December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Ever buy encryption software? YOU WILL!
by smb＠research.att.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I found this on comp.dcom.telecom and have elided some marketing material. My editorial comments are enclosed in brackets. Amazing. _AT&T_, the same folks that were trying to bring us Clipper, are going to sell DES over-the-counter. I'd be happier with triple-DES, but this blows my tiny little mind. Disclaimer: I'm speaking for myself, not AT&T. I've said this before, but it's worth repeating. For the most part, corporations exist to make money. They don't take moral stances. (Aside: I'm not saying that this is good or bad; rather, I'm saying that it just is.) If you offer a company a way to make money, it will probably do it. Unified visions, of the sort you're implying AT&T had on encryption, are generally seen as long-term ways to make money, i.e., if the company picks some standard, it will be easier or cheaper to make or sell some future set of products. In the case of Clipper, there was a clear market: the government wanted to buy Clipperphones. AT&T already sells secure phones (STU-III's) to the government; the question here (and I wasn't privy to any of the discussions) was whether or not it would cost more to develop the phone than the potential profits. But Clipper isn't, and can't be, the be-all for encryption, even apart from the moral questions. See if you can dig up AT&T's response to the proposed key escrow FIPS. I suspect you'd be surprised. I don't think I have it handy, but it points out things like the unsuitability of key escrow for software implementations -- and the products you describe are exactly that. Yes, AT&T as a company thinks that there is a market for privacy devices. (And it's no secret that the defense market is drying up, due to budget cuts.) Clipper can't fill certain market niches. DES -- or triple DES, or IDEA, or RC2, or whatever -- can.

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hearing on Nov. 15 at 10 am in Gilmore v. NSA case
by Lee Tien 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Many of you know of John Gilmore's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against NSA, which was written up in WIRED. In September, Judge Henderson dismissed the case, ruling that there was no claim for an injunction against NSA for its regular, routine failure to respond to FOIA requests within the time limits provided by the law. John has moved for reconsideration of the dismissal on a variety of legal grounds. The hearing on Monday 11/15 10 a.m. is in Courtroom 12, on the 19th floor of the U.S. Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco. Lee Tien

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Re: Should we oppose the Data Superhighway/NII?
by Mike Godwin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Perry writes: > Mike Godwin says: > > But cable service would be far more valuable to me (and I'd pay more for > > it) if I could, say, upload a video of my little girl taking her first > > steps and send it to Tim. (Not that he'd necessarily pay for that > > privilege, but you get the idea.) > > Why do we need government for this? We don't. We need private providers for this. > Seems to me that bandwidth is > going to be nearly free in both directions in a few years whether > government intervenes or not. I agree about the potential for it to be free, but, I gotta tell you, the monopolists running the cable systems in this country have no inclination to share that nearly free bandwidth with you, even if you're willing to pay for access to it. In order to get to a world in which free markets can meet our demand for high-bandwidth connectivity, we have to dig ourselves out from the market-failure position we're in now. And because government is part of the problem, changing government policy is part of the solution. So, that's one of the major thrusts of EFF's NII policy. --Mike

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Fwd: [gtoal@an-teallach.com (Graham Toal)]Info on Clipper chip and fabrication of it
by Postmaster＠cproject.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In article <9311092013.AA09822(a)vangogh.VIS.ColoState.EDU> nate(a)vis.colostate.edu writes: > Last I heard, hte model of the ARM series used in the Newton (the > ARM 610 processor) cranked out about 30,000 Drystones and used > _very_ little power. Oh boy, wait till the guys on comp.sys.acorn hear about this! I can tell why the arm was chosen: it comes as a drop-in circuit that manufacturers can use in their own designs. Not many of the other low-power fast CPUs are available like this. And its very small, and blindingly fast. G -- Personal mail to gtoal(a)gtoal.com (I read it in the evenings) Business mail to gtoal(a)an-teallach.com (Be careful with the spelling!) Faxes to An Teallach Limited: +44 31 662 4678 Voice: +44 31 668 1550 x212

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re: Should we build the Data Superhighway/NII
by Brian D Williams 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

DISCLAIMER; This is for the private reading of the members of the Cypherpunks list, and may not be redistributed without permission. The opinions expressed are strictly my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ameritech or it's alliance partners. My two bits on the data highway; - on universal access Ameritech, the consortium of the five regional midwest RBOC's filed a plan for complete deregulation and access to the local loop the first week in March under the title of "Advanced Universal Access" The gist of it? If you remove the regulations against us competeing in everyone elses markets, we will allow and provide complete unbundled access to the local loop. Number plan the whole bit, right to the copper pair if you want. My two bits? we don't have any problem with any and all forms of competition. Do you want "Universal Access"? Then all participants have to share the costs involved. In Illinois alone there are more than 30 companies providing local loop service, each functions as a "Monopoly" within it's geographic area. Sprint the long distance company owns and is a "Local Loop Monopoly" in about 8 areas that I recall,(This was the result of there purchase of Centel) GTE, all the big boys are here. Large corporate customers are directly connected with long distance carriers without touching the local loop. - Bell Atlantic and TCI merger? couldn't care less, bring them on! I am involved with a number of projects that pertain to the "Data Highway" concept. - The Extended classroom, part of the "Superschools" project. This will provide E-mail services and basic info services to K-12 students. The next stage calls for Internet/Usenet Access and interactive MultiMedia (Hyperlearning) access. - Health services network, this is already providing shared info between various medical agencies and hospitals, it is limited right now by regulatory restrictions. - Announced just this morning....Ameritech has announced an alliance with Citibank to provide for "Display Telephone" access to Citibank financial services, this will also provide access to directory services and advanced telephone services. This is basically a variation of the French "Minitel" system from the look of it. I intend on pushing for Internet/Usenet access as well. Of course this is only the start, got an idea for a service? give us a call. All are welcome, I expect to see numerous "Garage" startups providing content of all sorts. - Video Dialtone, basically a piece of cake if you have the bandwidth, currently works well down to T-1 speeds (1.54 MPS) The Battle to build the "Superhighway" has been called the battle of 250 million trenches. This refers to the notion that 250 million sections of local loop will have to be replaced with fiber eventually. It's true that ISDN can play a part and ADSL (Asymetrical digital subscriber loop) which has been successfully tested at 3MPS over UTP and should clear 6MPS in the next 6 months will help fill the gaps. Some Cable companies will have their own offerings, as will various "Telecosm" pioneers we've yet to see. The cost of building the initial "Fibersphere" has been estimated at 250 billion dollars. Who's going to foot the bill? The existing cable plant is more than sufficient for the services the telco's are currently permitted to offer. We've made our point clear ( see the FCC filing "Advanced Universal Access") Turn us loose, and we'll build it, or at least contribute to it, ;) and equal access will be provided to all competitors. We're going to build it anyway, " Are you with me men!" Brian Williams Cypherpatriot Extropian * Telecosm and Fibersphere are from the works of futurist George Gilder, his work is highly recommended. * Hyperlearning is from the work of Lewis J. Perelman particularly "Schools Out, Hyperlearning, the new technology, and the end of education." Also highly recommended.

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Re: Are we gatewayed to Usenet?
by Carl Ellison 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I think there's a difference between a gateway into USENET and a gateway from USENET. The latter would give us a feed from Sternlight, Pope, et al. - Carl

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Applications of cryptography
by an41418＠anon.penet.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

My apologies for getting caught up in the political momentum of the Private vs. Public debate on income tax. It was too tempting... Anyway, back to wondering. I am trying to compile information about the different applications of cryptography. I would like to create something like the handbook of cryptography. Some examples that come to mind are: digital cash, DC nets, coin flipping, mental poker, digital signatures, secure communication, encrypted file systems, etc. Any help will be appreciated. If people respond to me directly, I will post a summary to the list, and maybe distribute the handbook if it is a successful project in a few months. Thanks, Wonderer ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help(a)anon.penet.fi. Due to the double-blind, any mail replies to this message will be anonymized, and an anonymous id will be allocated automatically. You have been warned. Please report any problems, inappropriate use etc. to admin(a)anon.penet.fi.

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oops
by Carl Ellison 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

please ignore the previous message (I must be tired). Access from the net to cpunx is already trivial. so much for that.

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AT&T encryption software
by Philippe Nave 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Well, well, well. I should have guessed that we [AT&T] would scramble onto the encryption software bandwagon sooner or later. Buried in the bowels of the PBX business, I haven't heard anything about the product yet, but that's about par for the course. I would like to strongly encourage anybody who can get a copy of this product to examine it thoroughly; my gut feel is *bad*, but I'll need some concrete facts if I am to present a dissenting view. Sooner or later, the PC lab guys will probably be installing this thing on our PCs and we'll be the 'vanguard of the future' (again!). I am particularly interested in whether this package is interoperable with PGP- for some reason, I tend to doubt it <tired grin>. [If any of you were wondering whether or not I 'speak for AT&T', this posting should remove all doubt..] ........................................................................ Philippe D. Nave, Jr. | The person who does not use message encryption pdn(a)dwroll.dw.att.com | will soon be at the mercy of those who DO... Denver, Colorado USA | PGP public key: by arrangement.

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Hardware for Sale
by abootch＠sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

FYI -- Noticed in new ish of 2600 an ad for Consumertronics in NM selling Tempest, Van Eck systems, KX Radar Emitter -- and more (of course). No free catalog, tho'. -- -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.3a mQBNAizdNhgAAAECAKYlJfK4YQoaRYtiywdgR7OQmsS23oRFr3QYZf4mE1pQTvPg DGB7xVx2mfRjsqUdQsar4vdWyNZmXLMmHNdez9UABRG0K0FuZHkgSS4gTWF0aW5v ZyA8YWJvb3RjaEBzZnN1dmF4MS5zZnN1LmVkdT4= =KJFP -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

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