December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Code used by George Washington made available at last
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 07:35 PM 7/16/96 -0700, Bill Stewart wrote: >There's an AP article by Carl Hartman saying that historians now have >access to a secret handwritten code used by George Washington and >Marquis de Lafayette. (It's a newspaper article that somebody >across the train is reading; looks like today's SF Examiner...) They probably declassified it a week ago, discovering that the "national security" excuse no longer appeared to apply. Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Re: preamble (was Re: Markoff on Clipper III)
by Cerridwyn Llewyellyn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:20 AM 7/15/96 -0700, you wrote: >At 3:50 AM -0700 7/15/96, Duncan Frissell wrote: >>At 09:35 PM 7/14/96 -0700, David Sternlight wrote: >>>Did you miss the part in the Constitution about "provide for the common >>>defence" >>That's a meaningless part of the Preamble. > >Anyone who thinks substantive parts of the Preamble are "meaningless" is >deserving only of contumely. Perhaps you should review your high school >civics course--you did have one of those, yes? I think what he meant (not that I'm trying to speak for him) is that the preamble was intended as an explanation of why the constitution was written, and not to be taken as an actual part of the constitution as such. //cerridwyn//

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Gorelick's Urge
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Wall Street Journal, July 17, 1996 Panel to Oversee Protecting Systems From Hackers Washington -- President Clinton ordered the creation of a commission to recommend laws and regulations to protect vital government and private systems against attacks by terrorists or computer hackers. Jamie Gorelick, deputy U.S. attorney general, described the effort as having the "same level of urgency" as the Manhattan Project, the crash World War II effort to develop the atomic bomb. She said the commission, which will be headed by an appointee from the private sector, will have a large representation from corporations, because they control the nation's telecommunications system, electrical-power grid, banking, transportation and fuel-supply systems. "We are looking for a structure that cuts across the government and private sector," Ms. Gorelick told the Senate's Permanent Investigations Subcommittee. While some 22 federal agencies have some involvement with such problems, she said there is no central mechanism. While the new Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection deliberates, President Clinton ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to head an interim task force. [End]

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Re: Cookie alternatives
by Greg Broiles 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hal Finney wrote: >It is interesting to consider how shopping carts might be done without >cookies and similar technologies which allow servers to get more >information about me than necessary. One partial solution would be to turn cookies into nonces - instead of using server-supplied cookies, which may or may not contain hashed/hidden information, client software (and by extension, the human(s) in charge of it) could control the generation and modification of cookies. Some cookie uses are predictable - e.g., "Put the current date and time in the cookie", or "Put the user's E-mail address in the cookie". The user could be presented with dialog boxes asking "Server sneaky.tricky.com would like to set a cookie which will record the date and time of this visit. OK?" or "Server sneaky.tricky.com would like Netscape to generate a random number to keep track of your visits. OK?" A switch from server-generated cookies to client-generated cookies shouldn't involve too many changes on the client software side. (One danger which occurs to me about such a scheme is the potential leakage of client state information, assuming that the algorithm used to generate the pseudorandom cookies is or will be known to attackers.) -- Greg Broiles |"Post-rotational nystagmus was the subject of gbroiles(a)netbox.com |an in-court demonstration by the People http://www.io.com/~gbroiles |wherein Sgt Page was spun around by Sgt |Studdard." People v. Quinn 580 NYS2d 818,825.

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New MiddleMan Remailer! (reno)
by Middleman Remailer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

ATTENTION *** ATTENTION *** ATTENTION *** ATTENTION I'm proud to announce the birth of a new middleman remailer! This new remailer uses John Perry's middleman mixmaster code and is located at cyberpass.net thanks to Lance Cottrell. Here are the statistics: NAME: Janet Reno SHORTNAME: reno ADDRESS: middleman(a)cyberpass.net MIXMASTER KEY: reno middleman(a)cyberpass.net b864a69c831f38593d24187122e954f6 2.0.3 -----Begin Mix Key----- b864a69c831f38593d24187122e954f6 258 AASx+Qa23TBIu7MTGZQekob8EJrxyhNPYPBRhzZC 17F5scF1MzFIk1PhY0O78QN29aYMHlo99jE37Hlh MvJpQ7HUrqnklRIaRZJBLxUcuBoTckMltIJEdh1r 9Lbh8e5AIoqPr6c9SAxr7Q3v2cthkwuBYEiWDlui 0vGtsX/EC6lTdwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAB -----End Mix Key----- John Perry, will you please add my remailer to your list when you get a chance? middleman(a)cyberpass.net

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Re: Opiated file systems
by Steve Reid 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> But, on the other hand, it wouldn't be to hard to have the user set both > keys (yeah, so that didn't actually say anything, so what...), and then do > an every-other-byte type thing (although that would be slow... every other > block would be more efficient), and have 2 EFS's in one file, and make it > so that on the "duress" one the extra space appears to be "free". > One could make it a real file system, and add a fake disk error to prevent > over-writing of the "non-duress" filesystem. This sounds a lot like security through obscurity... What happens when someone reverse-engineers the software and sees that it's carefully skipping over blocks? If you don't want people to know about your encrypted data, use stego. Even if They find the stego software, you can always produce the keys to unlock the duress data from two or three .gif files, and say "that's all there is." Use stego to hide data. Use encrypted filesystems for convenience. If you try to put the two together, you'll probably end up with feature-bloat. The idea of an encrypted filesystems being accessable over the internet sounds interesting, though. Sort of a cross between NFS and CFS. Would be great for backup purposes. ===================================================================== | Steve Reid - SysAdmin & Pres, EDM Web (http://www.edmweb.com/) | | Email: steve(a)edmweb.com Home Page: http://www.edmweb.com/steve/ | | PGP (2048/9F317269) Fingerprint: 11C89D1CD67287E68C09EC52443F8830 | | -- Disclaimer: JMHO, YMMV, TANSTAAFL, IANAL. -- | ===================================================================:)

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Re: Surf-filter lists
by declan＠well.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Fine, call it "blocking," "restricting access to," or "muzzling." My point still stands. -Declan >-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > >On Tue, 16 Jul 1996, Declan McCullagh wrote: > >> More to the point, as I wrote at the end of the original CWD, it's a >> bait-and-switch maneuver. Go after porn, they say, but the censor political >> information. > >ARGH! I've been keeping quiet about this for a while, but I thing I >gotta say something before I throttle my Zip drive... > ><rant>A Private organization cannot "censor" anything. The fundamental >definition of the word require some agent of the government take action >to censor. To accuse Surf-Watch, net-nanny, AOL, MSU, AT&T, or whatever >of "censorship" accomplishes nothing except to make us look the >fool.</rant> > >I agree that the problem with the "bait-and-switch" filtering of net >materials by these various filtering packages needs to be addressed. If I >want to protect my kids from seeing alt.naughty.pictures, I shoudl still >be able to unfilter political and health speech. The real problem isn't >censorship, it's disclosure by the makers of filtering packages about >what exactly their packages are going to filter for me and my family. >However, in the upcoming war of filtering packages (and it will get ugly) >trade secrets are going to make any company hesitant to reveal what it is >they are filtering and what criteria they are using to determine if >something qualifies. > > >-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- >Version: 2.6.2 >Comment: PGP Signed with PineSign 2.2 > >iQCVAwUBMe0jezokqlyVGmCFAQH0SAP+ONXs2f4GxjIrC6cp2sc9CgTrebL4cBWB >UqpH4H3UO0TiKZN4T6MGVC6kCA3OwQnd0DNC0f0D6+iZTPkwN228Am6ZH4+t9hZs >OrmCbZCiWZipLfT1gphIHqFHSqIQ506LkkGgLK0gjsS2ahrI+cNYJA3yYBviMkB1 >zuj1KRJ+pMk= >=ddI5 >-----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > >____ Robert A. Hayden <=> hayden(a)krypton.mankato.msus.edu >\ /__ Finger for Geek Code Info <=> Finger for PGP Public Key > \/ / -=-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-=- > \/ http://krypton.mankato.msus.edu/~hayden/Welcome.html > >-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- >Version: 3.12 >GED/J d-- s:++>: a- C++(++++)$ ULUO++ P+>+++ L++ !E---- W+(---) N+++ o+ >K+++ w+(---) O- M+$>++ V-- PS++(+++)>$ PE++(+)>$ Y++ PGP++ t- 5+++ X++ >R+++>$ tv+ b+ DI+++ D+++ G+++++>$ e++$>++++ h r-- y+** >------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

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Philippine government moves to block incoming net-porn
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 21:44:36 -0700 (PDT) From: Declan McCullagh <declan(a)well.com> To: fight-censorship Subject: Philippine government moves to block incoming net-porn The attached note appears to have been sent to all ISPs in the Philippines. It asks them to report back on how they can "block entry of pornographic materials through the INTERNET." Note how it equates censoring porn with preventing sex tourism. General information about international net-censorship is at: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~declan/international/ http://www.eff.org/pub/Global/Singapore/ Thanks to David Sobel for forwarding this. -Declan =================================================== REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 865 VIBAL BLDG., EDSA CORNER TIMES ST., Q. C. 15 July 1996 M E M O R A N D U M TO: ALL REGISTERED VALUE ADDED SERVICES PROVIDERS RE: REQUEST OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO BAR OR BLOCK ENTRY OF PORNOGRAPHIC MATERIALS THROUGH THE INTERNET The Special Committee for Children, constituted pursuant to E.O. 275 dated 14 September 1995, is tasked to ensure the special protection of children from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation, discrimination and other conditions prejudicial to their development. Said Committee takes action on specific issues involving the implementation of the provisions of R. A. 7610 which covers several areas of concern, among others, child prostitution and other sexual abuse; child trafficking; obscene publications and indecent shows using children as performers or models; other acts of neglect, abuse, cruelty or exploitation and other conditions predjudicial to the child's development. The Committee has raised the concern on the INTERNET being used as a very convenient medium for advertising sex tourism in the Philippines, with particular focus on the alleged availability of Filipino children for sexual liaisons and entertainment. Some materials used in the network for the afformentioned puprose were given to this Commission. Secretary Teofisto T. Guingona, Jr., Department of Justice, requested this Commission to bar or block entry of pornographic materials through the INTERNET. In view of this, you are requested to give your comments/position and suggestions on this matter, particularly on the possibility of barring or blocking pornographic materials through the INTERNET, and submit the same to this Commission by 18 July 1996 attention to Director Edgardo V. Cabarios, CCAD at fax no. 921-7128. Your cooperation and prompt action on this matter is greatly appreciated. Signed Simeon J. Kintanar Commissioner

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Re: Washington Post -- "Block but Verify"
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 05:33 PM 7/16/96 -0400, Rabid Wombat wrote: > >A user-selectable menu would be, umm, interesting ... just how could one >describe, in terms offensive to absolutely no one, what one's product is >offering to block? Quite easily. The PICS standard has categories and software like CytberPatrol lets parents select by category. There is a granularity problem of course. 57. The CyberNOT list contains approximately 7000 sites in twelve categories. The software is designed to enable parents to selectively block access to any or all of the twelve CyberNOT categories simply by checking boxes in the Cyber Patrol Headquarters (the Cyber Patrol program manager). These categories are: Violence/Profanity: Extreme cruelty, physical or emotional acts against any animal or person which are primarily intended to hurt or inflict pain. Obscene words, phrases, and profanity defined as text that uses George Carlin's seven censored words more often than once every fifty messages or pages. Partial Nudity: Full or partial exposure of the human anatomy except when exposing genitalia. Nudity: Any exposure of the human genitalia. Sexual Acts (graphic or text): Pictures or text exposing anyone or anything involved in explicit sexual acts and lewd and lascivious behavior, including masturbation, copulation, pedophilia, intimacy and involving nude or partially nude people in heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian or homosexual encounters. Also includes phone sex ads, dating services, adult personals, CD-ROM and videos. Gross Depictions (graphic or text): Pictures or descriptive text of anyone or anything which are crudely vulgar, deficient in civility or behavior, or showing scatological impropriety. Includes such depictions as maiming, bloody figures, indecent depiction of bodily functions. Racism/Ethnic Impropriety: Prejudice or discrimination against any race or ethnic culture. Ethnic or racist jokes and slurs. Any text that elevates one race over another. Satanic/Cult: Worship of the devil; affinity for evil, wickedness. Sects or groups that potentially coerce individuals to grow, and keep, membership. Drugs/Drug Culture: Topics dealing with the use of illegal drugs for entertainment. This would exclude current illegal drugs used for medicinal purposes (e.g., drugs used to treat victims of AIDS). Includes substances used for other than their primary purpose to alter the individual's state of mind such as glue sniffing. Militant/Extremist: Extremely aggressive and combative behaviors, radicalism, advocacy of extreme political measures. Topics include extreme political groups that advocate violence as a means to achieve their goal. Gambling: Of or relating to lotteries, casinos, betting, numbers games, on-line sports or financial betting including non-monetary dares. Questionable/Illegal: Material or activities of a dubious nature which may be illegal in any or all jurisdictions, such as illegal business schemes, chain letters, software piracy, and copyright infringement. Alcohol, Beer & Wine: Material pertaining to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. Also includes sites and information relating to tobacco products. Homosexual sites were excluded under "Sexual Acts" because many have links to personal ads or more explicit sites and the gun sites were excluded under "Militant/extremist." There will always be interpretation problems obviously. Actally, the individual is the best at filtering his own stuff. DCF

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Responding to Pre-dawn Unannounced Ninja Raids
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 2:12 AM 7/18/96, The Deviant wrote: >I have several friends that this has happened to, and pretty much it goes >like this... round 7:00 AM, when your just going to bed (well, some of us >don't have jobs till nighttime.. thank god.), they knock down your doors >and windows (yes, they do come through windows), and they take the >equipment, disks, tv's, CD players (yes, i know somebody who had their CD >player taken. And a pile of CDs. Music ones even.), clock radios, pretty >much everything electronic they can cary. If you ever DO get any of it >back, most likely it is not the same equipment, i.e. they coppied it all >and kept the original. I wonder when and how raids in the U.S. moved from the "Come out with your hands up" verbal announcement (for the cases that needed more than a knock on the door) to this blast-in-the-doors approach, where the raiders are dressed in "tactical black" and are wearing black Nomex hoods and carrying MP-5s and blast any "perp" who looks at them cross-eyed? As people as diverse as Marine Colonel Jeff Cooper and Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy have noted, any black-clad "ninjas" entering a home at 4 a.m. without clearly announcing themselves are asking for trouble. (Liddy got in a lot of trouble for calling for "head shots" on rampaging BATFags. Frankly, I'm not a good enough shot--especially in high-stress situations--to make head shots with my H & K .45, so I can only hope to make torso shots.) It's a mark of what has gone wrong with this country that ordinary citizens actually fear the midnight raids, the no-knock searches, the "threat suppression" by ninjas. (There are many cases where homeowners awoke to the sounds of crashing doors and windows, reached for a nightstand gun, and were shot dead by the "ninja" raiders. In some of these incidents, the raid was at the wrong house, or the "suspicions" of drug or terror involvement were later shown to be wrong. "Oops.") Personally, I think all folks should be armed at all times in their homes. Those who aren't are taking their chances. My personal choice is a Heckler & Koch USP .45. loaded with Federal Golden Sabres, a hollowpoint round that has a 92% one-shot stop rate, with adequate penetration through Kevlar vests (typically worn by BATF raiders). I may die, but I hope I can take at least two of them with me. (Interestingly, the same class of folks who want to ban "military-grade crypto" are also seeking to ban Kevlar vest-piercing rounds. Fortunately, though KTW ammo is no longer available to "marks" (= civilians), .45 ACP +P does a pretty good job. Certain +P .357 Magnum rounds are even better penetrators, but recoil and muzzle blast is pretty severe with these loads.) This may sound callous, even paranoid. I don't normally talk about such things, but such raids are becoming increasingly common. (Check out the case of the retired doctor in Malibu whose beachfront home was raided without any warnings by the local cops. He reached for a gun and was blasted with 9mm slugs. His wife survived. Turned out the County of L.A. had hopes to seize his property in a drug "forfeiture" and sell it at great profit. They suspected marijuana was being grown. No drugs, no plants, nada was ever found. "Oops.") (I expressed my views about being armed in a Usenet article last summer, and received a "friendly phone call" from a Deputy Sheriff of Santa Cruz County. (Someone who disliked my article faxed a copy of my article to the Sheriff's Department.) When he asked me some questions to find out why I was not trusting the police and "felt the need" to be armed, I got quite forceful in my comments about the role of the Second Amendment. (I should have just told him to fuck off, in retrospect. Anything volunteered to the cops is usually a mistake.) He said he might "send a vehicle" out to my ranch to "talk to me." I asked on what basis, on the basis of what criminal charges? I also said I'd "be ready." He announced unctuously that my "threat" had just been "logged" and would be considered in any future criminal procedures. Needless to say, I got a lot more of my guns ready. So far, a year later, they haven't raided me yet. Knock on wood. This country has gone to the dogs.) The fact is, the "War on Drugs" has tainted this country. Whatever one thinks of drugs, the result of this War has been that cops are now paramilatary in nature, that midnight raids have become much more common, that both cops and citizens are now armed with more firepower than ever before (I have more than 4000 rounds of ammo at my place, for my sniper rifle, my (so-called) assault rifle, and my various handguns. Anyone inside my house without an invitation is assumed to be a threat to me and will face retaliation.) Crypto is just another weapon to use to protect our liberty. Sorry for the rant, but this recounting of pre-dawn raids on computer users reminds me that the American political system will likely treat "rogue computers users" the way it treats suspected drug dealers: break down the doors, enter at dawn, kill anyone who moves, and let God sort out the innocent. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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