December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Firewall Penetration
by Cerridwyn Llewyellyn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 05:29 PM 7/19/96 +0800, you wrote: >Is it possible to penetrate a firewall? yes. //cerridwyn//

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Re: Filtering out Queers is OK
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: IN%"tcmay(a)got.net" 19-JUL-1996 04:37:28.75 >If I had kids, I'd make sure that lots of negative memes were kept away >from them until they reached an age where it no longer mattered, where >there views are already basically set. >I see nothing wrong in this. Anyone who disagrees is, of course, free to >set his filters differently, but not to insist that my filters be changed. >And the government is not free to pass any laws about what filter sites can >and can't do. >Unfortunately, I think many on this list are so taken by "liberalistic" >notions that they think the State needs to intervene to stop me from >filtering my son's access to "The Joys of Queer Sex." State? I'd call it right for private individuals as well. Ultimately, it's the job of the state, if it has one, to protect the rights of individuals... including minors. Private individuals can protect those rights as well, just as we can stop someone from getting mugged by shooting the mugger. >(As a libertarian, I really don't care what sexual practices others >practice, so long as I am not forced to either fund or witness their >practices. And so long as I am free to filter out their practices as I see >fit, including for my minor children and/or members of my household.) Well, as a libertarian the only excuse I can see for parental rights is parental responsibilities. If something is needed in order to carry out those responsibilities, then the parent has the right to make those decisions (unless it's shown that the parent isn't competent to). But I need to see something before I can say that the parent has that right. It's the same thing that I need to see before I can say that I'm harming some environmentalist by driving my car (global warming or whatever nonsense). It's called proof. >Some parents simply get tired of spending time each night trying to undo >the propaganda taught in many public school, such as books like "I Have Two >Mommies." Many of these parents eventually give up and put their kids in >religious or private schools (even though they continue to pay taxes for >schools their own children are no longer using). Actually, I perfectly well agree with you that schools (especially the public variety) shouldn't be promoting PC values. (We've got a college at Rutgers, Livingston, with the avowed purpose of promoting "diversity." Unsurprisingly, even the administration is beginning to admit it has a reputation for being, shall we say, scholastically unachieving?) Neither should they be promoting any other set of values, other than that of "learn." Parents smart enough to send their kids to such a school will see them succeed, in a properly meritocratic society; ones sending their kids to schools where ideology is more important than giving the kids the information they need to make up their own minds won't see them succeed, overall. >Queers are, as far as I'm concerned, perfectly free to practice their >AIDS-spreading practices to any and all receptive anuses they can find, but >I eschew this lifestyle and will fight to the death for this right to avoid >their practices from being forced on me or my children (if I had any, which >I don't). Fascinating. So you and I are both opinating from the same amount of direct knowledge of parenting... and I'm going with better and clearer memories of being a child and teenager. >I think of AIDS as "evolution in action." Retroviruses which have existed >for millenia now find new vectors for spreading in our population. I cry no >tears for those dying of AIDS, and work to reduce to tax dollars spent on >such things as "AIDS research." Let those who introduced the new vector pay >for the research. >What do you call ten million AIDS deaths? You figure it out. Well, let's see, it's currently spreading via heterosexual transmission since the "queers" are the ones who've been smart enough to start using condoms. (Check out Southeast Asia, for instance. I've looked at studies (such as from ChristNet) trying to show otherwise; they had so many scientific flaws that I stopped reading.) Think of it as evolution in action. -Allen

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Re: Reverse Engineer
by Seth I. Rich 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>> What do you mean by "reverse engineer?" I have heard this word several >> times especially in the world of hacking, but... can someone tell me >> what it really meant? >Interesting question. >Hmmm... > >I would answer this question for you but then I would have to kill >you. Well, I don't have to be subject to such childishness. Reverse engineering code is like decompiling it. Starting with the compiled code, you can translate it backwards (to some degree) and see how it works. It's not as easy as taking a compiled program and ending up with the original C code, but if it's worth enough to you you -can- end up with the same information. Seth --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seth I. Rich - seth(a)hygnet.com "Info-Puritan elitist crapola!!" Systems Administrator / Webmaster, HYGNet (pbeilard(a)direct.ca) Rabbits on walls, no problem.

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Re: Opiated file systems
by Deranged Mutant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 18 Jul 96 at 22:48, Adam Back wrote: [..] > The whole system should be designed to withstand scrutiny as to > whether or not there is a duress file system on any given disk, on the > assumption that the opponent as full access to the source. > > ie. the attacker can not tell without the hidden file system key (if > one exists) whether the unused space on your drive is really just > that: unused space filled with garbage, or whether it is in fact > another encrytped filesystem. There has to be a way to tell the system that the sectors are used when not the drive isn't mounted and the filesystem isn't active. > They might be suspicious, but I don't think they would be able to > claim you were in comptempt of court, if you provide the 1st key and > claim there is no other key: the software has support for either 1 > or 2 filesystems. Having a copy of the driver is enough to arouse suspicion. If they don't find anything useful in that one partition, they'll assume the second is in use and that you're not giving up the key. You may very well get accused of maintaining a second system even if you are not and do not have anything incriminating in the one encrypted fs. --- No-frills sig. Befriend my mail filter by sending a message with the subject "send help" Key-ID: 5D3F2E99 1996/04/22 wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com (root@magneto) AB1F4831 1993/05/10 Deranged Mutant <wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com> Send a message with the subject "send pgp-key" for a copy of my key.

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Subject: Re: Netscape download requirements
by David Sternlight 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> >At 1:47 AM -0700 7/19/96, Cerridwyn Llewyellyn wrote: > >> >>>I'd bet on the first. Why screw with this? We worked hard >>>to make this possible and you want to ruin it. Sheesh. >> >>Because freedom doesn't come in degrees, it's all or nothing. > Wrong. Society has long made a distinction between liberty and license, and "freedom" is a definitional and even societal-situational thing that keeps advancing. Check out history. Read some Supreme Court decisions of the more thoughtful kind. > >> >>>"I hate the government so I'll blow up a federal building >>>and then the FBI will get more money and attention and >>>power and, um, that'll show 'em, er, ah....." >> >>Exporting crypto-systems and killing people is comparing apples >>and hand grenades. Please come up with a relevant analogy. > It IS relevant in the underlying principles it illustrates. That the details aren't of the same magnitude is irrelevant. Didn't you learn "reductio ad absurdum" in school? > >> >>1) Please don't chastise individuals who take direct action and use >>civil disobediance as a measure to change bad laws and policies (ie by >>making your companies software available internationally). When >>done on a mass scale, the long-term benefits FAR outweigh the short >>term consequences. While you as a corporation find it much more >>difficult to take such actions, as they would most likely ruin your >>corporation, individuals acting in this capacity cannot be ruined quite >>so readily. > It is ludicrous for some cypherpunks to try to compare their "cause" with freeing the slaves or overthrowing a tyrannical and abusive dictator. In fact it is romantic fantasy. Not every prosecution is of Jean Valjean; not every arrest for speeding is the destruction of freedom as we know it. Not every theoretical consequence is a current abuse. "Trust everyone, but always cut the cards" is a better guide for living in a democratic society than "distrust everyone and insist on all or nothing". > Essentially, one who opposes or deliberately sabotages Netscape's compromise with full ITAR deregulation is a fascist in that he is trying to force his will on those of his fellow citizens who want to download the secure US version in the US, and deny _them_ _their_ rights. David

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MON_dex
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

A business wire of 7-18-96 reports at length on the massive globalization of Mondex, of which the new AT&T/Wells Fargo Ecash card is a part. It does not answer DCF's lost wallet questions. ----- http://pwp.usa.pipeline.com/~jya/mondex.txt (12 kb) MON_dex

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Re: Responding to Pre-dawn Unannounced Ninja Raids
by Arun Mehta 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I must admit all this talk about what kinds of bullet best penetrates Kevlar makes me shake my head and wonder what's happening to the world -- particularly since you are far more likely to use this weaponry in a rage against a loved one than against someone breaking down your door. The "good" guys arming themselves so that the "bad" don't invade reminds me of the stupid arms race between the US and the Soviets: I wonder how many burglars in Western Europe carry guns -- in the US, you'd be real stupid if you didn't carry the latest weaponry. More to the point as far as this list is concerned, Vinnie pointed out: >hmm imagine what Waco would have been like if the Branch Davidians: > >1) were not morons. >2) knew how to use the news media >3) had redundant, spread spectrum, satilite, and underground comms into the >net. > >This equals instant net coverage, to rival CNN. It makes for a hard >target.Armed with your Militia-Mailer(tm) the strong crypto edition and >live video, these folks would never consider getting near you. Are there good books (or even better, sources on the net) that would teach you how to set up and use spread spectrum and other communication technologies without easy detection? In India, the government controls most of the spectrum, and hardly allows the use of radio. However, spread spectrum is likely to be used for wireless local loop, and it would be harder for them to figure out that you are engaging in unauthorised communication if you use similar frequency bands as the local telecom provider. >A better approach is to disarm and expose these bozos for what they are, >and for christ sakes get out there and VOTE... dammit... and get your >friends to VOTE.. I wonder about that -- between Tweedledee Clinton and Tweedledum Dole, does it matter whether you vote or not? The system seems to make sure that before you even get to a position where someone can seriously vote for you, you've already sold your soul. Arun Mehta Phone +91-11-6841172, 6849103 amehta(a)cpsr.org http://www.cerfnet.com/~amehta/ finger amehta(a)cerfnet.com for public key

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Re: ABC News on internet telephony
by Deranged Mutant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

ISPs have functioned better using flat monthly rates, and the biggies are like AT&T are going in the same direction for internet access. I don't see this as being 'counter-intuitive' at all. The costs to the ISPs and telcos aren't really based on where you call or how long you are on anymore. Big questions are how the main hubs for the internet are maintained (esp. when some of the big telcos maintain them... a conflict of interest, perhaps). Will fees become too much that smaller ISPs are put out of business, or that we'll start seeing ISPs merge? (Remember when there were mainly local cable companies?) On 18 Jul 96 at 11:03, David Sternlight wrote: [..] > This is the rankest speculation on my part, but could some of the bigger, > smarter phone company cum internet providers have done some serious > analysis and concluded that we're moving away from distance-based rates for > voice calls. Might they even have examined where we'll be in the next ten > years (with ADSL, etc.) and decided that the network technology and simple > market economics makes fixed charges per "line" more profitable to them > than metered usage? Maybe this is wishful thinking on my part, but some of > the bigger actors are starting to behave in a surprisingly > counter-intuitive (based on the way we stereotype them) fashion on this > topic. --- No-frills sig. Befriend my mail filter by sending a message with the subject "send help" Key-ID: 5D3F2E99 1996/04/22 wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com (root@magneto) AB1F4831 1993/05/10 Deranged Mutant <wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com> Send a message with the subject "send pgp-key" for a copy of my key.

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Netscape patch 40 bit -> 128 bit?
by Adam Back 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Has anyone with access to both the 40 bit and 128 bit version of the latest netscape beta considered doing a binary diff on the binaries to see how much of the code is different? Adam

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Re: Netscape download requirements
by Remo Pini 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Why can't anybody in US write a little program that compares the two 4.5 meg install files and make a patcher? (It seems simple to do, is very inconspicuous and of course does not violate the ITAR - although it might violate some copyright stuff, but hey, whos willing to enforce something like that, when it's anonymously posted or mailed) I suppose the difference will be small, if one consideres an offset after the alternative parts (something like: generalgeneralgeneralUSUSUSUSUSUSUSUSgeneralgeneral and generalgeneralgeneralWORLDWORLDgeneralgeneral remo ----------< fate favors the prepared mind >---------- Remo Pini Fon 1: +41 1 350 28 82 mailto:rp@rpini.com Fon 2: +41 1 465 31 90 http://www.rpini.com/remopini/ Fax: +41 1 350 28 84 --------< words are what reality is made of >--------

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