December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

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by 2001files＠usa.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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early reports from Austria: possible crypto stalemate (fwd)
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 03:04:38 -0300 (ADT) From: M Taylor <mctaylor(a)privacy.nb.ca> To: cryptography(a)c2.net Subject: early reports from Austria: possible crypto stalemate (fwd) MIME-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-cryptography(a)c2.net ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Sender: efc-talk-owner(a)insight.cas.mcmaster.ca Subject: early reports from Austria: possible crypto stalemate Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 17:48:20 -0400 (EDT) To: efc-talk(a)insight.cas.mcmaster.ca From: David Jones <djones(a)insight.cas.mcmaster.ca> Brief Crypto update: Sources in Vienna, Austria, where the current Wassenaar negotiations have been taking place, seem to indicate that there have been no changes on international crypto policy. This is generally regarded as a "good sign", since it means the hard liners (Russia, US, France, UK, NZ) haven't been successful, and those countries advocating a more liberal policy may be sticking to their positions. The next time int'l crypto policy is to be formally negotiated is apparently early in December. -- djones(a)efc.ca P.S. If anyone happens to be fluent in German, maybe you could help us by translating, or summarizing, in English: http://www.mediaweb.at/akmg/news/wassenaar.html ---------------- (via babelfish) http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/cgi-bin/translate?urltext=http%3A%2F… w.mediaweb.at%2Fakmg%2Fnews%2Fwassenaar.html&lp=de_en In my very brief summary: it appears that a stalemate was reached in regards to the public domain exemption ("General Software Note" in Canada) of cryptography. The heavyweights (US, UK, France, Russia) want to remove it while others (much of Europe?, Canada?) want to preserve it. There is also mention of key-escrow, but I'm not certain if that is tied to the Wassenaar Agreement talks. --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 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'

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Oct 2 column - take them shooting
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Resent-Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 00:29:27 -0600 Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 23:22:06 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: vin(a)dali.lvrj.com Mime-Version: 1.0 To: vinsends(a)ezlink.com From: Vin_Suprynowicz(a)lvrj.com (Vin Suprynowicz) Subject: Oct 2 column - take them shooting Resent-From: vinsends(a)ezlink.com X-Mailing-List: <vinsends(a)ezlink.com> archive/latest/563 X-Loop: vinsends(a)ezlink.com Precedence: list Resent-Sender: vinsends-request(a)ezlink.com FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED OCT. 2, 1998 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz 'And every other terrible implement of the soldier' One of the great pleasures of collecting and restoring old firearms is hauling them out to the range and letting a visitor find out just how good some of our grandfathers' military engineering really was. It can be an even greater pleasure to introduce someone who's previously been a "Second Amendment agnostic" to the exhilaration that comes with learning how to safely and effectively handle these historic tools of freedom. Suddenly some appreciation dawns of what it must have been like to stand with the Minutemen on that town green in Lexington, or to dig the mud or snow out of your action, slam in a clip, and carefully squeeze off eight aimed rounds of 30.06 from the unstoppable Garand. These old-timers aren't dainty target rifles. You slam them closed with the butt of your hand. The weight of steel across your arms, the crack of bullets breaking the sound barrier (even through modern ear protection) are sobering. Then, once the newcomer develops that cake-eating grin that comes when you confirm it was him -- not the wind -- that really knocked down those cans at 60 yards, you point waaaay down the wash, and explain that the average infantryman was expected to hit a man-sized target over there, at 300 yards ... that a marksman was expected to do so at 800. "You mean you can hit something out (start ital)there(end ital)? I can't even (start ital)see(end ital) what's out there." "Yes. And I also mean that any trained soldier out there ... can hit you." Suddenly all this talk about banning "assault rifles" with "magazines that hold more than 10 rounds," or rifles with bayonet lugs or flash hiders (yes, that's why that collector's piece you're holding has been emasculated with a hacksaw, like an antique table imported with only three legs) start to come into focus. "They made them import this SKS without a bayonet? But they're obviously designed to carry the folding bayonet, like this older one here. Without it the cleaning rod rattles around and falls out. And how the heck does taking off the bayonet make the weapon any less deadly in a shoot-out? Who thinks up this stuff?" Any American can still learn to shoot safely, and then teach one more person, and then another. It's wonderfully subversive. Recently, a fellow who I took out was moved to recall that his father had qualified as a marksman in the army, but had died before he was able to teach his son that skill. So pleased was he to start re-learning his father's skill that he insisted on buying me dinner, to compensate me for my ammo costs. Two weeks later, the lad who grew up without a father won the Republican primary, and now stands a good chance of becoming our next congressman. Good luck selling your victim-disarmament bill of goods to him now, Ms. Feinstein, Mr. Schumer. # # # Of course, the downside of hauling a collection of arms out to the range always faced you that evening, when a half-dozen rifles leaned waiting against the wall, and you started figuring how long you were about to spend with cleaning rods, powder solvent, jags and patches. (And if you find a woman who loves the smell of Hoppe's powder solvent in her living room, fellows, marry her straight off.) Since this has been the fate of the rifleman for centuries, I will admit it was with the standard "Yeah, right" that I first noticed an ad in one of the firearms tabloids a few months back for a new product modestly named the "World's Fastest Gun Bore Cleaner," a patented rayon pull-through cord with phosphor-bronze bristles braided right into the front. Everyone knows the only way to clean a rifle barrel is to brush it out with a cleaning rod, run through cotton patches soaked in solvent, and then run through dry patches to remove the black soot, repeating again and again in a semi-hypnotic ritual of devotional labor. Pull some fancy cord once through the gun and rack it away? Ha! Then I dropped by the Soldier of Fortune Expo here in Las Vegas last month, and spotted a table full of these things, manned by the inventor, who explained how he got to wondering -- as he was clearing out some varmints in the frozen wilds of Idaho, cold enough to freeze your fingers to the barrel -- why in this day of space-age materials no one had invented a device that would clean a rifle barrel with one pull, no bent or broken steel rods to haul around, no gouging of the rifle's delicate crown, no chemicals. I bought one of the things -- which you can roll up and carry in your shirt pocket -- and Bruce Hedge made me a gift of a second one to fit my pistols (the Bore Cleaner is sized precisely by caliber), my total "compensation" for this rare and unsolicited product endorsement. Because, you see, they work. After that precision-sized brush stutters through (you want it to stutter -- that means the bristles aren't lying over sideways because they're too long), the braided cord swipes your lands and grooves with a surface area equivalent to 160 cotton patches. And when the cord is dirty, you just wash it out in soapy water, to the tune of 200 to 500 uses. Mr. Hedge's biggest problem? Other than finding enough salesmen to move his product, and butting up against some out-of-date military specs that are so far keeping our men in uniform from capitalizing on this breakthrough, that would be "setting aside the $100,000 we figure we're going to need to protect the patent." As the man said, "This changes everything." The "World's Fastest Gun Bore Cleaner" is from National Tech-Labs, 5200 Sawyer, Suite H, Boise, Idaho 83714; tel. 208-345-5674. If you shoot, you want some. # # # "Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, (start ital)and every other terrible implement of the soldier(end ital), are the birth-right of an American." -- Tench Coxe, prominent Federalist and friend of James Madison, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788. Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin(a)lvrj.com. *** Vin Suprynowicz, vin(a)lvrj.com The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it. -- John Hay, 1872 The most difficult struggle of all is the one within ourselves. Let us not get accustomed and adjusted to these conditions. The one who adjusts ceases to discriminate between good and evil. He becomes a slave in body and soul. Whatever may happen to you, remember always: Don't adjust! Revolt against the reality! -- Mordechai Anielewicz, Warsaw, 1943 * * * --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 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'

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Canada's Crypto Policy
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Thanks to MC Taylor for pointing we offer a speech today by Canada's Minister of Industry on a new cryptography policy: http://jya.com/ca-crypto.htm (16K) It has links to several sites with related policies in the works.

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[Cdn] Cryptography Policy Discussion Paper: Analysis of Submissions
by M Taylor 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

An analysis of responses to The Canadian Cryptography Policy Discussion Paper (http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/cy00005e.html) Prepared by: AEPOS Technologies Corporation Prepared for: Industry Canada Originator : AEPOS Technologies Corporation 116 Albert St. Suite 601 Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G3 Date : 15 September, 1998 English: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/cy01156e.html French: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSGF/cy01156f.html It appears is light of today's announcement <http://info.ic.gc.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/558d636590992942852564880052155b/852…> by John Manley, Minister of Industry, that domestic cryptography will bloom, but the export of Canadian crypto is not yet clear. I suspect the Wassenaar negotiations will determine whether the free export of "public domain" and mass market software will continue for Canadians. As an exporter, I hope so. -mctaylor -- M Taylor mctaylor@ / glyphmetrics.ca | privacy.nb.ca

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[RRE]Conference: Technological Visions
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

PhilZ Pontificates. Philm at 11. Cheers, Bob Hettinga --- begin forwarded text Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 21:43:09 -0800 To: "Red Rock Eater News Service" <rre(a)lists.gseis.ucla.edu> From: duguid(a)socrates.berkeley.edu (Paul Duguid) Subject: [RRE]Conference: Technological Visions Sender: <rre(a)lists.gseis.ucla.edu> Precedence: Bulk List-Subscribe: <mailto:rre-on@lists.gseis.ucla.edu> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This message was forwarded through the Red Rock Eater News Service (RRE). Send any replies to the original author, listed in the From: field below. You are welcome to send the message along to others but please do not use the "redirect" command. For information on RRE, including instructions for (un)subscribing, see http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/rre.html or send a message to requests(a)lists.gseis.ucla.edu with Subject: info rre =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 23:41:21 +0200 (MET DST) From: Kearney <kearney(a)scf-fs.usc.edu Subject: Technological Visions: Utopian and Dystopian Perspectives CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT: Technological Visions: Utopian and Dystopian Perspectives A USC Annenberg Center for Communication convened by the Annenberg Schools for Communication, University of Southern California and the University of Pennsylvania November 6 and 7, 1998 Davidson Conference Center, University of Southern California Technological Visions: Utopian and Dystopian Perspectives will bring together journalists, academics, cyberculture advocates, policymakers, and science fiction visionaries to examine how technologies have been envisioned throughout history and the social impact of new technologies. The conference will explore ways of considering contemporary new technologies in light of how new technologies were represented and debated in the past. It intends to address the ahistorical nature of the public discourse of new technology and to encourage discussion across the boundaries of the social realms of academic, media, and industry on the impact of new technologies. Sherry Turkle, Professor of Sociology of Science at MIT and author of Life on the Screen will give the keynote speech: Are the discourses surrounding the Internet a better guide to social action than those formulated in the early days of "old" technologies? Have we learned anything from the successes and failures of past attempts to predict what technology will do for us and to us? Panels: The Problems and Potentials of Prediction Privacy and Censorship Communities of Place and Cyberspace Media Discourse on New Technology Technological Visions Confirmed Participants: John Perry Barlow, Lord Asa Briggs, Richard Chabran, Bob Cringely, Wendy Grossman, Katie Hafner, Larry Irving, Peter Lyman, Carolyn Marvin, David Nye, Mitchel Resnick, Romelia Salinas, Vivian Sobchack, Lynn Spigel, Sherry Turkle, Langdon Winner, Philip Zimmermann Conference Organizers: Sandra Ball-Rokeach, Marita Sturken, Douglas Thomas, Annenberg School for Communication Conference Information: The conference is free and open to the public. It will be held at the Davidson Conference Center on the USC campus in downtown Los Angeles. The conference proceedings will be simulcast on the Metamorphosis web site. For further information and updated schedules: www.metamorph.org For more information, contact: Douglas Thomas (213) 740-3937 douglast(a)usc.edu Marita Sturken (213) 740-3950 sturken(a)usc.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Duguid Social & Cultural Studies University of California, Berkeley duguid(a)socrates.berkeley.edu Tel: 510 848 1843 Fax: 510 540 0347 --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 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'

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Re: I thought of an initialy regulated industry!... (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 07:41:29 -0400 > From: Duncan Frissell <frissell(a)panix.com> > Subject: Re: I thought of an initialy regulated industry!... > A normally operating coal plant releases more radioactive material (carbon > 14) than a normally operating nuclear plant. The largest environment impact issue with a nuclear plant is hot water discharge (which is much larger than the exhaust from a coal plant) and spent fuel storage because of the amount of time that is required to guarantee seals. In the first place the heated water effects the ecology of the local area and you see the ripples of this in the ecology changes for hundreds of miles. An additional impact is that because of the water needs of plants they are usualy located in or near wetlands which are critical to the entire eco-cycle for thousands of miles. The issue with storage is that it occurs on a time line that is best described as near-geologic. Periods of time that are orders of magnitude longer than human civilizations survive. > coal plant are not only more voluminous (though less dense) than the coal > that goes in but also contain a substance that is more poisonous than > plutonium (arsenic trioxide). Consider the difference in volume of these two waste products... ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: I thought of an initialy regulated industry!... (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 10:46:05 -0700 > From: Tim May <tcmay(a)got.net> > Subject: Re: I thought of an initialy regulated industry!... My original quote: > >I'd like to hear from any free market mavens who might want to use the > >nuclear industry as an example of how things could be so much better with no > >regulation regarding construction, operation, or waste disposal. Partial quote of Tim: > "Regulation" of the nuclear power industry had the predicted effect of > overly conservative designs being standardized. Specifically, the > Westinghouse boiling water designs, basically frozen in 1955 and little > changed since then. > > Ordinary evolutionary improvement, plus revolutionary improvement, has not > been possible. (Some examples would include inherently fail-safe designs > like the Canadian CANDU reactor, and various improvements the French have > made in the original Westinghouse design.) Ok. I agree that over-regulation is bad. CCCP, China, Cuba, etc. are clear examples of how over-regulation is a failure. However, my question was to defend the free-market position that *no* regulation provides an improved environment for (in this case) reactor design. Apples and oranges... ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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EduFUD: Computers, software can harm emotional, social development
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

As the FUD snowballs. The Globe gets Rimmed again... The edutocracy (and the Boston Globe :-)) finally notices that all that artillery parked at the foot of their ivory tower actually *does* blow great big rocks into tiny little bits... In another context, Carl Ellison has this great story about how, when firearms were invented, peasants could finally kill knights in armor from a comfortable distance. When the church reminded them that killing knights was a sin, peasants started killing knights on weekdays and confessing those sins in church on Sunday. Frankly, I've learned more on the net in the last few years than I ever would have in an equivalent time in school. I credit it with a several-point increase in my IQ, even. Woops. We don't count IQ anymore, now do we?... :-). I guess I know too many stone geniuses who've had computers since they were children -- most of the people on this list were raised that way, I would bet -- to take this crap too seriously, reduced attention "spans" or not. By the way, "span" is the wrong word for ADD. I was hardly raised on TV, much less computers, (I had my face in science fiction books throughout most of my childhood), and I've been known to focus on something "inappropriately" for hours. While I certainly have varying degrees of control of my attention, but I just don't see that a "handicap" anymore. My attention is event-driven, rather than processed in neat organized batches, and I've learned to like it that way, even if it did give me trouble when I was chained in the aforementioned tower's dungeon for most of my formative years. Besides, even if computers cause people to have event-driven attention rather than in nice neat industrial batches, that's probably a Good Thing(tm). Consider it evolution in action. Farmers and mechanics may need "control" of their attention, but in an information "hunter" like myself, most of the people who do anything useful on the net, it's a selective disadvantage. Cheers, Bob Hettinga --- begin forwarded text From: Somebody To: "'rah(a)shipwright.com'" <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: FW: Computers, software can harm emotional, social development Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 13:28:41 -0400 X-Priority: 3 Status: U > -----Original Message----- > From: Somebody else > Sent: Thursday, October 01, 1998 8:41 AM > To: a whole buncha education "professionals"... > Subject: Computers, software can harm emotional, social > development > > > > Computers, software can harm emotional, social development > > By Barbara F. Meltz, Globe Staff, 10/01/98 > > Short attention span. Needs instant gratification. Can't > focus. Doesn't apply > himself. > > If this is what you're hearing from your child's first- > or second-grade teacher, > before you panic and think learning disabilities or > attention deficit disorder, > consider something external: your family computer. > > Educators have long intuited that early exposure to > computers doesn't give > children an educational edge. Now researchers have data > to show it can > actually be harmful, potentially undercutting brain > development, interfering > with the way a child learns, intruding on social and > emotional development, > and putting health at risk. ''There is no reason to give > a computer to a child > under 7,'' says educational psychologist Jane M. Healy. > If she had her way, > she'd throw computers out of preschool and early > elementary classrooms > and keep kids off them at home. Her > sure-to-be-controversial new book, > ''Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our > Children's Minds, for > Better and Worse'' (Simon & Schuster), is eye-opening > reading. > > Many researchers agree with her. ''For children under 7 > or 8 who have not > reached the age of abstract reasoning, computer exposure > changes the way > they absorb material. Some of us think this is quite > frightening,'' says > educational policy analyst Ed Miller of Cambridge. > > Technology researcher Douglas Sloan, a professor at > Teachers College at > Columbia University, says, ''It's something of a scandal > that it's taken us so > long to figure this out.'' > > Some of the troubling trends Healy identifies: > > Kindergartners who don't want to draw with markers and > crayons > because ''it isn't as pretty as my computer drawings.'' > > First-graders who are so used to a computer game's > reward for doing > something easy, they don't want to try anything hard. > > Kindergartners who are nonverbal and don't know how to > play with > peers because of too much time alone at the computer. > > First-graders who are unable to understand what they > read because they > lack a rudimentary language base they typically get from > peer and adult > interaction. > > ''In putting little kids at the computer, you take them > away from peer play,'' > says Sloan. ''That compromises social development and > imagination.'' Not > only that, but a child is being provided with someone > else's visual images at > precisely the time when he needs to be developing his > own image-making > capacities. ''That's what leads to intellectual growth > later,'' Sloan says. The > same thing is true with too much TV time, but studies > show parents monitor > TV more. ''We've come to ascribe almost magical > educational qualities to > the computer,'' he says. He researches how to protect > children from > computer misuse. > > Problems with computer exposure aren't limited to early > childhood. Bill > Schechter, a history teacher at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional > High School, says > he knows the Internet has the capacity to be a > tremendous tool for research, > but so far he hasn't seen how. > > ''I'm getting to the point where I'm not going to accept > Internet research,'' he > says. ''The technology for cheating far outdistances a > teacher's ability to > recognize it. All I'm seeing is lazy Internet use, where > kids use it as an excuse > not to open a book, not to check sources, not to go to > the library.'' > > Software researcher Howard Budin says one of the > problems is the vastness > of the Internet. Last year, his son's sixth-grade > research project required two > Internet sources. ''When he did a search for `panda,' he > turned up 54,000 > entries! If I hadn't been there with him, he would have > been totally > frustrated,'' he says. Most of the entries were for > schools with pandas for > mascots, but it took even an experienced navigator like > Budin a half-hour to > get to appropriate sites. > > Budin, who is director of the Center for Technology and > School Change at > Columbia, says exposure to the Internet should start in > third or fourth grade, > not before. ''Introduce it as a source of information, > not entertainment,'' he > says. > > Even so, it can lead to the kind of problems teachers > like Schechter see. > > ''Who's teaching these kids how to use it and where the > information comes > from and what it means?'' asks Sloan. > > He says that in the rush to wire classrooms, these > critical questions are > largely ignored. ''Data itself is not knowledge,'' says > Sloan. ''It's only > knowledge when you connect it thoughtfully and > critically to curriculum.'' > > In many schools, the problem is lack of human > infrastructure, says > technology researcher Vicki O'Day, of the Xerox Palo > Alto Research > Center. She speaks admiringly of a new principal at an > elementary school in > California who had the courage to shut down the computer > lab for two years > until she had technical support and curricula-links. > > She says a school needs to fund two positions, a > technology coordinator > who keeps equipment up and running and is not a teacher, > and a curriculum > development person who is a teacher but not in the > classroom. ''You can't > expect a classroom teacher to be knowledgeable about > software and the > Internet in addition to what she already does,'' O'Day > says. > > She also tells schools to put computers in the > classroom, not in a computer > lab; they're more likely to be integrated into the > curriculum and to be seen as > one more tool, along with a dictionary and pencil > sharpener. ''We used to > think kids should do computer just for the sake of doing > computer,'' says > O'Day. ''Uh-uh. It should always be used for a > purpose.'' > > For parents, this means restricting the computer to > what's useful and > forgetting about what's entertaining. > > Healy, who's a purist about this, would limit a young > child's access to e-mail > to write to grandpa, or to sitting on your lap while you > download pictures of > her favorite animal or truck. > > Steve Bennett, who reviews software and is author of > ''The Plugged-in > Parent'' (Times Books), tells parents to think of > themselves as ''parentware.'' > He defines that as an involved parent. ''It's just as > important as software,'' he > says. > > In his home, the computer is one resource among many and > it's not used as a > babysitter or as entertainment. He enforces limits on > screen time - his kids, 8 > and 11, can have two half-hour sessions a day, after > homework, although he > says they hardly ever use it - and restrictions on > software: no ''drill and grill'' > games, shoot'em-ups, or Internet surfing. Budin has > similiar restrictions for > his children; his sixth-grade son spends his computer > time on spread sheets, > graphic programs, and 3-D renderings. > > In addition to setting limits on software, Sloan says, > parents should avoid > what he calls an adulatory attitude toward the computer. > If your child is > young and you're just starting out, ''Look at it as an > appliance,'' he says. > > And if you already have a 4- or 6- or 9-year-old who's > hooked on > computer games? > > It's never too late to talk about family values, even to > say you've made a > mistake about allowing certain games. ''The ultimate > challenge and most > successful counter,'' says Sloan, ''is to provide such a > rich environment in > your home that the games seem dull compared to whatever > else is going on.'' > > AFTERTHOUGHT - Recommended reading for 3- to > 7-year-olds: ''How > to Take Your Grandmother to the Museum'' (Workman > Publishing), by Lois > Wyse and her granddaughter, Molly Rose Goldman. > > Child Caring appears every Thursday in At Home. Barbara > F. Meltz > welcomes letters and comments and can be reached via > e-mail at > meltz(a)globe.com. > hmm! > > This story ran on page F01 of the Boston Globe on 10/01/98. > (c) Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company. --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 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'

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Re: early reports from Austria: possible crypto stalemate (fwd)
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text To: cryptography(a)c2.net Cc: M Taylor <mctaylor(a)privacy.nb.ca>, djones(a)efc.ca Subject: Re: early reports from Austria: possible crypto stalemate (fwd) Date: Thu, 01 Oct 1998 14:04:23 -0400 (EDT) From: Don Beaver <beaver+(a)transarc.com> Sender: owner-cryptography(a)c2.net M Taylor writes: > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > P.S. If anyone happens to be fluent in German, maybe you could help us > by translating, or summarizing, in English: > > http://www.mediaweb.at/akmg/news/wassenaar.html Disclaimer: I don't make any claim to real fluency in German (I never took a class), so there may be mistakes. But I think this is pretty accurate. --Don Beaver <H2> Journalist Trade Union Protests the Cancellation of Special Arrangements for Encryption Programs in the Wassenaar Agreement </H2> <H3> At a meeting of experts on the Wassenaar Agreement in Vienna, the cancellation of exceptions for cryptographic public-domain software and shareware was negotiated. The real goal of the agreement is the control and transparency of transfers of military and so-called dual-use goods - products and technologies that can be used for both military and civilian purposes. The Wassenaar Agreement lists Information Security and encryption technology, in the form of software encryption programs or hardware, under the Dual Use category 5.2. </H3> <P> There are to be further efforts to eliminate the exceptions for public-domain cryptographic software and shareware (usually free over the Internet or by CD-ROM distribution), and thereby place each kind of encryption software under the monitoring and restriction of the Wassenaar agreement. <P> The journalist trade union is protesting vehemently, because free access by journalists and the media to encryption programs is threatened. Encryption programs play a rapidly increasing role in the protection of electronic network communications for the media and jounalists. It is not difficult to monitor electronic mail automatically and make copies without recipients or senders ever taking notice. Investigative journalism on organized crime, corruption, and illegal arms trafficking, for example, may be endangered by the lack of protected communication, because the privacy of research is not ensured, especially when it takes place internationally. <P> Not only will editorial privacy be damaged but also the protection of information sources, as well as the protection of the private sphere. Not only must the protection of communication between journalists and media be ensured but also between journalists and media and their information sources, which cannot be limited to a special circle of acquaintances. <P> Attempts to permit programs that just encode with a key whose duplicate is placed with authorities cannot provide a way out. With such duplicate keys, all encoded messages can be decoded. But there is no guarantee that this duplicate key will not arrive in the unauthorized hands of organized crime, for example, or that is it not used by individual members of the authority or intelligence services in an unauthorized manner. <P> The information surrounding the Wassenaar Agreement is also precarious: at present, each discussion in the Wassenaar Agreement falls under the privacy of "privileged diplomatic communication" (Point IX) and the application of resolutions are to be implemented using "national discretion" (Point II.3). Thus, the targets of the Wassenaar Agreement are counterproductive(?): companies whose doubtful weapons shipments were forbidden remain spared from public criticism, just like failed decisions. <H3>Therefore the journalist trade union demands:</H3> <UL> <LI> Elimination of cryptography from the list of "dual-use" goods entered by the Wassenaar Agreement. No limitation of cryptography to insecure (respectively, key duplication/escrow) encryption techniques. <LI> Democratic control/monitoring of the Wassenaar Agreement: No modification of the rules and jurisdiction of the Wassenaar Agreement without prior public discussion. <LI> Obligatory public reporting on activities in the context of the Wassenaar Agreement. </UL> --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 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'

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