December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

More on the Jim Bell case
by Alan Olsen 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- The local news just had a story on the Jim Bell case. They are now claiming that the search warrent (how the news people got a copy is a big question) included Sarin nerve gas and Anthrax (not the band). The news story was a pretty interesting hatchet job. Included a number of horsemen and prominently mentioned encryption. They claimed that the reason for the raid on East's home was because he sent Bell encrypted messages containing various evil and unauthorized thoughts. Why am I not surprised... -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 5.0 beta Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBM4D6e+QCP3v30CeZAQHE4Af/TVM1CJHKCu+1YE1MJ7rifbRmfINGI7jv EPYv/6Hd4ymKTuvVL40lvjCCTUTcOvPssFsJRUpjiRSBugVmbw7q4FbbBwG8cE3Y SsaB+hFcJWBoWfs/aGBbHPv5ZBFdmWDoqFBIfAbnxeSBNLCEPYF5Uv+b59BbwSeL fk8yavmAeCO0tieXU0MZwZUpavodNAD1WC7JlPHE1UYZAjy67WOW2UxwLaNgI5VM LeHmBKYBUxEUdofuUUGbLoUNAFvj009Lq4n0vTR5op1bxoClaXia20t8BW4xAZoR Y8ZqEBrQ+hlDjRJaWKUjVSq1AmOeoVbhL/18fN7WvxiAPn6aNuP++A== =w8P/ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --- | "Bill Clinton - Bringing back the sixties one Nixon at a time." | |"The moral PGP Diffie taught Zimmermann unites all| Disclaimer: | | mankind free in one-key-steganography-privacy!" | Ignore the man | |`finger -l alano(a)teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key | behind the keyboard.| | http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com/~alan/ |alan(a)ctrl-alt-del.com|

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Re: referers and W3 (fwd)
by Hal Finney 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Eric Murray, <ericm(a)lne.com>, writes, regarding Referer spoofing: > What would make sense to use, other than sending > "http://this/is/a/bogus/referrer/sent/to/mess/up/your/stats"? > How about sending the current URL as Referrer? One practical idea would be to set up the config file so that whenever URL X is referenced, specified URL Y is sent as the referer. This could be useful for accessing web sites which won't show you information unless (or if) they see a certain value in the referer field. Hal

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Sun Sells Encryption Software Overseas, Skirting U.S. Policy
by ichudov＠algebra.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Tomorrow's Wall Street Journal: http://interactive3.wsj.com/edition/current/articles/SB863997652645676500.h… Sun Sells Encryption Software Overseas, Skirting U.S. Policy By DAVID BANK Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Sun Microsystems Inc. plans to sell advanced data-security software from a Russian supplier to overseas customers, a move that skirts U.S. export regulations and is likely to receive close U.S. government scrutiny. Sun is expected to announce Monday that it will sell encryption software licensed from Elvis+ Co., a company formed by scientists from the former Soviet space program. Sun I actually think that Elvis+ is mostly composed of the former KGB scientists, not space scientists. I may be mistaken though. -- igor has a 10% equity stake in the Russian firm. The Elvis+ products will be shipped to overseas customers from Sun distributors in third countries to keep them from falling under U.S. jurisdiction. Sun's move illustrates how global market pressures are making it increasingly difficult for U.S. officials to control the spread of advanced encryption hardware and software. The technology, which scrambles data to protect it from computer eavesdroppers, is considered vital to the growth of electronic commerce. But export of powerful encryption products is barred under U.S. export-control laws, on grounds that terrorists and others will use it to evade surveillance. Challenge to U.S. Policy The Sun action will cause the Clinton administration to face a difficult decision, said Jim Bidzos, president and chief executive of RSA Data Security Inc., a unit of Cambridge, Mass.-based Security Dynamics Technologies Inc., a major supplier of encryption technology. "The government has to shut this down, or else the competitors of Sun probably have to say, 'We're going to do the same thing,' " he said. Mr. Bidzos, a long-time critic of the export controls, praised Sun's move as "blatant and in-your-face." An administration official said Sunday the White House didn't have enough information to comment. Computer-industry executives, concerned that they could lose a valuable market to foreign competition, have long discussed strategies to exploit loopholes in the export laws. But Sun appears to be the first major company to use foreign software to supply overseas customers. Sun executives said they hadn't discussed the plans with U.S. government officials but had strictly adhered to current laws. "This is not being done to subvert export-control laws but to deliver solutions to customers," said Humphrey Polanen, general manager of Sun's network-security products group. "Never before have organizations outside of the United States had access to such advanced security software." Privacy advocates said Sun's initiative would boost their goal of making high-strength encryption widely available. "We think the benefit for security outweighs the liability for law enforcement," said Jerry Berman, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, D.C. Critical Distinction Elvis+ is based in Zelenograd, a Moscow suburb that was once known as the "Soviet Silicon Valley." The company's products are based on a security protocol called SKIP that was developed by Sun, but Sun says it provided no technical assistance to the Russian company. The distinction is crucial; the export controls cover any product developed with such assistance from a U.S. company. The product, which will be marketed under the name SunScreen SKIP E, employs various encryption algorithms, or formulas, including so-called three-key triple DES and 128-bit ciphers, which security experts consider to be virtually unbreakable. The algorithms, in wide use within the U.S., are used to scramble digital communications; in general, the longer the bit length of the encryption key, the more difficult the code is to break. Current export controls allow the export of cryptography keys up to 40 bits, which have been cracked by computer hackers in as little as 10 minutes. Companies with special approval from the Commerce Department have recently begun exporting 56-bit encryption software, but customers have been clamoring for much stronger keys. Global Competition The restriction on U.S. exports has opened market opportunities for strong encryption products from foreign competitors, including Germany's Brokat Informationssysteme GmbH and Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG, a unit of Siemens AG. "Sun's announcement is further evidence that current U.S. policy is forcing companies to look overseas to obtain strong encryption," said Edward Black, president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a Washington D.C., trade group that is lobbying for relaxation of the export controls. Last year, RSA Data Security announced plans to fund an effort by Chinese government scientists to develop strong encryption technology, but the effort has stalled, Mr. Bidzos said. RSA now sends legally exportable products to its Japanese subsidiary, RSA Japan, for bundling with Japanese encryption software. "I can't just let this world-wide global electronic-commerce market take off without participating," Mr. Bidzos said. Sun's Mr. Polanen said SunScreen SKIP E+ will work with other products based on the SKIP protocols. A commercial version will be available in August; evaluation copies are available for download from an Elvis+ site on the World Wide Web. The software will be priced at $99 for versions that run on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 operating systems and at $149 for the Windows NT version.

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Jim Bell News
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

John Painter, the Oregonian reporter of Jim Bell's arrest, said this evening that he's got another story coming out tomorrow that will reveal more of the situation, and that he'll fax a copy (which I'll post unless Alan does). Mr. Painter says: Jim's still in the Tacoma, WA, federal jail. There was a prelim today and a hearing is due Friday. The feds are keeping the case documents sealed. Speculates that someone may be squealing on Jim in a deal. Jim cannot receive calls but can call out collect. A U.S. Federal Defender has been assigned to represent Jim: Peter Avenia, tel: 253-593-6710. Mr. Avenia did not return a call. The U.S. District Court Judge is J. Kelly Arnold. Court Clerk is Kelly Miller, tel: 253-593-6313. The Oregonian's telephone: 1-800-452-1420. A man at Jim's home politely said he did not want to talk about it. Tel: 360-696-3911.

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Re: Nature of Anarchy/ Anarchy of Nature
by Blanc 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Steve Schear wrote: >Even better, "The Road to Surfdom," F.A. Hayek, totally debunks the basis >of a planned economy and how the loss of property ownership and economic >freedom leads directly and inevitably to totalitarianism. ............................................................ Or my favorite of all time: "Human Action" by Ludwig von Mises. It's a large book - it could keep a collectivist New Age philosopher busy for hours. But even just reading the first few chapters would be sufficient to provide some usefully deep ideas to explain fundamental things about economic truths, of the kind which many cpunks are already in agreement with. .. Blanc .. Blanc

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Re: Mail bombs from "helpful" Cypherpunks
by Bill Stewart 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 07:26 PM 5/18/97 -0800, Tim May wrote: >As I explain in my message to Steve Schear, I have no way of >removing such "mail bombs" with my Eudora/POP system until they >have been downloaded to my machine (I don't have a shell account anymore). Eudora does have a "Only download messages less than ___K" option that can reduce this problem; I don't know if there's also a way to delete the message from Eudora without downloading it. Netscape Mail has similar options. The old Netcom Netcruiser mail client software let you download just the headers and then pick what messages to read ; I don't know if the new NetComplete stuff does that or not. Netcruiser was ugly and somewhat broken, but occasionally did useful things. # 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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Re: Jim Bell goes to Jail!
by Lucky Green 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 09:12 PM 5/18/97 -0700, Alan Olsen wrote: >It is interesting that they have kept the warrent sealed. This, more than >anything makes me question the legitamacy of the whole affair. Sounds like >the IRS is planning a preemptive strike on the Common Law Courts and the >people behind them. There are two reasons I can think of immediately why the feds would keep the warrant sealed. The first is that they don't want to reveal just how little evidence they have. The second reason is that the warrant might give some clue as to future actions/other suspects. Remember that the IRS agent found the AP essay by means of an Internet search engine. That almost certainly means he is following the discussions about Jim Bell on the Net. Such as the discussion on Cypherpunks. It must be truly frightening to this person to read some of the threads on this list. Nerve gas, C4, race-specific biological weapons, bypassing airport security systems, not to mention money laundering and tax evasion, what hasn't been discussed here? The feds may not be aware that the discussions on this list are usually of a theoretical nature. Perhaps they decided to go after the "co-conspirators". Like the anarchists in California with their AR-15's who have so many mags that they can't even remember where they all are. :-) The fact that Jim is held _without bail_ would indicate to me that there is more going on than might meet the eye. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred "I do believe that where there is a choice only between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence." Mahatma Gandhi

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Re: Jim Bell goes to Jail!
by Lucky Green 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:28 PM 5/18/97 -0700, Alan Olsen wrote: >(There are also a number >of >psychological studies that show that people will do all sorts of horrific >things to their fellow man when someone in authority tells them to. If they >are led to believe that they are "bad" in some way, many will enjoy it.) Right. I read a book on that. I think it was called "The Millgram Experiment". Normal people would administer (fake, but they didn't know it) electroshocks to a subject even after the subject had stopped moving and could have been assumed to be unconscious or even dead. An excellent demonstration of the power of authority. And the gullibility of the average person. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred "I do believe that where there is a choice only between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence." Mahatma Gandhi

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Re: Just Say "No" to Congress
by Blanc 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Vladimir Z. Nuri, blowing smoke out his ears, wrote: >the question is not "how do we hold the government accountable for >our cash" but, "*when* will we"? [and] >anyone who disbelieves in the authority of the US government >yet sends them their tax money is a hypocrite. .......................................................................... The first sentence implies that Nurilogical proposes that government should be held accountable by its citizens, including himself ("*when* will we"). On the other hand, he obviously believes in the authority of the US government, as he has always supported it in arguments on the list, especially in counter arguments against TCM. So, it appears that VZN is not *ready* to hold the government accountable, preferring not to protest when his own money is withheld for him, but hypocritically wondering when everyone will make this will happen. However, he's correct: similar to the argument I made about there being no difference between those who kill the good along with the bad & the ugly (that's from the title of a Clint Eastwood movie, for those who aren't familiar with that line), all those who argue for morality and libertarian ideals, but still "give in" when it comes to tax time, are all losers. <g> But this shameless capitulation is intellectualized away with the explanation that everyone is outnumbered by the men holding the legalized guns, who are in turn supported by all those true believers in The American Socialist Way of Life; that way being: the reception of benefits without any need to be consciously aware of, to identify, their actual source or the actual method of their obtainment. .. Blanc .. Blanc

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The Recent Trend in "Collective Contracts"
by Tim May 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I'm not a lawyer, but I am interested in the various ramifications--and the constitutionality--of recent "sweeping contracts" between vendors, lawmakers, consumers, etc. Two recent example: 1. The "tobacco agreement." Supposedly a deal involving the transfer of $360 billion from some number of tobacco companies in exchange for dropping of liability suits, immunity from future claims, voluntary restrictions (!) on advertising, etc. (And the "etc." is especially complicated in this huge case.) 2. The "voluntary ratings" agreement being announced today by Al Gore and some of the television networks. (Earlier "voluntary agreements" were implemented, but, according to supporters of censorship, "failed." Hence the new push for newer voluntary restrictions.) The issue, it seems to me, is that ordinary concepts of illegality and civil liability are being swept aside in favor of these huge "deals" to reduce liability in exchange for various actions. Well, who is bound by these deals? If "Tim's Tobacco Company" starts up next year, after this deal is "signed," is his company bound by this deal? If Tim the Smoker develops lung cancer, is he blocked from suing? (Caveat: My personal and libertarian view is that lawsuits against cigarette companies are wrong and should not be supported in a free society. And lawsuits by various states to "recover health care costs" are especially bogus. By this logic, McDonald's could be sued by California because California paid out more health care benefits to meat-eaters than it did to vegetarians. Utterly bogus.) Anyway, the free speech aspects of these deals are also worrisome. The "voluntary restrictions" on advertising, for example. Would the aforementioned "Tim's Tobacco Company," not a party to this Grand Deal, be somehow bound by a deal wherein it could not sponsor sporting events? Or advertise? Or even speak out against the deal? Imagine the implications for cryptography, using the logic of these kinds of deals: "The voluntary agreement reached between the cryptography industry and Washington calls for companies to voluntarily limit key sizes to 64 bits unless a key recovery scheme is used. And Washington agrees to drop RICO charges against PGP Inc. and RSA Data Security Inc. in return. Book publishers, who became part of the negotiations last summer, have agreed to limit the information published in books in exchange for relaxations on the export requirements for computer media. " Far fetched? Perhaps. But note the similarities to these other "collective contracts." And in many ways the Telephony Act, aka CALEA (Communications Act for Law Enforcement Access), was just such a deal. When the various telecom companies essentially said "we can live with this bill," they were tacitly committing themselves to just such a collective contract. (What happens when a new telecom company starts up and finds that it has been "bound" to provide wiretap points into its switches?) It seems to me that these contracts are going to collapse completely when the Supreme Court points out that they bind nonparticipants to terms which limit their constitutionally protected rights. (Quibblers can claim that "corporations have no constitutional rights," but the publishing companies which publish newspapers would take exception to this. And so on. There are many cases where corporations are enjoying the fruits of the Constitution. As it should be.) These huge mega-deals are a crummy way to interpret the U.S. Constitution. I fear the "Grand Compromise" deal that the telecom and crypto companies are being drawn into. --Tim May There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- 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."

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