December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Secrecy: My life as a nym. (Was: nym blown?)
by Sean Roach 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:26 AM 11/11/96 -0800, Hal Finney wrote: ... >I have two kids entering their teens, and I'm sure other list members are >parents as well. What can we do for our children to help them enter their >adult lives with better chances to retain privacy? Unicorn mentions keeping >them absent from school on picture day, although I'm not sure how much this >helps. I suppose it makes it harder for an investigator to find out what >they look(ed) like. Then when they get old enough to drive you have a new >problem avoiding the photo (and thumbprint) on the license. ... As far as the drivers linscense goes, there are religions that do not allow its members to be photographed, and the government honers this,(at least the Tag Offices do). I don't know the name of the religion but I believe it is a Christian one. Convert once every four years to get your drivers liscense, and convert back within the week. No photograph on that little piece of plastic. P.S. In Oklahoma, there is no thumbprint on the current liscense. P.P.S You can always send your child to school with a note saying that you do not want your child in the class picture, I know of someone who did that, (on a side-note, we always wondered why.)

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A really short one time pad.
by Sean Roach 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Actually, here are ten. 2^.5 3^.5 2^(1/3) 5^.5 5^(1/3) 7^.5 11^.5 13^.5 17^.5 Pi For that patter the nth root of any prime number. A lifetime of "pads" could be distributed in one trip. Of course this still means that you have to make the trip, and write down all of the above with a referring codeword or number. Cheap, I know. Wonder if this type of "one time pad" is as foolproof as truly randomly generated ones.

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Re: Small question about the list
by stewarts＠ix.netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>I would be realy happy if someone could tell me the adress to remove my name >from the distribution list. >Could anyone send me the procedure on how to remove my name of the list ? The two usual ways to do this on the internet are 1) Use the same address you used to join the list (you _did_ save it?) 2) somethinglist(a)somewhere.com is administered by somethinglist-request(a)somewhere.com (though this is often a frontend for some mailbot like majordomo or listserv @somewhere.com , and may just send you instructions for finding the real mailbot.) # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com # You can get PGP outside the US at ftp.ox.ac.uk

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Code of Practice for the Internet
by Benjamin Grosman 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dear All, Found something I thought you all might find interesting..... www.intiaa.asn.au/codeintro.htm A body in Australia is attempting to introduce a "Code of Practice" in Australia Yours Sincerely, Benjamin Grosman

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Re: Taxation Thought Experiment
by azur＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>The crypto-relevance is via crypto anarchy: we need to undermine the tax >system enough that _everyone_, not just us, loses faith in it. (There could >be a "straw that broke the camel's back" effect, if people lose confidence >in the system. Even if most people are _not_ using anonymous digital cash >to hide income, if _enough_ are (and this "enough" could be a visible >minority, visible through recounts of their deeds), then confidence could >be lost. As in Italy and other such places, where compliance rates on taxes >are very low.) > >--Tim May > I've posed similar questions to friends and aquaintences. The working-class stiffs (who can't easily hide from the IRS) feel taxes are an unwelcome but necessary burden in order to provide the blanket of government protection they feel exists. They resent and oppose widespread tax fraud. Self-employed tend to be more open to 'alternative' income structuring. PGP Fingerprint: FE 90 1A 95 9D EA 8D 61 81 2E CC A9 A4 4A FB A9 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Schear | Internet: azur(a)netcom.com Lamarr Labs | Voice: 1-702-658-2654 7075 West Gowan Road | Fax: 1-702-658-2673 Suite 2148 | Las Vegas, NV 89129 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet and Wireless Development Defeat the Demopublican Unity Party. Vote no on Clinton/Dole in November. Vote Harry Browne, Libertarian, for President. http://www.harrybrowne96.org

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Re: Secrecy: My life as a nym. (Was: nym blown?)
by Sean Roach 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:14 PM 11/11/96 -0600, Igor Chudov wrote: >This is an interesting topic. I apologize if my questions are too trivial, >but here they are: > > 1) Can a person without an SSN have a credit record? Some > may say that a credit record is a bad thing to have, > but I am still interested in a possibility. > 2) Will private lenders (such as credit card issuers or > mortgage companies) agree to extend credit to a person > without an SSN or to someone who refuses to give out his SSN? > 3) Will the state issue a driver's license to someone who does not > have/does not wish to give out their SSN? > 4) Will states' police (where applicable) approve purchases of > firearms if purchasers do not state their ssn (misstating it > may be a crime) on an application? > 5) Employers are required to pay certain taxes and therefore > they, in my understanding, need to know their employees SSNs. > How can people get around that (unless they do not need to work)? > 6) Can someone without an SSN obtain various kinds of insurance? > >It is my understanding that the law does not regulate use of social >security numbers between private parties. Businesses are free to refuse >to do business with someone who does not present them an SSN. In real >life, how inconvenient is life of a privacy-concerned individual? > >Say, John Anonymous is a young 15 years old who anticipates to become an >engineer and have a middle class life. He wants to get married, have >children, drive a car, obtain insurance, work at some big company, >travel around the world, invest in mutual funds or buy stocks, and so >on. Reliance on government help is not important to him, so he would not >apply for an SSN solely to get Social Security, welfare and such. > >His parents are cypherpunks and did not obtain an SSN for John. How much >effort would it cost him to live a life outlined above? He couldn't, at least not in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, students in public schools are now required to have SSN's. This may not apply to private schools, but I imagine that it does, at least to some degree. Having a high school education is certainly necessary to gain the Masters necessary to be an engineer. However, getting a drivers liscense should be easy. My sisters drivers liscense number is one that was randomly generated, all because she did not know her SSN off of the top of her head. My drivers liscense number is the same as my SSN, all because I know my state mandated serial number. For all practical purposes, I am Roach, Sean 447-xx-xxxx. Note, 447 refers to the state of my birth. My sisters record is at least a little more convoluted.

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RE: Taxation Thought Experiment
by Blanc Weber 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Timothy C. May The crypto-relevance is via crypto anarchy: we need to undermine the tax system enough that _everyone_, not just us, loses faith in it. ......................................................... Having more of the facts about how taxation works - how it affects an individual in certain examples, providing the kind of calculating which both Tim and Joseph have gone through, should do it (bring about the loss of faith). And Ross Perot would be the right person to communicate it, with his charts and his detailed explanations (so would Harry Browne, but he doesn't yet have the cash for such advertising). Ross doesn't want to do away with taxes completely, but he is at least interested in their making sense. .. Blanc

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Re: Censorship on cypherpunks
by Dave Hayes 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dimitri "Too Hot for Cypherpunks" Vulis writes: > Does saying "The list owner should not kick people off the list for speech" > violate the list owner's right to free speech? That depends on whether plug- > pulling (and mailbombing and ping-storming and other obnoxious behavior) > is speech. The entire, highly recursive question of free speech versus censorship relies almost entirely on the assumption that human beings can be controlled. The observation that certain behavior is obnoxious arises from an inability to control one's own environment at a basic level. Issues such as this have nothing to do with mailing lists or net.protocol, except as vehicles of expression for human conditioning which is already present. Until the fly can be tolerated, removing the shit will only serve to turn one's attention to a new annoyance. ------ Dave Hayes - Altadena CA, USA - dave(a)jetcafe.org Freedom Knight of Usenet - http://www.jetcafe.org/~dave/usenet In a dark alley, a pickpocket tried to snatch Nasrudin's purse. There was a violent struggle, but eventually Nasrudin got the thief pinned on the ground. At this moment, a charitable woman passing called out: "You bully, let the little man up and give him a chance!" "Madam," panted Nasrudin, "you ignore the trouble which I have had getting him down."

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Re: Digital signatures
by nobody＠replay.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Tim May is not only as queer as a three dollar bill, but he is also into having sex with children.

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Bay Area Cypherpunks Meeting, Saturday Nov 9, C2Net, OAKLAND
by stewarts＠ix.netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

November's Cypherpunks meeting will be held at C2Net's office in Oakland, 1212 Broadway, 14th floor, at 1-5 pm. (12:00 for lunch/hanging around, 1:00 program.) Agenda: - Demo: Ecash plug-in for Netscape - Bernstein Hearing updates - there'll be another hearing Friday 11/8. - Stronghold secure web server - Mondex smartcard weaknesses - Possible IPSEC update - Show&Tell - bring toys! - Bagels Directions: 1212 Broadway, Oakland, 14th Floor, between 12th & 13th on broadway, immediately above the 12th st/city center bart station. Parking garage at the corner of 13th & franklin, one block away. The parking garage closes at 6pm on saturdays though, so you need to be careful you don't leave your car there past six. We're on the 14th floor. The door is locked; see guard for access. # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com # You can get PGP outside the US at ftp.ox.ac.uk # Nov. 5 is Guy Fawkes Day - Vote Early and Often, and create Fireworks!

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