December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Three on Clinton, one not crypto-related but positive
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This first one is about as expected. I'm disappointed in Gingrich for being so conciliatory, and not pointing out (as the person from the ACLU did) that there's no evidence whatsoever that such expanded governmental powers would have done anything to stop the TWA (possible) bombing - and evidence that it would do nothing whatsoever to stop events like the Olympic bombing. >Clinton calls for expanded measures against terrorism > _(c) Copyright 1996 Nando.net_ > New York Times > NEW ORLEANS -- Spurred by the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics, > President Clinton Sunday called on Congress to pass expanded measures > against terrorism -- including new federal wiretapping authority -- > that were dropped from the anti-terrorism bill passed last spring. > Clinton called on the congressional leadership from both parties to > join him and the director of the FBI, Louis J. Freeh, at the White > House on Monday to discuss additional steps the government might take > to combat terrorism. Speaker Newt Gingrich expressed willingness to > consider such measures and said he believed some agreement could be > worked out. [...] > Clinton originally proposed such markers, and expanded authority to > let the FBI wiretap suspected terrorists or groups who are moving from > place to place, after the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995, but the > measures were among those that fell out of the final bill. In an > unusual alliance, civil liberties groups and advocates of gun rights > joined forces to argue that the wiretapping expansion, in particular, > would violate constitutional rights of privacy and free association. [...] > Speaking Sunday morning on the NBC News program, "Meet the Press," > Gingrich said there was "a possibility" of reaching an agreement on > both issues, given the bombing in Atlanta and the suspicions that a > bomb may have brought down Trans World Airlines Flight 800. > He said that he thought Congress should "re-approach" the issue of > wiretapping, and that questions concerning the chemical markers were > "going to be negotiated." The Olympic bomb, he said, "shows you why > people are looking at that particular solution." > "I believe that the more there is terrorism, the more pressure we're > under to find systematic ways to solve it," said Gingrich, who had > opposed the proposals on chemical markers and wiretapping when the > administration made them. [...] > Clinton said the Group of 7 industrialized nations will meet on the > issue of terrorism in a few weeks. Announced at the summit of the > group in Lyons, France, last month, the meeting is intended to promote > international cooperation among police and intelligence agencies, > traditionally reluctant to share information, even among allies. [...] > In an interview Sunday, Schumer said that law-enforcement agencies > needed to be able to obtain telephone records of both incoming and > outgoing calls of suspects in international terrorism cases; to > monitor communications over digital networks, to keep up with > criminals who may activate a new cellular phone every few days, and > otherwise to stay abreast of the communications revolution. > Schumer said Gingrich was among those who "did everything they could > to weaken the bill" the first time it was passed. "Any time the NRA or > any of these far right groups sneezed, they jumped," he said. > Gingrich suggested Sunday that he favored an approach that would allow > monitoring of a suspect's calls across any number of telephones, but > said that should not mean that any phone that happened to be used by a > suspect could be monitored when other people were using it. > Ever since the TWA flight went down shortly after its departure from > John F. Kennedy Airport on July 17, FBI agents have been using the > attendant publicity to press the case for broader wiretapping > authority. The chief FBI officer on the scene of the disaster, James > Kallstrom, has repeated this plea. > But there continues to be some resistance to some of these ideas in > Congress. > "We're not prepared to extend wiretapping," said Sen. Arlen Specter, a > Pennsylvania Republican, in an interview on the CNN program Evans & > Novak on Saturday. "There was a judgment made in the Congress that > we're prepared to give up that bit of security for that bit of > freedom. And I think that's a wise judgment." > Laura W. Murphy, the director of the Washington office of the American > Civil Liberties Union, said the FBI was using terrorism to bolster its > arguments for techniques that it really wants to use in more typical > criminal cases. > "The idea that these roving wiretaps are going to lead to new > developments in our ability to fight terrorism is a big myth," she > said. > She said that only a minute fraction of wiretaps involve crimes of > terrorism, and that the new types of wiretaps the FBI seeks are more > invasive and more likely to track innocent parties than the old kinds. This one is the promised positive one on Clinton. > Centura > OLYMPIC IRAQI WEIGHTLIFTER WHO CARRIED FLAG DEFECTS TO UNITED STATES > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 The Associated Press > Ahmed said Iraqi officials had told the country's delegation to turn > their heads away from President Clinton while marching in the opening > ceremony because Clinton and former President Bush "wanted to destroy > Iraq." > "Everybody else in our group looked away from President Clinton. They > were not men. But I turned my head and looked at him and I could not > believe my eyes. He was standing and applauding for us," the Times > quoted Ahmed as saying. "I know that if the games were in Iraq, Saddam > Hussein would not clap for the U.S." And in this one, Clinton (like other politicians) gets angry at the thought that they might have to take some of that responsibility that they all keep talking about. (My suggestion is to remove sovreign immunity and allow wrongfully prosecuted persons to sue officials for their court and other costs. It would certainly decrease prosecutions to the absolute minimum.) -Allen > Avis > CLINTON'S TEMPER FLARES WHEN NEWS CONFERENCE STRAYS > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 Reuter Information Service > WASHINGTON (Aug 1, 1996 2:00 p.m. EDT) - President Clinton displayed a > fiery temper Thursday when at a news conference on the economy he was > asked about the White House travel office controversy and past drug > abuse by some staff members. [...] > "There are a lot of people who were never charged with anything, much > less offering to plead guilty to anything, who have been dragooned and > pulled up and had thousands and tens of thousands of dollars of legal > expenses, who were completely innocent, but have been subject to > abject harassment. > "Are we going to pay their legal expenses, too. Are we going to pay > the legal expenses of every person in America who is ever acquitted of > an offense?" Clinton asked heatedly.

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Re: Jewell is the Militia Bomber!!!!
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 5:53 AM 8/1/96, Rich Graves wrote: >Ferchrissakes, guys, take a step back and look at yourselves. You're playing >the spin control game just as fast and furious as the "bad guys" (?). First >the glee over how easy it was to find bomb-making instructions anywhere, >then saying it was a provocation by the government, now it becomes a ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >conspiracy against fat people who read gun magazines. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Rich, maybe you're spending too much time amongst the Zundelsite Neo-Nazis. You no longer recognize humor even when it's pretty damned obvious. --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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Jim Bell, stay out of Georgia....
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

They're arresting this guy because he had one mention of a Molotov Cocktail? Why am I reminded of the Haymarket trials? Where's a Governor Altgeld when you need him? Admittedly, this guy doesn't seem too bright... but if that were a reason to lock him up, the prisons would be even more crowded than they are now. -Allen >Anarchist charged with advocating government overthrow > _(c) Copyright 1996 Nando.net _ > New York Times > JONESBORO, Ga. -- An 18-year-old self-styled anarchist who allegedly > distributed a free, homemade pamphlet with anti-government rhetoric > has been charged with advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government. [...] > Clayton County police Lt. Larry Gibson said Moreland turned himself in > Sunday. Authorities obtained an arrest warrant for Moreland Saturday > after the pipe bombing at Centennial Olympic Park, although police say > they don't think he played any role in the crime. > "He told us he was only interested in destroying property, and I don't > think he fully understands the ramifications," Gibson said. "Whatever > he was up to, we wanted to nip it in the bud." > Moreland had been under investigation since July 8 when authorities > received a copy of a pamphlet called "Rise Above." Police traced the > pamphlets to a mail box service in a shopping center allegedly rented > in Moreland's name. > The pamphlet was laced with with anti-police cartoons, obscenities, > and anarchist slogans. The one overt reference to violence was an > illustration of a "Molotov cocktail" on the same sheet with a recipe > for "soy milk" made from water-soaked soybeans, sugar and vanilla and > strained through a T-shirt.

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[Editorial] Privacy commisioner right-Canada
by jbugden＠smtplink.alis.ca 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Privacy commisioner right Editorial Ottawa Citizen, July 31 Bruce Phillips, the privacy commisioner, has again called for reinforcements to defend personal privacy against the assaults of commercialism and technology. It is a call that demands action-from the federal government, Parliament and every Canadian. The commisioner's annual report proposes two essential recommendations. First, the government should make the protection of privacy a condition of sale whenever a government enterprise is sold to the private sector. Second, the government and Parliament must pass a law extending the enforcement of privacy rights to private-sector businesses in federal jurisdiction. Phillips is right. As thousands of public servants are transferred out of government service, they lose the protection of the Privacy Act -- which covers only government departments and agencies. And as more personal information about all of us accumulates in the corporate sector, there is an intensified public interest in extending legal protections. ******* Phillips acknowledges the profitability of buying, selling and exploiting personal data on employees and customers. And he sees the power of new technologies to make privacy violations faster, cheaper, more comprehensive and always more intrusive. ******* But he insists that preserving personal privacy is both possible and necessary: "If we discard the notion of privacy and simply treat one another as data subjects, as objects of surveillance, we abandon that fundamental, democratic notion of autonomy and self-determination." Right Again.

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Jew Bits, Credentials, and the Cypherpunk Way
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 5:12 PM 8/1/96, Alex de Joode wrote: >Ernest Hua (hua(a)chromatic.com) wrote: >: How does one verify that an IP address is coming from a U.S. site? >: How do most FTP site (e.g. those which carry crypto) determine the >: origins of a connection? > >What's the use ? It makes it only nominally more difficult to access >an US crypto site, one needs first to esthablish an US beachhead ie. >open an US account, and ftp the eleet crypto warez using the newly >created US account as an intermediary. > >So the next step will be a tag that a user is an 'alien' ? Along with the "Jew bit." (Credit goes to Hugh Daniel, as I recall, for this one. At the CFP in '95 he made up various badges with things like this, including "Is your Jew bit set?") On a serious note, the whole thrust of the CDA discussion raised this issue, of having "age bits" in all packets and/or credentials. There is the very real danger, I fear, that the current swirl of topics (terrorism, exports, G7 New World Order, pornography, bomb-making, etc.) will lead to moves for "credentials" of various sorts. (I'm sure the IETF folks can point out the problems with such schemes. I'm not sure they'd fly, but they may get proposed.) Such credentials--aka "the Internet Driver's License"--could have fields for name, true name, key, age, sex, and perhaps even things like special orders from courts (e.g., "Tim May is under court order in Idaho, U.S., not to have access to aptical foddering information"). Many countries, which do not have the nominal separation of church and state the U.S has, will want fields for religious affiliation, etc. We cannot fight this at the ballot box, as the trends are simply too strong (as Lucky notes, Americans will cheer when strong crypto is outlawed). The only way is the Cypherpunk Way: Direct Action Through Technology. 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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Republican convention security
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Why am I not reassured by what convention Chuck Vance participated in in the 1960's? And why do I suspect that the ADF calls a militia any group of people who have a political viewpoint different from theirs and might be armed (including via martial arts)? -Allen > Cobb Group - Netscape > SECURITY OUTSIDE THE CONVENTION HALLS IS FOCUS IN SAN DIEGO, CHICAGO > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 The Associated Press [...] > WASHINGTON (Aug 1, 1996 10:29 a.m. EDT) -- Beach parties, concerts and > fund-raisers will lure delegates from the air-conditioned halls of the > Republican and Democratic conventions next month, and officials say > keeping these off-site venues safe will be one of their biggest > challenges. [...] > Convention security used to focus on foiling a lone individual bent on > disrupting the meeting, but now groups like anti-government militias > are more of a worry, said Chuck Vance. The former Secret Service agent > helped coordinate security for the 1968 Democratic meeting in Chicago > that was punctuated by anti-war protests. [...] > Statistics give little reason for security planners to breath easy. > A recent study by the Anti-Defamation League said the number of > antigovernment militia groups in California jumped from two in 1994 to > 35 last year. > And in San Diego County, one to five actual or suspected pipe bomb > incidents are reported every week, and a total of 32 hand grenade > incidents were reported in the first four months of this year, the > sheriff's department said. Six pipe bombs have exploded already this > year; there were seven in all of 1995. None were targeted at > government buildings. > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net

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More evidence that democracy is bunk
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

And some people think democracies secure civil liberties... -Allen >Poll finds most Americans want broader authority to probe terrorism > _(c) Copyright 1996 Nando.net_ > Associated Press > NEW YORK -- Americans overwhelmingly want the federal government to > have more authority to check out terrorist groups, according to a CBS > news poll released Tuesday. [...] > As an antidote, 80 percent believe the federal government should have > more power to investigate terrorists, but just 52 percent believe > wiretaps should be expanded. > Three out of five said they still favor giving the government more > power even if that meant groups unrelated to terrorism were > investigated, too. > Even if it cost more, nearly nine out of 10 people surveyed want more > security checkpoints, guards and metal detectors -- and they'd be > willing to wait longer in lines -- at public events.

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(Un)Freeh makes claims on wiretapping
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The usual governmental rhetoric. Again, I'm not seeing achnowledgement from anyone except maybe the ACLU that there's no evidence that such tactics would have stopped the TWA bombing - not that they would be justified even if it would have. Legalized drugs, etcetera would free up quite enough law enforcement to take care of the problem. -Allen > Cobb Group - Netscape > FBI DIRECTOR: WIRETAP PROPOSALS WON'T THREATEN LIBERTIES > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 The Associated Press > WASHINGTON (Aug 1, 1996 1:41 p.m. EDT) -- FBI Director Louis Freeh > said today Americans are under increasing attack by terrorists and > proposed new wiretapping authority would not greatly expand > government's powers. > "The country and the American people have been experiencing an > increasing war against them by terrorists and terrorist-supported > activities," Freeh told a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. > Americans "are clearly under attack and we are the prime targets for > this kind of terrorism." [...] > Freeh said the wiretap proposals do not involve "expansive powers" for > the government and would not lead to "an avalanche of new electronic > surveillance." > A leading GOP opponent of an earlier, more sweeping anti-terrorism > bill said today he didn't believe Congress could enact a new package > before its recess this weekend. > "I think it would be very difficult to do in light of the logistics > and the opposition," Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., told reporters. "The > (anti-terrorism) funding is there. No new laws are needed." > Asked about Barr's comments, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, head of a > bipartisan task force that has been negotiating with administration > officials on the anti-terrorism proposals, said, "That's part of the > obstacle. It's what we have to deal with. What we do has to reach the > level of consensus." > The negotiators, led by Craig and White House chief of staff Leon > Panetta, said they hoped to have a package ready for a vote by week's > end before Congress leaves for its August recess.

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Looks like they may actually pass something... hell.
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I had hoped that normal government incompetence would prevent them from passing something. Well, there's still hope that it'll get clogged up, or that the courts will toss it out - somehow I think they won't like the idea of taps without a court order, for instance (giving up a judicial prerogative). I am also somewhat puzzled by the racketeering law reference - I had thought that federal racketeering laws allowed civil forfeiture sans conviction (shudder)? The "funding" for telephone companies sounds suspiciously like funding Digital Telephony. -Allen > School House > WHITE HOUSE, KEY LAWMAKERS AGREE ON ANTI-TERRORISM PROPOSALS > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 The Associated Press > WASHINGTON (Aug 1, 1996 09:53 a.m. EDT) -- After wrangling with key > Republican lawmakers, the White House has won agreement on a package > of anti-terrorism measures that would expand wiretapping authority and > tighten airport security. [...] > But omitted from the agreement was a central part of Clinton's > proposals, a study of chemical markers in explosives, called taggants, > which had been heavily criticized by some Republicans. Also rejected > was a provision to allow the FBI to get information on suspected > terrorists from hotels, telephone companies and storage facilities. [...] The agreement also would allow prosecution of suspected terrorists under federal racketeering laws, which would make anyone convicted subject to asset forfeitures and longer sentences. > The negotiators, led by Panetta and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said > they hoped to have a package ready for a vote by week's end, before > Congress leaves for its August recess. > But Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said earlier in the > day that final passage before the recess appeared unlikely. "I don't > see how in the world we can get it done" by then, Lott told reporters. > Lott and other GOP leaders summoned Attorney General Janet Reno, > Panetta and FBI Director Louis Freeh to a meeting today to explain why > some of the FBI's anti-terrorism funds haven't been spent. > "We are increasingly concerned that monies and authorities already > granted to the administration are not being used effectively or at > all," Lott, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and House Majority > Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, wrote in a letter to Clinton. > Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin said the Republican > assertions were "misleading." > Gingrich and Lott also proposed that a blue-ribbon commission review > the government's anti-terrorism policy -- a move that would delay > congressional action. The new package includes such a commission for > longer-term legislative proposals, Craig said. > He said the lawmakers' aides planned to work through the night to > draft the proposals into a package that could be put to a vote before > week's end. > "I feel very positive at this moment," Craig told reporters Wednesday > night. > Craig said the proposals included multipoint wiretaps, which allow law > enforcement agents to monitor all phone calls made by a suspected > terrorist, rather than just those from a specific telephone, as well > as emergency wiretaps, which are valid for 48 hours without a court > order. [... yeah, right] > Craig stressed that the new wiretap provisions would include "some > privacy language that will protect people." > Other proposals on which accord was reached include the use of special > technology to make it easier to trace telephone numbers called by > suspected terrorists and a trust fund to reimburse phone companies for > expenses they incur in that area. > Craig listed the proposals but gave few details, which had yet to be > worked out. > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net

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Re: A funny thing happend to my data on the way to the bank
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 5:45 PM 8/1/96, anonymous-remailer(a)shell.portal.com wrote: >The Prime Minister's Social Security Number >Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's US Social Security Number is >172-42-6111, according to the Boston Consulting Group in Massachusetts, >which employed Netanyahu for about one-year during 1979-80.=20 > >The number indicated by the marketing firm contradicts information contained >in a credit report by the US federally-regulated Transunion Company, pulled >from company files during the first days of July. According to that report, >Netanyahu and an American named John J. Sullivan both used Social Security >number 020-36-4537. > >Questions were raised in the reports as to whether Netanyahu had attempted >to create a false identity or had used a number which was not his. >Publication of the credit report findings, and later reports indicating >that Netanyahu's name had suddenly been deleted from Transunion's files, >raised additional questions about possible computer break-ins into the >company's records. It is not likely to be a "break-in." Rather, the Big Three credit reporting agencies, Transunion, TRW Credit, and Equifax, routinely are complicit in creating false credit histories as part of the "legends" of agents, persons in the Federal Witness Security Program, etc. (Do you not think Equifax would "notice" a new identity which popped into existence in 1995, complete with a 10-year credit history, a high school diploma, a record of past employment, etc.? There is a good reason these companies have close ties with the TLAs in the D.C. area...where, perhaps coincidentally, they have major offices.) My Cyphernomicon has more information about the roles the credit agencies have played in creating false identities and maintaining their cover, and the role of FinCEN and its ties to these nominally-private agencies. What this report about Net-n-Yahoo has confirmed is his almost certain role as an agent of the U.S. intelligence agencies. His role in the Pollard case is likely to come out in the next few months. (Look for legislation from Feinswine and others making it a felony to disclose Social Security numbers....) --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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