December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

'Martial law' rushed for Y2K chaos
by Jean-Francois Avon 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

LOCAL Saturday 12 December 1998 'Martial law' rushed for Y2K chaos Report warns government to be ready to invoke federal Emergencies Act By David Pugliese The Ottawa Citizen The federal government should consider invoking the Emergencies Act, the successor to the War Measures Act, if the millennium bug causes widespread chaos, according to newly obtained government documents. The report, by the Year 2000 contingency planning group of Emergency Preparedness Canada, calls for orders and regulations for the Emergencies Act to be ready by the end of March. "In the worst case, we should consider the Emergencies Act a potential source of special powers," urge documents prepared by government in July and August and obtained by the Citizen under the Access to Information Act. "Among the activities that must be done to meet the problems resulting from Y2000 failures is development of relevant emergency orders and regulations required for the invocation of emergency provisions under the Emergencies Act." Federal departments are to identify what emergency orders would be needed in their areas of responsibility to deal with a countrywide disaster caused by the millennium bug. Those orders and regulations should have been in place in 1988 -- when the Emergencies Act was brought in to replace the War Measures Act -- but federal departments failed to develop them. While the lack of emergency orders and regulations among federal departments would not have prevented the Emergencies Act from being invoked, it would have meant that any federal response to a large-scale crisis would not have run smoothly. Defence Minister Art Eggleton, who is in charge of Emergency Preparedness Canada, will also be issued with a step-by-step guidebook on actions to be taken in a "major or catastrophic emergency" caused by the millennium bug, according to the report. That book will include all the documents needed and the names of provincial officials who should be consulted before the federal government invokes the Emergencies Act. The War Measures Act was last invoked by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau on Oct. 16, 1970, to deal with the FLQ terrorist threat -- the first and only peacetime implementation of such sweeping powers. The Front de Liberation du Quebec had kidnapped British diplomat James Cross, who was later released, and Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Laporte, who was slain. During the crisis, Canadian troops were ordered to protect public figures, and 497 possible suspects were arbitrarily rounded up and arrested in an attempt to break the FLQ cell structure. Defence spokesman Maj. John Blakeley said the process now being put in place is simply part of prudent planning to deal with the millennium bug and does not automatically mean the Emergencies Act will be enacted. "The question of whether it will be required or not is one that will have to be determined at the time," Maj. Blakeley said. "Basically, this is saying, 'If it gets to that stage, is everything ready?' " Maj. Blakeley said all scenarios have to be considered, including the most unlikely one: widespread major problems caused by the millennium bug. He added that the Defence department is confident it will be ready to handle any emergencies associated with the computer glitch. But the Auditor General has continually warned that the federal government is lacking in its emergency response capabilities. Among the criticisms over the years: - In 1997, the Auditor General voiced concern that not enough was being done to deal with an emergency caused by a major oil or chemical spill; - In 1992, the Auditor General repeated warnings that the government had still not created an emergency program to deal with an earthquake. The Auditor General's office says those plans are still undeveloped. - In 1989, the Auditor General pointed out that the emergency orders and measures needed by federal departments for the Emergencies Act had not been mapped out. Nine years later, that remains the case. Jim Hanson, a defence analyst and retired Canadian Army brigadier general, said the Emergencies Act contains the same sweeping powers to deal with unrest and civil emergencies. But he said it is likely such measures are intended more to give powers to civilian agencies, such as police forces, in case there are problems from the millennium bug. "It wouldn't take much under the existing National Defence Act or the 'aid to civil powers' provisions to put military personnel on the streets." Some computer analysts believe the millennium bug, also known as the Year 2000 or Y2K problem, will cause only minor disruptions. But others predict it will trigger widespread disruptions in computers that control everything from hydro and financial systems to air-traffic control. The problem centres on the fact that the internal counters of computers will read the year 2000 simply as 00. That could cause them to crash as they misread the 00 for the year 1900. Several months ago the Canadian Forces were told to prepare for the biggest peacetime deployment of troops ever in case computer failures caused by the Year 2000 problem disrupted key services. The plan, dubbed Operation Abacus, also involves the development of rules governing the use of force by soldiers in case they are called upon to assist police in dealing with emergency incidents. The reports obtained by the Citizen predict the first wave of computer failures could hit Canada on Sept. 9, 1999, because systems might have problems handling that date sequence, which is 9-9-99. The Defence department will activate a national co-ordination centre to handle emergency response to the millennium bug the day before that date, according to the documents. As part of its preparations, the national co-ordination centre will also run several exercises to test military readiness. In April, federal and provincial agencies in Quebec and Ontario will conduct a three-day training scenario involving a nuclear emergency -- a major test and evaluation of how the federal government and provinces can respond to a large-scale emergency that might result from the millennium bug, according to the Access documents. In the reports, military officials also raise concern that their ability to help out if the millennium bug causes widespread problems relies heavily on Canada's electrical, transportation, food and water and sewage systems having their own Year 2000 problems under control: "The ability of the (Canadian Forces) to provide civil assistance is highly dependent on the state of preparedness of these infrastructure items since the CF, like everyone else, is highly dependent on smooth delivery of these supplies and services," the documents state. "Without aggressive action in these industrial and service sectors, the (Canadian Forces) may not be able to make a significant impact across the nation as a force of last resort." Military officials point out that more than 16,000 troops were needed to deal with the effects of the ice storm that hit Ontario and Quebec this year. But the millennium bug, the report states, "has the potential of creating a demand orders of magnitude greater than this, which are well beyond the CF's capability to respond." Defence officials called for "aggressive and preventive actions" now to reduce the Year 2000 risk to a more manageable level. The military will have about 32,000 of its personnel dedicated to Operation Abacus, with thousands more available if needed. In November, the Commons Public Accounts committee questioned whether the Canadian Forces would be able to deal with countrywide problems that might be caused by the millennium bug. But several weeks later, a report by Auditor General Denis Desautels found that the critical systems the Defence department needs should computer foul-ups create civil chaos are largely ready. These included systems that support the movement of troops and supplies and handling of communications. Copyright 1998 Ottawa Citizen

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17 Dec '03

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17 Dec '03

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Question About "C" programming
by GregShow2＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Could you please send me more information on this language.

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Re: German government press release on Wassenaar (fwd)
by Albert P. Franco, II 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I think the key idea which allows Open Source to be exempted is based on the availability to all eyes of the technology--not the legal rights attached to the software. The fact that the knowledge contained in Open Source software is available to all is the key. The legal right to use that knowledge is not quite the issue. If the knowledge in the software becomes "common knowledge" then defining its (illegal) export becomes extremely difficult. >From this point of view, I agree with the author of the original statement--this could be a very important boost for Open Source crypto. APF >Forwarded message: > >> Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 22:50:04 +0100 >> From: Alexander Kjeldaas <astor(a)guardian.no> >> Subject: Re: German government press release on Wassenaar > >> I applied for an examination of the Open Source definition to the >> department for foreign affairs in Norway. The response (no surprise) >> was that Open Source is compliant with what the Wassenaar-agreement >> calls "public domain" software. > >Actualy that is surprising since Open Sourse does not imply the loss of >rights by the author as public domain does. > >If this is so and Germany interprets Open Source in this way then the OS >movement will fail in Germany (at least). There will be no motive for >authors to release their work since they will be in effect releasing all >rights to it, not the goal of OS at all. The impact on this for closed source >derivitive products is also of some interest. > >I wonder what RMS will have to say on that one... > > > ____________________________________________________________________ > > What raises the standard of living may well diminish the > quality of life. > > The Club of Rome > > The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate > Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com > www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 > -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- > -------------------------------------------------------------------- >

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CFS & TCFS (was Re: Linux Encrypted File System)
by mib 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

If you are running Red Hat Linux and want the Cryptographic File System (also available for most BSD-derived Unix systems and most current Linux releases), go to http://www.replay.com/redhat/cfs.html If you are running Linux 2.0.X and want the Transparent Cryptographic File System (improves on Matt Blaze's CFS, they say), go to http://vales.uni.net/tcfs/ - d.

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Re: German government press release on Wassenaar (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 15:33:10 +0100 > From: "Albert P. Franco, II" <apf2(a)apf2.com> > Subject: Re: German government press release on Wassenaar (fwd) > I think the key idea which allows Open Source to be exempted is based on > the availability to all eyes of the technology--not the legal rights > attached to the software. > > The fact that the knowledge contained in Open Source software is available > to all is the key. The legal right to use that knowledge is not quite the > issue. If the knowledge in the software becomes "common knowledge" then > defining its (illegal) export becomes extremely difficult. The problem I see with this is that the knowledge about the crypto system doesn't come from the source but rather from the mathematics that it is founded upon. If this line of reasoning is followed to its logical conclusion then publishing a paper on the algorithm also transmits that knowledge making particular knowledge of the software (ie whether I used a do-loop instead of a if statement) rather irrelevant. Now if it's not the particulars of the implimentation that we're protecting and it's not the mathematics itself then exactly what is it that we're protecting by imposing these closed source limitations? It looks to me like an unintentional(?) attempt to put commercial closed source crypto out of business. Under these regulations doesn't it mean that any business that isn't OS faces additional hurdles in its operation? Any business that is OS faces the problem of income stream which still isn't completely worked out for OS companies. This implies a longer time to market for OS crypto products. Also, since the source of PGP has always been avaiable doesn't this now make it permissible to export without restriction? ____________________________________________________________________ What raises the standard of living may well diminish the quality of life. The Club of Rome The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Echelon, Diana, Wassenaar
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The Wash Post today has picked up the hot European story of NSA's file on Princess Diana and linked it to the NSA's Echelon program. http://jya.com/nsa-diana.htm This is the first US major media story on Echelon, and its connection to privacy invasion of a global celebrity icon may do more to get public attention for the vile program than any previous investigation and report. NSA claims Diana was not a "target" and that the 1,000 pages of data on her were gathered "incidental" to other activities. But, as with all the TLA snooping, it is this incidental surveillance of the innocent that all the calls for loosening of encrypton controls is about. After all the near-futile efforts of investigators to bring Echelon out into the open, and counterefforts of pols and spooks cloak it, the Diana hook may the "Gone With The Wind" popularizer that finally energizes a genuine borad-based opposition, and, may very well be the kickoff to global demand for encryption to protect privacy worldwide and maybe even in the US. What wonderful cloubreak to let sunshine into the dark halls of Wassenaar and FT Meade spookdoms.

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DigiCash Update
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text From: "Scott Loftesness" <scott(a)loftesness.com> To: <dbs(a)philodox.com> Subject: DigiCash Update Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 10:43:13 -0800 Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-Msmail-Priority: Normal Importance: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3155.0 Sender: <dbs(a)philodox.com> Precedence: Bulk List-Subscribe: <mailto:requests@philodox.com?subject=subscribe%20dbs> X-Web-Archive: http://www.philodox.com/dbs-archive/ It's been a while since I've posted an update regarding DigiCash. As you know, DigiCash Incorporated filed Chapter 11 in early November. Since that time, over the course of the last several weeks, we've been engaged in discussions with a number of parties around the potential acquisition of the DigiCash assets. These discussions with potential acquirers are continuing. We are also exploring other options for DigiCash. One of these options involves establishing a more broadly based licensing structure for the DigiCash intellectual property. I would welcome those of you who are specifically interested in licensing the DigiCash IP for your own purposes to get in touch with me directly (Email is fine -- see below). Please specify your particular area of interest in the DigiCash IP when you contact me. (Please note that we are well aware of several recommendations for opening up the DigiCash IP. These recommendations have been posted on this list as well as having been discussed with me privately. We are primarily interested at this time, however, in ensuring that we are directly aware of those of you who have a direct licensing interest in the DigiCash IP specifically for your own purposes.) Best, Scott __________________________________________________________________ Interim CEO DigiCash Incorporated 2656 E. Bayshore Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 (650) 798-8183 work (650) 533-3142 cell Email: scott(a)loftesness.com or: sjl(a)digicash.com --- 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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Mathematician-to-silicon compilers and the Law
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>> >publishing a paper on the algorithm also transmits that knowledge making 1. In the *best-case*, the published paper transmits some knowledge to the reader :-) 2. In ECAD, tools try to go from that published Paper to circuits. In SoftE, tools try to go from english specs to runnable prototypes. Meanwhile, the humans who do various steps of this translation get paid reasonably well. 2. But eventually normal english prose will be *mechanically translatable* to a machine-ready format. Which means that free speech law starts mixing with machine law (patents, export restrictions, posession restrictions). Because the Instructions become the Thing. You can sell instructions on converting your rifle to full auto, or stealing cable TV. They're protected speech. But suppose you could feed a properly formatted blueprint into a universal fabricator and get a full auto rifle out? Crypto source code fed to a universal computer gives you a regulated item; what happens to the law when regular english is just a few clicks away from being an executable? A chip? There is a fundamental issue that the law doesn't handle at all consistently, because it previously didn't matter much, but which every CS Ugrad knows: There is no difference between software, and hardware. Only such annoyances as cost, development time, throughput, flexibility, etc. (Not everyone can see machines as instantiations of ideas. Politicians have particular problems linking abstractions to atoms. Fortunately, those that can see machines as ideas can turn their ideas into machines.) I see two extrapolated futures. In one, the end result is restrictions on free speech in certain areas (e.g., crypto), for the benefit of national insecurity and the Children. In the other, the Law will have to allow you whatever posessions you like, and only punish *actions* after the fact. Given recent historical trends... ----------- Imagine biologists couldn't publish new enkephalin sequences because someone might put them into a programmable yeast and make unlicensed medicines..

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