December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

PICS is not censorship
by Robin Whittle 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I do not believe that PICS is a form of censorship, except for those people - children and employees - whose computing environment is beyone their direct control and who have to live with a browser that filters based on PICS labels. For much, much more on the Internet content regulation debate, see my WWW site. PICS is basically an excellent idea in my view. It provides a means of child protection which is not censorship of the net or censorship of sources of information. It is also useful for other things. However I don't beleive it is practical or desirable to insist that all people use PICS and a particular value system to label their WWW material - there is likely to be no suitable value system which is adequate in all situations. - Robin > From: stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com > Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 22:23:04 -0800 > To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com > Subject: W3C Picks PICS for Censorship > >> W3C ISSUES PICS AS A RECOMMENDATION; PICS READY FOR WIDESPREAD > ADOPTION; ENABLING USERS TO FILTER INTERNET CONTENT WITHOUT > CENSORSHIP - The World Wide Web Consortium today endorsed the > Platform for Internet Content Selection specifications as a W3C > Recommendation. This Recommendation represents the W3C's highest > "Stamp of Approval." It signifies that PICS specifications are stable > ... [Business Wire, 854 words] > > # Thanks; Bill > # Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com > # You can get PGP outside the US at ftp.ox.ac.uk > # (If this is posted to cypherpunks, I'm currently lurking from fcpunx, > # so please Cc: me on replies. Thanks.) . Robin Whittle . . http://www.ozemail.com.au/~firstpr firstpr(a)ozemail.com.au . . 11 Miller St. Heidelberg Heights 3081 Melbourne Australia . . Ph +61-3-9459-2889 Fax +61-3-9458-1736 . . Consumer advocacy in telecommunications, especially privacy . . . . First Principles - Research and expression - music, . . music industry, telecommunications . . human factors in technology adoption. . . . Real World Interfaces - Hardware and software, especially . . for music .

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Re: KIDNEYS STOLEN FROM A NAKED DRUGGED MAN
by azur＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I heard an almost identical story from a security guard at DEFCON IV last july in Las Vegas. He said it happened in the hotel where he was working (not the Monte Carlo, which had just opened) in 1995. The management managed to cover the event up and it never, according to him, appeared in the local papers. >| >>> A friend of mine from UT passed this story onto me from the "Daily >| >>> Texan" - the University of Texas newspaper. Apparently it occured >| >>> during Fall Premier -- a UT tradition that is a celebration of the >| >>> end of midterms. >| >>> >| >>> >"Reason to not party anymore"- >| >>> > >| >>> > >| >>> >This guy went out last Saturday night to a party. He was having a >| >>> >good time, had a couple of beers and some girl seemed to like him >| >>> >and invited him to go to another party. He quickly agreed and >| >decided >| >>> >to go along with her. She took him to a party in some apartment >| >and >| >>> >they continued to drink, and even got involved with some other >| >drugs >| >>> >(unknown which). >| >>> > >| >>> >The next thing he knew, he woke up completely naked in a bathtub >| >>> >filled with ice. He was still feeling the effects of the drugs, >| >but >| >>> >looked around to see he was alone. >| >>> > >| >>> >He looked down at his chest, which had "CALL 911 OR YOU WILL DIE" >| >>> >written on it in lipstick. He saw a phone was on a stand next to >| >>> >the tub, so he picked it up and dialed. He explained to the EMS >| >>> >operator what the situation was and that he didn't know where he >| >was, >| >>> >what he took, or why he was really calling. She advised him to get >| >>> >out of the tub. He did, and she asked him to look himself over in >| >>> >the mirror. He did, and appeared normal, so she told him to check >| >>> >his back. He did, only to find two 9 inch slits on his lower back. >| >>> >She told him to get back in the tub immediately, and they sent a >| >>> >rescue team over. >| >>> > >| >>> >Apparently, after being examined, he found out more of what had >| >>> >happened. His kidneys were stolen. They are worth 10,000 dollars >| >>> >each on the black market. (I was unaware this even existed.) >| >>> >Several guesses are in order: >| >>> >The second party was a sham, the people involved had to be at least >| >>> >medical students, and it was not just recreational drugs he was >| >>> >given. >| >>> > >| >>> >Regardless, he is currently in the hospital on life support, >| >>> >awaiting a spare kidney. The University of Texas in conjunction >| >>> >with Baylor University Medical Center is conducting tissue research >| >>> >to match the sophomore student with a donor. >| >>> > >| >>> >Any information leading to the arrest of the individuals may be >| >>> >forwarded to the University of Texas Campus police, or the Texas >| >>> >Rangers. >| >>> >

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Re: "Family Channel" of the Internet?
by Rick Osborne 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 05:40 PM 12/6/96 -0500, Ken Kirksey wrote: >1) Is it technically possible for them to limit access to only approved >IP addresses? If so, how can they do this, and is it possible to get >around these measures. Oh yeah, very easily. Can you say 'proxy server'? Corporations [including the one I work for] have been using them for quite some time to control Internet access. For example, everytime I try to hit anything in the GeoCities domain I get a nice little message saying I've been caught and to stop being naughty. You can get around it by using services (like Anonymizer) beyond the proxy server that get pages, files, etc for you. Assuming, of course, that the ISPs don't block those as well. >2) What in the world would SET--I assume that was what he was talking >about--have to do with this? Absolutely nothing. >3) In general, how would you use crypto to ensure that your users only >connected to approved sites, regardless of the platform or browser >software they were using? I wouldn't. It's not even a crypto issue. That's like asking how you would use your tea kettle to peel this orange: sure, you *could* do it, but why? I think your pegged 'bogometer' had it pegged. -Rick Rick Osborne / osborne(a)gateway.grumman.com / Northrop Grumman Corporation ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Double your drive space - delete Windows!

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[Fwd: Returned mail: User unknown]
by Rosario Family 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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wealth and property rights
by varange＠crl.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

If the free market is a good thing, that it's a democratic way of getting the best to the top of the economic ladder, then I see no reason why this should not also apply to politics. The people have every right to use democracy to establish a non-democratic system re: abolishment of the wealthy as a class and sentencing the entire Forbes 400 and their underlings to 25 years at forced labor, say 16 hour days at picking vegetables under the pain of the knouted whip. No Libertarian could oppose the use of the political free market of democracy for undemocratic ends; that would violate the spirit of liberty! -- Cheers!

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cause for alarm
by Rich Burroughs 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The dec96 issue of _cause for alarm_ has hit the web. You can get to it via the home page, at: http://www.teleport.com/~richieb/cause/ _cause for alarm_ is a zine which explores threats to freedom of speech, as well as other online freedoms. This month's features focus on the persecution of Bernie S, and the landmark Bernstein v US Department of State crypto case. Past topics have included a primer on starting local activist groups, Intel's hosing of Perl wizard Randal Schwartz, and the Church of Scientology. Also, interviews with prominent Net activists. I'm seeking contributions for future issues. If you'd like more info, point your web browser at: http://www.teleport.com/~richieb/cause/submit.html Or send email to richieb(a)teleport.com with the words "submission guidelines" (without the quotes) in the subject line of your message. Rich Burroughs Editor and Publisher, cause for alarm http://www.teleport.com/~richieb/cause/

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Re: PICS is not censorship
by frantz＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:02 PM 12/7/96 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote: >So, as long as PICS is fully voluntary, and I mean _fully_ voluntary, civil >libertarians will likely not object. After all, it's just a system _some_ >other people (maybe even most) are voluntarily adhering to. However, the >pressure to stop "rogues" from "subverting" the PICS system by either not >using it, or by deliberately monkeywrenching it, will be enormous. The last time I looked at PICS, there was a mode where sites were checked against a third party "PICS server", and a mode which used signed ratings. Now I am not saying these modes can't be hacked. I don't remember the details well enough. But they should be somewhat resistant to problems with false self-rating. (How these "PICS servers" and "Rating signers" keep up with the number of sites and the growth of web page publishing is not at all clear. It would seem to me that it would require many people. Perhaps the Christian Coalition can put together a cooperative effort among their members.) Note that the "PICS server" approach has major privacy problems. However, I don't think that many censors are interested in privacy, so they may not be a barrier to censorious parents. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | I still read when I should | Periwinkle -- Consulting (408)356-8506 | be doing something else. | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz(a)netcom.com | It's a vice. - R. Heinlein | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA

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A Message From Sue
by sue1968＠ix17.ix.netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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Re: What's a "fingerprint" ?
by paul＠fatmans.demon.co.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Subject: Re: What's a "fingerprint" ? Sorry punks, my mailer somehow posted my reply to this question 5 or 6 times, the spam was not intentional... Datacomms Technologies web authoring and data security Paul Bradley, Paul(a)fatmans.demon.co.uk Paul(a)crypto.uk.eu.org, Paul(a)cryptography.uk.eu.org Http://www.cryptography.home.ml.org/ Email for PGP public key, ID: 5BBFAEB1 "Don`t forget to mount a scratch monkey"

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Re: "Family Channel" of the Internet?
by paul＠fatmans.demon.co.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> inspected and approved. He said that they were going to do this, again I > quote, "using the same encryption that Visa and Mastercard use." The > last statment pegged my bogometer, of course. Sounds distinctly bogus to me... > 1) Is it technically possible for them to limit access to only approved > IP addresses? If so, how can they do this, and is it possible to get > around these measures. Yes, there are a number of ways probably the easiest of which would be a proxy server. A number of corporations have these set up so their employees spend more time looking at relevant information and less looking at porn sites ;-) > 3) In general, how would you use crypto to ensure that your users only > connected to approved sites, regardless of the platform or browser > software they were using? I assume here he means that the pages will be encrypted at the ISP end and the browser will only decrypt the pages the user logged on at that time has access to. This all sounds very confused to me, he is talking bollocks I would wager. > I asked the guy to send me some technical details. If I receive them, > I'll share unless he makes me sign an NDA. I would be interested to see them but would guess at this point he doesn`t quite understand what he`s talking about himself... Datacomms Technologies web authoring and data security Paul Bradley, Paul(a)fatmans.demon.co.uk Paul(a)crypto.uk.eu.org, Paul(a)cryptography.uk.eu.org Http://www.cryptography.home.ml.org/ Email for PGP public key, ID: 5BBFAEB1 "Don`t forget to mount a scratch monkey"

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