December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Blurring the Chains of Causation
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

An unusual thread name, "Blurring the Chains of Causation." What I mean is this: - the U.S. legal system has been blurring, or confusing, the chain of cause-and-effect in crimes - Example: allowing suits by insurance companies and states against tobacco companies. A smoker gets cancer by his actions, and it used to be that this was his action, his responsibility. Now, we hold tobacco companies liable, and perhaps will someday hold executives of these companies criminally liable. (This for a product which is not illegal, mind you.) (There are a bunch of related examples. "Civil liability" is a major way this blurring is happening. Gun manufacturers being sued for crimes committed with their guns, ladder makers sued by the families of criminals who leaned ladders up against electrified fences, and so on. How long before a bookstore is sued for "allowing" a book to be bought by someone who later is "inspired" to commit a crime--actually, John Grisham ("The Firm") is involved in a lawsuit against Oliver Stone for his film, "Natural Born Killers," which Grisham claims "inspired" a murder. This has got to stop, in my opinion.) - "They made me do it" defenses. Hostess Twinkies are implicated in the brutal murder of San Francisco's mayor and a city councilman. Childhood abuse is exculpatory in other cases. Psychobabblers blather about what caused people to behave as they did. A mass murderer says pornography made him kill 25 women. A lawyer claims his client's son committed suicide after listening to heavy metal music. And so it goes. This blurring has links to cryptography, bomb-making instructions on the Net, availability of porn on the Net, and many other things. To cut to the chase: - a librarian who "allows" a person to check out "The Anarchist Cookbook" is *not* causing a crime, though much of the rhetoric one hears is otherwise. - the _author_ of that book (Powell, allegedly) is *also* not causing a crime. - the _publishers_ of that book (Lyle Stuart, as I recall--my copy is not handy) also have not committed any crime To make things clear, some of the language being proposed in the rush-to-law about anti-terrorism, wiretapping, anti-encryption, etc. As Sen. Feinstein puts it, "We hope we can wrap up the repeal of the Bill of Rights and have it on President Clinton's desk before the close of the Olympics on Sunday." :-( - if I _advocate_ strong crytography, avoidance of taxes, undermining of government power, crypto anarchy, etc., I have not committed any crime (Caveat: advocating the violent overthrow of the U.S. government apparently is a crime, as are certain forms of conspiracy, a la RICO, tax evasion, etc.) - if I _use_ strong cryptography, I have not committed any crime, ipso facto, nor am I necessarily conspiring to commit any crime And so on. Many of the proposed restrictions seek to further blur this chain of causation, by making someone who provides access to materials which _may_ later be used in a crime, or which may "inspire" someone to crime, a kind of criminal. The trend picked up steam with the "deep pockets" precedents in the 70s (*), was fed by the blame-passing psychobabble of the same decade, and has now reached its present state by a willingness of the courts to hear such cases. People who actually commit real crimes are the criminals, not those who sold them Hostess Twinkies without first checking their blood sugar level. Not those who let a library patron look at a "dangerous" book. And not those who provided strong cryptographic tools which _might_ be used by terrorists, pedophiles, and money launderers. --Tim May (* "deep pockets" -- If there are N parties in a lawsuit, and one of them shares only 5% of the (putative) blame but has 95% of the overall assets, go after the party with the "deepest pockets." This forced Cessna and Piper, the leading light aircraft firms at one time, to stop selling light aircraft. The example with Oliver Stone being sued is a clear case of this.) 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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Re: algorithms for verifying U.S. IP address ...
by Alex de Joode 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Ernest Hua (hua(a)chromatic.com) wrote: : How does one verify that an IP address is coming from a U.S. site? : How do most FTP site (e.g. those which carry crypto) determine the : origins of a connection? What's the use ? It makes it only nominally more difficult to access an US crypto site, one needs first to esthablish an US beachhead ie. open an US account, and ftp the eleet crypto warez using the newly created US account as an intermediary. So the next step will be a tag that a user is an 'alien' ? bEST Regards, -- Alex de Joode | Replay IP Service & Web DZign -- The Netherlands usura(a)replay.com | http://www.replay.com mailto:info@replay.com

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[off-topic] domain name server needed
by Michael Froomkin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Does anyone have access to a DNS server that they can use to list a very small number of start of authority records for me for a minor experiment? [This message may have been dictated with Dragon Dictate 2.01. Please be alert for unintentional word substitutions.] A. Michael Froomkin | +1 (305) 284-4285; +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax) Associate Professor of Law | U. Miami School of Law | froomkin(a)law.miami.edu P.O. Box 248087 | http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA | It's hot here! And humid!

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Re: CDT Policy Post 2.29 - Administration, Congress Propose Sweeping Anti-Terrorism Initiatives
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:03 AM 8/1/96 -0400, Bob Palacios wrote: > The Center for Democracy and Technology /____/ Volume 2, Number 29 > CDT POLICY POST Volume 2, Number 29 August 1, 1996 >I. NEW THREATS TO ENCRYPTION, OPPOSITION TO THE PRO-CODE BILL >The Administration's outline contains the following statement on encryption: > "* Encryption -- We will seek legislation to strengthen our ability to > prevent terrorists from coming into the possession of the technology > to encrypt their communications and data so that they are beyond the > reach of law enforcement. We oppose legislation that would eliminate > current export barriers and encouraging the proliferation of encryption > which blocks appropriate access to protect public safety and the > national security." > >While no specific legislative language has yet been proposed, this >represents the first statement by the Administration that they will seek >legislation to further restrict encryption. Even more troubling, the >Administration is clearly attempting to use the recent suspected terrorist >incidents to push for a new and more restrictive encryption policy. Even though it may be obvious to the crypto-savvy people in CP, since this press release is directed at a somewhat wider audience it would be useful to point out that none of these recent terrorist incidents involved encryption at all. >The Administration's attempt to leverage >the public's concern about terrorism to block passage of the Pro-CODE bill >is disturbing, and poses a significant threat to privacy and security on the >Internet. Same point. Unless you mention that encryption wasn't a factor at all, you risk leaving the (unsophisticated) reader with the implication that there was, indeed, some crypto angle to these incidents. Like it or not, that's the way public discourse seems to be done these days: Unless a point is specifically challenged, implicitly it is deemed ceded to the claimant. Sure, Clinton did not actually claim that encryption was a factor, but it was there by implication, and the average citizen seeing his proposals would come to that conclusion. Denying this specifically, you'd be "points ahead" and would be in a better position to shut down those trying to restrict encryption. Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Attempted balance... too far on the security side
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Mixed messages, definitely. For one thing, people appear not to be realizing that even with terrorism, trains and airplanes are still safer per passenger mile than automobile. Driving people to drive more (no pun intended) isn't going to save any lives. Besides which, if I've got an emergency flight to catch, I may be willing to take the risk. Is there some reason that all flights must be held to the same security, so long as everyone getting on knows what level of security that is? Moreover, the suggestion of greater humint bears with it infiltration (and possible agent procacateurship of) any group that the government doesn't like. -Allen >America's dilemma: Balancing security and an open society > _(c) Copyright 1996 Nando.net_ > Associated Press > WASHINGTON -- after the bombing at the olympics and the loss of twa > flight 800, americans grappled sunday with how to maintain security in > a society that prizes individual liberty above all. > Travelers said they would accept longer delays for better baggage > checks and politicians reopened debate over thorny provisions cut from > an antiterrorism bill. But many weighed the desire for safety against > the pleasures of an open society. > "We must never accept as a fact of life that we will have to live with > terrorism," said Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick. "We must and > will come up with the tools to prevent these events." > But Gorelick conceded there may be a price. "Balancing the competing > interests in openness and security will be something that will be a > subject for all of us for many years to come," she told NBC's "Meet > the Press." [...] > Joyce Lee, catching a train home to Newark, Del., from Washington's > Union Station on Sunday, said she's "a little leery about travel these > days." > "You don't know when you're going to get it. A bomb could go off > anywhere, anytime," she said. "I would definitely be willing to go > through more security because safety and having to wait a few extra > minutes is worth it." > Security consultants predicted public pressure would force greater > restrictions in public places and increased scrutiny at airports. But > others noted that security was tight at the Olympics before the > bombing, and warned that adopting a police-state mentality would > represent defeat. > "I don't want to see the terrorists win by, in effect, revoking our > Constitution," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said on Fox's "News Sunday." > A terrorist can always move on to the next target. If airports are > sealed, will train stations be safe? How about movie theaters? > "Ultimately the question is, can you protect perfectly in public > places?" said Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell. "And the answer is no." [...] > The antiterrorism bill that Clinton signed earlier this year applied > the death penalty to terrorism convictions and provided $1 billion for > law enforcement to fight terrorists. > But a provision to allow the FBI to wiretap all phones used by a > suspected terrorist was dropped and one requiring explosives > manufacturers to insert chemical tracers in their products was > weakened. > Gingrich said Sunday that he was willing to revisit those issues, but > that a proposal to allow police to conduct so-called "roving wiretaps" > was too great an intrusion of privacy. > "Our system is designed to go slowly, frankly, to protect freedoms," > he said on "Meet the Press." > Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., said that despite the recent incidents, the Cold > War's end has produced a period of relative safety for the United > States. [...] > But he warned that unless steps were taken to block terrorists from > obtaining weapons-grade uranium or chemical weapons, Americans might > soon be longing for the days of the simple pipe bomb. > The key to fighting terrorism, he said, was increasing the United > States' ability to gather human intelligence -- information often > gathered covertly by infiltrating terrorist groups or spying on their > sponsors.

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Three on Clinton, one not crypto-related but positive
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This first one is about as expected. I'm disappointed in Gingrich for being so conciliatory, and not pointing out (as the person from the ACLU did) that there's no evidence whatsoever that such expanded governmental powers would have done anything to stop the TWA (possible) bombing - and evidence that it would do nothing whatsoever to stop events like the Olympic bombing. >Clinton calls for expanded measures against terrorism > _(c) Copyright 1996 Nando.net_ > New York Times > NEW ORLEANS -- Spurred by the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics, > President Clinton Sunday called on Congress to pass expanded measures > against terrorism -- including new federal wiretapping authority -- > that were dropped from the anti-terrorism bill passed last spring. > Clinton called on the congressional leadership from both parties to > join him and the director of the FBI, Louis J. Freeh, at the White > House on Monday to discuss additional steps the government might take > to combat terrorism. Speaker Newt Gingrich expressed willingness to > consider such measures and said he believed some agreement could be > worked out. [...] > Clinton originally proposed such markers, and expanded authority to > let the FBI wiretap suspected terrorists or groups who are moving from > place to place, after the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995, but the > measures were among those that fell out of the final bill. In an > unusual alliance, civil liberties groups and advocates of gun rights > joined forces to argue that the wiretapping expansion, in particular, > would violate constitutional rights of privacy and free association. [...] > Speaking Sunday morning on the NBC News program, "Meet the Press," > Gingrich said there was "a possibility" of reaching an agreement on > both issues, given the bombing in Atlanta and the suspicions that a > bomb may have brought down Trans World Airlines Flight 800. > He said that he thought Congress should "re-approach" the issue of > wiretapping, and that questions concerning the chemical markers were > "going to be negotiated." The Olympic bomb, he said, "shows you why > people are looking at that particular solution." > "I believe that the more there is terrorism, the more pressure we're > under to find systematic ways to solve it," said Gingrich, who had > opposed the proposals on chemical markers and wiretapping when the > administration made them. [...] > Clinton said the Group of 7 industrialized nations will meet on the > issue of terrorism in a few weeks. Announced at the summit of the > group in Lyons, France, last month, the meeting is intended to promote > international cooperation among police and intelligence agencies, > traditionally reluctant to share information, even among allies. [...] > In an interview Sunday, Schumer said that law-enforcement agencies > needed to be able to obtain telephone records of both incoming and > outgoing calls of suspects in international terrorism cases; to > monitor communications over digital networks, to keep up with > criminals who may activate a new cellular phone every few days, and > otherwise to stay abreast of the communications revolution. > Schumer said Gingrich was among those who "did everything they could > to weaken the bill" the first time it was passed. "Any time the NRA or > any of these far right groups sneezed, they jumped," he said. > Gingrich suggested Sunday that he favored an approach that would allow > monitoring of a suspect's calls across any number of telephones, but > said that should not mean that any phone that happened to be used by a > suspect could be monitored when other people were using it. > Ever since the TWA flight went down shortly after its departure from > John F. Kennedy Airport on July 17, FBI agents have been using the > attendant publicity to press the case for broader wiretapping > authority. The chief FBI officer on the scene of the disaster, James > Kallstrom, has repeated this plea. > But there continues to be some resistance to some of these ideas in > Congress. > "We're not prepared to extend wiretapping," said Sen. Arlen Specter, a > Pennsylvania Republican, in an interview on the CNN program Evans & > Novak on Saturday. "There was a judgment made in the Congress that > we're prepared to give up that bit of security for that bit of > freedom. And I think that's a wise judgment." > Laura W. Murphy, the director of the Washington office of the American > Civil Liberties Union, said the FBI was using terrorism to bolster its > arguments for techniques that it really wants to use in more typical > criminal cases. > "The idea that these roving wiretaps are going to lead to new > developments in our ability to fight terrorism is a big myth," she > said. > She said that only a minute fraction of wiretaps involve crimes of > terrorism, and that the new types of wiretaps the FBI seeks are more > invasive and more likely to track innocent parties than the old kinds. This one is the promised positive one on Clinton. > Centura > OLYMPIC IRAQI WEIGHTLIFTER WHO CARRIED FLAG DEFECTS TO UNITED STATES > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 The Associated Press > Ahmed said Iraqi officials had told the country's delegation to turn > their heads away from President Clinton while marching in the opening > ceremony because Clinton and former President Bush "wanted to destroy > Iraq." > "Everybody else in our group looked away from President Clinton. They > were not men. But I turned my head and looked at him and I could not > believe my eyes. He was standing and applauding for us," the Times > quoted Ahmed as saying. "I know that if the games were in Iraq, Saddam > Hussein would not clap for the U.S." And in this one, Clinton (like other politicians) gets angry at the thought that they might have to take some of that responsibility that they all keep talking about. (My suggestion is to remove sovreign immunity and allow wrongfully prosecuted persons to sue officials for their court and other costs. It would certainly decrease prosecutions to the absolute minimum.) -Allen > Avis > CLINTON'S TEMPER FLARES WHEN NEWS CONFERENCE STRAYS > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 Reuter Information Service > WASHINGTON (Aug 1, 1996 2:00 p.m. EDT) - President Clinton displayed a > fiery temper Thursday when at a news conference on the economy he was > asked about the White House travel office controversy and past drug > abuse by some staff members. [...] > "There are a lot of people who were never charged with anything, much > less offering to plead guilty to anything, who have been dragooned and > pulled up and had thousands and tens of thousands of dollars of legal > expenses, who were completely innocent, but have been subject to > abject harassment. > "Are we going to pay their legal expenses, too. Are we going to pay > the legal expenses of every person in America who is ever acquitted of > an offense?" Clinton asked heatedly.

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Re: Jewell is the Militia Bomber!!!!
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 5:53 AM 8/1/96, Rich Graves wrote: >Ferchrissakes, guys, take a step back and look at yourselves. You're playing >the spin control game just as fast and furious as the "bad guys" (?). First >the glee over how easy it was to find bomb-making instructions anywhere, >then saying it was a provocation by the government, now it becomes a ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >conspiracy against fat people who read gun magazines. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Rich, maybe you're spending too much time amongst the Zundelsite Neo-Nazis. You no longer recognize humor even when it's pretty damned obvious. --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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Jim Bell, stay out of Georgia....
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

They're arresting this guy because he had one mention of a Molotov Cocktail? Why am I reminded of the Haymarket trials? Where's a Governor Altgeld when you need him? Admittedly, this guy doesn't seem too bright... but if that were a reason to lock him up, the prisons would be even more crowded than they are now. -Allen >Anarchist charged with advocating government overthrow > _(c) Copyright 1996 Nando.net _ > New York Times > JONESBORO, Ga. -- An 18-year-old self-styled anarchist who allegedly > distributed a free, homemade pamphlet with anti-government rhetoric > has been charged with advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government. [...] > Clayton County police Lt. Larry Gibson said Moreland turned himself in > Sunday. Authorities obtained an arrest warrant for Moreland Saturday > after the pipe bombing at Centennial Olympic Park, although police say > they don't think he played any role in the crime. > "He told us he was only interested in destroying property, and I don't > think he fully understands the ramifications," Gibson said. "Whatever > he was up to, we wanted to nip it in the bud." > Moreland had been under investigation since July 8 when authorities > received a copy of a pamphlet called "Rise Above." Police traced the > pamphlets to a mail box service in a shopping center allegedly rented > in Moreland's name. > The pamphlet was laced with with anti-police cartoons, obscenities, > and anarchist slogans. The one overt reference to violence was an > illustration of a "Molotov cocktail" on the same sheet with a recipe > for "soy milk" made from water-soaked soybeans, sugar and vanilla and > strained through a T-shirt.

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[Editorial] Privacy commisioner right-Canada
by jbugden＠smtplink.alis.ca 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Privacy commisioner right Editorial Ottawa Citizen, July 31 Bruce Phillips, the privacy commisioner, has again called for reinforcements to defend personal privacy against the assaults of commercialism and technology. It is a call that demands action-from the federal government, Parliament and every Canadian. The commisioner's annual report proposes two essential recommendations. First, the government should make the protection of privacy a condition of sale whenever a government enterprise is sold to the private sector. Second, the government and Parliament must pass a law extending the enforcement of privacy rights to private-sector businesses in federal jurisdiction. Phillips is right. As thousands of public servants are transferred out of government service, they lose the protection of the Privacy Act -- which covers only government departments and agencies. And as more personal information about all of us accumulates in the corporate sector, there is an intensified public interest in extending legal protections. ******* Phillips acknowledges the profitability of buying, selling and exploiting personal data on employees and customers. And he sees the power of new technologies to make privacy violations faster, cheaper, more comprehensive and always more intrusive. ******* But he insists that preserving personal privacy is both possible and necessary: "If we discard the notion of privacy and simply treat one another as data subjects, as objects of surveillance, we abandon that fundamental, democratic notion of autonomy and self-determination." Right Again.

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Jew Bits, Credentials, and the Cypherpunk Way
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 5:12 PM 8/1/96, Alex de Joode wrote: >Ernest Hua (hua(a)chromatic.com) wrote: >: How does one verify that an IP address is coming from a U.S. site? >: How do most FTP site (e.g. those which carry crypto) determine the >: origins of a connection? > >What's the use ? It makes it only nominally more difficult to access >an US crypto site, one needs first to esthablish an US beachhead ie. >open an US account, and ftp the eleet crypto warez using the newly >created US account as an intermediary. > >So the next step will be a tag that a user is an 'alien' ? Along with the "Jew bit." (Credit goes to Hugh Daniel, as I recall, for this one. At the CFP in '95 he made up various badges with things like this, including "Is your Jew bit set?") On a serious note, the whole thrust of the CDA discussion raised this issue, of having "age bits" in all packets and/or credentials. There is the very real danger, I fear, that the current swirl of topics (terrorism, exports, G7 New World Order, pornography, bomb-making, etc.) will lead to moves for "credentials" of various sorts. (I'm sure the IETF folks can point out the problems with such schemes. I'm not sure they'd fly, but they may get proposed.) Such credentials--aka "the Internet Driver's License"--could have fields for name, true name, key, age, sex, and perhaps even things like special orders from courts (e.g., "Tim May is under court order in Idaho, U.S., not to have access to aptical foddering information"). Many countries, which do not have the nominal separation of church and state the U.S has, will want fields for religious affiliation, etc. We cannot fight this at the ballot box, as the trends are simply too strong (as Lucky notes, Americans will cheer when strong crypto is outlawed). The only way is the Cypherpunk Way: Direct Action Through Technology. 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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