December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: NYT/CyberTimes on CWD article
by Deranged Mutant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 6 Jul 96 at 16:56, eli+(a)gs160.sp.cs.cmu.edu wrote: > >http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/0706patrol-reporters.html > > "If we believe the encryption scheme has > > been compromised, we will make another > > one." [..] > They have to give you the list, and they have to give you software > that uses it, so there's no way to achieve complete secrecy. I think > the best they can do is to distribute a list of hashed URLs. What? After they paid for the rights to use "Infinite Vigniere Key" Technology.... I'm surprised that they went so far as to try to encrypt the naughty URLs list (but some kids would get off on just reading the list alone anyway). Hashing could be problematic... how to differentiate between a site and it's users. www.pornopix.com is obvious, but the directory tree of www.localisp.com/~perv/mypix/ is harder to filter out with hashing if subdirectories or specific images are called up, unless the software has a way to differentiate between sites and specific users or directories on those sites. (I wonder if the software can tell that ~perv/ and /users/home/perv/ or /home/perv/ can be the same directory on some systems? That would be an interesting flaw. Has anyone hacked with the software?) Another problematic with Net-Nurse type software: a database of naughty sites and naughty users... a real goldmine for prosecutors. Rob. --- No-frills sig. Befriend my mail filter by sending a message with the subject "send help" Key-ID: 5D3F2E99 1996/04/22 wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com (root@magneto) AB1F4831 1993/05/10 Deranged Mutant <wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com> Send a message with the subject "send pgp-key" for a copy of my key.

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Oh no! No ratings again... (Re: Need PGP-awareness in common uti
by Deranged Mutant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 6 Jul 96 at 23:16, bryce(a)digicash.com wrote: > If you have a moderation bot for a Usenet group (and could it be > pressed into service as a mailing list handler I wonder?), this > would be a nice tool to start with in order to implement > full-fledged content/author ratings. [..] Bad idea unless the list is rating authors who are not on the list. It would be equivalent to setting up a reputation web. Or is this a stab at humor? Rob. --- No-frills sig. Befriend my mail filter by sending a message with the subject "send help" Key-ID: 5D3F2E99 1996/04/22 wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com (root@magneto) AB1F4831 1993/05/10 Deranged Mutant <wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com> Send a message with the subject "send pgp-key" for a copy of my key.

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Re: Need PGP-awareness in common utilities
by Deranged Mutant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 6 Jul 96 at 23:56, bryce(a)digicash.com wrote: [..] > Hm. That might be an interesting addition to my plan, but the > first step is to generate ratings and to consume them at each > individual's mail-handling site. So I, for example, would run a > script every time I received mail (or every hour, or every day, > etc) which looked for ratings certificates, PGP-verified them, > and saved the rating in a database. Then I would run another > script (every time I received mail, or every hour, etc.) which > identified incoming messages and _did_ something to them if > there were sufficient ratings in the database to merit _doing_ > something to them (e.g. delete, promote to a "well-rated" > folder, demote to a "poorly-rated" folder, forward to my > friends, forward to my enemies, etc.). Some lists require plenty of time to read each day (let alone if I go on a vacation for a few days and want to catch up). Managing a rating system would double the work if I were to do it by hand-rating the raters, etc. It's easier to put certain people or subject threads in a twit-list folder and delete the rest by hand rather than put twice that effort into a rating system... chances are most people who quickly tire of maintaining it, let the rating system run on autopilot and then disable it when they realize they missed something really important or interesting. Rob. --- No-frills sig. Befriend my mail filter by sending a message with the subject "send help" Key-ID: 5D3F2E99 1996/04/22 wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com (root@magneto) AB1F4831 1993/05/10 Deranged Mutant <wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com> Send a message with the subject "send pgp-key" for a copy of my key.

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Wiretapping Rises EYE_son
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The Wash Post today has page one lead story on the sharp rise in wiretapping by the Clinton administration. Former restraints due to high cost have been overcome with more money and more efficeint technology, eagerly supported by a bipartisan Congress and grateful LEA and DoJ cartelest conspiracists. And, there is a lengthy Op-Ed on the "growing stealth slice of the shrinking defense pie." Lots and lots of secrets, can't get enough of them, can't tell the public what they are, about real and imaginary terrorists and anti-terrorists -- and bypass the private citizens that threaten budgets and jobs and inner sanctum privileges. See at: http://www.washingtonpost.com No Web access? Or hate snooping newspapers, and spies traffic-analyzing? Send us via Ross Anderson's true anonymizer end-to-end encrypted spize-only top secret E-mail with the subject: EYE_son

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Re: [RANT] Giving Mind Control Drugs to Children
by minow＠apple.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Simon Spero comments on Tim May's Ritalin rant: >On Sat, 6 Jul 1996, Timothy C. May wrote: >> >> When the mother (a single mother, as this is California) drops her son off >> with my friend (also single, of course), she includes several "Ritalin" >> capsules with instructions on how to dose her son with this >> depressant/behavior modification drug. > >Er... Tim... Ritalin is an amphetamine. > Yup, and it was the illegal drug of choice in Sweden in the 1960's, making its use as a convenient way to quiet down rambuncious kids a bit strange -- but the "medical professionals" have an explanation. Interestingly, it is illegal to hit kids in Sweden -- the courts call it assault, just as if you hit an adult. When I lived there (in the '60 and '70s), I took an informal survey and found only one person who had ever been spanked as a child -- and only once, for breaking her brother's violin. A good friend would infrequently give her infant a pat on the bottom (when he tried climbing on the stove), but was always careful to aim for the well-padded diaper. You may wish to consider whether Sweden's low murder rate is related to the lack of parent-child violence. Martin Minow minow(a)apple.com

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Re: [RANT] Giving Mind Control Drugs to Children
by Michael Myers 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 07:25 AM 7/7/96 -0700, Sandy Sandfort <sandfort(a)crl.com> wrote: >Yes, normally, but doesn't it have a paradoxical reaction for >hyperactive children (i.e., it acts as a depressant for them)? As one of those "ADD" kids back in the '70's, the dextroamphetamine I was given actually did seem to calm me down. Of course, coffee also put me to sleep then. Happily, that situation has reversed itself as I've grown older. *grin* -- /^^^^^^^^^Instead of being born again, why not just GROW UP?^^^^^^^^^^^\ Michael Myers Vote Libertarian....you'll sleep better! Don't like abortion? Don't have one. Don't like guns? Don't buy one. blackavr(a)aa.net E-mail for PGPv2.6.2 public key \____________ http://www.aa.net/~blackavr/homepage.htm ________________/

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Re: [RANT] Giving Mind Control Drugs to Children
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 6:33 PM 7/7/96, AwakenToMe(a)aol.com wrote: >Did I miss something?? I fisrt came here and asked something about protected >mode and was yelled at for asking it in this newsgroup. Now we're onto mind >control drugs? >uhhhhhh ok. I did not yell at you. Bear in mind that there are many subscribers, with many views of what is interesting and what is important to talk about. There are only so many times that a particular thread can be talked about meaningfully, and some of the more crypto-related threads (which no one is stopping anyone from starting!) have covered the same ground through dozens of cycles. Thus, while "Where can I get SFS to encrypt my hard drive?," as an example, may _seem_ to be list-relevant than discussions of Ritalin and the use of it in public schools for behavior modification, I think the former thread is "tired," and generates little response, where the latter thread has obviously generated a lot of responses. This speaks for itself, as I see it. But, then, I view the list as partly a social community of reasonably like-minded folks, with a shared interest in several obvious things, and not just a place to discuss C++ code or where to find SFS and PGP. Personally, I'm just as glad the list is not a clone of Libernet or Commienet, but most political threads die out quickly enough. The "Ritalin" thread will die out eventually, In the meantime, it appears to interest quite a few people, and some readers may not have previously known that the public schools are sending out the message of "Just say "No!" to drugs!" while simultaneously using mind-control drugs to dose kids into submission. Sort of like the Feds calling for strict controls on privacy technology while freely passing around confidential FBI dossiers of their political enemies. The foxes guarding the henhouses. All of these examples are useful for our agenda. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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DEA Intercepts
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Would anyone know more about the DEA "process the intercepts by computer" in the excerpt below from today's Wash Post? Any connection to Peter Neuman's remarks at the CRISIS press conference about LEA training and technology as alternatives to breaking strong crypto? This new funding has been a factor in making possible increased use of electronic surveillance. Federal wiretaps cost more than $70,000 a month to operate and generate hundreds of hours of labor for monitors, transcribers, surveillance teams and investigators. Larger budgets mean cost is less of an obstacle. Building for the future, the DEA is carrying out a $33 million program to replace single-line wiretapping gear with new equipment that can monitor 40 lines simultaneously and process the intercepts by computer. The FBI is plowing millions into developing new intercept techniques for digital lines and expanding its cadre of agents who use the bureau's high tech surveillance gear. "I don't think J. Edgar Hoover would contemplate what we can do today in terms of technology," Reno testified during a Senate hearing in May. The total number of federal wiretaps is just one measure of the rise in federal surveillance. The build-up also is evident in the increased use of electronic devices that record the numbers dialed by a target telephone, and the origin of calls to it. These devices allow agents to identify a person's associates. Beginning in 1993, Justice agencies began using the court-authorized monitors more often and leaving them installed for longer periods of time, according to a Justice Department report.

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Style gettting in the way of clear reporting
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:28 PM 7/7/96, Raph Levien wrote: >Declan McCullagh wrote: >> >> "We are writers, not crytographers." >> >> -Declan > > Well done. Very well done. I'm not sure why Brock is constructing >this hard-drinking bad-boy persona (perhaps he's trying to become the >Trent Reznor of crypto journalism), but the piece was great. I found it unreadable. No doubt some fine reporting, but the "faux Chandler" touches made it unreadable for me. "The last gin joint in cyberspace, and I had to to be the one to break it the babe, a thirty-two bit floozy with gams as long as, well, let's just say they made me forget about the Feds waiting to send me up the river for the long one..." With no _personal_ criticism of either Brock or Declan, I find that most modern cyberspace journalism--much more so than the mainstream press--is this kind of "performance piece" stuff, where pastiches of Chandler, Hunter S. Thompson, Jack Kerouac, and all the like are lathered all over the articles. The clearest and most extreme examples of this trend are the columns by Spencer S. Katt, Robert X. Cringely, and the other rumor-mongers of the trade weeklies, where a few morsels of actual reporting are buried in vast amounts of phony stuff. Such as endless crap about "Pammy," a dingbat--and utterly fictional--Valley Girl who one of these columnists uses to pads his columns with. This New Journalism kind of stuff is also rampant in "Wired." I suppose some people like it. I call them easily impressed. Or as Raymond S. might put it, "She was the kind of dame impressed by a paint by numbers Mona Lisa." Sadly, simple expository prose must be considered to be too boring, too banal. (Actually, were only a few writers doing this, it might be mildy tolerable. Speaking for myself, that is. But so _many_ "cyberspace journalists" are doing bad pastiches of famous stylists that the reportage is being lost in the noise. "A screaming comes across the screen." Wake up, Brock and Declan! And all the other too clever by half New Journalists. I'd like to read some of your stuff, not hit the delete key as soon as see the style-laden ersatz Chandler larding up the article. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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EYE_son
by David K. Merriman 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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