November 2004 - cypherpunks-legacy

Banks brace for cashpoint attack
by R.A. Hettinga 12 Nov '04

12 Nov '04

<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/banks_prepare_for_atm_cyber_crime/p…> The Register Biting the hand that feeds IT The Register ; Security ; Network Security ; Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/banks_prepare_for_atm_cyber_crime/ Banks brace for cashpoint attack By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus (klp at securityfocus.com) Published Thursday 11th November 2004 10:42 GMT An international group of law enforcement and financial industry associations hopes to prevent a new type of bank robbery before it gets off the ground: cyber attacks against automated teller machines. This fall the Global ATM Security Alliance (GASA) published what it says are the first international cyber security guidelines specifically tailored to cash machines. Experts see new dangers as legacy ATMs running OS/2 give way to modern terminals built on Microsoft Windows. "The recommendations presented in this manual are essentially designed to provide a common sense approach to ... the rapidly changing threat model that the introduction to the ATM channel of the Windows XP and other common use operating systems, as well as the TCP/IP network protocol suite, has created," said the manual's author, Ian Simpson, in a statement. The move comes one year after the Nachi worm compromised (http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7517) Windows-based automated teller machines at two financial institutions, in the only acknowledged case of malicious code penetrating ATMs. The cash machines, made by Diebold, were built on Windows XP Embedded, which suffered from the RPC DCOM security hole Nachi exploited. In response to the incident, Diebold began shipping new Windows-based ATMs preinstalled with host-based firewall software, and offered to add the program for existing customers. Though ATMs typically sit on private networks or VPNs, supposedly-isolated networks often have undocumented connections to the Internet, or can fall to a piece of malicious code inadvertently carried beyond the firewall on a laptop computer. Last year's Slammer worm indirectly shut down some 13,000 Bank of America ATMs by infecting database servers on the same network, and spewing so much traffic that the cash machines couldn't processes customer transactions. The goal of the ATM cyber security best practices document, which has not been made public, and a related white paper developed by GASA, is "to be proactive in fighting what might be the next wave of ATM crime - namely cyber attacks," said Mike Lee, founding coordinator of the group, in a statement. GASA's members include fraud prevention agencies, financial industry associations, the US Secret Service, Visa and MasterCard, and some ATM networks and manufacturers, including Diebold and NCR. Related stories ATMs in peril from computer worms? (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/20/atm_viral_peril/) The ATM keypad as security portcullis (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/21/atm_keypad_security/) Ukrainian teen fights the Rise of the Machines (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/13/girl_terminates_atm/) -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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FBI captures Intel staffer with Texas-sized gun cache
by R.A. Hettinga 12 Nov '04

12 Nov '04

Ha! Made you look! Cheers, RAH See .sig, below... ------------------- <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/intel_gun_man/print.html> The Register Biting the hand that feeds IT The Register ; Odds and Sods ; Bootnotes ; Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/intel_gun_man/ FBI captures Intel staffer with Texas-sized gun cache By Ashlee Vance in Chicago (ashlee.vance at theregister.co.uk) Published Thursday 11th November 2004 19:18 GMT It's not often that "AK-47" and "Intel" make it into the same sentence, but that's exactly what just happened after it was learned that a former Intel employee has been charged with plotting to attack one of the company's plants in Arizona. Last month, David Dugan was arrested after agents observed him "picking up an AK-47 and 1000 rounds of ammunition" at an Arizona gun shop. Dugan had been under surveillance ever since he allegedly placed a phone call to a family member, suggesting that he planned to shoot up Intel's Chanlder, Arizona plant. Intel confirmed that Dugan was a former employee, and investigators suspect that the man was disgruntled after being fired and enduring a long-standing dispute over disability payments. "The criminal complaint charges that on October 16, 2004, Dugan communicated with a family member in Missouri via telephone, discussing that Dugan had received a letter of termination from Intel and describing ways in which Dugan would cause production at Intel to cease and that people would possibly be hurt at the production facility," the Arizona District Attorney said in a statement. Dugan has been charged with one count of of transmitting a threat via the telephone. He could face up five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine. Agents searched Dugan's home and found an AK-47, a loaded rifle, a loaded shotgun, two handguns and 1800 rounds of ammunition. In Texas, that's known as "the executive weekend retreat package." The FBI alleges that Dugan planned to open up gas pipes in the basement of the Chandler plant and then to begin shooting at machinery. The former manufacturing technician was looking to cause millions in damages, according to the FBI's complaint. A reporter for the Arizona Republic travelled over to Dugan's home and interviewed some of his neighbors. "My daughter had seen him out walking his dog," one neighbor told the paper. "He had just had surgery, and he was very feeble in his walk." A sign on Dugan's front door said, "No trespassing. No solicitations. Place nothing on doorknob. Post no bills please," according to the paper. . Related links Arizona Republic breaks the story (http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/1030cr-workplace30Z6.h…) Follow up on assault weapons (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/tempe/articles/1110gr-thomason10Z6…) Related stories For sale: missiles, heroin and exploding Barbies (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/missiles_and_exploding_barbies/) Eight fined in eBay auction scam (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/08/ebay_auction/) 'See through clothes' scanner gets outing at Heathrow (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/08/heathrow_scanner_pilot/) 37 arrested in net gun swoop (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/05/met_guns_net/) Canada offers refuge to distraught Democrats (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/05/canada_offers_refuge/) ) Copyright 2004 -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "When I was your age we didn't have Tim May! We had to be paranoid on our own! And we were grateful!" --Alan Olsen

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E-pass defeats HP, MS' case dismissal demand
by R.A. Hettinga 12 Nov '04

12 Nov '04

<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/e-pass_vs_ms_hp_nov_04/print.html> The Register Biting the hand that feeds IT The Register ; Mobile ; Devices ; Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/e-pass_vs_ms_hp_nov_04/ E-pass defeats HP, MS' case dismissal demand By Tony Smith (tony.smith at theregister.co.uk) Published Thursday 11th November 2004 16:27 GMT Microsoft and HP have suffered a set-back in their attempt to defend themselves against allegations made by a patent holding company that their PDA software and hardware violates its intellectual property. Last week, Judge Kenneth M Hoyt of the US District Court for Southern Texas in Houston rejected a request made by Microsoft and HP in July this year that a series of claims made in the patent, number 5,276,311 (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=…) filed in 1989 and granted in 1994, were invalid due to prior art. ? E-pass' patent covers a "multifunction electronic card" which can be used to store information on a range of credit and debit cards, accessed securely through a password system. Essentially, it describes a single device that users can carry around in place of a multitude of cards. Long-time Register readers will recall that E-pass sued not only Microsoft and Compaq (now part of HP), but 3Com's Palm subsidiary (now PalmOne). In each case, it accused them of selling PDAs that duplicate functionality and techniques outlined in its patent, without authorisation. The Palm action was initiated in 2000 (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/03/01/smart_card_company_sues_over/) the Microsoft/HP case in 2002. E-pass is also suing the Visa organisation. It claims Visa met the company in 2000. After the meeting, it never heard from Visa again, until it spotted Visa's then VP for Product Development, Susan Gordon-Lathrop, appear with then Palm CEO Carl Yankowski to demo a Palm storing secure credit card details. The MS/HP case was put on hold pending the outcome of the Palm action, which initially saw Palm victorious - only to be defeated at appeal. Much of the legal toing and froing to date has centred on the patent's use of the word 'card' and what that word means exactly, in this context. 'Card', the defendants claimed, means a specific thing - something thin, flat and the size of a credit card. Our devices are no so sized, said Palm - ergo, they do not infringe E-pass' patent. The US District Court of Northern California agreed, but in August 2003, the appeal court rejected (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/08/22/judge_dismisses_palm_patent_case/) the verdict, sending the case back to the lower court. The Court of Appeal did not address Palm's infringement or otherwise of E-pass' patent, only that the lower court had been mistaken in its application of the law. The following November, E-pass won the right (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/11/12/epass_allowed_to_reopen_microsoft/) to re-commence its action against Microsoft and HP on the basis of that appeal court judgement. In February 2004, Judge Hoyt confirmed (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/02/27/judge_denies_ms_attempt/) the appeal court's ruling and its definition of the word 'card' - it's any "flat, rectangular piece of stiff material", in case you were wondering - and essentially brought the Microsoft/HP case into alignment with the Palm action. The latest judgement centres on a request for dismissal based on prior art. Microsoft and HP claim US patent number 4,701,601 (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=…) the Visa SuperSmart card - which embodies that patent - and a manual designed for the SuperSmart both detail key elements of E-pass' patent before 5,276,311 was filed. However, Judge Hoyt ruled that in each of the three cases they did not anticipate the claims made in E-pass' patent. Assuming no further requests are made, the case is scheduled to go to trial in March 2005. . Related stories Judge denies MS attempt to re-define 'card' (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/02/27/judge_denies_ms_attempt/) E-Pass allowed to re-open Microsoft, HP patent lawsuits (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/11/12/epass_allowed_to_reopen_microsoft/) Judge dismisses Palm patent case win (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/08/22/judge_dismisses_palm_patent_case/) Smart card company sues over Palm patent piracy claim (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/03/01/smart_card_company_sues_over/) ) Copyright 2004 -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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Keeping Better Track From Factory to Checkout
by R.A. Hettinga 12 Nov '04

12 Nov '04

<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/11/technology/circuits/11howw.html?8cir=&ore…> The New York Times November 11, 2004 HOW IT WORKS Keeping Better Track From Factory to Checkout By BARNABY J. FEDER IKE investing or hitting a baseball, using radio scanners to wirelessly identify consumer products is simple in concept but dauntingly complex in reality. The current form of the decades-old technology, now known as radio frequency identification, or RFID, has three building blocks: small tags built around microchips that carry a digital identification code; scanners, which are also known as readers; and networking hardware and software to link scanners to computer databases. The biggest challenge for retailers and their suppliers has been melding the building blocks into systems that are reliable without being cumbersome or unduly expensive. Unlike the RFID systems that automatically collect tolls from motorists or control access to buildings, those designed for commerce call for disposable, batteryless tags that are tiny and unobtrusive. And since the tags are meant to be slapped on every pallet or carton or even on every item, they must be cheap enough for businesses to buy them by the hundreds of millions. Perhaps most important, retailers need software capable of filtering out huge amounts of data while recognizing relevant information - when an item has unexpectedly disappeared from a shipment, for example. "It's been very hard to do an intelligent investigation into how you need to change the business because the technology is not good enough yet," said Simon Ellis, supply chain futurist for Unilever, the consumer products company. "It's costing over $1 a case, which is fine for a pilot test. But there is no technology to get labels onto our production-line products." The ultimate goal of an RFID system is to track individual products all the way from manufacture to sale. Under such a system, every item would have a tag embedded in its label or attached separately. The tag consists of a microchip and a flat ribbon of antenna; the microchip would contain a unique code identifying the manufacturer, type of product and individual serial number in a format approved by EPCglobal USA, a nonprofit group that has been developing retail RFID standards. As the item moved through the supply chain, scanners in doorways, on loading docks or at other handoff points would capture the movement. Radio waves from the scanners would be picked up by the tag's antenna, providing enough energy for the tag to broadcast its identity back to the scanner. Data would flow through the Internet or other networks to corporate computers, but if the tags had read-write capability, status updates on the item could be added to the tag itself as well. Once products reached the store, scanners in the stockroom could track how rapidly they are moved to shelves, and scanners on shelves could monitor when shoppers removed them. Finally a checkout scanner could ring up everything in a shopping cart as it was wheeled toward the door. Such technology could speed up checkouts and returns, but the bigger economic impact would be in keeping store shelves filled with the products consumers want. Right now, according to the Grocery Manufacturers Association, stores are missing products consumers want to buy about 8 percent of the time on average and up to 15 percent of the time when the product is being promoted. RFID tracking would also make a big dent in theft and counterfeiting, according to proponents of the technology. And, they say, the tags would be designed so that consumers could easily disable them after purchase. That will not mollify privacy advocates, who object to manufacturers and retailers building up electronic records of shoppers' buying habits, but it could calm fears that individuals or institutions outside the store could use the tags to spy on consumer behavior. So much for the vision. Today's tags are too expensive to put on every item (the cheapest cost about 20 cents each). An effort by Wal-Mart to force its suppliers to use RFID has focused on handling tagged cases, cartons and pallet loads of goods rather than individual items. "Even Wal-Mart is still discovering what this technology can and cannot do," said Omar Hijazi, an RFID specialist at the consulting firm A. T. Kearney. With standards not yet settled, few individual items being tagged and retailers not yet demanding RFID tags at more than a few test distribution centers, manufacturers have put off automating RFID tagging. Instead, most are resorting to "slap and ship" strategies in which tags are applied to items involved in tests just before they leave the warehouse. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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Re: China's wealthy bypass the banks
by Tyler Durden 12 Nov '04

12 Nov '04

Mr Donald's comments are almost completely nonsensical. or rather, they vaguely reflect some aspects of reality glimpsed through a really fucked up mirror while on bad crack. Probably Mr Donald is referring to something he saw on TV about China's response (or relative lack of response) to Japan's Meiji Restoration. China definitely did not respond to foregin ideas of industrialization and technology like the Japanese did. (Or at least, not at the time!) But it should be remembered that China did slowly and steadily evolve it's technology, and was well ahead of the western world until the Enlightenment. However, blaming the Chinese response to the Meiji restoration on officially unsanctioned thought illustrates a complete cluelessness about China. During that time Chinese intellectuals (which at the time meant practically anyone who had any kind of an education) regularly debating notions of "Ti Yung", or the tension between what is esentially Chinese vs what's useful from the Western World (and by the 1860s it was starting to become clear that the west had some advanced ideas). This is far more than a top-down dictatorship in the Stalinist sense, just as the Cultural Revolution was for more than a bunch of teenagers "obeying orders". In the end, a simplistic (though not clueless) argument could be made that China decided to remain "Chinese" rather than embrace what would have been a big disruption to their way of life. As it turned out, the 20th century (and the Japanese) more or less forced this new way of life on them. Hell..come to think of it, the closest precedent to the US invasion of Iraq might be the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. -TD >From: ken <bbrow07(a)students.bbk.ac.uk> >To: cypherpunks <cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net> >Subject: Re: China's wealthy bypass the banks >Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:40:27 +0000 > >>China stagnated because no thought other than >>official thought occurred. > >And when was this stagnation? > >And what were the reasons China did not "stagnate" for the previous >thousand years?

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Re: China's wealthy bypass the banks
by Tyler Durden 12 Nov '04

12 Nov '04

Ah. A fellow knowledgeable China-hand. As far as I'm concerned, what Kung Tze does ca 5 BCE is really consdolidate and codify a large and diverse body of practices and beliefs under a fairly unified set of ethical ideas. In that sense, the Legalists were merely a refocusing of the same general body of mores, etc...into a somewhat different direction. One might call it a competing school to Kung Tze de Jiao Xun, but I would argue only because, at that time, Kung Tze "authority" as it's known today was by no means completely established. But in a sense, the early legalists weren't a HECK of a lot different from Confucious. As for Mr Donald's ramblings, the are in which they most closely approach reality is where filial obedience to the emperor is developed as an extension to his ethical system, but even here there are significant differences. For one, that filial loyalty is not portrayed as being ultimately political, but almost an extension of family (which is why the emperor was known as the "Son of Heaven"). Also, and this is fairly Cypherpunkish, unlike in the west the notin of Emperor was not ultimately a genetic one. That is, there's a "Mandate of Heaven", and when the mandate of heaven is removed from an Emperor and his line, it's time to bum-rush his show, which was done on a regular basis in China. As for the Taoists this comment by Mr Donald is almost completely nonsensical. -TD >From: "Enzo Michelangeli" <em(a)em.no-ip.com> >To: <cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net> >Subject: Re: China's wealthy bypass the banks >Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:53:07 +0800 > >Re: China's wealthy bypass the banks >Tyler Durden >Wed, 10 Nov 2004 14:56:08 -0800 > > > Oh No!!!! > > > > > > Way overly simplistic. Also, you are comparing apples to bushels of > > wheat. > > > > [James Donald:] > > However Confucianism vs Daoism/Taoism is rather different from what > > you would get in the west. Confucianism is somewhat similar to what > > you would get if western cultural conservatives allied themselves with > > nazi/commies, in the way that the commies are prone to imagine > > conservatives have supposedly allied themselves with nazis. Taoism > > somewhat similar to what you would get if anarcho capitalists allied > > themselves with pagans and wiccans... > > > > WOW! I'll skip the obvious comments and ask, In which centuries are > > you suggesting this applies? Now? If so, you are clearly NOT talking > > about mainland China. Please re-define the centuries/epochs during > > which you believe this to have been true, and then maybe I'll bother > > responding. > >Actually, that doesn't apply to any century. The ancient philosophical >school that inspired Mao Zedong was actually Legalism, which provided the >theoretic foundations to the absolutist rule of Qin Shi Huangdi (to whom >Mao liked to compare himself). Mao, as many other Chinese reformers and >writers of the early XX Century, hated Confucianism as symbol of China's >"ancien regime" and decay. Which is why the campaign against Zhou En-lai >of 1974-75 had an anti-Confucian theme (see e.g. the posters at >http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/plpk.html ) > >Legalists and Qin Shi Huangdi himself were pretty nasty types, and their >domination saw widespread confiscation of books, ridiculously harsh rule >(arriving late to work could bring the death penalty!) and large-scale >assassination or rivals: several Confucian philosophers were buried alive. >The ruthless methods of the Qin dinasty ultimately resulted in its >downfall: it only lasted one and half decade (221 - 206 BC), half of what >Maoism did. > >By comparison, Confucianism was remarkably enlightened, which is also why >Voltaire expressed a good opinion of it. Some Confucian philosophers like >Mencius (372-289 AC) were early theorists of people's sovereignty: > >"The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the >land and grain are the next; the sovereign is the lightest [...] When a >prince endangers the altars of the spirits of the land and grain, he is >changed, and another appointed in his place." >[Mencius, Book 7: http://nothingistic.org/library/mencius/mencius27.html ] > >...and of the right to tyrannicide, justified by the loss of legitimacy >brought by misrule: > >"The king said, 'May a minister then put his sovereign to death?' Mencius >said, 'He who outrages the benevolence proper to his nature, is called a >robber; he who outrages righteousness, is called a ruffian. The robber and >ruffian we call a mere fellow." >[Mencius, Book 1: http://nothingistic.org/library/mencius/mencius04.html ] > >Enzo

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Patriot Fixes
by R.A. Hettinga 12 Nov '04

12 Nov '04

<http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB110022195361672222,00.html> The Wall Street Journal November 12, 2004 COMMENTARY Patriot Fixes By BOB BARR November 12, 2004; Page A12 The most common charge levied against critics of the Patriot Act -- one that Alberto Gonzales, the new face of Justice, is likely to repeat in his days ahead -- is that they're "misinformed." Well, as a former U.S. attorney appointed by President Reagan, a former CIA lawyer and analyst, and a former Congressman who sat on the Judiciary Committee, I can go mano a mano with any law-enforcement or intelligence official on the facts. And the facts say that the Patriot Act needs to be reviewed and refined by Congress. Critics of the Act are not calling for full repeal. Only about a dozen of the 150 provisions need to be reformed; these, however, do pose singular threats to civil liberties. Here's how to bring them back in line with the Constitution. The two most significant problems are sections 213 and 215. The first authorized the use of delayed-notification search warrants, which allow the police to search and seize property from homes and businesses without contemporaneously telling the occupants. The Justice Department often claims that this new statutory "sneak and peek" power is innocuous, because the use of such warrants was commonplace before. Actually, the Patriot Act's sneak and peek authority is a whole new creature. Before, law enforcement certainly engaged in delayed-notification searches, especially in drug investigations. Importantly, this authority was available in terrorism investigations. Courts, however, put specific checks on these warrants: They could only be authorized when notice would threaten life or safety (including witness intimidation), endanger evidence, or incite flight from prosecution. It was a limited and extraordinary power. The Patriot Act greatly expanded potential justifications for delay. The criminal code now allows secret search warrants whenever notice would "jeopardize" an investigation or "delay" a trial -- extremely broad rationales. The exception has become the rule. Congress should remove that catch-all justification and impose strict monitoring on the use of these secret warrants. The other primary problem is the "library records" provision, Section 215. This amended a minor section of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which created a specialized court for the review of spy-hunting surveillance and search requests. This "business records" section allowed agents to seize personal records held by certain types of third-parties, including common carriers and vehicle rental companies. The Patriot Act made two changes to this relatively limited power: It allowed the seizure of any "tangible thing" from any third-party record holder (including medical, library, travel and genetic records); and it removed the particularized suspicion required in the original statute. Pre-2001, investigators had to show "specific and articulable facts" -- a standard much lower than criminal probable cause -- that a target was a spy or terrorist. Now, that already low standard has been lowered further. Agents simply certify to the intelligence court that the records desired are relevant to an investigation -- any investigation -- and the judge has no real authority to question that assertion, rendering judicial review meaningless. Reformers on the left and right want two fixes to this section. First, reinstall the individualized suspicion requirement. This reflects the Fourth Amendment notion that the government cannot invade privacy and gather evidence unless it has reasonable suspicion that one has done wrong. The proposed "fix" would retain the section's broad "tangible things" scope, but with a safeguard against abuse. The authorities would still be able to go to a criminal grand jury to demand the production of the same records, providing additional flexibility for counterterrorism work. Second, Congress should require additional reporting requirements. There are other refinements desired by the Act's critics. The new definition of domestic terrorism in Section 802 can be used by prosecutors to turn on an array of invasive new authorities, including broad asset-forfeiture powers, even when the underlying crime does not rise to the level of "terrorism." The preferred legislative reform keeps the definition, but links it to specific crimes like assassination or kidnapping. Reasonable critics of the expansive provisions of the Patriot Act, on both sides of the aisle and in both Houses, have introduced legislation that would implement these modest changes. Far from gutting the Act, these would secure the important powers of the law, but place modest limits on their use. For most of us who voted for the Act, what sealed the deal was the inclusion of provisions that would require us to take a sober second look at the most contentious provisions in the Act by the end of 2005, before reauthorizing them. That time is coming, and the Justice Department does not want to lose the emergency powers it won in the aftermath of 9/11. But Congress should resist its overtures, move forward on the sunsets, and enact additional Patriot fixes if it believes them needed. Mr. Barr is a former Republican congressman. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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Re: Cell Phone Jammer?
by Tyler Durden 12 Nov '04

12 Nov '04

Well, I googled up a whole batch, but I was wondering if anyone had had their grubby little hands on one of these things and could recommend one. Also, I know the standards are very different in Europe as compared to the US. And also, does a 'regular' jammer also jam CDMA signals? (CDMA was actually invented by Heddy Lamar to avoid jamming!) -TD >From: pgut001(a)cs.auckland.ac.nz (Peter Gutmann) >To: cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net >Subject: Re: Cell Phone Jammer? >Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:08:18 +1300 > >"Tyler Durden" <camera_lumina(a)hotmail.com> writes: > > >Anyone know from first-hand experience about cellphone jammers? > > > >I need... > > > >1) A nice little portable, and > >Try the SH066PL, a nice portable that looks exactly like a cellphone, it's >one >of the few portables I know of. > > >2) A higher-powered one that can black out cell phone calls within, say, >50 > >to 100 feet of a moving vehicle. > >Google is your friend, there are tons of these around, with varying degrees >of >sophistication. These are definitely not portable, taking several amps at >6-12V to power them. > >None of them are exactly cheap. > >Peter.

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RE: The Full Chomsky
by Tyler Durden 12 Nov '04

12 Nov '04

Now I certainly don't agree with a lot of Chomsky, bvut this dude clearly has an axe to grind. For instance, "After 9/11, he was more concerned about a fictitious famine in Afghanistan than about the nearly 3,000 incinerated in The World Trade Center attacks." What a fucking idiot. The 3000 were already dead, the 'famine' was about-to-be. A Chomsky nut could say Chomsky helped avert complete catastrophe (though there apparently was a decent amount of famine after all, but nothing like 3MM.) But this misses the point. Mr Donald will no doubt chime in yammering on about Chomsky's "lies", but that also misses the point. Chomsky makes very strong arguments supporting a very different view of world events, and he often quotes primary and secondary sources. If you are going to disagree with Chomsky (and in many areas I do), then you've got to actually get off your lazy ass and look up the sources and do some f-in' homework. Only then are you qualified to refute him. -TD >From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah(a)shipwright.com> >To: cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net >Subject: The Full Chomsky >Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 16:20:43 -0500 > ><http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/c-e/chapin/2004/chapin111004.htm> > > MensNewsDaily.com > > >The Full Chomsky > > November 10, 2004 > by Bernard Chapin > > Question: How could a linguist working as a college professor have >omniscient insight regarding the inner-workings of the American government >and exclusive knowledge concerning the hidden motivations of every >government official in our nation's history? > > Answer: There's no way he could. > > Yet, such common sense does little to refute the fact that Noam Chomsky >is >one of the ten most quoted figures in the humanities. He has published >screed after screed deconstructing American foreign policy positions and >never has given any indication that his insinuations may somehow be limited >by lack of connections or first hand evidence (or, in some cases, any >evidence whatsoever). Since the 1960s, he has fully played the role of >Wizard Professor and created an entire library's worth of "pseudo-academic >smog" . > > Until recently, there have been few antidotes for his morass of >accusations and allegations, but now we have The Anti-Chomsky Reader, >edited by David Horowitz and Peter Collier, which offers purchasers the >service of deconstructing the deconstructor. Once you've finished reading >it, you'll be highly grateful as Chomsky's lies are so pervasive and >counter-intuitive that it's a wonder anyone but the paranoid ever read him >in the first place. > > The Anti-Chomsky Reader is a compilation of essays outlining and refuting >the travesties that the M.I.T. linguist has passed off as truth. It does >not confine itself to politics alone. Substantial space is given to the >analysis of his scholarly publications in linguistics. These are addressed >in two chapters called, "A Corrupted Linguistics" and "Chomsky, Language, >World War II and Me." In the area of his chosen field, many have given him >an intellectual pass but this work does not. His linguistic ideas may be as >spurious as his political tomes. All sources give him initial credit for >his core academic assumption about the "biological basis of grammar," but >it seems that he has engaged in little in the way of scientifically >verifiable work over the course of the last fifty years. Chomsky's creative >terminology dazzles admirers but his new theories inevitably amount to >nothing > > Overall, the compendium leaves no region of his reputation left >unexamined. Anti-Americanism is central to his worldview. He never sees >this nation as being superior to any other. At best, we mirror the >pathologies of totalitarian states. We can discern this clearly in Stephen >Morris's "Whitewashing Dictatorship in Communist Vietnam and Cambodia." The >author sums up Chomsky's fetish for defending the Vietnamese and Democratic >Kampuchea aptly when he argues that, > > "As a radical political ideologue, he is crippled by an intense emotional >commitment to the cause of anti-Americanism. Operating on the principle >that 'my enemy's enemy is my friend,' he wholeheartedly embraced the >struggle of two of the world's most ruthlessly brutal regimes." > > Chomsky's hopes for mankind are vested in murderous revolutionaries and >not in his own nation. It is our nation, and never the Khmer Rouge, which >gives its citizens the freedom to vote, the freedom to trade, and, most >obviously, the freedom to spread the type of sedition that Noam Chomsky has >been disseminating for close to 40 years. > > He does not limit himself to Asia, however. The professor has constantly >minimized the acts of many totalitarian states. Chomsky regarded Soviet >control of eastern Europe, when compared to the American presence in >Vietnam, as being "practically a paradise" We see a man who cares far more >about Holocaust deniers than the six million who were exterminated in gas >chambers or desolate Russian ravines. > > After 9/11, he was more concerned about a fictitious famine in >Afghanistan >than about the nearly 3,000 incinerated in The World Trade Center attacks. >He predicted that the toppling of the Taliban would result in 3 to 4 >million famine deaths. When no such famine occurred, he did not issue an >apology or retraction. He simply chose to say nothing. > > There is not much about this world famous ideologue that is genuine. He >has ardently defended the right of free speech for anti-Semitic, >Holocaust-denying cranks like Robert Faurisson and Pierre Guillaume but >chose not to say anything, or sign any petitions, supporting Soviet >intellectuals relegated to the gulag due to their ideas. > > Chomsky's self-proclaimed political orientation is preposterous. He is >enthralled with the socialist ideal but describes himself as a libertarian. >If this were true he would be the first libertarian in history who hated >capitalism and the free market. He also claims to be an anarchist but seems >to love nothing more than strong governments which redistribute the wealth >of its citizens and coerce its people into complying with the socialist >ideal. He is so deeply repulsed by our nation, and so entirely lacking in >perspective, that he holds Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Truman to be war >criminals but Pol Pot, who murdered 25 percent of all Cambodians, as >creating "constructive achievements for much of the population." He has an >easy answer for those who dare argue with him. We do not understand as we >have false consciousness . Only he, the magician, can know the true >workings of the American state. > > Stylistically, Chomsky's works are written with an obfuscating hand and >penned in the language of the opaque. The mechanics of his style: "As a >strategy for creating a Potemkin village of intellectual authenticity, >[are] brilliant; as scholarship it is charlatanism." Chomsky litters his >work with footnotes yet the footnotes are a parlor game because they often >lead to more footnotes citing other assertions he made in earlier works. > > The most egregious passage of them all occurs in John Williamson's essay, >"Chomsky, Language, World War II and Me." It concerns Chomsky's interview >with The New Yorker magazine where he is quoted as saying to one of his >classes that Russian archives proved that Britain and the United States >supported Nazi armies in the hopes of holding back the Soviet's eastern >advance. When questioned about the quotation by Williamson, Chomsky >dismissed the reporter as having manufactured his statement and that she >had printed "a ridiculous gossip column." He then, even though he claimed >not to have said what he did, referred Williamson to a source that did not >support his assertion in the least. Chomsky's statement about the reporter >turned out to be slanderous as the lecture that the reporter quoted from is >available online via videotape. In it, the linguist says exactly what the >reporter says he did. When confronted with his mendacity, Chomsky changed >tactics and pronounced how absurd it was for someone to quote from his >lecture. The real absurdity is that anyone should take him seriously at >all. > > In case one thinks that this was an isolated incident, Chomsky appears to >have learned nothing from The New Yorker scandal as he lied last month in a >speech at the University of Michigan when he said that the United States >had planned an attack on Japan before Pearl Harbor. No evidence was offered >to support his claim as no evidence exists. > > What can one say about Chomsky? As a scholar and shaper of young minds he >is deplorable. He is a Jew hating Jew who views the Israelis as Nazis and >their behavior will result in "a final solution from which few will >escape." His country has made him rich and famous although he discerns no >good in the sea of prosperity around him. His is a most disturbed, jealous, >and depressed mind. Chomsky has tied his life's disappointments to >officials in Washington. If the linguist would merely be content to hate >himself rather than project his feelings upon the government, we would all >be much better off. > > Phrase from "Chomsky and the Cold War" by Thomas M. Nichols, p. 48. > > Nichols, p.61. > > Argument made by Eli Lehrer in "Chomsky and the Media: A Kept Press and a >Manipulated People." p.82 > > Recounted by John Williamson in "Chomsky, Language, World War II and Me." >pp. 236-241 > > Chomsky quoted on page 94 of Paul Bogdanor's "Chomsky's War Against >Israel." > >-- >----------------- >R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> >The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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Re: Cell Phone Jammer?
by pgut001＠cs.auckland.ac.nz 12 Nov '04

12 Nov '04

"Tyler Durden" <camera_lumina(a)hotmail.com> writes: >Anyone know from first-hand experience about cellphone jammers? > >I need... > >1) A nice little portable, and Try the SH066PL, a nice portable that looks exactly like a cellphone, it's one of the few portables I know of. >2) A higher-powered one that can black out cell phone calls within, say, 50 >to 100 feet of a moving vehicle. Google is your friend, there are tons of these around, with varying degrees of sophistication. These are definitely not portable, taking several amps at 6-12V to power them. None of them are exactly cheap. Peter.

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