December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

The politics of crypto archives
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Wed, 09 Dec 1998 17:46:37 +0100 > From: Mok-Kong Shen <mok-kong.shen(a)stud.uni-muenchen.de> > Subject: Re: Building crypto archives worldwide to foil US-built Berlin Walls (fwd) > Let there be a large number of sites. If part of these fail, there > are others that are successful. (Compare evolution.) But two sites don't reproduce to make a 3rd site, some set of sites don't deny environmental resources to others, etc. etc. Your analogy is flawed on many levels. If the sites go down that often what motive would somebody else have if they know they'll face the same sorts of problems and won't have any additional resources to help them face it? Why would you put up a site if you knew that the 14 others before had failed and that nobody would help with your legal fees when you did go down? It's one thing to put your neck on the block for yourself, it's a whole other issue when you start asking other people to do it for your benefit (they obviously don't need an archive since they have the resources already) when you make it clear that you won't reimburse or otherwise recognize their efforts for YOU. > > > If the 'economies', 'infrastructure' 'religon' and what not of the > > > countries do not (yet) affect crypto laws, why care about them? If > > > > They effect crypto by defintion. > > How, for example, can they affects the functioning of an archive, if > you get the right people and machine? Because those machines have to be available and paid for, their utilities need to exist and need to be reliable, the police need to have some sort of legal boundary to cross, and you need some recognized and guaranteed legal recourse for your own self defence. Those are just a couple of the issues involved in running a archive site. Things don't exist in vacuum. You naively take WAY(!!!) too much for granted. I'll tell you what. Just as an experiment put up a CDR node for 6 months and see what it's like. Keep the box up 24 hours a day, pay the electricity, phone lines, domain name, etc. We're talking less than $500 total if you already own a box. Such an experiment is within the reach of just about any person who has sufficient resources (even students) to surf the web. If you don't have the infrastructure to send the email in the clear then crypto won't effect that one whit. And putting up an archive that nobody can get to is not worth the effort either. > > If they don't have crypto laws it's likely they don't have a lot of other > > sorts of laws and the social and economic structure those laws imply. This > > makes it very difficult to operate a archive with any sort of stability or > > protection. > > It is not true that there are more gangsters in the small than in > the powerful nations. What do you mean by stability (which has plenty > of meanings)? Well of course not, the populations aren't comparable. However, it is clear that smaller 3rd world countries have much more stringent regulations or because the instability causes there to be no standards to regulation and lack many of the protections we in the US take for granted. It makes the continued existance of the archive problematic. Putting up an archive on Monday only to have it go down on Tuesday is pyrrhic at best. I use stability in the commen political meaning. The country has a political and social system that is long-lived, has a well defined mechanism for transfer of power (if they even recognize transfer of power), etc. If you're in a situation where some rebels or other forces start lobbing mortar shells into your immediate area then crypto is the least of your worries. Or as in Columbia where a group drove into town, drug people out into the street and shot them in the head. Consider S. Korea. Even though it's a democracy it's illegal to operate a firewall. The closest place S. Koreans can get in many cases to a firewall and network security (for groups outside of S. Korea) is Australia. Now how do you expect to seriously run a crypto site when the military and police have a legal authority to come rummage in your system at will? And can put you in detention if you deny them that access? Those sorts of places are where crypto is needed but clearly can't do the job for themselves. > > And what about the costs and effects incurred by that person you so glibly > > throw away? > > I suppose that running an archive is a voluntary (self-sacrificing) > act of a benovolent person ready to offer his service to the public. > If his site has to close down sometime later, he has to accept his > bad luck. Why should you care so much minutely for him? (And you > say below that the money problem is trivial!) No, it isn't self-sacrifice. It's sacrifice for the users of that archive. Their motives are not self-centered, they're society centered. As users of those archives you OWE them. I would suggest strongly(!) that you spend more time studying ethics and morality. > So it rests to find people who have the time and (that small) money > and energy to run sites and some countries that aren't going to > have strict cryto laws in the near future. THAT, however, is > difficult, I believe. Duh. I wonder why....(well, actualy I don't) ____________________________________________________________________ If I can put in one word what has always infuriated me in any person, any group, any movement, or any nation, it is: bullying Howard Zinn The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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No Subject
by owner-cypherpunks＠Algebra.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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[ZKS Press Release] 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of HumanRights a Reminder th at Privacy must be Preserved
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text From: Nicola Dourambeis <nicola(a)zks.net> To: ZKS Press Releases <zks-press(a)zks.net> Subject: [ZKS Press Release] 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights a Reminder th at Privacy must be Preserved Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 18:13:51 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-zks-press(a)zks.net Precedence: normal Reply-To: press(a)zks.net ======================================================== Zero-Knowledge Systems Press Release, http://www.zks.net ======================================================== 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights a Reminder that Privacy must be Preserved. Web site launched to allow citizens of the world to protest their loss of privacy. December 9, 1998 (Montreal)--On the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), as well as in protest of the recent changes to cryptography policies worldwide, Zero-Knowledge Systems is spearheading a campaign to encourage governments to loosen newly imposed cryptography restrictions. This campaign, seen on the web site http://www.freecrypto.org, enables citizens of the world to express their outrage and concern at the increasing loss of their privacy. Article 12 of the UDHR states, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family home, or correspondence...." Yet, decades later, we are witnessing the unprecedented collection of personal information and intrusions into the lives of many. Internet users in particular, confront multiple privacy violations while online. Over 80% of Internet users polled consider privacy be their primary concern. The best defense for online privacy is to use strong cryptography, which allows Internet users to preserve the privacy of their communications and personal information. On December 3, 1998, the Internet community experienced one of the strongest setbacks to their privacy in recent years. The 33 member countries of the Wassenaar Arrangement agreed for the first time to impose export restrictions on mass-market cryptography products. Until December 3rd, the majority of the Wassenaar signatories did not impose export controls over mass-market products that protect personal security and privacy through cryptography. The United States Department of Commerce Under-Secretary has taken credit for convincing all other Wassenaar countries to impose these added restrictions over cryptography designed for average citizens. Barry Steinhardt, President of the Electronic Frontier Foundation believes "The US government has strong-armed the rest of the industrialized world into adopting a policy that will make us less secure and more vulnerable to electronic terrorism. Our critical national and international infrastructures need to be protected by strong encryption. Weak encryption with back doors that will be exploited not just by governments, but by information pirates, will leave us at greater risk." "It is not too late to reverse course," continues Steinhardt. "Wassenaar allows, but does not require, the other national governments to follow the US' foolish lead." "Cryptography is the key to preserving privacy for Internet users," explains Austin Hill, President of Zero-Knowledge Systems. "By limiting the accessibility of cryptography, you are limiting people's ability to protect themselves. Now, more than ever, we have the ability to influence the future of the electronic world; we must ensure that it has the same the basic rights and protections that the UDHR promised us fifty years ago." Hill continues, "We hope that Internet users will be proactive in protesting this human rights infringement to their governments. The freecrypto.org web site provides such a space, where users can learn about the issues and send their government representatives a message expressing their dissatisfaction with the tightening of cryptography controls." The freecrypto.org web site provides a form that citizens can fill out and have faxed or emailed to their respective government representatives. It also provides information and articles on the recently imposed cryptography restrictions. ---------------------------------------------------------------30----------- ---------------------------------------------------- The Electronic Frontier Foundation is one of the leading civil liberties organizations devoted to ensuring that the Internet remains the world's first truly global vehicle for free speech, and that the privacy and security of all on-line communication is preserved. Founded in 1990 as a nonprofit, public interest organization, EFF is based in San Francisco, California and maintains an extensive archive of information on free speech, privacy, and encryption policy at http://www.eff.org. Zero-Knowledge Systems Inc., http://www.zks.net, is a Canadian based software developer dedicated to providing cryptographic solutions for the privacy and security of Internet users. They will be launching their first product called Freedom(tm) in February 1999. For more information, contact: Nicola Dourambeis Alex Fowler, Marketing Associate Director of Public Affairs Zero-Knowledge Systems Inc. Electronic Frontier Foundation Tel. (514) 286-2636 ext. 222 Tel. (415) 436-9333 ext. 103 Email. nicola(a)zks.net Email. afowler(a)eff.org --- 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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What happened to this NY Times article on STOA and Echelon?
by Ernest Hua 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Does anyone have any idea what happened to this article on STOA and Echelon? http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/nytimes.htm I cannot seem to find it in the NY Times archives. Is it really from 1998? Could it be from 1997? Anyone been in contact with the author? Ern

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COMMENT: Minimum Security Devices and Procedures and Bank Secrecy
by Max Inux 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

A letter someone CC'ed to dc-stuff, we seem to be having the same conversations there and here... Waasenaar and FDIC "Know your customer" -- Max Inux <maxinux(a)openpgp.net> Hey Christy!!! KeyID 0x8907E9E5 Kinky Sex makes the world go round O R Strong crypto makes the world safe If crypto is outlawed only outlaws will have crypto Fingerprint(Photo Also): 259D 59F7 D98C CD73 1ACD 54Ea 6C43 4877 8907 E9E5 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 07:13:55 -0800 (PST) X-Loop: openpgp.net From: KAT in the HAT <katinthehat(a)rocketmail.com> To: comments(a)FDIC.gov Subject: COMMENT: Minimum Security Devices and Procedures and Bank Secrecy Act I would like to state that this is the most Orwellian, privacy-invading, search-without-a-warrant, snoopy regulation I have ever seen. I believe it is a horrible idea that should never be allowed. I am growing so tired of my government trying to monitor it's every citizen's every move just in case there may be a criminal act committed. Every citizen is innocent until proven guilty and has a right to privacy against such causeless searches. As the 4th amendment to the Constitution of the United States says (have you ever heard of it?): "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, SHALL NOT BE VIOLATED, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oaths and affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." What you advocate is a warrantless search of all my financial papers and effects without probable cause or evidence of any sort of crime being committed. This kind of nosy government action is exactly the kind of thing that should never be allowed in a free state. I will fight to keep my nation from becoming a 24- hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week monitored police state until my last breath. I urge you to vote against this ghastly measure and to banish it and any act like it to the trashcan. The citizens of the United States deserve better than to be treated like children watched over by Mother Government. If this act is passed, I know what my response will be. I will promptly withdraw all my monies from any institution that follows these regulations, refuse to do any sort of business with them, and urge all my friends and family to do the same. I know that many others will do the same without hesitation. Try explaining to your member and nonmember banks why there is such a sudden cash shortage and why they are losing customers left and right. This act would undoubtedly trigger a nationwide economic crisis as people withdrew from a banking system that had become a puppet of law enforcement and Big Brother. We must be able to TRUST our banks with our money. WE are the customers and any bank that holds goverment surveillance above my trust is no bank that I will do business with. I will simply take my paychecks each month and cash them in their entirety and then do what I want, when I want, unwatched, with my money. I will not be surveilled by Big Brother under the guise of protecting me against shadowy criminals. I value my privacy highly, not because I am a criminal, but because I am a free American, and such privacy is guaranteed to me by our highest legal document (the Constitution). I recommend the FDIC members read it sometime, because obviously they never have before, or this ludicrous act would have never even been proposed. Simply put, this is the worst idea I have ever heard and strongly urge its defeat and nonadoption. Thank you. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The masters of technology will have to be lighthearted and intelligent. The machine easily masters the grim and the dumb. --Marshall McLuhan =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

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Welcome To The Multex Investor Network
by Multex Investor Network 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dear Jane: Thank you for becoming a member of The Multex Investor Network! We look forward to bringing you the world's best and most complete selection of investment research. We will also be in touch periodically to alert you to new features, partnerships and offerings. We're excited you have become one of the thousands of serious investors who have joined our community. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Your User ID is: cypherpinks Your password is not displayed in this message for security reasons ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To complete the registration process and verify your email address, you will need to activate your account the next time you log in by entering the code below after you log in. Please note, you will not be asked for your activation code until after you have logged in with your User ID and password. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Activation Code is: 295085 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You may want to keep a copy of this E-Mail. If you prefer, you may activate your account immediately by pointing your browser to http://www.multexinvestor.com/login.asp. After you log-in, you will be asked to enter your activation code. We look forward to serving you and welcome your comments. You can reach us at mailto:feedback.min@multexsys.com. Sincerely, Jim Tousignant Senior Vice President

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A server for a crypto CD?
by mgraffam＠idsi.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hello all .. Does anyone have a server with a CDROM drive? I have a 500+ meg archive of crypto-related material (crypto, stego, tempest, information theory, etc). Lots of software, applications, and papers (100M or so). I'd be glad to burn out a CD, and send it to anyone who can put the material online. It'll take time to get it ready: I need time to strip out some stuff (non-redistributable Fortezza stuff .. its probably a moot point, now that we have Skipjack, but why risk it for something so dumb?). If you have the bandwidth, let me know. Michael J. Graffam (mgraffam(a)idsi.net) They (who) seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers.. call this a new order. It is not new, and it is not order." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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Re: No Subject ( camera nonsense )
by Michael Motyka 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> I think we read a message not so long ago from a 'punk who > spotted the prototype of these 'bomb-sniffing cameras' along > a California highway, no? > Don't remember the date but when asked to pinpoint the thing so someone else could actually go take a look there was no response from the original poster. I wrote it off as babbling. There is one device above the westbound section of 580 on the Livermore side of the Altamont pass. About the size of a small SpectraPhysics Laser, the surface appears solid - i.e. no visual sensor. My best guess - radar for either speed measurement or traffic density measurement. Chemical sniffer - NOT. Radiation detector - perhaps, but I doubt it. Best bet - traffic analysis. These counties here are always fighting about population growth and the traffic implications. As if one stinking town owns the entire godamned federal interstate. Little, carpetbagging Napoleans everywhere you look. As for neural systems detecting illegal activity - yeah? what? Two people talking? Looking disreputable? Having their hands *appear* to coincide for a second? This "technology", if detected in a public place, should be zapped and the promoters tarred and feathered*. *Superglue or RTV and polyfill may legally be substituted for the traditional materials. m

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Lecture Notes in Computer Science - free online Access
by Nobody 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This Mail contains user ID and password! ------------------------------------------------------------ User ID: lncs password: uid387xf ------------------------------------------------------------ Please keep in mind that: - you agreed to keep these confidential - systematic download is not permitted! ------------------------------------------------------------ Your personal data as used in the registration form: Surname: cypherpunks Christian name: cypherpunks Institution/Company: cypherpunks Department: cypherpunks Streat/POBox: 101 cypherpunks drive City: cypherpunks Post Code: 00000 Country Code: BOLI Phone: FAX: LINK Number: ------------------------------------------------------------ from: link.springer.de/Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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No Subject
by owner-cypherpunks＠Algebra.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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