December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Movies
by Adamsc＠io-online.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Tue, 10 Sep 1996 13:35:52 +0200 (METDST), Asgaard wrote: >> is viewed as being essentially Mexican. (Some great humor, too. And a good >> murder mystery. And a love story. Conspiracy, humor, murder, love...all the >> ingredients of a great story. All three major American races collide, and > >I think the love ingredients, all too common in movies without adding >anything to the real story, are a pain in the behind. I usually channel- >surf during the coitus scene (one in every movie for the last year). "We've just barely managed to escape the transdimensional alien demon spawn. We're bruised and exhausted. Let's make love in this ditch and hope the alien's Nazi henchmen don't find us!" And people say Hollywood retains even a touch of reality. . . # Chris Adams <adamsc(a)io-online.com> | http://www.io-online.com/adamsc/adamsc.htp # cadams(a)acucobol.com | V.M. (619)515-4894 "I have never been able to figure out why anyone would want to play games on a computer in any case when the whole system is a game. Word processing, spreadsheets, telecoms -- it's all a game. And they pay you to play it." -- Duncan Frissell

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Re: Child Porn as Thoughtcrime
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Declan answers in the affirmative that, yes, nearly all of the examples I cited are indeed crimes. As I well knew, which is why I presented them. (The Jock Sturges case was in SF, the "little girls in leotards" case was only a few years ago, etc.) My point really was not to ask if the examples are illegal but to point out the "thoughtcrime" nature of making it a felony to draw pictures of naked children, when clearly no actual child was ever involved, when no actual person could have been the victim of an actual crime. --Tim May We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I 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, Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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FW: Child Porn as Thoughtcrime
by blanc 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Blanc, responding to herself (a la Detweiler - NOT) >Many people seek after sympathy towards their feelings (present and/or future >pain) more than to be respected for the ability to think. I imagine this >develops into a reduced sympathy towards certain kinds of thought or towards >thinking per se, eventually, promoting a general atmosphere of tolerance for >offenses like "thoughtcrimes". ................................................................ This statement is entirely wrong and totally false. What I really meant to say, rather than "tolerance for offenses like...", was that there is created an atmosphere which is tolerant towards classifying certain kinds of thinking as "thought crimes". And once it is allowed that some types of thoughts, or some types of thinking, are classifiable as criminally offensive, I expect most anyone on this list can extrapolate the consequences of such a development upon the collective conscience. .. Blanc

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Re: Crypto Anachy MUD
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:01 AM 9/10/96 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote: >At 5:10 AM 9/10/96, Jon Leonard wrote: >>Duncan Frissell wrote: >>> Did anyone make the point (I gave up on the thread) that we already have a >>> great Crypto Anarchy MUD with lots of the coding already done. We call it >>> the Internet. Digital cash, strong crypto, remailers, everything. >> >>Tim May expressed doubt that it was worth the effort: Not much easier >>than the real thing, and not as good. That's the closest to your point, >>I think. >.... >>Finally, a MUD has the potential to spread crypto-anarchic ideas to people >>who would not otherwise have considered them. >> >>It may be that I'm wasting my time, but I could come up with some useful >>new crypto protocol too. > >Don't tar me with the "Tim said it was a waste of time" label. Rather, I >said I thought it would be pretty tough to get a reasonable ontology, one >with rich enough behaviors and reasonable incentives and disincentives. >Simulations are an art...they were useful in nuclear war planning, where >the degrees of freedom were constrained, and so on. Jon Leonard made it clear to me that he was planning a human-assisted game/MUD, rather than a computer simulation. His explanation is that it is difficult to implement an unbiased simulation, because it is difficult to "simulate" a human. But putting people controlling characters into the equation restores the "human element" which arguably will make the results more realistic. Makes sense to me. The one item I suggested was that instead of people controlling individual characters in this MUD, they control a "weighted character" whose weight depends on the number of people of that type in the society. After all, in the path towards a crypto anarchy-type situation, people will naturally have to migrade away from government-oriented solutions, and towards other jobs. Some will be killed, some will retire, some will switch jobs, etc. Turning such a group into a weighted character would allow their number to reflect societal changes a more quantitatively than individual characters. Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Re: Conjuring up the latest utopia for a minoritarian sect of illuminati
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 1:46 AM 9/11/96, Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM wrote: >tcmay(a)got.net (Timothy C. May) writes: >> I didn't call for your "expulsion." No one has been expelled in four years >> of the list's existence. > >However Tim has been complaining about my postings to various people I know >and respect. (I stopped respecting Tim years ago.) And who might these people be? I suggest you name them, as I have not even mentioned your name to anyone. You don't rate a complaint from me. --TCM We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I 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, Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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(Fnord) Edupage, 10 September 1996
by Deranged Mutant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Chances are this already made it to the list... ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- ************************************************************ Edupage, 10 September 1996. Edupage, a summary of news about information technology, is provided three times a week as a service by Educom, a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and universities seeking to transform education through the use of information technology. ************************************************************ TOP STORIES Wired World Will "Diminish National Sovereignty" [..] WIRED WORLD WILL "DIMINISH NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY" A leading Clinton Administration official on information security and cryptography matters says that traditional notions of sovereignty, national security and warfare will be undermined by the year 2020, when the whole world is "wired" and e-cash is the norm. The result will be less powerful governments in relation to criminal organizations such as the Mafia and international drug cartels, says Michael Nelson, who adds that organized crime members are already some of the most sophisticated users of computer systems and strong encryption technology. In addition, computer crackers will pose a more significant threat. In response, Nelson advocates resolving the issue of whether unauthorized access of a computer is an "act of trespass" or an "act of war," and prosecuting the intrusions accordingly. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 6 Sep 96 A14) [..]

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No Subject
by scrappo.reverb＠juno.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I apologize for any behavior on behalf of my domain name. (A little background:) I am a cryptographer hopeful. I was interested in such things as the Caesar Cypher and the Enigma machine and the Roman encryption "padlock" when other kids were more interested in how the water fountain shot water straight up. After some thought and a little writing, I developed an encryption program using Mallard Basic on an old Amstrad (which I still grudgingly keep) with programming skills I taught myself. I know most of the basics regarding RSA, PGP, and assorted single pass (?) cyphers. One thing I do not understand has to do with how RSA sieves large primes, etc. That is one of the few things that I do not understand about RSA. Another aspect of RSA I do not understand is the usage of primes (or any number) in the actual encryption process. Does the program add numbers from the key to the plaintext to create the cyphertext, or does it use some other process. I am sorry if any of these questions seem redundant and/or stupid, but at this point in time, I can't get my hands on any actual explanation for how it works. (I would get a copy of "Applied Cryptography," but I do not have any source of income, which also explains Juno.) Aiieee!!! the dreaded "J" word! Once again, I apologize if any of this caused annoyance or sickness.

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Please don't killfile juno.com
by Will French 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Looks to me like there's at least one person at Juno who's interested in serious crypto. This message just appeared on the list, but I'm forwarding it in case anyone's actually killfiled the site. ---begin forward--- > I apologize for any behavior on behalf of my domain name. > (A little background:) > I am a cryptographer hopeful. I was interested in such things > as the Caesar Cypher and the Enigma machine and the Roman > encryption "padlock" when other kids were more interested in > how the water fountain shot water straight up. After some > thought and a little writing, I developed an encryption > program using Mallard Basic on an old Amstrad (which I still > grudgingly keep) with programming skills I taught myself. > I know most of the basics regarding RSA, PGP, and assorted > single pass (?) cyphers. One thing I do not understand has to > do with how RSA sieves large primes, etc. That is one of the > few things that I do not understand about RSA. Another aspect > of RSA I do not understand is the usage of primes (or any > number) in the actual encryption process. Does the program add > numbers from the key to the plaintext to create the > cyphertext, or does it use some other process. > I am sorry if any of these questions seem redundant and/or > stupid, but at this point in time, I can't get my hands on any > actual explanation for how it works. (I would get a copy of > "Applied Cryptography," but I do not have any source of > income, which also explains Juno.) Aiieee!!! the dreaded "J" > word! > Once again, I apologize if any of this caused annoyance or > sickness.

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Re: LACC: Bernie S. attacked in prison
by Julian Assange 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> >Of course. Surprising or shocking? Not in the least. > > > > Nico Garcia > > raoul(a)tiac.net > > Every day that I wake up, I'm amazed at how far this country has > devolved. When rational people sit quietly and accept the abuses of the > police and other authorities, it is a sign that society has truly turned > belly-up. I was shocked. I've had some dealings with the SS. Their behavior in court, painting Ed as a "terrorist" was to be expected, NOT condoned. What happened to Ed in prison is shocking. If Ed was a killer of little children, then I could understand. He wasn't. At his worst Ed's crime was no more than petty white collar fraud. Ed would not have been imprisoned in Australia. I've reviewed many US computer crime / toll fraud cases, including sentencing decisions. I found myself very unimpressed with US sentencing guidelines, which are extremely rigid and compartmentalised, leaving a sentencing judge with almost no disgression or ability to impose a sentence that fits the crime as a whole or the defendant as a whole. Whether Nico or anyone else found the violence against Cummings "shocking" or "to be expected" or not, is of no import. No one is surprised to hear that a pretty girl walking alone through central park in the middle of the night has been brutally raped. This makes the crime, and its effects on the victim no less hideous. Those that abuse their power and inflict grave violence on others must be held accountable and their crimes deplored and punished in the strongest manner. Failure to do so merely creates an environment where such behavior becomes predominant. This is not acceptable. -- "Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies, The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - C.S. Lewis, _God in the Dock_ +---------------------+--------------------+----------------------------------+ |Julian Assange RSO | PO Box 2031 BARKER | Secret Analytic Guy Union | |proff(a)suburbia.net | VIC 3122 AUSTRALIA | finger for PGP key hash ID = | |proff(a)gnu.ai.mit.edu | FAX +61-3-98199066 | 0619737CCC143F6DEA73E27378933690 | +---------------------+--------------------+----------------------------------+

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Digital rights organisation
by Stephan Schmidt 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi, thinking about what happend in Germany, are there any 'digital rights' organisations in Germany ? If not, we would like to found one. Are there any international orgs (EFF?,...) who can help us ? What goals do they have ? To Germans: How do I found an e.V. in Germany ? Thanks for the help in advance, -stephan

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