December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

NYT on IBM GAK
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The New York Times, October 2, 1996, pp. D1, D8. Compromise Is Offered on Computer Security Codes By John Markoff The Clinton Administration offered a compromise to the computer industry yesterday by holding out the possibility of removing all export restrictions on data-scrambling technology for companies that accept a new approach to allow law enforcement officials to unscramble coded messages. The new system is being recommended by an alliance led by I.B.M.. The approach is to be announced today and has passed muster with the Central Intelligence Agency. It would enable law enforcement officials to unscramble computer communications -- provided they have a warrant -- without having to obtain a mathematical key to the code. Instead, the agents could use the warrant to obtain the cooperation of outside parties to help unscramble portions of code accompanying a message. This information would then allow law enforcement officials to draw mathematical inferences enabling them to decipher the scrambled messages. By making it at least a two-step process to decipher a scrambled, or encrypted, message, and by requiring the cooperation of at least two outside parties designated by the code users themselves, the approach is supposed to address the main criticisms against data-scrambling systems previously endorsed by the Government. But some industry executives and privacy-rights advocates said yesterday that the new approach would not satisfy their objections to a Government-backed eavesdropping system. Critics contend that any such system could compromise the privacy of United States citizens and hinder the ability of American high-technology companies to sell their most sophisticated data-security products overseas. Executives of the International Business Machines Corporation said late yesterday that they were still lining up the final list of companies in the alliance. Those involved will include Digital Equipment and smaller data-security companies including RSA Data Security, Cylink and Trusted Information Systems. The computer industry and the Clinton Administration, as well as factions within the Administration, have been at an impasse for years over export policy for data-scrambling technology. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies, fearing that such technology can be used by terrorists and criminals to conspire with impunity, have insisted on a system for cracking the coded messages under certain circumstances. Seeking to end the deadlock, I.B.M. set in motion the new compromise earlier this year when it demonstrated its experimental approach to the C.I.A. Director, John Deutsch. Mr. Deutsch then took an active role in the internal Administration debate, in which Justice Department and F.B.I. officials had previously taken a hard line against loosening export controls, according to several people familiar with the talks. In a public statement issued yesterday Vice President Al Gore said that if the I.B.M. data-deciphering technology proved workable, there would no longer be export restrictions on the strength of the data-scrambling technology or on the type of software algorithms -- or mathematical formulas -- employed. The Administration is calling the I.B.M. approach a "key recovery" system. The designation is meant to distinguish it from previously proposed "key escrow" systems, like one called Clipper that the Government put forth a few years ago. In an escrow system, one or more Government or private-industry escrow agents would hold keys for unlocking coded messages, which could be used by law-enforcement agents with a warrant. The drawbacks, according to I.B.M., are that the storage of the keys can become a record-keeping nightmare and can also make the system vulnerable to unauthorized use of the keys. The I.B.M. approach is intended to eliminate this vulnerability by giving no third party an actual key to the code. Instead, at least two "trusted agents" would be required to help unscramble encrypted information in the header of each message. Only after this portion of the message is deciphered, I.B.M. said, would law-enforcement agents be able to unscramble the contents of the message itself by recreating the original key to the code. "Our theory is this should work the same way as your filing cabinet," said Kathy Kincaid, an I.B.M. computer security executive. "You wouldn't give law enforcement the keys to your filing cabinet unless they had a search warrant." And yet, even one of the companies that I.B.M. is counting on as an alliance member said yesterday that new approach did not go far enough beyond the old Clipper plan, in terms of privacy protection. "The Government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos, chief executive of RSA Data Security, one of the country's leading developers of data-scrambling software. "We warned I.B.M. that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology." The Clinton Administration also angered executives at the software company Netscape Communications, who warned that even the new Government plan would continue to hinder the American industry's ability to compete internationally. Peter Harter, Netscape's public-policy lawyer, contended that the Administration was playing favorites among computer companies, rewarding those willing to go along with its approach by removing export restrictions that might be retained for companies not willing to incorporate the "key recovery" system in their products. "This is tantamount to making public policy by extorting high-tech companies," Mr. Harter said. But some computer hardware makers were more conciliatory. "From my perspective the process has been much better this time," said Eric Schmitt, Sun Microsystem's chief technology officer. "The question is still, 'How will industry implement key recovery?' It's still too early to say." [End]

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REM_ail
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

10-8-96. VV: "The Remailer Is Dead, Long Live the Remailer. Life After Penet." By Dave Mandl (Excellent, Dave, yes!) By the strict standards of the cypherpunks, a loosely knit affinity group of the Net's most radical and technoliterate privacy advocates, Penet's security was actually on the flimsy side. Its Achilles' heel was the file -- just begging to be subpoenaed -- that linked users' real names to their Penet pseudonyms. Cypherpunk-run remailers, on the other hand, generally leave no trace of the sender's true identity. In addition, cypherpunk remailers can be "chained" -- messages can be routed through several far-flung remailers before reaching their final destination, making message tracing all but impossible, even for the remailer operators. ----- http://jya.com/remail.txt ftp://jya.com/pub/incoming/remail.txt REM_ail

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Re: NYT on IBM GAK
by Rich Burroughs 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 11:14 AM 10/2/96 GMT, jya(a)pipeline.com (John Young) wrote: > The New York Times, October 2, 1996, pp. D1, D8. > > > Compromise Is Offered on Computer Security Codes > > By John Markoff [snip] > Executives of the International Business Machines > Corporation said late yesterday that they were still lining > up the final list of companies in the alliance. Those > involved will include Digital Equipment and smaller > data-security companies including RSA Data Security, Cylink ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > and Trusted Information Systems. [snip] > "The Government announcement is disastrous," said Jim > Bidzos, chief executive of RSA Data Security, one of the > country's leading developers of data-scrambling software. > "We warned I.B.M. that the National Security Agency would > try to twist their technology." [snip] Isn't there at least a slight contradiction here? Hello, Mr. Markoff? Is RSA really involved in this "alliance" (read "sell out") or did IBM just throw out their name? Inquiring minds want to know... Rich ______________________________________________________________________ Rich Burroughs richieb(a)teleport.com http://www.teleport.com/~richieb See my Blue Ribbon Page at http://www.teleport.com/~richieb/blueribbon U.S. State Censorship Page at - http://www.teleport.com/~richieb/state New EF zine "cause for alarm" - http://www.teleport.com/~richieb/cause

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Re: LDS 'mountain'
by Dale Thorn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

attila wrote: > Dale: > the 'mountain' contains only original copies of the church > records (actually quite small) and the immense collection of > the genealogy of the world as records are microfilmed whereever > the have been available. these records contain ** only ** birth, > baptismal, marriage, death, and burial records. most European > records come from the churchs. [remaining text deleted] The only reason I would bother to mention this is merely to caution people to think: What could *possibly* happen if the shoe were on the other foot. If the Constitution is about anything at all, it's about balance of power, and when *any* power transfers more to one interest than another, interesting changes can occur. BTW, there have been articles in the L.A. Times about attempts by persons not of the Mormon faith to prevent Mormons from dominating the cultural life in SLC schools, other public venues, etc. This raises the eternal question: Can a group live the way *it* wants to without interference, or is group culture always going to constitute a threat to persons in the vicinity who don't share that culture?

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Thoughtcrime a Reality: U.S. Toughens Child Pornography Law
by Joseph M. Reagle Jr. 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Congress cracked down on child >pornographers in a new law that took effect Tuesday, making it >illegal to appear to depict children in sexual situations, >whether in films, computer images or photographs. > But the American Civil Liberties Union decried the law as >unconstitutional and a waste of prosecutors' resources, since it >expanded a law designed to protect any actual children used to >produce pornography. The ACLU said it also was so broad that >adults portraying children in films could risk prosecution. > Previously, depictions of minors produced by computers >without using children had been outside the scope of federal >law. The new law expands the definition of child pornography to >include any image -- photograph, video or computer-generated >image -- that depicts or appears to depict a minor engaged in >sexually explicit conduct. > Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Utah >Republican, said it was designed to protect children from sexual >exploitation and pedophiles. ``This is a tough bill aimed a >child pornographers,'' he said. > ``While federal law has failed to keep pace with technology, >the purveyors of child pornography have been right on line with >it. Passage of this bill will help to correct that problem,'' >Hatch said. > But ACLU legislative counsel Daniel Katz said it had major >ramifications for artists, the film industry and journalism. He >said it included a waiver-of-privacy rule to permit newsroom >searches for information related to investigations of child >pornography. > ``It is much broader, and the ramifications are >extraordinary, both for artists and for people in the cinema,'' >Katz said. Under this expanded definition of child pornography, >it would be illegal to produce or show a film that included an >adult actor or actress portraying a minor in a sexually explicit >scene, he said. > Computers can be used to alter photographs, films and videos >to produce sexually explicit materials virtually >indistinguishable from unretouched photographs. The new >technology has hampered prosecutors in their ability to obtain >convictions because it can be impossible to identify individuals >or to prove that the materials were produced using real >children. > The new law would allow prosecution of pornographers whether >or not the identity of the child could be determined, so long as >the person, even if an adult, appeared to be a minor. Currently, >pornography is protected under free speech laws except when a >minor child is involved. > Hatch said the Judiciary Committee determined that >computer-generated pornography posed many of the same dangers to >children as did pornography made from unretouched photographs in >that it could be used to seduce children into sexual activity or >to encourage a pedophile to prey on them. > The new law sets mandatory prison sentences of 15 years for >production of child pornography, five years for possession of >the materials and life in prison for repeat offenders convicted >of sexual abuse of a minor. > The child pornography law was included in part of a broad >spending bill President Clinton signed into law Monday. It had >passed the Senate Monday just hours before the midnight deadline >for the start of the new financial year. > It does not address new or expanded regulation of the >Internet. The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to >overturn a landmark ruling by a Philadelphia appeals court that >blocked as unconstitutional a new federal law barring indecency >on the Internet. > > > _______________________ Regards, You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. -Mark Twain Joseph Reagle http://rpcp.mit.edu/~reagle/home.html reagle(a)mit.edu E0 D5 B2 05 B6 12 DA 65 BE 4D E3 C1 6A 66 25 4E

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encrypting pppd?
by VaX#n8 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Anyone worked on, or know of a freely available, one of these beasts?

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send me mail
by spatterson＠juno.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hello, In the happy mutant handbook it said your name on the crypto section so what do you do? And can you send me some cool, info? Thanks, scott **Rember to see scotts page at*** WWW.GEOCITES.COM/HOLLYWOOD/HILLS/3108

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Re: Signs of Trouble in D.C.
by Dustbin Freedom Remailer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Tue, 1 Oct 1996, Black Unicorn wrote: > Any person congregating in a group of 2 or more persons on > public space within the boundaries of this drug free zone for Keep moving, proles. The War on Some Drugs must continue. Now excuse me while I join my friends for a joint.

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[IMPORTANT] GAK
by Dustbin Freedom Remailer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Timmy May is a convicted child molester.

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Utah as a Religious Police State
by John C. Randolph 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Moroni says: >I never cease to be surprised by the interest that gentiles show >in working mormon communities while totally neglecting their own >failing areas. I don't do a lot of nit-picking on this mailing list, but: I am a Jew. *You* are a gentile. So are all the rest of the mormons. Get this point straight. -jcr

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