December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Trapdoor vs. Escrow
by Hal 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I think the term "trapdoor" in this context merely refers to known characteristics of the Clipper chip and does not imply any additional abilities to decrypt messages other than what has been revealed. A "trapdoor" is generally some secret which allows you to decrypt messages which could not be decrypted without the secret. It is normally applied in the context of one-way functions but I suppose an encryption system could be thought of as one-way. In this case I think the trapdoor may just refer to the Law Enforcement field which, upon decryption, allows information to be recovered so that the message can be read without the user's cooperation. The comment about the trapdoor issue being independent of the escrow issue harked back to Denning's original suggestion, which was that all users of encryption would have to escrow their keys with the government. This could be done in the context of any cryptosystem, such as DES or RSA. The trapdoor makes the system more convenient for users, hence perhaps more acceptable. But the escrow provision is the aspect that the government really cares about. BTW, there were some comments on sci.crypt about how this review document showed that the government was not as opposed to our views as had been thought. On the contrary, my take was that this document reflected something of a maverick view, one which was not politically acceptable with those in authority. Note the critical comments about the document containing unsupported assertions, a common buzzword for "views I don't agree with." I don't think the author of this review has helped his career. Hal Finney hfinney(a)shell.portal.com

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"Almost 2001" -- NBC transcripts available via Gopher
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

forwarded message - From: kadie(a)eff.org (Carl M. Kadie) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: NBC transcripts Date: 30 Dec 1993 19:29:20 -0500 Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation To see transcripts of "Almost 2001: an NBC [News] series on the communications revolution", try: gopher -p1/Communications/2001 gopher.well.sf.ca.us 70 - Carl -- Carl Kadie -- I do not represent EFF; this is just me. =kadie(a)eff.org, kadie(a)cs.uiuc.edu =

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End of Year E-Zine Listing
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Once again, we find ourselves facing a new jahre and pondering the untold wonders of the anarchy of cyberspace! In celebration of this joyous occasion, I've decided to post a compilation of electronic 'zines for your perusal. I especially like the reference for Practical Anarchy and will probably send a copy of this message to our old chum, Larry "the squid" Detweiler. Enjoy, - Spooge /---------------- good stuff follows ------------------/ Last updated: 27-Aug-93 by John Labovitz <johnl(a)netcom.com> This is a summary of electronically-accessible zines. The format should be fairly self-explanatory. In most cases, descriptions are excerpted from the masthead of the zine listed. [For those of you not acquainted with the zine world, "zine" is short for either "fanzine" or "magazine," depending on your point of view. Zines are generally produced by one person or a small group of people, done mostly for fun, and often irreverent, bizarre, and/or esoteric. Zines are not "mainstream" publications -- they generally do not contain advertisements (except, sometimes, advertisements for other zines), do not have a large subscriber base, and are not produced to make money.] If you have any additions, deletions, or changes to this list, please email them to johnl(a)netcom.com. I will post this list (and/or changes to the list) to various mailing lists and Usenet news groups. It can also be obtained via anonymous FTP from netcom.com as "/pub/johnl/zines/e-zine-list", and via email (either single issues or subscriptions) from e-zines-request(a)netcom.com. If you publish an e-zine, or know someone who does, please send a copy to e-zines(a)netcom.com and I'll add the relevant info to this database. All comments, suggestions, changes, deletions, etc., are welcomed and encouraged. John Labovitz johnl(a)netcom.com ----- Arm The Spirit "Arm The Spirit is a anti-imperialist/autonomist collective that disseminates information about liberation struggles in advanced capitalist countries and in the so-called 'Third World.' Our focus is on armed struggle and other forms of militant resistance but we do not limit ourselves to this. In Arm The Spirit you can find news on political prisoners in North America and Europe, information on the struggles of Indigenous peoples in the Americas, communiques from guerrilla groups, debate and discussion on armed struggle and much more. We also attempt to cover anti-colonial national liberation struggles in Kurdistan, Puerto Rico, Euskadi and elsewhere." Editor(s): Autonome Forum <aforum(a)moose.uvm.edu> Format: ASCII text FTP: etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/Politics/Arm.the.Spirit E-Mail: aforum(a)moose.uvm.edu, subject: "ATS: e-mail request" Postal: Arm The Spirit, c/o Wild Seed Press, POB 57584, Jackson Stn., Hamilton, Ontario, L8P 4X3, Canada Arm The Spirit, c/o Autonome Forum, POB 1242, Burlington, VT 05402-1242, USA Phone: +1 416 527 2419 (FAX for Canadian group) Armadillo Culture "Being the excremeditation of a hyperactive armadillo's activities, opinions, and other stuff..." Editor(s): Steve Okay <sokay(a)mitre.org> Format: ASCII text FTP: etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/Zines/Armadillo.Culture Postal: Armadillo Culture, 2857 Foxmill Rd. Herndon, VA 22071, USA ART COM "An online magazine forum dedicated to the interface of contemporary art and new communication technologies." Editor(s): Carl Eugene Loeffler <artcomtv(a)well.sf.ca.us> Format: ASCII text Usenet: alt.artcom Postal: ART COM, POB 193123 Rincon, San Francisco, CA 94119-3123, USA Phone: +1 415 431 7524 (voice), +1 415 431 7841 (fax) Other: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL): ART COM Electronic Network (ACEN) BLINK "BLINK would like to be a forum for the issues surrounding the intersection of consciousness and technology. This is our best defense against postmodern angst: To critically look at and anticipate the cultural and social changes spurred by the rapid development of technology." Editor(s): Justin Kerr <ratsbats(a)casbah.acns.nwu.edu> Joe Germuska (managing editor) Danny Dunlavy (chiphead) Jake Eldridge (assistant editor) Format: ASCII text FTP: blink.acns.nwu.edu:/pub/blink Gopher: gopher.well.sf.ca.us Computer Underground Digest "An open forum dedicated to sharing information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of diverse views." Editor(s): Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer <TK0JUT2(a)NIU.BITNET> Format: ASCII text FTP: ftp.eff.org:/pub/cud etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/CuD/cud halcyon.com:/pub/mirror/cud aql.gatech.edu;/pub/eff/cud ftp.ee.mu.oz.au:/pub/text/CuD (Australia) nic.funet.fi:pub/doc/cud (Finland) ftp.warwick.ac.uk:pub/cud (United Kingdom) Gopher: etext.archive.umich.edu Postal: Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA Phone: +1 815 753 0303 (voice), +1 815 753 6302 (fax) Usenet: comp.society.cu-digest CompuServe: DL0 and DL4 of the IBMBBS SIG; DL1 of LAWSIG; DL1 of TELECOM Other: GEnie: PF*NPC RT libraries; VIRUS/SECURITY library America Online: PC Telecom forum under "computing newsletters" Delphi: General Discussion database of the Internet SIG PC-EXEC BBS (+1 414 789 4210) Rune Stone BBS (IIRG WHQ) (+1 203 832 8441) NUP:Conspiracy RIPCO BBS (+1 312 528 5020) via Fidonet File Request from 1:11/70 ComNet in LUXEMBOURG BBS (+352 466893) Bits against the Empire BBS (+39 461 980493) (Italy) Crash "A guide to traveling through the underground. Alternative travel stories, hints, and tips." Editor(s): John Labovitz <johnl(a)netcom.com> Miles Poindexter Nigel French Format: ASCII text FTP: netcom.com:/pub/johnl/zines/crash Postal: Crash, 519 Castro #7, San Francisco, CA 94114, USA CTHEORY -- Virtual Review of Books for Post-Modem Theory "CTHEORY is a new international, electronic review of books on theory, technology and culture. Reviews are posted monthly of key books in contemporary discourse as well as theorisations of major 'event-scenes' in the mediascape. Editors and contributors include: Kathy Acker, Jean Baudrillard, Bruce Sterling, Arthur and Marilouise Kroker, Deena and Michael Weinstein. CTHEORY will also offer the possibility of interactive discussions among its subscribers in the electronic theory 'sim-posium/salon.'" Editor(s): <ed22(a)musica.mcgill> Format: ASCII text E-Mail: LISTSERV(a)VM1.MCGILL.CA with text body: "SUBSCRIBE CTHEORY <full-name>" Cyberspace Vanguard "News and Views of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Universe" Editor(s): TJ Goldstein <tlg4(a)po.cwru.edu> Sarah Alexander, Administrator <aa746(a)po.cwru.edu> Format: ASCII text E-Mail: cn577(a)cleveland.freenet.edu Cyberspace Vanguard@1:157/564 (FidoNet) CVANGUARD (Delphi) Postal: Cyberspace Vanguard, POB 25704, Garfield Heights, OH 44125, USA Drum "Drum is not an isolated event but an ongoing process." Editor(s): R. Patrick Jones <dh644(a)cleveland.Freenet.Edu> Format: ASCII text FTP: etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/Zines/Drum Gopher: gopher.well.sf.ca.us Ego Project "This 'zine is a product of me and as such will contain anything I feel like putting in it. Whatever I feel like putting in it shall include, but is not limited too, anything I feel applies to Gothdom in general. Album/single/tape reviews, book and movies reviews, etc. The Sisters of Mercy and the Mission are my main focuses, but since neither of them put out music on anything resembling a frequent basis I imagine other groups will be featured quite frequently." Editor(s): Corey Nelson <ieya(a)byron.u.washington.edu> Format: ASCII text Gopher: gopher.well.sf.ca.us Postal: Ego Project, 1717 Monroe #b, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA Factsheet Five / Factsheet Five - Electric "FactSheet Five is the central clearinghouse of information about zines, those opinionated publications with press runs of 50 to 5000 (often done through surrepticious use of on-the-job supplies and xerox). Mike Gunderloy of Rennsalaer, NY published 44 editions of F5. Hudson Luce published the final issue, #45. I opened my big mouth (or, rather, let my fingers blab away) about doing an online, net-accessible version of FactSheet Five." Editor(s): Jerod Pore <jerod23(a)well.sf.ca.us> (electronic version) Seth Friedman <sethf5(a)well.sf.ca.us> (paper version) Format: ASCII text FTP: etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/Factsheet.Five nigel.msen.com:/pub/newsletters/F5-E src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/literary/newsletters/factsheet-five Gopher: gopher.well.sf.ca.us WAIS: nigel.msen.com Postal: Factsheet Five, 1800 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94102, USA (This is for *BOTH* the electronic and paper versions; or for items that can't be delivered to a PO box) Seth Friedman, POB 170099, San Francisco, CA 94117-0099, USA (This is for the paper version *only*, especially subscriptions) Other: The WELL BBSes around the world FUNHOUSE! -- The cyberzine of degenerate pop culture "Dedicated to whatever happens to be on my mind at the time I'm writing. The focus will tend to be on those aspects of our fun-filled world which aren't given the attention of the bland traditional media, or which have been woefully misinterpreted or misdiagnosed by the same. FUNHOUSE! is basically a happy place, and thus the only real criteria I will try to meet is to refrain from rants, personal attacks, and flames -- and thus FUNHOUSE! is an apolitical place. Offbeat films, music, literature, and experiences are largely covered, with the one stipulation that articles are attempted to be detailed and well documemnted, although this is no guarantee of completeness or correctness, so that the interested reader may further pursue something which may spark her interest." Editor(s): Jeff Dove <jeffdove(a)well.sf.ca.us> Format: ASCII text FTP: netcom.com in /pub/johnl/zines/funhouse High Weirdness by Email random Internet information Editor(s): <mporter(a)nyx.cs.du.edu> Format: ASCII text Gopher: gopher.well.sf.ca.us International TeleTimes "International Teletimes is a general interest magazine. There are several recurring monthly columns but the rest of the content changes from month to month as new themes are chosen. The goal of Teletimes is to attract a large variety of writers from all over the world so that the readers will be exposed to a great variety of ideas and opinions." Editor(s): Ian Wojtowicz <ian(a)breez.wimsey.com> Format: Macintosh Doc-Maker application FTP: sumex-aim.stanford.edu:/info-mac/per/teletimes-*.hqx Postal: TeleTimes International, 3938 West 30th Ave., Vancouver, BC V6S 1X3, Canada Other: OneNet (network of FirstClass BBSes) InterText "InterText is a bi-monthly fiction magazine with over 1000 subscribers worldwide." Editor(s): Jason Snell <intertxt(a)network.ucsd.edu> Geoff Duncan <gaduncan(a)halcyon.com> Format: ASCII text PostScript FTP: etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/EFF.journals/InterText CompuServe: Electronic Frontier Foundation's "Zines from the Net" section, accessible by typing "GO EFFSIG" Obscure Electronic "OBSCURE is the zine that profiles the people in this publishing subculture." Editor(s): James P Romenesko <intertxt(a)network.ucsd.edu> Format: ASCII text FTP: etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/Zines/Obscure.Electric Gopher: gopher.well.sf.ca.us Postal: POB 1334, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA People Power Update The newsletter of the bicycle advocacy group "People Power" Editor(s): Ron Goodman <goodman(a)cats.ucsc.edu> Format: ASCII text FTP: netcom.com:/pub/johnl/zines/ppu Postal: People Power, 226 Jeter Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA Phone: +1 408 425 8851 (voice/fax) Play by EMail "Electronic 'zine about free play-by-electronic-mail wargames. Reviews, game openings, information." Editor(s): Greg Lindahl <gl8f(a)fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU> Format: ASCII text FTP: ftp.erg.sri.com:/pub/pbm/PBEM-Fanzine Gopher: gopher.well.sf.ca.us Usenet: rec.games.pbm Practical Anarchy Online "An electronic zine concerning anarchy from a practical point of view, to help you put some anarchy in your everyday life. The anarchy scene is covered through reviews and reports from people in the living anarchy." Editor(s): Chuck Munson <cmunson(a)macc.wisc.edu> Bitnet: cmunson(a)wiscmacc.bitnet Mikael Cardell <cardell(a)lysator.liu.se, Fidonet: Mikael Cardell@2:205/223 Format: ASCII text Gopher: gopher.well.sf.ca.us Postal: Practical Anarchy, POB 173, Madison, WI 53701-0173, USA Practical Anarchy, c/o Mikael Cardell, Gustav Adolfsgatan 3, S-582 20 Linkoping, Sweden Quanta "Quanta is the electronically produced and distributed magazine of science fiction and fantasy. As such, each issues is packed with fiction from amateur and professional authors from around the world and across the net." Editor(s): Daniel K. Appelquist <quanta(a)andrew.cmu.edu> Format: PostScript ASCII text FTP: export.acs.cmu.edu:/pub/quanta ftp.eff.org:/journals/Quanta lth.se:/documents/Quanta catless.newcastle.ac.uk:/pub/Quanta Gopher: gopher-srv.acs.cmu.edu (in the Archives directory) Postal: Quanta, 3003 Van Ness St. NW #S919, Washington, DC 20008, USA CompuServe: "Zines from the Net" area of the EFF forum (accessed by typing GO EFFSIG) Scream Baby "What do I want? Besides world peace, a sexy Mexican maid, and someone to use their fucking brains around here, I want a really good all-encompassing-sub-culture zine. Music, literature, art, television, film, weird space-time kinks, events, information, news, humor, interviews, and re:views of 'Stuff I Think Is Cool.' Not all at once, of course. Each issue of Scream Baby will come out whenever I can scrape together 25-30 kilobytes of really good stuff." Editor(s): Blade X <bladex@bladex@wixer.cactus.org> Format: ASCII text FTP: etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/Zines/ScreamBaby ftp.eff.org:/pub/journals/ScreamBaby Postal: Cyberlicious <tm>, POB 4510, Austin, TX 78765 USA Other: WWIV: 46@5285 Unplastic News "the odd e-mail magazine w/a fever" Editor(s): <tibbetts(a)hsi.hsi.com> Format: ASCII text FTP: ftp.eff.org:/pub/cud/misc/journals etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/EFF.journals/Unplastic_News quartz.rutgers.edu:pub/journals Gopher: gopher.well.sf.ca.us Voices from the Net "There are a lot of folks with at least one foot in this complex region we call (much too simply) "the net." There are a lot of voices on these wires. From IRC to listservs, MUDspace to e-mail, Usenet group to commercial bbs -- all kinds of voices -- loud and quiet, anonymous and well-known. And yet, it's far from clear what it might mean to be a "voice" from, or on, the net. Enter "Voices from the Net": one attempt to sample, explore, the possibilities (or perils) of net.voices. Worrying away at the question. Running down the meme. Looking/listening, and reporting back to you." Editor(s): Bookish <tibbetts(a)hsi.hsi.com> CountZer0 <mgardbe(a)andy.bgsu.edu> NEURO <fbohann(a)andy.bgsu.edu> Format: Macintosh HyperCard stack ASCII text FTP: sumex-aim.stanford.edu:/info-mac/per/voices-*.hqx etext.archive.umich.edu:pub/zines/Voices E-Mail: Voices-request(a)andy.bgsu.edu to subscribe: subject: Voices from the Net body: subscribe Whole Earth Review "We are dedicated to demystification, to self-teaching, and to encouraging people to think for themselves. Thus our motto: 'ACCESS TO TOOLS AND IDEAS.' Tools in the Whole Earth sense include hammers, books, and computer conferencing systems. Our readers are a community of tool-users who share information with one another. The ideas we make accessible have not often been found in university courses, but are becoming recognized as part of what you need to know to be truly educated. Our readers contribute to the editorial content as well, with both reviews and articles." Editor(s): <> Format: ASCII text Macintosh PageMaker 4.2 files Gopher: gopher.well.sf.ca.us E-Mail: wer(a)well.sf.ca.us Postal: Whole Earth Review, 27 Gate Five Road, Sausalito, CA 94965, USA Phone: +1 415 332 1716 (voice), +1 415 332 3110 (fax) ----- Sites archiving e-zines with FTP: ftp.eff.org etext.archive.umich.edu ftp.cic.net quartz.rutgers.edu ftp.msen.com ftp.halcyon.com world.std.com netcom.com in /pub/johnl/zines) nigel.msen.com in /pub/newsletters grind.isca.uiowa.edu (128.255.19.233) in /info/journals Sites archive e-zines with Gopher: gopher.eff.org etext.archive.umich.edu gopher.cic.net gopher.msen.com gopher.well.sf.ca.us world.std.com gopher.unt.edu -----

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Benford revisited:
by jpinson＠fcdarwin.org.ec 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In regards to my posting about the New Scientist article on "Benford's" law (unexpected number ratios in observed data), I received many comments along the line of: > I suggest you look at any slide-rule or log graph paper for the > simple explanation of this trivial phenomenon. Actually, the New Scientist article gave a very clear explanation of Benford's law, and how it can be a simple artifact of the way numbers are counted. The article caught my attention, when it went on to explain how other phenomena, such as alpha particle half-lifes can follow Benford's law for completely different reasons. I won't attempt to retype the entire article, but Buck, Merchant, and Perez, reported in the European Journal of Physics (Vol 14, p59) that both expected and observed half-lives followed Benford's law. Quoting New Scientist: "..Why should nature operate in this curious manner? Buck and his colleagues point out that in the case of alpha decay, there may be a good physical reason. In 1928 George Gamow used the newfangled theory of quantum mechanics to describe alpha decay. The alpha particle lives inside a "potential well" in which the energy is lower than in an any other state that it can normally reach. It escapes by "tunneling" through the potential well. The probability of tunneling occurring within a given time is found by forming a so- called "tunneling integral" and raising it to a power that is proportional to time. So tunneling times, and hence half-lives naturally correspond to a geometric series, not a arithmetic one. If nature chooses the tunneling integral "randomly" with uniform probability, then the power-law dependence of alpha-particle half-lives on this integral leads to scale-invariant behavior, and so to Benford's law. " I am not a physicist or a mathematician, so I can't speculate on the validity of these statements. However, all this did make me wonder if advances in fractal geometry, or chaos theory, might one day reveal patterns in seemingly random numbers derived from real word phenomena. Since most random numbers used in cryptography are derived from real word phenomena, we should be aware of such potential influences. Actually, we don't have to bring in fractals, chaos, or Benford's law to have reason for concern about using real world based random numbers. A method commonly recommended on this list for generating random numbers is to take the audio input from a workstation (with no mike attached) and then compress the output: cat /dev/audio | compress - >random-bits-file First of all, without extensive study of the audio output (from the *specific* source) who can say the output is random in the first place? Harmonics from the various electrical circuits in the computer could easily produce non-random effects (like a 60 cycle hum). The second aspect that concerns me is the use of compression. Unless you are very familiar with the type of data compression being used, how can you be sure there aren't various signatures, tables, data structures, or headers being inserted into the output. Indeed, I had to go no further that the beginning of a data file produced by the "Compress" program, to find nonrandom numbers. All such files begin with the same three bytes! If something so obvious is being overlooked, what about more subtle patterns? Anyway, it seems to me there can be many factors "contaminating" random numbers based on physical phenomena, factors ranging from a simple 60 cycle hum to unrecognized fractal patterns. It is perhaps a good idea to routinely "massage" random numbers to remove both recognized and unrecognized contamination. Xor'ing random numbers derived from two or more different sources might be sufficient. If done properly, such a procedure may produce non-Benford, evenly-distributed random numbers, which might be considered superior to the original. Actually, I tend to be rather cautious about such things and am always on the lookout for possible "contamination". I also try to keep an open mind to new ideas. Jim Pinson

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Hoax or ???
by mikeingl＠news.delphi.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Path: news.delphi.com!noc.near.net!MathWorks.Com!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!library.ucla.edu!agate!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!news.ysu.edu!psuvm!auvm!DSC.BLM.GOV!cjames >Comments: Gated by NETNEWS(a)AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU >Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada >Return-Path: <@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU, > @VM42.CSO.UIUC.EDU:owner-info-ada@VM1.NODAK.EDU> >Return-Path: <@VM1.NODAK.EDU:cjames@DSC.BLM.GOV> >X-Mailer: SCO System V Mail (version 3.2) >Source-Info: From (or Sender) name not authenticated. >Message-ID: <9312212330.aa07880(a)dsc.blm.gov> >Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 23:30:25 MST >Sender: Ada programming language <INFO-ADA(a)NDSUVM1.BITNET> >From: Colin James 0621 <cjames(a)DSC.BLM.GOV> >Subject: Public key encryption broken >Comments: To: info-ada(a)vm1.nodak.edu >Comments: cc: barlow(a)eff.org, gdean(a)yarrow.wt.uwa.edu.au >Lines: 30 William H Payne originally discovered how to break RSA without factoring by using powers of two on 10/15/90. Mr Payne wrote a draft paper "Public Key Cryptography is Easy to Break" on 10/16/90. The abstract (draft only) appears below: Public key, also known as Rivest, Shamir, and Adelman, cryptography is broken without factoring the modulus m. The product of the encryption and the decryption exponent is computed directly with order log(base 2) m shifts, adds, and compares. A continued product between the modulus and its multiplier which matches a criterion solves the Fermat-Euler theorems simply for even very large moduli. Mr Payne is writing a tutorial paper on the same subject with Jon Grant which should propose a new public encryption algorithm as a standard which can not be easily broken. This indirectly relates to Ada in that projects in the process of implementing public key encryption in Ada may find these advances of value. This information also calls into the question the validity of patent claims for RSA. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Colin James III : Disclaimer: BLM, SC-342D, DFC : ----------- Denver, CO 80225 : The opinions expressed here are solely (303) 236 - 5897 : responsible for their content. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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anonymous "video on demand"
by jim＠bilbo.suite.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Does anyone know of a good, practical way of doing "video on demand" in such a way that the video supplier can't track the videos you select? I suppose the trivial solution would be to send your video selection request (and service fee) through a "anonymous video remailer". The video supplier would send the encrypted video back to you via the remailer. Since I don't see "anonymous video remailers" as being a practical solution in the near future, I'm more interested in finding out if there are other ways of solving this problem. This sounds like an All-Or-Nothing Disclosure Of Secrets problem. However, all I know about ANDOS is what I read in "Applied Cryptography", and the algorithm it describes doesn't seem a good fit. Are there other ANDOS algorithms that may work better? Jim_Miller(a)suite.com

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Anonymous Video on Demand
by Mike Ingle 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Does anyone know of a good, practical way of doing "video on demand" in >such a way that the video supplier can't track the videos you select? Are you thinking of physical videotape or electronic distribution? For electronic distribution, suppose you have a fiber-optic cable with n channels, where n is a large number. You send in your request and pay with digicash or a prepaid system like a prepaid phone card. You send them an encryption key, and they broadcast the movie over one of the channels. Or they generate the encryption key and send it to you using a key you gave them. Problem: you can share the encryption key with a few thousand of your closest friends, thus cheating the video dealer. They could require you to make a digicash deposit, and offer a reward for anyone who reports a pirated encryption key. If you give out the key, someone reports it and gets half your deposit, and they keep the rest. But a group of people who all trust each other could still rip off the video dealer. You could have a decoder with a key unknown to you, but that system would be only as strong as the physical security of the decoder. Is there any way to use offline-digicash-like techniques to set up a system so that if you reveal the encryption key, you also reveal your identity? This would be a real deterrent. For a videotape system, there is no strong way I can think of to prevent revealing your identity. You have to pick up the tape, and they have to know what to record on it or which tape to put out. A camera at the site could always catch you in the act of retrieving the tape. It is possible to protect the dealer in an anonymous transaction, but not the customer. The dealer, if he was selling pirate tapes, could go out and hide them in various places. In exchange for your digicash, he tells you where one is. --- Mike

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add
by Nikolaos Daniel Willmore 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

add Hope this doesn't end up in a real person's mbox taking up space.

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Re: Revised Clipper FOIA results...
by an55689＠anon.penet.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> A full-scale public debate is beginning which will ascertain the wishes > of U.S. citizens with regard to their privacy and the impact on public > safety of preserving privacy at the expense of wiretapping and > communications intercept capabilities of law enforcement and national > security personnel. It is not clear what the public will decide. Why wan't the public brought in at the _beginning_ of this process? How will U.S. citizens at large be brought into the debate? and When? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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Off the deep end (PUNCH!)
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Well, although Perry Metzger has expressed a disdain for re-postings of Detweiler's rants to this list, I think that a little, subtle reminder should occasionally be posted just to remind us all how deranged this fucker really is. Enjoy. -------- cut here ------------ Newsgroups: talk.politics.crypto,alt.privacy,comp.org.eff.talk From: ld231782(a)keller.lance.colostate.edu (L. Detweiler) Subject: ancient torture techniques Sender: news(a)yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (News Account) Message-ID: <Dec31.090735.79631(a)yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1993 09:07:35 GMT Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 Geoff Dale (plaz(a)netcom.com) wrote: : > Congratulations! If you repeat anything frequently enough, : > people begin to believe it. : : That seems to be your strategy. It doesn't work when you so consistantly : undermine your credability with rants, tho. : So stop posting and this little bit of net.history will soon be forgotten. Hello world, I am not proud of everything I have posted `out there' lately, but I am even less proud of the ugly depths and grotesque deformities I have seen in certain black corners of the Internet lately, and the apalling complacency with which you all view it. The skeletons have not only fallen out the the closet, they have danced around us and punched us all in the face. My own letters on the subject are an attempt to shock you from your silent complacency and `accessorizing'. What happens when trust breaks down? What happens when people respond to their own posts? When they misattribute writing? When they don't care who is behind email addresses, or deceive others about them? When they post multiple messages from different addresses? Imagine that every one of my posts came from a different address. What is to prevent me? My honesty? My integrity? What if I am a cyberanarchist? Would I be horrified or delighted at these embezzlements of trust? By the squirming and writhing of my victims underneath my crushing onslaught? * * * I was reading a book about ancient torture techniques. (Actually, it was about something else, but some paragraphs on the subject crept in from obvious relevance.) The Roman soldiers had invented some of the most grisly torture and execution techniques the world has ever seen, perhaps the most humiliating and heinous punishments known to man. One that I was reading about was called `Circle of Eight'. A blindfolded prisoner stands as Roman soldiers (enthusiastic volunteers?) circle him and take turns punching him in the face. They take the blindfold off, and ask him, who hit you? And if the prisoner fails to name the person, the game continues, they dance in their delight, circling at a faster, more dizzying rate, and pummel harder. What is the point of all this? I don't have a major point, except to suggest that this is one of the most evil abominations of humanity I can imagine. And that it is shockingly identical to the mentality that a cyberanarchist has in hammering others with his fake email identity arsenals. Medusa is delighted to punch the blindfolded victim in the face with her dizzying circle of tentacles. Guess who it is! Ooops, you're wrong, sorry. PUNCH. What? No, N.Szabo is a real person. PUNCH. Pseudospoofing is immoral? nah. PUNCH. N.Szabo is my roommate. PUNCH. Lies are liberating. PUNCH. cypherpunks have never pseudospoofed. PUNCH. especially the leaders. PUNCH. and everything in the media is true. PUNCH. especially what we say. PUNCH. and our leaders are the greatest of all. PUNCH. See the blood dripping on the ground, see the hideous disfigurement of the victim's face. * * * I am posting this many messages to drive home the point that the Cyberanarchists are not really noble at all. They are like Roman Soldiers who will hit you when they see that you are blindfolded. Otherwise, they hide in the shadows like all the rest of the cowardly slime at the putrid, dank recesses of humanity. And unless someone takes out the trash, we're going to have to get used to the smell. But where will we go to eat, then? go ahead, tentacles, water down my words with more trash. dilute and warp my message beyond all recognition. that's probably all we read is, anyway. all of history is just a big lie set out by people who aren't interested in the truth, but in fooling us to assuage their egos. the Bible, of course, is the worst of all. * * * I read one author who suggested that as part of Christ's torture before literally bearing his cross, he had been subjected to the Circle of Eight. Cyberanarchists, who are you punching? What was that saying of Christ's, as you do unto the lowest of men, you do unto me? I think the question you have to ask yourselves is, if a victim is blindfolded, does God hear his screams? What if the soldiers are athiests? When does the Circle of Eight stop, anyway? When the victim is unconscious? When he is dead? ``NEXT!'' -- ld231782(a)longs.LANCE.ColoState.EDU

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