December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

What it means to be in America...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

America's abundance was created not by public sacrifices to "the common good," but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America's industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages, and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance- and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way. - Ayn Rand In the United States the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own. - Alexis de Tocqueville ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make | | violent revolution inevitable. | | | | John F. Kennedy | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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What is the Constitution?
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Today, when a concerted effort is made to obliterate this point, it cannot be repeated too often that the Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals- that it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government- that it is not a charter _for_ government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection _against_ the government. - Ayn Rand ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make | | violent revolution inevitable. | | | | John F. Kennedy | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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FTC ok's Intel buy of C&T [CNN]
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > January 13, 1998: 10:56 a.m. ET > > NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it > would no longer try to hold up Intel Corp.'s $420 million acquisition > of Chips and Technologies Inc. > [INLINE] The FTC did say, however, that it would continue to > investigate the merger as part of its more extensive look into Intel's > operations. Earlier, the FTC had sought a preliminary injunction to > halt the merger. > [INLINE] The FTC was apparently concerned that Intel would gain an > even larger market share of the chip market with the acquisition of > Chips and Technologies, a leading laptop computer semiconductor firm. > [INLINE] The FTC has been eyeing Intel carefully because it believes > that Intel's strong chip business, estimated to control more than 80 > percent of the world's market, could raise antitrust concerns. [text deleted] ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make | | violent revolution inevitable. | | | | John F. Kennedy | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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Fed's train more technology workers? [CNN]
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > By MICHELLE LOCKE > Associated Press Writer > > BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- America needs more computer workers -- a lot > more. > > That was the message from three Cabinet officials who unveiled > strategies Monday for finding more technology-literate workers as the > U.S. economy enters the information age. > > Their proposals ranged from spending more on education and training > grants to putting out a new message: It's hip to be high-tech. > > "American minds really created the information age economy and > American minds can continue to lead it if we nurture the immense > talent pool here at home," said Education Secretary Richard Riley. > > Or as Deputy Labor Secretary Kathryn O'Leary Higgins said with a > smile, "We're from the federal government and we're here to help." [text deleted] ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make | | violent revolution inevitable. | | | | John F. Kennedy | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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1 Question to Dr. Froomkin...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Sir, Do you accept that the Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the land and therefore the ultimate legal authority within its borders? ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make | | violent revolution inevitable. | | | | John F. Kennedy | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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An offer to Dr. Froomkin...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Sir, I can understand your emotional reaction to some of my wording, it is its specific intent to ellicit such a reaction. It's a measure of the readers maturity to be able to ignore the noise and focus on the issues. However, in this particular case this seems to be working in the negative respecting my goals. So, in order to open channels of dicussion I would like to make an offer. I will desist on the use of these psychological warfare techniques and their destabalizing effects on your emotional state *if* you will return to an open discussion without resort to ad hominim and straw man arguments and address the issues directly and in plain language without resort to legalistic verbal camouflage to skirt the main points. Thank you for your time in considering this offer. Sincerely, ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make | | violent revolution inevitable. | | | | John F. Kennedy | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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Re: Schneier's metrocard cracked
by Information Security 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> From schneier(a)visi.com Mon Jan 12 18:21:01 1998 > Subject: Re: Schneier's metrocard cracked > In-Reply-To: <199801122150.NAA11668(a)comsec.com> from Information Security at "Jan 8, 98 11:40:23 pm" > To: guy(a)panix.com > Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 17:19:22 -0600 (CST) > Cc: cp-lite(a)comsec.com > > Information Security wrote: > > Dr. Dim wrote: > > > > > > I heard on the radio that the security scheme used in New York City metrocards > > > (designed with much input frm Bruce Schneier) has been cracked and that the > > > "hackers" can now add fare to the cards. > > > > > > Does anyone know any details? What encryption did Schneier use? > > > > It sounds like a procedural thing. > > > > Something like there was a way to swipe cards and have the > > system wrongly think it updated the card. > > > > The city announced that every cardreader in the system > > is going to be recalibrated, and this will cause problems > > for "a few" existing cardholders. > > That's not my design. Counterpane consulted on the next generation > cards, not the current mag stripe cards in the NY system. The > protocols we developed are not currently being used in any fielded > system. > > Bruce A subsequent news report said hackers were taking discarded (single-use?) MetroCards and "reprogramming" them so they would work again. However, the description didn't sound like it was really hacking... The MTA said only 6 fraudulent uses of this was happening per day, and 40 of these total per day. "Of these"? The MTA said there was some limited tolerance for nicked or scratched cards, and in this situation - where the software guessed that it was a scratched card - that it was programmed to be "lenient" and let them in. The news report showed the MTA's new recommendation for carrying MetroCards: sliding them into a protective container for travel. The mag-strip cards suck. ---guy

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Microsoft Exploratorium, from The Netly News
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

********** http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/opinion/0,1042,1685,00.html The Netly News (http://netlynews.com/) January 13, 1998 Which Way the Windows by Declan McCullagh (declan(a)well.com) Looks like it's upgrade time not just for Microsoft Windows, but also for Microsoft's legal strategy. As engineers frantically debugged the Windows 98 beta last week, senior Microsoft executives roamed Washington, D.C., apologizing for their previous arrogance and saying they had been misunderstood. Call it Microsoft PR 2.0. "What we have not done is communicate" the way the software works, Robert Herbold, Microsoft chief operating officer, told The Netly News last Friday. But will Microsoft's new humility appease federal judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who already issued a preliminary injunction against the Redmond firm? He's scheduled to hear from the company's lawyers and the Department of Justice this morning. Both have spent a good chunk of the last month complaining about each other: The government says Microsoft violated the judge's order, and Microsoft says the government is "poorly informed." As his attorneys argue the law, Bill Gates will be practicing politics -- a skill that will come in handy if Congress holds more antitrust hearings when it returns in late January. Pundits have made much of Gates's Democratic sympathies, another image he's trying to discard (or at least upgrade). Today Gates is scheduled to sit down for a private chat with technophilic House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia), who will also tour the Microsoft campus. [...] *********** http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/afternoon/0,1012,1686,00.html The Netly News / Afternoon Line January 13, 1998 Microsoft Exploratorium The ugly guts of Microsoft Windows were on display today during a six-hour federal district court hearing in Washington, DC. Attorneys from Microsoft repeatedly pointed at a list of hundreds of .DLL and .EXE files and challenged the government to answer one deceptively simple query: Which files are part of Internet Explorer? The outcome of the case may well turn on the answer to that question, which lies at the heart of the Justice Department's beef with the software giant. Last month Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered Microsoft to stop using its operating system's popularity to force-feed Internet Explorer to computer makers. But, again, which files belong to Internet Explorer? The government's witness ducked the question. "I can't go through your list and say which files are unique to Internet Explorer," replied author and computer consultant Glenn Weadock. "I don't think it's possible or even especially useful to define a list of files and say this is part of, or this is not a part of Internet Explorer." Which Microsoft has argued all along -- their browser is integrated into the operating system. Yanking it out, the company says, would be like amputating a leg: a person could only hobble along, at best. The government views this as a weak excuse, at best. "The court issued a very simple, broad order and Microsoft through its actions defied rather than complied with that order," said Justice Department trial attorney Phillip Malone. The government is asking Judge Jackson to hold Microsoft in contempt and levey a million-dollar-a-day fine. The hearing will continue tomorrow when Microsoft vice president David Cole testifies. - By Declan McCullagh/Washington -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe: send a message to majordomo(a)vorlon.mit.edu with this text: subscribe politech More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Should police knock before entering - SC to decide [CNN]
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > SUPREME COURT CASE: SHOULD POLICE KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING? > > SCOTUS graphic January 13, 1998 > Web posted at: 2:14 p.m. EST (1914 GMT) > > WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court was being asked Tuesday to > decide whether law enforcement officers should ring the doorbell or > knock before entering a building if they sense danger. > > The case focuses on a 1994 incident in Oregon. Hernan Ramirez fired > his gun after police broke in his garage window after they received > a tip that a fugitive was in the Ramirez house. It was a tip that > turned out to be wrong. > > Ramirez fired his gun without knowing that those intruding were law > officers, and once he realized who the intruders were he > surrendered. > > "The police fire back a fusillade of fire, screaming 'police! > police!' -- this is the first time Mr. Ramirez realizes that the > police are there," said public defender Michael R. Levine. > > Even though Ramirez was not the fugitive that police had been > looking for, they still arrested Ramirez on weapons charges since, > as a convicted felon, he was not permitted to possess a gun. > > A federal judge later ruled that the police search had been > unconstitutional. The federal government then brought the case to > the Supreme Court, arguing that the increased danger in that > particular case had warranted the window-shattering no-knock entry > into the Ramirez building. [text deleted] ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make | | violent revolution inevitable. | | | | John F. Kennedy | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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Privacy & Anonymous service providers?
by William Knowles 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I'm working on a web page that would include a list of Internet providers that either offer anonymous accounts or a better degree of privacy not usually seen by regular ISP's. Below is a list of providers that offers these services that I have been able to put together, I'm wondering if there are some that I am missing. To avoid noise on the list and I'm no longer a member of the cypherpunks list, please e-mail me privately. Paranoia http://wwww.paranoia.com Data Haven Project http://www.datahaven.com L0pht Heavy Industries http://www.l0pht.com Offshore Information Services http://www.offshore.ai Cyberpass http://www.cyberpass.net SkuzNet http://skuz.wanweb.net LOD Communications http://www.lod.com The Nymserver http://www.nymserver.com Sekurity.org http://www.sekurity.org Hotmail http://www.hotmail.com Thanks in advance! William Knowles erehwon(a)dis.org == The information standard is more draconian than the gold standard, because the government has lost control of the marketplace. -- Walter Wriston == http://www.dis.org/erehwon/

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