December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: BAY AREA CYPHERPUNKS SATURDAY 10/12 TRESSIDER HALL STANFORD
by Eric Chiu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 01:06 AM 10/11/96 -0700, you wrote: >There will be a San Francisco Bay Area Cypherpunks meeting on Saturday 10/12 >at Stanford University. The meeting location will be the tables outside >Tressider Hall, where we've met for several previous meetings. >The canonical time is noon for lunch and milling around, and 1pm >for organized program. Bill - What time is the meeting? Eric Chiu IS-Finance and Adminstration Tel: 408-527-1665 Pager: 415-424-7282

1 0

SPA sues C2, other ISPs and users
by Greg Broiles 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

According to a 10/10/96 press release, the Software Publishers Association has files copyright infringement suits against three ISP's and two individual users. The three ISP's were Community Connexion of Oakland, GeoCities of Beverly Hills, and Tripod of Williamstown, Mass. The two users sued were apparently customers of other ISP's who turned over their names & contact information to the SPA. The press release, located at <http://www.spa.org/piracy/releases/netpir.htm>, indicates: "Piracy has taken many forms on the Internet. These include making unauthorized copies of software available for download, the posting of serial numbers, cracker and hacker utilities and links to pirate FTP sites. Although many believe piracy is limited to "warez" or illegal copies of software, it extends beyond that narrow definition. Under the law, anyone who knows -- or should have known -- of the infringement and who assists, encourages or induces the infringement is liable for indirect infringement. In each of the actions SPA filed, at least two of the above infringements were present. " The SPA has apparently adopted two relatively aggressive litigation strategies - putting ISP's in the position of disclosing otherwise confidential customer information or being sued themselves, and treating peripheral data about copyrighted works like copyrighted works themselves (e.g., serial numbers). Particularly interesting is that they seem to be claiming that a *link* to a pirate FTP site is itself infringing (potentially contributory infringement). (My comments above are made solely from reading the press release.) It's inappropriate to expect Sameer or any other C2 employee/agent/representative to discuss the suit before they've had a chance to find and meet with an attorney; in some circumstances it might never be prudent for them to make a public statement about the suit. But it certainly couldn't hurt for people who've thought about signing up with C2 to do so now as a show of support, nor for existing users to renew their service early. -- Greg Broiles | "We pretend to be their friends, gbroiles(a)netbox.com | but they fuck with our heads." http://www.io.com/~gbroiles | |

7 6

EUB bank on PRI "Marketplace" tonight
by David Lesher 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Heard a teaser that EUBank will be mentioned on Public Radio Intl's Marketplace tonight. -- A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz(a)nrk.com & no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

1 0

Burma bans modems
by John Fricker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: George Sadowsky <George.Sadowsky(a)nyu.edu> Subject: Re: Burma Bans modems Here is the text of the web page referenced below: RANGOON, BURMA, 1996 SEP 27 (NB) -- Burma has made owning, using, importing or borrowing a modem or fax machine without government permission a crime, punishable by up to 15 years in jail, according to a report by United Press International. Burma's military government has imposed what's called "The Computer Science Development Law" which empowers the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs to specify what exactly can be restricted, UPI reports. UPI quotes the government-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar as saying the same punishment is prescribed for anyone who sets up a link with a computer network without the prior permission of the ministry, or who uses computer network and information technology "for undermining state security, law and order, national unity, national economy and national culture, or who obtains or transmits state secrets." UPI reports that in July a diplomat, Leo Nichols, died in prison after he was sentenced to a lengthy term for illegal possession of fax machines. It's clear from this action that the SLORC, i.e. the "State Law and Order Restoration Committee" (sic!) understands full well the benefits and importance of the Internet and other forms of electronic communication to open societies, and is determined to deny these benefits to its citizens. Given its recent history and the quasi-imprisonment of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, this new action is perfectly consistent with the government's previous abysmal record. Countries who would deny open Internet access to its citizens might well pause to consider if they wish to be associated with the current government of Myanmar in doing so. George Sadowsky, Director Voice: +1.212.998.3040 Academic Computing Facility Fax: +1.212.995.4120 New York University 251 Mercer Street George.Sadowsky(a)nyu.edu New York, New York 10012-1185 http://www.nyu.edu/acf/staff/sadowsky/ --j You can retrieve my PGP public key by sending mail with subject "send pgp key". Take a look at www.Program.com for a good programmer web site.

1 0

Forged "unsubscribe"
by Timothy C. May 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Though I am avoiding commenting on the continuing Vulis nonsense, something has come up which necessitates my comment. I received a message from majordomotoad.com saying that my (alleged/purported) message, "unsubscribe cypherpunks dlv(a)bwalk.dm.com", is being forwarded for processing. The full message is included below. It appears that someone is attempting to make it look like I am trying to unsubscribe Dmitri Vulis! I assure you all that I have sent no such message to majordomo(a)toad.com. I'm cc:ing Hugh Daniel to make sure he sees this. Perhaps he can look at the full headers and path information of the alleged message from me and figure out who is playing this kind of game. --Tim May >Received: from you for tcmay > with Cubic Circle's cucipop (v1.10 1996/09/06) Fri Oct 11 14:26:44 1996 >X-From_: Majordomo-Owner(a)toad.com Fri Oct 11 13:46:54 1996 >Received: from toad.com (toad.com [140.174.2.1]) by you (8.7.6/8.7.3) with >ESMTP id NAA13723 for <tcmay(a)got.net>; Fri, 11 Oct 1996 13:46:54 -0700 >Received: (from majordom@localhost) by toad.com (8.7.5/8.7.3) id NAA00496; >Fri, 11 Oct 1996 13:53:05 -0700 (PDT) >Date: Fri, 11 Oct 1996 13:53:05 -0700 (PDT) >Message-Id: <199610112053.NAA00496(a)toad.com> >To: tcmay(a)got.net >From: Majordomo(a)toad.com >Subject: Your Majordomo request results: unsubscribe >Reply-To: Majordomo(a)toad.com > >-- > >Your request of Majordomo was: >>>>> unsubscribe cypherpunks dlv(a)bwalk.dm.com >Your request to Majordomo(a)toad.com: > > unsubscribe cypherpunks dlv(a)bwalk.dm.com > >has been forwarded to the owner of the "cypherpunks" list for approval. >This could be for any of several reasons: > > You might have asked to subscribe to a "closed" list, where all new > additions must be approved by the list owner. > > You might have asked to subscribe or unsubscribe an address other than > the one that appears in the headers of your mail message. > >When the list owner approves your request, you will be notified. > >If you have any questions about the policy of the list owner, please >contact "cypherpunks-approval(a)toad.com". > > >Thanks! > >Majordomo(a)toad.com > > > "The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology." [NYT, 1996-10-02] 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."

1 0

Re: Crypto AG - Secret GAK Partner ?
by um＠c2.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>> Some one recently gave me a copy of an article in Der Spiegel >> (unfortunately in german!) stating that Crypto AG of Switzerland >> had passed the keys to the German Govt without informing the >> customer. > >This is nothing new. But how about faxing the article to John Young, so >we all may benefit? There is no need to. They have an archive at http://www.spiegel.de/archiv/ (you have to register before you can use it). The article was in Der Spiegel 36/1996.

1 0

RE: "Internet II" and Clinton
by Blanc Weber 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Timothy C. May * a government attempt to reassert some sort of control over the Internet, a la the "we paid for the Arpanet, so we can control what it's used for." ................................................................ That's also what I've been thinking about, regarding the efforts to get all the schools wired. "It's our project and we can control it if we want to." I could almost paranoically get cause & effect confused, thinking that the program for free internet access is merely an excuse for assuming the control over the internet that the governors are aspiring to achieve, rather than it being merely a contingent consequence of their involvement with it. I deplore the fact that so many people are lured into signing up for internet access ( Hurry, Hurry, you don't know what you're missing on Usenet!!!) without being mentally prepared for what they can expect to see there. Then they must suffer the shock of realization of what is available, free & uninhibited. (Ooops. "They didn't tell us about *that* stuff being there, (whine) take it way!") But you just have to know that, once the governors decide to become the Determining Factor in setting up everyone for internet access, they will also become the determining factor in what everyone gets to see, and therefore gets to post or send through the channels. .. Blanc

1 0

Prove it in Court First
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From the Software Publisher's Association Code of Conduct for ISPs: "It is also a violation of the copyright owners rights for an ISP to post, or to allow others to use its server(s) to post, materials, like serial numbers or cracker utilities, that make it possible for others to execute and use pirated software. Such acts, which either induce or materially contribute to copyright infringement by someone else, constitute contributory infringement, and expose ISPs to the same liability for damages, penalties and injunctive relief as a direct infringer." Here is how you violate the copyright of the book "Unix for Dummies" : 1) Get copy of book 2) Go to copy machine 3) Copy the book I hereby demand that you copraphageous cretins sue me immediately for providing this information. DCF

3 2

Re: AW: Binding cryptography - a fraud-detectible alternative to key-esc
by Hal Finney 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Another flaw with schemes of this time (in terms of failing to meet their goals) is that they cannot detect superencryption and other forms of non-standard encryption of the message body proper. All they can really do is verify from the outside that the same session key is encrypted for the two recipients (the intended recipient and the Government Access to Keys Party - let's not abuse the term by calling him a Trusted Third Party). But they can't be sure that the session key is sufficient information to decrypt the message. The session key could itself be a PK encrypted form of the actual message session key, so that the true recipient would have to run the PK decryption algorithm through two iterations before he actually got the real message session key. Or the message could be simply superencrypted using a non-escrowed encryption system, then encrypted using the GAK technique so that it looks fine from the outside. These kind of techniques could be detected by the recipient, but as Adam Back points out there are much simpler techniques if we just want the recipient to be able to tell whether the key has been encrypted for the GAKP. For that matter if *he*'s really concerned about it he can forward the plaintext to whatever governments he likes. Hal

1 0

Constitutional Convention
by azur＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Have any on the list been following ballot measures aimed at term limits? In Nevada, one of (I believe 45 states) with such initiatives on the November ballot, the measure seeks to limit some state offices and requires the state to call for a Consititutional Convention to limit terms of Federal Senators and Reps. If these pass we could be in for some wild times as every disaffected group (e.g., pro-life) seeks to codify new Amendments in agreement with their pet cause. PGP Fingerprint: FE 90 1A 95 9D EA 8D 61 81 2E CC A9 A4 4A FB A9 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Snoop Daty Data | Internet: azur(a)netcom.com Grinder | Sacred Cow Meat Co. | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Counter-cultural technology development our specialty. Vote Libertarian. Just say NO to prescription DRUGS. "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive." -- C.S. Lewis "Surveillence is ultimately just another form of media, and thus, potential entertainment." -- G. Beato

1 0