December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: BXA denies my administrative appeal
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text X-Authentication-Warning: blacklodge.c2.net: majordom set sender to owner-cryptography(a)c2.org using -f Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 22:05:53 -0500 Comments: This message was remailed by a pseudonymous server. The operators have no way to determine the original sender. To contact the operator, write to <admin(a)anon.efga.org>. From: Miles Vorkosigan <miles_w(a)anon.efga.org> Subject: Re: BXA denies my administrative appeal Sender: owner-cryptography(a)c2.net To: undisclosed-recipients:; In message <v03007800b09f865249e2(a)[172.17.1.150]>, Rick Smith writes: > > I recently spoke informally with a couple of sub-Cabinet level officials on > crypto policy. Their comments indicated that the FBI et al are dominating > internal meetings on the subject with the same polarizing rhetoric they're > using in Congress. One official said that he was accused of intentionally > aiding terrorists at one of these meetings. During a recent application for crypto export approval, which should have been routine, we were contacted by an individual from the *FBI* (not from BXA) who refused our export license because we didn't have a key recovery system *in place now*. This is despite the facts that: - the export license was to use our strong cryptography products for communications between our international sales offices and head office; this used to be a rubber-stamp license, and - we are in the process of implementing key recovery technology as part of a a seperate export approval for our DES-56 products. I couldn't even get an answer as to why the FBI had jurisdiction over our export approval. -- Miles --- 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/ Ask me about FC98 in Anguilla!: <http://www.fc98.ai/>

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Hayek Manufactures Freedom...
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 13:18:41 -0500 Reply-To: Hayek Related Research <HAYEK-L(a)MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: Hayek Related Research <HAYEK-L(a)MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: Greg Ransom <Gregransom(a)AOL.COM> Subject: HAYEKWEB: J Powel on _The Road to Serfdom_ To: HAYEK-L(a)MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU >> Hayek on the Web << "The Road to Serfdom Inside story of a 50-year phenomenon" (by Jim Powell, July 1994), on the Web at: http://www.lfb.org/fa7139.html >From "The Road to Serfdom Inside story of a 50-year phenomenon" by Jim Powell: "This year, much has been written about F.A. Hayek's enormously influential classic, _The Road to Serfdom_. But until now, no one has reported the inside story of how a few devoted friends of freedom helped get the book published in America, despite overwhelming hostility from publishers and the media. "Friedrich A. Hayek's The Road to Serfdom," political science professor Herman Finer fumed in 1946, reflecting collectivist orthodoxy of the time, "constitutes the most inopportune offensive against democracy to emerge from a democratic country for many decades." No doubt about it, _The Road to Serfdom_ was explosively controversial from the beginning, especially his case that all forms of collectivism lead to tyranny. The book was first published a half-century ago in Britain by Routledge, March 1944. Nobel Prize winning economist Ronald Coase recalls that during Britain's July 1945 parliamentary election campaign Winston Churchill cited Hayek in his dramatic campaign speeches, to help show that a Labor Party win would mean tyranny. Labor Party leader Clement Atlee ridiculed Hayek and defeated Churchill. Soon afterwards, Atlee began seizing coal, steel, railroads and other businesses .... Opposition to Hayek's ideas was fierce in the United States, and a number of publishers rejected the book. But there were friends of freedom who worked wonders. Hayek authorized fellow Austrian economist Fritz Machlup, then working in Washington, to try to find an American publisher, but he was unsuccessful. He gave a copy of the Routledge page proofs to University of Chicago economics professor Aaron Director who met Hayek in 1943 when both were teaching at the London School of Economics. Director passed the page proofs to Frank Knight, founding father of the "Chicago School." Knight apparently gave them to William T. Couch, a classical liberal friend at the University of Chicago Press which agreed to publish the book on September 18, 1944. But since nobody expected it would sell many copies, the initial printing was only 2,000. It was a little wartime edition about 4-7/8ths by 6-3/4 inches. To help the book gain a hearing, the publishers asked John Chamberlain, respected book editor for Harper's magazine and a devout libertarian, to write a foreword. His name appeared prominently on the cover. The initial reception was cool. On September 20, 1944, New York Times daily book reviewer Orville Prescott called it a "sad and angry little book." But then New York Times economics editorial writer Henry Hazlitt weighed in with a home run: a 1,500 word blockbuster review on the front page of the Sunday New York Times Book Review, September 24, 1944. Hazlitt declared that "Friedrich Hayek has written one of the most important books of our generation." The University of Chicago Press ordered another printing. The book sold 22,000 copies by year-end and sold this much again by spring 1945. Meanwhile, Reader's Digest editors DeWitt and Lila Acheson Wallace expressed interest in publishing an excerpt from the book, and the University of Chicago Press, eager to reach a popular audience, seems to have given away those rights for nothingHayek later remarked he never got a penny. In any case, The Road to Serfdom filled the first 20 pages of the April 1945 Reader's Digest under a banner headline drawn from Hazlitt's review: "One of the Most Important Books of Our Generation." This brought Hayek's story to about 8 million people in the U.S. alone. Subsequently, Book-of-the-Month Club distributed some 600,000 copies of a condensed edition. Sales records are incomplete, but there were a good many more printings after that, and the book eventually sold at least 230,000 copies in the U.S. Hayek went on a U.S. lecture tour, including prestigious places like Harvard University, and he decided he rather liked being a lightning rod for freedom. He expressed his views in popular publications like the Chicago Sun, Boston Traveler and New York Times Magazine. He met many friends of freedom with whom he was to collaborate in later years. Three dozen friends joined him to found the international Mont Pelerin Society. ... Today people around the world appreciate Hayek's profound truths which seemed so shocking half-century ago. We at Laissez Faire are proud to help distribute it in several dozen countries ... Contents: Introduction 1. The Abandoned Road 2. The Great Utopia 3. Individualism and Collectivism 4. The "Inevitability" of Planning 5. Planning and Democracy 6. Planning and the Rule of Law 7. Economic Control and Totalitarianism 8. Who, Whom? 9. Security and Freedom 10. Why the Worst Get on Top 11. The End of Truth 12. The Socialist Roots of Naziism 13. The Totalitarians in Our Midst 14. Material Conditions and Ideal Ends 15. The Prospects of International Order 16. Conclusion FA7139W The Road to Serfdom (paperback) 248p. $10.95" Hayek on the Web is a regular feature of the Hayek-L list. >> END << --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) Philodox e$, 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/ Ask me about FC98 in Anguilla!: <http://www.fc98.ai/>

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Laissez Faire Books - Hayek catalogue
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 14:09:27 -0500 Reply-To: Hayek Related Research <HAYEK-L(a)MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: Hayek Related Research <HAYEK-L(a)MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: Greg Ransom <Gregransom(a)AOL.COM> Subject: HAYEKWEB: Laissez Faire Books - Hayek catalogue To: HAYEK-L(a)MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU >> Hayek on the Web << Laissez Faire Books -- Books by or about F. A. Hayek, on the web at: http://www.lfb.org/hayek.html >From the section 'F. A. Hayek': "THE ROAD TO SERFDOM by F.A. Hayek The classic warning of the dangers of government interventionism, it shows why state planning always undermines both political and economic freedom. It had a tremendous influence in the years after World War II. FA7139W The Road to Serfdom (paperback) 248p. $10.95 THE ESSENCE OF HAYEK edited by Chiaki Nichiyama and Kurt Leube How can a busy reader get a handle on such a prolific mind as that of F.A. Hayek? Here is a selection of essays representing the full range of his thought, drawn by two eminent Hayek scholars from the full body of his published writings. FA0118W The Essence of Hayek (paperback) 419p. $22.95 THE ECONOMICS OF FRIEDRICH HAYEK by G.R. Steele (St. Martin's Press, 1993/revised 1996) If one were to read only one book about Hayek, this should be it. Rather than criticizing Hayek's work, Steele aims to present an account of Hayek's work that is both comprehensive and concise. In this aim the author succeeds most admirably Karen I. Vaughn, Journal of Economic Literature FA7117W The Economics of F.A. Hayek (hardcover) 262p. $19.95 HAYEK AND AFTER Hayekian Liberalism as a Research Programme by Jeremy Shearmur Shearmur, who worked with philosopher Karl Popper and now teaches at the Australian National University, chronicles Hayek's amazing intellectual journey. He excels at describing how Hayek's ideas evolved over the years, talking about the striking transition from Hayek's early writings to his later writings on legal issues, the conflicts between Hayek's utilitarian views and his moral imperative for liberty, and he offers insightful comments about how Hayek grew more conservative in some ways, more libertarian in others. FA7060W Hayek and After (hardcover) 257p. Published at $65.00 LF PRICE ONLY $24.95 HAYEK ON HAYEK edited by Stephen Kresge and Leif Wenar Hayek himself tells the story of his long and controversial career through previously unpublished autobiographical notes and interviews. "The appeal of Hayek on Hayek, I readily admit, is all the gossip in it. Of course, since much of it is old gossip, and about famous people, it qualifies as history. But it is not the kind of history professors dole out to their students." Timothy Virkkala, Liberty FA6072W Hayek on Hayek (hardcover) 187p. $27.50 HAYEK: CO-ORDINATION AND EVOLUTION His Legacy in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas edited by Jack Birner and Rudy van Zijp This book assesses Hayek's wondrous intellectual achievements. Roger Garrison, Gerald O'Driscoll, Norman Barry, Jeremy Shearmur, and a host of others examine and illuminate Hayek's views on why bureaucrats cannot produce prosperity, why socialism suppresses liberty, what drives business cycles, the dynamics of money, how social institutions develop spontaneously, and a constitutional order to protect privacy and liberty. FA5979W Hayek: Coordination and Evolution (hardcover) 372p. Published at $65.00 LF PRICE ONLY $24.95 CONTENDING WITH HAYEK edited by Christoph Frei and Robert Nef Here a group of noted European and American scholars debate F.A. Hayek's most important ideas about a free society. John Gray, Hans- Hermann Hoppe, Anthony de Jasay and more focus on Hayek's social, political and legal philosophy, sometimes taking issue with each other on major questions as well as fine points. FA6342W Contending with Hayek (paperback) 228p. Published at $33.95 LF PRICE ONLY $24.95 THE IDEAS OF F.A. HAYEK narrated by Brian Crowley These audio tapes are probably the best introduction to the life and thought of F.A. Hayek that we're likely to get our hands on. The format for the tapes is a simple one: it is a two-part, two-hour radio documentary on Hayek produced for the Canadian Broadcasting Company. The narrator, Brian Crowley, introduces Hayek's life and ideas, and provides the continuity for the tapes. FA5452W The Ideas of F.A. Hayek (2 audiotapes) 2 hrs. $21.95 HAYEK, FREEDOM'S PHILOSOPHER written & produced by Eben Wilson While there are many great books on liberty, video material is hard to come by. This splendid three-part video series helps you better understand and explain his ideas which are changing the world for the better. FA6326W Hayek, Freedom's Philosopher (VHS video) 110 min. $49.95 HAYEK, THE IRON CAGE OF LIBERTY by Andrew Gamble Why did classical liberalism lose its appeal just as it triumphed? How did socialists convince large numbers of people that they were legitimate heirs to the glorious liberal tradition? Why did socialists "win" the debate about economic calculation? What was the link between socialism and Nazism? Why, having dismissed Hayek decades ago, do some socialists (they are still plenty lurking around) now turn to him as an idea man for the makeover they dream about? Gamble, a socialist professor of politics at the University of Sheffield, aims to answer these and many others questions as he reviews Hayek's prolific career and help put it in historical context. He's often annoying, because he never concedes the catastrophe of socialism, but he does do a good job of summarizing Hayek's views, he raises provocative issues, and he provides a picture of a sophisticated adversary wrestling with classical liberal ideas. In the process, he helps show how far we've come and how much farther we have to go. If we are to win the intellectual debates ahead, we must clearly understand what our adversaries are thinking. FA7381W Hayek, the Iron Cage of Liberty (paperback) 221p. $19.95" Hayek on the Web is a regular feature of the Hayek-L list. >> END << --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) Philodox e$, 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/ Ask me about FC98 in Anguilla!: <http://www.fc98.ai/>

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Minsky Manufactures Privacy...
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Somewhere in the bowels of an active location transponder discussion on the wearables list... Cheers, Bob Hettinga --- begin forwarded text X-Sender: minsky(a)mailhub.media.mit.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 14:29:19 -0500 To: wearables(a)media.mit.edu From: Marvin Minsky <minsky(a)media.mit.edu> Subject: Re: location vs. tracking "David P. Reed" <dpreed(a)reed.com> worries: >[they can use active tracking of you] for various 'public benefits' (such as antiterrorism, antipedophilia, anti-anti-gov't thinking, and monitoring any personal, non-business interactions, among employees. ) Did you mean to include antiterrorism? >There's always a plausible reason that can be used to override >whatever privacy policies and safeguards are designed into such a system. If the reasons really are plausible, then those overrides should be added to the system design. >It's sad that our public institutions now tend to view everyone as a >potentially evil person... Do you mean all public institutions? Perhaps, instead, we should try to design tracking systems that include public review mechanisms -- so that whenever anyone (e.g., your employer) accesses your record against the privacy policy, they'll be subject to legal sanctions and damages. The issues of privacy are pretty complicated: for example, if someone has been furtively following you, some future technology might permit you to authorize someone you trust to find out who it is. Ed Fredkin once asked a number of people how they would feel about a new device with which you could select almost anyone in the world, and make the device produce a loud noise near them. They all objected angrily. Then Ed said, "It already exists. It's called the telephone." --- 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/ Ask me about FC98 in Anguilla!: <http://www.fc98.ai/>

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DaBORG
by Benjamin Chad Wienke 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I am James T. Kirk of Borg. You will be assimil..... ated. I am John-Boy of Borg. G'night, Hugh! G'night, Lore! G'night, Data! I am Kira of Borg. Wanna make something out of it??!!!! I am Kojak of Borg. Who loves to assimilate ya, baby. I am Ginsu of Borg. You WILL be ASSIMILATED, but wait! That's not all! I am Hamlet, prince of Borg! Prepare to be...or not to be... I am Haskell of Borg. You resist well, Mrs. Cleaver. I am Lancelot of Borg. Resistance is feudal. I am Lennon of Borg. Imagine there's no assimilation... I am Baez of Borg. What if we gave an assimilation and nobody came? I am Mr. Rogers of Borg. Won't you be assimilated with me? I am Barney of Borg. Love is irrelevant, boys and girls... I am Odo of Borg. Look! Now I'm a Cylon. No, now I'm a... I am Opie of Borg. Can I assimilate 'em, Pa? I am Oprah of Borg. So, why did you assimilate your husband? I am Quayle of Borg. Speling is irelevante. I am Ronald Reagan of Borg. Prepare to be ... uh, I don't recall. I am Rush Limbaugh of Borg. That's a scary thought, eh? I am Scooby of Borg. Reware roo re arrimirated, Raggy! I am Obi Wan of Borg. The Force is with me, so killing me is futile. I am Skywalker of Borg. So, Ben, do we really want to assimilate Hoth? I am Smiley Face of Borg. Nice days are irrelevant. [:-| I am Smorgas of Borg. You will be marinated. I am Clinton of Borg. You will not really be assimilated, exactly... I am Janet Reno of Borg. Resisters will be barbecued. Waco is irrelevant. I am Stephanopolous of Borg. It's not assimilation, it's diversity... I am Eastwood of Borg. Do you feel lucky, Earthpunks? Make my day. I am Fonda of Borg. After assimilation, you will have Buns of Steel. I am Madonna of Borg. Resistance turns me on. I am Beavis of Borg. Assimilation is cool, gonna score, heheheheheh... I am Butt-head of Borg. Scoring is irrelevant, asswipe! Free web-based email, Forever, From anywhere! http://www.mailexcite.com

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(No Subject)
by Benjamin Chad Wienke 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 07:33 PM 11/26/97 -0500, Robert Hettinga wrote: >In message <v03007800b09f865249e2(a)[172.17.1.150]>, Rick Smith writes: >> >> I recently spoke informally with a couple of sub-Cabinet level officials on >> crypto policy. Their comments indicated that the FBI et al are dominating >> internal meetings on the subject with the same polarizing rhetoric they're >> using in Congress. One official said that he was accused of intentionally >> aiding terrorists at one of these meetings. > >During a recent application for crypto export approval, which should have >been routine, we were contacted by an individual from the *FBI* (not from >BXA) who refused our export license because we didn't have a key recovery >system *in place now*. This is despite the facts that: > >- the export license was to use our strong cryptography products for > communications between our international sales offices and head office; > this used to be a rubber-stamp license, and > >- we are in the process of implementing key recovery technology as part of a > a seperate export approval for our DES-56 products. > >I couldn't even get an answer as to why the FBI had jurisdiction over our >export approval. I guess the FBI has decided that it is going to be the secret police when the time comes. (And I had been thinking it was going to be the ATF!) I wonder if they could be egged into a turf war amongst themselves--if they are fighting each other, they have less time and energy to fuck with us... Free web-based email, Forever, From anywhere! http://www.mailexcite.com

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Earn Money Shopping
by 89352555＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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Let's pay for online policing [CNN]
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > November 26, 1997: 2:33 p.m. ET > European Commission > > European Union > More related sites... BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) - The European > Commission proposed Wednesday setting aside money for measures to help > keep illegal and harmful material off the Internet. > [INLINE] Continuing its push for industry self-regulation of the > global computer network, the commission said the European Union should > help set up a pan-European network of telephone hot lines to take > complaints about illegal items. [material deleted]

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Re: Moderated vs. Unmoderated Lists
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The issue is not moderation. It is whether this list has a focus, a central set of ideas, a reason for existence. If we're just going to talk about whatever anyone finds interesting, there is nothing to stop the list from drifting away from its goals. In fact, that is exactly what has happened. Tim May's violent rhetoric has attracted others who believe in violence. Vulis's racist and sexist comments have brought other members who are comfortable expressing negative comments about other races and nationalities. There is little discussion about cryptography any more. Tim May: >This has crypto anarchy relevance in that strong crypto will undermine the >ability of the U.S. government to fight foreign wars and engange in foreign >entanglements. How this will happen should be obvious. What difference does it make whether it has crypto anarchy relevance? No one cares about that any more. The only thing that matters today is whether it includes crypto racism, or crypto terrorism, or crypto white supremacy. > Yes, I talk about what interests me. A single essay I _write_ represents my > views. I avoid cc:ing the list with forwarded stuff from Yahoo, as some are > wont to do. > > Thus, I feel no guilt about writing some essay or article on something of > interest to me. Writing off-topic essays isn't the problem. Posting them here is. Why don't you use alt.fan.oj-simpson for your racist rants like you used to?

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Re: Microsoft's compelled speech, compelled marketing
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I am very amused to see the Naderites on the warpath again. Better yet is their claim that the Microsoft DoJ action is divorced from politics. This is an excerpt from a message I posted to another list. Might be interesting. -Declan --- > "Fundamentally, I think it's a legal issue," says >Ed Black, president of the Computer and Communications >Industry Association. "But to say whenever the >wealthiest man in America and one of the most powerful >companies in America is challenged by a cabinet >official, you can't say there's no political impact. >You're in a political world at that level." And if we look at the history of antitrust we see that the political world is often the most important one: -- Nixon intervened in an antitrust action against ITT in 1971 in exchange for a bribe: a hefty contribution to the 1972 Republican convention. "I don't know whether ITT is bad, good or indifferent," he said on April 19, 1971, the White House tapes reveal. "But there is not going to be any more antitrust actions as long as I am in this chair...goddam it, we're going to stop it." -- Bush's assistant attorney general derailed a criminal investigation of Georgia Power. This after the U.S. attorney in Atlanta had issued more than five hundred subpoenas and two hundred witnesses were called to testify before the grand jury. Why? Months earlier, the company's CEO raised millions of dollars for the Republicans in 1988. -- AT&T and its manufacturing subsidary were engaged in a billion-dollar-a-year price fixing scheme, the Justice Department claimed in a complaint filed in January 1949. AT&T persuaded a slew of high Defense Department officials to oppose the action on national security grounds. The Defense Secretary himself opposed it because of the "Korean emergency." They forced the DoJ to settle the case without getting what it wanted: AT&T to sell Western Electric. -- Teddy Roosevelt (who Jamie might recall was widely reported to be a "trust buster") headed off a DoJ antitrust investigation of the electrical industry. Roosevelt wrote: "I feel very strongly that the less activity there is during the presidential election, unless it is necessary, the better it will be." Former NY Times and Newseek reporter David Burnham writes in his book about the Justice Department: "The record is clear. Political campaign contributions, personal bribes and other direct and indirect favors have frequently influenced important Justice Department disions about the enforcement of law... Virtually every administration has demanded that the Justice Department bend the law..." -Declan

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