December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: The Pro-CODE Bill could make things worse!
by Greg Broiles 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 07:30 AM 3/6/97 -0500, Bill Stewart wrote: >At 06:44 AM 3/5/97 -0800, Greg Broiles wrote: > >"Exports. The publisher or manufacturer of computer software or > >hardware with encryption capabilities shall disclose (for reporting > >purposes only) within 30 days after export to the Secretary such > >information regarding a program's or product's encryption capabilities > >as would be required for an individual license to export that program > >or product." > > Can it be construed as a "taking"? The usual "takings" rule is that property must be rendered [virtually] worthless by regulations/legislation, not just burdened, in order for government to have effected a "taking". So it's hard to say that burdening the use/sale of crypto constitutes a taking. And I think it'd be hard to say that the mandatory reporting is a "taking" of information, mostly because (modulo trade secret) it's neither unusual nor illegal for the government to require other information disclosures, without compensation and for the government's own nefarious purposes. (See, e.g., tax forms, business registrations, SEC filings, various real/personal property tracking schemes.) Also, that "taking" does not destroy the information or render it worthless. Which is not to say that I like the rule (I don't), but I don't think that a court will see a "taking" here. I'm also unclear about the power of the Information Security Board to subpoena unwilling witnesses/representatives to testify before it. I don't know what, if any, subpoena power is available to the executive branch. All of the easy examples of subpoenas/compelled testimony I can call to mind take place in a judicial or legislative setting. I'm going to read more about this and see if I can find anything interesting. > What restrictions are there on government use of this information apply? The general rule is that where the information is otherwise confidential/proprietary, the government must or will maintain that status. This is one argument against making the meetings of the review board open to the public; if they force you to disclose your trade secrets to a small group of people who are legally obligated to keep them secret, that's one thing - but if they force you to disclose your trade secrets on the public record or in an open meeting, that's another. (And that might be a taking, because trade secret status would be lost, e.g., the trade secret is destroyed/valueless.) > State governments, e.g. California, have a history of ripping off > copyright and refusing to accept lawsuits against themselves - > can the Feds do the same? Hmm. Dunno if the Federal Tort Claims Act allows copyright suits or not. > Maybe they can't refuse to let you export > any more, but can they threaten to publish your source code on > http://www.dockmaster.mil/warez/ if you don't do what they want?.... Umm. My gut feeling is "no", but public disclosure of information is a prerequisite to other useful privileges (e.g., patent and copyright registration/protection) so I'm reluctant to say that the answer is clearly no. Perhaps other readers have a better background in this area and can respond more authoritatively. -- Greg Broiles | US crypto export control policy in a nutshell: gbroiles(a)netbox.com | http://www.io.com/~gbroiles | Export jobs, not crypto.

2 1

No Compromise on Crypto Freedom--the Rejectionist Platform
by Timothy C. May 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 9:11 PM -0800 3/6/97, Greg Broiles wrote: >At 04:45 PM 3/5/97 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote: >>(Pre-P.S. Why are so many of you all still using the address >>"cypherpunks(a)toad.com"? I keep changing the address to >>"cypherpunks(a)cyberpass.net", one of the supposedly mirror addresses, but >>it's getting to be a drag.) > >I believe that cypherpunks(a)toad.com gets wider dissemination that the >"cyberpass.net" address does - the cypherpunks-unedited list is still alive >(don't know why, or for how long), and feeding posts to cyberpass.net, >which feeds posts to algebra.com. As far as I can tell, algebra doesn't >feed cyberpass, and cyberpass doesn't feed toad, so if one wants the widest >possible audience, one still writes to toad.com. Besides, it pegs the >conspiracy-meters of people who like to study message headers. You've convinced me, Greg, to start using the old "cypherpunks(a)toad.com" address, to get the widest possible distibution. I am hopeful, though, that certain parties will not [CENNSORED] our posts and {CENSORED} them to [CENSORED} the way some of them {CENSORED] were in the old regime. But {CENSORED} will have his way, I guess. >So I don't think that it can be applied to remailers at all. Remailers do >not "preserve" information, but discard it, and prevent anyone from >"receiving" it, authorized or not. I think it (arguably) applies to I agree that neither Leahy nor Burns has ever heard of remailers, let alone figured them out. But I believe remailers are essentially cryptographic, even according to the language of the bills. Remailers are to source-sink mapping "messages" as ordinary crypto is to text messages. Remailers "preserve" the untraceability of source-sink messages (the mapping from Alice to Zeke), while not using remailers "gives away" or "discards" this information. The status quo is to give away this information. Remailers "preserve" this information (or non-information, which is really the same thing_. If this is too abstract an argument, consider that the same people who want crypto restricted also want remailers restricted. And for good reason, from their perspective. Remailers do for message mappings what crypto does for message text. One preserves the privacy of the routing, the other preserves the privacy of the body text. Even if neither Leahy nor Burns understand this "new" technolgy (1882-88 technology) and are stuck at the old technology of 1976-80, i.e., ordinary crypto, I expect the Leahy and Burns bills will be applied to crypto. >>Whether this will happen is unclear, but I cannot support a bill like >>Pro-CODE, or Leahy, which seems to make it easy to restrict technologies >>I'm interested in. > >I'm certainly not arguing that you (or anyone) ought to support Pro-Code or >ECPA/1997. Pro-CODE looks like a deal with the devil to me (a la Digital >Telephony) and ECPA/1997 just looks like trouble. I still think it's useful >to think about what their likely effect will be, if passed - not so much in >order to lobby for/against them (I'm deeply ambivalent about lobbying and >the legislative process) but because it's good to get a head start on what >may be the legal playing field in a year or so. _You_ are not arguing that I or anyone else should support Burns or Leahy, but I sure do see the "EFF" and "EPIC" and "Voters Telecom Watch" groups doing this. The party line seems to be that libertarian-thinking cyberspace folks should write their Congresscritters expressing support for Pro-CODE (and to a much lesser extent, Leahy/ECPA). Well, I don't buy it. I think Cypherpunks would do well to campaign on the "Rejectionist" Platform: * don't encourage passage of either Pro-CODE or Leahy * let the damned corporations seeking export fight their own battles (It's understandable that RSADSI, Netscape, C2Net, and others of that ilk would support a bill which liberalizes their export prospects while probably impinging on domestic use of crypto, but we private citizens and seekers of liberty should denounce such bad compromises with all our might.) * continue with our efforts to have Washington made irrelevant * push for a public hanging of Fineswine, Leahy, Clinton, and all the other criminals No compromise! --Tim May Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside" 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: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

1 0

Cypherpunk Enquirer
by anon 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

THE CYPHERPUNK ENQUIRER "Encyphering minds want to know." Dr. Dimitri Vulis came out of the closet today on nationwide television. On Geraldo Rivera's special show "Why Geeks Aren't Getting Any" Dr. Vulis, widely known as an ASCII artist, admitted to having crushes on noted cypherpunks John Gilmore and Tim May. "I've tried subtle hints, blatant suggestions, everything," the noted cryptographer and sexual advice column author whined, "but they both keep ignoring me. Maybe I should just admit that they're probably both straight and get on with my life." When contacted at Toad Hall, John Gilmore expressed surprise that Dr. Vulis was seeking a sexual relationship with him, but noted in passing that he had not seen any of Vulis' recent posts since Dr. Vulis' name is now included in the default killfiles for the latest versions of Eudora, procmail and mixmaster. Representatives of the Enquirer attempted to contact Tim May for comment, but were driven away by a barrage of small arms fire. The Cypherpunk Academy of Codes and Cyphers today announced the winner of the annual Perry Award, given to the cypherpunk who has contributed the most over the past year to increasing the S/N ratio on the list. The winner this year is John Gilmore, for shutting down toad.com. "Admittedly, this is a stretch for us," stated the committed chair- person, "since it involved some philosophical and mathematical problems with dividing 0 by infinity, but at least it's not as bad as the cryptography list. Nobody here can figure out what to do with a S/N of 0/0." Jim Bell, a strong runner up, was also in the running, but, as one spokesperson said, "we felt that most of his contribution came from his inability to spell the word 'unsubscribe'." In related news, the "Vaporware of the Month" award goes to the International DES challenge attack, for still not having even beta versions of their software available, even though at least three competing projects have been operational for several weeks. When contacted by the Enquirer Piete Brooks, leader of the committee, admitted that a lot of the problem was due to arguments over how to divide the money resulting from their present and potentially far more lucrative but still unsuccessful attack, an attempt to brute force the Black Unicorn's ATM PIN number at the Bank of Liechtenstein. The Chaos Computer Club of Hamburg, Germany, was awarded $10,000 yesterday by RSA, Inc. for being the first to crack the RC5-128 challenge. "It was a fairly simple hack," stated an anonymous spokesperson for the notorious hackers group, "we simple coded up an ActiveX application that, when downloaded, immediately started using all the spare CPU cycles for the brute force attack. Then we put inserted it into a "Minihan Sucks!" web page, and waited for the NSA to show up." Next: from FC97 - what did Hettinga REALLY do with all those bananas? Encyphering minds want to know!

1 0

SecureFile - Just the way to re-discover your privacy.
by Anand Abhyankar 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Querisoft's SecureFile v1.0 Beta for Windows NT and Windows 95 (with IE 3.x) is now available for download from http://www.querisoft.com/securefile.html. This is one of the first client applications that uses Microsoft's CAPI 2.0 (beta) Download your copy today and start protecting all your personal information. And like us, if you believe that personal information security is a fundamental need of practically every computer user, forward this message to your friends, family, and peers. SecureFile will retail for $39 with a HUGE discount for everyone that downloads the beta copy. SecureFile seamlessly integrates with the operating system providing a one-click operation to privacy, information integrity, and authentication. A Wizard-based GUI is also provided for those that are new to the whole business of securing information. SecureFile also provides secure exchange of information between people using email. What's more, it is independent of email packages We hope that you will find SecureFile a useful tool for all your information security needs. We'd love to hear what you think about the product. Please fill out the feedback form on our website or send mail to securefile(a)querisoft.com. Thanks. Anand Abhyankar

2 1

Save over 50% on Microsoft Office 97 & More!
by dlane＠ultragrafix.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

----------------------------------------------------------------------- Special #1 - Save over 50% on Microsoft Office Professional 97 (FULL Version) These are brand new Full Versions that we are selling for $250.00 This product usually retails for $585.00 in popular stores such as Comp USA and Computer City. Please call us at (817) 557-4945 for more information. Microsoft Office 97 includes new versions of each of the component applications, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, the PowerPoint® presentation graphics program and Microsoft Access, as well as the new Microsoft Outlook. Common to these Office 97 applications is the integration of new Internet technologies. Please call us at (817) 557-4945 to order by all major credit cards. Shipping is $5.95 for U.S. orders Shipping is $9.95 for Canadian orders Shipping is $16.95 (US) for International orders ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Special #2 - 70% OFF Select Phone We just acquired the last 100 copies of the 1996 (2nd Edition) Select Phone cd-rom software. We are selling the remaing quantities for only $29.95* The newest version currently sells for $99.95 at major computer stores including Computer City! Select Phone contains over 95 million White & Yellow Page Listings on 6 CD-ROMs! It is the most popular software for creating business leads for marketing and sales purposes. With Select Phone, you can find anyone, anywhere, anyway you want! If it's in the phonebook, it's on these 6 CD-ROM's. You can search for a listing using any combination of seven different parameters: name, street, city, zip code, state, phone number, even business SIC codes. You can also use it to locate those long lost friends. Select Phone lets you export unlimited listings to Word, Access, Lotus, and many other applications. The included MapView software displays selected listings on a map and even gives you exact mileage between those listings. The program runs under Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, Dos, and Macintosh System 7. For details about this program and many others be sure to visit our web site at http://www.globaltech2000.com * Plus $4.95 for shipping and handling to anywhere in the U.S. * Canadian Orders please include $7.95 for shipping cost * All other International Orders please include $12.95 for shipping To order Select Phone 96 send check or money order for $34.90 to: Global Tech 2000 PO Box 173127 Arlington, Tx 76003 *** (Please allow 4 weeks for delivery on check orders) *** or call (817) 557-4945 to order by all major credit cards You can also fax your order to us at (817) 557-9608 Please Include: Name, Address, Phone Number, Credit Card #, and expiration date on your faxes !!! ******************************************************************* Please Note - All remove requests will be honored and enforced by our postmaster. If you'd rather not receive offers for large discounts on software in the future (usually about 1 per month) simply reply with "REMOVE" in the subject line of your email and you will be deleted immediately from any further mailings by our system. Thank You *******************************************************************

1 0

Re: Master of fellatio
by paul＠fatmans.demon.co.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > Filthy lying cocksucker John Gilmore is not worthy to suck their dicks. > > > Vulis this list is not for sick perverts like you get off it. Pardon? - This is an anarchic list set up precisely because cocksucker John Gilmore didn`t want to play ball over who said what on his list. If you want a restricted membership list to suit your obvious social views I suggest you go and join statistpunks. 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"

1 0

Re: New York Times report on FC97
by Toto 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dale Thorn wrote: > [Serious thought] I guess that when you only have one or two serious thoughts a year, that it's best to hightlight them, so that they stand out, eh Dale? -- Toto http://bureau42.base.org/public/xenix/xenbody.html

1 0

Re: New York Times report on FC97
by dlv＠bwalk.dm.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

"Timothy C. May" <tcmay(a)got.net> writes: > For me, ranting (or writing and speaking, to be less inflammatory) is what > I do. Others choose to write C++. Others do other things. To each their own. > > I guess California is where I belong. Windbag Timmy belongs in the dustheap of history, next to the shitbucket. --- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps

2 1

Re: SecureFile
by Jeremey Barrett 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Querisoft's SecureFile v1.0 Beta for Windows NT and Windows 95 (with IE > 3.x) is now available > for download from http://www.querisoft.com/securefile.html. This is one > of the first client > applications that uses Microsoft's CAPI 2.0 (beta) Umm... reading your faq... (http://www.querisoft.com/SFFAQ.html) you state that you use the windows95 user password as the password for encrypting files. You also seem to imply that you don't actually _ask_ for the password, windows gives it to you (albeit hashed or something already, I imagine). If that is the case, that is extremely worrisome. In fact it's outrageous. That would imply that any _other_ application, benign or evil, could also access the same password and immediately decrypt files. Is that so? (Not coding much on windows, I don't know if applications can access the user's hashed or encrypted password, but I would guess they could.) Jeremey. - -- =-----------------------------------------------------------------------= Jeremey Barrett VeriWeb Internet Corp. Crypto, Ecash, Commerce Systems http://www.veriweb.com/ PGP Key fingerprint = 3B 42 1E D4 4B 17 0D 80 DC 59 6F 59 04 C3 83 64 =-----------------------------------------------------------------------= -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMyA7YS/fy+vkqMxNAQGVSAP/dc1ZwWdfdJZ8gfJNUY3tias5LZi3pWzf NihyMClArDG7Nb+XQ+s+EILi+FCMCJgtnxoc5AYGW/M/2YlHq9P0ZsUG/PQCgP9x 3+rHi8Zl2BIEqhbkKh0RfAo1Ag6/gSygpTKJz+jQCb440FpTT1CpFCKyN5HSNczc ZuJwhM4Fzi4= =ao2E -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

2 3

Hash functions
by nobody＠hidden.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The main difference between Tim May and shit is that shit smells better. \ o/\_ Tim May <\__,\ '\, |

2 1