December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: AltaVista Tunnel
by Dale Thorn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Anil Das wrote: > Rick Osborne wrote: > > He triumphantly exclaimed that the encryption was 128-bit, but when > > I said "128-bit what?" he cowered and muttered that he didn't know and went > > on with his little speech. The rest of my crypto-specific questions met > > with equal dark stares. And these are the people setting industry standards... > I should be happy that you are bashing a competitor and all, but give > them a break, OK? The marketing dweeb who has to do product pitches > on roadshows is not the same as the design engineer who designs the > system and sets technical standards. There can be a big difference in > technical knowledge about the product, and even basic competency, > between the two. HP in their first 17 years of making personal computers always sent real engineers along with salespeople to their product rollouts. Starting in late 1983 with their first MS-DOS computer, they did a 180-degree and eliminated the engineers, and started sending people who knew nothing about HP products, which is bad in the sense that some folks wanted to know "Why should I buy HP when I can get the real thing, i.e. IBM"? As a sales manager, I always had a hard time with that one. I blame HP in retrospect, for a moron mentality in their marketing department.

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Newt's phone calls
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dr.Dimwit L)amentation( Vehement K)retin(OTM enjoys sucking the puss from his syphilitic homosexual friends. /\_./o__ Dr.Dimwit L)amentation( Vehement K)retin(OTM (/^/(_^^' ._.(_.)_

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Re: [ADMINISTRIVIUM] Extradition treaties
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Drunkard Vilest K>rap<OTM wears satin lingerie embroidered with pink swastikas, prancing around for his faggot, AIDS infected lovers. |\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ __ | \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ | O~-_ Drunkard Vilest K>rap<OTM | >----|-|-|-|-|-|-|--| __/ | / / / / / / / / |__\ |/ / / / / / / /

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Re: Dissolving Choke Points
by Roy M. Silvernail 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In list.cypherpunks, gbroiles(a)netbox.com writes: > My mention of Usenet was somewhat tongue-in-cheek; I don't know if I'd bother > with the list if it were moved to (or gated with) Usenet, as Usenet has > become for the most part 100+ Mb/day of uselessness. An obvious point. But you go on to say... > The good side I see to a move to Usenet is that it lets people use the > comparatively better tools for managing messages [...] FWIW, I gate all my subscribed mailing lists to local newsgroups because my newsreading tools are much better than my mailreading tools. > The down side is that Usenet is more or less a sewer these days, and some of > it's bound to spill over. The unfiltered list already had spammers and flamers. Would you expect nore sewage, different sewage or a combination? - -- Roy M. Silvernail [ ] roy(a)scytale.com DNRC Minister Plenipotentiary of All Things Confusing, Software Division PGP Public Key fingerprint = 31 86 EC B9 DB 76 A7 54 13 0B 6A 6B CC 09 18 B6 Key available from pubkey(a)scytale.com, which works now -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMvgPUBvikii9febJAQElRwP+IC40bwrsV7w7NI0IMmdwGRPO8tHNo6qU pCb6i9UNSrtaFseZ6I04RIsy1mitoJbmDaoJqKcWz1smi4pr1Te/1QZDt8CLouP2 lXwZV9PojttoBbGlfrc1gY/ZEOnOtwwBemiMSiyIS0Md26f1VM9i1OMVR4RDpLY8 +VrFN9htVyc= =jMyg -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: New X-Ray Imager
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 01:18 AM 2/4/97 -0800, Dale Thorn wrote: >Steve Schear wrote: >> New X-ray gun trades privacy for safety >> Reported by Andy C >> Seen in The Nando Times on 13 August 1996 >> "I'm incredibly concerned," said John Henry Hingson, a past president of the >> National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, meeting here this past >> week. "The entire nation could become a victim of illegal searches and >> seizures and the law is powerless to protect them from these police abuses." >> But in these nervous times following the the crash of TWA Fight 800 and >> bombings at the Olympics, Oklahoma City and the World Trade Center, many >> Americans are now willing to trade some of their privacy and civil liberties >> for greater security. >> A poll last week by the Los Angeles Times found that a majority of people -- >> 58 percent -- said they would curtail some civil liberties if it would help >> thwart terrorism. Thirteen percent said it would depend on what rights were >> at stake. The poll didn't ask people to single out any rights. > >The L.A. Times quotes this "poll" all the time, and in fact probably >just made it up. Why do I know that? Because they ran a "letter" >from a "teacher" in the valley somewhere about a year ago which said >exactly this same thing. The "teacher" ran a poll of her students >and they agreed to give up the rights without even knowing which >rights they were giving up. Wouldn't it be nice if, in a new poll, they asked the following question: "Do you believe that the people who ask you, in other polls, whether or not 'you'd be willing to give up a little freedom to thwart terrorism' have any proof it's possible to, in the long run, 'thwart terrorism' by sacrificing freedom?" Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Re: My Departure, Moderation, and "Ownership of the List"
by aga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Tue, 4 Feb 1997, Dave Hayes wrote: > Steve Boursey writes: > > Well EFF itself is a lie--the were very well exposed by Wired Mag. a > > while back as being nothing more than a corporate whore. They represent > > the interests of owners not consumers--the ACLU has been very open > > in their critisism of the EFF in this regard. A large corporation > > waves some money in front of their noses and tells them to bend > > over you can be sure they'll bend over. > Actually, the EFF is meaningless, and not worth discussing. It was just a bunch of hippy faggots that got financed by the greatfull dead, and since the greatfull dead died, the EFF should just also die. I mean come ON, with queers at the organization, NOBODY is going to give it any credibility. > It's not clear from where I sit that the EFF is intrinsically evil. A But it has John Gilmore there, and he is the evil censor. > case can be argued for their initial good intentions followed by the > subsequent poisoning of this intent by people with lots of money. Of > course, -any- organization is as susceptable to infiltration as their > weakest member. > > > Respectable free speech advocates do not associate with EFF. > > If one is going to advocate free speech, I strongly suggest one > learns to deal with one's own greed and one's own need for power > first. Greed and avarice may be bad, but wealth and control are good. The power must always go to those who do not "need" it but who know how to use it. Not everybody is qualified to carry a gun.

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Re: More on Cellular Encryption Docs
by Bill Stewart 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>>>Here's more on the controlled documents for cellular encryption >>>from TIA/EIA we described in a 26 January post to cpunks: ... >>Of course, ITAR as recently modified says it's ok to send this >>stuff overseas to foreigners, as long as it's on paper. >>There may be separate restrictions on sending it, or on copying, >>but they're based on copyright or contractual non-disclosure. > >Given that high-density inkjet printers can do 600x600 dpi resolution, it >should be possible to achieve the equivalent of 100x100 bpi of >easily-recoverable data on ordinary paper. That's about 800 kilobits, or >100 kilobytes. What does ITAR say about this? These are text, perhaps with occasional illustrations, so the current interim export rules say it's ok. For optically-scannable printed data, the government's announcement says it reserves (somehow) its right (acquired in unspecified manner :-) to re-evaluate the exportability at a later time. I think they haven't settled on whether they'd be more embarassed by banning it (which bans export of printed material, risking serious Constitutional challenges) or by not banning it (having people laugh at them while exporting source code or even binaries in OCR-A on loose-leaf paper with page numbers and checksums.) Of course, by moving crypto off the Munitions List, and allowing export of printed material, they're also reducing their exposure to ridicule for not responding to Raph's T-shirt CJ request.... (huh-huh... made you say Unconstitutional ... huh-huh....) # 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/pub/crypto/pgp # (If this is a mailing list, please Cc: me on replies. Thanks.)

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'Total Recall' Come True!
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Major Organizations Are Experimenting With Computer Chip Implants in Humans, According to EE Times Special Report Manhasset, N.Y., Feb. 4 -- The implantation of computer chips into humans and animals is now actively being funded, researched and experimented by major institutions such as Stanford University, British Telecom, the National Institute of Health (NIH) and major corporations, according to the first of a two-part special report published by EE Times (http://www.eet.com) Although the work is drawing fire from civil libertarians and conspiracy theorists, among others, many scientists and physicians defend the work for its potential to ease suffering. "It's 'Total Recall' come true! Our in-depth look into this state-of- the- art research reveals that the mix of electrical engineering and medical technologies to surgically implant computer chip-driven devices is here today -- a micro chip implant is simply one step beyond a pacemaker," said EE Times Internet Editor Larry Lange. According to the EE Times report, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Tokyo) recently developed a low-cost input device that can recognize human movement and convert it to commands for use in software applications. This device is expected to find its way into tools used by people with disabilities. On other fronts, the semiconductor research lab at Motorola Inc. is working on body-embedded electronic blood-sensors that may one day allow diabetics to measure their blood sugar levels without ever drawing a drop of blood. The special report, appearing in next week issue in print and online, looks at additional areas of research and the differing reactions to it. -----

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Letter Re: Kahn Supporting GAK
by Robert Rothenburg 'Walking-Owl' 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- My letter to Long Island Newsday regarding David Kahn's pro-GAK editorial was published today. You can read it at http://www.newsday.com/mainnews/rnmi052u.htm What's odd (?) is how they editied it. I directed my comments toward Mr. Kahn's views, which they changed to "Newsday" (odd, since I've never seen them print an editorial one way or another on GAK; does this mean they are taking a stand? -- Kahn is an editor at Newsday). I wrote "The greatest flaw in the argument is it's very reason, 'criminals... are increasingly using encryption to conceal their plans and activities'" which they changed to "It reports...". I never considered an op-ed piece as "reporting", even if it states a fact. The following paragraph There are also a variety of technical problems associated with escrowing encryption keys, mainly, how to do so securely? A single `backdoor key' (or set of keys) for a popular product can become an easy target for crackers who can jeopardize the security of an entire system. Software can be easily hacked to disable or damage the key escrow features, and there are techniques to hide even the presence of a message in something innocuous as a digitized image. (Mr. Kahn seems to have forgotten to mention that the FBI not only wants to overhear cellular phone conversations but also read E-mail and any other encrypted files people have.) was changed to just There are also several technical problems associated with escrowing encryption keys, mainly, how to do so securely. They did leave the last two paragraphs relatively intact, though. Yeah, yeah... the piece could have been much longer & detailed, but it's only a letter to the editor... - --Rob -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 4.5 iQEVAgUBMvhdzgTNlSxdPy6ZAQEw8Qf9FnDSSd/m+XwUxU1CCJnwVOrvS4qyIubX 2E18o2rrS+F8TDjkhVsaDR3lJNqikdOzAL2GfjX53/cBEOhYcYcip7IHkd8UxqY6 zDHp2LwWnSuF8wwxeKw/DyPhAURsxYAl+LCJbsJjK+zxpgPU1Z0YzFkj3Am6bscv t8qiPoTxUF3tusueT5I3xQsRgEAx1SNwRHgQGzLS+zPwdFBT9ZsIsp4EbZ0fx1cE ZpbIxu1koDCWhkmJdTiL5HXXJ6mROJvCIGHfr1NU099AlIOO/FXq2UTnti2TzQn7 wYF73490ru1AFMEViLipj3zXzJsIGBo32La37yDozBEItd32B0L/+w== =3wRg -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ----- "The word to kill ain't dirty | Robert Rothenburg (WlkngOwl(a)unix.asb.com) I used it in the last line | http://www.asb.com/usr/wlkngowl/ but use a short word for lovin' | Se habla PGP: Reply with the subject and dad you wind up doin' time." | 'send pgp-key' for my public key.

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NFIC Warning About Sexygirls web site
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I had to laugh when I read this... Cheers, Bob Hettinga --- begin forwarded text X-Sender: themet(a)pop.mindspring.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Wed, 5 Feb 1997 01:50:36 -0800 To: fraudnews(a)silverquick.com From: Mark Taylor <themet(a)mindspring.com> Subject: NFIC Warning About Sexygirls web site Reply to: Mark Taylor <themet(a)mindspring.com> Here is an interesting twist on how some crafty scamsters can rack up money on your phone bill =========== National Fraud Information Center Monday, February 4, 1997 PORNO SURPRISE Consumers who visited a pornographic website (www.sexygirls.com) last month got a big surprise on their phone bills. After a few teaser pictures, surfer was told he/she needed to download a special program to view the archived images. That program was actually a viewer with an entire communications suite hidden deep inside (a non-self propogating Trojan Horse). The program disconnected user from his/her ISPs, shut off the volume on the modem if it was computer controlled, and dialed a number in Moldova -- a small, former republic of the Soviet Union wedged in between the Ukraine and Romania. All the while the consumer was on the website, and even if he/she then browsed other sites on the World Wide Web, the Internet access was being provided through the Moldova number, resulting in huge international phone charges! Consumers didn't know that until their phone bills arrived. According to the Toronto Star Business Reporter, there are Canadian reports of bills into the thousands. The Toronto star also reports that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has requested all calls from Canada to that number in Moldova be blocked. Bell Canada is attempting to provide relief for Canadian consumers. US consumers should contact their long distance providers if they find these unexpected charges on their bill. The RCMP has also required the owners of sexygirls.com to place a disclaimer on the site, alerting consumers to the presence of the communications software in the viewer. The disclaimer also tells consumers how to disconnect if they do not wish to use the server in Moldava. In November, Internet Fraud Watch warned consumers concerning the possible dangers of downloading programs over the Internet. Some tips: Don't download unnecessary items. If it's just a piece of razzle-dazzle, don't bother. It will only take up space on your hard drive and perform no useful function. If there's no gain for you from the program, there's no reason to take a risk. Only download from sites you know and trust. While even a major corporations site can sometimes have a viral infection, a lone programmer might be using an attractive piece of code as a delivery vehicle for his pet virus. Don't download material directly onto a computer network at work. First download it onto a stand alone PC. Test it out. Make sure it doesn't have any malicious side-effects. Check that machine for known viruses. Only at that point should you install the downloaded program on a networked machine. If you feel you must download files, keep track of what files you have on your system and what files are created during a program installation. That way you can easily uninstall any program if you find it to be undesirable. This also helps in detecting new installed files that aren't supposed to be there. Remember, your main worry is an executable file (i.e. a program or application). Despite what you hear all over the Internet, you cannot get a virus from a piece of e-mail. If you are having a problem with calls to Moldova, the connection will only be made if you attempt to use the viewer. If you try to use the viewer, shut down your machine after you are finished at that site. If you wish to remove the viewer altogether, the file name is david.exe (for IBM users). If you are in Windows, it should be in your program folder. FraudNews is owned and published by : Mark Taylor: themet(a)mindspring.com All material published is copyright.It must not be reproduced in any form without the express permission of of the owner. ============================================================= This Newsletter is broadcast using the List and Newsletter Management facilities of Silverquick Communications You may subscribe to FraudNews and the Fraud-Discuss lists on the web pages at : http://www.silverquick.com ============================================================= --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) Philodox e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "Never attribute to conspiracy what can be explained by stupidity." -- Jerry Pournelle The e$ Home Page: http://www.shipwright.com/rah/ FC97: Anguilla, anyone? http://www.ai/fc97/

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