December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Dominating public debate (Was: Cypherpunks as lobbying/propaga
by Robert Michael Hoff 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

While I agree that the cypherpunk list is too fragmented and informal to pass off as a coherent lobbying group, there remains a very deep need to get information out to the "general public" (read as, "people who might have heard about something the NSA is doing, but don't quite remember what....") Lets face it. For all the successful lobbying EFF and CSPR and individuals have done, upwards of 75% of the population won't recognize the word Clipper. This needs to change, since the NSA depends on the masses to be uninformed for Clipper to become reality. Press kits and making the cypherpunk label known are steps in the right direction, but we need to go more directly to the people. And sadly, probably the most successful way to stimulate debate and educate in the United States is best demonstrated by... "Harry and Louise" You know, that annoying commercial the insurance industry ran? That Bill was concerned enough about to parody? It's time the Clipper debate got one too. Mind you, we'd keep ours factual and non-sensational, but interesting enough to catch the eye of Joe and Mary Blow at the dinner table. An interesting concept: it would be (to my knowledge) the first time a grass roots campaign went prime-time. Problem is, getting airtime over the hours our target audience is likely to be watching isn't cheap. But hey, the software industry hates this as much as cypherpunks do. Pass the hat. And for that matter, if you think you're concerned enough to read this list, chip in $20 bucks to the currently non-existant (EFF? CSPR? Cypherpunk Nonproft Foundation for Truth?) Fund for Commercials. You want to get attention? THAT'S the way you do it in the US. It's unfortunate, but if you want to stop Big Brother, you're going to have to play with the big boys by their rules: who dominates public debate wins, not who's right. And the anti-Clipper movement needs to quit the discussion-group mode and move into action. Very, very soon. Comments encouraged. Robert Hoff. -- -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.3a mQCNAi1cCbwAAAEEAM3mH6Wm+DjLAZHHaKAPEE6BpQpE6cCsI46HJzEekyQca18Z nnNJpVbFfs21P+nkzT02ZQ7HJ5lnQz8TGWN0LSJ8f45DSR5VElTO3MkOCrYSoZ3c WO3IxW4oxm4fWx+3ipN+KKrB/0oooT7n4u0LV0aaImIn2Uzm7I8jOOi7F8jFAAUR tCpSb2JlcnQgTS4gSG9mZiA8cmhvZmZAYmx1ZS53ZWVnLnVpb3dhLmVkdT4= =JUO8 -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

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Timestamp Server Available
by root＠lorax.mv.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is the help file for the Time Stamp Server at timestamp(a)lorax.mv.com. (192.80.84.247) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This text was taken from the public-key-server(a)martingy.ai.mit.edu and modified with lorax specific information. Time Stamp server software written by Cal Page <root(a)lorax.mv.com> For questions or comments regarding this time stamp server site, contact root(a)lorax.mv.com. Current version: $Revision:$ $Date:$ NOTE! This service is provided to facilitate public-key cryptography for demonstration and educational purposes. It is the responsibility of users of public-key cryptography to ensure that their activities conform to legal requirements. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Question: What is a Time Stamp Server? A time stamp server just echoes back what you send it, except that the date and time are added to the message. Further, pgp is used to 'sign' the message before it is sent back. Question: How do I use the Time Stamp Server? Just send mail to 'timestamp(a)lorax.mv.com' and you will get back a time stamped message. Question: Who signs the returned message? It is signed by "Time S. Tamp <timestamp(a)lorax.mv.com>". Mr. Tamp has also registered his public key with the public key server at public-key-server(a)martingy.ai.mit.edu. Question: What commands does the server accept? If you put 'help' in the subject, you get back this signed message along with whatever else you sent. Question: Is Mr. Tamp's private key available? No. Question: Does this author believe that the PGP/IDEA/RSA method of timestamping has been broken by someone? Yes. The server is experimental, and as the introduction says, it's for research, demonstraton, and educational purposes. Question: What privacy is there for any message I send Mr. Tamp? None! If you want something sensative stamped, just encrypt it before you send it here. I reserve the right to republish none, any, or all of it, to anyone, for any purpose, at any time, anything that is sent. Further, I can do anything with the mailing list, short of selling it to someone. Don't send any government stuff either. I don't want any classified information showing up on this system, as I want nothing to do with it. Question: How do I verify a message received from Mr. Tamp? Just extract the message to a file, and do: "pgp message" Make sure you have loaded an update into your public key ring first, that contains Mr. Tamp's public key, ie: the key for: "Time S. Tamp <timestamp(a)lorax.mv.com>". Question: How can I be sure no one spoofed an entry from Mr. Tamp? You can't. I would be open to suggestions here. Question: I send a 'help' message, but I don't get a reply? Right now, the server wants a valid Reply-To: or From: field in the message header that contains either a '<' '>' pair or a '@' character. If your fields don't have either, it will just dump the message. Further, this is a Linux node, running 0.99.14, and it sometimes can't reply to some addresses, for various reasons. Sorry. Question: Why don't you run PGP 2.4 from Viacrypt? I tried, but they did not have a Linux version. They wanted me to convert their code under NDA, AND pay them $300, something I was unwilling to do. Anyway, I don't charge for any of this. Question: What is the 'Sequence Number:' after the signature? This is the incrementing sequence number of your mail message. Question: What is the 'emd5 =' string? This is an encrypted md5 signature of the signed message. The 'Sequence Number' is used to index into a one-time-pad that is xor'ed with the md5 for the message. Quesiton: Is the one-time-pad data available? No. -- Cal Page | Pri: root(a)lorax.MV.COM compuPage, Inc. | Other: cpage(a)mv.mv.com Brookline, NH. 03033 | 76535.1373(a)Compuserve.COM finger -l cpage(a)mv.MV.COM = C4 80 8E 06 1F 4E 69 2F 2C 2C 65 72 72 EA 5D AC ----- END INCLUDED FILE ----- -- Michael Brandt Handler <grendel(a)netaxs.com> Philadelphia, PA PGP v2.6 public key on request

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Re: Detweiler
by Black Unicorn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-> Frederic Halper says: > If Detweiler is a big nut. Why was he involved in the > implementation of MacPGP along with people like Atkins and Finney? He wasn't. He did do some testing. Perry <- Interesting, but not about politics.

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Re: So, what are we going to do?
by Black Unicorn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-> "Jim Sewell" says: > A friend of mine that repaired computers said he ran across an > old disk drive that was used in WWII. There were no disk drives in WWII. There were barely computers. Hell, there was barely magnetic audio storage -- on steel wire! <- Stunning, but not about politics or cryptography.

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The American money capture
by werner＠mc.ab.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Date: Mon, 2 May 94 10:35:54 -0700 >From: hughes(a)ah.com (Eric Hughes) >The Great Depression was pretty clearly caused by deflation in the >money supply. To quote Milton Friedman: > > "All told, from July 1929 to March 1933, the money stock in > the United States fell by one-third [...]" > Capitalism and Freedom, p. 50 On this subject (really from the original post about money), I have several times tried to convince people that the Federal Reserve Bank is a private deal. I don't know where I got this impression, but no one will believe me. Are there some conspicuous facts that I could quote in support of this position? Or, perhaps, an easily obtained and authoritative document which explains just what the heck the Fed really is? I know the head is apppointed by the US gov, but my impression was that the rest of it was just a consortium of bankers to whom the national debt is owed. thanks, tw

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Re: Lobbying/Politics/etc.
by lefty＠apple.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Jim Sewell writes: > > The term Cypherpunks is amorphous, thus subject to use and abuse > by the masses. When people like Jeff Davis and Phill Zimmermann > say "The cypherpunks are generally opposed to Clipper" it makes us > an "organization" which, like it or not, does have representatives > and agendas. No, it makes Messrs. Davis and Zimmerman guilty of overstepping their bounds by acting as though they speak on behalf of the amorphous group which makes up this mailing list. My saying that midget Lithuanian plumbers are generally opposed to the free sale of chocalate cherry cordials doesn't make it so. Mr. Zimmerman doesn't represent _me_. I question whether Mr. Davis represents even _himself_. If you want to play lobbyist, go ahead. Leave me out of it. -- Lefty (lefty(a)apple.com) C:.M:.C:., D:.O:.D:.

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Re: WSJ article on PGP
by pcw＠access.digex.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Phil Karn Wrote: > >> Anybody know if the WSJ accepts letters to the editor by fax or email? >> I've drafted the following letter to the editor, but I couldn't find >> anything but a snail mail address in today's paper. >> >> I *did* send a copy to Mr. Bulkeley's MCI mail address, so please >> do NOT forward it to him again...Phil > >What's his MCImail address? Perhaps some cypherpunks could share with >him their comments on the article, which have been posted to the list. >(Don't tell him where you got the article tho!) Editorial Page Fax number is: 212 416 2658 This is probably not Bulkely's number. I believe he works out of the Washington office.

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Useful Ways to Fight Crime
by PMARKS＠VAX1.UMKC.EDU 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This gave me another warped idea: *********************************************************************** > Without e-mail encryption, widespread surveillance would be easier. In > theory, CIA, FBI and police computers could tap telephone cables and look > for key words such as "missile" or "bomb" to find people who needed closer > watching. Mr. Zimmermann says: "This is analogous to drift-net fishing." *********************************************************************** Why don't we just outlaw curtains and window blinds? That way, law enforcement officials could just drive down the street looking into windows! It would make it *much* easier for them to tell if crime was being committed. Of course, some people might not like the loss of privacy but the civil libertarians are making too much of this anyway. Besides, law abiding citizens should have nothing to hide, right? So why should they object? Oh, e-mail is differnt altogether? So. When did you start mailing all your letters in clear envelopes?

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Security Consult. Needed
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Two recent incidents in NYC show massive market failure in the information security industry. One of the city's largest bookies was busted when the Feds intercepted the daily fax transmissions summarizing business results sent from his NY office to his Florida home. A major cocaine dealer is facing prosecution based on written transaction records seized at his office. His simple code was broken by a "known plaintext attack" when investigators were able to match his written notations with transaction information derived from wiretaps. Can't anyone help these people? Maybe 178th Street needs PGP and Secure Drive more than the PC Expo. DCF 1001 Flaky Anti-Tax Arguments (#286): I suffer from a recognized social-affective disorder. I'm an anarchist. Due to a mental disease or defect, I am congenitally incapable of conforming my behavior to the requirements of society. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Internal Revenue Service is required to make reasonable accommodations to meet my needs. The only way to satisfy the needs of one with my disability is to not impose any social obligations on him. --- WinQwk 2.0b#1165

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Update - Congressional Hearings on Clipper and Digital Telephony
by Stanton McCandlish 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Subject: Update - Congressional Hearings on Clipper and Digital Telephony ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Congressional hearings on the Administration's Clipper/Skipjack initiative, and the FBI's draft Digital Telephony surveillance bill, and their implications for privacy and First Amendment rights, are to be held May 3, 1994. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), of the Senate Judiciary's Technology and the Law Subcommittee, has expressed skepticism of the Clipper encryption scheme, and has called for hearings to examine the problems of this proposal and its implementation. This effort is due in part to all of you who responded to EFF's grassroots campaign to raise fundamental questions about security and free speech issues in relation to the White House proposal. The Senate hearing will be held on May 3, 1994, 9:30am EDT, Hart Building Rm. 216, and should feature testimony from Trusted Information Systems' Steve Walker, Whitfield Diffie of Sun Microsystems, Asst. Atty. Gen. Jo Ann Harris (Justice Dept., Criminal Div.), NSA Director Adm. Mike McConnell, and Raymond G. Kammer, NIST Dep. Dir. For more information, contact Senate staffers at the Senate Judiciary Committee: +1 202 224 3406 (voice), +1 202 224 9516 (fax) Note: this is the full Committee's fax, so address faxes to "Technology and the Law Subcommittee" or delivery may be delayed. Following the Senate Hearings, the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Technology, Evironment and Aviation will be holding a hearing to address related civil liberties issues of both the Clipper scheme and the FBI "Digital Telephony" proposal, which so far remains unsponsored. The hearing will be chaired by Rep. Tim Valentine (D-NC), and is scheduled for May 3, 1994, 1pm EDT, Rayburn Building Rm. 2318. Witnesses will include Dep. Dir. Raymond G. Kammer of NIST, NSA's Dr. Clinton Brooks, representatives from industry in a panel that will include USTA and TIA, expert witnesses Dr. Dorothy Denning and Dr. David Farber, EFF's Jerry Berman on behalf of DPSWG, Chmn. Willis Ware of the Congress/NIST System Security and Privacy Advisory Board, and in a last moment change, the FBI will be represented after all, by James Kallstrom. The House hearing is being held "to review the Administration's policies and legislative proposals dealing with electronic survellance, privacy and security, ...the adequacy of the Computer Security Act in protecting goverment computer systems", and "the Administration's proposed Digital Telephony legislation and decision to promulgate a voluntary federal encryption standard". Futher information can be provided by the staff of the Subcommittee at +1 202 225 9662 (voice), +1 202 225 7815 (fax) Senate Technology and the Law Subcommittee Members ================================================== (Subcommittee of Judiciary Committee) Subcommittee phone: +1 202 224 9516 Subcommittee fax: +1 202 224 3406 NOTE: this is actually the Committee fax, so be sure to address it to the Subcommittee, or delivery may be delayed. p st name phone fax ___________________________________________________________________________ D VT Leahy, Patrick J. 1-202-224-4242 na Subcmte Chair R SD Pressler, Larry 1-202-224-5842 1-202-224-1630 D WI Kohl, Herbert H. 1-202-224-5653 1-202-224-9787 D CA Feinstein, Diane 1-202-224-3841 1-202-228-3954 R PA Specter, Arlen 1-202-224-4254 na House Technology, Environment & Aviation Subcommittee Members ============================================================= (Subcommittee of Science, Space and Technology Committee) Subcommittee phone: +1 202 225 9662 Subcommittee fax: +1 202 225 7815 p st name phone fax ___________________________________________________________________________ D NC Valentine, Tim 1-202-225-4531 1-202-225-1539 Subcmte Chair D KS Glickman, Daniel 1-202-225-6216 pvt D TX Geren, Peter 1-202-225-5071 1-202-225-2786 D IN Roemer, Timothy 1-202-225-3915 1-202-225-6798 D NH Swett, Richard N. 1-202-225-5206 1-202-225-0046 D NJ Klein, Herbert C. 1-202-225-5751 1-202-226-2273 D PA McHale, Paul 1-202-225-6411 1-202-225-5320 D CA Harman, Jane 1-202-225-8220 1-202-226-0684 D GA Johnson, Don 1-202-225-4101 1-202-226-1466 D AZ Coppersmith, Sam 1-202-225-2635 1-202-225-2607 D CA Eshoo, Anna G. 1-202-225-8104 pvt D WA Inslee, Jay 1-202-225-5816 1-202-226-1137 D TX Johnson, Eddie Bernice 1-202-225-8885 1-202-226-1477 D MN Minge, David 1-202-225-2331 pvt D GA Deal, Nathan 1-202-225-5211 1-202-225-8272 D CA Becerra, Xavier 1-202-225-6235 1-202-225-2202 D NJ Torricelli, Robert 1-202-224-5061 1-202-225-0843 D FL Bacchus, James 1-202-225-3671 1-202-225-9039 D WI Barca, Peter W. 1-202-225-3031 pvt D CA Brown Jr., George E. 1-202-225-6161 1-202-225-8671 ex officio R FL Lewis, Thomas 1-202-225-5792 1-202-225-1860 R MD Morella, Constance 1-202-225-5341 1-202-225-1389 R CA Calvert, Ken 1-202-225-1986 pvt R MI Smith, Nick 1-202-225-6276 pvt R MN Grams, Rod 1-202-225-2271 1-202-225-9802 R GA Linder, John 1-202-225-4272 1-202-226-4696 R MA Blute, Peter I. 1-202-225-6101 1-202-225-2217 R MD Bartlett, Roscoe G. 1-202-225-2721 1-202-225-2193 R CA Rohrabacher, Dana 1-202-225-2415 1-202-225-7067 R NJ Zimmer, Richard A. 1-202-225-5801 1-202-225-9181 R OH Hoke, Martin R. 1-202-225-5871 1-202-226-0994 R CA Royce, Ed 1-202-225-4111 1-202-226-0335 R PA Walker, Robert S. 1-202-225-2411 pvt -- Stanton McCandlish * mech(a)eff.org * Electronic Frontier Found. OnlineActivist "In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps. When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it." - Philip Elmer-Dewitt, "Who Should Keep the Keys", TIME, Mar. 14 1994

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