December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

re: microcurrency proposal
by Albert P. Franco, II 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Date: Thu, 01 Oct 98 16:20:35 -0700 >From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri(a)netcom.com> snip... >but I think this is a very promising approach. a company >can create a plugin that would support microcurrency charges >for web page hits very easily. > >here's how: the plugin interacts with any site that has >enabled it. it sends a code to the site using a protocol. >the site returns pages only upon a valid transaction request. >for regular browsers without the plugin, the message is, >"sorry, this page costs $.01, please download so-and-so >plugin". > ... >how would the cash charge work? when the person gets the >plugin, they give the plugin company their credit card >number. the company takes care of the problem of accruing >micro charges, keeping track of transactions/bills, and >billing the credit card in large amounts. > Here in Spain prepay telephone cards for cell phones are quite popular. The idea is that you buy a card for 5000 pesetas ($35) and make calls until it is exhausted then you get another. As a manner of getting something going why not charge $5 OR $10 for the download and discount away until the plug-in is empty. Obviously, there needs to be some way to make sure the customer doesn't tinker with the value remaining. Pretty much all of the technology for distribution is already easily available and as mentioned further on in your letter the amounts are so small that fraud shouldn't be too much of an issue. The page generators side is likewise straight forward as they collect the charge amount and plugin certificate number which they send as a file periodically to the plugin provider who verifies that no "major" fraud has occurred and then disburses the funds (minus commission) to the content provider. Don't get to nervous about the plugin certificate number. These numbers would not be used to link to a particular user, but rather to make sure that a $5 dollar cert only runs up $5 of charges after which it is blocked. >the problem is trying to transfer money to various individuals >if their microcharge accounts have a net positive value instead >of negative (in which case they would be charged their credit >card at the end of the month). how do you transfer this money? > This situation may be addressable in (at least) two ways. Issue a limited value plugin say for 50 cent increments or incorporate a mechanism for crediting the plugin. I prefer the first method since the second may make the system more vulnerable. >of course, I'm leaving the issue of taxes out of this, but >the microcharge company could be a point of collection for >them. > The plugin issuer should not be required to be an expert in international tax law. I think an annual statement of payments sent to the content provider would probably be sufficient. The concept is that the content provider has not sold services or content to 50,000 individuals but rather one customer. I think that pretty much all countries have existing methods of controlling and collecting taxes based on the income derived from sales activities. There is no need to make the task of the plugin issuer more difficult. >notice that none of what I am proposing above requires any >new infrastructure whatsoever, except a little programming >into a plugin. the distribution of the plugin is partly solved >in that plugins are already distributed all over the net >and understood by end-users. > As my suggestions above demonstrate, I agree that this is perhaps the most likely way that a "grassroots" based microcurrency system could actually get off the ground. There is absolutely nothing in this plan that mandates the participation of major financial entities, which seems to be a major bottleneck for other systems. (Besides the fact that the big guys don't seem interested in truly "micro" transactions) This is in fact something that could very well grow in Internet time scale rather than (conservative) bankers time. Al Franco, II

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IP: Clear and present danger: FIGHT AGAINST NATIONAL ID CARD (fwd)
by Albert P. Franco, II 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From: Jim Choate <ravage(a)einstein.ssz.com> >Three branches of government? Between the state and federal? > >I don't think so... > >There are *THREE* (3) EQUALY powered members in the government of the United >States of America; federal, state, and the people. > I think the original message speaks of executive, legislative, and judicial branches. As defined by the constitution this is, in fact, the federal government. As a matter of practice, most if not all, of the states are also divided this way. Article X which you quoted supports the tacit understanding that We, the people, are not actually THE government. We, the people, have, by this the supreme law of the land, authorized the formation and maintenance of a government which by this same document We authorize to govern us. I don't really see anywhere that says we can't revoke our authorization. But I also don't see anything that places We, the people, inside the government structures. Remember, there was a great deal of fuss made by the framers of that great document about giving the People too much power. That's why there were originally a lot of limits on direct election of top officials. Hell technically, we still don't directly elect the president. The electoral college does. We also cannot directly propose or implement legislation. Some states do allow this level of popular intervention but the sad fact is we still don't have a national referendum. The statement you made that, "There are *THREE* (3) EQUALLY powered members in the government of the United States of America; federal, state, and the people." Is simply not true. The states are no longer equals to the feds, and We the people are in today's world much less than equal to either. Al Franco, II

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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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Reputations for Sale
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 09:16:56 -0800 From: "Daniel J. Boone" <djb(a)alaska.net> Organization: ROMEA MIME-Version: 1.0 To: rah(a)shipwright.com Subject: Reputations for Sale Hi, Robert! Given your interest in reputation capital, I thought you would be amused to know that right now (9:11 AM Alaska time, 1:11 PM Eastern) there is a discussion going on at Http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewBoard&name=qa regarding the sale of an online commercial reputation. Messages on this board scroll away in about two hours, so if you actually want to look, be quick. eBay, as you may know, is an online auction site where one can build a reputation through a numerical feedback mechanism. Someone is suggesting building up accounts until they have a respectable feedback level and then auctioning them off to new sellers who lack the patience to earn feedback the old-fashioned way. These are not folks who are clueful, for the most part, about such issues; it's just a business idea to this guy. I think it's fascinating. Take care -- Daniel P.S. If you think this would be of interest to any of your lists, feel free to repost it. I'd post it to Cypherpunks, but I'm not currently subscribed there. ================================================================= Daniel J. Boone | "No man's life, liberty, Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, P.C. | or property is safe when P.O. Box 21211 | the Legislature is in Juneau, Alaska 99802 | session." | (907) 586-3340 | --Judge Gideon J. Tucker Fax: 586-6818 | New York, 1866 ================================================================= --- 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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[E-CARM] WIPO Public Meeting w/ Prof. Michael Froomkin
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text X-Authentication-Warning: c3po.kc-inc.net: majordomo set sender to owner-e-carm(a)lists.kc-inc.net using -f X-Sender: cdt9(a)pop.cais.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 12:20:30 -0400 To: e-carm(a)c3po.kc-inc.net From: Ari Schwartz <ari(a)cdt.org> Subject: [E-CARM] WIPO Public Meeting w/ Prof. Michael Froomkin Sender: owner-e-carm(a)c3po.kc-inc.net Precedence: bulk ***OPEN INVITATION TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE INTERNET COMMUNITY*** The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is currently holding a series of public forums to discuss the intellectual property issues associated with Internet domain names, including dispute resolution. Michael Froomkin, Professor of Law at the University of Miami, was appointed this week to the WIPO experts panel. In order to foster greater public input into the WIPO process, Professor Froomkin will be holding an informal open meeting on Monday, October 5th at 9 a.m. to hear comments and concerns from the public interest community regarding this critical issue. All interested parties are invited to attend and contribute to this open discussion. Meeting with Michael Froomkin, WIPO experts panel member Monday, October 5 at 9 a.m. hosted by the Center for Democracy and Technology 1634 Eye Street NW, 11th Floor Call (202) 637-9800 for further details. ------------------------------------ Ari Schwartz Policy Analyst Center for Democracy and Technology 1634 Eye Street NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20006 202 637 9800 fax 202 637 0968 ari(a)cdt.org http://www.cdt.org ------------------------------------ =========================================================================== Help with Majordomo commands plus list archives and information is available through the E-CARM web page at http://www.kc-inc.net/e-carm/. Sponsored by The Knowledge Connection. =========================================================================== --- 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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WPI Cryptoseminar, Wednesday, 10/7 (fwd)
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text X-Authentication-Warning: goya.WPI.EDU: christof owned process doing -bs Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 15:30:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Christof Paar <christof(a)ece.WPI.EDU> To: DCSB <dcsb(a)ai.mit.edu> Subject: WPI Cryptoseminar, Wednesday, 10/7 (fwd) MIME-Version: 1.0 Sender: bounce-dcsb(a)ai.mit.edu Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Christof Paar <christof(a)ece.WPI.EDU> Here we go again. Our seminar series starts next week on a regular base. -Christof ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- WPI Cryptography and Information Security Seminar Christof Paar, WPI REPORT ON THE ADVANCED ENCRYPTION STANDARD, AES Wednesday, October 7 4:00 pm, AK 108 (refreshments at 3:45 pm) It is probably widely known that DES expires as a federal encryption standard by the end of 1998. Currently NIST is overseeing the development of a new block cipher, AES, which will become the DES successor. The development process for AES is highly interesting as it has been (as of yet) been a public process: Everyone was able to submit candidate algorithms which are currently publicly reviewed. My talk will mainly follow the excellent presentations by Miles Smid, who is with NIST, at the AES1 and CRYPTO '98 conferences in August. I will briefly review the main requirements for AES and talk about the submitted algorithms. The talk will conclude with a description of how the AES selection process will continue. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DIRECTIONS: The WPI Cryptoseminar is being held in the Atwater Kent building on the WPI campus. The Atwater Kent building is at the intersection of West and Salisbury Street for those coming from outside. Directions to the campus can be found at http://www.wpi.edu/About/Visitors/directions.html TALKS IN THE FALL '98 SEMESTER: 8/12 Kris Gaj, George Mason University Quantum Computers and Classical Supercomputers as a Threat to Existing Ciphers. 10/6 Christof Paar, WPI Report on AES 10/14 David Finkel, WPI Performance and Security in Web-based Electronic Commerce 10/28 Thomas Blum, WPI Efficient FPGA Architectures for Public-Key Algorithms [other talks to be announced] See also http://ece.WPI.EDU/Research/crypt/seminar/index.html for abstracts of some of the talks. MAILING LIST: If you want to be added to the mailing list and receive talk announcements together with abstracts, please send me a short mail. Likewise, if you want to be removed from the list, just send me a short mail. Regards, Christof Paar ************************************************************************* Christof Paar http://ee.wpi.edu/People/faculty/cxp.html Assistant Professor email: christof(a)ece.wpi.edu Cryptography Group phone: (508) 831 5061 ECE Department, WPI fax: (508) 831 5491 100 Institute Road Worcester, MA 01609, USA ************************************************************************* For help on using this list (especially unsubscribing), send a message to "dcsb-request(a)ai.mit.edu" with one line of text: "help". --- 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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Take Back the Constitution - the 4th Amendment
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 16:10:36 -0400 (EDT) From: ElectPD(a)earthlink.net To: rah(a)shipwright.com Subject: Take Back the Constitution - the 4th Amendment Take back the Constitution! Eye-catching Fourth Amendment bumper sticker available. Bold and daring (as are your constitutional rights). It reads, "I do not consent to a search of my vehicle, my person or my residence. So, don't ask. This individual is protected by the 4th Amendment." Http://home.earthlink.net/~electpd Link shows you photo of bumper sticker. It was created and produced by three Santa Clara County (California) deputy public defenders. It measures 15 inches by 3 inches (very large). Top quality materials and paints. $2 each or 6 for $10. +$4 for shipping via U.S. mail. Citizens to Elect Our Public Defender (in Santa Clara County, California). P. O. Box 71, San Jose, CA 95103. (408)996-8473. Bumper stickers mailed out same day order received., via first class mail and in protective envelopes ($1.50 to $3 for postage + $1 for the envelope - our cost). ___________________________________________________________ If you wish to be removed from the ElectPD future mailings, to include upcoming bumper stickers announcements, please reply with "Remove" in the subject line and your name will be removed from future mailings. --- 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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ICANN (New IANA) as a Pawn in an Economic Struggle Between US and
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 17:42:56 -0400 Reply-To: cook(a)cookreport.com Originator: com-priv(a)lists.psi.com Sender: com-priv(a)lists.psi.com Precedence: bulk From: Gordon Cook <cook(a)cookreport.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <com-priv(a)lists.psi.com> Subject: ICANN (New IANA) as a Pawn in an Economic Struggle Between US and X-Comment: Commercialization and Privatization of the Internet I asked the question a few days ago: what could justify Ira's heavy handed tactics. What stakes could be large enough to risk the stability of the net? Here is an informed hypothesis based on a 90 minutes conversation with an expert source in these areas who has a heavy international background. (I have also reality checked this hypothesis with several knowledgable observers.) I am beginning to get an idea of what is at stake in the larger sense. Ira, I fear, is using the internet as a pawn in a far bigger game. The game is is inextricably linked with the privacy statutes of the OECD and the coming October 23th deadline for American companies doing business in Europe and data mining on European citizens as part of their ordinary activities. It is also inextricably linked with the international encryption debate. I have heard credible allegations that the US government is at such loggerheads with the OECD countries over the use of key recovery encryption and over the unwillingness of american big business to change its ways of gathering data on employees, customers, contractors etc that we are coming to the October 23th deadline with billions of dollars at stake and no solution. At the same time Ira has for the past three years focused on his mission with Tom Kalil and working through the National Economic and Security Council to setting up the internet as a mechanism for global economic commerce..... touting the net as a means on which, in a few year's time, the majority of the world's economy will depend. It looks as though Ira's agenda is to do this in such a way that the internet can be controlled by an American based, incorporated, non profit public authority set up under American law with a Board, purposefully established without fiscal restraints and without any oversight or accountability. And with board members who with a smattering of international representation can be made as subserviant as possible to the interests of the large American Corporations. These Board members, through the GIP, will be passing the cup to pay for the expenses of establishing ICANN. Consider Bill Burrington Director of Law and Public Policy and Assistant General Counsel at AOL, a company which huge data holdings. He is the chair of the Washington DC Internetactive Services Association which went on to form the Internet Alliance with membership very simalr to GIP. Burrington is manning the barricades of the companies involved in the privacy dispute with the oecd. (Why should Burrington care? Consider AOL's electronic profiles on its 12 million members) Consider also Andy Sernovitz of AIM whose members have the same general interests and who helped Barb Dooley of the CIX sell out the IFWP process. Did Jon Postel really refuse to attend the Harvard wrap up meeting or did Ira order him not to? So even if Ira looks heavy handed -- for this agenda to be used as the White House intends-- Ira needs to have his ducks in order in time for the OECD meeting in Canada that begins next week. He needs to demonstrate that he has enough power to have rammed through a solution at home. That is why things have turned nasty during the last week and why the iron fist is becoming seen with the incorporation of ICANN even though, by Ira's own allegedly free process, ICANN should not yet be seen as the winner. Ira is determined to confront the OECD next week with an Internet that *HE* and the White House clearly controls and to do so as a bargaining chip to use in getting our way against the Europeans and Asians and Canadians..... on the issues of encryption and privacy statutes. It would be instructive to see the legal basis of the governments arguments being used to get NSI to cave. Could it be that their content might be embarrising? If SAIC doesn't order NSI to sign Ira's demands by the seventh then Ira and the white house will not be as in control of the internet, as they need to demonstrate themselves to be, in order to use the internet as an american dominated global commerce weapon against the other OECD governments. The American view is that with the internet firmly in command of the White House on American corportate terms, the Asians and Europeans will have no choice but to back off their privacy and the American encryption demands. Remember also that Europe is trying to launch the Euro in such a way that it becomes the world's reserve currency. One would like to know whether the White House orders are do what ever is necessary to see that this effort fails. The Europeans and Asians understand perfectly well the power play that Ira is engaged in. They are not surprisingly seething with anger. American arrogance could be doing dangerous things. If we drive Europe and Asia into an economic and political alliance against us, we all will lose. Privacy, and the freedom to live our lives without government and corporate political or economic interference are at stake. *************************************************************************** The COOK Report on Internet White House Corrupts Formation of IANA 431 Greenway Ave, Ewing, NJ 08618 USA Corporation. White Paper a Sham. See (609) 882-2572 (phone & fax) http://www.cookreport.com/sellout cook(a)cookreport.com Index to 6 years of COOK Report, how to subscribe, exec summaries, special reports, gloss at http://www.cookreport.com *************************************************************************** --- 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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Re: ICANN (New IANA) as a Pawn in an Economic Struggle Between USand
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Not to disturb your exegetic reverie, here, Gord, but I asked Mr. Magaziner, when he spoke at at the Electronic Payments Forum earlier this month, in front of about 400 or so digital commerce and e$ types, the following question: "Given your administration's, um, success, in banning strong foriegn cryptography, how do you propose to ban it in the United States?" His answer then was that he was absolutely postively against key escrow or limits on cryptography of any kind. Besides stealing all my carefully worded thunder :-), he got a big round of applause. <grumble, grumble goddamn liberals, grumble, grumble> He also said that the major reason for the, um, complexity, of US crypto policy was that the administration's internet commerce types were fighting the law enforcent types tooth and nail about it. I want to smash the state as much as the next crypto-anarchist :-), but I figure this is what is happening. The spooks gave up on this crap long ago, and it's just the cops standing in front of the steamroller now. Money trumps crime-FUD, just like it did spook-FUD. F=MA, and all that. :-). Cheers, Bob Hettinga "There's the conspiracy theory of history, where elites conspire to shape events behind the scenes, the fuck-up theory of history, where elites fuck up and conspire to cover it behind the scenes, and the fucked-up conspiracy theory of history, where elites conspire to shape events, fuck up, and conspire to cover it up behind the scenes. My favorite theory is the latter." -- (An as-yet Unremembered) Mizzou History Prof or, in the spirit of William of Occam, "Never attribute to conspiracy what can be explained by stupidity." --Jerry Pournelle ----------------- 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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Federal Power Grab Threatens Your Rights
by Gun Owners of America 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Massive New Power Grab By The Feds -- gun owners' constitutional rights in jeopardy Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408 http://www.gunowners.org First, an update on Smith's "Anti-Brady" amendment: The pro-gun Smith amendment that passed the Senate in July is still awaiting action in a House-Senate conference committee. In fact, the House still has yet to pick the House conferees. GOA will keep you updated on this important legislation which would put the brakes on FBI's ability to register and tax gun owners. Keep calling your legislators (202-224-3121) and urge them to oppose the Commerce-Justice-State bill UNLESS it keeps the Smith language 100 percent intact. (Friday, October 2, 1998)-- Rep. Bob Barr has discovered that Janet Reno's Department of Justice (DOJ) is shopping around a legislative "wish list" to further erode our constitutional liberties. They are hoping to take advantage of the chaotic situation in Washington to "load up" an appropriations bill with a number of frightening expansions of federal power: * Enlarged asset forfeiture provisions to allow the FBI to seize personal property in both criminal and civil matters (your entire gun collection would be at risk) * A vastly expanded definition of terrorism to include domestic crimes having no relationship to terrorism (fighting "terrorism" is a new tactic of the gun grabbers, especially since the Supreme Court has stated that the Commerce Clause is no longer sufficient) * The ability to commandeer personnel from other federal agencies without reimbursement (just in case they need more agents for the next Waco) * Authority to force telephone and Internet companies to divulge information on their customers without a warrant (someone posts a message threatening the President to a gun list, and the feds demand the names and addresses of everyone who received the offending message) * Expanded wiretap authority to allow "roving" wiretaps of innocent citizens and gun owners, and wiretaps without any court authority whatsoever (so much for the Fourth Amendment) * Loosening of Posse Comitatus restrictions to allow more military involvement in domestic law enforcement (further blurring the line between police and military, which means destroying targets rather than making arrests) * The establishment of a permanent "FBI Police Force" (one could only speculate as to how bad this would be) * The power to seize commercial transportation assets for federal use (like the rest of the wish list, there is zero constitutional authority for this). In an era in which agencies of the federal government routinely target law-abiding gun owners for persecution, such assaults on our constitutional rights must be stopped. HERE'S WHAT TO DO: Contact your Representative and both Senators. Urge them to oppose any DOJ expansion of power through the appropriations process. Call 202-224-3121 or hit the GOA website at http://www.gunowners.org for phone, fax and e-mail of individual Congressional offices. Tell them to keep Smith in, and to keep the FBI out! **************************************************************** Did someone else forward this to you? To be certain of getting up to date information, please consider subscribing directly to the GOA E-Mail Alert Network. The service is totally free and carries no obligation. Your e-mail address remains confidential, and the volume is quite low, usually one or two messages per week. To subscribe, simply send a message (or forward this notice) to goamail(a)gunowners.org and indicate your state of residence in either the subject or the body. To unsubscribe, reply to any alert and ask to be removed.

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