December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

[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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Bombs & bomb threats in LA
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Well, dry ice bombs are in the rec.pyrotechnics FAQ, stored among other places at: http://www.nectec.or.th/pub/mirrors/faq/pyrotechnics-faq and everyplace else all the news.answers FAQs are stored. What, precisely, is an acid bomb? Also note the standard blame-the-Internet (not, say, increased irritation with government after the Republicans failed to reduce it) rhetoric. -Allen > Cobb Group - Netscape > NUMBER OF LEGITIMATE BOMB THREATS HAVE INCREASED IN L.A. OVER 1995 > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 Los Angeles Daily News > LOS ANGELES (Aug 1, 1996 10:11 a.m. EDT) -- A bomb threat closed the > entire roadway network within the Los Angeles International Airport > for 45 minutes, creating a massive traffic tangle that came on top of > delays from heightened security. [...] > Police say the case is the latest in a rash of bomb threats and > suspicious package discoveries in Los Angeles borne of heightened > concern and publicity surrounding the recent bombing at the Olympics, > the mysterious crash of TWA Flight 800 and last year's Oklahoma City > bombing. > Each threat is taken seriously by law enforcement officials, who who > say they are responding to a greater number of calls -- and, in Los > Angeles County, finding a greater number of explosive devices. > A Sheriff's Department spokesman said 178 potentially explosive > devices have been found in the county out of a total of 273 calls > answered in the first six months of this year. > By contrast, only 86 such devices were found out of 259 calls in the > first half of 1995. [...] > "We're going to top 70 for the month -- that is a record in this > unit," Spencer said. "And the actual devices that really cause damage > has gone up." > Among devices found by sheriff's deputies: nine pipe bombs, 53 pieces > of military ordnance, 44 Molotov cocktails, 12 fireworks-pyrotechnic > devices, two acid bombs and five dry ice bombs. > In the city, the Los Angeles Police Department's bomb squad responded > to 972 calls in 1995 -- up from 717 in 1994. > Of those calls last year, 181 were for either fireworks, ordnance or > other potentially threatening items, police said. > The squad destroyed 73 devices and investigated 41 explosions -- many > in mailboxes -- that occurred over the year. Most calls, however, were > for suspicious packages that turned out to be harmless. > "We have had an excessive amount of bomb calls on the heels of the > pipe bombing in Atlanta," said Lt. Tony Alba, an LAPD spokesman. "They > have been running around like crazy ever since the Atlanta incident, a > lot of suspicious package calls." [...] > Also on Wednesday, 55 miles north of downtown Los Angeles in > Lancaster, the sheriff's bomb squad was summoned to the parking lot at > an Elks Lodge where deputies found a homemade device -- which included > half-sticks of dynamite and BBs. [...] > And Monday, an Ensenada, Mexico-bound Carnival cruise ship, filled > with 1,846 passengers, was forced to turn around and head back to port > after a bomb threat was made. No bomb was found. > "To some it is a power thing," said Sgt. Al Humphries of the Sheriff's > Department bomb squad. "With 20 cents and a mean spirit you can make a > cruise ship turn around, or make an airplane turn back." > Spencer and security experts agree media attention that focused on > bombs in the aftermath of the Centennial Olympic Park and TWA > explosions have factored into the flurry of threats and reported > suspicious packages. > William Daly, managing director at Kroll Associates, a New York-based > security firm, said the activity will diminish as the spotlight fades. > "If you look after the World Trade Center bombing, there was a > dramatic increase the next day, unfortunately tied to the attention on > the issue," Daly said. > "These people who are on the fringe, they enjoy seeing emergency > service, knowing that it is going to disrupt a city," he said. "This > is the way they live out their fantasy. The more they see it being > received and responded to, the more it will continue." [...] > Spencer said information about bomb-making on the Internet may be the > answer to the greater numbers of actual devices being made. > "This information is readily available on the Internet," he said. > "What we've noticed is that a lot of juveniles have gotten the > information off the Internet -- they admit it." > Alba said the most common devices found by the LAPD are pipe bombs and > dry ice bombs, often used to blow up mailboxes. > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net

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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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Terror attack!
by Mike McNally 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

"I think I see one outside my window! Help!" A breaking story from Reuters: > FBI Chief Says U.S. Under Terrorist Attack > WASHINGTON (Reuter) - FBI Director Louis Freeh warned Congress Thursday > that the United States was under attack from foreigh terrorists and > said new counter-terrorism weapons were needed to fight back. Why don't they just be done with it and declare martial law? ______c_____________________________________________________________________ Mike M Nally * Tiv^H^H^H IBM * Austin TX * For the time being, m5(a)tivoli.com * m101(a)io.com * <URL:http://www.io.com/~m101> * three heads and eight arms.

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Republican convention security
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Why am I not reassured by what convention Chuck Vance participated in in the 1960's? And why do I suspect that the ADF calls a militia any group of people who have a political viewpoint different from theirs and might be armed (including via martial arts)? -Allen > Cobb Group - Netscape > SECURITY OUTSIDE THE CONVENTION HALLS IS FOCUS IN SAN DIEGO, CHICAGO > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 The Associated Press [...] > WASHINGTON (Aug 1, 1996 10:29 a.m. EDT) -- Beach parties, concerts and > fund-raisers will lure delegates from the air-conditioned halls of the > Republican and Democratic conventions next month, and officials say > keeping these off-site venues safe will be one of their biggest > challenges. [...] > Convention security used to focus on foiling a lone individual bent on > disrupting the meeting, but now groups like anti-government militias > are more of a worry, said Chuck Vance. The former Secret Service agent > helped coordinate security for the 1968 Democratic meeting in Chicago > that was punctuated by anti-war protests. [...] > Statistics give little reason for security planners to breath easy. > A recent study by the Anti-Defamation League said the number of > antigovernment militia groups in California jumped from two in 1994 to > 35 last year. > And in San Diego County, one to five actual or suspected pipe bomb > incidents are reported every week, and a total of 32 hand grenade > incidents were reported in the first four months of this year, the > sheriff's department said. Six pipe bombs have exploded already this > year; there were seven in all of 1995. None were targeted at > government buildings. > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net

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More evidence that democracy is bunk
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

And some people think democracies secure civil liberties... -Allen >Poll finds most Americans want broader authority to probe terrorism > _(c) Copyright 1996 Nando.net_ > Associated Press > NEW YORK -- Americans overwhelmingly want the federal government to > have more authority to check out terrorist groups, according to a CBS > news poll released Tuesday. [...] > As an antidote, 80 percent believe the federal government should have > more power to investigate terrorists, but just 52 percent believe > wiretaps should be expanded. > Three out of five said they still favor giving the government more > power even if that meant groups unrelated to terrorism were > investigated, too. > Even if it cost more, nearly nine out of 10 people surveyed want more > security checkpoints, guards and metal detectors -- and they'd be > willing to wait longer in lines -- at public events.

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Is 1024-bit PGP key enough?
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Is security provided by 1024-bit PGP key sufficient against most powerful computers that are available today? Say if smoe organization spent 10 billions of dollars on a cracking machine, would it be possible to crack the keys in reasonable time?

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(Un)Freeh makes claims on wiretapping
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The usual governmental rhetoric. Again, I'm not seeing achnowledgement from anyone except maybe the ACLU that there's no evidence that such tactics would have stopped the TWA bombing - not that they would be justified even if it would have. Legalized drugs, etcetera would free up quite enough law enforcement to take care of the problem. -Allen > Cobb Group - Netscape > FBI DIRECTOR: WIRETAP PROPOSALS WON'T THREATEN LIBERTIES > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 The Associated Press > WASHINGTON (Aug 1, 1996 1:41 p.m. EDT) -- FBI Director Louis Freeh > said today Americans are under increasing attack by terrorists and > proposed new wiretapping authority would not greatly expand > government's powers. > "The country and the American people have been experiencing an > increasing war against them by terrorists and terrorist-supported > activities," Freeh told a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. > Americans "are clearly under attack and we are the prime targets for > this kind of terrorism." [...] > Freeh said the wiretap proposals do not involve "expansive powers" for > the government and would not lead to "an avalanche of new electronic > surveillance." > A leading GOP opponent of an earlier, more sweeping anti-terrorism > bill said today he didn't believe Congress could enact a new package > before its recess this weekend. > "I think it would be very difficult to do in light of the logistics > and the opposition," Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., told reporters. "The > (anti-terrorism) funding is there. No new laws are needed." > Asked about Barr's comments, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, head of a > bipartisan task force that has been negotiating with administration > officials on the anti-terrorism proposals, said, "That's part of the > obstacle. It's what we have to deal with. What we do has to reach the > level of consensus." > The negotiators, led by Craig and White House chief of staff Leon > Panetta, said they hoped to have a package ready for a vote by week's > end before Congress leaves for its August recess.

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Looks like they may actually pass something... hell.
by E. ALLEN SMITH 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I had hoped that normal government incompetence would prevent them from passing something. Well, there's still hope that it'll get clogged up, or that the courts will toss it out - somehow I think they won't like the idea of taps without a court order, for instance (giving up a judicial prerogative). I am also somewhat puzzled by the racketeering law reference - I had thought that federal racketeering laws allowed civil forfeiture sans conviction (shudder)? The "funding" for telephone companies sounds suspiciously like funding Digital Telephony. -Allen > School House > WHITE HOUSE, KEY LAWMAKERS AGREE ON ANTI-TERRORISM PROPOSALS > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net > Copyright &copy 1996 The Associated Press > WASHINGTON (Aug 1, 1996 09:53 a.m. EDT) -- After wrangling with key > Republican lawmakers, the White House has won agreement on a package > of anti-terrorism measures that would expand wiretapping authority and > tighten airport security. [...] > But omitted from the agreement was a central part of Clinton's > proposals, a study of chemical markers in explosives, called taggants, > which had been heavily criticized by some Republicans. Also rejected > was a provision to allow the FBI to get information on suspected > terrorists from hotels, telephone companies and storage facilities. [...] The agreement also would allow prosecution of suspected terrorists under federal racketeering laws, which would make anyone convicted subject to asset forfeitures and longer sentences. > The negotiators, led by Panetta and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said > they hoped to have a package ready for a vote by week's end, before > Congress leaves for its August recess. > But Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said earlier in the > day that final passage before the recess appeared unlikely. "I don't > see how in the world we can get it done" by then, Lott told reporters. > Lott and other GOP leaders summoned Attorney General Janet Reno, > Panetta and FBI Director Louis Freeh to a meeting today to explain why > some of the FBI's anti-terrorism funds haven't been spent. > "We are increasingly concerned that monies and authorities already > granted to the administration are not being used effectively or at > all," Lott, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and House Majority > Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, wrote in a letter to Clinton. > Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin said the Republican > assertions were "misleading." > Gingrich and Lott also proposed that a blue-ribbon commission review > the government's anti-terrorism policy -- a move that would delay > congressional action. The new package includes such a commission for > longer-term legislative proposals, Craig said. > He said the lawmakers' aides planned to work through the night to > draft the proposals into a package that could be put to a vote before > week's end. > "I feel very positive at this moment," Craig told reporters Wednesday > night. > Craig said the proposals included multipoint wiretaps, which allow law > enforcement agents to monitor all phone calls made by a suspected > terrorist, rather than just those from a specific telephone, as well > as emergency wiretaps, which are valid for 48 hours without a court > order. [... yeah, right] > Craig stressed that the new wiretap provisions would include "some > privacy language that will protect people." > Other proposals on which accord was reached include the use of special > technology to make it easier to trace telephone numbers called by > suspected terrorists and a trust fund to reimburse phone companies for > expenses they incur in that area. > Craig listed the proposals but gave few details, which had yet to be > worked out. > Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net

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Re: A funny thing happend to my data on the way to the bank
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 5:45 PM 8/1/96, anonymous-remailer(a)shell.portal.com wrote: >The Prime Minister's Social Security Number >Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's US Social Security Number is >172-42-6111, according to the Boston Consulting Group in Massachusetts, >which employed Netanyahu for about one-year during 1979-80.=20 > >The number indicated by the marketing firm contradicts information contained >in a credit report by the US federally-regulated Transunion Company, pulled >from company files during the first days of July. According to that report, >Netanyahu and an American named John J. Sullivan both used Social Security >number 020-36-4537. > >Questions were raised in the reports as to whether Netanyahu had attempted >to create a false identity or had used a number which was not his. >Publication of the credit report findings, and later reports indicating >that Netanyahu's name had suddenly been deleted from Transunion's files, >raised additional questions about possible computer break-ins into the >company's records. It is not likely to be a "break-in." Rather, the Big Three credit reporting agencies, Transunion, TRW Credit, and Equifax, routinely are complicit in creating false credit histories as part of the "legends" of agents, persons in the Federal Witness Security Program, etc. (Do you not think Equifax would "notice" a new identity which popped into existence in 1995, complete with a 10-year credit history, a high school diploma, a record of past employment, etc.? There is a good reason these companies have close ties with the TLAs in the D.C. area...where, perhaps coincidentally, they have major offices.) My Cyphernomicon has more information about the roles the credit agencies have played in creating false identities and maintaining their cover, and the role of FinCEN and its ties to these nominally-private agencies. What this report about Net-n-Yahoo has confirmed is his almost certain role as an agent of the U.S. intelligence agencies. His role in the Pollard case is likely to come out in the next few months. (Look for legislation from Feinswine and others making it a felony to disclose Social Security numbers....) --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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