April 2004 - cypherpunks-legacy

Spy agency launches recruiting campaign
by R. A. Hettinga 11 Apr '04

11 Apr '04

<http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/8403065.htm?template=contentModu…> Posted on Sat, Apr. 10, 2004 Spy agency launches recruiting campaign Associated Press WASHINGTON - The highly secretive National Security Agency is looking to hire 7,500 workers over the next five years in the spy agency's largest recruiting campaign since the 1980s. A release posted on the agency's Web site said NSA plans to hire 1,500 workers by September, and another 1,500 in each of the next four years. Those with specialties in foreign languages, especially Arabic and Chinese, were encouraged to apply. NSA said it was boosting its staff "to meet the increasing needs of the ever-changing intelligence community." The agency, an element of the Defense Department based at Fort Meade in Maryland, conducts electronic wiretapping and signals gathering for foreign intelligence purposes. NSA and other intelligence agencies came under scrutiny after the Sept. 11 terror attacks for apparent failures and missteps that critics say might have prevented officials from unraveling the hijacking plot. A joint congressional inquiry report released last summer faulted the intelligence agencies for being unprepared to handle the challenge it faced in translating the volumes of foreign language counterterror intelligence it collected. Law enforcement officials have said that among the millions of intercepts the NSA gathered on Sept. 10, 2001, were two Arabic-language messages that warned of a major event the next day. The Arabic messages were not translated until Sept. 12. ON THE NET National Security Agency: http://www.nsa.gov ) 2004 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.mercurynews.com -- ----------------- 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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NYTimes
by Riad S. Wahby 11 Apr '04

11 Apr '04

Apparently someone signed up cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net for a NYTimes ID. Member ID and password are both joecypher. Have fun. -- Riad Wahby rsw(a)jfet.org MIT VI-2 M.Eng

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On Needing Killing
by An Metet 11 Apr '04

11 Apr '04

Major Variola writes: > I don't know about your anecdote, but Mr. May's original point > was that the law *requires* companies to forget. Which is > of course an illegitimate intrusion of the state into private affairs. > > And the responsibles need killing. No, they don't. There are two alternative solutions to the problem of restrictions on information flow, or more generally restrictions on any sort of voluntary and cooperative activity. One is to use force to fight back, even to the point of killing the perpetrators. This is what you are advocating when you say they "need killing". The other is to evade the restrictions. This does not involve killing, force, or violence of any sort. Cryptography is an ideal tool for this purpose. It allows people to communicate and exchange data even when outsiders want them to stop. Via digital cash they can even contract together, and buy and sell information and services. BlackNet is intended to be an example of how this could work. The point is that BlackNet and other early Cypherpunk concepts were intended to be based on the second approach, that of avoiding restrictions via cryptographic protections. BlackNet does not seek out and kill people who try to shut it down. It simply continues to exist and operate, very profitably, despite the efforts of its opponents. In a world where things like BlackNet can exist, the people who want to stop it don't need to be killed, because their actions are ineffective. We don't kill the crazy men who rant and rave in parks and on sidewalks. We may pity them, we may even try to help them, but we don't kill them. Similarly, if Cypherpunk technology succeeds, those who try to stop communication from occuring will be no more important or effective in achieving their goals. This stuff should be Cypherpunks 101. Not even that; it should be Kindergarten for Cypherpunks. Re-read (or read for the first time!) the Cryptoanarchist Manifesto. There's nothing in there about killing those responsible for restricting freedom. Rather, the entire essay is about how the new technologies will allow people to communicate and interact with privacy and security. The same is true of the Cypherpunk's Manifesto; again, it is about using software to defend privacy with cryptographic anonymity. There's no bloodlust in either of these essays. These were the founding documents of the Cypherpunk movement. It was only after many years that some Cypherpunks took a detour into advocacy of violence. In large part this was due to the influence of Tim May, who as time went by became increasingly bitter and hateful. Perhaps he had personal disappointments; in particular it seemed that the failure of his more apocalyptic Y2K predictions was an embarrassment which he took to covering with bluster and rage. May became a loud, authoritative and dominating voice calling for violent retribution against government agents or anyone whom he saw as a threat or enemy. Inevitably, he brought into the list people who felt the same way, and drove away many who could not stand the anger and hatred which were being expressed so openly. His increasingly common racist rhetoric, whether sincere or merely provocative, played a further role in sending away some and, sadly, drawing in others. The community changed, until today Cypherpunks are known as a community which sees that its enemies "need killing". It's almost a defining characteristic. The original goals of cryptoanarchy, privacy, anonymity, reputation systems, and efforts to explore the underlying technology, are largely forgotten. But now it seems that there might be an opportunity for change. With the departure of Tim May, a cloud seems to have lifted. Perhaps it will be possible to reinvigorate the community, to give it new purpose and new goals. At a minimum, can we try to move beyond defining ourselves by how many enemies we think "need killing"? That was never what Cypherpunks were supposed to be about.

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RE: legally required forgetting
by Major Variola (ret) 11 Apr '04

11 Apr '04

At 11:18 AM 4/10/04 -0400, Tyler Durden wrote: >What the law actually states is (basically) a defaulted loan must be >forgiven after seven years. In other words, it is illegal to continue to >attempt to collect on a loan, 7 years after the default. > >However, it is perfectly legal to remember that an individual failed to pay >back a loan. In practice, this means that a large brand-name Credit Card >company can choose not to send an offer to someone that defaulted 10 years >ago. Thanks for the distinction, however it still makes CC folks slaves of the State. Suppose Joe Badcredit finds a blank application and applies? The State then uses violence to coerce the CC into non-consensual transactions. >>And the responsibles need killing. > >Well, in a lot of cases I agreed with May's sentiment, even if I'm not >entirely sure this would do much. However, as for putting the Jews and >blacks up chimneys, well add to that what appears to be an almost State >Corporatism stance, First, no one (but you) mentioned subcultures, which is what TM typically referred to (not subraces). Second, corporations generally welcome anyone with money to buy their stuff, even if the corp folks don't condone the culture of the buyers. Not sure what you mean by 'state corporatism', which sounds like euphemized state collectivism. >But those are side issues. At least, aside from the technical content, I >still view May's harshest rantings as a sort of Fredom of Speech acid >test...if one would try to forcibly or legally shut him down, then one >probably "needs killing". Freedom is only tested when you find it objectionable. (And BTW you're the one injecting some of Tim's other rants; why?) Those who use violence against others (deprivation of freedom) have earned the same. Especially if its state violence. Dig? PS: I saw a bit of news on pills to help people forget. Eg to help avoid post traumatic stress. One of the more objectionable objections to this was that witnesses might become unreliable. As if the state had some right to force you to remember something. (And tequila works pretty well although you need to get inside the consolidation window.)

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Re: Lazy network operators (fwd)
by J.A. Terranson 10 Apr '04

10 Apr '04

The source is almost as interesting as the quote. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 11 Apr 2004 03:41:48 +0000 From: Paul Vixie <vixie(a)vix.com> To: nanog(a)merit.edu Subject: Re: Lazy network operators sean(a)donelan.com (Sean Donelan) writes: > Should anonymous use of the Internet be eliminated so all forms > of abuse can be tracked and dealt with? of course not. however, anonymity should be brokered by trusted doubleblinds; nonbrokered/nontrusted anonymity without recourse by recipients is right out. -- Paul Vixie

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Re: Meshing costs, the price of RAH's battery
by Tyler Durden 10 Apr '04

10 Apr '04

"Meshing may not be free. I think we agree." Well, parts of it will not be free. However, I still think that even though routing someone else's packets does not benefit me directly, it is this activity which gives rise to the mesh. I guess, "do unto others..." P2P is basically the same...remember, in the simplest versions there was never any need to make content available. However, P2P-ers seemed to innately understand that P2P won't really be possible unless one is a source as well as a sink. In the WiFi version it'll be easy to start to "triage" certain kinds of activity as battery power runs thin...first, a throttle down to only routing packets of a certain application (or VLAN or whatever). (This actually does make sense because it eats a hell of a lot more battery power transmitting a packet than receiving it.) Second, when the battery is within X minutes of dying then only listening and not transmitting. But I think my main point holds: even 'reglar' folks will realize that there's a "gobal" benefit to routing someone else's packets, even if that does eat into remaining battery time. -TD >From: "Major Variola (ret)" <mv(a)cdc.gov> >To: "cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net" <cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net> >Subject: Re: Meshing costs, the price of RAH's battery >Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 15:09:45 -0700 > >At 02:36 PM 4/10/04 -0400, R. A. Hettinga wrote: > >At 9:03 PM -0700 4/9/04, Major Variola (ret) wrote: > >>So, get a clue. When your battery runs out, you > >>get *zero* benefit from the mesh. Or even your local > >>device *sans network*. > > > >Yes, and as your battery starts to run out, you raise the price on >switching. > >Yes, as I speculated. > > >Your point is? > >Meshing may not be free. I think we agree. > > > > _________________________________________________________________ MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page FREE download! http://toolbar.msn.com/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/

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Re: "Shirley and Saddam"
by R. A. Hettinga 10 Apr '04

10 Apr '04

At 7:24 AM +0000 4/8/04, Popbitch wrote: > >> Shirley and Saddam << > The spy who loved me > > From the world of espionage we hear a fantastic > story that Shirley Bassey has been a spy for > Interpol since the early 1980s. > > Shirley, apparently, has great contacts with > Arab Royalty - great fans of her rendition of > Hey Big Spender, so consequently gets some > insider information. She's even said to have > helped pinpoint Saddam Hussein's palaces in Iraq. -- ----------------- 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: Meshing costs, the price of RAH's battery
by Tyler Durden 10 Apr '04

10 Apr '04

"A car is not what's meant by "mobile". Think handsets, laptops, PDAs with self-contained power." Yes, of course. I assumed that was obvious. And of course, with a car the PDA could be powered off of the cigarette lighter. Those weren't really germane to my point. -TD >From: "Major Variola (ret)" <mv(a)cdc.gov> >To: "cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net" <cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net> >Subject: Re: Meshing costs, the price of RAH's battery >Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 10:36:28 -0700 > >At 11:32 AM 4/10/04 -0400, Tyler Durden wrote: > >"So, get a clue. When your battery runs out, you > >get *zero* benefit from the mesh. Or even your local > >device *sans network*." > > > >Well, as usual I don't think I'm understanding you here. In my example >I'm > >imagining I'm a livery cab driver or something. In that case, >instantaneous > >micro-traffic-conditions can be very valuable in NYC. > >A car represents abundant power. RF issues aside, may as >well be fixed & mains powered. > >A car is not what's meant by "mobile". Think handsets, laptops, PDAs >with self-contained power. > > > _________________________________________________________________ MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page FREE download! http://toolbar.msn.com/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/

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Hollywood balks at controlling your own inputs
by Major Variola (ret.) 10 Apr '04

10 Apr '04

New DVD player cuts out the smut By David Usborne in New York 11 April 2004 Like some kind of electronic air freshener, a new generation of DVD players is poised to clear the smut, violence and bad language out of living rooms all across America. Thomson Inc is preparing to ship the revolutionary machines to both Wal-Mart and Kmart in the United States in the next few weeks. The family-values brigade is already applauding, while the Hollywood community is pursuing a lawsuit to have them banned. The players, which will sell for $79 (#45), are equipped with technology by a Salt Lake City-based company called ClearPlay. They will be pre-programmed to spare viewers segments of films that feature offensive language, excessive violence or sexual content, by muting the sound or skipping ahead. Several leading Hollywood figures, however, including Steven Spielberg and Steven Soderbergh, are backing a lawsuit, arguing that the technology will violate the rights of directors who expect their works to be viewed in their entirety, without censorship. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=510427 ........ Someone needs to explain to the Hollywood types that folks can do whatever they want with their media copies, short of reselling an edited version claimed as the original. You could with tape, a random access device is no different. The copy rights of the directors do not include prescriptions for viewers.

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Re: Meshing costs, the price of RAH's battery
by Major Variola (ret) 10 Apr '04

10 Apr '04

At 02:36 PM 4/10/04 -0400, R. A. Hettinga wrote: >At 9:03 PM -0700 4/9/04, Major Variola (ret) wrote: >>So, get a clue. When your battery runs out, you >>get *zero* benefit from the mesh. Or even your local >>device *sans network*. > >Yes, and as your battery starts to run out, you raise the price on switching. Yes, as I speculated. >Your point is? Meshing may not be free. I think we agree.

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