May 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Why are there so many statists and communists here on this list
by Major Variola (ret) 06 May '03

06 May '03

At 10:55 AM 5/6/03 -0400, Tyler Durden wrote: > >Speech is speech. I'll worry about May when he actually tries to bring the >"hoped for" nuke into downtown DC. Until then, he's a "sleeper cell". Tyler, we'll excuse you for your relative newness. We are *all* sleeper cells. Its an obligation. Quoth the bubblehead: You're either with us, or against us (tm). --- "There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws." -- Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged" "The great object is that every man be armed and everyone who is able may have a gun." --Patrick Henry

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seeking Eric Hughes (fwd)
by Jim Choate 06 May '03

06 May '03

YMMV.... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 12:52:36 -0400 From: Susan Schearer <sscheare(a)ntelos.net> To: owner-cypherpunks(a)einstein.ssz.com Subject: seeking Eric Hughes I am trying to locate the Eric Hughes who was a Latin student of Maureen O'Donnell in Fairfax VA in the late 1970s. He often called himself "Izbad." If you are he, or if you know how to contact him, please reply to this message. Susan Schearer, Handley High School (retired), Winchester, VA

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Re: RIAA legal attacks on students
by Major Variola (ret) 06 May '03

06 May '03

At 09:54 PM 5/6/03 +0100, Adam Back wrote: >Here's some more detail about the RIAA legal attacks on four students >recently: > >In fact it turns out that he was just running a search engine that >indexed any files available on windows shares on the local network. >You could search for any type of file; as you might expect some of the >files users searched for and downloaded were mp3 files. Dr Dobb's Journal once published *source code* for such a MS-share search tool. Accessories to a federal felony, no doubt.

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Re: Capitalism and monopolism: "Obvious" it ain't.
by Tyler Durden 06 May '03

06 May '03

James Donald wrote... "Despite the fact that the trend has been in the other direction for the past two hundred years, despite the fact that what Marx wrote was obviously false then, and has become more obviously false in the 150 years since he wrote, Marxists repeat Marx's prophecies with the more confidence, the more obviously the facts contradict them." A lot of people living in the US make this kind of mistake. Actually, developed nations make up a minority of the world's population (though with China and India this may change wihtin our lifetimes). When one considers the abverage living standard for the entire world its been debated that it may actually be going down. I'd argue that in some ways the real standard of living in the US has certainly gone down since the 1950s. Although technology has made things more affordable, the numbers of hours per week has increased steadily since the 1970s, and the number of homes where both parents must work has increased greatly. So "obvious" it ain't. (However, if China and India's standard of living continue to increase, within our lifetimes I think its quite clear that the world's standard of living will certainly be higher, on average, than its ever been.) -TD >From: "James A. Donald" <jamesd(a)echeque.com> >To: cypherpunks(a)lne.com >Subject: Re: Capitalism and monopolism >Date: Sun, 04 May 2003 13:57:27 -0700 > > -- >On 3 May 2003 at 21:03, Andy Lopata wrote: > > Simply put, markets lead to consolidation. > >So said Marx. He also said that markets would make the workers >poorer and poorer. > >Despite the fact that the trend has been in the other direction >for the past two hundred years, despite the fact that what Marx >wrote was obviously false then, and has become more obviously >false in the 150 years since he wrote, Marxists repeat Marx's >prophecies with the more confidence, the more obviously the >facts contradict them. > > --digsig > James A. Donald > 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG > Ic1xAeCT1HkM0xATi9N8p+jTR40FPoz4Ej6T5Oep > 4hL/SG1g6h/sdIbk/IJWPDxc3E/XmQj/f3wE3EYS1 _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

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re: Some CA elected officials need killing
by barabbus＠hushmail.com 06 May '03

06 May '03

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Re: Hippies Banning Crysotile
by Tyler Durden 06 May '03

06 May '03

"Yes, unnoticeable exposures to blue asbestos does cause harm in a witchcraft like manner -- but while very few people have been exposed to blue asbestos, almost all jury awards are based on witchcraft like harm, where the person is harmed by some imperceptible magical agent that is impossible to notice." I think you're overstating things here. The Manville settlements (which forced Manville into Ch13, as I remember) were jury awarded and to date comprise the lion's share of settlement $$$. And in those cases the harm was no exactly witchcraft-like: only a a few (literally 3 or 4) of the miners were left alive to collect. The rest had died of asbestosis. As for abating the NYC public schools, that was a giant boondoggle that benefited many corrupt parties in NYC (I could go into great detail, but that would make it too easy to locate me in meatspace). A funy story...this guy I went to HS with got fired from the NYC School Construction authority for going to his bosses and demanding a piece of the action! (This guy was and is a famous eccentric.) So to some extent I agree, but the "witchcraft" doesn't have a basis in reality. Call it a "tag-along" boondoggle if you want. -TD >From: "James A. Donald" <jamesd(a)echeque.com> >To: cypherpunks(a)minder.net >Subject: Re: Hippies Banning Crysotile >Date: Sun, 04 May 2003 13:57:27 -0700 > > -- >James A. Donald: > > >In reality, if someone is exposed to enough asbestos to be a > > >problem, he is painfully aware of it. Only a minuscule > > >minority among those now receiving stupendous awards were > > >exposed to that level of asbestos. > >On 3 May 2003 at 21:49, Tyler Durden wrote: > > Not really. This party line is equally hot air. Basically, > > there are two main modes of asbestos related disease: > > asbestosis and melothemeoma > > But almost none of the money currently being awarded is going >to people with absestosis or mesothelioma. It is almost all >going to people with "asbestos-related pleural and pulmonary >disease" -- a fictitious medical category that includes any >deviation from perfect health in any part of any person's >breathing system. > > > The form of asbestos most closely associated with this is > > crocidilyte, which is needle-like and a beautiful dark blue > > in color. That form of asbestos can cause cancer even in very > > low exposures. > >Yes, unnoticeable exposures to blue asbestos does cause harm in >a witchcraft like manner -- but while very few people have been >exposed to blue asbestos, almost all jury awards are based on >witchcraft like harm, where the person is harmed by some >imperceptible magical agent that is impossible to notice. > > --digsig > James A. Donald > 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG > qqEdCNdKpP0eW/wImgFKX4aggGjKBoltAHX90h3y > 4A9O47A6pAry1m2qjcdaggEVqtn5UKXBbfoHzRZGj _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

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Crypto-making vs Crypto-breaking
by Eric Cordian 06 May '03

06 May '03

Cypherpunks often think of Crypto as the state-killing technology which will free us all from the clutches of inculcation in the collectivist mentality. It should be noted, however, that advances in complexity theory or quantum computing that would render cryptography useless, would also have a detrimental effect on the state apparatus. So I pose a question. You have two boxes. In the first is crypto so powerful that it will keep peoples data safe for 1000 years, against all advances in mathematics, with perfect forward secrecy. In box number two is technology that will break any crypto designed by mankind in the next 1000 years. You are allowed to take the contents of one of the boxes, and publish it on the Internet. You wish to do maximum damage to the state, free the Sheeple, enable Tim's libertopian vision of the future, crush totalitarian centralized government, and make the world safe for flowers and other living things. Which box do you pick? And why? -- Eric Michael Cordian 0+ O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"

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RE: Capitalism and economic struggles
by Vincent Penquerc'h 06 May '03

06 May '03

> I actually don't impose my ideals. Not any more than I do, that may be so. I wasn't the one to utter" > What part of "Don't impose your ideals on others" do you not > understand? Did I ask for laws ? I didn't. But that's besides the point, is it ? > I do however urge others to accept and adopt them. Point in case, you > have assumed that I smoke. I actually don't, and never have I have a nasty habit to indiscriminately say "you" instead of "one", and, hmm, "the Americans" when I mean "part of the US govt". Seen from here, anyway. I just can't get the habit out, and it's generalization that hinders discussion. But I'm very aware of it. > I'm not imposing, I'm asking. I don't have a law book to > thump, nor a gun > to point at you, nor a cop waiting to arrest you if you > disagree with what > I say. Nor am I asking for such laws to prevent or limit others in > similar ways. I'm undecided. I was thinking this exact same thing some 15 or 20 years ago. I was really in that Libertarian way of thinking. It makes some kind of superficial sense, and I've still got ties to a lot of that thinking. But I now am of the opinion that if you (someone, not you particularly) do something that affects me, this person actually is imposing something. Not at gunpoint, not with the threat of force, litigation, jail time, whatever. But imposing nonetheless. I'm aware of the difference of scale, and the lack of a formidable power of coercion from an individual compared to a state. My point is other, however, that yours. You say the state should not decide what is and is not allowed. I say that, while the state may indeed not, it still leaves an unresolved problem, which it is futile to dismiss with a wave of "personal freedom", because it doesn't only involve, in this particular case, the smoker. However, I'm torn by the parallel with, say, free speech. Speech can affect others, as well as smoke, or anything else, can. If you impose it, or oppose part of it, where does it stop ? I don't have a solution to that, apart from case by case analysis. But saying "I can do what I want even if affects others, short of murder/rape/theft/etc", no, I don't see that as a solution. -- Vincent Penquerc'h

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Re: Capitalism and economic struggles
by Harmon Seaver 06 May '03

06 May '03

On Fri, May 02, 2003 at 11:21:05AM -0400, Sunder wrote: > What part of "Don't impose your ideals on others" do you not understand? What part of "Don't impose your drug addiction on others" do you not understand? Tobacco junkies are worse than crackheads, especially concerning their irrational behavior. > > Yes, someone may chose to smoke at a time which is convenient for you, but > why should you be able to dictate that to someone else? Mind your own > fucking business - even if it's just hypothetical. > > > ----------------------Kaos-Keraunos-Kybernetos--------------------------- > + ^ + :25Kliters anthrax, 38K liters botulinum toxin, 500 tons of /|\ > \|/ :sarin, mustard and VX gas, mobile bio-weapons labs, nukular /\|/\ > <--*-->:weapons.. Reasons for war on Iraq - GWB 2003-01-28 speech. \/|\/ > /|\ :Found to date: 0. Cost of war: $800,000,000,000 USD. \|/ > + v + : The look on Sadam's face - priceless! > --------_sunder_(a)_sunder_._net_------- http://www.sunder.net ------------ > > On Fri, 2 May 2003, Vincent Penquerc'h wrote: > > > gain something (pleasure) from smoking). But the smoker could > > gain the same pleasure from smoking at another time (though if > > smoking was forbidden everywhere, that would be a different > > matter) for little annoyance. -- Harmon Seaver CyberShamanix http://www.cybershamanix.com

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RIAA legal attacks on students
by Adam Back 06 May '03

06 May '03

Here's some more detail about the RIAA legal attacks on four students recently: http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/03/05/06/191207.shtml?tid=188&tid=141&tid=99&ti… and some more on one of the students web pages: http://www.chewplastic.com/ In fact it turns out that he was just running a search engine that indexed any files available on windows shares on the local network. You could search for any type of file; as you might expect some of the files users searched for and downloaded were mp3 files. But I don't see how they can claim he is guilty of contributory infringement anymore than google! Jeeze. So in the previous slashdot thread on the same topic, there were a number of people calling for a fund to be setup that people could donate to to defray the legal expenses and settlements. (The settlements were between $12k and $17kk). Do any of our legally qualified list members know if it is legal to collect money to reimburse a defendant against a settlement in a politically unpopular case. The students apparently admitted no guilt if it helps. I'm thinking all it takes is a paypal account, and a post to slashdot and their expenses would probably be covered. The remainder if any should got to the anti-RIAA lobby; ie whichever of the online rights lobbying groups that is mostly robustly defending against DMCA excesses. Adam

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