December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

News about Sun and Elvis
by Kent Crispin 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

-----Forwarded message from "Judas, Roland" <rj(a)medos.de>----- From: "Judas, Roland" <rj(a)medos.de> To: "'firewalls(a)greatcircle.com'" <firewalls(a)GreatCircle.COM> Subject: News about Sun and Elvis Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 09:36:44 +0100 X-Mailer: Microsoft Exchange Server Internet Mail Connector Version 4.0.995.52 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: firewalls-owner(a)GreatCircle.COM Precedence: bulk --- White House Reviews Sun's Encryption Initiative --- By John Fontana, Communications Week WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration said it is reviewing the relationship between Sun Microsystems and a Russian company that produces a strong encryption product, which Sun is licensing for worldwide distribution. The White House issued a statement last night, saying, "We are reviewing our regulatory posture with Sun to ensure that their arrangement with the Russian encryption company is in compliance with U.S. export controls." The Department of Commerce, which is responsible for export regulations on strong encryption, stressed that the administration was reviewing the relationship and not conducting an investigation, a spokesman said. Last week, Sun, in Mountain View, Calif., told Communications Week that it had licensed an encryption product from Moscow, Russia-based Elvis+ Co., which offers 128-bit keys and would resell it worldwide under the name PC Sunscreen SKIP Elvis+. Sun has approximately a 10 percent equity stake in Elvis+, whose product is based on Sun's Simple Key Management for IP (SKIP) protocol. The specification was published nearly two years ago. Humphrey Polanen, general manager of Sun's security and electronic commerce group, was confident the government would find Sun "in full compliance with the letter of the law." He said a key factor was that Sun offered no technical assistance in the development of the software. U.S. law bars the export of encryption over 56 bits without government approval. Companies seeking to export 56-bit products must also have a system in place within two years for key recovery. Netscape Communications, also of Mountain View, has followed that path with its browser software, but Sun has neither government approval nor a method to recover keys. The administration wants access to keys in cases of criminal investigations. It is concerned that strong encryption products could fall into the hands of terrorists, even though similar products are available from nearly 30 foreign companies. The statement from the White House also said it had not evaluated the product and could not comment on it. If found in violation of export controls, Sun could face civil and/or criminal penalties. Criminal penalties, which would be handed out by the Justice Department, could mean Sun executive officers would spend time in a federal prison. At press time, Sun had not seen the announcement and would not comment. "The administration may have to go after Sun to protect the integrity of its policy," said Marc Rotenberg, the director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "You might see the ,Zimmerman effect,' which would be tremendous public sympathy." Rotenberg is referring to Phillip Zimmerman, who won a battle with the government over his Pretty Good Privacy encryption product, which was distributed free over the Internet. "The White House is at risk by going after a U.S. company for making a good product," Rotenberg said. "This is one more reason to think the administration's cryptography policy is not long for this world." Three bills attacking the administration's policy are being discussed on Capitol Hill, but only one, the Security and Freedom through Encryption Act, has made it out of committee. The bill, which was authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), would prohibit mandatory key recovery. President Clinton is opposed to the bill in its current form. -----End of forwarded message----- -- Kent Crispin "No reason to get excited", kent(a)songbird.com the thief he kindly spoke... PGP fingerprint: B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44 61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55 http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html

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Re: Compelling a key (fwd)
by tzeruch＠ceddec.com 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

Why does everyone still have cypherpunks(a)toad.com in their Cc: list, or how can I get it to work so I don't have to edit the headers (back to the procmail manual...) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 13:17:04 -0400 (EDT) From: tzeruch(a)ceddec.com To: Tim May <tcmay(a)got.net> Cc: Jim Choate <ravage(a)EINSTEIN.ssz.com>, cypherpunks(a)toad.com Subject: Re: Compelling a key (fwd) On Wed, 21 May 1997, Tim May wrote: > At 4:45 PM -0800 5/21/97, Jim Choate wrote: > > >> In practice, I think the Washington, D.C. doctor, Elizabeth X, the woman > >> who refused to say where her children were, was held for about 2 years, and > >> that this was the all-time record for a contempt case. She was ultimately > >> released when the court concluded she had no intention of cooperating. > > > >Exactly! It is ENTIRELY up to the individual judge who issued the contempt > >citation. If they are pissed enough 2 years will be nothing. As far as I > >have been able to find there are NO statutes, other than that of a statute > >of limitation for a particular type of crime, that limit how long you can > >sit in jail on contempt. One correction. She was released by a special law passed by the house of representatives after a media blitz about her case. The law only let her go and did not generally limit the period of time people could be held in contempt. It was not the judge, but a legislature trying to quell some outcry without doing any real reform

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Re: spam is a good thing (was Re: Spam IS Free Speech)
by Ross Wright 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

On or About 22 May 97 at 13:11, William H. Geiger III wrote: > If given the choice between 2 evils of receiving Spamford > Cyber-momo's crap or going to a metered rate INet I choose Spamford > as the second will not get rid of him. There we go! The all American strive for compromise. Yet, very few people are willing to compromise on this issue, for some reason. I'd like for more people just give it up and come to the realization that the INet is going to be commercial, and no laws can stifle the commerce that goes on here. Or stop Spam. Ross =-=-=-=-=-=- Ross Wright King Media: Bulk Sales of Software Media and Duplication Services http://www.slip.net/~cdr/kingmedia Voice: (408) 259-2795

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from BoS: News about Sun and Elvis+
by Robert Hettinga 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

>From the "other shoe" department... Cheers, Bob Hettinga --- begin forwarded text X-Authentication-Warning: jekyll.piermont.com: [[UNIX: localhost]] didn't use HELO protocol To: cryptography(a)c2.net Subject: from BoS: News about Sun and Elvis+ Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 12:58:06 -0400 From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry(a)piermont.com> Sender: owner-cryptography(a)c2.net I thought this would be of interest. ------- Forwarded Message From: "Judas, Roland" <rj(a)medos.de> Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 09:36:44 +0100 To: best-of-security(a)suburbia.net Subject: BoS: News about Sun and Elvis - --- White House Reviews Sun's Encryption Initiative --- By John Fontana, Communications Week WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration said it is reviewing the relationship between Sun Microsystems and a Russian company that produces a strong encryption product, which Sun is licensing for worldwide distribution. The White House issued a statement last night, saying, "We are reviewing our regulatory posture with Sun to ensure that their arrangement with the Russian encryption company is in compliance with U.S. export controls." The Department of Commerce, which is responsible for export regulations on strong encryption, stressed that the administration was reviewing the relationship and not conducting an investigation, a spokesman said. Last week, Sun, in Mountain View, Calif., told Communications Week that it had licensed an encryption product from Moscow, Russia-based Elvis+ Co., which offers 128-bit keys and would resell it worldwide under the name PC Sunscreen SKIP Elvis+. Sun has approximately a 10 percent equity stake in Elvis+, whose product is based on Sun's Simple Key Management for IP (SKIP) protocol. The specification was published nearly two years ago. Humphrey Polanen, general manager of Sun's security and electronic commerce group, was confident the government would find Sun "in full compliance with the letter of the law." He said a key factor was that Sun offered no technical assistance in the development of the software. U.S. law bars the export of encryption over 56 bits without government approval. Companies seeking to export 56-bit products must also have a system in place within two years for key recovery. Netscape Communications, also of Mountain View, has followed that path with its browser software, but Sun has neither government approval nor a method to recover keys. The administration wants access to keys in cases of criminal investigations. It is concerned that strong encryption products could fall into the hands of terrorists, even though similar products are available from nearly 30 foreign companies. The statement from the White House also said it had not evaluated the product and could not comment on it. If found in violation of export controls, Sun could face civil and/or criminal penalties. Criminal penalties, which would be handed out by the Justice Department, could mean Sun executive officers would spend time in a federal prison. At press time, Sun had not seen the announcement and would not comment. "The administration may have to go after Sun to protect the integrity of its policy," said Marc Rotenberg, the director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "You might see the ,Zimmerman effect,' which would be tremendous public sympathy." Rotenberg is referring to Phillip Zimmerman, who won a battle with the government over his Pretty Good Privacy encryption product, which was distributed free over the Internet. "The White House is at risk by going after a U.S. company for making a good product," Rotenberg said. "This is one more reason to think the administration's cryptography policy is not long for this world." Three bills attacking the administration's policy are being discussed on Capitol Hill, but only one, the Security and Freedom through Encryption Act, has made it out of committee. The bill, which was authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), would prohibit mandatory key recovery. President Clinton is opposed to the bill in its current form. ------- End of Forwarded Message --- 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/

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Jim Bell accused of "spamming"
by dlv＠bwalk.dm.com 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

I find it symptomatic that the enemies of free speech use "spam" as a generic term for any kind of speech they don't like. I don't think the following piece needs much commentary, but it probably will. Path: altavista!news1.digital.com!uunet!in1.uu.net!192.108.254.3!news.teleport xtm!kelly.teleport.com!jh From: Jack Hammer <jh(a)teleport.com> Newsgroups: or.politics,wash.politics,alt.rush-limbaugh,alt.fan.tom-leykis Subject: IRS SAYS INTERNET SPAMMER SABOTEUR (fwd) Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 17:15:35 -0700 Organization: Teleport - Portland's Public Access (503) 220-1016 Lines: 155 Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.96.970521171344.16635E-100000(a)kelly.teleport.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: kelly.teleport.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Xref: altavista or.politics:25633 alt.rush-limbaugh:79911 alt.fan.tom-leykis:5 xt Subject: IRS SAYS INTERNET SPAMMER SABOTEUR Government affidavit says an Internet author plotted to sabotage an Oregon 9-1-1 computer and poison city water with botulism. VANCOUVER, Wash.- Is there any truth to the rumour that Assassination Politics (AP) author Jim Bell, who was arrested here Friday by the Internal Revenue Service, plotted with Portland, Oregon 9-1-1 overseer Greg Daly to poison the Bull Run resevoir with botulism made from green beans, and shut down the 9-1-1 emergency center's computers by dumping carbon fibers into the air vents? The IRS is accusing Vancouver resident James Dalton Bell, 38, of conspiring to overthrow the U.S. government. He appeared Monday afternoon in U.S. Distict Court in Tacoma and was accused in an 18-page affidavit. AP is a Murder Inc. like plot about a risk-free way of rewarding assassins through a lottery. Bell was seen frequenting local Libertarian functions and a so-called common law court. The murder conspiracy was applauded by some high ranking Libertarians. The plot has circulated widely on the Internet. An April search warrant accused Bell of directly soliciting others to murder. AP would supposedly protect the identity of the murderers. The strategy, which Bell says he wrote and posted solely for speculation, involves uses of encryption to predict and confirm assassinations and electronic digital cash to pay for the gruesome killings. Criticism of AP predicted a reign of anarchy and terror should the plan be allowed to develop. Bell responded to criticism personally and with vehemence. Federal agents raided Bell's Vancouver home April 1 and then accused him of obstructing government officers, and employees, and using false Social Security numbers. Bell is far more dangerous than the charges suggest, the affidavit filed by IRS Inspector Phillip G. Scoff said. Scott's affidavit said Bell, who has a chemistry degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had discussions about using carbon fiber particles to attack computer systems with Greg Daly, a friend who is an electronics specialist overseeing Portland's 9-1-1 communications center. "Daly stated that he and Bell had 'laughed' about attacking the 9-1-1 center with the fiber," the affidavit said. The affidavit went on to say that Daly also told IRS agents that he had hypothetical discussions with Bell about contaminating water supplies and about making the botulism virus from green beans. In the April 17 and 18 intertiews with IRS agents, Daly admitted he had keys to Portland's pristine alpine watershed and direct access to the Portland water treatment facilities. Daly tried to defend himself Monday by saying that the conversations he and Bell had were "merely intellectual fun-and-games discussions" between old friends who enjoy technical things. But Daly also described his friend of 15 years as "bit of an odd unit". And during the interview Daly appeared to crack and turn state's evidence when Daly offered to "rat (Bell) out in a heartbeat." The investigation had been expanding Thursday when IRS agents searched the home of another friend of Bell's, merchant marine radio man Robert East. Among items seized in the East address raid was a three foot length of carbon fiber. The IRS affidavit reported that East told agents he and Bell had discussed "the possibility of putting the fibers down the air vents of a federal building" to its computers and about using the fiber against the IRS. Bell was recently published in The Oregonian daily newspaper where he appeared to avoid an explanation of his plan, writing mostly of what he predicted would be AP's positive impact. Bell did not say in the article how exactly AP would be implemented, who could be killed by it or even why it was called Assassination Politics. But the Internet version, repetively posted for more than a year on libertarian e-mail lists and newsgroups, revealed a darker vision. Some recipients of Bell's complained of the excessive "spamming", others of AP's ethical lapses. The Oregonian seemed to accept Bell's story without question, and Bell's idea was defended by some Libertarians. Responding to the arrest, Tonie Nathan, the first woman and only Libertarian to receive an electoral vote for Vice President, appeared to endorse Bell's assassination plan. "I find them basically rational, mind-opening, intellectually stimulating," she wrote Tuesday. She went on to say that AP "should be considered." Found inside what the IRS reports was Bell's car were documents from the Multnomah County Common Law Court (MCCLC), a group that elects themselves the case judges and purports to administer "common law." Bell was seen at a court meeting held in a Portland pizza parlour back in February. Bell has denied ownership of the car. The self-appointed court met in an all-you-can-eat buffet where it put Attorney General Janet Reno, IRS Commisssioner Margaret Richardson and other IRS officials on trial. The mock trial was the result of a complaint by Oregon resident Louis Wispell, one of the MCCLC "Justices." It has been observed in this "court" that complainants can select their judges from the buffet line, some who confessed to stealing food, having snuck past the cashier on the pretense of being on the camera crew. The judges have also been observed to switch places with complainants in other meetings of the MCCLC in trhe basement of a Russian church. The MCCLC has recently been in the news in regards to charges of its clerk, Richard Lancial, and his son, Thor Lancial, of simulating court process. Charles Bruce Stewart is the Chief Justice of that court and also the owner of an e-mail list, nwlibertarians(a)teleport.com, on which Bell posted much of his material. Stewart insists his court is constitutional. The IRS says Bell has a history of tax disputes with them and reportedly has a large, outstanding, unpaid balance. Friday was set for Bell's detention and preliminary hearing. The government has asked that Bell be held without ball because he is a danger to the community, and reportedly is seeking a grand Jury indictment. From your friend, Your best friend, Your only friend, Jack Hammer ;-) --- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps

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Spam complaints 14 times worse than Spam.
by Ross Wright 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

This was from: Tasty Bits From The Technology Front Your Host: Keith Dawson This issue: <URL:http://www.tbtf.com/archive/05-22-97.html> ..Mailing-list spammers.. Email spam is the favorite gripe of most Netizens, excepting the spammers. Congress is considering legislation [25] to limit the practice of sending unwanted commercial email in bulk. Not everyone thinks this is a good idea. See [26] for a thread from an ongoing debate on Declan McCullagh's fight-censorship mailing list. George Matyjewicz <mosaic1(a)ix.netcom.com> did a modest experiment on a week's worth of his email -- he is on 56 mailing lists and gets around 200 messages a day -- to gauge how widespread the problem actually is. Matyjewicz posted these results: week avg/day Total messages 1,354 193.4 Spam messages 10 1.4 < 1 % Spam complaints 189 27.0 14 % Mailing-list owners share information on the addresses from which commercial spam messages originate. Recently Alexander Verbraeck <A.Verbraeck(a)duticai.twi.tudelft.nl> posted a particularly compre- hensive list of purported spammers. I have taken the liberty of preserving a snapshot on the TBTF archive [27], sorted both by email address and by "virulence" -- the total number of messages sent by each spammer over a given time period to two of Verbraeck's lists. Thanks to Tom Parmenter <tompar(a)world.std.com> for the tip. [25] <URL:http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C10875%2C00.html> [26] <URL:http://www.tbtf.com/resource/to-ban-spam.html> [27] <URL:http://www.tbtf.com/resource/spammers.html> =-=-=-=-=-=- Ross Wright King Media: Bulk Sales of Software Media and Duplication Services http://www.slip.net/~cdr/kingmedia Voice: (408) 259-2795

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Western Union & IRS
by Ray Arachelian 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

I donno if this is news or not, but having just visited one of these places, I noticed prominently place warning signs that transfers over $3K are reported to the IRS including your SSN, effective May 28 of this year or something... =====================================Kaos=Keraunos=Kybernetos============== .+.^.+.| Ray Arachelian | "Boy meets beer. Boy drinks Beer, |./|\. ..\|/..|sunder(a)sundernet.com| Boy gets another beer!" |/\|/\ <--*-->| ------------------ | |\/|\/ ../|\..| "A toast to Odin, | For with those which eternal lie, with |.\|/. .+.v.+.|God of screwdrivers"| strange aeons, even death may die. |..... ======================== http://www.sundernet.com =========================

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Spam laws threaten remailers?
by nobody＠hidden.net 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

See http://www.senate.gov/~murkowski/commercialemail/ My bill merely provides a means for Internet users to filter out e-mails that they do not wish to receive by requiring that senders of unsolicited e-mails to include Advertisement as the first word of the subject line and that the real street address, e-mail address and a telephone number be contained within the body of the message. Routing information that accompanies the message must also be accurate. Could this be the end of remailers?

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Re: "You have the right to remain silent" (fwd)
by Jim Choate 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

Hi, Forwarded message: > Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 15:08:27 -0400 > To: "Willaim H. Geiger III" <whgiii(a)amaranth.com>, cypherpunks(a)toad.com > Subject: Re: "You have the right to remain silent" > they can't order you to talk to them. They can arrest you with probable > cause > and detain you briefly for purposes of investigation. They can arrest you at will w/ or w/o probable cause. If they can't produce probable cause at your hearing then a writ of habeas corpus comes into play. They can't CHARGE you without probable cause, minor but important distinction. As I understand it, the charges that are recorded when you first go to the police station are not 'official' until your hearing and a judge signs the paperwork. The police can even arrest you as a witness or for 'protective custody' and then even the habeas corpus gets murky because no charges are filed. If they can convince a judge to go along they can even hold you in communicado. > They can ask you for > your name and you may have to supply it, According to the 5th(?) Federal District you don't even have to do that unless you are driving a vehicle or otherwise operating under a public license. > Since cops are not judges, This particular point if kept in mind changes the interpretation of the Constitution considerably. It also puts such actions as making it illegal for citizens to own assault weapons but the police can questionable since the constitution does not draw a distinction between law enforcement and the citizenry, as it does with the judicial, legistlative and executive bodies. It therefore follows that if I as Joe Citizen can't do it then a police officer can't either since they have no constitutional rights that I don't and the 10th Amendment prohibits expansion of federal power (and by extension of the 14th, states) by anything other than that proscribed in the constitution. Jim Choate CyberTects ravage(a)ssz.com

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Use a cipher, go to jail
by Michael Wilson 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

Follow the link: http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/info/052297/info24_9595.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FBI says hacker sold 100,000 credit card numbers --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright ) 1997 Nando.net Copyright ) 1997 The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (May 22, 1997 9:13 p.m. EDT) -- A clever hacker slipped into a major Internet provider and gathered 100,000 credit card numbers along with enough information to use them, the FBI said Thursday. Carlos Felipe Salgado, Jr., 36, who used the online name "Smak," allegedly inserted a program that gathered the credit information from a dozen companies selling products over the Internet, said FBI spokesman George Grotz. ---- Said hacker used a sniffer to gather the numbers, and as part of the process, he encrypted the database he sold to an undercover agent. Anyone care to take any bets on whether he shows up as a case for the 'use a cipher to commit a crime' argument?

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