December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Newt's phone calls
by Jeff Barber 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Phillip M. Hallam-Baker writes: > >No, the real danger in weak crypto is that the poorly-informed will not > >think about it *at all*. If we had "poor crypto", Newt probably wouldn't > >have been embarrassed by this sort of casual interception, and the issue > >wouldn't have been raised in the public mind. But our communications > >still wouldn't be safe from more determined attackers. Brouhahas like > >these are good for the pro-(strong-)crypto agenda. > > Not the way we've being going on, Zero coverage of the > crypto issue, zip, nada. It was pointed out (in network newscasts, for example) that cellular communications are completely unprotected and available for the taking by anyone with a radio scanner. I count this as good exposure even if the alternatives weren't explicitly discussed. -- Jeff

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RE: Newt's phone calls
by Phillip M. Hallam-Baker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

get everything needed on a signed cheque. > >A check is no good, most checks are now printed on paper with special lines >that are supposed to become obvious after copying. A signed letter or even >a mailing envelope would probably be better. Actually for the purposes of fax you can trace the signature off the check and then photocopy the traced outline. If you use Mellonex film you can get a very good impression. > Also, scotch tape makes those >pexky shadows disapear like magic. My dad uses it to make multiple versions >of make-up math tests that trivially look like the origional in order to >goad persons who were sick on test day so that they could get the answers >from someone else into printing down those answers and getting less than >random probability. (multiple choice) When I used to do layout of artwork for a magazine we used to use white out to get rid of the shadow lines. There is a particularly good version available in the UK which comes in a red bottle with a flow cap on it. Much better than the crappy pot 'n brush system which is always going hard as the solvent evaporates. Phill PS: I hasten to add that my experience of fraud techniques comes from trying to stop them. PPS: In the days of electronic mail why do people need PS's?

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Fighting the cybercensor.
by Phillip M. Hallam-Baker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Mission: Singapore and China are blocking certain net groups. I think this is a bad thing, question is how can we stop it? The Web was conceived as offering despots and dictators a choice between remaining in the dark ages and allowing freedom of speech. Blocking and filtering schemes threaten this ideal. Requirements: A scheme which makes blocking of individual IP addresses impractical. Architecture: The Web allows for proxies such as provided by the CERN server (and versions of Apache etc). A proxy server configured to accept connections from domains enforcing blocking (china, Singapore etc) can serve as a means of circumventing the restrictions. The problem then arises, how can the victims of censorship find out about the holes in the curtain? I believe that it would not be difficult to persuade large numbers of people to mirror a list of sites maintained at a central location. The blue ribbon campaign attracted a lot of interest on the same topic. Activity that brought to light the political aspect of Web censorship would help the domestic anti-CDA effort. Considerations: [i.e. areas needing brainstorming] 1) Copyright. Clearly copyright holders such as CNN etc would need to be involved. Although proxies have long been a part of the Web and the scheme does not threaten their interests it would be as well to get them on board at an early stage. 2) How can one prevent the proxies themselves being blocked? Some ideas that come to mind: 2a) Only issue new sites gradually so that blocking requires continuous updates. 2b) Use DHCP to change network addresses regularly. 2c) Some crypto hack I can't quite work out (hence the post to cypher punks). I can phrase the challenge more compactly though. We have two sets of opposed groups A and M. The A group wish to establish a continued conversation with groups B and C. M is willing to permit communication with group B but not C. Whenever M discovers that a member of group B is willing to act on behalf of group C, M transfers that member to the C group. The problem is to keep A's channels of communication open despite the efforts of M for very large group sizes. I'm not sure if this is a pure crypto challenge or a game theory problem. Comments? If people are willing to work on this I can provide some facilities and act as a media contact. Phill

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Re: Netscape to use Cybercash?
by Lucky Green 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:33 PM 1/21/97 -0800, Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote: >Lucky Green writes: >>Netscape has announce that Navigator will ship with CyberCash. >>There is definitely movement at the browser/server end. > >whoa, I missed this. was there any discussion on this list? or >is it just because we are drowning in noise? any more specifics? Netscape put out a press release on this in October (?). That's all I know. Look at their web site. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred Make your mark in the history of mathematics. Use the spare cycles of your PC/PPC/UNIX box to help find a new prime. http://www.mersenne.org/prime.htm

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Netscape to use Cybercash?
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

(S.Schear tells me that he thinks the lack of anonymity in payment schemes is what is primarily what is holding them back, not good GUI interfaces. I consider this hogwash, but maybe we can agree to disagree.) Lucky Green writes: >Netscape has announce that Navigator will ship with CyberCash. >There is definitely movement at the browser/server end. whoa, I missed this. was there any discussion on this list? or is it just because we are drowning in noise? any more specifics? I personally am hoping for a point-and-click interface with the piggybank/cost HTML tag scenario I described. also, any ETA?

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Re: Netscape to use Cybercash?
by Lucky Green 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:33 PM 1/21/97 -0800, Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote: >Lucky Green writes: >>Netscape has announce that Navigator will ship with CyberCash. >>There is definitely movement at the browser/server end. > >whoa, I missed this. was there any discussion on this list? or >is it just because we are drowning in noise? any more specifics? Netscape put out a press release on this in October (?). That's all I know. Look at their web site. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred Make your mark in the history of mathematics. Use the spare cycles of your PC/PPC/UNIX box to help find a new prime. http://www.mersenne.org/prime.htm

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[NONCRYPTO] speaking of ADSL
by Brian D Williams 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

ADSL fans may be interested to know that Ameritech has a 200 unit ADSL trial underway in Wheaton Il as I speak. It is going very well. The units are currently running 1.5Mbs, (T-1) but are scheduled to go to 3Mbs later this year. Next year rumor is 6Mbs. In an interesting example of "Brazil Effect", ADSL may first come to older areas, because they are all direct copper. If I could only get ADSL cards for my DMS100. ;) Brian Network Premise engineer Ameritech Data Center Chicago Extropian Cypherpunk

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by CV Communications 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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[NOISE] Re: Dr. Vulis' social engineering experiment
by Sean Roach 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:35 PM 1/20/97 -0800, Toto wrote: > In short, I believe that if the issue of free speech is not one of >the central issues on the CypherPunks list, then the list is merely >one more heartless, unfeeling extension of the Great Machine which >is grinding inexorably forward toward the day when we will all have >its numbers tattoo'd on our forearms. That machine will be the SIXTH model made by a little firm on the thirteenth floor of an office building. It will operate on several thousand 6X86 processors. It will operate either on MSDOS 6.0 or UNIX V6R4, depending on how soon it is completed. And it won't be our forearms, we can cover those with sleeves. It will be our brow. (please excuse the spelling).

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Re: microcurrency: Netscape vs. Microsoft
by Sean Roach 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 09:13 PM 1/20/97 -0800, Lucky Green wrote: >At 11:46 AM 1/20/97 -0800, Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote: >>1. an html tag that indicates how much a link costs, probably in >>the <a href="" cost=xx> type syntax > >This could be done, but is, IMHO, too inflexible. > Also, with tags, I could download the page with good old fashioned netscape 3.0 Gold, (possibly the last browser without this), allowing me to get the entire page, neutralize the tag either by hand or with a simple app. and view the site sans payment. The blocks that I see to this are server push upon receipt of cash and encrypted pages only accessable upon (automatic) payment, not unlike pay-per-view satellite television. The problem here is the patent that was stirring up trouble here a few months ago. The one that Compuserve stood up against involving the use of this on computer networks. I really think that a tag alone wouldn't be worth much, not without a CGI script to verify it or a JAVA app. to run it. Please correct me if I am in error.

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