December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Privacy Digest - Blk Unicorn , Frissell, Sandfort
by Gary Jeffers 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dear Cypherpunks, "Captain Bob", posting as anonymous, subject NONE, has posted a most disquieting post in reference to my original Privacy Digest post. Urgently needed are the opinions of Black Unicorn, or possibly Sandy Sandfort or Duncan Frissell as to whether or not the Costa Rican reference I gave is a "STING". Cap't Bob says that the Privacy Digest people have not been around very long. However, If I remember right, Eden Press referred to them in their book PRIVACY more than ten years ago. Bob asks me what are my qualifications? Well, I'm not an expert but if you look at me from the correct angle I look like an expert. I posted the original Privacy Digest to other groups as well, so I would like to send any criticisms of my post to these other groups. Yours Truly, Gary Jeffers

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Privacy Digest
by Critias_the_conspirator＠au.informix.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I had thought that if Williams of Costa Rica was a sting, the stuff he sells would be better quality. His advertising brochures look like they were put together by a thirteen year old who speaks English as a second language. On the other hand, his stuff may be truly representative of the intellectual level of our opponents -- (Consider Sternlight) If this is the case then we have little to fear. "Captain Bob" writes: > Worse, at least one report does not exist - and that is the > one that would point to most government heat > if you order it. Just out of idle curiosity, > I had my foreign lawyer order so that was how I found out. This incident is suggestive of a sting. I presume this was what "Captain Bob" intended to imply, though he did not state the conclusion. > While I hate to say it, there is currently to my knowledge no easy turn-key > one-stop-stop "Where to go to break the law" foreign operators that I would > trust. If you want true privacy, carve it out for yourself Exactly so. Many people around the world offer services that are convenient if one wishes to prevent the government from learning about your financial activities, but they do not advertise "Hey, come to us to cheat taxes and evade controls" because if they did it would diminish their usefulness, both to those of their clients that are using them to avoid taxes, and to those of their clients who use them for other purposes. By the way, when one wishes to move money out of the country, I recommend that the money spends a short time in some third country that has numerous financial transactions with your home country, friendly relationships with your home government, no privacy laws, and is not a tax haven. Thus moving it to country X does not attract attention, and if you then move it to country Y (the money laundering haven), country X does not care and your home country does not know. "Wire $20 000 to account such and such in Canada" attracts little attention. "Give me 20 000 cash", or "wire 20 000 to the Cayman Islands" attracts much attention. -- Critias_the_conspirator

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re: money laundering
by khijol!erc 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I think that most people forget that as soon as that sort of money enters the banking system, it can be tracked. "Wire $20K to XXX" presumes that that $20K came from somewhere, and unless you're careful about where it came from and where it's going, you could be buying yourself a whole lot of unwanted attention, even if it's a prefectly legitimate transaction. Coming in with a suitcase full of money is bound to get you talked about, and writing a check... well... It's getting rather difficult to move large sums of money around nowadays if it either enters or leaves the US banking system, and if it's a friendly nation (which Canada is), if the Feds have a reason to look at you, an international border isn't going to prove much of a drawback. - -- Ed Carp, N7EKG Ed.Carp(a)linux.org, ecarp(a)netcom.com Finger ecarp(a)netcom.com for PGP 2.5 public key an88744(a)anon.penet.fi ** PGP encrypted email preferred! ** "What's the use of distant travel if only to discover - you're homeless in your heart." --Basia, "Yearning" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAwUBLtfAYSS9AwzY9LDxAQHtHgP/bKm9+giQ9R4rOAOfCTKmdSHlPiVXUsNu PeMNgvzrIrMo8SFmJg5xj8jzHUstbEQZ+ZZJyl7Xp5Fnv2GTTrz/pQYUZha0fm+v B50kUgWVvNtEmlmvOpQcFDobkoYxh8SiflvLTRsoUgvphqUZGOsJ8FkUFNkEm8nf ME2Cv1e2B5c= =Xt7m -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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NYT on Hiding Cash (Re: Privacy Digest)
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Sorry to fall asleep at the switch, but Gary Jeffers posts on The Privacy Digest and those of Black Unicorn and Critias jogged me to note that The New York Times had two articles on Friday about a UN conference on control of money laundering and the flight of German capital to Luxembourg banks to escape high taxes. Both articles describe the resistance of banks to government snooping, and how laws are being modified to try to keep up with increasing demand for cash havens and/or laundering. ------------------- Here's an excerpt from the first, "Laundering of Crime Cash Troubles U.N.": ". . . the skillful manipulation of dirty street money through former Soviet replublics, offshore banks and major stock exchanges, until it emerged as legitimate cash for buying and selling of a hotel in Bogota. As outlined today by officials in Naples at a major United Nations conference on organized crime, it is not just the growers, smugglers and assassins who make the worldwide drug trade a scourge, but a new breed of skilled money-managers, lawyers and other professionals in the pay of the mob. Devising ever more complex ways of laundering money, they handle an estimated $750 billion every year. . . . By long tradition, banking secrecy and numbered accounts were associated primarily with such financial bastions as Zurich, Vienna and Luxembourg, and the money came mainly from the drug trade. But, United Nations officials say, as these banking centers slowly yield a few secrets to narcotics investigators, a whole new array of less reputable banks are springing up across the former Soviet Union . . . . . . The world's increasingly coordinated and sophisticated crime syndicates, by contrast, now deal in everything from organs for transplant to nuclear materials; with their money laundered, they put their investments into legal business." For an e-mail copy of this article send blank message with subject: UN_nab ------------------- >From the second article, "Germans in Tax Revolt Embrace Luxembourg", these excerpts: "Since 1993, when the Finance Ministry in Bonn imposed a 30 percent withholding tax on interest income for residents, Germans by the thousands have used Luxembourg to carry out a quiet but powerful tax revolt. Carrying suitcases and plastic bags of cash, they have deposited $150 billion in Luxembourg bank accounts, placing it beyond the reach of the tax authorities in Bonn, and behind the screen of Luxembourg's rigid bank secrecy laws. . . . [Description of Germany's proposal that all European Union banks agree to withhold taxes on interest income for the various governments and the banks' demurs.] 'People think they are overtaxed and so they are looking at every way possible to avoid paying taxes,' said a banking lobbyist in Bonn who insisted on anonymity. 'We assume that if people deposit their money in Luxembourg, they will pay taxes. If they don't, that is a political problem for the government, not the banks. We are not policemen.' " For an e-mail copy of this article send blank message with subject: LUX_out

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Re: CP lawyers? Pro Bono work...
by adam.philipp＠ties.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>I seem to recall that some of the postings to the CP list indicated that the >authors were lawyers, and it got me to wondering: > > If true that some on the CP list are lawyers, have they (or would they >consider) providing pro bono representation of someone charged with an ITAR, >or similar, violation? It would seem like one way (though not the best :-) >of pushing back some of the limitations on crypto..... Speaking as the Pro Bono Legal Advocates vice-chair of my school and as a future attorney, this might be possible, but consider the costs involved besides the relatively minor ones of attorney's fees. I can't really give a reliable estimate (Phil Karn, any idea how much of you appeal was spent on hourly fees as opposed to expenses?). Although attorneys on this list may be generally sympathetic the expenses of federal lawsuits can be quite discouraging as pro bono oppurtunities. Personally I find most pro bono volunteers will work in local settings for indigent clients (Domestic Violence cases, AIDS related legal issues, guardianship of minors, juvenile defendants, small claims mediation, and other situations where expenses are low). Any attorneys out there want to take this up? Black Unicorn? Others? Should that be the topic of my next handbook? Adam Philipp -- PGP Key available on the keyservers. Encrypted E-mail welcome. SUB ROSA: Confidential, secret, not for publication. -Black's Law Dictionary GJ/CS d H S:+ g? p? au+ a- w+ v++ c++ UL+ UU+ US+ P+ 3 E N++ k- W++ M-- V po- Y++ t++ 5+ jx R G' tv+ b+++ D++ B--- E+++ u** h-- f++ r+ n+ y++--

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PRIVACY DIGEST
by Sandy Sandfort 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gary Jeffers wrote: ... Urgently needed are the opinions of Black Unicorn, or possibly Sandy Sandfort or Duncan Frissell as to whether or not the Costa Rican reference I gave is a "STING". Sting are a lot less likely than plain old scams or poor advice. When I was in Costa Rica I never met or heard of the folks in question. I haven't had any personal contacts or dealings with them either. However, I was not particularly impressed with the material you posted. Costa Rica is certainly NOT the best place to set up a privacy business. It's too far from where the offshore action is. A remarkably high number of con men are based there, however. The best places for a sting operation would be in Caribbean islands, especially noted havens such as the Cayman Islands. The Cayman's was where Castle Bank (I think that was the name) was chartered. It was a conduit for CIA money laundering and payoffs. This all came to light when the IRS(?) used a Miami prostitute to keep one of the bank officials occupied while the contents of his briefcase--including confidential client lists--were examined and photographed. When the left hand found out what the right hand had done, the IRS investigation was dropped and the photos were destroyed lest some CIA asset might be compromised. (Gosh, don't we just love those euphemisms.) Anyway, I doubt that the Costa Rica folks are a sting operation, but I also doubt they offer much of value either. S a n d y P.S. "Live Free or Die" is the New Hampshire state motto, NOT the name of a book by Abbie Hoffman and Dr. Jack Kavorkian. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Need program pointers
by storm＠marlin.ssnet.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hey all! I'm looking for some program recommendation and locations pointers. Both for MS-dos. First, a good secure delete program. These I know exists, which are good? Second, I don't know if this exists. I've never heard of one but it should! I want a program to go through a DOS hard drive and zero out all the unused sectors. It would also be nice if it zero'ed the tailing disk block after the end of a file. Suggestions? Thanks, Don -- America - a country so rich and so strong we can reward the lazy and punish the productive and still survive (so far) Don Melvin storm(a)ssnet.com finger for PGP key.

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Re: PRIVACY DIGEST
by rah＠shipwright.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 5:33 PM 11/26/94 -0800, Sandy Sandfort wrote: > >P.S. "Live Free or Die" is the New Hampshire state motto, > NOT the name of a book by Abbie Hoffman and Dr. Jack > Kavorkian. Naw, *that* book is called "Steal This Carbon Monoxide Tank". <hyuk> Bob Hettinga ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) "There is no difference between someone Shipwright Development Corporation who eats too little and sees Heaven and 44 Farquhar Street someone who drinks too much and sees Boston, MA 02331 USA snakes." -- Bertrand Russell (617) 323-7923

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UN_nab (Re: an137768)
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Responding to msg by an137768(a)anon.penet.fi () on Sun, 27 Nov 1:16 AM Dear an137768, Penet.fi middle-digited the Pink Bunny Mailbot here in rejection of UN_nab. PBM is fearfully quivering now awaiting a planetary address to flip your request. Please try again with return-tattoo and blank message with subject: UN_nab.

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Re: Need program pointers
by an448＠FreeNet.Carleton.CA 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Ben wrote: >Norton has a decent wipefile. I don't know if it exists with the current >distribution, but with 4.5(which I have) it has it. Norton's Wipeinfo is not too bad, but I have found one major problem and a few minor problems with versions 7 and 8: Major problem: The documentation says that Wipeinfo automatically disables Smartcan, the undelete utility. In fact, it doesn't do so, at least on my system. If you don't disable Smartcan manually, you can simply undelete the "wiped" files. For this reason, I no longer trust Wipeinfo to automatically disable my cache; I turn the cache off manually before using Wipeinfo. Minor problems: If you use the options to wipe file slack or unused space, Wipeinfo will not wipe the directory entries for deleted files. Using DiskEdit in hex view, you can still see that you once had a file called ?ECRET. However, using Wipeinfo to wipe a file will also wipe the directory entry. And Wipeinfo will only wipe some areas of the disk (track 0, for example), if you choose to do a "government wipe". Doing a "fast wipe" will not wipe these areas, even if you choose to wipe the entire drive. The documentation for Secure File System (SFS) has interesting information on wiping disks. Peter Gutmann says this: There is a commonly-held belief that there is a US government standard for declassifying magnetic media which involves overwriting it three times. In fact this method is for declassifying core (computer memory) rather than magnetic media. The government standard for declassifying magnetic media probably involves concentrated acid, furnaces, belt sanders, or any combination of the above. -- Yves Bellefeuille, Ottawa, Canada an448(a)freenet.carleton.ca (finger here for PGP key) ua294(a)fim.uni-erlangen.de

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