December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Ethics in the Free Market
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Three laws of business: Reputation, Reputation, and Reputation... :-). Cheers, Bob Hettinga --- begin forwarded text Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 15:53:21 -0400 Subject: Ethics in the Free Market From: "CIPE-Announce" <cipe-announce(a)mail.cipe.org> To: CIPE-Announce(a)mail.cipe.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: CIPE-Announce(a)mail.cipe.org Precedence: Bulk =================================================================== Summary of Mr. Kanaga's Speech in Bucharest - May 1997 "Ethical Conduct is The Basic Need of a Free Market Economy" ------------------------------------------------------------------- For all of those countries emerging from a period of totalitarian control of business, a valuable part of the lesson on the move to free market economies is the discovery that "free markets" do not mean that "freedom for anything goes." Governments can promote market reform, privatize government-controlled business, and institute positive private investment regulations, but those steps alone are insufficient to achieve sustained growth and spur inflow of foreign private investment. The keys in my opinion are to establish high ethical standards of conduct for business and to create an atmosphere of trust and confidence among all members of the business community. Those two factors have been the foundation for success in those areas of the world that I have observed in over forty years of experience in the private sector of the business community. History proves this point. The countries with the highest ethical standards have attracted the most investment, while those with the lowest standards and with widespread corruption have received the least. In the latter environment, all members of society are losers. Business loses as the public perceives profits as ill-gotten gain, while lack of trust between business executives creates suspicion in the simplest transaction. Government and the democratic process also lose as the public's faith in institutions and the rule of law is further eroded every time the disclosure of bribe or other scandal erupts. Most importantly, ordinary people lose as the promise of democracy and the wealth that initiative could create fail to materialize. Strong ethics are essential to businesses. The entire free-market system is built on trust. Every time a contract is signed or a consumer purchases a product, an extension of good faith is made. If a businessman breaks his word or knowingly sells a faulty product or service, that extension of trust is broken. In looking back on my years in business, my days were filled with verbal assurances, rarely written contracts, that individuals would do what he and she they would do. And there was trust that it would be so. Human beings do fail in this process but the cost effectiveness of doing business this way is clear. The US stock market provides a good example of the critical role that trust plays. It is by far the largest stock market in the world. Why? It achieved this stature because investors put their money at the disposal of distant managers with the confidence that they can be trusted and that they will wisely invest the funds entrusted to them. To be sure, there have been situations where that confidence was misplace; such failures resulted in a strong push to develop corporate codes of conduct. But those failures have been minor blips in the total picture or people would not continue to invest in that stock market. Corporate codes of conduct, however, will only be worth the paper on which they are written if the leadership ignores them. If the leaders of the business community don't live up to the twin principles of honesty and integrity, those that work with those individuals will not. This is an essential ingredient within a single company. In order to make its code of conduct an effective tool, the company's leadership has to live up to it. If by his or her own demeanor the chief executive communicates that the code is unimportant, everyone in the organization will think the same. By contrast, the whole atmosphere in an organization changes overnight when management makes it clear that it expects strict adherence to its code of conduct. Another important point to keep in mind is that codes of conduct that work in one country will not necessarily work in another. Reforming governments must set their own standards in accordance with their country's business practices, rules and regulations. However, in my view, there is a golden opportunity in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe to achieve strong progress if they stand tall, and deal honorably with one another and trust one another. It is encouraging that reforming governments, such as we heard earlier in this meeting from Romania's leadership, are recognizing this critical factor. Earlier this year, its president and prime minister affirmed on the public record that eliminating government corruption and setting high standards of conduct are key priorities. If there isn't a fundamental trust between people, they will try to substitute excessive documentation for that lack of trust. It has been my experience here in Eastern Europe and in Russia and the Ukraine that in the 1980s and before people assembled massive files on the simplest matters to protect themselves. The result was not only a delay in execution of transactions but a terrible waste of time and money. The government cannot legislate integrity and honesty. The leadership in the business community, entrepreneurs and corporate managers alike, must demonstrate those qualities every day to make them the business norm. Each individual business executive-and the organization to which he or she belongs - must lead by example. And government must clearly indicate that it will not tolerate corruption within its own ranks or within the business community. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- William S. Kanaga is the Chairman of the Center for International Private Enterprise and former Chairman of Arthur Young. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE ENTERPRISE -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) was established in 1983 as an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC. Its mission is to promote private enterprise and market-oriented economic reform around the globe by matching funds with a variety of local institutions in emerging democracies, including think tanks, business associations, educational institutions, and media training programs -- the building blocks of democratic society. Over 400 projects in more than 70 countries have been sponsored by CIPE since its inception. CIPE is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, the US Agency for International Development and private sources. --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) Philodox e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' The e$ Home Page: http://www.shipwright.com/

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Re: Oxley Amendment
by Brian B. Riley 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 9/24/97 11:40 PM, Michael Brock (hrast(a)flash.net) passed this wisdom: >I wonder if Mr. Solomon of NY will rethink his decision to not bring >up SAFE without Oxley to the entire House after the unprecedented >coaltion of companies and individual groups that came together to >make sure that mandatory key recovery stays a "1984" like dream. I >find it incomprehensible that one man, would block the introduction >of this bill, after it being proved that this is what his >constituents want.... ... since when did the will of the constituency ever have more than a minor influnce on a congress-critter??? ..... hmmmmm ... can you spell Jesse Helms ???? -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.0 Charset: noconv iQA/AwUBNCnof8dZgC62U/gIEQLTEgCeMK9gz7Xfhc8/DylY7dAh5SKQtvUAoJ0t yWg6yvYguskILFBPepNoTgWV =OXqF -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Brian B. Riley --> http://www.macconnect.com/~brianbr For PGP Keys <mailto:brianbr@together.net?subject=Get%20PGP%20Key> "Everyone who lives dies; but not everyone who dies has lived" -- back of a 'No Fear' t-shirt

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news story in the SD Daily Transcript
by John Kelsey 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Some of you might find an article in the San Diego Daily Transcript (I think it will appear tomorrow in the print version; it's up now at their website) interesting. It's an article about today's moderately good news from Congress, and I'm quoted extensively in it. (The reporter is an old friend of mine, and he knows what I do for a living, so he called me for a quote.) It's currently at http://www.sddt.com/files/library/97headlines/09_97/DN97_09_24/DN97_09_24_tb c.html and I *think* they will keep it up for a while. --John Kelsey, Counterpane Systems, kelsey(a)counterpane.com PGP 2.6 fingerprint = 4FE2 F421 100F BB0A 03D1 FE06 A435 7E36

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Re: Oxley Amendment
by Lee Tien 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>The future, however, is uncertain. The bill now goes to the >House Rules committee, whose chairman said today in a >strongly-worded letter that he'd only allow a bill to go to >the floor if it included Oxley's amendment. Look for a hell >of a lot of behind-the-scenes lobbying on this now... > >-Declan What's the path? Given the multiple committees, is there a prescribed sequence or do they work in parallel? What about the Senate bills? Suppose Solomon allows SAFE to go to the floor. Does SAFE need to be reconciled somehow with any Senate bill? Could Oxley's amendment could be made on the floor, with little or no warning? In some sort of conference committee? I'd love to see a simple map/diagram of all the inflection points where the FBI/NSA forces can further twist SAFE. Call it morbid curiosity. Last year's model was bad, and it's only gotten worse. Lee

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Year 2000 Solutions
by Blanc 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I found this bit of news info in the Softworld '97 website, for any of you who are interested: (http://www.softworld.org/cfm/sfwd8000.cfm?X=62) Year 2000 Solutions From India's Largest Software Consultancy Tue, Sep 9, 1997, Vancouver, BC Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest global provider of software and software services, came to Softworld 97 looking for potential clients in all areas of software needs, including Year 2000. With their existing Y2K tool capabilities, coupled with two upcoming announcements, Softworld 97 is providing TCS with an excellent source for potential deals. TCS is already using its proprietary Y2K tools for projects involving: IBM Mainframe (OS/VS COBOL, COBOL II ETACOBOL, PL/1, ASSEMBLER, EASYTRIEVE, MANTIS, TELON, SCEPTER, NATURAL, ADS/O, JCL, plus IDMS, IMS, DB2 and SUPRA) AS/400 (RPG, COBOL, CL, S/36, S/38, OCL) Tandem (COBOL, SCOBOL) DEC VAX (COBOL, POWERHOUSE) Honeywell-Bull (COBOL) Unix "C" In two weeks TCS will offer its AS/400 Y2K toolset, named Y2KIT/400, for sale around the world as either a stand-alone product or bundled with services. This tool suite has already proven its value in several international projects involvimg millions of lines of code. On October 1st, TCS will open a "dedicated Y2K Factory" in Chennai (formerly Madras), India. This facility will be unique in that it will have 1000 dedicated Indian software professionals, utilizing an IBM 9672-R44 (4 processor, CMOS) Mainframe, and equipped with a high-speed T1 satellite link to North America. With 200 MLOC already under contract, this Center is being commissioned to handle 1 Billion lines of code. "Our attendance at Softworld 97 could not have come at a more opportune time," states Jim Thomas, TCS' Vice President of Marketing for North America, "as there are numerous companies present with Y2K requirements." .. Blanc

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InfoWar 20 (Part III of 'The True Story of the InterNet')
by A Player To Be Named Later 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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InfoWar 20 / TEXT
by A Player To Be Named Later 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The True Story of the InterNet Part III InfoWar Final Frontier of the Digital Revolution Behind the ElectroMagnetic Curtain by TruthMonger <tm(a)dev.null> Copyright 1997 Pearl Publishing ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- InfoWar Table of Contents * A Billionaire To Be Named Later ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Billionaire To Be Named Later ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Did you notice the way 'Mojave' was misspelled?" the Shadow asked the Rich Man. Bad BillyG nodded slowly, looked up at the Shadow and said, "I also noticed that he used the 'replay' remailer and spoke of 'deja vu.'" "Indio?" the Shadow asked Bad BillyG, not having to wait for his confirmation to know that the anonymous writer was referring to the Wackenhut/Cabazon weapons fencing operation. "I've got someone checking the physical site as we speak," BillyG told the Shadow, "but I think it's obvious that the references to Lefty and the tassel-haired young woman firing a shotgun with one hand means that these people recreated an event that happened over a decade and a half ago, only" Bad BillyG paused to swallow, "only this time, the targets are us, not them." The Shadow and his earthly compatriot turned their attention to the anonymous post, once again, confirming what they already knew, and scanning for more details of the writers veiled message, therein. Subject: Not-News Gorilla NutWork Rocket-Launched From: nobody(a)REPLAY.COM (Anonymous) Organization: Replay and Company UnLimited To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com [Not-News NetWork-- Mohave Desert] Aug 4/97 WHAT DOES A FIVE HUNDRED POUND GORILLA READ AT THE BREAKFAST TABLE? - sog The "Not-News Gorilla NutWork" was rocket-launched in the Mohave Desert early yesterday morning by a rag-tag bunch of paramilitarist computer gurus who unveiled an InterNet Bill of Bytes that included the words, "MicroSoft shall make no laws..." Angered by a self-appointed council of computer industry magnates who have announced their intention to seize fascist control of the quickly burgeoning Information Highway by controlling the definition of all information, the rebels set up a shooting range which contained a wide variety of targets ranging from copies of the Wall Street Journal to life-sized cardboard cut-outs of a hooded figure referred to only as, "a billionaire to be named later." A Che Guerva look-alike named Lefty (a nickname changed from "Lucky" after a laboratory accident took three of the fingers on his right hand) spoke openly about the group's loose-knit plans to impose their own ratings system on corporations who have "taken it upon themselves to decide what is news and what is not--what is information and what is obscenity." "We have decided on two classes of ratings." explained a tassel- haired young woman as she slid shells into a Winchester Defender sitting on her lap. "On..." she said, lifting the shotgun with one hand, then liberating the hooded head from a nearby cardboard cut-out, before turning back to say, with a Cheshire grin, "...and off." The wide array of luxury automobiles and high-end computer gear on display at the gathering lent credence to the claim of a quiet older man whose only comment during my presence was, "The people here probably have a combined access to more soft targets than the NSA." He turned to punctuate his statement, as many others did that day, with a volley of fire that penetrated targets carrying the corporate logos of a variety of big-name players in the computer industry. Surprisingly, the conversation consisted almost totally of issues surrounding privacy, self-determination and freedom from censorship, with hardly a word being spoken about potential plans of action by individuals or the group. As the quiet man's equally quiet wife spoke in what seemed to be a deathly whisper, telling me, "Everyone here knows what they have to do.", a man with a crude, homemade rocket-launcher sent a flaming projectile into the side of a small propane tank several hundred feet away, as if punctuating the last and most meaningful statement of the day. After quietly dispersing a few minutes later, the group packed up their weapons and climbed into their vehicles without a word between them, each seemingly going their own separate ways. I stayed on after the last of the others had left, reflecting on the fact that I had arrived at this gathering by virtue of a late-night phone call to my unlisted number, and found that I knew none of the participants in the activities. I had the strangest feeling that the others there had arrived by the same anonymous process as I had, and I wondered if they were equally mystified as to who had arranged this impromptu assembly of apparent strangers joined in a common cause. Immediately, one of the pickup trucks driving away backfired, and I thought of synchronicity, knowing that the truck would backfire once again, which it immediately did, before disappearing quietly out of sight. Climbing into my own vehicle, I took a last look at the site, which had been cleaned and left exactly the way it was when I had first arrived on the scene. I experienced a moment of deja vu, as if I had just arrived and none of what I had experienced that day had truly transpired. Somewhere in the distance, a vehicle backfired... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclaimer - I am not a reporter, I am not a paramilitarist, and I am not a computer expert. I have no idea what I was doing there and I am not even certain that I should be speaking about the event...but I am. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Player To Be Named Later put down the 'Not-News Gorilla NutWork Rocket-Launched' post and scanned portions of the INSLAW/Octopus report from NaziWorld, once again. The INSLAW Octopus Software piracy, conspiracy, cover-up, stonewalling, covert action: Just another decade at the Department of Justice By Richard L. Fricker But prior to his arrest in 1991, Riconosciuto provided the Hamiltons with an affidavit that once again brought Brian into the Inslaw picture. "I engaged in some software development and modification work in 1983 and 1984 on proprietary PROMIS computer software product," he stated. "The copy of PROMIS on which I worked came from the US Department of Justice. Earl W. Brian made it available to me through Wackenhut (a security company with close FBI and CIA connections) after acquiring it from Peter Videnieks, who was then a Department of Justice contracting official with the responsibility for PROMIS software. I performed the modifications to PROMIS in Indio, Calif.; Silver Springs, Md.; and Miami, Fla." The modifications included a telecommunications "trap door" that would let the US Government eavesdrop on any other organization using the pirated software, Riconosciuto said. Although Brian denies any involvement with Inslaw or Riconosciuto, the House Judiciary Committee received a report from a special task force of the Riverside County, Calif., Sheriff's Office and District Attorney, stating that on the evening of Sept. 10, 1981, arms dealers, buyers and various intelligence operatives gathered at the Cabazon Indian Reservation near Indio, Calif., for a demonstration of night warfare weapons. The demonstration was orchestrated jointly by Wackenhut and the Cabazon Indian tribe. (Many published reports allege that the Wackenhut/Cabazon joint venture served as a weapons fencing operation for Oliver North's Iran- Contra dealings.) Bad BillyG involved in that mess? A Player To Be Named Later shook his head negatively, to himself. It seemed unlikely, but it would explain a few things which had been troubling him, lately. And it would mean that the anonymous poster knew enough intimate details of an event that had been shrouded in deep secrecy to pose a threat to all those connected with the Indio affair. It would also explain the apparently strange ending to a major play by the news and computer industry heavyweights calling themselves the 'Internet Content Coalition' that the anonymous post seemed to be threatening. For starters, Microsoft made an immediate about-face, within hours of the anonymous post, on their plans to include technology supporting the Internet Content Coalition's aims in their next version of Internet Explorer. >From - Wed Aug 06 19:31:05 1997 From: nobody(a)neva.org (Neva Remailer) Subject: MicroGorilla Postpones Rocket-Launch Plans Until..."likely sometime next year." >Anonymous wrote: > > The "Not-News Gorilla NutWork" was rocket-launched in the Mohave Desert > > early yesterday morning by a rag-tag bunch of paramilitarist computer > > gurus who unveiled an InterNet Bill of Bytes that included the words, > > "MicroSoft shall make no laws..." Steven Vonder Haar wrote, the very next day: > Microsoft Corp. has tabled plans to include new technology in its > Internet Explorer 4.0 browser that would have made "news" oriented > sites exempt from content rating standards promoted for use on the > Internet. >Anonymous wrote: > > Angered by a self-appointed council of computer industry magnates who > > have announced their intention to seize fascist control of the quickly > > burgeoning Information Highway by controlling the definition of all > > information, the rebels set up a shooting range which contained a wide > > variety of targets ranging from copies of the Wall Street Journal to > > life-sized cardboard cut-outs of a hooded figure referred to only as, > > "a billionaire to be named later." Steven Vonder Haar wrote, the very next day: > RSAC President C. Dianne Martin said Microsoft is running out of time > to implement the separate designation for news sites before the launch > of the 4.0 version of Explorer later this year. >Anonymous wrote: > > "We have decided on two classes of ratings." explained a tassel- > > haired young woman as she slid shells into a Winchester Defender > > sitting on her lap. "On..." she said, lifting the shotgun with one > > hand, then liberating the hooded head from a nearby cardboard cut-out, > > before turning back to say, with a Cheshire grin, "...and off." Steven Vonder Haar wrote, the very next day: > However, the company > plans to include the news designation in the 5.0 version of Explorer > when it is made available..."likely sometime next year." There wasn't much doubt that 'Nobody' was pointing out to one and all that the Internet Content Coalition was under siege, and that the opening salvo by 'Anonymous' had brought the largest corporation in history to its knees, in surrender. A bold claim, but would this declaration of war in the battle of the giants to seize control of the official reigns of news and information on the InterNet be backed up in the end, by across the board results? A Player To Be Named Later pored over a FreeAmerica report on the resurrection of the Inslaw ghosts in the mid-1990's. Federal Corruption INSLAW Copyright FreeAmerica and Harry V. Martin, 1995 Congressman Jack Brooks of Texas has opened a new investigation into the INSLAW case. Brooks is investigating allegations that Justice Department officials, including Meese, conspired to force INSLAW into bankruptcy in order to deliver the firm's software to a rival company. The rival firm, according to court records and law enforcement officials, was headed by Earl W. Brian, a former Cabinet officer under then California Governor Ronald Reagan and a longtime friend of several high-ranking Republican officials. [Earl W. Brian! Who had seized control of United Press International (UPI) in a deal every bit as shady as the Inslaw affair] On March 21, 1992, [Michael] Riconoscuito stated in an affidavit to the Court and Congress, and before he was arrested, the following: * During the 1980s he served as the Director of Research for a joint venture between the Wackenhut Corporation of Coral Gables, Florida, and the Cabazon Band of Indians of Indio, California. The joint venture was located on the Cabazon reservation. [Near the Salton Sea, a long-time haunt of the Author, who brought a strange variety of computer gurus to the area, purportedly for Corvina fishing, but what was the real story about their travels there?] * The Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture sought to develop and/or manufacture certain materials that are used in military and national security operations, including night vision goggles, machine guns, fuel- air explosives, and biological and chemical warfare weapons. * The Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture was intended to support the needs of a number of FOREIGN governments and forces, including forces and governments in Central America and the Middle East. The Contras in Nicaragua represented one of the most important priorities for the joint venture. * The Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture maintained close liaison with 'certain elements' of the United States Government, including representatives of intelligence, military and law enforcement agencies. * Among the frequent visitors to the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture were Peter Videnieks of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and a close associate of Videnieks by the name of Earl W. Brian. Brian is a private businessman who lives in Maryland and who has maintained close business ties with the U.S. intelligence community for many years. * The purpose of the PROMIS software modification that I made in 1983 and 1984 was to support a plan for the implementation of PROMIS in law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide. Earl W. Brian was spearheading the plan for this worldwide use of the PROMIS computer software. * Some of the modifications that I made were specifically designed to facilitate the implementation of PROMIS within two agencies of the Government of Canada: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS). Earl W. Brian would check with me from time to time to make certain that the work would be completed in time to satisfy the schedule for the RCMP and CSIS implementations of PROMIS. [The RCMP and CSISthe same entities that the Author had shared a Russian language class with in Regina, Saskatchewan, just before the Moscow Olympics. Who had he encountered in that group who would later be instrumental in acquiring the PROMIS software for the Canadians?] * The propriety version of PROMIS, as modified by me, was, in fact implemented in both the RCMP and the CSIS in Canada. It was my understanding that Earl W. Brian had sold this version of PROMIS to the Government of Canada. A Player To Be Named Later suddenly remembered the email to the CypherPunks mailing list and the corporate headquarters of the Internet Content Coalition that had been forwarded from the LMBoyd Website, which was known to be a forum for the Circle of Eunuchs to send veiled messages to set the stage for their more pointed attacks on the Dark Forces. It was an email that was sent out when the dark specter of the Internet Content Coalition first began to flex their muscles. >From - Fri Jul 25 19:38:14 1997 Subject: Sampler: July 25 To: multiple recipients of <sampler(a)lmboyd.com> ====================================================== The serial killer does in one person at a time in intervals. The mass killer murders however many in a single mad rampage. The mass killer is usually suicidal. The serial killer isn't. Q. Does any animal deliberately stalk human beings for food? A. None but the polar bear. At least, such is the claim of the experts. ====================================================== LMBoyd Web Site / U. S. Newspapers / Start Email / Stop Email http://www.LMBoyd.com/postscript.htm "Of course!" A Player To Be Named Later slapped his forehead, amazed that he had not seen the connection sooner between the 'mass murderer, serial killer stalking humans from the North' email, the Not-News threat singling out "a billionaire to be named later," and the email sent to the Internet Content Coalition players just before they held the meeting where they effectively folded their hand in their attempt to take over control over defining what was 'official' news on the InterNet, and what was not. He reread, once again, the anonymous post sent just hours before the Internet Content Coalition's grand agenda bit the dust: "In July, Anson Ng, a reporter for the Financial Times of London was shot and KILLED in Guatemala. He had reportedly been trying to interview an American there named Jimmy Hughes, a one-time director of security for the Cabazon Indian Reservation secret projects. "In April, a Philadelphia attorney named Dennis Eisman was found DEAD, killed by a single bullet in his chest. According to a former federal official who worked with Eisman, the attorney was found dead in the parking lot where he had been due to meet with a woman who had crucial evidence to share substantiating Riconosciuto's claims. "Both Eisman's and Ng's deaths were declared 'suicides' by authorities. "Fred Alvarez, a Cabazon tribal leader who was in vocal opposition to the developments on the reservation, was found SHOT TO DEATH WITH TWO FRIENDS in 1981. Their murder remains unsolved. At last, the whole bizarre, implausible scenario finally came together in A Player To Be Named Later's mind. The Author's presence near the belly of the beast in Indio had not been a mere coincidence. When the Internet Content Coalition made their move, the Circle of Eunuchs already had the information they needed to connect several of the players in the proposed news cartel with the trail of deaths surrounding both those involved in the INSLAW debacle and the reporters closing in on the real story involved. And they had made it more than plain that some of those involved in the Wackenhut-Cabazon arms deals were now playing for the oppositionand that bullets don't discriminate between the rich and the poor. A Player To Be Named Later was still mystified as to how the Magic Circle had been able to pull off such a bold, in-your-face maneuver on some of the Titans of the news and computer industries. In the early days, after the dissemination of "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" had begun in 1989, the Circle of Eunuchs had come under fierce attack from a variety of sources from within the secret government hunting them. Mysterious deaths, established careers going up in flames, overnight. The Magic Circle had quickly disappeared far into the underground of computer society. Then, the Circle had begun to show their hand, more and more, now reaching the point where they could apparently do battle with the heavyweights working behind the scenes with Gomez and the Dark Allies. But A Player To Be Named Later hadn't seen any indication that the Circle of Eunuchs had managed to gain possession of a hole-card that could account forunless "Casolaro!" A Player To Be Named Later whispered, as if speaking the name aloud might bring down fire from the heavens. Quickly, he did a disk search for a vaguely remembered article from Conspiracy Nation Forwarded: >From the Patriot Archives ftp site at: ftp://tezcat.com/patriot Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 3 Num. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ("Quid coniuratio est?") THE OCTOPUS =========== By Karen Bixman (For The People *News Reporter*, 11/14/94) On the morning of August 11, 1991, Danny Casolaro was found dead in the bathroom of his hotel room at the Sheraton Hotel in Martinsburg, West Virginia. His wrists had been slashed ten times; his briefcase and notes were missing. The authorities labeled the death a suicide, and before Casolaro's family had been contacted, the body was embalmed. ----------------------------------------------------------------- If you would like "Conspiracy Nation" sent to your e-mail address, send a message in the form "subscribe conspire My Name" to listproc(a)prairienet.org -- To cancel, send a message in the form "unsubscribe conspire" to listproc(a)prairienet.org but with absolutely nothing in the subject line of the message. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Damn! He had nailed it! Karen Bixman's article had confirmed everything that A Player To Be Named Later had increasingly suspected as his mind pored over the mountain of information which had seemed so tentatively, but treacherously, related. Bixman had laid down an utterly astounding, twisted trail of closely connected, mysterious deaths and blatant murders surrounding the INSLAW and Iran-Contra misdeeds that completed the connections between the past and current players in the battle for control of world supremacy in computer information and communications. What's more, the timing of the disappearance of Danny Casolaro's extensive notes on the winding serpent of evil surrounding these affairs coincided with the Magic Circle's unmistakable reentry into manifest participation in the battle against the Evil One and the Dark Forces under his command. The Coupe de Gras, however, was the source of the Conspiracy Nation newsletter. Prairienet.org! From whence sprang the apparently unrelated Bureau42 clique who had seized the opportunity to host 'The True Story of the InterNet' transcripts, despite the troubled and bloody history of those who had done so in the past. Bianca had mentioned to Mike Denney, at Basis Inc., that she had been prepared to hack the Bureau42 servers when they came under attack upon placing 'Part II' and 'Part III' on their system, but that they had managed to clear up the problems that developed on their own, and had done so in a surprisingly short period of time. Only one thing was still bothering A Player To Be Named Later. Microsoft had been the first member of the Internet Content Coalition to publicly fold their hand in the battle to control news and information ratings across the InterNet, but Gates seemed, on the surface, to be less visibly connected to the extremely messy past misconduct of the others, and thus seemed to have the least to lose if the shit hit the fan. Gate's quick concession to the veiled threats had definitely been the catalyst in causing the hasty retreat of the other members of the news cartel that had seemed to be on the drawing board for quite some time in the plans of Gomez and the Dark Alliesbut why? Bill Gates had not become the richest and most overtly powerful individual on the face of the earth by fighting against the grand designs of the Evil One, but he seemed to be playing his cards close to his chest, in a manner that suggested that he had an agenda of his own that might not run exactly parallel to that of the Dark Forces. What was BillyG's game? A Player To Be Named Later had been involved in the grand battle taking place behind the scenes of everyday reality for long enough to know that it was all done with mirrors. "And each man, in his time, plays many parts." he said, perplexed for the moment. "To Shakespeare!" A Player To Be Named Later said, lifting his glass in toast. "A member of the Magic Circle, if there ever was one." "If there ever was one" he repeated, smiling at his unintentional inside joke. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Shadow was watching Bad BillyG closely, for any sign of subterfuge in his inner demeanor. "You're certain about Blanc Weber?" he asked, once again. "Well, I could be wrong, but we've investigated her thoroughly, and every indication is that all that nonsense about her development of the HydroCube is just that-nonsense." BillyG shrugged his shoulders, apparently unconcerned with what he regarded as a small, internal company matter. "I could have her isolated, but I don't really see much point. If she is hiding something, then it's probably better not to let her know how closely she is being monitored. Perhaps you should put some of the Dark Allies on her tail for a while, in case there is something that my people have missed." "No, I don't think that will be necessary." the Shadow replied, casually. He had instructed his men to monitor Blanc Weber's movements and activities months ago, as well as those of the spooks Bad BillyG had assigned to watch her. His own spooks had likewise turned up nothing positive, but he had pressed the matter with Gates in order to judge his reaction just the same. "Well, her digital implant went according to plan," BillyG added, "so we will be able to yank her chain on a moment's notice, if it becomes necessary to do so, in the future." The "billionaire to be named later" sat back and allowed himself to indulge in the luxury of looking forward to the moment when A Player To Be Named Later would find out much, much more than he really wanted to know about Bad BillyG's plans for the tattered remnants of the Magic Circle who were attempting to interfere with his own vision of the direction the future of the InterNet should take at this nadir point in time, when the battle for control of virtual reality was about to explode into every single facet of human life ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bubba Rom Dos thought about the forefather of his technical namesake, who had so far managed to walk with the Evil One as far as the bridge in his rise to riches, fame and power a hundred years in the past. The Cowboy, Priscilla, Alexis, Jonathan, and d'Shauneaux were likewise joined with him in contemplation of this paradoxical figure from the past whose role in the great battle between the Forces of Light and the Forces of Darkness had remained an enigma throughout the history and legends of the Circle of Eunuchs. Friend or foe, there was no denying that Billy the Kid was going to play a major role in the direction that the thundering train of history was about to take as it approached the crossroads of destiny on its way to an ElectroMagnetic Future where freedom would hinge on the free flow of Taoist bytes routing around the enslaving chains of Fascist bits that Gomez and the Dark Allies had been carefully laying in place since the dawn of the Computer Era. Bubba Rom Dos, sage and savant, deviant and derelict, raised a glass of "Bubba's Special Reserve" in toast, proclaiming as the tattered remnants of the Magic Circle joined him in his libations, "To Billy the Kidor Bad BillyGto the things that he didor to what he may be" The Trei Transponder began softly humming in the background, as if trying to tell the small assembly something very, very important for them to know. Then it fell silent Copyright "Anonymous TruthMonger <billg(a)microsoft.com>" "That's not a government backdoor <bug>. It's a hacker's backdoor <feature>." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" "WebWorld & the Mythical Circle of Eunuchs" "InfoWar (Part III of 'The True Story of the InterNet') Soviet Union Sickle of Eunuchs Secret WebSite ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: The CipherSaber Manifesto
by Antonomasia 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

reinhold(a)world.std.com (Arnold Reinhold) wrote: > CipherSaber-1 (CS1) uses Ron Rivest's RC4 algorithm as published in > the second edition of Bruce Schneier's Applied Cryptography. .... > CipherSaber-1 is a symmetric-key file encryption system. Messaging > takes place by attaching binary files to e-mail. Because CipherSaber > uses a stream cipher, an initialization vector must be used to prevent > the same cipher key from being used twice. In encrypted CipherSaber-1 > files, a ten byte initialization vector precedes the coded data. For > decryption, the initialization vector is read from the file and > appended to the user key before the key setup step. ...... Why not _prepend_ the IV to the key ? As described here any paranoics who use keys > 255 chars won't get the IV in place, and will lose out. I think I'd also force 4 bytes of the IV to be the current time, as a defence against the (P?)RNG getting me a repeated IV eventually. -- ############################################################## # Antonomasia ant(a)notatla.demon.co.uk # # See http://www.notatla.demon.co.uk/ # ##############################################################

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Good News / Bad News
by A Player To Be Named Later 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Bill Gore, FBI - "The good news is that we have apprehended Ramon Eduardo Arellano-Felix in return for paying out the two million dollar reward for his sorry, drug-dealing, scum-sucking ass." Louis Freeh, Lying Nazi Fuck - "What's the bad news? Bill Gore, FBI - "We payed the two million to Jim Bell, and he used it to place a bet..."

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Remailers (was Re: The problem of playing politics with our constitutional rights)
by phelix＠vallnet.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 24 Sep 1997 21:11:07 -0500, Eric Nystrom <enystrom(a)nscee.edu> wrote: >-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > >On Wed, 24 Sep 1997 phelix(a)vallnet.com wrote: > >> >>remailer could automatically announce itself to the world (perhaps via a >> >>newsgroup post). The various listing services would pick up on this. The >> >>more automated it is, the better. >> > >> >How about posting availability notices alt.remailer-availability.announce >> >(create it if necessary) or alt.anonymous.messages? >> >> Yes, I was thinking along these lines, though right now I'm concentrating >> on the client end of things. > >I'm not sure that Usenet would necessarily be the best idea for a primary >source of remailer availability notices. After all, the latency >associated with Usenet might be a problem. That's a problem only if we expect remailers to stay up only for a few days at a time. I'm sure such guerilla remailers will exist, but will they be the dominant type of remailers? > And more to the point, some of >us have a problem reaching a news server. On a company LAN connected to >the Internet, for example, any and every J. Random Eudora-user could or >would become a remailer. (You could have 10 or 50 or more remailers per >organization -- enough that it would be difficult for the sysadmins to >squash them all.) But most companies do not allow access to a news >server. I suspect that a company that didn't allow access to a news server would also not allow you to run a remailer behind their firewall. > A client could telnet out to someplace in the outside world to >announce its presence or whatever, but not post to or read from Usenet. But then we're back to the problem of having a centralized service that can be attacked. I suppose it's unavoidable. Let's hope we at least have many different pinging services. >I think Usenet would serve an important role as a secondary, backup source >of information that would support and mirror the pinging services. But >to have Usenet as the only source of remailer availablility might be a >little short-sighted. I just had a thought. Run a pinging service through the eternity servers. Anyway, in private email, the thought of digital postage stamps has come up. Are there any ecash system that offer total payer anonymity (payee anonymity is not absolutely necessary here)?

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