December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: A.Word.A.Day--cryptozoology / Was Re: Forgeries
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Wordsmith wrote: > > cryp.to.zo.ol.o.gy n. 1969 :1) the study of the lore concerning legendary > animals (as Sasquatch) especially in order to evaluate the possibility of > their existence > 2) the study of the lore concerning legendary members of the > cypherpunks mailing list (as Tim C. May) especially in order > to evaluate the possibility of their existence, as opposed to > being the creation of the Electronic Forgery Foundation. > > Maria Goodavage, Most scientists merely amused., USA TODAY, 05-24-1996, > pp 08A. > "But J. Richard Greenwell, a zoologist at the International Society of > Cryptozoology, which studies evidence of unverified animals, cites the > example of the mountain gorilla, thought to be a myth until the early > 1900s. `It's the largest known primate in the world, and it took a long, > long time to prove it really exists,' he says. > On the existence of Tim C. May, Greenwell said, "Legend tells us > that he is a Cypherpunk Sasquatch, but every researcher who has > gone in search of him has come back in a body bag with a variety > of bullet holes in the carcass." > Greenwell also quotes a writer at Market Magazine, in regard to the > rumored existence of Robert Hettinga, "If Hettinga really exists, > then why is he never credited for any quotes in the media?" > > This week's theme: AWAD's recommendations for some unusual areas to work in. > > ........................................................................... > No wonder nobody comes here--it's too crowded. -Yogi Berra > > Send your comments about words to anu(a)wordsmith.org. To subscribe or > unsubscribe A.Word.A.Day, send a message to wsmith(a)wordsmith.org with > "Subject:" line as "subscribe <Your Name>" or "unsubscribe". Archives, > FAQ, gift subscription form, and more at: http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/

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Re: Dr. Dobbs Cryptography and Security CD-ROM
by Mike 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Bill Frantz wrote: >Excuse me. Certain parts of that CDROM are already available overseas. >If they are not posted to the net how does that prevent them from being >available overseas? You mean that it would be fine for foreigners to copy and sell the CD, but not to put it on the net? Well, copyright law being what it is, makes this a bit tricky. An ftp administrator have never been sentenced for copyright violation (please correct me if I'm wrong), but CD copiers are thrown in jail all the time. The distinction that the courts make is that of profit. Sure, they can buy the book, but the electronic version is obviously more useful to some people, or there wouldn't be any market for it. I know foreigners who would like to put a copy of Applied Cryptography in their PalmPilots, to carry around for reference. They can't do that legaly, and that makes crypto less accessible. Mike.

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Re: can i join
by Marc J. Wohler 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:37 PM 7/6/97 -0500, you wrote: > >Drifter0(a)aol.com wrote: > >> thanx > > ... Oh, Jesus, another stupid AOLer. Well, let me go through the >proper procedures. > >Time for the flame-form. >----------------------------- >Dear: Bennett, I got some chuckles from your 'Flame Form' and sympathize with view expressed therein. However: How do you propose that we get our import message of strong crypto awareness out to the clueless if we display elitism, impatience and intolerance to their ignorance? Marc

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Spread Spectrum Surveillance Modules
by Dave Del Torto 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

[From the TSCM-L Technical Security Mailing List] ................................. cut here ................................. TSCM Intelligence Update - Spread Spectrum Surveillance Modules New Spread Spectrum Surveillance Modules There are some new spread spectrum products coming into the US by way of China, and are starting to show up in Spy Shops on the West coast, Chicago, and Miami area. Two sided, four layer, surface mount PCB, several RF and audio IC's, several pots, coils, etc. Device is a raw module, designed for covert installations in an office or SOHO environment. SM connector for antenna, micro molex connector for power and computer/serial interface. PCB is 1.5 mm wide, 3.25 mm long, and .5mm thick. Products are all based on a cordless telephone chip set, 780 Mhz to 980 Mhz, Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (BPSK/QPSK?). Analysis of RF section indicates good response from 610 Mhz to 1090 Mhz. Serial data rates between 56 kb/s and 784 kb/s (12 full audio channels capable). Devices have a two way RS422 serial port to facilitate setup prior to field usage. Programmed RF power levels range is spec'd between 50mw and 250mw, suspect the circuits will operate as low as 5mw. Evaluation of the RF amp indicates that RF section should support a full watt of power with no problem. Recommended voltage is 3/6vdc, but circuit should work fine on 9 or 12vdc. Connections for two or three wire transducers. Audio path is thru pre-amp, compander, CODEC, and controller. Looks like it can support two elements, each with its own tunable preselector. Large amount of 60 hz filtering, suspect they were originally designed for installation into power strips (APC, Best, Woods, etc). Look for the low level multihump signature on the spectrum analyser, and take a REAL hard look at all surge protectors. Be sure to "box" all electrical artifacts encountered on a TSCM sweep. Well engineered, suspect cost to manuf. is under $35, should be popular, most of the spy shops are selling these for $1500 to $3000. More details to follow after the holiday, should have an update by that time regarding the VLF devices being built by Thompson, and E-Systems. --James M. Atkinson

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German Official Pleas for Strong Encryption
by Donald Weightman 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Reuters (as picked up in today's FINANCIAL TIMES) reports that German economics minister Gunter Rexrodt called for loosening the restrictions on strong encryption. Speaking yesterday at a European ministerial conference on global integration, he said "Users can only protect themselves against having data manipulated, destroyed, or spied on through the use of strong encryption procedures." Hmmm: seems like there's a trend among Certain Global Opinion Makers that some people -- maybe the financial markets? -- need good crypto: compare last week's ECONOMIST and FINANCIAL TIMES editorials. Anyone know how the new German legislation deals with encryption? cheers ......................................... Donald Weightman dweightman(a)radix.net

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[STEGO] RSA
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Given Tim C. May's propensity to molest little children, is it any surprise that the state of California wants to have him castrated? o o /< >\ Tim C. May \\\_______/// // \\

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Re: Forged Posts
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

BadRemailer wrote: X-Comments: Note: It is BadRemailer policy to read all anonymous mail X-Comments: passing through our hands, and expose the nasty little X-Comments: secrets of those who use our service. X-Comments: Not that we're troublemakers... > BadRemailer > "Some people just can't keep a secret." In the movie version, Eddie Murphy plays BadRemailer, and the big scene is when he walks into a cypherpunks physical meeting and says, "I'm your worst nightmare...a remailer with a LOG!" Steven SpeilMonger

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Contracts on the Net (NYT)
by amp＠pobox.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The New York Times MONDAY, JULY 7, 1997 Lack Of Contracts Undermine Internet Transactions By GEANNE ROSENBERG Beyond the violets and refrigerated roses, in the back room of the Southern Sun flower shop in Tallahassee, Fla., the florist, Bob Deak, also deals in trading cards. With three computers and links to the Internet, Deak bargains with collectable card buyers and sellers from as far away as Italy, Australia and Singapore. He does not worry about the lack of paper contracts to document the deals he strikes, even though the transactions can run as high as $20,000 apiece. His profits, he said, far outweigh the risks that a deal might go sour. One deal in particular led to a dispute - a $1,020 purchase of a card collection last year from a 14-year-old, Ted Clark of Haddonfield, N.J. Deak said ``youngsters'' selling cards sometimes do not understand the meaning of ``near mint.'' So, after examining the cards he had agreed to purchase in several installments, Deak decided they were not in near-mint condition and canceled a couple of checks he had written to Ted Clark and sold the cards for less than the original purchase price. But Deak's actions did not sit well with Ted, now 16, especially since Deak had made an electronic agreement. Ted thought he had been ``rooked'' because he did not receive the full amount, said his mother, Amelia H. Boss, a law professor at Temple University School of Law and an expert on Internet commerce. She took Ted's case and, with the assistance of a Florida colleague who served as local counsel, contacted Deak and eventually persuaded him to pay the balance of the money. Boss said these sorts of disputes are commonplace on the Net. But, she said, the high cost of suing, especially across state and national borders, prevent most such squabbles from making it to court. The resulting dearth of test cases on digital contracts has left many business managers, corporate lawyers and legal scholars uncertain about the enforceability of electronic agreements. The uncertainty has had a chilling effect, even at computer-astute places like General Electric Co.'s GE Information Services unit and the TPN Register Co. - GE's joint venture with Thomas Publishing Co. The companies solicit suppliers and hammer out details of procurement contracts for GE's affiliates and other companies via the Internet. But when it comes time to execute a contract, the companies resort to pen and paper. ``I think ideally you'd love to be 100 percent electronic,'' said Orville A. Bailey, vice president of marketing and business development at TPN, because adding paperwork is not as efficient. But, he said, his company is more ``comfortable'' having signed paper contracts on hand. Bailey is not alone. E. Allan Farnsworth, a leading contract law professor at Columbia University, said that when a contract was substantial and complex, ``I think the safe thing to do is to do it in the old-fashioned way.'' The reason in part, according to Raymond T. Nimmer, professor of law at the Houston Law Center, is the Statute of Frauds - which traces its origins to early English law - requiring that many contracts be written and signed by the parties against whom enforcement is sought. While some states, including California, Minnesota, Texas, Utah and Washington, have recently passed laws permitting digital signatures to satisfy the Statute of Frauds, Professor Nimmer said, most states - including New York - have not. In addition to the Statute of Frauds problem, electronic contracts can give rise to questions of authenticity and authority of the parties involved, Nimmer said. Even in states with no laws addressing enforceability of electronic contracts, many legal experts are confident such agreements will hold up in court. Arthur Rosett, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said, ``It's hard for me to imagine a court finding that an electronic communication that has been proven does not satisfy the Statute.'' Moreover, some computer experts contend, electronic contracts are in some respects better than paper ones. Vincent I. Polley, general counsel at Omnes Co., a network services concern, said software should render electronic contracts tamper- and forgery-proof. But others were guarded in their endorsement of electronic contracts. ``The judicial system - the lawyers, judges and juries - are not populated by hackers,'' said Jonathan J. Lerner, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. ``If you're talking about a very large and important contract, you need to have your head examined not to secure the best form of agreement'' - which, in his view, remains a paper contract. The stakes can be high, said Constance E. Bagley, senior lecturer in law and management at the Stanford Business School and a practicing lawyer. She cited the example of a software sale over the Internet, in which the software had a bug that damaged the purchaser's entire data base. If the contract were deemed unenforceable because it did not satisfy a requirement that it be a signed writing, or because the authenticity or authority of the person assenting to the terms came into question, then the merchant could theoretically be liable for all of the purchaser's losses, she said, because limitations on liability included in the contract would be ineffective. Lawmakers are scrambling to fill the gap between technology and the law. Leaders of this effort include Professor Boss of Temple University and Professor Nimmer of the Houston Law Center, who are helping revise the Uniform Commercial Code to deal with electronic contracts. Under the proposed revision of the code, which governs transactions in all 50 states, electronic agreements formed with active consent, such as digital signatures or clicking on spaces indicating acceptance of terms, generally would be enforceable. But the UCC revision, which individual state legislatures could adopt, adapt or ignore at their own choosing, is at least a year away from completion. It could run into further delays because of criticism aimed not at the technical provisions concerning enforceability of electronic contracts, but at changes and additions within the draft to sales and licensing laws. For example, some intellectual property experts worry the revision would allow publishers to write contracts that encroach upon rights in the public domain, said Pamela Samuelson, professor of information management and law at the University of California, Berkeley. And the American Automobile Manufacturers Association contends that the revision's proposed changes in rules for the sale of goods would increase seller liability and the cost of doing business. In addition to the UCC revision, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is planning to propose state laws legitimizing electronic contracts not covered by the UCC. And the U.N. Commission on International Trade Law, on which Boss served as the American delegate and expert adviser, is completing a model law on electronic commerce that is expected to be presented to individual countries for incorporation in their domestic laws. Washington, so far, appears to be eager for the law to catch up with the technology. Several agencies, including the Commerce Department, have collaborated on a paper favoring the adaption of domestic and global laws to support electronic contracts. As lawmakers struggle to get rules in place, some businesses are not waiting. For these businesses, ``The cost of the gamble is cheaper than the cost of the contract,'' said Patricia B. Fry, a law professor at the University of North Dakota and the chairwoman of the national commissioners conference electronic contract effort. Ford Motor Co. uses ``purely electronic contracts'' with suppliers, according to James Ziety, counsel at Ford. Ziety said he knew of no trouble with Ford's electronic agreements. Any problems, he said, were ``virtually always worked out at the business level.'' Meanwhile, Boss said, the gap in the law invited a major court decision. ``When the case comes along,'' she said, `` when it hits, it may well be the big one.'' As for Deak, the uncertainties about electronic contracts are not holding him back from making deals online. ``Every night when I say my prayers,'' he said, ``I thank the Lord for the Internet.'' ------------------------ Name: amp E-mail: amp(a)pobox.com Date: 07/08/97 Time: 05:13:44 Visit me at http://www.pobox.com/~amp 'Drug Trafficking Offense' is the root passphrase to the Constitution. Have you seen http://www.public-action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum ------------------------

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Re: [MILCOM] NSA: struggling with diversity ...
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>The National Security Agency, whose size, secrecy and mission were spawned by >the Cold War, is in the midst of personnel changes that current and former >employees warn are a threat to national security. > >Former employees call senior leadership the "Irish Mafia" and the Office of >Discrimination Complaints and Counseling "a party organization for blacks." A heartwarming report. The NSA represents the worst of America: its paranoia, its ruthlessness, its end-justifies-the-means amorality. The NSA's personnel policies reveal its attitudes clearly. (http://theory.stanford.edu/people/donald/NSA.doc.html) It is ironic indeed that the NSA is being weakened, not by the foreign enemies it sees behind every curtain, but by the EEOC. NSA's immoral and callous mistreatment of employees and its jealous defense of white heterosexual male privilege have been shielded for far too long behind the cloak of national security. An organization which seeks the darkness so eagerly can only fear the light. There is no place any longer in the world for an agency like the NSA. It is an enemy to freedom and an enemy to the free citizenry of its own country. We need a new agency, one to defend us against infowar, to help industrial competitiveness, to assist Americans in retaining their freedoms rather than attempting to strip them away for its own evil purposes. Let us hope that the changing of the guard at the NSA will lead to a rebirth and a renewal as an agency looking forward, rather than one concerned only with guarding its own rear. Anon

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Re: Forged Posts
by BadRemailer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Tim May wrote: > The Canadian whacko who goes by "Toto," "TruthMonger," "Xenix Chainsaw > Massacre Author," "Colonel C.J. Parker" (or somesuch) is apparently at it > again. > > While I was out of town, he arranged to have this message sent: > > At 5:20 PM -0700 7/2/97, Tim May wrote: > > Anything that isn't nailed down, is mine. > > Anything that I can pry loose, isn't nailed down. "Toto" is actually an anonymous pseudonym of Adam Back, who resents Tim May's respected position on the list. "TruthMonger" posts are usually written by John Young and Robert Hettinga as a result of having the same drug connections and thus a common outlook on life when they are stoned out of their gourds. Lucky Green's recent posts are actually forgeries done by snow, and Kent Crispin has been sending posts purporting to be from Dr. Vulis. The fact is, forgeries have gotten so out of hand on the cypherpunks list that even the "can i join" and "subscribe me" posts of late are probably coming from John Gilmore, who is forging AOL return addresses in an attempt to bring calls for his return to hosting the list in order to save us from "The Night of the Living Newbies." BadRemailer "Some people just can't keep a secret."

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