December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

No Subject
by jc123＠arn.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Could you send me some information about crypto stuff.

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Re: NSA says strong crypto to china??
by James M. Cobb 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Tim, On 01 07 96 you say: ...the crypto anarchy notions we talk about makes collection of taxes increasingly problematic. You also say: Today, and especially with strong crypto and all the develop- ing methods we talk about, how will the Ruler know what to tax? You conclude: ...I believe that this issue [collection of taxes] is one of the motivations to restrict the use of strong crypto and to make transactions monitorable. In 02 96 Internet World, science fiction writer Vernor Vinge is interviewed: Suddenly [about 1984] people realized that if a 100 million people each had computers that were one-tenth of one percent as smart as the government's computers, they had much less to fear about government. Now we've entered an era where the government understands this. One the one hand, police forces are legitimately [?] frightened; law enforcement could become much more difficult. But at the same time --with some new laws and technology-- police powers could be much greater than before.... You've heard of ubiquitous computing, but how about UBIQUITOUS LAW ENFORCEMENT? Developing that line of thought, Vinge says: ...the old Clipper chip proposal recommended that GOVERNMENT LOGIC be present in certain communications equipment. For the future I think this aspect of Clipper was as significant as the crypto issues. What would it be like if a certain amount of GOVERNMENT LOGIC were mandated in the design of every host in a country? And Vinge concludes: WE COULD HAVE REAL-TIME TAXATION. and ...very fine-grain CONTROL would be possible. Capitalization in the above excerpts is mine. The whole interview is worth reading. Its title is: Reality & Fiction. It starts at page 82. Jeff Ubois asked the questions. Every HOST in a country? As Larry Ellison says in 12 26 95 / 01 02 96 Computerworld 41: The ideal operating system arrives across a network when you turn your computer on. The GOVERNMENT LOGIC arrives too... Cordially, Jim

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Re: "Re: NSA says strong crypto to china??
by jrochkin＠cs.oberlin.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:50 PM 01/07/96, Timothy C. May wrote: >As when the Cossacks who fled the U.S.S.R. after the war and pledged to >help the West fight Communism were returned by the British to Stalin, where >they were executed. (I was reminded of this by the latest Bond movie, where >Bond avers, "Not exactly Britain's finest moment.") The Kurds in Iraw during the Persina Gulf war is an analagous situation. The Kurds supported and assisted the U.S. government during the war. Really pro-U.S.. At some point near the end of the war, though, the U.S. just started ignoring them, and Hussein started bombing them and killing huge numbers of them.

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Re: phone calls from hell
by Simon Spero 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hey - he spent so much time training suicide bombers maybe the phone was set to blow if anyone dialed the, er, Samaritans. Simon (defun modexpt (x y n) "computes (x^y) mod n" (cond ((= y 0) 1) ((= y 1) (mod x n)) ((evenp y) (mod (expt (modexpt x (/ y 2) n) 2) n)) (t (mod (* x (modexpt x (1- y) n)) n))))

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Re: Why can't I get PGP from MIT
by jis＠mit.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- >I believe I had a problem when I wanted to get PGP coming from >internexus.net (New Jersey). I just e-mailed them about it and I think >they just added the site to their 'acceptable' list. I did a traceroute >to why.net and noticed that it is very close to me, coming off of >SprintNet... probably the same situation. Internexus.net has been added to the list. The heuristic that the MIT site enforces is as follows: o To get access you must properly answer some questions regarding export control law and licensing. o Your host must have an "inverse" DNS mapping so we can learn its name. o Your host's name must end in either ".EDU", ".COM", ".MIL", ".GOV", ".US", or ".CA". *or* Be on our exception list. All the ".NET's" and ".ORG's" need to be "excepted." Maintaining the exception list has turned out to be a serious problem. I receive roughly 20 messages a day from people needed to be added. To make matters worse the exception list has to be maintained in two different locations in two different formats. I just broke down today and automated the management of the lists. Unfortunately the only thing I can do for people whose machines do not have an inverse DNS mapping is to send them personal copies via e-mail. However, I have been too swamped to do this. I am looking into alternative approaches of guarding the FTP site (possibly doing a traceroute or something similar) in a better way that still meets the requirements of maintaining export restrictions. Please remember that I maintain the MIT FTP site in my all too rare spare time. Thank you. -Jeff -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMPBCFcUtR20Nv5BtAQEUhAQAnzPlxiXo33DqX0X1m39Xh1I0e7ND332n L4vZlf7T3VDU0jYv1IB/6D3aNvMXo0l8JpsXIxqzaxP5nYgVgm1idx06IgY7T1rJ vVRCIqfFleUFPTS/ndo7jznzr+w7Dq1+5wRU2Oa+ymRICBNHCeEnaxcmx3zs4R6a VEBmc/6w8TQ= =vFSt -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Another Internet Provider Censors Access (fwd)
by Tim Cook 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> The reason I bring this up is to point out that the removal of the > alt.* groups does not necessarily mean the people removing those > groups are trying to censor anything, but may just be trying to > reduce the resources eaten by news on their systems and network. > That is a good point Mike. From a smart business perspective though you would want to ask current customers to send a list of the ones they read BEFORE you start dropping them. Tim Cook <twcook(a)cts.com> Linux Expert (wannabe!)

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RE: NSA says strong crypto to China?
by blanc 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Alex Strasheim[ (...)But I don't necessarily look at the NSA as an enemy. Right now we're on opposite sides of an important issue, and I think they're doing a lot of damage. But I tend to think that they believe what they're doing is in the national interest. They're trying to defend democracy -- our democracy, at least. "The" NSA is not a constant, a body which remains the same regardless of the individuals working within it. The character of the agency, I expect, would change with the individuals. The agency is not designed to be dangerous to citizens. But their mileage could vary depending upon the leadership, upon their grasp of its purpose. That's what this list is all about: we're trying to impose certain civil liberties on the world using a strategy that's based on anarchy theory. That theory tells us that if we can distribute tools and establish standards we'll secure privacy and free speech rights regardless of what governments do. That's a very startling idea, and I believe it's sound. I believe that it's possible to impose the first ammendment on the entire world by distributing crypto software. But realize that these software tools and what they make possible (first amendment ideas, anarchy) are not being "imposed" - they're being selected/accepted by the users by a process of conscious individual decision, not by a blanket policy imposition handed down from 'above' (you *will* use crypto, and you *will* like it). I don't think the NSA is out to suppress our liberties. They're trying to protect the nation. Their problem is that they're operating under an old, obsolete paradigm. (.......) But the question is, why are they operating under obsolete paradigms? Why aren't they paying attention to what they are doing, to what is intelligently appropriate, to the philosophical ideals of the nation they're representing? (and therefore who or what are they *really* trying to protect) .. Blanc

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No Subject
by Jonathan Keith Barrow 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- My internet service provider does not carry alt.sex at all is there anyway that i can still get into these newsgroups? Sorry if this question is a little elementary to some of you, but i have to learn somewhere. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2i iQCVAwUBMO/2Ax34sJAQcsCpAQFUugP/TThD+3F5ifba118ktl5NhHzzmiMTRxoG 8D///RbTgna0OvPhNpgz5MrHGewGhyHfDtbedI0MieHiGEj+az7xSp2qIgOlMKKm i7mz9IFIxBzjLqV/n27gYuW12yb6eeEau9GkkvYeF7gq49AocenYUw1BrlFn58zJ BfFxTRPsGjI= =Dyre -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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RE: "trust management" vs. "certified identity"
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:00 PM 1/7/96 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote: >Frankly, the notion that a central government would issue proofs of >trustability, via identity cards and the like, is a modern invention. > >(The message of Vinge's "True Names" was partly ironic, that one's True >Name is important primarily in allowing tagging by the government. Ordinary >people rarely need True Names. > >I don't want official proof of my identity. If others want it, let them >make their own arrangements. In the early 1950's Robert Heinlein and his wife Virginia took a trip around the world ("Tramp Royale" recently published by Ace Books). He had to apply for a Passport and got a Certificate of Delayed Birth Registration from Missouri since his county had not kept birth records when he was born. "I breathed a sigh of relief; at last I was me. I had attended school [Annapolis BTW], been commissioned in the armed services, held two civil service jobs, married, voted run for office, drawn a pension and done all manner of things as a flesh-and-blood being through more than four decades, all without having had any legal existence whatsoever." Proof of identity is never needed. Proof of authorization is only needed by one's bankers. The rest is government garbage. Hopefully enough people will learn this and we can reduce the nonsense a bit. DCF "Where are your papers? Sorry buddy, I'm a fundamentalist. I don't go in for that Mark of the Beast stuff. Have you ever read Revelations? You aren't one of those tools of Satan are you?"

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Re:
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 04:34 PM 1/7/96 -0600, Jonathan Keith Barrow wrote: >-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > >My internet service provider does not carry alt.sex at all is there anyway that i can still get into these newsgroups? Sorry if this question is a little elementary to some of you, but i have to learn somewhere. > Are you sure alt.sex.* is good for you? Read the How to Receive Banned Newsgroups FAQ at: http://www.ecnet.net/users/mumbv/pages/banned-groups-faq.html DCF

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