December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

BlackNet
by Tim May 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Someone just asked me for an explanation of "BlackNet," as he hadn't heard of it before. There are several places to look: --a Web search on the term, along with "cypherpunks" or "cryptography" or my name so as to narrow down the search somewhat (apparently some persons of color decided to use BlackNet as their group's name, thus leading to some collisions_ --archives of the list, partially available at http://infinity.nus.sg/cypherpunks/ --my Cyphernomicon, available at http://www.oberlin.edu/~brchkind/cyphernomicon/ --another article, available at http://www.powergrid.com/1.01/cryptoanarchy.html --or, the item below, part of a chapter called "True Nyms and Crypto Anarchy," which may or may not appear in the forthcoming edition of Vernor Vinge's "True Names." This section discusses data havens, and the BlackNet experiment in 1993: DATA HAVENS AND INFORMATION MARKETS Another science fiction writer, Bruce Sterling, popularized "data havens" in his 1988 novel, "Islands in the Net." He focussed on _physical_ data havens, but cyberspace data havens are more interesting, and to likely to be more important. That they are distributed in many legal jurisdictions, and may not even be traceable to any particular jurisdiction, is crucial. A data haven is a place, physical or virtual, where information may be stored or accessed. The usual connotation is that the data are illegal in some jurisdictions, but not in the haven. Data havens and information markets are already springing up, using the methods described to make information retrievable anonymously and untraceably. Using networks of remailers and, of course, encryption, messages may be posted in public forums like the Usenet, and read by anyone in the world with access, sort of like a cyberspatial "Democracy Wall" where controversial messages may be posted. These "message pools" are the main way cyberspatial data havens are implemented. Offers may be in plaintext, so as to be readable to humans, with instructions on how to reply (and with a public key to be used). This allows fully-untraceable markets to develop. It is likely that services will soon arise which archive articles for fees, to ensure that a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is "persistent" over a period of many years. Ross Anderson's "Eternity Service" provides a means of distributing the publication of something so that even later attempts to withdraw all copies are thwarted...this has obvious value in fighting censorship, but will also have implications when other types of publication occur (for example, a pirated work would not be withdrawable from the system, leaving it permanently liberated) Examples of likely data haven markets are: credit data bases, doctor and lawyer data bases, and other heavily-regulated (or even unallowed) data bases. Information on explosives, drug cultivation and processing, methods for suicide, and other such contraband info. Data havens may also carry copyrighted material, sans payment to holders, and various national and trade secrets. As one example, the "Fair Credit Reporting Act" in the U.S. limits the length of time credit records may be kept (to 7 or 8 years) and places various restrictions on what may be collected or reported. What if Alice "remembers" that Bob, applying for credit from her, declared bankruptcy ten years earlier, and ran out on various debts? Should she be banned from taking this into account? What if she accesses a data base which is _not_ bound by the FCRA, perhaps one in a data haven accessible over the Net? Can Alice "sell" her remembrances to others? (Apparently not, unless she agrees to the various terms of the FCRA. So much for her First Amendment rights.) This is the kind of data haven application I expect will develop over the next several years. It could be in a jurisdiction which ignores such things as the FCRA, such as a Caribbean island nation, or it could be in cyberspace, using various cryptographic protocols, Web proxies, and remailers for access. Imagine the market for access to data bases on "bad doctors" and "rip-off lawyers." There are many interesting issues involved in such data bases: inaccurate information, responses by those charges, the basis for making judgements, etc. Some will make malicious, false charges. (This is ostensibly why such data bases are banned, or heavily regulated. Governments reserve the rights to make such data available. Of course, these are the same governments which falsify credit records for government agents, which give the professional guilds like the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association the power to stop competitors from entering their markets, so what else can be expected?) Information markets match potential buyers and sellers of information. One experimental "information market" is BlackNet, a system I devised in 1993 as an example of what could be done, as an exercise in guerilla ontology. It allowed fully-anonymous, two-way exchanges of information of all sorts. The basic idea was to use a "message pool," a publicly readable place for messages. By using chains of remailers, messages could be untraceably and anonymously deposited in such pools, and then read anonymously by others (because the message pool was broadcast widely, a la Usenet). By including public keys for later communications, two-way unreadable (to others) communication could be established, all within the message pool. Such an information market also acts as a distributed data haven. As Paul Leyland succinctly described the experiment: "Tim May showed how mutually anonymous secure information trading could be implemented with a public forum such as Usenet and with public key cryptography. Each information purchaser wishing to take part posts a sales pitch and a public key to Usenet. Information to be traded would then have a public key appended so that a reply can be posted and the whole encrypted in the public key of the other party. For anonymity, the keys should contain no information that links it to an identifiable person. May posted a 1024-bit PGP key supposedly belonging to "Blacknet". As May's purpose was only educational, he soon admitted authorship." An example of an item offered for sale early on, in plaintext, was proof that African diplomats were being blackmailed by the CIA in Washington and New York. A public key for later communications was included. This is just one example. There are reports that U.S. authorities have investigated this market because of its presence on networks at Defense Department research labs. Not much they can do about it, of course, and more such entities are expected. The implications for espionage are profound, and largely unstoppable. Anyone with a home computer and access to the Net or Web, in various forms, can use these methods to communicate securely, anonymously or pseudonymously, and with little fear of detection. "Digital dead drops" can be used to post information obtained, far more securely than the old physical dead drops...no more messages left in Coke cans at the bases of trees on remote roads. Payments can also be made untraceably; this of course opens up the possibility that anyone in any government agency may act as a part-time spy. Matching buyers and sellers of organs is another example of such a market, although one that clearly involves some real-world transfers (and so it cannot be as untraceable as purely cyberspatial transactions can be). A huge demand (life and death), but there are various laws tightly controlling such markets, thus forcing them into Third World nations. Fortunately, strong cryptography allows market needs to be met without interference by governments. (Those who are repelled by such markets are of course free not to patronize them.) Whistleblowing is another growing use of anonymous remailers, with those fearing retaliation using remailers to publicly post their incriminating information. The Usenet newsgroups "alt.whistleblowing" and "alt.anonymous.messages" are places where anonymously remailed messages blowing the whistle have appeared. Of course, there's a fine line between whistleblowing, revenge, and espionage. Ditto for "leaks" from highly-placed sources. "Digital Deep Throats" will multiply, and anyone in Washington, or Paris, or wherever, can make his case safely and anonymously by digitally leaking material to the press. Gibson foresaw a similar situation in "Count Zero," where employees of high tech corporations agree to be ensconced in remote labs, disconnected from the Nets and other leakage paths. We may see a time when those with security clearances are explicitly forbidden from using the Net except through firewalled machines, with monitoring programs running. Information selling by employees may even take whimsical forms, such as the selling of topless images of women who flashed for the video cameras on "Splash Mountain" at Disneyland (now called "Flash Mountain" by some). Employees of the ride swiped copies of the digital images and uploaded them anonymously to various Web sites. Ditto for medical records of famous persons. DMV records have also been stolen by state employees with access, and sold to information broker, private investigators, and even curious fans (the DMV records of notoriously reclusive author Thomas Pynchon showed up on the Net). Rumors are that information brokers are prepared to pay handsomely for a CD-ROM containing the U.S. government's "key escrow" data base. The larger issue is that mere laws are not adequate to deal with these kinds of sales of personal information, corporate information, etc. The bottom line is this: if one wants something kept secret, it must be kept secret. In a free society, few personal secrets are compelled. Unfortunately, we have for too long been in a situation where governments insist that people give out their true names, their various government identification numbers, their medical situations, and so on. "And who shall guard the guardians?" The technology of privacy protection can change this balance of power. Cryptography provides for "personal empowerment," to use the current phrasing.

2 1

Re: Freedom Forum report on the State of the First Amendment (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 16:40:11 -0400 > From: The Sheriff <sheriff(a)speakeasy.org> > Subject: Re: Freedom Forum report on the State of the First Amendment > Sam Adams (as it may or may not have been mentioned on this list) > himself had a problem with our constitution -- he didn't think that > it was right for the people to ratify the bill of rights, thereby > protecting certain rights under the constitution. Why? Simple. > > He was of the mind that setting our rights, such as the right to > free speech, in concrete meant that anything NOT set in concrete > wasn't a right -- he felt that by ratifying the bill of rights, > rather than using logic as I did above, we were actually LIMITING > our rights as freely roaming human beings. Which is the reason they put the 9th and 10th in there. > America should be about not taking any shit from anybody -- not > because you can sue, but because you have enough attitude to realize > when the other guy's being an idiot, and because you have enough > balls to tell him so. Actualy it should be because people realize you don't owe that other person an explanation for your actions and you further don't need their permission. Of course this assumes you *aren't* using anything that belongs to them. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make | | violent revolution inevitable. | | | | John F. Kennedy | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

1 0

Crypto Jokes
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Inspired by "Crypto Kong," contributions of crypto jokes are requested, to enliven our Web site, which is pretty gray these days without congressional buffoonery. Thigh-slappers are preferred, but since one person's humor is another's pain, any bizarre tales of woe, stupidity and vanity are welcomed. Short as possible, like Adam's three swines of pearl. Sure, anonymous zingers are great. No pay, no apologies for missing the point.

1 0

Crypto Jokes
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Inspired by "Crypto Kong," contributions of crypto jokes are requested, to enliven our Web site, which is pretty gray these days without congressional buffoonery. Thigh-slappers are preferred, but since one person's humor is another's pain, any bizarre tales of woe, stupidity and vanity are welcomed. Short as possible, like Adam's three swines of pearl. Sure, anonymous zingers are great. No pay, no apologies for missing the point.

1 0

No Subject
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

If man were meant to clone, he'd have twins. - Anon

1 0

Just Released! 16 Million!
by Friend＠public.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

IT WAS JUST RELEASED!! INTRODUCING...MILLIONS VOL. 1 We took a total of over 92 million email addresses from many of the touted CD's that are out there (bought them all - some were $300+)! We added the millions we had in storage to those. When we combined them all, we had in excess of 100+ million addresses in one huge file. We then ran a super "sort/de-dupe" program against this huge list. It cut the file down to less than 25 million!!! Can you believe that? It seems that most people that are selling CD's are duping the public by putting numerous files of addresses in the CD over and over. This created many duplicate addresses. They also had many program "generated" email addresses like Compuserve, MCI, ANON's, etc. This causes a tremendous amount of undeliverables, and for those that use Stealth programs, clogs up servers quickly with trash, etc. We then ran a program that contained 150+ keywords to remove addresses with vulgarity, profanity, sex-related names, postmaster, webmaster, flamer, abuse, spam, etc., etc. Also eliminated all .edu, .mil, .org, .gov, etc. After that list was run against the remaining list, it reduced it down to near 16 million addresses! So, you see, our list will save people hundreds of dollars buying all others that are out there on CD and otherwise. Using ours will be like using the 100+ million that we started with, but a lot less money and alot less time!! We also purchased Cyber-Promos ($995.00) CD. We received it just prior to finishing production work on the new CD. We had our people take a random sample of 300,000 addresses from the touted 2.9 that they advertised. We used a program that allows us to take a random sample of addresses from any list. We were able to have the program take every 9th address, thus giving us a 300,000 list of Cyber's email addresses from top to bottom. We did not clean these, but we did create 3 seperate files named cyber1.txt, cyber2.txt, & cyber3.txt of 100,000 addresses each. This will give all people that use the list a opportunity to send mail to the list before deciding if their CD is all it's hyped to be. We also included a 2+ million "Remove/Flamer" file broke into seperate files for ease of extracting and adding to your own database of removes. "You can buy from the REST or you can buy from the BEST. Your choice. _____________________________ What others are saying: "I received the CD on Friday evening. Like a kid with a new toy, I immediately started bulking out using the new email addresses. Over the course of the weekend, I emailed out over 500,000 emails and I received less than TWENTY undeliverables!! I am totally satisfied with my purchase!! Thanks Premier!!" Dave Buckley Houston, TX "This list is worth it's weight in gold!! I sent out 100,000 emails for my product and received over 55 orders! Ann Colby New Orleans, LA **************************************** HERE'S THE BOTTOM LINE Here is what you get when you order today! >> 16 Million Email Addresses... 1 per line in simple text format on a CD. Files are in lots of 100,000 (no codes needed to open files). All files are separated by domain name for your convenience. PLUS you receive a tremendous REMOVE list! AND the a sampling of CyberPromo's HOT list. >>> NOW ONLY $149.00! This price is effective for the next seven days, thereafter the price will be $199.00 so ORDER NOW! All lists are completely free of any Duplicates. We also on a continual basis, add New Names and Remove Undeliverables and Remove Requests. The result is the Cleanest Email Addresses Available Anywhere to use over and over again, for a FRACTION of the cost that other companies charge. Typical rates for acquiring email lists are from 1 cent to as high as 3 cents per email address - that's "INFORMATION HIGHWAY" ROBBERY!. Don't even hesitate on this one or you will miss out on the most effective way to market anywhere..PERIOD! If you have any further questions or to place an order by phone, please do not hesitate to call us at: 908-245-1143 To order our email package, simply print out the EZ ORDER FORM below and fax or mail it to our office today. We accept Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Checks by Fax and Mail. _________________ EZ Order Form _____Yes! I would like to order MILLIONS Vol. 1 email addresses for only $149.00. *Please select one of the following for shipping.. ____I would like to receive my package OVERNIGHT. I'm including $15 for shipping. (outside US add an additional $25 for shipping) ____I would like to receive my package 2 DAY delivery. I'm including $10 for shipping. (outside US add an additional $25 for shipping) DATE_____________________________________________________ NAME____________________________________________________ COMPANY NAME___________________________________________ ADDRESS_________________________________________________ CITY, STATE, ZIP___________________________________________ PHONE NUMBERS__________________________________________ FAX NUMBERS_____________________________________________ EMAIL ADDRESS___________________________________________ TYPE OF CREDIT CARD: ______VISA _____MASTERCARD CREDIT CARD# __________________________________________ EXPIRATION DATE________________________________________ NAME ON CARD___________________________________________ AMOUNT $____________________ (Required) SIGNATURE:x________________________ DATE:x__________________ You may fax your order to us at: 1-908-245-3119 CHECK BY FAX SERVICES! If you would like to fax a check, paste your check below and fax it to our office along with all forms to: 1-908-245-3119 ****************************************************** ***24 HOUR FAX SERVICES*** PLEASE PASTE YOUR CHECK HERE AND FAX IT TO US AT 1-908-245-3119 ******************************************************* If You fax a check, there is no need for you to send the original check. We will draft up a new check, with the exact information from your original check. All checks will be held for bank clearance. If you feel more comfortable sending payment through the mail, please send all forms and Check or Money Order to: Rapture Marketing Inc. P.O. Box 616 Kenilworth, NJ 07033

1 0

Future War on TDC this Sunday
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi, Just saw an add for Future War on The Discovery Channel this Sunday evening. It is supposed to discuss the impact of global television as the primary weapon in the warfare of tomorrow. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make | | violent revolution inevitable. | | | | John F. Kennedy | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

1 0

Email your AD to 57 MILLION People ONLY $99
by 93157112＠ix.netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

57 MILLION EMAILS FOR ONLY $99 INCLUDES STEALTH MAILER That's right, I have 57 Million Fresh email addresses that I will sell for only $99. These are all fresh addresses that include almost every person on the internet today, with no duplications. They are all sorted and ready to be mailed. That is the best deal anywhere today ! Imagine selling a product for only $5 and getting only a 1/10% response. That's $2,850,000 in your pocket !!! Don't believe it? People are making that kind of money right now by doing the same thing, that is why you get so much email from people selling you their product....it works ! I will even tell you how to mail them with easy to follow step-by-step instruction I include with every order. These 57 Million email addresses are yours to keep, so you can use them over and over and they come on 1 CD. I will also include the stealth mailer - this is a full version of the incredibly fast mailing program that hides your email address when you send mail so no one will find out where it came from and you won't lose your dial up account. The stealth mailer is an incredible program and absolutly FREE with your order ! If you are not making at least $50,000 a month, then ORDER NOW. ORDER NOW BY FAX: Simply print out this order form and fax it to us along with your check made payable to: Future WT for only $99. Our Fax # is: 602 348 2955 We will confirm your order by email and then mail your cd out the same day via priority mail. Name:_____________________________ Street Address:______________________________ City:_____________________ State:________________ZipCode:_____________ Phone number:__________________________ Email:_______________________________ Tape your check here. Returned checks are subject to $25 NSF Fee. Fax it to 602 348 2955 Or You can mail a check or money order to: FutureWT 15560 N. Frank Lloyd Wright #b-4187 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 If you want to be removed from our mailing list just send a email here 57 million plus mailing program for only $99

1 0

Global market going to the bears? [CNN]
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Managers worldwide say they are losing confidence in equities, buying > bonds > > January 12, 1998: 1:48 p.m. ET > > Mutual Funds Guide > More related sites... LONDON (Reuters) - Fund managers worldwide are > increasingly pessimistic about economic and corporate earnings growth, > according to investment bank Merrill Lynch's monthly Gallup Global > Survey released on Monday. > [INLINE] "Managers are downgrading their forecasts for earnings per > share and at the same time this bearishness for equities makes them > want to buy bonds," Merrill Lynch global strategist Bijal Shah told > Reuters Financial Television. "They are saying this weakness in > activity means that inflation is not going to pick up and bond prices > should rise." [text deleted] ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make | | violent revolution inevitable. | | | | John F. Kennedy | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

1 0

Re: (eternity) mailing list and activity
by phelix＠vallnet.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 11 Jan 1998 18:48:24 -0600, Adam Back <aba(a)dcs.ex.ac.uk> wrote: >Wei Dai suggested that documents should be secret split in a redundant >fashion so that say 2 of 5 shares are required to reconstruct the >document. If the shares are distributed across different servers, >this ensures that one server does not directly hold the information. What prevents the operator of such a server from being charged with "conspiracy to provide child porn" or whatever? If he is holding a portion of such contraband, isn't he as liable as if he was holding the whole article(s)? -- Phelix

3 2