December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Summit on Cyber-Terrorism
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

May 31, 1997, Asahi Evening News Summit leaders to combat cyber-terrorism World leaders will agree to take measures against a new high-tech element of terrorism--attacks on host computers--at the June 20-22 Denver summit, officials involved in the preparations said Friday. As part of countermeasures against cyber-terrorism, further joint efforts to control the spread of computer encryption technologies will be reaffirmed, they said. Concerns over terrorist attacks on computers and the need for heightened international efforts will be added to the 25 specific counterterrorism recommendations that Japan, the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, Italy, France and Russia adopted at a ministerial meeting in Paris last July. ----- For full, brief article: http://jya.com/denver.htm

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SSN - when can agencies ask, and passports
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The privacy act of 1974 (public law 93-579) says that any government agency has to provide you with the follwing when asking for a SSN: 1. If the disclosure is mandatory or optional 2. The statutory or other authority they have to ask for it 3. How it will be used 4. Any penalties for not disclosing it. These should be in a "privacy act notice" the agency should already have. As far as passports, I have a pointer to an article in the Western State Law Review, Fall '92 issue by Stephen Kruger. The title is Passports, Social Security Numbers, & 26 USC sec 6039E where he points out that it is probably unconstitutional to fine someone. A plug is warranted since the above info (and a lot more of value) is in Financial Privacy Report, Vol4N8 (August 1994) - I think back issues are $15, but call first (612)-895-8757. This issue is entitled 22 ways to protect your social security number from thieves, snoops, and bureaucrats. FPR / POB 1277 / Burnsville MN 55337

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Re: The Bible Code
by lucifer＠dhp.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

John Young wrote: > > Published today with great fanfare, "The Bible Code" > describes the fruits of three Israeli mathematicians in > decrypting hidden messages in the Bible by textual > analysis algorithms. Blurbs claim that the work passed > peer review for publication in a math journal a few > years back, was confirmed by "a US Defense Department > code-breaker" and predicted the assassinations of > JFK, RFK, Sadat and Rabin. ... > Better, is this book the first of many to come to celebrate the > cook-ups of codes and cyphers and algorithmic chefs? Is a > film in the works, or, best, a Seinfeld of 0s and 1s? I will shortly be releasing my new book, "The ASCII Code" which outlines the predictions made based on decrypting the hidden messages in the ASCII artwork sent to the cypherpunks list. Since none of the predictions have proven accurate, my book speculates that perhaps Tim May isn't a cocksucker, after all. All proceeds from the book will be converted to eca$h and used to wager on the predicted date of death for Graham-John Bullers on the AP Bot at: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/carljohn/AP/AP.htm DeathMonger

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Jim Bell Defense fund
by ichudov＠algebra.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I guess everyone has forgotten about Jim Bell, but he is in no less need of help than he used to be. I would like to know how to help him, and suggest to organize his legal defense fund. igor

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Re: May's Banal Rant
by Michael Froomkin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I don't understand this. Of all the alphabet soup privacy groups out there, EPIC is the one I consider most pro-privacy and anonymity other than the ACLU itself. And EPIC knows the tech better, on the whole (although the ACLU is quite clued-up too). It is true that EPIC is not absolutist on SAFE -- and I'm not quite sure that they are right to give even the inch they gave to get a mile -- but they're awfully good. Rotenburg should be a near-hero to most readers of this list. Instead, canabalism. Weird. Very weird. That does it. When I get back to the US, I'm sending EPIC a donation. -- Michael Froomkin until 6/11: michael(a)lawprof.demon.co.uk Associate Professor of Law Various Points, England froomkin(a)law.miami.edu <-- this will still find me, eventually PO Box 248087 Coral Gables, FL 33124-8087 "Rain in parts, then dry" --BBC http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin

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RE: The Bible Code
by Chris DiBona 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hello again... I see this sort of thing as being like when people see jesus in a bar of saop and charge a buck to the suckers who come to see it. Okay... here's the EMAIL code. I you read the following message: On Saturday, May 31, 1997 12:10 PM, Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM [SMTP:dlv@bwalk.dm.com] wrote: > lucifer(a)dhp.com (lucifer Anonymous Remailer) writes: > > I will shortly be releasing my new book, "The ASCII Code" which > > outlines the predictions made based on decrypting the hidden > > messages in the ASCII artwork sent to the cypherpunks list. > > > > Since none of the predictions have proven accurate, my book > > speculates that perhaps Tim May isn't a cocksucker, after all. > > But John Gilmore is surely a cocksucker. > > I've met Rips, who's supposedly behind this "bible code" nonsense. > He's an asshole, and I dismiss anything he says as total bullshit. > > --- > > Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM > Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps > and put it though a filter using the "bible code" method.. you get : stupid dorks will buy this book. >From characters : 3,5,6,.... you get the point. Suckers. Chris DiBona

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Re: Rotenberg as the Uber Enemy
by nobody＠huge.cajones.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Paul Bradley wrote: > > Sure it is unpleasant to have your privacy violated, but it is your own > choice whether you allow information to become available or not. Theoretical bullshit. Your choice is to not work, not go on welfare, not drive, not get a telephone, not be born in a hospital...ad infinitum. Even then, when you are arrested for trespassing on private land or misuse of public land for those grubs and worms you ate, the government will take your fingerprints and attach an identity to them. When you return to your cave, the postman will be waiting at the entrance to deliver the "Worms R Us" snailmail spam. > All true law within anarchist, and indeed much minarchist belief derives > from the non agression principle, by making use of freely available > information about you I do not initiate violence against you, therefore I > am guilty of no crime. Everyone seems to neglect recognizing that most of the proclaimed "freely available information" is the result of coercion of one kind or another. "If you want a driver's license so that you can earn a decent living, then you must give us your social security number so that we can make sure that you get your fair share of junk mail and spam. If you drive without a license, men with guns will lock you in a cage." Try dumping your garbage on other people's doorstep and telling them that you haven't initiated violence against them and are thus guilty of no crime. Sell "freely available" information about other people's children to convicted child molesters and then explain the same thing to the parents. Why don't the people who send out spam go out ringing people's doorbells at 4 a.m. to tell them how to "Make Big $$$"? It is because they would be held personally accountable for the effect their actions have on the lives of others. They can explain until they are blue in the face about their right to be an asshole who is intruding in my life but they are unlikely to convince me to put up with it without acting in a manner they find offensive. I enjoy many of the posts on anarchy by Paul and others but I think most of the concepts are valuable mainly as personal standards one applies to their own life. You can explain to the guy who slashes your tires that you had a right to ring his doorbell at 4 a.m. to try to sell him your product but he had no right to slash your tires. You will be right, but so what? If Tim McVeigh beats the rap and returns to society, I'm going to buy him a computer and an email account and then give the address to CyberPromo. I am sure he will understand the issues of anarchy and free enterprise involved, and act in accordance with the dictates of his own conscience. TruthMonger

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Re: Rotenberg as the Uber Enemy
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Lucky's right on Bell's undue incarceration. There's more to the story than tax avoidance. Declan perhaps should look beyond the government's citations of law to examine the other allegations of intent to harm federal officials which did not receive substantiating cites. The affidavit which prompted Jim's arrest was a potpourri of disingenuous spleen and bile and unintentional humor. This appears to be another instance of the USG patchworking public menace and phlegm (the Kallstrom syndrome) when it's in its self-preservative and -promotional interest to do so. As Tim and cie often note, the syndrome's fountainhead is DC and world centers of ambitious regulators, enforcers and promoters for "public security." Which is fast replacing national security, via dual-use sleight of hand, as a career trajectory. Counterterrorism is the fastest growing governmental subculture at the moment, and no longer aimed overseas. Secret laws, courts and committees are burgeoning, anticipating that the public cannot be trusted to protect itself against the enemy within, ahem, the Beltway.

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Re: Rotenberg as the Uber Enemy
by nobody＠huge.cajones.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Tim May wrote: > > I suppose I am developing a reputation amongst the Inside the Beltway Cyber > Rights Groups (tm) as a pain in the ass A polite, mild-mannered person such as yourself? I can't imagine. > The latest quote is from Marc Rotenberg, on a CNN piece on spam and > anti-spam legislation, saying that what the legislators in Congress really > need to look into is how the spammers develop their data bases..... > > Incredible. Does he propose investigations of private data gathering? > Perhaps search warrants served on those who take public postings and > construct data bases? > > Look, I'm annoyed by getting 5-10 "unwanted" spam messages a day. But I > realize I'm certain you also realize that enough of our rights and freedoms are being taken away in order to save us from "dangerous threats" from every conceivable source, that we have little use for even more of them being taken away to protect us from "annoyances." I think I'll email Rotenberg and suggest that he enlist Tim May's support by promising legislation to support warrantless searches for the purpose of stopping the ASCII art slams of Tim. Knowing how our "saviors" end up walking with the Devil *over* the bridge once they become enmeshed in the D.C. mentality, Rotenberg will probably thank me for the idea. To save the citizenry from the "annoyance" of unregulated sidewalk traffic the city of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, passed a law requiring people to walk on the left side of the sidewalk. I sent in a facetious letter to the newspaper supporting the law, saying things like, "Use of the sidewalk is a privilege, not a right." etc. I couldn't believe the number of lunatics who took my letter seriously and supported my position. One of my goals in life is to hunt down, mutilate, maim and torture the individual who coined the expression, "There ought to be a law." TruthMonger

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Remailer Follies
by nobody＠huge.cajones.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Jeff Burchell wrote: > > I have added your address to my block list, this remailer won't send > anything directly to you in the future. > -Jeff > Operator... Huge.cajones.com I have a friend who used to operate a remailer and he told me a story about receiving an abuse complaint and request for blocking from an acquaintance who was unaware that he was the operator of the remailer. The person making the complaint was also a user of the remailer. My friend composed a highly officious reply which indicated that he had logged and read the remailer messages of both parties and had reached the conclusion that the complaintant was indeed a fascist, asshole, etc. and thus did not have a valid complaint according to the policy of the remailer. He included enough personal details regarding the complaintant to indicate that he had actually been snooping through the messages. The complaintant was dumbfounded and responded with a message asking, "Are you crazy? Do you have any fucking idea what the concept of anonymity implies?", etc. He concluded by stating that in the future he would be using encryption in his remailer activity and send them via other remailers. My friend enlisted the aide of another remailer operator who was a close friend of the complaintant and was known by him to be the operator of the second remailer. The second fellow emailed his friend to announce that a group discussion between remailer operators had resulted in the decision that his friend would only be allowed to send plaintext messages through the remailers since it was standard policy to monitor the messages to and from "troublemakers" in order to protect the operators from unfounded accusations against them. At this point the complaintant was slightly suspicious of being the butt of a joke but he was still gullible enough that the two remailer operators had a bit more fun before copping to the fact that they were just yanking the complaintant's chain. They had the decency to promise not to use the complaintant's real name when telling the story of their prankery. > P.S. Besides... aren't ad hominum attacks on Tim May a Cypherpunks > tradition? A day without a Tim C. May attack is like a day without moonshine. MailMonger

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