December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

A CC of my letter to Gelernter@cs.yale.edu
by pcw＠access.digex.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I caught your piece on the Op-Ed page. Of course I agree with you about the fact that there is a need for wiretaps. But I think that there are serious problems with the Clipper chip. It is very expensive compared to software only solutions and it is also very, very brittle. First the cost: * Every extra chip adds to cost, battery usage and pocket bulge. This is a heavy price to pay for something that could be done in software. Many of the next generation digital phones, for instance, use a DSP. There are more than enough spare cycles available to do encryption. * The high cost is effectively a tax on privacy for the average person. It is easy to imagine clipper chips adding $100 to the cost of an already digital phone, fax machine or computer. The poor are just as much targets as the rich. In fact, they are often easier targets because no one wants to bother chasing down a fake credit card transaction or bank account withdrawl if it only amounts to $75. If a chip was necessary, then it would be a different story. Software could help all of America, not just the rich. Now the Fragility: * The first generation of Capstone chips is already obsolete. They're worthless. All of the money that went into fabbing and producing them is gone. Why? Because the NSA discovered a weakness in the Secure Hash ALgorithm. They've fixed it now, but all the old chips are worthless. * Imagine that problems arise well after the chip is standardized. What will millions of Americans do? All of the digital phones, fax machines and modem cards will need to be replaced. * Now imagine that a pair of turncoats sell out America and put both halves of the key escrow on the black market. If we're lucky enough to discover this leak, it could easily take 6 months to a year to replace our now worthless phone system. * Software, on the other hand, is very easy to change. In many cases, the anti-virus programs travel faster than the viruses. These are the main reasons why I think that the Clipper is a boondoggle. Software based solutions would solve all of these problems _except_ the government's desire for a firm grip on the world and technology. -Peter Wayner

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RE: A CC of my letter to Gelernter@cs.yale.edu
by Blanc Weber 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Mike McNally I don't think an economic argument will really fly well, though I'd love to be shown to be way wrong. Seems to me that a mass-produced chip whose production is subsidized by the government would probably be pretty cheap. ................................. I think an economic argument may be more of what "they" would be attentive to, since it is the issue with which they concern themselves the most - the economic situation of the country, and their need to be in control of its facade. A problem: subsidization would mean higher taxes. Blanc

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(fwd) MIT Announces availability of PGP 2.5
by ecarp＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Xref: netcom.com sci.crypt:25468 alt.security.pgp:12712 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!lambda.msfc.nasa.gov!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!gatech!udel!MathWorks.Com!news.kei.com!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!zurich.ai.mit.edu!bal From: bal(a)zurich.ai.mit.edu (Brian A. LaMacchia) Newsgroups: sci.crypt,alt.security.pgp Subject: MIT Announces availability of PGP 2.5 Date: 9 May 94 14:04:14 Organization: M.I.T. Artificial Intelligence Lab. Lines: 66 Message-ID: <BAL.94May9140414(a)freeside.ai.mit.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: freeside.ai.mit.edu MIT has announced availability of PGP 2.5 (beta). Here's a copy of the announcement I received: --bal Date: Mon, 9 May 94 09:32:39 -0400 From: Jeffrey I. Schiller <jis(a)mit.edu> Subject: MIT Announces PGP 2.5 Beta Test Release of PGP version 2.5 May 9, 1994 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announces the distribution of PGP version 2.5, incorporating the RSAREF 2.0 cryptographic toolkit under license from RSA Data Security, Inc., dated March 16, 1994. In accordance with the terms and limitations of the RSAREF 2.0 license of March 16, 1994, this version of PGP may be used for non-commercial purposes only. PGP 2.5 strictly conforms to the conditions of the RSAREF 2.0 license of March 16, 1994. As permitted under its RSAREF license, MIT's distribution of PGP 2.5 includes an accompanying distribution of the March 16, 1994 release of RSAREF 2.0. Users of PGP 2.5 are directed to consult the RSAREF 2.0 license included with the distribution to understand their obligations under that license. This distribution of PGP 2.5, available in source code form, is available only to users within the United States of America. Use of PGP 2.5 (and the included RSAREF 2.0) may be subject to export control. Questions concerning possible export restrictions on PGP 2.5 (and RSAREF 2.0) should be directed to the U.S. State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls. Users in the United States of America can obtain information via FTP from net-dist.mit.edu in the directory /pub/PGP. *** Beta Release Note -- May 7, 1994 *** Today's release of PGP 2.5 is a beta test release, designed to permit users to familiarize themselves with the program and to give us feedback before we make the final release. This version of PGP2.5 has been tested on the following platforms: MSDOS, Sun381i, Solaris 2.X, Ultrix 4.X, Linux, RS6000, HP/UX Over the next few days, we will be testing PGP2.5 on a variety of other systems and collecting bug reports from this release. Please send bug reports to pgp-bugs(a)mit.edu. If you obtain a copy of this beta release code, please keep checking http://web.mit.edu for the announcement of the final release, so that you can update your copy of PGP2.5. We expect the final release to occur within a week. *** To Get PGP2.5: The directory where PGP2.5 is located is hidden. To get it you need to telnet to "net-dist.mit.edu" and login as getpgp. You will be asked to confirm that you will abide by the terms and conditions of the 3/16/94 RSAREF 2.0 license. The license is in the file "license.txt" in /pub/PGP on net-dist.mit.edu. -- Ed Carp, N7EKG/VE3 ecarp(a)netcom.com 519/824-3307 Finger ecarp(a)netcom.com for PGP 2.3a public key an88744(a)anon.penet.fi If you want magic, let go of your armor. Magic is so much stronger than steel! -- Richard Bach, "The Bridge Across Forever"

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Re: away from my mail (fwd)
by dwitkow＠eis.calstate.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 1:23 PM 5/10/94 -0700, Philip Zimmermann wrote: >From: via the vacation program <prz(a)columbine.cgd.ucar.EDU> >Subject: away from my mail > [snip] > >In case you haven't heard, MIT is releasing PGP version 2.5, >available from an FTP site at MIT, for US noncommercial users only. >It is a nice version of PGP, with all the strength and integrity of >PGP 2.3a, with some bug fixes and improvements. > 'an FTP site at MIT' is rather vague. Anyone have specifics? ...dtw ---------------------------------------------------------------- Notice of address change: Please send mail to the following: dwitkow(a)eis.calstate.edu (Mail sent to dwitkows(a)nermal.santarosa.edu will be forwarded) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Transmitted via modified Eudora 1.4.2 over LINUX host dialup! ---------------------------------------------------------------- Finger dwitkows(a)nermal.santarosa.edu for PGP key ----------------------------------------------------------------

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DigiCash announcement correction
by Black Unicorn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

An error was made in the UniBank/Phantom Exchange press release which indicated that DigiFrancs were backed by a store of 16 oz Diet Coke cans. There are of course no 16 oz cans, but rather 12 oz cans. UniBank regrets the error.

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MBone map by Steve Casner...
by lile＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

If you are interested in MBone, you might find the following postscript file of use. It's located at: ftp://ftp.isi.edu/mbone/mbone-topology.ps And is being reviewed right now. After it is reviewed, it will be available for people to use in talks, etc. Bi the way, the next cypherpunks meeting will be on the MBone... :) -lile ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lile Elam | "Remember... No matter where you go, there you are." lile(a)netcom.com | Un*x Admin / Artist | Buckaroo Banzai ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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KQED Clipper discussion....
by lile＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi folks, Is anyone up for discussing the Clipper and why it's bad for us on KQED this thursday night? Please let me know and I will forward your name to Russel. I might not be able to make it because I am having my art photographed that night... It will soon be scanned and available on a WWW site... thanks, -lile >From brand(a)drums.reasoning.com Tue May 10 13:17:30 1994 Return-Path: <brand(a)drums.reasoning.com> Received: from drums.reasoning.com by mail.netcom.com (8.6.8.1/Netcom) id NAA19095; Tue, 10 May 1994 13:17:22 -0700 Received: from maraca.reasoning.com.res_no_yp by drums.reasoning.com (4.1/25-eef) id AA26100; Tue, 10 May 94 13:17:07 PDT for lile(a)netcom.com Date: Tue, 10 May 94 13:17:07 PDT From: Russell Brand <brand(a)reasoning.com> Message-Id: <9405102017.AA26100(a)drums.reasoning.com> Received: by maraca.reasoning.com.res_no_yp (4.1/SMI-4.0) id AA12260; Tue, 10 May 94 13:16:27 PDT To: lile(a)netcom.com Subject: KQED is doing something on CLIPPER Thursday night and needs some help Reply-To: brand(a)reasoning.com Status: RO As best I understand it (which may not be very well), Robin Giattassio-Mall (who produces the FORUM series) is looking for a host/expert for disussion of the online fight against clipper. I have a law school final that night. I thought you might be interested in acting in my place. If so, please call her directly to get the details. I am asking four of five people to give her a call and hopefully one of you will be free and able to help her. I haven't given her your name. Her number is 415 553 2190 Let me know if you get recruited or get a better idea of what is going on that I have. (this is the same group that was going to be putting on the show Thursday morning and had asked about your FOIA stuff)

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PGP and Yarn (offline reader)
by cort＠ecn.purdue.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- (This may be the 2nd time you hear this.... but the original post may have been flushed.) .............................Cort. PGP can now be nicely integrated with the excellent offline news/mail package, Yarn. You can now, at the touch of a key, encrypt an out-going note, sign an out-going note/post and decrypt/verify incoming notes/posts. Yarn (stable beta version .64) can be retrieved by ftp from oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/offline/yarn-064.zip (as well as mirrors and other sites). Yarn imports news/mail in the SOUP format. (I am quite pleased with this combination.) Thanks to the author, Chin Huang. Cort. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLc/cCus4vmytylqdAQElwgP9G3WSjphJ+C9e0JFQV7GaKNzV3orVy0xV oBKSvO2Hw9jZFp7iPq75PAkyQgYX+vALbJe6LqzWF7Oc0jaEd+LhBjWiYv3rTNzR f+CZCZf2FnNc+00Ylus/MxrXNJj2svYF9nHHH0Pld9CYylq/qNntVuj43MvdNi4W stI98P8c6C0= =GHLe -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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1024 limit...
by perry＠bacon.imsi.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hmmm... This was from the newfor24.doc file -- NOT the newfor25.doc file! -- included in the pgp25 distribution. >- Number of bits allowed when generating keys limited to 1024, in line > with the limits in RSAREF and BSAFE. It used to be higher, but > folks, if you think you need a key larger than that, do some research > into the complexity of factoring. I'm sure patches to fix this bit of fascism will show up soon. Perry

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Real DigiCash !
by geoffw＠nexsys.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

MONDEX SPECIFICATIONS FOR ELECTRONIC CASH PAYMENT RELEASED Nationl Westminster Bank today (26th April) announced that it is rele asing the first of its product development specifications for Mondex, the electronic cash payment service which it will launch in the UK n ext year in a joint venture with Midland Bank and BT. These specifications will enable manufacturers to begin the developme nt of Mondex-compatible products such as point-of-sale terminal equip ment for retailers and bank cash machines as well as opening up compe tition for the production of other Mondex devices such as the Mondex electronic wallet and the Mondex personal balance reader. The specifi cations take account of existing ISO standards for Integrated Circuit (IC) cards and other emerging IC card standards. Tim Jones, Chief Executive of Mondex, said: "Production of Mondex dev ices was neccessarily limited to a number of specialist suppliers to provide the basis of next year's large scale launch in Swindon. Howev er, Mondex has been designed as a global product and we are now in a position to provide interested manufacturers around the world with th e specifications they need to begin development of their own new prod ucts or to adapt their existing ranges to be Mondex compatible. "Mondex offers manufacturers an exciting opportunity to develop and m arket new product ranges that add value to the simple Mondex proposit ion -- the storage and transfer of electronic cash" he added. Devices for the Mondex launch in the UK are being developed by: * AT&T Global Information Solutions (formerly known as NCR) -- cash m achines * BT -- residential telephones and payphones * Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd. / SPOM Japan Co. Ltd. -- cards * De La Rue Fortronic -- retailer terminals * Hitachi Ltd. -- integrated circuits * Oki Electric Industry Company Ltd. -- electronic wallets * Panasonic (Matsushita Electric/Matsushita Battery) -- electronic wa llets and personal balance readers * Texas Instruments Ltd. -- personal balance readers. NOTES FOR EDITORS 1. Mondex is an open, unaccounted electronic purse initiative which h as been developed by National Westminster Bank. Mondex is being launc hed in the UK by a joint venture of NatWest and Midland working with BT. 2. The first specifications available are: * IFD-Purse Application Interface Specification. (IFD stands for Inte rface Device.) This core product development specification defines th e commands to which a card will respond and refers to the relevant in ternational standards covering general communications to an from smar t cards. * Introduction to Mondex Purse Operation. This is a companion documen t to the above specification. It provides an overview of the Mondex c ard and its interface with a Mondex device. * The Mondex Brand Manual. This document defines the permissible impl ementations of the Mondex brand. 3. Other specifications will cover the communications between two int erface devices, the user-interface standards designed to ensure user- friendly product design and the card specification. 4. Manufacturers interested in Mondex specifications should contact t he Mondex Information Centre, National Westminister Bank plc, 1st Flo or Podium, Drapers Gardens, 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2DL (f ax 071 920 1562). Further enquiries to David Morton, PR Department, NatWest Bank, UK Br anch Business, 41 Lothbury, London EC2P 2BP (tel 071 726 1782, fax 07 1 726 1530).

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