December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Katz on cypherpunks, in HotWired's Media Rant
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

[Background: the cypherpunk/pw:cypherpunk account used for HotWired's Threads discussion section has been used for anonymous flaming and attacks. --Declan] Linkname: The Netizen - Media Rant - Jon Katz URL: http://www.netizen.com/netizen/96/40/katz0a.html HotWired The Netizen 30 Sep 96 [...] In addition, the digital culture has long been demonized by the outside world and is inherently defensive and edgy. Cypherpunks give us fascinating insights into this subject, since their equivalent exists in no other medium, and they epitomize the often mindless verbal violence that characterizes some parts of the Net. Their original purpose - techno-anarchy and advocating unfettered access to information - conflict head-on with the Web's mainstreaming and the arrival of the newly wired middle class. Cypherpunks don't want real confrontations or discussions, or they would reveal their identities and make it possible to respond, as most flamers do. They are among media's rarest and at the same time most easily recognized subspecies: nihilists. Anonymous communication makes verbal violence easy. Since most flamers don't know their targets and won't ever meet them, it's easy enough to attack individuals and question personal motives, with none of the social consequences of face-to-face verbal assaults. And Net communication also offers no filter: because it's instantaneous, people often don't take the time to cool off, reflect, or take another look at the messages they mail and post. When tempers flare here, it doesn't even take the time of a phone call to pop off. So, hostile messages are often impulsive and frequently regretted, apologized for, or taken back and clarified. Since the Net makes communication so easy, it makes corrections, criticism, and discussion inevitable. Nobody who writes or posts on the Web should expect anything less than sustained and continuous challenge and critique, something that is rarely permitted in mainstream journalism. Web writers and posters have to see these as integral to their work - not simply attacks - and as healthy antidotes to conventional media arrogance and elitism. Accompanying the hundreds and hundreds of personally assaultive messages I've gotten - as opposed to the thousands of simply critical ones - there is a strange and recurring phenomenon: If you respond quickly and respectfully, the overwhelming majority of hostile emailers either apologize, change their tone, or write back in a more reflective, serious, or friendly way. Most of these posters are stunned that anyone read their mail in the first place, or, even more amazingly, responded to it. [...]

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POLL RESULTS
by Sandy Sandfort 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C'punks, Last week I offered an informal poll as to the reputational effect of "John Anonymous MacDonald" and other apparent nyms. I received responses from 31 of you. All were signed by known Cypherpunks; none were anonymous. I was not surprised to find absolutely zero respect for "Anonymous." In addition, there were no negative comments about Tim and in most cases, high marks for his restraint and dignity under the circumstances. Perhaps not so surprisingly, a significant number of you expressed the belief that the "Anonymous" posts come from Demetri Vulis. Following, are a few samples of what respondents had to say. (They are reproduced without atribution because I had not asked permission to do so in my origninal poll request.) S a n d y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clearly, John Anonymous MacDonald is losing points. Tim's reputation is unaffected. ... I'd be suprised if anyone regarded Anonymous with any degree of respect anymore. As for Tim May, he already had a good rep in my book to start with, and by not responding in a similar matter (at least not publicly) to these people, his reputation is enhanced even more. ... Who is John Anonymous MacDonald...We can only surmise that his real joy is playing with himself in public. ... Anonymous is a total moron who'd be annoying me greatly if I hadn't managed a decent killfile. ... The posts are idiotic and childish, and reflect quite badly on the sender (presumably Dmitri Vulis KOTM). If anything, they provide a reason to pay *more* attention to tcmay. ... As with any public display of poor taste, anonymous shows themselves lackjing in judgement. I credit Tim for not responding. ... I personally think that these anonymous attacks are pointless. They are just stupid insults, and they don't do anything negative to Tim's reputation except show that someone likes abusing remailers. Perhaps Tim's reputation may get enhanced by the fact that someone has to go this low to debase him. ... It seems to me that anyone who is unwilling to allow the abused party to respond personally is undeserving of anyone's respect. To feel the need to do it in a public forum with however many thousands of people are on these lists is a sign of insecurity and weakness... ... Tarnished - John Anonymous MacDonald Enhanced - Tim May (due to his restraint!) ... Tim's reputation is definately being enhanced, if it's fair to judge a man by the ememies he keeps. ;) ... ...Since these annoying posts started a week or so ago, I have (for the first time ever) begun killfiling people and messages on the cp list. Right now I am killing all messages from John Anonymous MacDonald, Dmitri Vulis, and any message in the "daily ... regarding TCM" thread(s). I hope this madness can end, so we can get back to more normal traffic levels on the list. ... Dimitri 'Anonymous' Vulis' reputation has gone way out on the negative side. (He's been an obvious nutcase from the start...) TC May's positive reputation has increased from his handling of these attacks. ... This kind of post shows Anonymous to be at the social level of a grade school child. If s/he grows up, I may change my mind. It does nothing to effect my opinion of Tim May... Anonymous is making a public mockery of him/herself. ... The anono-twits lose by a mile.... ...It's not much different from graffiti - some people put up interesting posters on walls and telephone poles, and write interesting stuff on bathroom walls; others scrawl empty vulgarity... ... Anonymous's reputation went instantly from 0 to negative infinity. Tim May's reputation is unaffected. ... It certainly does nothing to harm Tim's reputation, from where I stand. Thank God for procmail! ... Well, as Tim has managed to sit back and take it, and I've killfiled the main perpetrators. I'd say it makes a public mockery of Anonymous. ... ...it seems evident that some non-anonymous posters aka KTOM seem to understand how to *abuse* our American freedom's but don't understand about *responsible* use. Is this a deliberate attempt to damage this list or is it that some folk just can't handle freedom? ... ...I killfile Foolish Voolish and most of the others, just because of these ridiculous ad hominem attacks on Tim. ... Anonymous' claims make him look stupid simply because they have no technical or political message - just dirty words...Tim May's reputation is enhanced, I think, by the fact that *other people* come in and dispute Anonymous' claims, over and over again.

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Diffie Speaks at Sun: "Cryptology, Technology, and Politics"
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text From: Rich Lethin <lethin(a)ai.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 15:06:20 -0400 To: rah(a)shipwright.com Subject: [joei(a)hq.lcs.mit.edu: DLS -- the first one this year] Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 14:34:24 -0400 To: seminars(a)lcs.mit.edu, help-teach(a)hq.lcs.mit.edu, eecsfaculty(a)eecs.mit.edu From: joei(a)hq.lcs.mit.edu (Joei Juanita Marshall) Subject: DLS -- the first one this year DISTINGUISHED LECTURER SERIES DATE: October 17, 1996 TIME: 3:15 - Refreshments 4:00 - Lecture PLACE: MIT, Building 34, Room 101, Vassar St., Cambridge, MA "Cryptology, Technology, and Politics" Dr. Whitfield Diffie Distinguished Engineer Sun Microsystems, Inc. October 17, 1996 Abstract: >From World War I on, interception of communications took its place beside traditional human intelligence as a vital implement of state power. Over the past two decades, a combination of falling costs and new technologies have made high-grade cryptography widely available. This threatens many communications intelligence sources --- though probably not communications intelligence itself. The result has been a series of panicky government attempts to control the spread of cryptographic technology. As long as individuals have access to computers that really `work for them,' such attempts are unlikely to succeed. The opponents of cryptography may, nonetheless, damage both our democracy and our economy with their efforts. Host: Professor Michael Dertouzos Joei Juanita Marshall Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Computer Science 545 Technology Square NE43-104 Cambridge, MA 02139 Phone: (617) 253-0145 Fax: (617) 258-8682 --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "'Bart Bucks' are not legal tender." -- Punishment, 100 times on a chalkboard, for Bart Simpson The e$ Home Page: http://www.vmeng.com/rah/

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Mailmasher
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hey guys, Take a look at: http://www.mailmasher.com/ It's a way to get your mail through a web page. Pretty useful when you're at a braindead "cyber-cafe" machine and want to read your mail. The problem is, mailmasher knows you POP password. Anyway to do this more securely? Cheers, Bob ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "'Bart Bucks' are not legal tender." -- Punishment, 100 times on a chalkboard, for Bart Simpson The e$ Home Page: http://www.vmeng.com/rah/

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[ADMINISTRATIVIUM] A daily warning regarding Tim C. May
by Bovine Remailer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Embedded in Tim C. May's babblings are preposterous lies, wild distortions, child pornography (both as graphic descriptions and in JPEG format), ethnic slurs, and racial epithets.

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RE: Looking for Qualified Individual/Firm to Contract for Cryptanalysis
by Jim Byrd 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 07:00 AM 9/30/96 -0700, thad(a)hammerhead.com (Thaddeus J. Beier) wrote: > >I saw this > >> > I am looking for one or more people (or firms) who are qualified to perform >> > world class cryptanalysis work. Please send mail to me at joswald1(a)msn.com >> > call in the U.S. at +1 408.479.7874 >> > >> > Jack Oswald > >and then this... > [news about Grady Ward, and the Scientology cult's attempt to decrypt his files] > >The trial is happening in San Jose, and I wouldn't be at all surprised >if the attempted cryptanalysis is happening there, too. They've been >working at it for a few months now. Not necessarily. The answering machine at the phone number listed mentions "RPK" as the company, and this company has non-Grady reasons for looking for these skills. >From their web page at http://crypto.swdev.co.nz/: "The RPK public key cryptosystem provides industrial-strength public key cryptography that's available worldwide. " "You'll find full technical information, free evaluation software and development tools, and details of our SafeCracker Challenge program where you can earn a $$$ REWARD $$$ while trying to put us out of business! " They could just be looking for people to test their own stuff.

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RE: Looking for Qualified Individual/Firm to Contract forCrypt analysis
by Randall Terpstra 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Nice try bimbo--- 408 is San Jose!! RWT ---------- From: cypherpunks-errors[SMTP:cypherpunks-errors@toad.com] Sent: Saturday, September 28, 1996 3:58 PM To: cypherpunks Subject: Re: Looking for Qualified Individual/Firm to Contract forCryptanalysis Julian Assange <proff(a)suburbia.net> writes: > > I am looking for one or more people (or firms) who are qualified to perform > > world class cryptanalysis work. Please send mail to me at joswald1(a)msn.com > > call in the U.S. at +1 408.479.7874 > > > > Jack Oswald > > > > Find your father's little black book under the couch? Well, I dialed the number out of curisotity (it's in San Diego). The answering machine says "This is Jack Oswald with R.P.K." Sounds gay. --- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps

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Re: active practice in America
by Marc J. Wohler 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:45 AM 9/30/96 -0800, you wrote: >At 11:32 PM -0700 9/29/96, Dale Thorn wrote: > >(Legal purists will point out that the second trial was for "Federal civil >rights violations." Harummphh. What would the Founders think of this logic: I am sure you know the reason for the 'civil rights violation laws. In the 50's & early 60's, all while jury's in the deep south refusing to convict obviously guilty white defendants of rape and murder against blacks. What would be *your* remedy in such cases.

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Algeria & Censorship
by E. Allen Smith 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

While I agree with the Algerian military in preventing an Islamic Fundamentalist takeover (it's one of my examples of situations in which democracy goes wrong), I definitely don't support many of their other actions. Lesser of two evils... -Allen > _________________________________________________________________ > PC Travel > _________________________________________________________________ > SUSPENDED ALGERIAN DAILY OFFERED INTERNET PAGE > __________________________________________________________________________ > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 Reuter Information Service > PARIS (Sep 30, 1996 1:24 p.m. EDT) - A press freedom watchdog on > Monday offered the suspended Algerian daily La Tribune a page on its > Internet site to give it an airing during the six-month ban. > "Thanks to this initiative, these journalists, banned from writing by > the Algerian authorities, will be able to practice their trade again," > the Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RsF) said. > An Algiers court suspended La Tribune for six months on September 3 > over a cartoon mocking the Algerian flag. [...] > Fifty-seven journalists have been murdered by suspected rebels. RsF > said authorities had suspended or seized newspapers on 55 occasions > and 23 journalists had been held for more than 48 hours since the > conflict broke out over the 1992 cancellation of a general election > fundamentalists were poised to win. > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net

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Re: Not reputation again! (Was: The Nature of the Cypherpunks List)
by E. Allen Smith 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: IN%"gregburk(a)netcom.com" 25-SEP-1996 07:25:48.98 >You could contend that the Poster With Nothing Better To Do's reputation >is balanced precariously at exactly 0. I would find that a big stretch, >and as above, if that's 0, what's negative? A fully anonymous individual (not a pseudonym or otherwise trackable individual) is inevitably going to have a reputation of 0. It can't be negative; that would be saying that I could flame myself via remailers and _increase_ my reputation if I did it properly. The person can't exactly build up a reputation of above 0, since that would require multiple good postings and/or some form of escrow. -Allen

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