December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Freeh slimes again: Digital Telephony costs $2 billion now ...
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 07:59 PM 8/6/96 -0700, Bill Stewart wrote: >I haven't been able to find the reference, but a month or two ago >there was an article on the net or in a newspaper about the targets >of wiretapping - how many wiretaps were for drugs, gambling, tax evasion, >and of course terrorism. The number of wiretaps for bombs and guns >was something low like 80 in the last 5-10 years - about 1/10%. > (Did anybody else see this article??) Gilmore has a chart on wiretap use in various crimes in his Brain Tennis match on Wired: http://www.hotwired.com/braintennis/96/32/index0a.html DCF

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Re: Censorship through proxy
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 06:12 PM 8/6/96 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote: >Sing Sing (the country is now a prison, so...) is one of the states we >should think about targetting for "special attention." Not in the sense of >violence, but in the sense of offering help to freedom fighters, those who >want to use stego, web proxies, etc. I've been thinking of starting a "How to Defeat a Government page to pull together some of the anti-Sysadmin resources on the Net. "Your government -- just a rouge sysadmin." >I wonder what would happen if "Computers, Freedom, and Privacy '98" was >held in Sing Sing? It would be smaller going out than coming in. Singapore's retired president tried to get William Safire into town for a "debate" about whether he was still running the place via his son. Safire didn't take the bait. He joked about it in his column. DCF

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Re[2]: SSNs (was Re: Internal Passports)
by Steve Coltrin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Simon Spero <ses(a)tipper.oit.unc.edu> wrote: >one silly thought: lots of people use cypherpunks as the username and >password for all those websites that want an id. What about a cypherpunks >3-2-4 number for those cases where an SSN isn't appropriate. Anyone know >what J. Edgar Hoover's SSN was? According to one of "George Hayduke"'s books, Richard Nixon's was 567-68-0515. -spc

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Phone tapping in India
by Arun Mehta 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

"The Pioneer" headlined on August 6, 96: "CBI can tap at whim -- Agency has 6 bugging machines" (The CBI is effectively the Indian equivalent of the FBI) Apparently, these machines costing Rs. 7.5 million = $200,000 each, can each tap 7 phones in a 25-km radius, and were bought from a Hyderabad-based company, Fidelity Systems. Apparently, all that is needed to tap a phone is for the sleuths to dial the number through the machine, which then automatically starts and stops recording all conversations carried out with that number, as well the numbers dialled by the target. As it is, the law on wiretapping is draconian in India: on the occurrence of an emergency, or for "public safety", a designated government officer can direct that "any message or class of messages to or from any person or class of persons, or relating to any particular subject, brought for transmission by or transmitted or received by any telegraph, shall not be transmitted, or shall be intercepted or detained or shall be disclosed to the government." (This is from the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885(!), and applies to e-mail and BBSes as well). But with these new machines, even this designated officer can be bypassed. Under a box titled "Beware of blank calls", the newspaper mentions that when the sleuths ring your number to start tapping, you get a "blank" call (which one is quite used to here -- if that were enough evidence, the whole of India is being tapped!) What technology is this? If it indeed works this way, what is to prevent any large company or rich person from procuring the same hardware? Apparently, the purchase was authorised by former prime minister Rao, who is now complaining that his own phone is being tapped (serves him right). 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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****Developer Recants Hostile Java Applet Story 08/06/96
by reagle＠rpcp.mit.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1996 AUG 6 (NB) -- By Patrick McKenna. Finjan Software of Israel, which earlier said its Java security software detected what the company called a publicly available hostile Java applet at a game site on the World Wide Web, has issued a statement changing its earlier claims. In the first story on the Java applet labeled "hostile" by Finjan, Newsbytes reported early Tuesday that the Java applet in question is part of a game available on the Web and connected to America Online. Shmulik Suhami, spokesperson for Finjan, told Newsbytes at the time, "We were contacted by one of our users who detected a hostile Java applet and we have confirmed the user's experience." Newsbytes reported Sun Microsystems' JavaSoft division reply as saying, "This issue is totally and completely bogus. Security features built into Java do not allow an applet to read or write to another computer without issuing a warning message and this applet in question is not a hostile Java applet. An individual at AT&T, acting independently of the company, developed the applet. We suspect a file for the applet was placed on a second system and that is probably why Finjan's software incorrectly read it as a hostile application. Actually, this is a flaw in Finjan's software. There is no bug or hostile application at all." In its early story, Newsbytes also quoted a JavaSoft spokesperson as saying, "What is going on is that the person's applet called an audio file from a second machine and Java's security features are so strong and restrictive that an exception is raised whenever a second machine is called. Finjan's software appears to have read the call to the second machine as a hostile bug." In recanting its initial claims, Finjan released the following statement: "We want to issue a clarification on the media alert we sent out yesterday describing a potentially suspicious Java applet. We were perhaps mistaken to describe the applet discovered as a 'hostile applet,' since we did not know if it did anything damaging to a person's system. The activity of applet described was harmless. We misunderstood the extent of the security exception based on information we received. Though in principal the way the app was created could constitute a risk, in practice this was a relatively harmless breech of security, which the Java Security Manager dealt with appropriately." (19960805/Press Contact: Mary Jo Wagner, Successful Marketing Strategists, tel 510-644-3837; E-mail Address: maryjo(a)successful.com; or Paul Karr, KVO, 415-961-1550)

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RE: DoubleClick: Does is track browsing across multiple sites?
by Scott Marquardt 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Yo, some bozo subsribed me to this thing. Who's the administrator? I want off (no offense; I'm sure it's an interesting forum, but I don't like being mail-bombed by way of forgery). Whoever administers this thing, I'd be glad of a copy of the headers on the message that subscribed me. Thanks -- Scott Marquardt

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Mena
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The Washington Post, August 7, 1996, p. A6. CIA Probed in Alleged Arms Shipments Reports Claim Agents Involved in Arkansas-Nicaragua Drug Swaps By Susan Schmidt The CIA's inspector general is investigating claims that U.S. intelligence agencies were involved in illegal arms shipments and drug smuggling at an isolated airstrip in Mena, Ark., during the years Bill Clinton was governor. A spokesman for the CIA said Inspector General Frederick P. Hitz is preparing a report on allegations that the CIA was involved in arms shipments from Mena to the Nicaraguan rebels during the 1980s, and that pilots hired by the agency brought back large shipments of cocaine. CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said the inspector general will report on possible contacts between the agency and Arkansas state officials during the 1980s. His report also will deal with allegations that the CIA attempted to influence or curtail law enforcement investigations of Mena. Hitz was asked to investigate the Mena airport by CIA Director John M. Deutch, who was acting on a request from House Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach (R-Iowa). Leach's panel is looking into the possible laundering of drug money generated at Mena. Leach's Banking Committee staff has been looking a variety of claims about Mena emanating from a collection of Arkansas law enforcement officials and various figures operating in the shadowy netherworld on contract with intelligence agencies. One congressional investigator likened sorting through the allegations to being trapped in "a hall of mirrors." Congressional sources said Leach made the request to the CIA about six months ago and expects a report from Hitz in late summer or early fall. The latest Mena claims are contained in "Boy Clinton," a book by American Spectator Editor R. Emmett Tyrrell published this week. In it, Tyrrell asserts that Clinton knew about CIA operations and cocaine smuggling at Mena. He cites as sources Arkansas state troopers, including one on the governor's security detail who says he was also a contract employee for the CIA during the mid-1980s and informed Clinton of what was going on at Mena. Clinton has said he had nothing to do with any activities at Mena. "Mena is the darkest backwater of the right wing conspiracy industry," said White House spokesman Mark Fabiani. "The allegations are as bizarre as they are false." [End]

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Message
by Bovine Remailer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

http://upside.master.com:8080/print/july96/ww9607.html w a s h i n g t o n w a t c h The Coming Internet Wars Michael C. Maibach There's a very real danger that for the first time both the PC and the Internet will be regulated and taxed. The PC industry policy landscape has never been so dynamic, as telecom deregulation and technology convergence take hold. Being on the cutting edge of technology places us at the leading edge of public policy. Here's what's coming. In Washington A group of U.S. long-distance resellers has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to outlaw (yes, outlaw) Internet telephony software. Their view is that the unregulated Net should not compete with regulated carriers. The PC industry's position is that the FCC doesn't have the authority to outlaw this or any software. A much more significant threat is a possible RBOC petition asking the FCC to levy access charges on all "enhanced services," such as the Internet. They seem to object to ISPs moving data, e-mail, graphics and calls outside of the current "universal service" monopoly established by the 1934 Communications Act. The PC industry's number one telecom goal is competition in the local loop. Such competition should drive more bandwidth at a lower cost. Only the Net offers a modicum of competition to local service. If the FCC pulls the Net into the archaic telecom regulatory system, access charges could chill use of the most important telecom medium in the world. The FCC must also set advanced digital TV broadcast standards. As TVs move into the digital PC world, let's make sure that broadcast signals over public airwaves are both PC- and TV-compatible. And speaking of consumer electronics, digital videodiscs (DVDs), with 10 times the capacity of a CD-ROM and studio-quality output, are on the way. The motion picture and consumer electronics industries drafted legislation to protect content while enabling this new market. Unfortunately, their bill would inadvertently outlaw PCs as illegal copy devices! PC hardware and software makers have a vested interest in the success of DVD technology because it allows the copying of data and images. We, perhaps more than any other industry, want DVD technology to advance. But legal protections and private standards must make this a technology as open to PC users as it is to movie buffs. Finally, Washington is considering measures to strengthen copyright protection of material moved on the Internet, require closed captioning on PCs that pick up TV broadcast signals and forbid software exports that have strong encryption protections in the name of national security. An industry that has grown up with private standard-setting in an open, unregulated environment now faces the kind of intense regulatory pressures one is accustomed to seeing in the railroad or drug industries. This is spurred on by the convergence of FCC-regulated industries with PC markets, products and technologies. In State Capitals Action in many U.S. state capitals reflects themes developing in Washington. Long-distance resellers have asked state public utility commissions (PUCs) to outlaw Internet telephony software, for example. Florida and California are considering taxing "digital commerce" they fear may bypass state sales tax regimes. And a few RBOCs have actually petitioned state PUCs to allow increases in ISDN installation and usage fees. Members of the PC industry, working with consumer groups and Internet warriors, have successfully challenged such rate hikes. Lower ISDN prices and easier hookup should drive huge volume increases in this market, benefiting local phone companies and PC users. Around the World So far, activity abroad is less robust than in the U.S., but it's just a matter of time. The European Union recently reclassified PCs with CD-ROM drives as "consumer electronics devices," tripling their import tariffs. Moreover, Europe is considering a "TV without borders" policy that would impose domestic content requirements on TV programming. Since movies are a type of software, will proposals to limit the sale of "foreign" PC software follow? And governments in Europe, Canada and Australia are considering a "bit tax" on digital commerce. The old world of analog TV and telecom regulation must not spill over into the new world of competitive, open and digital markets. Governments must adopt the PC model of innovation and govern accordingly. In the U.S., the FCC must evolve into a Federal Competition Commission, and Congress should carefully guard digital commerce technologies that are changing the way we work, learn, consume and communicate. Michael C. Maibach is vice president for government affairs at Intel Corp. in Washington, D.C. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Home | Upside Magazine | Entrepreneur Forum | Upside Locator | About Upside Comments and suggestions for this site are welcome via e-mail to: feedback(a)upside.com Copyright ©1996 Upside Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Powered by Thunderstone.

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RE: Internal Passports
by jbugden＠smtplink.alis.ca 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I've seen the same problem in a department store in Ottawa. They would not accept a Canadian Passport as identification for payment by cheque but would accept various credit cards and similar devices. My conclusion was that they wanted something that would show my friend's credit worthiness, not prove his identity. James Declan McCullagh <declan(a)eff.org> >I had the same problems when I was working at Xerox in Webster, NY. >Supermarkets just plain didn't want to accept my passport as valid ID. >> At 15:48 8/4/96, Bill Stewart wrote: >> >> A US passport is not considered valid ID by the State of Oregon. If >> somebody here doesn't belive this, send someone who looks like he >> might be under 21 into any liquor store in Oregon with just an US >> passport.

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Re: Cookies on Microsoft Explorer?
by David.K.Merriman＠toad.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To: alano(a)teleport.com, cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Wed Aug 07 10:46:25 1996 > At 09:14 AM 8/6/96 -0700, David.K.Merriman.-.webmaster(a)cygnus.com, > wrote: > > >I have IE3 configured to ask me for permission to accept a cookie. Yes, > >some sites send (n!)+1 cookies during a session. If they send too many, > I > >personally move on to another site, after sending them email (!). > > If the site sends you *LOTS* of cookies with no expire date, then they > have > probibly compiled their Apache server with the mod_cookie module. The > cookies are only used by the log files and i am willing to bet that > most > people who have that option compiled in do not even read the logs. Whatever the conditions/causes for the cookiefest, I make it known to them that the volume of cookies gives me electronic diabetes, and move on. I suspect that there will eventually be enough people that dislike being force-fed cookies and complaining about it that such sites will either fold, or get a klew. Dave - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- PGP Email welcome and encouraged. Visit my web site at http://www.shellback.com/p/merriman for my PGP key and fingerprint "What is the sound of one hand clapping in a forest with no one there to hear it?" - -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.2 mQCNAi3uZ2MAAAEEALWQtxX77SZSaFls6cVbPp+fZS4MNyKK3ZFYQo0qWyj+0tMq YgRTPRJRaCQixo63RttknogfPp514qdVMZw5iPeOXmD+RxrmTTwlbGqA7QUiG1x5 LG2Zims5zk4U6/rt8hwLh0/8E4lIb9r5d31qc8L1A9Twk/cmN8VrTvyYOzAZAAUR tBg8bWVycmltYW5AYW1hb25saW5lLmNvbT60KURhdmlkIEsuIE1lcnJpbWFuIDxt ZXJyaW1hbkBtZXRyb25ldC5jb20+iQCVAwUQLqwCX5IDOImWiDcFAQHFfwP/Tm5v 3zoijU9oYmAO1WVsw4+HamN0HdBKkDxPtuGeCmxNuiDPsucVjqctMfbh1WzCfNEb NfZdg3YVdDNgsQqlu4k8XznrbQSoQm3t5ySQNKvQx0KisJnee0caVpEgQ4bwSfuv 81TG08lJt4A0fIpXSllMnRkXenvXIBmgJTUklaiJAJUDBRAupxG0qWOYkEirxV0B AUUJBACJ0FYXTlR9ncd0tNnYGOGSLO1scgt8IxUDMyQ2htEsfSNxD6jg303LuAA/ Zset5p0JhACLLHbgtZlpYH4uQbjy9Ve9JrVm/6SysSnX1TfSNF5NoMcxGDYgNDRL tP/5jKRZ/hzH8vjHSWXnnN9Pb1MdYdWql4DjDQ+dIEm5sywbqIkAlQIFEC3uaE3F a078mDswGQEBbI8D/0FiwDcbfeNyDVJ+7EIWHjIxVkIGu+ArYUEllR3GSBHVZ9Vh 7n8bNXeNHMnG5cZ23TLMVvweyhxFS+cDi+I7omeDNr6x65z500LxfUvLK5bSuSiB VkTp2z+/iojY/662JwKHzEEunuJ4CO8Yhxy11CdeszEX7DpXzRxLL92rEmO2 =QZRc - -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMggDg8VrTvyYOzAZAQE6cQP+JE18wLLTHDsmId+zFHh3Q5x7wA2oyS3/ 7FWxE5zWGipUxNT/tlRF/jdinMoLkg27Q7iQ1uoI4TDa5VE9pV6uGilCHN2naM0y A9Tvebxr/pHUj+hr0jYUCWzY6VQ2+q5icG11DHm3/iXhAF1SJHJJj2xi9zx4PRCv zINv8AXkFmg= =ps5w -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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