December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Exciting News!
by Adam Lake 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Fellow cypherpunks: Your Clipper worries are over. Cracker Jacks will soon offer a Clipper decoder ring in a few select boxes of Craker Jacks;-) lake(a)uenics.evansville.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Space for rent ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: How to control the Internet.
by henryl2416＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Well, you don't have to worry about MicroSoft being buddy buddy with the US Govt'.. They are currently under investigation (read: Witch Hunt) by the Feds for having a monopoly... Seems to many people like to use MS-DOS...

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Re: FWD: RIPEM/SIG - Worldwide Digital Signature Software
by Christopher Allen 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:21 AM 3/19/94 -0700, mdbomber(a)w6yx.stanford.edu wrote: >I tried turning RIPEM Mac loose on this message and it complains about a >garbled Originator Certificate, then complains that it does not appear >to be a PEM/RIPEM message. > >Did anyone else get this to work? I've tested this further - like you I can't seem to verify the press release using RIPEM Mac. However, I did find someone with the RIPEM 1.2 software installed and it does verify with that software. I've sent a copy to Ray Lau, the author of RIPEM Mac, as I know that he is working on incorporating the features of RIPEM 1.2 in the next version of RIPEM Mac. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ..Christopher Allen Consensus Development Corporation.. ..<consensus(a)netcom.com> 4104-24th Street #419.. .. San Francisco, CA 94114-3615.. .. o415/647-6383 f415/647-6384.. ..Mosaic/World-Wide-Web Front Door: .. ..ftp://netcom7.netcom.com/pub/consensus/www/ConsensusFrontDoor.html ..

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Where to find RIPEM/SIG (an exportable version of RIPEM)
by Christopher Allen 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Though I've not seen much traffic here in cypherpunks on the new exportable version of RIPEM/SIG, I do think that its latest release is significant. RIPEM/SIG plus the new version of RSAREF is going to allow my firm to do some development on products that were not realizable with PGP (because of export controls, as well as licensing and patent issues.) For those of you who are also interested in the exportable RIPEM/SIG version 1.2a, the files are now available via anonymous ftp or by using Mosaic/World-Wide-Web. Unlike the binaries for RIPEM 1.2a, these files are available via anonymous ftp -- you don't need an account on the server to download the files (in order to get an account you have send an email message saying that you are an US or Canadian user.) The press release on RIPEM/SIG from Mark Riordan <mrr(a)scss3.cl.msu.edu> is at: ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/ripem/ripemsig/posting Binary files are at: ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/ripem/ripemsig/binaries/ ripemsig-68030-macintosh-commandline-1.2a.sit.hqx ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/ripem/ripemsig/binaries/ ripemsig-80x86-dos-vanilla-1.2a.exe ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/ripem/ripemsig/binaries/ ripemsig-hppa-hpux9.01-1.2a ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/ripem/ripemsig/binaries/ ripemsig-ibm-rs6000-aix3.2-1.2a ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/ripem/ripemsig/binaries/ ripemsig-sparc-sunos4.1.1-1.2a There does not seem to be separate documentation for RIPEM/SIG yet, so I guess you have to use the documentation for RIPEM 1.2a: ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/ripem/ripem.man ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/ripem/ripemusr.doc ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/ripem/ripemusr.txt A current list of RIPEM public keys is at: ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/ripem/pubkeys.txt The new RSAREF source code that RIPEM/SIG is based on was made available today the rsa.com server. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ..Christopher Allen Consensus Development Corporation.. ..<consensus(a)netcom.com> 4104-24th Street #419.. .. San Francisco, CA 94114-3615.. .. o415/647-6383 f415/647-6384.. ..Mosaic/World-Wide-Web Front Door: .. ..ftp://netcom7.netcom.com/pub/consensus/www/ConsensusFrontDoor.html ..

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Where to find RSAREF (source library used by RIPEM)
by Christopher Allen 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Some people asked after my last message how to get the latest version of RSAREF 1.2 -- it can be found on RSA's anonymous ftp server. What is significant about the new RSAREF is that it is used as the basis for RIPEM and RIPEM/SIG, and that you can incorporate its toolbox in your own applications very inexpensively. According to their license agreement, freeware (i.e. non-moneymaking) software can use the RSAREF toolkit provided that you make the source code to your utility available. Though this is not official yet, I've been told by RSA that they will also grant a royalty-free license to shareware authors up to $10,000 worth of gross annual sales if the shareware source code is available and the author(s) do not charge more than $50 a copy. If you are a commercial developer, I know from personal experience that they can be quite reasonable about licensing -- they want this base level of technology adopted as widely as possible -- just make RSA a reasonable offer and I think they'll take it. Remember, even though you can use RSAREF to create exportable non-encryption based digital signature software, the source code to RSAREF is not exportable itself as it can do encryption thus it is only available to US and Canadian citizens. Information on what RSAREF is all about and what are the license terms are located at: ftp://rsa.com/rsaref/info.reply ftp://rsa.com/rsaref/license.txt To get access to a time dependent directory (it changes every few minutes) you will need to read the document: ftp://rsa.com/rsaref/README If you agree to it's terms, take the directory mentioned there and substitute it for the the checksum in the directory "U.S.-only 7c04e6". The uuencoded tar archive of RSAREF is at (remember to change the time dependent directory!): ftp://rsa.com/rsaref/dist/U.S.-only-7c04e6/rsaref.tar.Z The ZIP archive of RSAREF is at (remember to change the time dependent directory!): ftp://rsa.com/rsaref/dist/U.S.-only-7c04e6/rsaref.zip You can also get the RSAREF via email by reading the RSAREF license agreement and sending the following message to <rsaref-administrator(a)rsa.com>. If your electronic mail address is located in Canada, please send RSA your full name and mailing address; they'll need it to complete a Department of State export declaration. I acknowledge that I have read the RSAREF Program License Agreement and understand and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions, including without limitation its restrictions on foreign reshipment of the Program and information related to the Program. The electronic mail address to which I am requesting that the program be transmitted is located in the United States of America or Canada and I am a United States citizen, a Canadian citizen, or a permanent resident of the United States. The RSAREF Program License Agreement is the complete and exclusive agreement between RSA Laboratories and me relating to the Program, and supersedes any proposal or prior agreement, oral or written, and any other communications between RSA Laboratories and me relating to the Program. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ..Christopher Allen Consensus Development Corporation.. ..<consensus(a)netcom.com> 4104-24th Street #419.. .. San Francisco, CA 94114-3615.. .. o415/647-6383 f415/647-6384.. ..Mosaic/World-Wide-Web Front Door: .. ..ftp://netcom7.netcom.com/pub/consensus/www/ConsensusFrontDoor.html ..

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ADMIN: CFP will create an administrative outage
by hughes＠ah.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I leave for CFP this morning. The majordomo filter should take care of most of the complainers. The others should be told that active administration will resume next week after I get back. Eric

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Re: (fwd) FBI Wiretaps. Old news....
by Dave Banisar 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Date: Sun, 20 Mar 1994 12:06:05 -0500 > From: Black Unicorn <unicorn> > Message-Id: <199403201706.AA03413(a)access3.digex.net> > To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com, paul(a)hawksbill.sprintmrn.com > Subject: Re: (fwd) FBI Wiretaps. Old news.... > Sender: owner-cypherpunks(a)toad.com > Precedence: bulk > > > ``We could be out of the wiretap business in a very short > > time,'' Freeh said. He said 91 court-approved wiretaps were > > abandoned last year because telephone companies could not solve > > technical problems. > > > I forgot to add, EFF's recent FOIA act asking for equipment > interference with court ordered wiretaps showed NO problems. > > Where the 91 figure comes from is a mystery. > > Actually that was a series of CPSR FOIA requests dating back to 1992. EFF (except for some done by Bd. Member John Gilmore) does not do FOIA. There are fudging seriously on the 91 figure. They admit that none of them have to do with digital telephony. At least 10 were from NY in the mid-80s when everyone wanted a cell phone and there wernt enough ports for the FBI to wiretaps them all at the same time. That situation has been remedied. Another 30 of them were when they could not slap a pen register on a cell phone (actually nothing to do with taps at all really). and so on. After Freeh mentioned the 9 figure, Leahy really took him apart on the figures. -d

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Promise her anything...
by Hal 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

A few days ago I said I'd look up the legal requirements on promissory notes. This was to see whether digital cash or similar instruments could implement digital promissory notes. I found a book of legal forms for a variety of situations, and one set of forms dealt with promissory notes. Here are some of the comments about the sample notes below. "Negotiability. "All of our notes are negotiable - that is, they can be sold. To understand what this means, think of what happens when you write a check. Your check means that you owe the face amount of the check to the person you have made it out to (the payee) and that your bank will pay this debt when the check is presented to it. The original payee of your check can either collect the amount directly or, as is common, endorse the check to someone else. This new owner can then collect the amount from your bank or endorse the check to someone else. In other words, the check can pass freely from person to person (that is, be negotiated) until it is presented to your bank for payment. "Promissory notes can similarly be negotiated, assuming they contain the following provisions and magic words: "names of the lender and borrower, and borrower's address "a statement that the debt is payable 'to the order of' the lender (promisee) "a specified principal sum to be paid and the specific rate of interest, if any "the address where the payments are to be made "the city where and date when the note is signed and "the signature of the debtor (promisee) "All the notes set out in this book contain this basic information. Although we told you in Chapter 1 that you could alter our contracts to your satisfaction, taking out any of these clauses will probably render the note non-negotiable (though still valid). "In fact, it is unlikely that negotiability will be important to very many readers, as most will never transfer their note. However, should one of the parties die, become mentally ill, or otherwise not be able to pay or collect the debt, the fact that the note is negotiable increases the chance that it will be paid. Why? Because institutions in the business of purchasing uncollected notes and collecting onthem may be willing to buy it. If you alter a note but want to have it remain negotiable, make sure it still contains the elements listed above." The promissory note in the book also has a clause regarding attorney fees. I will eliminate it here which implies that each party simply pays his own attorney fees. It simplifies the note. Here is the note. The form is not important, but the information present is: For value received, I individually promise to pay to the order of ____________ $___________ on _____________ at _______________________. Date: _________________________ Location (City or County): _________________________ Name of Borrower: _________________________ Address of Borrower: _________________________ _________________________ Signature of Borrower: _________________________ In considering how this could be presented in electronic form, the basic information could be provided in a digitally signed message. The thrust of the legal discussion about the note is to make sure it can be enforced in court if the borrower doesn't pay. Digital signatures have not, as far as I know, been tested yet in court, so lenders would not currently have the protections with a digital promissory note that they would have with a written one. These notes also do not seem to lend themselves to anonymous transactions very well. The original note must contain the name of both borrower and lender. And I believe that if the note is sold, it must be endorsed over to the buyer like a check. So not only does the note record the names of its owners, it also shows a trail of previous owners. In general, this does not seem to be an approach which would protect privacy. I imagine it is possible for a person to create a "bearer" promissory note, where he will pay back some loan to whomever presents the note. In normal circumstances, though, no lender would want to lend in exchange for such a note, since the regular promissory note gives him more protection. It's not clear, too, how enforceable such a note would be, especially if presented by someone not the original lender, say if the original lender contested the note (claiming it was stolen or such). The one loose end I did pick up from this reading was the general topic of negotiable instruments. These are financial papers which can be sold. Per- haps among the great variety of such instruments there would be some more suitable to digital implementation using the anonymous-transfer technology. Hal

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PGP BBS site
by mpjohnso＠nyx10.cs.du.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Need to refer someone (US citizen, currently in the US) to a BBS that is >carrying the current PGP. Any pointers? He's in Edgewater FL, but is >willing to call LD to get it. No net access. Thanks. Colorado Catacombs BBS (303-938-9654) ___________________________________________________________ |\ /| | | | | \/ |o| | Michael Paul Johnson Colorado Catacombs BBS 303-938-9654 | | | | / _ | mpj(a)csn.org ftp csn.org \mpj\README.MPJ for access info.| | |||/ /_\ | aka mpjohnso(a)nyx.cs.du.edu mikej(a)exabyte.com | | |||\ ( | m.p.johnson(a)ieee.org CIS 71331,2332 VPGP key by finger | | ||| \ \_/ |___________________________________________________________|

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NSA Clipper Interview in WSJ
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Catch the great interview with Clinton Brooks, "the NSA scientist who led the so-called Clipper Chip project" which started in 1989. Page B1 of today's WSJ. DCF

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