December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Bank transactions on Internet
by Jüri Kaljundi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Mon, 8 Apr 1996, Jim Philips wrote: > I work with Security First. I would like to add that we use SSL 128 bit key > with 40 secret, but it is not the only security feature we have. So far, it > has been the means for encrypting data coming to and from the Bank. We also > have a site certificate from Verisign and multiple layers of internal > security at the site. I cannot agree that this encryption is "worthless". As far as I understand anyone can fairly easy crack the 40-bit SSL your bank is using, and you must be lucky nobody has done it yet with your account. Still it seems odd that banks are telling their customers about secure communications without having any real security. Jüri Kaljundi jk(a)digit.ee

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English translation of "Le Grand Secret" complete!
by Declan B. McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The English translation of the banned book "Le Grand Secret" is complete! If your French is a little rusty, and you're curious about the book that caused the French government such headaches, you may want to check out: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~declan/le-secret/ A group of volunteers performed this work without compensation. (I solicited help with the translation by putting a note on my web pages.) A German translation is now in progress, and I expect to have the text online by this summer. -Declan ------------------------------ THE BIG SECRET By Dr. Claude Gubler http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~declan/le-secret/ Chapters and translators: * Chapter 1 * Chapter 2 * Chapter 3 (Michel Eytan) * Chapter 4 (Francoise R. Corey) * Chapter 5 (Jennifer FitzGerald) * Chapter 6 (Jonathan Wallace) * Chapter 7 * Chapter 8 (E. Dean Detrich) * Chapter 9 (Kris Shapar) * Chapter 10 (Jean-Michel Prima) * Chapter 11 * Chapter 12 * Chapter 13 (Andrea Crain) Because of the sensitive political nature of this work, not everyone who helped translate Le Grand Secret into English wished to be listed here. Above are the names of those who chose to be identified. However, everyone who volunteered deserves thanks for donating their time and making this important work available to a wider audience. Andrea Crain, in particular, has spent endless hours coordinating this effort and ensuring the high quality of the final translation. Thanks, Andrea, for all your work. -Declan McCullagh, April 7, 1996 ------------------------------

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Re: NSA Budget
by erc＠dal1820.computek.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

One could only wish... :) ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: NSA Budget Sent To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Author: cpunk(a)remail.ecafe.org Reply To: cpunk(a)remail.ecafe.org Date: 4/9/96 3:07:19 AM >Is there a public release of the NSA's annual Budget. >If so is there a quarterly release. -Erinn ----- Yes, there are annual and quarterly reports released to the public which describe in meticulous detail expenditures for the agency's program, personnel and equipment: 1. The program of services and information supplied to government and other intelligence organizations, US and foreign, with terms of each client contract. 2. US employees, their organization, skills, duties and longevity of service; their names, ranks, identification codes, secure communication methods and home addresses; the location of workplaces; the continued training each is scheduled to receive; leaves of absence and destinations while absent. 3. Foreign nationals covertly employed worldwide, with information on each as per 2. 4. A comprehensive listing of all types of world-wide equipment operated; its detailed design, function and output; where it is located; its designers, manufacturers and purchase cost; its schedule of amortization; and its schedule for replacement and/or upgrade, with fifteen-year projected procurement. 5. Special short- and long-term contracts with governmental and non-governmental organizations, US and foreign for one-time projects, by goal, personnel and equipment. 6. Special projects with other US and foreign counter- intelligence to issue disinformation about the agency. 7. Special section on world-wide US and foreign cryptology: cryptanalysis, cryptography, steganography, codes, cyphers, glyphs, mimes; each ranked for security and ease of cracking; governmental and non-governmental parties using each; names of cooperative and resistant cryptographers and cooperating pseudo-cryptographers. 8. Sub-section on methods of Internet traffic and language analysis; operation and surveillance of anonymous remailers, bulletin boards and mail lists; lists of cooperative and resistant educational institutions and commercial organizations. 9. Appendices on: black operations; transparent operations; methods for managing cooperative and resistant governmental and non-governmental persons. The public is invited to study and/or download these reports anonymously at: http://nsa.dod.gov/~reports/quarterly.txt

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Re: Bulletin: Cypherpunks say no taxes owed by moneychangers!
by Robert A. Rosenberg 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:48 4/8/96, Timothy C. May wrote: >There are people and companies who make a nice business in currency >exchange, ranging from the large companies one finds in international >airline terminals and banks to the smaller, "Mom and Pop" moneychangers one >finds in barrios and other such places. > >These moneychangers attempt to make a "profit" on each exchange (else >they'd hardly stay in business). But they make their profit by charging a fee for the transaction not just by the float in the exchange rates. For example, if the current official rate is $1=¥125 and you are converting Dollars to Yen, they may only give you 115 Yen keeping the other ¥10 as a processing fee.

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Re: Australia's New South Wales tries net-censorship
by tallpaul＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Apr 09, 1996 01:47:39, '"Robert A. Rosenberg" <hal9001(a)panix.com>' wrote: >At 9:01 4/8/96, Mike Duvos wrote: > >>I'd be interested to know if the courts have ever had a case in >>which a person has been declared to have been in "possession" of >>illegal material merely by virtue of its momentary presence in >>their cache, screen buffer, or usenet spool. > >If you want a real world analogy, there are cases where overeager USPS >Inspectors who want to "get" someone have sent them porno as a Return >Receipt Requested Item and then raided before the person had had a chance >to open the package. That is possession under the Law. > I think this is more "conspiracy" not "possession" under the law. Perhaps an attorney on the list could comment. But I am interested to read more about such "cases." Could R.A. Rosenberg post the case cites? --tallpaul

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Subject: Re: They're running scared.
by attila 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

** Reply to note from jim bell <jimbell(a)pacifier.com> 04/08/96 09:53am -0800 = At 04:33 PM 4/8/96 GMT, attila wrote: = >** Reply to note from jim bell <jimbell(a)pacifier.com> 04/07/96 8:32pm -0800 = > = >Jim: = > = > a very sensible article. = = And it is the kind of article that you would never have seen in the = "mainstream press" more than 2-3 years ago, and probably not before the = middle of 1995. One of the implicit functions of the press has been to make = it appear that there is no reasonable opposition to the government in total. = Now, they have begun to admit that ever larger proportions of the = population are soured on the whole concept. = Time's dual attack on Hillary, one orchestrated by someone she tried to control, the other just pure analysis of the situation is very surprising. they are part of the big-money NWO whose "duty" is to keep the sheep informed of the will of the government (and make it appear benevolent. However, let's face it, Hillary has guts: "Bill Gates is greedy because he has amassed a fortune of US$ 15,000,000,000 ($15 billion) but the US Government is a helpful Village because it takes US$ 1,400,000,000,000 ($1.4 trillion) from us each year and does good things with it." --Hillary Clinton that takes one bitch of a person to make that arrogant statement --and the cover picture tells it all --ridden hard and put away wet many, many times --and not in the conventional sense. Susan Thosases and she make a real pair. Their actions, or those of Bubba and the rest of the CFR of which george Bush is the hatchet man, show an absolute contempt for the Constitution. = = > not to be critical over your work in general, but your polemics and = too-far = >radicalism makes it hard to swallow. = = I admit to my polemics. However, saying my position is "too far radicalism" = is quite relative. The average person today is a product of a system which, = in effect, has brainwashed him (to use an old, out-of-favor term) to believe = in the idea that the government has the authority to run just about = everything it chooses to. I, and increasing numbers of people, disagree. = If you have an alternative solution to the "government problem" I'm anxious = to see it. Relative to the sheep, I am "radical," but compared to people = who do indeed see there is a problem, I think I fit right in. = = > I may be an anarchist at heart, but = >anarchy explicitely implies personal responsibility --which few people have. = >the trick is to figure how the idealism of anarchy can survive in a society of = >non-responsible individuals. = = With all due respect, I think I've already figured it out. At least, I = discovered a path that we must at least investigate, because it could lead = us to the goal. politics of assassination? hired guns? I do not think I would have any difficulty with the concept in theory; just that we would run out of targets too soon and be forced back to economic terrorism. I do know, WITHOUT A DOUBT, that I will NOT participate in such a matter. The prophet, Joseph Smith said: The Constitution is not a law, but it empowers the people to make laws... The Constitution tells us what shall not be lawful tender... The legislture has ceded up to us the privilege of enacting such laws as are not inconsitent with the Constitution of the United States... The different states, and even the Congress itself have passed many laws diametrically contrary to the Constitution of the United States. ...Shall we be such fools as to be governed by its laws, which are unconstitutional? No!... The Constitution acknowledges that the people have all the power not reserved to itself. I am a lawyer. I am a big lawyer and comprehend heaven, earth, and hell. to bring forth knowledge that shall cover up all lawyers, doctors, and other big bodies. This is the doctrine of the Constitution, so help me God.... Now, this may not agree with your thinking (and there are pages more of Joseph Smith's statements on defending the Constitution), but I think he hit it on the head. Secondly, Thomas Jefferson stated: "I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical... It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government" --Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) or maybe: Democracy is a form of government under which everyone has the freedom to elect officials to restrict his freedom. or to put in more succintly, I think an old Doonesbury cartoon that had Duke (representing the NRA) testifying before a Senate subcommittee summed it up nicely..... Senator: "And we and the American people have had enough of you and your fanatic organization!" Duke: "I see Senator, shall I put you down for a million postcards?" Senator: "Don't you threaten me, mister!" Politicians only understand one thing. I am not a pacifist; I do believe in fighting for what is right; I did my duty in the 60s (in spades) --I could have asked the Church for the CO form; after the way the government used us (particularly the "black" battalionsfor which I was the CO) solely to test new weaponry and build up the military-industrial economics, by 1980 it hit me as to the extent I, and the rest of us, had been betrayed, yes, our government has a problem: greed, and power. Joseph Smith, however, did say: The Constitution should contain a provision that every officer of the Government who should neglect or refuse to extend the protection guaranteed in the Constitution should be subject to caputal punishment, and then the President of the United States would not say, "Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you." Anarchy which degenerates to mob rule is untenable. What I do not see in your treatises is any planning for the future --once mob rule reigns, the next step is tribal councils, chiefs, and chiefs of chiefs --and I do not mean elected chiefs. As it has been, it will be. Man never learns from history --he just repeats it. -- "Don't hunt wild game, hunt lawyers! They provide better sport, suffer from severe overpopulation, and besides, they taste just like chicken!! -- Obscenity is a crutch for inarticulate motherfuckers. Fuck the CDA! cc: Cypherpunks <cypherpunks(a)toad.com>

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WWW User authentication
by blane＠aa.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I just finished writing a cgi script to allow users to change their login passwords via a webpage. I currently have the webpage being authenticated with the basic option (uuencoded plaintext). MD5 would be nicer, but how many browsers actually support it? When the user changes their password, the form sends their name, old password, and new password with it, in the clear. This is no worse than changing your password across a telnet connection, but I'd like it to be more secure, but useable by a large number of browsers. Any advice? Brian ------- <blane(a)aa.net> -------------------- <http://www.aa.net/~blane> ------- Embedded Systems Programmer, EET Student, Interactive Fiction author (RSN!) ============== 11 99 3D DB 63 4D 0B 22 15 DC 5A 12 71 DE EE 36 ============

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WRY_cfp
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

4-09-96 FT reports on CFP, with wry comments about eavesdropping on cpunkish issues and notables: encryption blanc et noir; sci-fi scenarios; Garfinkel and Chaum on e- money; CDA; cyber-terrorism, -porno, -child abuse, and -crime; suits cold-sweating secrets. For the sweaters, a related sheepswooly vaunts Open Market's "industrial strength" OM-products for secure Net biz. WRY_cfp

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Singapore & the net
by Michael Froomkin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Reuters reports Singapore has issued new regulations relating to the Internet today. Anyone have a pointer or details? 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 warm here.

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Re: unsubscrive
by Brad Shantz 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Time May Wrote: >Maybe these dweebs are posting from an alternate universe? A universe in >which not even messages explaining that "unsubscrive," "unsuscribe," >"undescribe," "unscribe," and "unimbibe" are not valid alternate spellings >of "unsubscribe." > >I've copied my short explanation of how to subscribe and unsubcribe too >many times to do it again; and it is clear that these folks are either >doing this out of spite, are not reading any of the messages we send them, >or think it funny. I agree with you to a point, Tim. They probably haven't read the messages about how to properly unsubscrive. Not because they are dweebs or because they think it's funny. they probably haven't read the messages because they have 2 or 3 thousand messages in their inbox and they're all from cpunks. Unfortunately, this time, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt for being ignorant. I don't think they're being vindictive. How many of them have posted Unsub messages after being told the proper way to unsub? Brad This may kill off the Cypherpunks list even where Detweiler's massive rants failed. (Now that Detweiler's cabin in Montana has been raided, and one of his tentacles carried off, who will fill his shoes? Vlad the VZNuri is well on his way to matching Detweiler's volume, if not his obsessiveness.) --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, Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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