December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: US Taxes on X-Pats
by Stephen Cobb 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Pardon me for jumping in...but a year ago I won a case in tax court brought aainst me by the IRA for not paying taxes on income earned while living overseas...apart from the verdict, the whole thing was a complete farce! My advice is to research the subject in detail before leaving the country and file IRS returns faithfully every year regardless of where you live even if you owe no tax (I owed no tax so filed no returns, penalty for not filing = % of tax owed, so no penalty for not filing, but only IF the IRS agrees you don't owe). Yes, there has been talk in the Clinton administration of dropping the overseas earning provision. You might want to email either Sen. Byron Dorgan or Sen. Kent Conrad of N.D. since both these guys were State Tax Commssioners before going to Washington and seem to be clued in on federal tax issues. The report I read in the Orlando Sentinel suggested that Clinton felt the exclusion was a money loser desined to help US corporations get employees to work overseas. However, it seems to me that it is also part of the complex web of international tax treaties designed to prevent double taxation. If you are a US citizen earning in a country that has an income tax they are likely going to expect you to pay tax, just as we tax foreign nationals living here. My impression is that many IRS staff lack in-depth knowledge of this very complex area (for example, I paid tax on my overseas income to the government of the country in which I was living when I earned it and that country has a tax treaty with the US...after about 6 very scary phone calls the agent assigned to the case agreed that I did not owe income tax...but then he tried to hit me up for thousands fo dollars in self-employed soc sec contribution -- when I told him that was also covered under a reciprocal treaty it was complete news to him...he asked me, and I wish I had taped the call, to send him the IRS document in which I had read this!) The result is often months of very stressful waiting, staring huge penalties in the face, while they learn up on the subject and say "I guess you're right, you don't owe that $60,000 in unpaid tax and penalties we asked the judge to award us." I still have a state tax lien triggered by this bogus action against me lying around on one of my credit reports. Respectfully...Stephen ps The recent US legislation denying soc sec benefits to legal aliens seems to be a breach of the referred to above. pps The relation to cypto is :-)?

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Re: Schlafly on crypto
by Stephen Cobb 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 06:44 PM 8/17/96 -0400, you wrote: >I don't think that Schlafy is a usefull aly any more than Bob Dole >basically its just opportunist politicians latching onto the rhetoric >of debates without engaging in the argument. Dole senses that the mood >of the country is pro crypto so he supports that, he senses that it >is anti porn so he will support that. > >Basically Schlafy is playing the same game. She is saying things that >she knows will curry favour so she can get people to join her Wacko >club. > Phil I tend to agree...anyone who thinks victory for Dole/Kemp in 96 means strong free unescrowed crypto in 97 needs to read a few history books. Stephen

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THE POUCH
by C Matthew Curtin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Allow me to quote from your web page: http://www.flagler.com/security.html Quote #1: "The POUCH is a secure e-mail terminal program for IBM compatible computers. It uses a secret key phrase, advanced cryptographic techniques and several unpublished algorithms to protect data in the body of e-mail messages. The key phrase, which can be up to 48 bytes long, is easily remembered and communicated. The POUCH is highly resistant to all known forms of cryptographic attack." Quote #2: "We warrant that the product when delivered to you has no short cuts, covert channels or secret solutions of any kind. No other warranty, either expressed or implied is given." These two statements are contradictory; an unpublished algorithm is itself a secret solution, and a covert channel. Why is it that software manufacturers keep popping up and spewing nonsense? Obscurity is not security. Making the algorithm proprietary does extremely little in making it resistant to attack. All of your statements regarding the security of "The Pouch" are worthless, for you have no data with which to substantiate your claims. If it is any good, there's no way for us to know. But your marketing of the product has every indication that it's nothing more than smoke and mirrors. To coin a phrase, "pseudocrypto." Please refrain from your bogus marketing techniques. This kind of stuff, by claiming to be "real cryptography" makes real cryptographers look bad. - -- C Matthew Curtin MEGASOFT, LLC Director, Security Architecture I speak only for myself. Don't whine to anyone but me about anything I say. Hacker Security Firewall Crypto PGP Privacy Unix Perl Java Internet Intranet cmcurtin(a)research.megasoft.com http://research.megasoft.com/people/cmcurtin/ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Have you encrypted your data today? iQCVAwUBMhdZaBhyYuO2QvP9AQHaxQP+OvqYc9U/3BTPwnEhL/9ADkzL+ulhILpj 1zbyhktoCB4yMB13WQgm05DM6lolUufo63nkhsX4giMhrQ2XCBeM5/8pxJOD2ThY 3+foxma7e3tUv8r6PjNlnhn2TzVPPgbN+6NdpUCbNtOpG8GsD4EdQ35S+H0Y+aJm 75FfHfaDrNQ= =6Zxy -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Hackers invade DOJ web site
by Stephen Cobb 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 09:03 PM 8/17/96 -0500, you wrote: >CNN online (http://www.cnn.com) is reporting a "breakin" by "hackers" >to the DOJ web site. They don't elaborate exactly how thy did it. > >______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. > If anyone happens to know which vulnerability(s) this hack exploited I would be most grateful if they could let me know, either on the list or privately (stephen(a)iu.net) I am not asking for someone to publish the attack script or specifics of what was done to get in, but I would like to know what holes were used (e.g. cgi script error). Respectfully...Stephen

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Re: Private Idaho
by Shawn Dudar 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 11:55 AM 8/18/96 EDT, Blake Wehlage wrote: >Could anyone tell me the URL of the latest version of Private Idaho..... > >Thank You! >========================================== > Blake Wehlage <jwilk(a)iglou.com> > ±» RëVðLû¡ØÑ Bø+ ©ÖmP@ñ¥ «± > Goto: http://members.iglou.com/jwilk > > http://www.eskimo.com/~joelm/ __________________ / PGP public key |___________________________ / available on | ~ Shawn Dudar ~ |___________________ ( keyserver | |Fingerprint: / \ KeyID: 0xC0AF244D | <sdudar(a)solutions.net> |90 AA D0 52 D3 A6/ \__________________| <sdudar(a)westeel.ca> |93 96 AD C2 CB ( (_____________________________|98 12 C0 FF 30 \ PGP. Use it! Protect yourself! (____________________\ For more info, point your browser to http://www.ifi.uio.no/pgp/ "There are two major products to come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence." -- Author Unknown -- "Practice safe eating - always use condiments." -- Author Unknown -- "In a press conference held yesterday in Seattle, WA, Bill Gates formally announced that Microsoft Corporation has declared bankruptcy..." -- Dream headline --

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DEADBEEF Attack??
by William H. Geiger III 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi, I am looking for some detailed information on the "DEADBEEF" attack for key fingerprint spoofing. If anyone has any information or know where to find it please let me know. Thanks, -- ----------------------------------------------------------- William H. Geiger III http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii Geiger Consulting WebExplorer & Java Enhanced!!! Merlin Beta Test Site - WarpServer SMP Test Site Author of PGPMR2 - PGP Front End for MR/2 Ice Look for MR/2 Tips & Rexx Scripts PGP & MR/2 the only way for secure e-mail. Finger whgiii(a)amaranth.com for PGP Key and other info -----------------------------------------------------------

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Re: forget photographing license plates!
by Alan Olsen 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:46 PM 8/17/96 -0800, Adamsc wrote: >On 15 Aug 96 01:31:08 -0800, null(a)void.com wrote: > >>"In the 22 Jul 1996 issue of Fortune was an interesting look into the future >>of automobile electronics, "Soon Your Dashboard Will Do Everything (Except >>Steer)". " >>From the control center, they can "electronically reach into the car" to >>unlock the doors, or honk the horn and flash its lights." > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >How long do you think it would be before thieves subverted this feature? It already happens now. There is a device for determining the code sequence and frequency of electronic locks that was designed for locksmiths and repair personel. Thieves have been using it for breaking into vehicles. The scam usually happens in large mall parking lots. They just sit in their car and wait for you to open yours, watching for the lock information displayed. Once you are gone, they unlock it and swipe all of your freshly purchaced goodies. Theives have also been known to use replacement garage door openers to open up the homes of those too ignorant to change the default codes of their garage door systems. Something to be said for low tech in this case... --- Alan Olsen -- alano(a)teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction `finger -l alano(a)teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key http://www.teleport.com/~alano/ "We had to destroy the Internet in order to save it." - Sen. Exon "Microsoft -- Nothing but NT promises."

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Re: National Socio-Economic Security Need for Encryption Technology
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 05:59 PM 8/18/96 +-200, Bart Croughs wrote: > No, but a number of posters claimed they were Austrians, > and among them was Timothy May. So if I can show that > Timothy's statements contradict the economic theories > he says he supports on the most fundamental level > (the level of methodology), Obviously the Austrians, like anyone with half a brain, said that more capital means more wealth for everyone, and more capital relative to workers means a bigger share for the workers. It does not follow however, that the Austrians said that if the government directs the flow of other peoples capital like a farmer watering his fields, the fields so watered will benefit. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

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Why BlackNet *IS* a Data Haven
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Jim McCoy and Larry Dettweiler have, in their own ways, raised objections to my characterization of BlackNet (and that class of mechanisms) as a distributed, untraceable, robust "data haven." Without splitting too many semantic hairs about the precise definition of "data haven," let me examine some ways in which BlackNet behaves identically to a conventional data haven. Imagine a piece of data has been outlawed in some jurisdiction. For simplicity, imagine this to be a book, a text. Let's give it a name, "The Necronomicon." This "Necronomicon" is contraband, illegal, forbidden, banned, on The Index in many countries, including the Vatican and the United States. (This is just an example. Replace "Necronomicon" with "child porn" for a more realistic, if distasteful to many, example.) The classical, Sterling-style "data haven" would have it that this piece of data, this book, is stored and is available (perhaps for a price) in a physical site. Maybe Anguilla (thought this is appearing less and less likely), maybe "The Raft," maybe an orbiting DeathStar, maybe a weather balloon drifting in the jet stream... The classical data haven is closely identified with "place." To many people, they naturally assume "data haven" = a haven for data, a "harbor" (same IE root as haven) = a physical place. But is "place" important? Consider someone in the United States who wants a copy of the Necronomicon. He can't get it locally, as it is banned. He can try dialing-in or connecting to a country where it is not banned, but this introduces risks (as with those who download child porn, arrrange to have it shipped to them, etc.). (And the physical jurisdictions which carrry the Necronomicon, or child porn, or Church of Scientology secrets, etc., will likely be under pressure to limit or deny access.) Cryptography offers another way, as it does in so many other areas. A person in the U.S. seeking the Necronomicon posts a message to BlackNet (or any similar forum, using the same methods) asking for a copy of it, or offering to pay for it. (Whether the information is free or for a fee is not central to the idea.) This request is, of course, untraceable. Anyone, anywhere in the world, with a copy of this banned material on his or her private machines may see this request and respond, either giving the material away, or negotiating a fee. (As I said before, the absence of a robust digital cash system, bidirectionally untraceable, is a known limitation of all such systems.) Thus, it is as if there is a "virtual data haven" (tm), or a "virtual library," for banned/controversial/etc. materials. Anyone may "check out" materials by submitting requests (and perhaps paying a fee). The source of the materials is, of course, unknown. The receiver of the materials if, of course, unknown. I call this at least as functional as a "physical data haven," where someone might physically travel to Anguilla, say, to buy a copy of the Necronomicon... ...and a whole lot more convenient. This is, then, my vision of a "distributed, robust, untraceable data haven." It's a data haven. And it exists, or at least there are exemplars of it. It's lacking robust digital money, to keep the transactions untraceable, but it's here. The Church of Scientology documents essentially exist at this virtual data haven site. Think about it. --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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Anonymous info
by admin＠anon.penet.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

You have requested information about your account at anon.penet.fi. Your code name is: <an611909(a)anon.penet.fi> Your real e-mail address is: <cypherpunks(a)toad.com> Your nickname is: <> Your password is: <> Regards, admin(a)anon.penet.fi

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