December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: How to profit from writing open source (was: free software)
by David Miller 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

A while back there was a thread on different models of how to profit from free software. I have a few additions that I don't think were mentioned, albeit late. Ok. Way late. The Data Fellows model - supply (ssh) Unix source code free, but charge for Windows (clients) after a 30-day trial period. Yes. The Joel McNamara model - give the (Private Idaho) software away and go fight forest fires and have your children profit from a better world. --David Miller middle rival devil rim lad

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Re: Drivers licenses (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 21:27:57 -0500 > From: David Miller <dm0(a)avana.net> > Subject: Re: Drivers licenses > > > It's a signal that is mixed and laid down by the machine. It covers the > > entire track. The cassette head only has two or four head depending on if > > it has auto-revers and moves the head. > > So you are saying that the is a continuous track of varying amplitiude > that > defines the audio signal? And that your bias is a part of this? Actualy a standard cassette tape has 4 tracks grouped in pairs. Each pair is given one of the channel. The audio that comes in is mixed with a bias signal (using a summing amp) and then laid down on the tape. > >From what I know, the bias is a parameter to the recording process and > not > the recording as it can be recovered from the magnets. It is something > intended to forward-correct error, which is not intended to be > interpreted > in the future. Huh? I have been involved in audio recording for over 20 years, acted as rodies for a host of bands (some of which actualy made records - but alas no money) and I must admit that the above sentences don't make any sense to me at all. Can you possible reword them? What magnets? 'paramter of the recording process'? 'forward-correct error'? 'interpreted in the future'? If your heads are magnetised you really should de-gauss them. They'll erase your tapes eventualy... > Looking for satellites? No, to do that I use a C-band hooked to a alt-az mount and a digital modem. I'll probably just make a normal Newtonian and hood a CCD camera to it and feed my Video Toaster to digitize and enhance the images. I am particular inchanged by the Moon. I can look at it for extended periods. I was enchanted by it when Men stepped onto it for the first time. I very much hope that we (as a race) go back to stay... > Did you snag a job? I had a headhunter call tonight. It's been a year > or > so since they've bothered me. I talked to BMC Software today. Looks like I'll probably go to work for them supporting their suite of database products. I should know tomorrow if they want to do the final interview which means I'll go to work for them on Monday. > > | The obvious is sometimes false; | > > | The unexpected sometimes true. | > > You've gotta get this Pringles thing in order. Faith breaks the back of > these > types of philosophies. If you give in to faith, you should normally > incorporate > it. That doesn't mean that you have to explain it through the > philosophy, but > if that faith is the only thing that you know is indespensable, you need > to > reconsider how indespensable a philosophy that does not make room for it > is. Uh, ok. Ta ta. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The obvious is sometimes false; | | The unexpected sometimes true. | | | | Anonymous | | | | | | _____ 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: Cyber 'Nannys"
by eviljay 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Dr. Dimento wrote: > > The mentally retarded pedophile Guy Polis tried to mailbomb me from his > former eviljay(a)bway.net account, and bway.net pulled his plug in minute. > > --- > > Dr. Dimento KOTM > Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps Everybody SING!!! The old grey crank, he ain't what he used to be, ain't what he used to be, ain't what he used to be. The old grey crank, he ain't what he used to be, and it'll be like that forevermore. > Is that censorship? Is sex with the impotent Dr. Dimento intercourse? -->EvilJay<-- MUH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!!

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FC98 Full Event Schedule
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Resent-Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 18:19:23 -0400 X-Authentication-Warning: online.offshore.com.ai: list set sender to fc98-request(a)offshore.com.ai using -f X-Sender: rah(a)pop.sneaker.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 16:58:52 -0500 To: fc98(a)offshore.com.ai From: Robert Hettinga <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: FC98 Full Event Schedule Resent-From: fc98(a)offshore.com.ai X-Mailing-List: <fc98(a)offshore.com.ai> archive/latest X-Loop: fc98(a)offshore.com.ai Precedence: list Resent-Sender: fc98-request(a)offshore.com.ai Hello, Everyone! FC98 is fast approaching, and the FC98 organizing team is thrashing together a General Schedule for the combined FC98 events: The FC98 Conference, the FC98 Commercial Exhibition and Exhibition Program, and the FC98 Workshop. In addition to the ASCII version of the schedule in this message, Blanc Weber, the FC98 Exhibition and Sponsorship Manager, has put a very nice tabular version on the web for easy printing: <http://www.cnw.com/~blancw/FC98Sched/FC98Schd.html> Please send any corrections you might have to me offline. Okay, here's the schedule's roadmap: (CON) means conference activity, and an FC98 Conference Badge is required for attendance. (CE) means Commercial Exhibition activity, and is open to the public. (ECC) means Ecliptical Curve Cruise; Conference badgeholders go free, but badges are non-transferrable. Additional tickets for the Cruise are available for sale to FC98-associated people (family, friends, etc.). (IFCA) means the founding meeting of the International Financial Cryptography Association, which all FC98 Conference badgeholders, booth-holders and sponsors are now automatically members of. Only Conference badgeholders can vote at the first General Meeting of the Association, however. We don't have anything about the Workshop on this message, but we will have a schedule for it soon on the web page, for those of you who are interested in sticking around another week for the world's only financial cryptography bootcamp. :-). Also, all FC98 badgeholders, friends, and family are invited to the "Welcome to Anguilla" session on Monday to get some information and advice on what to do during your stay on Anguilla. Finally, like all schedules, this one is subject to change at a moment's notice. ;-). We'll try to keep the website as up-to-date as possible, because it's probably a good idea not to spam you nice folks will all the updates as they happen. :-) See you in Anguilla! Cheers, Robert Hettinga, General Chairman, The 1998 Financial Cryptography Conference, Exhibition and Workshop (FC98) ----- Monday 23 February 1998 800 -- 820 (CON) Breakfast 820 -- 830 (CON) FC98 Conference Sessions Welcome 830 -- 905 (CON) Micropayments via Efficient Coin-Flipping Richard J. Lipton (Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA) Rafail Ostrovsky (Bellcore, Morristown, NJ, USA) 905 -- 940 (CON) X-Cash: Executable Digital Cash Markus Jakobsson (Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA) Ari Juels (RSA Laboratories, Bedford, MA, USA) 940 -- 1015 (CON) Distributed Trustees and Revokability: A Framework for Internet Payment David M'Raihi (Gemplus, Issy-les-moulineaux, France) David Pointcheval (GREYC, Universite de Caen, Caen, France) 1015 -- 1045 (CON) Coffee Break Exhibition Booths open 1045 -- 1120 (CON) A Platform for Privately Defined Currencies, Loyalty Credits, and Play Money David P. Maher (AT&T Labs--Research, Florham Park, NJ, USA) 1120 -- 1155 (CON) Assessment of Threats for Smart Card Based Electronic Cash Kazuo J. Ezawa, Gregory Napiorkowski (Mondex International, Florham Park, NJ, USA) 1155 -- 1230 (CON) Using a High-Performance, Programmable Secure Coprocessor Sean W. Smith, Elaine R. Palmer, Steve Weingart (IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA) 1230 -- 1330 (CON) Lunch 1330 -- 1400 (CE) The Required Hoopla: FC98 Official Event Opening Dignitaries (the Finance Minister?), FC98 sponsors, FC98 Management, etc. Thanks to Anguilla, Sponsors, etc. Administrivia/How FC98 works Ribbon Cutting for FC98 Exhibition FC98 Exhibition Sessions Welcome 1400--1430 (CE) FC98 Press Conference (on Exhibition Floor) 1400--1500 (CE) IBM Secure Crypto Coprocessor Demonstration Sean W. Smith, Elaine R. Palmer, Steve Weingart (IBM T.J. Watson Research Center) 1500--1600 (CE) (Bring friends and family if you want) Welcome to Anguilla! Anguilla history, what to do, what to see. Various Anguillan Chamber of Commerce, Tourist office folks. 1600--1700 (CE) "So, you want to bank on Anguilla?" Offshore Banking and Incorporation in Anguilla. Various Anguillan Bankers, Lawyers, Financial Planners, Etc. 1830 -- 2000 (CE) Cocktail Reception at Serenity Restaurant, Shoal Bay East Sponsored by Hansa Bank, Anguilla Tuesday 24 February 1998 800 -- 830 (CON) Breakfast 830 -- 905 (CON) Secure Group Barter: Multi-Party Fair Exchange with Semi-Trusted Neutral Parties Matt Franklin (AT&T Labs--Research, Florham Park, NJ, USA) Gene Tsudik (USC Information Sciences Institute, Marina del Rey, CA, USA) 905 -- 940 (CON) A Payment Scheme Using Vouchers Ernest Foo, Colin Boyd (Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia) 940 -- 1015 (CON) A Formal Specification of Requirements for Payment Transactions in the SET Protocol Catherine Meadows, Paul Syverson (Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA) 1015 -- 1045 (CON) Coffee Break 1045 -- 1120 (CON) On Assurance Structures for WWW Commerce Markus Jakobsson (Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA) Moti Yung (CertCo, New York, NY, USA) 1120 -- 1230 (CON) Panel Discussion Certificate Revocation: Mechanics and Meaning Barb Fox (Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA), moderator Joan Feigenbaum (AT&T Labs--Research, Florham Park, NJ, USA) Paul Kocher (Valicert, Palo Alto, CA, USA) Michael Myers (Verisign, Mountain View, CA, USA) Ron Rivest (MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, Cambridge, MA, USA) 1230 -- 1330 (CON) Lunch 1330 -- 1430 (CE) FC98 Sponsor Showcase RSA Data Security 1430 -- 1530 (CE) FC98 Sponsor Showcase C2NET 1530 -- 1630 (CE) FC98 Sponsor Showcase Sicherheit und Privat- International Bank 1630 -- 1730 (CE) FC98 Sponsor Showcase Hansa Bank 1730 -- 1900 (CE) Cocktails and Barbecue at InterIsland Hotel Sponsored by RSA 1900 -- 2000 (IFCA) (CE) (CON to vote) General Meeting: The International Financial Cryptography Association (IFCA) IFCA Founders Group Photo (Net.Nyms Disguised) 2000 -- 2200 (CON to speak) (CE to watch ) Rump Session (For speaking requests contact Matt Franklin <mailto: franklin(a)research.att.com>) Beer provided by RSA Wednesday 25 February 1998 800 -- 830 (CON) Breakfast 830 -- 930 (CON) Invited Speaker Private Signatures and E-commerce David Chaum (DigiCash, Palo Alto, CA, USA) 930 -- 1005 (CON) Group Blind Digital Signatures: A Scalable Solution to Electronic Cash Anna Lysyanskaya, Zulfikar Ramzan (MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, Cambridge, MA, USA) 1005 -- 1045 (CON) Coffee Break 1045 -- 1120 (CON) Curbing Junk E-Mail via Secure Classification Eran Gabber, Markus Jakobsson, Yossi Matias, Alain Mayer (Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA) 1120 -- 1155 (CON) Publicly Verifiable Lotteries: Applications of Delaying Functions David M. Goldschlag (Divx, Herndon, VA, USA) Stuart G. Stubblebine (AT&T Labs--Research, Florham Park, NJ, USA) 1155 -- 1230 (CON) Security of Digital Watermarks Lesley R. Matheson, Stephen G. Mitchell, Talal G. Shamoon, Robert E. Tarjan, Francis X. Zane (STAR Lab, InterTrust Technologies, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) 1230 -- 1330 (CON) Lunch 1330 -- 1405 (CON) Security in the Java Electronic Commerce Framework Surya Koneru, Ted Goldstein (JavaSoft, Palo Alto, CA, USA) 1405 -- 1440 (CON) Beyond Identity: Warranty-Based Digital Signature Transactions Yair Frankel (CertCo, New York, NY, USA) David W. Kravitz (Divx, Herndon, Virginia, USA) Charles T. Montgomery (CertCo, New York, NY, USA) Moti Yung (CertCo, New York, NY, USA) 1440 -- 1515 (CON) Compliance Checking in the PolicyMaker Trust Management System Matt Blaze, Joan Feigenbaum, Martin Strauss (AT&T Labs--Research, Florham Park, NJ, USA) 1515 -- 1545 (CON) Coffee Break 1545 -- 1620 (CON) An Efficient Fair Off-Line Electronic Cash System with Extensions to Checks and Wallets with Observers Aymeric de Solages, Jacque Traore (France Telecom--CNET, Caen, France) 1620 -- 1655 (CON) An Efficient Untraceable Electronic Money System Based on Partially Blind Signatures of the Discrete Logarithm Problem Shingo Miyazaki, Kouichi Sakurai (Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan) 1655 -- 1700 (CON) FC98 Conference Session Closing Official Conference T-shirts Group Photo (Net.Nyms Disguised) 1830 -- 2100? (CE) Financial Masquerade Ball (at Cap Julaca) Sponsored by Sicherheit und Privat- International Bank (Proper attire and disguises required, Groucho glasses available at the door). RSVP Thursday 26 February 1998 Beach/Cruise day. No FC98 activity scheduled today except breakfast and lunch at InterIsland for those who don't take the eclipse cruise. 800 -- 830 (ECC) (CON) Boarding: Ecliptic Curve Cruise [ECC] Sponsored by RSA C2NET Sicherheit und Privat- International Bank Hansa Bank Offshore Information Services Shipwright/e$ 825 *SHARP!* (ECC) (CON) ECC "Before" Group Photo (Net.Nyms Disguised) 830 *SHARP!* (ECC) (CON) Ecliptic Curve Cruise Departs For the Ecliptic Curve and the Zone of Totality 900 -- 1030 (Anguilla) (CON) Breakfast at InterIsland 1230 -- 1330 (Anguilla) (CON) Lunch at InterIsland 1435? (Anguilla) (CON) Maximum Partial Eclipse 1436 (ECC) (CON) ECC now at 16.57N, 62.15W (2 minute totality line, 9 miles north of Montserrat) Total Eclipse of the Sun, Maximum Totality "Diamond ring", the stars, and all... 2030 (ECC) (CON) Ecliptic Cryptography Cruise Returns to Anguilla ECC "After" Group Photo (Net.Nyms Disguised) Friday 27 February 1998 1000 -- 1030 (CON) Breakfast 1030 -- 1230 (CE) Roundtable Discussion Financial Intermediaries, Public Networks, and Financial Cryptography Steve Schear, First Ecache, moderator Paul Guthrie, VISA International Frank Trotter, Mercantile Bank/Mark Twain Ecash A. S. von Bernhardi, Sicherheit und Privat- International Bank Lynwood Bell, Hansa Bank Other Financial Intermediaries, TBA 1230 -- 1330 (CON) Lunch 1330 -- 1430 (CE) Roundtable Discussion The Regulation of Financial Cryptography Duncan Frissell, Frissell Associates, Moderator Kevin Manson, US Dept of Treasury, Financial Fraud Institute A. S. von Bernhardi, Sicherheit und Privat- International Bank Other Regulators, Lawyers, TBA 1430 -- 1655 (CE) Financial Cryptography Showcase Dave Del Torto/Dr. Jon Callas, PGP Certserver, banking applications Dr. Nicko van Someren, ncipher SET processing engine Stephan Overbeek, QC N-Count Ian Grigg/Gary Howland, Systemics, TBA Other FC Products, TBA 1655 -- 1700 (CE) FC98 Commercial Exhibition Closing Minor Exausted Hoopla Commercial Exhibition Survivors Group Photo (Net.Nyms Disguised) 1830 -- ? (CE) 2nd meeting: Anguilla Dining Cryptographers' Society (at Serenity) Partially sponsored by C2NET ----------------- 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/> --- 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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TEMPEST open-source definition version 0.1alpha (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Subject: TEMPEST open-source definition version 0.1alpha > Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 20:19:46 EST > From: Ryan Lackey <rdl(a)MIT.EDU> > time to reverse engineer the practical TEMPEST systems (and in so doing > perhaps the classified TEMPEST spec) out there. Next time I find a > TEMPEST case at swapfest, or at a con, I'll pick it up (if someone wants to > ship me one, so much the better). You *can* buy them from some vendors, Are you possibly confusing Tempest with a NEMA certified case? Educalc used to sell a case for the HP-41C calculator that they touted as NBC certified. I would suggest looking for one of the NIST certified environmental test cases that are available. They'll cook or chill your electronics and block the emissions quite handily. Be shure to get a supply for the copper door gaskets, they wear out under daily use about 3-4 times a year. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The obvious is sometimes false; | | The unexpected sometimes true. | | | | Anonymous | | | | | | _____ 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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Someone find Jim Choate a job!
by David Miller 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Sensory deprivation has caused Mr.Choate to finally go haywire. I suggest that someone from the state of TX (who have IDs from Hell) transport him to the nearest University. --David Miller middle rival devil rim lad

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re: Driver Licenses
by Uhh...this is Joe [Randall Farmer] 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > Either should work...I'll bet that scratching the shit off with his keys > worked too ;) > I'll have to remember that when it's time to get mine done. Shouldn't take much if all you need is to stop regular folks from scanning it -- if it's like some other systems, changing a couple bits will keep the checksum from checking and the reader will report the card as invalid. > > That was a good question, though, does anyone know how much data those > little stripes can hold? It can (emphasis on can; most stripes don't) store 300 bytes according to some -- 1846 characters of English in theory, 600 in practice, 480 uncompressed, 300 ASCII. 300 bytes is six monochrome compressed mugshots or a 2400-pixel (about 50x50) uncompressed monochrome photo, or it could hold 33 military-grade biometric IDs. A study of el33t h@qu3r ph1|ez show that actual credit and ATM cards don't use nearly 300 bytes. That might be because error rates would be astronomical, or it might just be because they can't use all the extra space. [After writing this, I saw another web site with a figure of 226 bytes, not 300. Don't know who's right, so I'm going with the paranoid estimate...] > > Scott R. Brower > http://www.infowar.com > http://www.efflorida.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Randall Farmer rfarmer(a)hiwaay.net http://hiwaay.net/~rfarmer

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Test [No Reply]
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Loop Test [No Reply] ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The obvious is sometimes false; | | The unexpected sometimes true. | | | | Anonymous | | | | | | _____ 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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[Fwd: Russia/Iraq]
by WebWarrior3＠InfoWar.Com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

A bit off of our regularly scheduled program, but with Yeltsin saying that Clinton might be starting a 3rd World War last week, I thought I would pass this on. To: webwarrior3(a)infowar.com Subject: Russia/Iraq From: alert(a)stratfor.com Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 19:59:26 -0600 (CST) ______________________________________ Check out our newest product: Santizer Give away your computer, not your data ______________________________________ Global Intelligence Update Red Alert February 11, 1998 Russia Threatens to Arm Baghdad But will Saddam Remain in Power? According to a report on Tuesday in the online edition of the Egyptian newspaper Al-sha'b, the Russian government has warned Washington that Russia will supply arms and humanitarian aid to Iraq if the United States chooses to abandon diplomatic efforts and attacks Iraq. Al-Sha'b reported that Baghdad requested 20 billion dollars in urgent military and humanitarian aid from Russia. Baghdad, which already owes Russia 80 billion dollars, hopes to be able to pay off its debt once sanctions are lifted. Al-Sha'b went on to report that Washington has monitored heightened states of alert and increased military preparedness throughout the Middle East, and has warned neighboring Arab states against providing Iraq with military support. If the Egyptian report is factual, then Russia has just moved even closer to confrontation with the United States. Its previous threats of world war are clearly not credible. Sending aid to Iraq is, on the other hand, quite credible and therefore is in many ways more dangerous. The question is, will Hussein be there after the U.S. attack to receive the arms? We have noticed a curious juxtaposition of official U.S. statements on the crisis in Iraq with the emerging balance of U.S. forces in the region, suggesting that Washington may be expecting an Iraqi coup d'etat. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright testified before the Senate on Tuesday that, in the event U.S. air strikes contributed to toppling Saddam Hussein, "it would create a situation which, for a time, would require the presence of troops." The United States has accelerated its deployment of ground troops to the region. Three thousand troops from Ft. Stewart are being deployed to reinforce the 1,500 U.S. ground troops already in Kuwait. The USS Tarawa and the USS Guam, amphibious assault ships each carrying a 2,000-man Marine Expeditionary Unit, are headed for the Persian Gulf. Other U.S. ground forces in the region include 6,000 soldiers at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and 10,000 soldiers engaged in military exercises in Egypt. Additionally, the list of potential U.S. targets has grown from suspected chemical and biological agent sites to include command and control installations, the Iraqi air force, and the Republican Guard. This suggests a decapitation strike, aimed at disrupting Hussein's capability to coordinate a defense of his hold on power. Iraqi opposition forces also appear to be preparing for an altered post-air strike environment. The rival Kurdish Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdestan are planning a meeting on February 12 to settle outstanding differences and stabilize their cease-fire. Iraqi Kurdestan's Conservative Party public relations officer, Aram Muhammad Sa'id, declared in an interview on Monday with the Iranian News Agency that Turkey's latest entry into northern Iraq had the "green light" from the United States, and was part of a U.S. plan to use air strikes to topple Hussein and dismember Iraq. Finally, the Iraqi National Congress has reported that Baath Party and military officials have begun evacuating southern Iraq, lest an uprising follow U.S. air strikes. Many in the U.S. Congress have asserted the need for an "end game" that removes Saddam Hussein from power, but thus far the U.S. has been unable to foment or coordinate an overthrow of Hussein. If it is to be successful, we will not know for certain about a coup plot's existence until it is underway. But circumstances do hint that something may be in the works. Baghdad has evidently noticed this, as Iraqi Foreign Minister Saeed al- Sahhaf asserted on Tuesday that the U.S. would fail to topple the Iraqi regime, since Hussein had the support of the Iraqi people. The question is this: is there a real possibility of a coup in Baghdad or is this part of U.S. psychological warfare against Iraq? In a way, the possibility of a coup is more reasonable an explanation for U.S. behavior than the idea that the U.S. is going to mount an air campaign against chemical and biological weapons. What is not clear is whether a coup has a real chance or whether this is just wishful thinking on the part of the United States. And it is not clear what Russia would do if the coup turned into a protracted internal struggle. ___________________________________________________ To receive free daily Global Intelligence Updates or Computer Security Alerts, sign up on the web at http://www.stratfor.com/mail/, or send your name, organization, position, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address to info(a)stratfor.com ___________________________________________________ STRATFOR Systems, Inc. 3301 Northland Drive, Suite 500 Austin, TX 78731-4939 Phone: 512-454-3626 Fax: 512-454-1614 Internet: http://www.stratfor.com/ Email: info(a)stratfor.com

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Re: Deriving economic profits from writing FREE software?
by Zooko Journeyman 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I have an idea for a model for deriving economic profits from writing free software. It requires dcash (specifically, some money that is cheaply and easily transferrable in small amounts). People submit requests for changes to a "wishlist"/"bug report list". Along with these requests they send dcash. Various mechanisms of market and/or trusted intermediary ensure that, on the whole, the hackers who satisfy the most highly valued wishes get the most money. See Grigg 1997 for one good idea of how such a market could operate. We already have extensive networks of wishlists, bug tracking systems, and the rest of an integrated open, distributed software development system (e.g. Linux, Debian, many others). Given the ability to pay (perhaps credit cards could be made to work here? Low cost credit card transactions? Cybercash?), we could start trying to add this kind of flow of cash to some such systems. Unfortunately, i fear that such attempts may fail and disrupt currently working systems... --Zooko P.S. Hi, y'all. I've switched continents, contexts, CPUs, sensitivities and perhaps more, but i'm fine. Thanks for missing me. p.p.s. as per <a href="http://www.slashdot.org/slashdot.cgi?mode=article&artnum=685"> this slashdot.org article</a>, it is called "Open Software" from now on, not "Free Software". Tell the kids.

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