December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Phiber Optik, and miscellaneous ramblings
by Clark Reynard 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

lex(a)mindvox.com (Lex Luthor) writes: >Please note that >Phiber Optik was probably the most mellow one of the MOD and having spoke with >him a number of times, it seems that he is not a malicious type. IMHO his >mistake was teaching his 'friends' in the group how to do certain things >without regard to what they intended to do with that knowlege. True; after reading a number of the charges against him, it appears they just threw whatever they could at him, in the hopes that something would stick. I find it oddly revolting that if a gang of teenage hoodlums were to enter a school and vandalize it, physically destroying the computers with hammers and spray paint, they would be considered harmless 'wild boys' and probably get a fine. Reform school at most. This is fine by me, however; if a fucking _smart_ kid just _accesses_ the piece of shit PCs that schools use, and alters his grade, then, in most states, that is considered a hideous crime worthy of federal crime. Granted, Phiber did a good deal more than that, but was he a _serious_ criminal? Did he make huge wads of cash? Is he living in some kind of fucking mansion from his vast profits? In my case, I'm disgusted by the data cops making more-or-less harmless rich kids with high-tech and inventive curiosity; perhaps a streak of malice; and too much time, into some kind of demonic threat to the nation. No wonder our smart kids are practically last in the civilized world, when we punish kids for being too smart and throw them in jail for being too dumb, while slashing education budgets. [As the astute reader may have gathered, the Author of this article has, himself, been busted for thoughtcrime; however, he's doing fine now, so don't worry.] Thanks for clearing the issue up, Lex; and consider me in wholehearted agreement. ---- Robert W. F. Clark PGP Key Available Upon Request rclark(a)nyx.cs.du.edu clark(a)metal.psu.edu

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Clipper and the "Christian Right"
by Jim Huggins 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Grendel Grettisson <mimir(a)u.washington.edu> writes: > On Tue, 9 Nov 1993, Clark Reynard wrote: > > I think it would be very important if we could attempt to > > sway the Christian right into this; it is certain we > > probably don't agree on many issues, and the "700 Club" > > anti-Clipper piece was very effective, good video. > For those that watch the 700 Club. Personally, I'm opposed to anything > that gives the Christian Right more power or puts them in the public eye > more given their past track record. You mean "their past track record that I don't agree with." Sure, many excesses have been committed in the name of the "Christian Right" (whatever that is ... I'm supposedly a part of it and I've never seen a coherent definition of what it is). But the "Agnostic Left" has probably committed a few excesses in its day, too. Frankly, a coalition with people from a wide variety of political backgrounds can only help to make the anti-Clipper cause seem more respectible. Otherwise, the anti-Clipper folks might end up sounding like just another liberal protest group, and be treated just like any other lobbying group. > > If you don't believe me, watch it. They almost seem > > to agree with us entirely on the issue of cryptography. > > Perhaps it's time for a _new_ group; the cyphermonks. > > I nominate St. John the Divine as a patron saint. > I thought the Christian Right didn't like Catholics or Saints either. It > is a Protestant movement. Not really. From my experience, the "Christian Right" is composed of conservative Christians -- both Protestant and Catholic. It's only in certain parts of the country where conservative Protestants and Catholics are unfriendly ... --Jim Huggins

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Clipper and the "Christian Right"
by Jim Huggins 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Owen Rowley <owen(a)autodesk.com) writes: > > From: Clark Reynard <clark(a)metal.psu.edu> > > I think it would be very important if we could attempt to > > sway the Christian right into this; it is certain we > > probably don't agree on many issues, and the "700 Club" > > anti-Clipper piece was very effective, good video. > meanwhile, don't forget for a second that the christian right > *will* toss your anarchic ass on the pyre where they *will* roast > pagan faggots like myself after they've squeezed you for your > support. > Religion has it's protection clearly enumerated in the constitution, > and a clear agenda to keep everyone elses freedom from being similary > enumerated. > Caveat emptor, and carry a loaded flamethrower, because the first > chance they get to cut you out of the deal you will need it. Oh, come on now. You give the "Christian Right" (and I still don't know what that means) far more power than they have. There is this popular notion that the "Christian Right" has some master agenda that all conservative Christians buy into blindly. That simply ain't so ... just as there isn't a single master cypherpunks agenda agreed on in this list (complaints by Mr. Detweiler notwithstanding). Clark Reynard has rightly pointed out that some in the Christian Right agree with the cypherpunks on the need for legal cryptography and that they might be able to help in the fight against things like Clipper. Why that should bring out deep-seeded hatred against the Christian Right for unrelated offenses or differences of opinion is beyond me. Isn't it enough that we could agree on this one issue? Let's try to make this issue non-partisan, OK? --Jim Huggins

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Fractal cryptography?
by GRABOW_GEOFFREY＠tandem.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Greetings all, I've come up with an idea that uses the chaotic nature of fractals to perform some very secure encryption. Does anybody know if this has already been done? The programs I've already written seem to be very secure. Any info is appreciated, G.C.G.

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Re: Should we oppose the
by smb＠research.att.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Why did virtually all the railroads in the northern U.S. use the same rail gauge BEFORE regulation of the railroads? Ah -- you specify the ``northern'' U.S. The situation in the south was very different. And even in the north, the Pennsylvania Railroad was so large (they're the ones who billed themselves as ``the standard railroad of the world) that other folks had to follow if they came near the PRR. It was near-monopoly that created that situation, not any desire for co-operation. In Europe, there are still a variety of different gauges, electrical standards, loading gauges, etc. (Actually, the latter two are problems in the U.S. as well.)

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Re: Should we oppose the
by Perry E. Metzger 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This has gone on too long -- I'm writing a last reply here in public and then I would ask that we take this to private mail. smb(a)research.att.com says: > Why did virtually all the railroads in the northern U.S. use the same > rail gauge BEFORE regulation of the railroads? > > Ah -- you specify the ``northern'' U.S. The situation in the south > was very different. Yes, the south had fewer railroads and they followed a different gauge -- this is to be expected in such situations. > And even in the north, the Pennsylvania Railroad > was so large (they're the ones who billed themselves as ``the standard > railroad of the world) that other folks had to follow if they came near > the PRR. It was near-monopoly that created that situation, not any > desire for co-operation. I once read a wonderful account of how enraged J.P. Morgan was one day when, while relaxing at his country home on the Hudson in upstate New York, he heard the sounds of a railroad construction gang driving through a railroad competing with the Penn Central line which he effectively controlled via the Vanderbilts. No attempt to set up a railroad cartel or monopoly worked until the ICC was formed, you know -- a government agency created largely so monopolists would have a legal way of enforcing rate fixing. > In Europe, there are still a variety of different gauges, electrical > standards, loading gauges, etc. Yes. Such things typically occur for a while when people aren't geographically proximate and don't interact much -- the north and south were such an example. However, in regions where people do interact standards quickly enforce themselves. Look around you at the computer industry for example. Perry

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OMNI CARD
by Matthew J Miszewski 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

With re to Root's comments: The OMNI Card appears to be the incarnation of D. Chaum's SmartCardComputers. If its what it sounds like it is a public key encryption/digital signature computing device. DigiCash...er...Digital Cash (Im not good at avoiding a pseudospoof) is on its way boyz. --Matt ______________________________________________________________________________ In defense of liberty, encrypt for all purposes, civil and professional. In defense of privacy, encrypt all correspondence, personal and professional. In defense of sanity, do not encrypt your dry cleaning invoice! ++++++++--------mjmiski(a)macc.wisc.edu (c)1993

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CUD 5.84
by jim＠bilbo.suite.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The following was recently posted to sci.crypt. I would like to get a copy of the referenced issue of CUD and check out the "DES: Broken!" article. I looked in the EFF ftp site, but they only have CUD up to issue 5.76. Anybody know where I can get CUD 5.84? Thanks, Jim_Miller(a)suite.com ------------- From: pwilk(a)reed.edu (The Cannibal) Newsgroups: sci.crypt Subject: Computer underground Digest Sun Nov 7 1993 Volume 5 : Issue 84 Message-ID: <2bn1u8$gt0(a)scratchy.reed.edu> Date: 9 Nov 93 03:14:16 GMT Organization: Reed College, Portland, Oregon Lines: 29 Thought you might like to know: Computer underground Digest Sun Nov 7 1993 Volume 5 : Issue 84 ISSN 1004-042X Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2(a)NIU.BITNET) Archivist: Brendan Kehoe Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala Ian Dickinson Copy Eatitor: Etaoin Shrdlu, III CONTENTS, #5.84 (Nov 7 1993) File 1--Computers, Freedom, and Privacy '94 Conference File 2--CFP '94 Scholarship Announcements File 3--Korea 94: Call for Papers File 4--CPSR NII Paper File 5--DES: Broken! <----------------------------- File 6--NAFTA mandates software patents (fwd) File 7--Phiber Optik Sentenced to One Year in Prison read it. check it out. -- The _O_ "Darkness may cover me: midnight may steal along my living veins; Cannibal | yea and the ultimate futility, the ghastly nothing on which all things play may break ice-thin crust and freeze my soul" pwilk(a)reed.edu -=public key available on finger=- - John Cowper Powys

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tel news
by abootch＠sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

FYI ---- (sorry if this is re-hash) Today's SF CHRON reports: Pac's Baby Bell will spend 15 billion installing fiber optics throughout California. ATT will supply ATM switchers to convert the video signals... And PacTel Cellular will offer Bay Area cell users CDPD - faster and more efficient cell data transmittion - it transmits the data in packets during "the idle milliseconds of voice conversations carried on cell. phone systems". So its compressed and.... -- -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.3a mQBNAizdNhgAAAECAKYlJfK4YQoaRYtiywdgR7OQmsS23oRFr3QYZf4mE1pQTvPg DGB7xVx2mfRjsqUdQsar4vdWyNZmXLMmHNdez9UABRG0K0FuZHkgSS4gTWF0aW5v ZyA8YWJvb3RjaEBzZnN1dmF4MS5zZnN1LmVkdT4= =KJFP -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

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Re: Should we oppose the
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com M >First, I wasn't talking about the local-loop competition. I was M >talking about cable. I don't doubt that in *some* monopoly situations, M >mere reduction or elimination of regulation can allow markets to spring M >up. I just don't think this is true with regard to telcos and cable. Hasn't it occurred to everyone that the local loop is cable and cable is the local loop. There's no difference. Any way of squishing gobs of zeros and ones down a channel to you is the Local Loop and the Trunk and the Cable and everything. M >Secondly, and as I mentioned, there are non-market tactics that a M >supplier can use to prevent competition from arising. For example, why M >should a local telco decide on its own to be interoperable with, say, M >the Electric Company? In this Age of Open Systems? Anyway if they won't connect each other, I will with my own switch just like International Discount Telecommunications and the other companies are smashing the ITU monopoly pricing of international phone calls. M >It's always a mistake to confuse technical feasibility for M >competition. What's to prevent the dominant one or two providers (TPC M >and Cellular, let's say) from closing out the others by refusing to be M >interoperable? M >--Mike Sweden approved 5 national cellular franchises by far the most of any country. Sweden has the most market penetration of cellular by any country. No coincidence. Duncan Frissell --- WinQwk 2.0b#1165

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