February 2004 - cypherpunks-legacy

FCC vs decentralization
by Thomas Shaddack 13 Feb '04

13 Feb '04

Wondering a little. FCC recently mandated fees for Internet radio "broadcasters", based on the number of listeners. However, there are emergent technologies for P2P broadcasting, where some of the clients act as broadcasters themselves, "retranslating" the stream. This way it may not be technically possible for the broadcaster itself to know the number of listeners -> impossible to assess the fees -> impossible to getting reliably proved the number of listeners to. What can happen then? Similar with FCC decency rules they recently tightened after the "Superbowl Boob Incident". How can the FCC execute their jurisdiction over a distributed struture, where there is no official registered owner of the station? Can they go after the volunteering DJs, or after the listeners? How would look a good, decentralized structure for allowing pseudonymous IP stream "broadcast" with minimal resources, the ultimate Internet Pirate Radio station?

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Electricity Teleportation Devised
by R. A. Hettinga 13 Feb '04

13 Feb '04

<http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_020904.asp?trk=nl> Technology Review TOPIC > Computers and Electronics > Computers ?Electricity Teleportation Devised Technology Research News February 9, 2004 Researchers from Leiden University in the Netherlands have devised a way to teleport electricity. Teleportation is possible at the atomic scale, and was discovered a decade ago for photons in free space. The researchers' proposal works for electrons contained in conductors, and could eventually be used within computer circuits. A major obstacle to quantum teleportation is that in a metal or semiconductor electrons exist in a crowd, dubbed the Fermi sea, making individual electrons difficult to isolate and manipulate. When the two carriers of electrical current -- negatively charged electrons and positively charged holes -- meet, they cancel each other out. The researchers have postulated that an entangled electron, however, could continue its existence at a distant location. Entangled electrons are connected in such a way that specific properties of the electrons remain synchronized regardless of the physical distance between them. The method could eventually be used to instantly transport information between the quantum bits, or qubits, of a quantum computer if electrons could be transported over distances of around 100 microns. Quantum computers use the properties of particles like photons, electrons and atoms to compute and are theoretically very fast at certain large problems, including those that would render today's encryption-based security systems obsolete. Laboratory demonstrations showing that the method could be used to transport electrons a few microns could happen within two to five years; practical applications are a decade or two away, according to the researchers. The work appeared in the December, 2003 issue of Physical Review Letters. -- ----------------- 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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FCC Rules on Internet Telephony
by Tyler Durden 13 Feb '04

13 Feb '04

This came out on lightreading.com. Seems there's one tiny step backward for CALEA w.r.t Internet telephony. I guess it's obvious the FBI will eventually get it's way, but it's be interesting to see how it goes about it from here out. -TD At its open meeting today, the FCC took a couple of baby steps toward providing regulatory clarity on Internet telephony. The first big decision was a victory for VOIP proponents. The commission ruled that Pulver.com's Free World Dialup VOIP service is an information service, not a telecommunications service. The decision was based largely on the analysis that it doesn!/t fit the 1996 Telecom Act!/s definition of a telecommunications service. !0There is no question that this doesn!/t constitute a telecommunications service,!1 said commissioner Kathleen Abernathy. !0It falls squarely outside that statutory definition.!1 That analysis was shared by commissioner Jonathan Adelstein: !0Pulver.com!/s service is largely unregulated today and, in my view, should stay that way.!1 Commissioner Michael Copps dissented amid concerns that the FCC hadn!/t fully considered the implications, particularly for law enforcement, universal service, and public safety. !0I!/m afraid we!/re leaping before we!/re looking,!1 he said. !0This rush to reclassify will lead us down a road where we!/re compelled to engage in legal calisthenics and contortion of both CALEA and the 1996 Telecom Act to meet our statutory obligations. This is admittedly an important decision, but not so important that it cannot wait a little while longer while we conduct an expeditious review.!1 That review is coming. After the vote on Free World Dialup, the commission initiated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Internet telephony (see http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-243868A1.doc) Although the commission is starting from the premise that VOIP should be subject to minimal regulation, it still has to clarify issues such as wiretaps and whether Internet telephony is an intrastate or interstate service. However, there are two reasons to believe that the FCC won!/t issue an Order on VOIP until late 2004 -- if then. First, the commission historically doesn!/t undertake major policy initiatives in a Presidential election year. Second, Internet telephony is such a complex issue with such far-reaching implications that it!/s difficult to see how it could be resolved to everyone!/s satisfaction, let alone in one fell swoop. One thing is clear: The commission believes that federal regulators, not states, should set VOIP regulations. The NPRM is an opportunity to avoid a patchwork of rules across the country, Abernathy says. Nevertheless, completely preempting state authority likely would send Internet telephony to the courts, prolonging uncertainty. !* Tim Kridel, Senior Editor, Heavy Reading -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ Let the advanced features & services of MSN Internet Software maximize your online time. http://click.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200363ave/direct/01/

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Windows source leaked?
by Riad S. Wahby 13 Feb '04

13 Feb '04

Among others, /. is reporting that Win2k and WinNT source code may have leaked. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/12/2114228 Does anyone here have any good evidence as concerns the truth or falsity of this claim? Lots has been said about OSS developers not wanting to look at this for fear that they will be "tainted." While it is true that simply the act of looking at the code is unauthorized and illegal, I wonder if there is any truth to the claim that a developer who looked at Windows source would endanger future projects (assuming, of course, that simple copying---which is clearly illegal---doesn't happen). Comments? -- Riad Wahby rsw(a)jfet.org MIT VI-2 M.Eng

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Where did everyone go?
by Adam 12 Feb '04

12 Feb '04

The old Cypherpunks node (LNE) was much more active. Since that one went down and I joined up on this one, traffic has decreased by 80% (at least). Where did all those guys go (Tim May, Major Variola, James Donald, etc)? Is there a different node that most people migrated to? -- Adam

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Offshoring of commercial data...
by Tyler Durden 11 Feb '04

11 Feb '04

Steve Schear wrote... >This is why all such records, if they are generated at all, should be held >offshore and accessible only through a procedure which includes a duress >clause. This leads me to an interesting set of ideas I've been playing with recently. Let's say I work for a large commercial entity with very large amounts of data about lots of US (and other) consumers. Let's also say that I'm starting to feel that the integrity of this data can't be assured under the current (or future) regime in DC. (And this lack-of-integrity may play out as a very real marketing/customer service issue.) Let's also say that I've convinced the relevant parties within this commerical entity to start moving this data (or a copy of it, perhaps) offshore, where it can be more readily 'protected'. Has this kind of thing been done already? (I'm talking about huge amounts of commercial data.) And, how is that data placed so that there's a reasonable level of confidence that it's 'safe' (ie, if the data were moved to the UK I would assume our cronies over there would be eager to help DC dig out whatever they needed). Do we need a few copies in varying political regimes in order for this to work? ALso, anybody know if there are any legal consequences/risks here in the US if this was even attempted? (ie, 'moving' data really means copying overseas and then destroying the local copy...I assume a big corporation could do this without any legal consequences...). Also, is this even worth doing or is there some big hole in the logic here? (Tyler Durden being a Cypherpunk of the Stoopid variety...) Hey...someone whip a copy of this to old Crotchety May...I bet he's already looked into this. -TD _________________________________________________________________ Keep up with high-tech trends here at "Hook'd on Technology." http://special.msn.com/msnbc/hookedontech.armx

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MIPI serves papers on Kazaa offices in Vanuatu
by R. A. Hettinga 09 Feb '04

09 Feb '04

For any of you who still think that "regulatory arbitrage", or "jurisdiction shopping" ever had a chance... Cheers, RAH ------- <http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/20…> The Sydney Morning Herald Print this article | Close this window MIPI serves papers on Kazaa offices in Vanuatu By Online Staff February 9, 2004 The enforcement arm of the Australian record industry has served papers on two Kazaa-related companies in Vanuatu, following the raids which took place on Friday and Saturday. Music Industry and Piracy Investigations general manager Michael Speck said both Sharman Networks and Sharman Licensed Holdings had been served with papers this morning. Speck said the case would be taken to court on the morrow, with MIPI alleging that the operations of Sharman infringed copyright in Australia. AAP adds: While the Record Industry Association of America has been ferocious in its quest to stamp out illegal file-sharing, The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has appeared less than active in recent years, despite Kazaa operating out of Sydney for the last three years. That is, until Friday. The man behind the raid is Michael Speck, the head of ARIA's Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) unit. "We started an investigation six months ago and it was based on technical and physical changes in the infrastructure of Kazaa," Speck said. "At that point it was becoming apparent that they had become an Australian operation infringing Australian copyright". Although Kazaa has been based in Sydney for the last three years, it was only recently after internal changes that the company was recognised legally as an Australian operation. "Essentially there were physical changes to the resources and technical changes of the software that make it clear that what the Kazaa operation is doing is clear-cut infringement of copyright in Australia," Speck said. "We've actually over the last several years run a whole range of important strategic cases. The objective of those cases was to develop a safe and productive environment for music business and their consumers. As far as Kazaa is concerned this last six month period has changed their position. ARIA/MIPI issued proceedings against Kazaa in the Australian Federal court under strict guidelines. "It was a civil raid by way of Anton Pilar orders" Speck said. "What they are is the civil equivalent of a search warrant. On Thursday we went to the Federal court and we applied for orders to attend premises, to obtain documentary and electronic evidence that related to the Kazaa operation. To do that, you have to show the court you have a case and a fear about the dissipation of evidence before the orders are issued. "When the orders are issued they are on a very restricted basis. You are obliged to take an independent lawyer who reports directly to the court about the conduct of the search or any search process and also about what was located and taken. On the team is also a music industry lawyer, a music industry investigator and a computer forensics expert. By way of context, when you do these, you don't actually take anything away. You copy it. We started at about 8am and the very last group of investigators left the offices of Kazaa in the early hours of Saturday morning." According to Speck, they entered "the offices of the Kazaa operation, so Sharman at Cremorne, the home of Nikki Hemming, the chief executive of the Sharman organisation, the home of Philip Moore, the IT director, Brilliant Digital Entertainment, the joint venture partners and the home of Kevin Bermeister, the chief executive of Brilliant". The three Universities were "Queensland, The University of NSW and Monash". The four ISPs were Telstra, Akamai, iHug and NTT. "There are no allegations against the universities or ISPs," Speck says. "They simply because of the nature of their business contain evidence we believe is relevant against the Kazaa operation". Speck expects action will be swift. "We are back in court on Tuesday to report on the search," he says. "Generally at that time, a timetable is set for the case to start and evidence to be put forward. It will be a relatively quick process". -- ----------------- 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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Ancient clay stamp seals and sealings of Sri Lanka
by R. A. Hettinga 08 Feb '04

08 Feb '04

<http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2004/02/08/fea20.html> Sunday, 8 February 2004 Online edition of Sunday Observer - Business Ancient clay stamp seals and sealings of Sri Lanka by Rajah M. Wickremesinghe The world's oldest clay stamp seal had been unearthed in 1990 in the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur. This city was situated in Southern Iraq along the river Euphrates, below present day Baghdad. The seal is attributed to a king of the 1st dynasty of Babylon circa 2550 BC. Sarah Kielt has in her work expressed the opinion that the various types of seals discovered by archaeologists can be dated from as far back as 6000 BC particularly in the ancient civilisations of the Near East. Roger J. Mathews identifies such seals as stamp, cylinder, and tablet, the last named bearing a seal impression on both sides. A stamp seal could even have been attached to a ring and has only one impression impression as opposed to a cylinder seal which had multiple imprints on it. The latter were utilized by rolling them on to wet clay. Cylinder seals have an aperture running through the centre in its entire length, facilitating being rolled. They could also be worn round the owners neck to make it secure. It is accepted by archaeologists that cylinder seals had been invented in Southern Mesopotamia around 3500 BC. Seals provide important evidence similarly to coins, for the re-construction of ancient socio-economic history of a region. Many active trading and administrative centres of ancient civilisations have yielded seals and sealings of clay in very large numbers. This has enabled the uncovering of their hidden secrets. Seals had initially been used for accounting and later as Temple records, for administration purposes and lastly as trading receipts. In the Near East it is observed that the advent of coins was centuries after the use of seals. However, in Sri Lanka we note that in Ruhuna a unique lead coinage inscribed in Brahmi appears simultaneously with seals and clay sealings. A sealing is the impression of a seal pressed on wet clay, its usage similar to that in modern times, when sealing wax is placed over a knot, in the instance string is used to secure a parcel or package. In ancient times a lump of clay was pressed over the knot of string or strapping securing packages or bundles and then marked with the senders seal which was his stamp of ownership. Sealings were also used when the mouth of jars or containers were covered with woven material and secured with a string. In Mesopotamia they were in addition used to securing containers, jars, baskets, sacks, leather bags and also door ways and lids of boxes. The clay sealing 32x30 mm (fig. 1) bearing the legend 'Maharaja Gamini Tissaha Devanampiya' in Nagari Script meaning 'of the great king Gamini Tissa the beloved of the Gods' was found by a villager cultivating his land in Akurugoda in Tissamaharama in 1989. In 'Ruhuna an ancient civilisation revisited' co-authored by O. Bopearachchi and the writer it is attributed to king Saddhatissa 77 - 59 BC. This at present is the oldest attested clay sealing found in the island. At the centre of the seal is a railed swastika with the above noted legend distributed on the three sides excluding the base. Two other sealings also of the same provenance are illustrated (Figs. II and III). One depicts the foreparts of two lions each facing opposite directions with outstretched fore legs and the other a lion and elephant similarly joined. Both sealings have distinct legends in Brahmi. The three sealings described above are not trade sealings. They have no impressions of string at the back and could be identified as having been used only for an administrative purpose. This places these three sealings apart from all other sealings described. Clay trade sealings Fig. IV depicts a sealing with evidence of a securing device (appearing to be a strap and not string at the back) and bears a large railed swastika 68x58 mm. with an indistinct Brahmi legend on the outer edge. This presently is the largest trade sealing found in the Island. Fig. V is of a unique clay sealing yet unpublished, found in Niyadella in Ruhuna in 1996 where figures similar to those found on Roman coins of the early Christian era, are clearly visible in the three separate stamps on the sealing. On the reverse instead of a string it depicts the design of a woven reed mat on which the seal has been placed. Another clay sealing depicting the head of a Roman soldier similar to those on 3rd century brass Roman coins had been found in Tissamaharama in 1989. Over 30 stamp sealings recording trade had been found in Akurugoda, depicting male and female figures, lions, elephants, bulls and humped bulls both standing and seated, wild boar, fishes, and one in which one animal appears to be attacking another astride its back. Illustrated are clay trade sealings with clear evidence of string used for securing - 'A' an elephant (the reverse clearly depicts evidence of the manner of securing) 'B' a horse, 'D' a standing humped bull and 'E' a recumbent bull. These animals are variously featured in pre - 3rd century AD coins of Sri Lanka. Also illustrated is a modern sealing - bearing the seal of the GPO Kandy in order to enable readers to have an easier understanding of a 'sealing'. Seals Of over 20 seals found in Akurugoda in 1989-90 one made of bone bearing 3 Brahmi characters is in the shape of an inverted pudding bowl Fig. VI. Some large clay seals found in Ruhuna depict variations of the railed swastika. A clay seal with clear finger prints on the body of the seal and depicting a standing horse is at Fig. VII. One seal made of ivory which provided the impression of a seated bull had a hole pierced through its stem facilitating it to be worn on a string (Fig. VIII). Fig IX is of a juggling acrobat, possibly an entertainer in the king's court. Dr. Siran Deraniyagala the former Director General of Arahcaeology had in excavations at Gedige in Anuradhapura in 1979, discovered a unique carnelian seal. H. Parker at the Yatthala dagaba in Tissamaharama had 100 years previously in 1884 found a seal also of carnelian which he believed had been attached to a ring. Semi-precious gem-stones including carnelian were often used in the manufacture of intaglios. Such intaglios mounted on rings produced sealings when stamped on clay. "Ruhuna an ancient civilisation re-visited' features colour illustrations of intaglios found in Akurugoda in Tissamaharama, as well as other relevant finds. A cylinder type seal also found in Akurugoda made of wood, with six sides had a hole through two sides through which a string or rod could be passed. It bears a legend in Brahmi on the remaining four sides as seen on a plasticine impression Fig. X. This legend is read as 'of Tissya, son of the accountant Goratha' written in Brahmi. Collectors should be aware of modern imitations. The author is currently the President of the Sri Lanka Numismatic Society. -- ----------------- 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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Seven years jail, $150,000 fine if you don't tell the world your email and home address
by Steve Schear 08 Feb '04

08 Feb '04

Senator Lamar Smith of Texas - chairman of the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee - yesterday produced from nowhere extensions to the 1946 Trademark Act that would make giving false contact information for a domain name a civil and criminal offence. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/35376.html A foolish Constitutional inconsistency is the hobgoblin of freedom, adored by judges and demagogue statesmen. - Steve Schear

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Feds win rights to war protesters records.
by Harmon Seaver 07 Feb '04

07 Feb '04

Also, activists subpoened to grand jury. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040207/ap_on_re_us/acti… -- Harmon Seaver CyberShamanix http://www.cybershamanix.com

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