup Inc. -- MasterCard International and Visa USA co-sponsored the pilot program, which began last October. They distributed about 96,000 smart cards embedded with computer chips to residents of Manhattan's Upper West Side. Then they watched to see how willing people were to use the cards instead of cash. The answer is, not very, according to merchants and consumers. A big reason was the support network of hardware was so riddled with technical and logistical headaches that it often made using the smart cards a hassle instead of a breeze. Usage has dwindled to a trickle. More than a third of the 600 merchants who signed up for the pilot either have quit or were eliminated from the test by the sponsors. Many of the ones who remain are fed up. Smart cards figure in an antitrust lawsuit the Justice Department filed against Visa and MasterCard Wednesday. The regulators accuse the bank-controlled credit-card networks of holding back on efforts to develop new products, including smart cards. Visa and MasterCard denied the charges and vowed to defend themselves. The smart cards in the Manhattan test work like the long-distance phone cards that vending machines in supermarkets sell. The cards -- either a Visa Cash card issued by Citigroup's Citibank unit, or a MasterCard Mondex card issued by Chase -- are filled with cash from a person's bank account. Users draw on the card's stored cash as they pay for merchandise; store clerks swipe it through a special terminal at the point of purchase. Users can refill the card with cash at a bank or automated teller machine. For the test, there are no annual or transaction fees for customers or merchants. Tough Customers The sponsors chose as their guinea pigs the Manhattanites who live in the swath of real estate between Central Park and the Hudson River, an eclectic stew of millionaires, welfare families, and everyone in between. Many of these tough customers quickly found smart cards were actually pretty dumb. For a start, they weren't accepted in taxis, buses, and subways. There also is a harder-to-explain psychological resistance to the smart cards. "It seems rather un-American to me," says Greg Knight, who lives on the Upper West Side and works at NYCD Compact Disks. The store participates in the smart-card program but doesn't record many transactions. Mr. Knight says he has a smart card but doesn't use it. A busy Duane Reade drugstore on Amsterdam Avenue should have been a good testing ground, because most of what it sells is low-priced. But the smart-card scanners installed at the checkout break down two or three times a month, says store manager Sammy Austin. After calling the program's "help desk," Mr. Austin says, he has waited as long as six days for a repairman, plus two more days for replacement machines. "If they could improve the system, I think plenty of customers would use it," Mr. Austin says. "But in a city like New York, where it's hustle and bustle, everybody wants to be treated one-two-three, and if you can't accommodate your customers, they're just going to forget about it. It turns you off." Sponsors say one reason for the high drop-off rate among merchants is that there was never any screening: The program was open to any merchant who wanted to join. The sponsors themselves later culled out merchants who were recording few smart-card transactions. Few Purchases Zabar's, an always-crowded gourmet food store on Broadway, had its share of technological problems early in the program. When calling the help desk didn't help, the store bowed out of the experiment for several weeks, says Zabar's manager David Tait. The store has since returned, and things have gone more smoothly. Still, it rings up only 25 smart-card purchases a day, Mr. Tait says. Many of the payment terminals that malfunctioned were made by Hewlett-Packard Co.'s VeriFone unit, the biggest of the pilot program's three hardware suppliers. Machines made by the other two -- Hypercom Corp., of Phoenix, and IVI Ingenico Inc., a Canadian-French joint venture -- had early technical problems, too, the sponsors say, but on a smaller scale. VeriFone spokesman Dan Toporek acknowledges the glitches. "There were instances where the machines weren't installed or configured properly," he says. Still, he says Verifone regards the terminals as a success. Nick Massimiano, vice president at Chase Manhattan, says the sponsors moved fast to address the delays in service. A software adjustment fixed many of the problems with the Verifone terminals, he says. Foot patrols of repair technicians check in with merchants to help trouble-shoot. Fairway, a bustling supermarket on Broadway, stopped taking smart cards after just a few weeks. Employees there said it was a hassle to process transactions on the smart-card terminal, which is separate from both the cash register and the credit-card machine. Other merchants complain about having to reconcile their terminals with the smart cards' central computer at the end of the day, so the smart-card purchases will land in their bank accounts. For this task, the sponsors had presented retailers with various options, but some employees never got the hang of the task. So at many of the stores, it became a bothersome after-hours chore for the boss. Mr. Massimiano says adjustments in the modem timing of the terminals has made it easier for stores to settle accounts at the end of the day. But the real issue here is training, not technology, he says. The sponsors issued desktop guides for making the fund transfers. The roaming foot patrols also provide training assistance, he says. 'A Less Positive Experience' "Lots of little things, when you add them up, can create a less than a positive experience," concedes Ron Braco, senior vice president and director of electronic commerce for Chase Manhattan's consumer-banking division. Still, the program has yielded some victories, he says. For the first time in any test program, the Visa and MasterCard smart cards were accepted on the same terminals. Lessons learned suggest the four partners will shy away from broad efforts to blanket an entire neighborhood, focusing instead on specific retail niches in which smart cards are especially useful. "I would say the time for experimentation is probably passed now," says Richard Phillimore, senior vice president of MasterCard's chip-business group. "This really points the direction toward rolling out not necessarily by geography but by merchant sector." One such sector is small-ticket purchases -- launderettes and newsstands, for example. In the latest chapter of the Upper West Side test, smart cards have been introduced in basement laundry rooms in a few of the neighborhood's apartment buildings. So far, the backers say, they have been a roaring success: Smart card users don't need piles of quarters any more. Chase says on average 25% of the laundry revenue at the participating buildings comes from smart cards, and in some locations approaches 40%. "Once the card generates some excitement, people won't care that Duane Reade had a problem at some point in time," says Chase spokesman Kenneth Herz. Adds Judy Darr, director of the smart card program at Citibank, "Our commitment to smart cards remains strong." _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

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