December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

IP: Americans for Computer Privacy Call for Action in Congress
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Delivered-To: ignition-point(a)majordomo.pobox.com X-Sender: believer(a)telepath.com Date: Sat, 03 Oct 1998 09:14:11 -0500 To: believer(a)telepath.com From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: Americans for Computer Privacy Call for Action in Congress Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-ignition-point(a)majordomo.pobox.com Precedence: list Reply-To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: US Newswire http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1002-121.txt Americans for Computer Privacy Call for Action in Congress U.S. Newswire 2 Oct 14:30 Americans for Computer Privacy Call for Action in 106th Congress To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor, Technology Writer Contact: Sue Richard for Americans for Computer Privacy, 202-625-1256, E-mail: suer(At)dittusgroup.com News Advisory: WHAT: Americans for Computer Privacy (ACP) will issue a coalition letter to House and Senate leaders urging legislation in the next Congress that will build on the reforms in encryption policy recently announced by the Administration. ACP will also report on the coalition's growth and future plans, as well as the response to its on-line advertising initiative. WHO: ACP Executive Director Ed Gillespie; Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.); Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.); Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn.); Rep. Rick White (R-Wash.); Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.); Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.); Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.); Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance; Jerry Berman, Center for Democracy and Technology; and Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform. WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 11 a.m. WHERE: Room HC-7, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. BACKGROUND: Since its formal launch in March 1998, ACP has worked closely with Congress and the Administration on encryption policy reform. While ACP acknowledges that progress has been made, the coalition believes the encryption issue is far from resolved. Americans for Computer Privacy brings together more than 100 companies and 40 associations representing financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, high-tech and transportation, as well as law enforcement, civil-liberty, pro-family and taxpayer groups. ACP supports policies that advance the rights of American citizens to encode information without fear of government intrusion, and advocates the lifting of current export restrictions on U.S.-made encryption. For more information on ACP, please visit our website at www.computer privacy.org. A cybercast of the press conference will be available on the site on Thursday, Oct. 8. -0- /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ 10/02 14:30 Copyright 1998, U.S. Newswire ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer ********************************************** --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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Internet Sales Tax Killed [CNN]
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Note that I've added a few comments/notes between the supplied quoted sections. As always I've deleted for brevity. Forwarded message: > X-within-URL: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/10/02/internet.tax.ap/ > By CURT ANDERSON > AP Tax Writer > > WASHINGTON (AP) Legislation allowing states to force mail order and > Internet businesses to collect sales taxes failed in the Senate Friday > as debate began on how to tax cyberspace commerce. > > Senators voted 65-30 to table, or kill, an amendment authorizing any > state to require companies with significant catalog, mail order or > Internet sales to collect their sales tax and send it back to the > state. > > The sponsor, Sen. Dale Bumpers, noted that every business operating in > a state with a sales tax must already collect and remit the revenue. > He said the amendment effectively would reverse a 1992 Supreme Court > decision preventing states from enforcing sales taxes on companies > located outside their borders. Section 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. (Note that it doesn't say "Congress shall make no law..." but rather is an absolute prohibition of taxes/duties on exports of states. It therefore falls under the "prohibited" clause of the 10th.) > "If they choose to have a sales tax, the federal government should > allow them to enforce it," said Bumpers, D-Ark. > > Opponents, however, called the measure a hidden tax increase and were > able easily to defeat it for the sixth straight year. > > "Since this tax has never been collected, there's only one way to view > it," said Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz. As unconstitutional. [remainder deleted] ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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NT5 Ships 96 years early!!!
by Sunder 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 16:14:15 -0400 From: Salvatore Denaro <sal(a)panix.com> Subject: NT5 Ships 96 years early >From the MS timeline: http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsNT5/workstation/default.asp WINDOWS NT SERVER 5.0 DECEMBER 30, 1899 -- Find out about Windows NT Server 5.0 and how it builds upon the strengths of version 4.0 to provide a platform that is faster, more reliable, and easier to manage. -- Salvatore Denaro sal(a)panix.com

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Re: Is the .to (Tonga) domain completely rogue and should be removed?
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Read RFC 1123, section 5.2.3. 5.2.3 VRFY and EXPN Commands: RFC-821 Section 3.3 A receiver-SMTP MUST implement VRFY and SHOULD implement EXPN (this requirement overrides RFC-821). However, there MAY be configuration information to disable VRFY and EXPN in a particular installation; this might even allow EXPN to be disabled for selected lists. A new reply code is defined for the VRFY command: 252 Cannot VRFY user (e.g., info is not local), but will take message for this user and attempt delivery. DISCUSSION: SMTP users and administrators make regular use of these commands for diagnosing mail delivery problems. With the increasing use of multi-level mailing list expansion (sometimes more than two levels), EXPN has been increasingly important for diagnosing inadvertent mail loops. On the other hand, some feel that EXPN represents a significant privacy, and perhaps even a security, exposure. VRFY is hardly an "incorrect SMTP command." >Your reasoning as to why its responses to incorrect SMTP >commands constitutes evidence that the .TO domain is "negligent", >"mismanaged" and "an attractive resource for criminal activities" >is ironically incorrect. In fact, having an *unsecured* port 25 open to mail >relaying would be negligent. >Best regards, >- Eric Gullichsen > Tonic Corporation > Kingdom of Tonga Network Information Center > http://www.tonic.to > Email: egullich(a)tonic.to

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Govt breaks the law. They do it again!
by Jean-Francois Avon 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

THIS MESSAGE SENT AND/OR Cc'ed TO: Paul Martin, Finance Minister <Martin.P(a)parl.gc.ca> Anne McLellan, Justice Minister <McLellan.A(a)parl.gc.ca> Gary Breitkreuz, Reform Party MP <Breitkreuz.G(a)parl.gc.ca> Dr. Bernard Patry, Pierrefonds-Dollars MP <Patry.B(a)parl.gc.ca> Le Québecois Libre <libre(a)colba.net> auditoire(a)montreal.src.ca cypherpunks(a)toad.com Sporting.Shooters.Association(a)adelaide.on.net "Donna Ferolie"<teebee(a)sprint.ca> Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 16:26:47 -0600 From: David A Tomlinson <nfadat(a)telusplanet.net> Subject: Re: NEW ILLEGAL REQUIREMENTS >Canadian Firearms@CFC 10/01/98 09:17 AM >Bulletin No. 23 >Registration and the Firearms Identification Number >You will receive a Registration Certificate for each firearm you >register. Each Registration Certificate will have a unique number. >This will be the Firearms Identification Number (FIN) issued by the >Registrar, head of the Canadian Firearms Registry. The FIN is the >file number you will use for all contact with the office of the >Registrar. If your firearm has no serial number, or if the serial >number, combined with other features of the firearm, is not enough >to tell it apart from all other firearms, you will have to put the >FIN on your firearm. The Registrar will tell you if the FIN must >be placed on your firearm. The FIN will be required on nearly all firearms, as few of them have a well-documented system of Serial numbers that is KNOWN and PROVABLE. Many manufacturers -- especially manufacturers of military firearms for export -- duplicate Serial numbers with monotonous regularity. Others recycle the numbers -- as Iver Johnson did, numbering 9,000,000 revolvers with a machine capable of only 99,999 numbers before starting to recycle. Others, particularly Eastern manufacturers, use digits and/or letters that the registration system cannot handle (Cyrillic letters, for example). >Attaching the FIN to Your Firearm >You will have to put the FIN on your firearm only if the firearm >has no serial number or the serial number is not unique. There is no way to tell whether or not a particular Serial number is UNIQUE. The word "unique" designates an absolute -- That is, it is guaranteed that there is NO other firearm of that type with that Serial number. That is a standard that is clearly unreachable. The Serial number is an indicator, but it can never be certified as "unique" because there is always at least the problem of fraud in the factory producing one or more firearms with duplicated Serial numbers. >If you >have to put the FIN on your firearm, you have a choice of how you >apply it in three situations: 1) if you own your firearm on >December 1, 1998; 2) if your firearm was manufactured before >December 1 and imported into Canada on or after December 1, 1998; >or, 3) if you, as a licensed business, specially import the firearm >for a short time only (such as a film company making a movie in >Canada). In these cases, you may attach a FIN using a special >sticker provided by the Registrar or, you may permanently engrave >or stamp the FIN on your firearm. The above is a very muddled paragraph, which I split into two parts. The above section apparently identifies the three classes of firearms which can be identified by the use of a permanent "sticky." It offers the OPTION of stamping of engraving the FIN on the "frame or receiver" of the firearm. > With all other firearms needing >unique identification, you must permanently engrave or stamp the >FIN. In most cases, the FIN must be easy to read and on a visible >part of the frame or receiver (see next CFC Bulletin for further >details). You will have 30 days from the issue date on the >Registration Certificate to attach the special sticker to your >firearm. You will have 90 days from the issue date on the >Registration Certificate to permanently engrave or stamp the FIN >on your firearm. This second half of the paragraph (above) requires engraving or stamping of the FIN on all other classes of firearms, such as all firearms manufactured after 01 Dec 98. >For more information, or for a copy of the Firearms Act, its >regulations and other CFC publications, contact us at: >1-800-731-4000 (Toll Free) >Web site: http://www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/ >E-mail: canadian.firearms(a)justice.x400.gc.ca Fortunately, all of this is apparently NULL AND VOID. No such requirements may be demanded by the CFC or CFR/FRAS unless they are: 1. required by the legislation (C-68's Firearms Act or Criminal Code), or 2. the subject of an Order in Council authorized to be made by the legislation. The legislation apparently says nothing whatever about where or how the Serial number must be on the firearm, and does not mention the Firearms Identification Number concept at all; therefore, the above requirements are apparently null and void as far as the legislation is concerned. The legislation does not authorize the making of any regulation regarding markings on firearms, and therefore the above rules apparently cannot be created by Order in Council. Once again, this is apparently a defective attempt to amend defective legislation by false pretences, and an attempt by the CFC and CFR/FRAS to legislate -- but legislation is beyond their power, so this entire set of requirements is apparently null and void. A copy of this is being sent to the CFC and to CFR/FRAS. CFC and CFR/FRAS, this is a demand for an explanation as to why this apparently illegal and misleading information was published and distributed. Please reply to the Canadian Firearms Digest with all possible speed, and either explain why you think you had the authority to publish it -- or publish a retraction. Dave Tomlinson, NFA -- CLOG: all Conservative or Liberal Ottawa Governments ------------------------------ Jean-Francois Avon, B.Sc. Physics, Montreal, Canada DePompadour, Société d'Importation Ltée Limoges fine porcelain and french crystal JFA Technologies, R&D physicists & engineers Instrumentation & control, LabView programming PGP keys: http://bs.mit.edu:8001/pks-toplev.html PGP ID:C58ADD0D:529645E8205A8A5E F87CC86FAEFEF891 PGP ID:5B51964D:152ACCBCD4A481B0 254011193237822C

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STUFFED IS NOW FASTER THAN EVER/WE HAVE 1,000S OF NEW MEGA-HOT FREE PICS!
by STUFFED NEWS DAILY 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

+ 30 MEGA HI-RES PICS + 5 SUPER-HORNY SEXY STORIES + I SAW SATAN IN MY BURGER + AMERICANS VERY SLOW IN BED + MMMMM THAT WAS GOOD + THE CULT OF TWINKIE + THE BEST OF EUREKA ----> http://stuffed.net/98/10/3/ <---- Welcome to today's issue of Stuffed. To read it you should click on the URL above. If it is not made clickable by your email program you will need to use your mouse to highlight the URL, copy it and then paste it into your browser (then press Return). This email is never sent unsolicited. Stuffed is the supplement for the Eureka newsletter you subscribed to. Full instructions on unsubscribing are in every issue of Eureka! ----> http://stuffed.net/98/10/3/ <----

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IP: ISPI Clips 5.9: Canada Frees Up Crypto--WIRED
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: "ama-gi ISPI" <offshore(a)email.msn.com> Subject: IP: ISPI Clips 5.9: Canada Frees Up Crypto--WIRED Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 00:10:43 -0700 To: <Undisclosed.Recipients(a)majordomo.pobox.com> ISPI Clips 5.9: Canada Frees Up Crypto News & Info from the Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) Friday October 2, 1998 ISPI4Privacy(a)ama-gi.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This From: WIRED News, September 1, 1998 http://www.wired.com Canada Frees Up Crypto http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/15362.html by Matt Friedman, mwf(a)total.net In a move that will almost certainly create friction between the US and Canada, the Canadian government has released a new cryptography policy that encourages the proliferation of powerful data-scrambling technologies. The policy, announced Thursday by John Manley, the minister of industry, makes it clear that Canadians will not have to submit to mandatory key recovery, which would give the government access to all scrambled communications. The document also heads off the establishment of a national public key infrastructure. "In terms of domestic policy, it couldn't be better," says David Jones, president of Electronic Frontier Canada. "Industry Canada is essentially saying that, domestically, you can pretty much do whatever you want with cryptography." An American civil liberties advocate was similarly impressed. "It is great. It's a policy for the 21st century, as opposed to the US government's policy update from last week, which is too little, too late," said Susan Landau, a cryptography policy expert and the co-author of Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption. Canada's new policy is a setback to the country's "signals intelligence" spy agencies. Industry Canada had been under considerable pressure from the intelligence and law-enforcement communities, both at home and in the United States, to establish domestic crypto controls. "The US has sent a number of delegations to Canada, a number of times, to try and convince [the Canadian government], to go with a restrictive view," said David Banisar, policy director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, DC. "The Canadians clearly said they were not interested." Last winter, when Ottawa published a public white paper on cryptography and solicited comments from the public and other branches of government, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said that it was pushing for a public key-recovery plan. The CSIS is concerned both with domestic and foreign intelligence, sort of a combination of the FBI and CIA. "The ability to decrypt messages and data has a significant impact on our ability to monitor security threats to Canadians," said CSIS spokeswoman Marcia Wetherup at the time. Reached for comment Thursday morning, Wetherup said, "That continues to be the service's main concern at this time." While the Canadian government has rejected controls on domestic crypto, it is taking a wait-and-see attitude on exports. In the US, cryptography exports are strictly regulated, on the grounds that the technology might be used to conceal the communications of terrorists or hostile nations. "The Commerce Department is not going to be happy," Landau said. A Commerce Department official declined comment. Under the new policy, Ottawa will continue to work within the framework of the Wassenaar agreement. That document, an international treaty limiting the spread of munitions technologies, is currently being renegotiated. Sunny Handa, a cyberlaw specialist with the Montreal law firm Martineau Walker, points out that the new policy will not alter existing regulations governing the export of Canadian crypto technology or the re-export of technology originating in the United States. "The real issue now is export," he says. "That hasn't changed." The new policy does, however, make the point that the Canadian government will "deter the use [of crypto] in the commission of a crime," and in the concealment of evidence. Moreover, existing search-and-seizure laws will apply to encrypted messages. But Handa says that Industry Canada is simply "throwing a bone to the police." "Our search-and-seizure laws are pretty good right now," he says. "Citizens' rights are protected, and law enforcement officials can do their jobs. If Industry Canada has signaled that it's happy with them, we probably won't see new legislation in this area for years." "One way to view the issue of cryptography is as an issue of crime prevention, rather than crime detection," said Landau. "As we enter the wired world, cryptography will become extremely important to crime prevention, and the Canadians recognize that." Copyright © 1994-98 Wired Digital Inc. --------------------------------NOTICE:------------------------------ ISPI Clips are news & opinion articles on privacy issues from all points of view; they are clipped from local, national and international newspapers, journals and magazines, etc. Inclusion as an ISPI Clip does not necessarily reflect an endorsement of the content or opinion by ISPI. In compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed free without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISPI Clips is a FREE e-mail service from the "Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues" (ISPI). To receive "ISPI Clips" on a regular bases (up to 3 - 8 clips per day) send the following message "Please enter [Your Name] into the ISPI Clips list: [Your e-mail address]" to: ISPIClips(a)ama-gi.com . The Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) is a small contributor-funded organization based in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada). ISPI operates on a not-for-profit basis, accepts no government funding and takes a global perspective. ISPI's mandate is to conduct & promote interdisciplinary research into electronic, personal and financial privacy with a view toward helping ordinary people understand the degree of privacy they have with respect to government, industry and each other and to likewise inform them about techniques to enhance their privacy. But, none of this can be accomplished without your kind and generous financial support. If you value in the ISPI Clips service or if you are concerned about the erosion of your privacy in general, won't you please help us continue this important work by becoming an "ISPI Clips Supporter" or by taking out an institute Membership? We gratefully accept all contributions: Less than $60 ISPI Clips Supporter $60 - $99 Primary ISPI Membership (1 year) $100 - $300 Senior ISPI Membership (2 years) More than $300 Executive Council Membership (life) Your ISPI "membership" contribution entitles you to receive "The ISPI Privacy Reporter" (our bi-monthly 12 page hard-copy newsletter in multi-contributor format) for the duration of your membership. For a contribution form with postal instructions please send the following message "ISPI Contribution Form" to ISPI4Privacy(a)ama-gi.com . We maintain a strict privacy policy. Any information you divulge to ISPI is kept in strict confidence. It will not be sold, lent or given away to any third party. ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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IP: ISPI Clips 5.10: 'Deadbeat' Parents Database Goes on Line
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: "ama-gi ISPI" <offshore(a)email.msn.com> Subject: IP: ISPI Clips 5.10: 'Deadbeat' Parents Database Goes on Line Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 00:11:28 -0700 To: <Undisclosed.Recipients(a)majordomo.pobox.com> ISPI Clips 5.10: 'Deadbeat' Parents Database Goes on Line News & Info from the Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) Friday October 2, 1998 ISPI4Privacy(a)ama-gi.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This From: CNN Interactive, September 30, 1998 http://www.cnn.com National Registry to Track 'deadbeat' Parents Goes on Line: The Federal Case Registry will track the 16 million U.S. parents who are required to pay child support http://www.cnn.com/US/9809/30/deadbeat.registry/ WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new national registry aimed at helping keep track of the 16 million U.S. parents required to pay child support goes on line Thursday. The Federal Case Registry is designed to help custodial parents who aren't receiving child support track down the non-custodial parents who owe the money. Once the "deadbeat" parent is located, even in another state, officials can ask his or her employer to withhold child support from paychecks, which the employer is obligated to do under federal law. "This is an exciting day of hope for children whose parents have abandoned them financially," said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala in a statement. HHS figures show that states now collect about 22 percent of the $50 billion in back child support owed each year. The new database is expected to be particularly helpful in cases where the children live in a different state than the deadbeat parent. "Since one-third of all child support cases are interstate, we now can confidently close the loopholes for parents escaping their financial obligations," said Olivia Golden, an HHS assistant secretary. Custodial parents can enter information about the deadbeat parent in the registry. That information will then be checked against data in a separate registry, the National Directory of New Hires, which includes records for everyone who begins a new job. Critics of the registry concept say that many custodial parents who try to go after child support after a multi-year lapse won't have enough accurate data to make a match. Fathers' rights groups have also expressed concerns that the tracking system could be used to invade the privacy of law-abiding parents. However, Golden says the law that set up the registry prohibits unauthorized use of the data. Thirty-nine states will begin entering information into the registry immediately. The remaining 11 states are expected to come on board during 1999. Correspondent Jennifer Auther contributed to this report. © 1998 Cable News Network, Inc. --------------------------------NOTICE:------------------------------ ISPI Clips are news & opinion articles on privacy issues from all points of view; they are clipped from local, national and international newspapers, journals and magazines, etc. Inclusion as an ISPI Clip does not necessarily reflect an endorsement of the content or opinion by ISPI. In compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed free without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISPI Clips is a FREE e-mail service from the "Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues" (ISPI). To receive "ISPI Clips" on a regular bases (up to 3 - 8 clips per day) send the following message "Please enter [Your Name] into the ISPI Clips list: [Your e-mail address]" to: ISPIClips(a)ama-gi.com . The Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) is a small contributor-funded organization based in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada). ISPI operates on a not-for-profit basis, accepts no government funding and takes a global perspective. ISPI's mandate is to conduct & promote interdisciplinary research into electronic, personal and financial privacy with a view toward helping ordinary people understand the degree of privacy they have with respect to government, industry and each other and to likewise inform them about techniques to enhance their privacy. But, none of this can be accomplished without your kind and generous financial support. If you value in the ISPI Clips service or if you are concerned about the erosion of your privacy in general, won't you please help us continue this important work by becoming an "ISPI Clips Supporter" or by taking out an institute Membership? We gratefully accept all contributions: Less than $60 ISPI Clips Supporter $60 - $99 Primary ISPI Membership (1 year) $100 - $300 Senior ISPI Membership (2 years) More than $300 Executive Council Membership (life) Your ISPI "membership" contribution entitles you to receive "The ISPI Privacy Reporter" (our bi-monthly 12 page hard-copy newsletter in multi-contributor format) for the duration of your membership. For a contribution form with postal instructions please send the following message "ISPI Contribution Form" to ISPI4Privacy(a)ama-gi.com . We maintain a strict privacy policy. Any information you divulge to ISPI is kept in strict confidence. It will not be sold, lent or given away to any third party. ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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IP: ISPI Clips 5.11: Canada Weighs in on Crypto--CNET
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: "ama-gi ISPI" <offshore(a)email.msn.com> Subject: IP: ISPI Clips 5.11: Canada Weighs in on Crypto--CNET Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 00:13:01 -0700 To: <Undisclosed.Recipients(a)majordomo.pobox.com> ISPI Clips 5.11: Canada Weighs in on Crypto--CNET News & Info from the Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) Friday October 2, 1998 ISPI4Privacy(a)ama-gi.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This From: CNET News.con, October 1, 1998 http://www.news.com Canada Weighs in on Crypto http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,27044,00.html?st.ne.fd.mdh By Janet Kornblum, janetk(a)cnet.com Staff Writer, CNET News.com In a move aimed at encouraging e-commerce, the Canadian government today introduced a new policy with relatively loose restrictions on the export of encryption software. The new encryption policy, introduced today in a speech by John Manley, Canada's minister of industry, may be more notable for what it lacks: a mandatory requirement for controversial key recovery and powerful restrictions on strong encryption products. Encryption software is used to put a digital lock on private communication. To read an encrypted document, the recipient has to have a "key." The controversy over encryption has been a classic case of business and privacy interests vs. government. On one hand, businesses and privacy advocates want to be able to develop and sell products that are airtight as possible. On the other, governments--primarily the United States--want to be able to prevent outsiders from being able to digitally lock out law enforcement officials from their communication and thwarting efforts to prosecute wired criminals. Though the White House has loosened its stance on the export of encryption software, it still backs policies that make the practice difficult. Canada's Manley, on the other hand, specifically said the country "will not implement mandatory key recovery requirements or licensing regimes for certification authorities or trusted third parties." It does, however "encourage industry to establish responsible practices, such as key recovery techniques for stored data and industry-led accreditation of private sector certification authorities," he added. The government also pledged to make it easier for Canadian firms to export strong encryption products both by streamlining the export permit process and by making sure Canada's regulations are not tighter than those of competitors in other countries. "The policy underscores that Canada is open for electronic business," Manley said. "We are encouraging the widespread use of strong encryption and growth of export markets for Canadian technologies." David Banisar, policy director for the Electronic Privacy Information Center and an outspoken critic of the United States' tight export restrictions, today applauded most of Canada's new policy. "It definitely refutes the U.S.'s attempts to get Canada to restrict crypto in many ways," Banisar said. "It allows Canadian companies to export software pretty much of any size." He added that Canada's policy could help influence more liberal European rules on encryption exportation. "This won't force the U.S.'s hands, but what it does is it further isolates the U.S.," he said. However, Banisar did take exception to a proposal contained in the policy statement today that says the government will introduce legislation that specifically makes it "an offense to wrongfully disclose private encryption key information and to use cryptography to commit or hide evidence of a crime." Making cryptography itself a special circumstance in the commission of a crime is tantamount to adding special penalties for using "basic instruments of communication" such as a telephone or a pen, Banisar said. Unlike laws that single out the use of guns or other weapons specifically designed to produce physical damage, "this is not a technology that creates crimes," he said. "And because its intended use is going to be essentially ubiquitous this could be an additional penalty that could apply to any kind of crime." Copyright © 1995-98 CNET, Inc. --------------------------------NOTICE:------------------------------ ISPI Clips are news & opinion articles on privacy issues from all points of view; they are clipped from local, national and international newspapers, journals and magazines, etc. Inclusion as an ISPI Clip does not necessarily reflect an endorsement of the content or opinion by ISPI. In compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed free without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISPI Clips is a FREE e-mail service from the "Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues" (ISPI). To receive "ISPI Clips" on a regular bases (up to 3 - 8 clips per day) send the following message "Please enter [Your Name] into the ISPI Clips list: [Your e-mail address]" to: ISPIClips(a)ama-gi.com . The Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) is a small contributor-funded organization based in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada). ISPI operates on a not-for-profit basis, accepts no government funding and takes a global perspective. ISPI's mandate is to conduct & promote interdisciplinary research into electronic, personal and financial privacy with a view toward helping ordinary people understand the degree of privacy they have with respect to government, industry and each other and to likewise inform them about techniques to enhance their privacy. But, none of this can be accomplished without your kind and generous financial support. If you value in the ISPI Clips service or if you are concerned about the erosion of your privacy in general, won't you please help us continue this important work by becoming an "ISPI Clips Supporter" or by taking out an institute Membership? 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IP: Wired News - The Golden Age of Hacktivism
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Bridget973(a)aol.com Subject: IP: Wired News - The Golden Age of Hacktivism Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 21:56:06 EDT To: ignition-point(a)majordomo.pobox.com http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/15129.html The Golden Age of Hacktivism by Niall McKay 4:00 a.m. 22.Sep.98.PDT On the eve of Sweden's general election, Internet saboteurs targeted the Web site of that country's right-wing Moderates political party, defacing pages and establishing links to the homepages of the left-wing party and a pornography site. But the Scandanavian crack Saturday was not the work of bored juveniles armed with a Unix account, a slice of easily compiled code, and a few hours to kill. It advanced a specific political agenda. "The future of activism is on the Internet," said Stanton McCandlish, program director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "More and more, what is considered an offline issue, such as protesting the treatment of the Zapatistas in Mexico, is being protested on the Net." In the computer-security community, it's called "hacktivism," a kind of electronic civil disobedience in which activists take direct action by breaking into or protesting with government or corporate computer systems. It's a kind of low-level information warfare, and it's on the rise. Last week, for example, a group of hackers called X-pilot rewrote the home page of a Mexican government site to protest what they said were instances of government corruption and censorship. The group, which did not reply to several emails, made the claims to the Hacker News Network. The hacktivists were bringing an offline issue into the online world, McClandish said. The phenomenon is becoming common enough that next month, the longtime computer-security group, the Cult of the Dead Cow will launch the resource site hacktivism.org. The site will host online workshops, demonstrations, and software tools for digital activists. "We want to provide resources to empower people who want to take part in activism on the Internet," said Oxblood Ruffian, a former United Nations consultant who belongs to the Cult of the Dead Cow. Oxblood Ruffian's group is no newcomer to hacktivism. They have been working with the Hong Kong Blondes, a near-mythical group of Chinese dissidents that have been infiltrating police and security networks in China in an effort to forewarn political targets of imminent arrests. In a recent Wired News article, a member of the group said it would target the networks and Web sites of US companies doing business with China. Other recent hacktivist actions include a wave of attacks in August that drew attention to alleged human rights abuses in Indonesia. In June, attacks on computer systems in India's atomic energy research lab protested that country's nuclear bomb tests. More recently, on Mexican Independence Day, a US-based group called Electronic Disturbance Theater targeted the Web site of Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. The action was intended to protest Zedillo's alleged mistreatment of the Zapatista rebels in Chiapas. Nearly 8,000 people participated in the digital sit-in, which attempted to overwhelm the Mexican president's Web servers. "What we are trying to do is to find a place where the public can register their dissatisfaction in cyberspace, so that your everyday [mouse] clicker can participate in a public protest," said EDT co-founder Ricardo. The apparent increase in hacktivism may be due in part to the growing importance of the Internet as a means of communication. As more people go online, Web sites become high-profile targets. It also demonstrates that many government sites are fairly easy to crack, said one former member of Milw0rm, the now defunct group that defaced the Indian research lab's Web site. In an interview in Internet Relay Chat, the cracker rattled off a list of vulnerable US government Web sites -- including one hosting an electron particle accelerator and another of a US politician -- and their susceptibility to bugs. "They don't pay enough for computer people," said the cracker, who goes by the name t3k-9. "You get $50,000 for a $150,000 job." Some security experts also believe that there is a new generation of crackers emerging. "The rise in political cracking in the past couple of years is because we now have the first generation of kids that have grown up with the Net," John Vranesevich, founder of the computer security Web site AntiOnline. "The first generation of the kids that grew up hacking are now between 25 and 35 - often the most politically active years in peoples' lives." "When the Cult of the Dead Cow was started in 1984, the average age [of our members] was 14, and they spent their time hacking soda machines," said Oxblood Ruffian. "But the last couple of years has marked a turning point for us. Our members are older, politicized, and extremely technically proficient." While hacktivists are lining up along one border, police and law enforcement officials are lining up along another. This year the FBI will establish a cyber warfare center called the National Infrastructure Protection Center. The US$64 million organization will replace the Computer Investigations and Infrastructure Threat Assessment Center and involve the intelligence community and the military. Allan Paller, director of research for the SANS Institute, said the FBI is staffing the new facility with the government's top security experts. "They are stealing people from good places, including a woman from the Department of Energy who was particularly good," he said in a recent interview. "They are taking brilliant people." Paller also said that a grassroots effort is under way in Washington to establish a National Intrusion Center, modeled after the Centers for Disease Control. "There is definitely an increased threat of cyber terrorism," said Stephen Berry, spokesman for the FBI press office in Washington. As offline protests -- which are protected in the United States by the constitution -- enter the next digital age, the question remains: How will the FBI draw the distinction between relatively benign online political protests and cyber terrorism? ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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