June 2004 - cypherpunks-legacy

GeoEcon: Fahrenheit 9/11 -- Sticking the Motorcycle's Irony Gauge
by R. A. Hettinga 28 Jun '04

28 Jun '04

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Fahrenheit 9/11 -- Sticking the Motorcycle's Irony Guage The Geodesic Economy Robert Hettinga 6/28/04 Roslindale, MA -- I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 last weekend -- after extensive promises of good behavior beforehand -- with my wife, who is, as most people know by now, a very liberal Democrat. As a congenital Republican, of course, I felt like a Jew going to see Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will", but, like a Jew going to "Triumph", or Churchill reading "Mein Kampf", or Reagan and Thatcher reading "Das Kapital", I suppose I went there in the spirit of knowing one's enemies, like Sun Tsu says. Knowing most of the scene-by-scene refutations long before I saw them on the screen, the movie quickly became a stupor of anti-climacticism as the usual chestnuts reeled by: Saddam a creature of the CIA, the Bushes creatures of the Awl Bidness and the Saudis. War for Oil, House of Saudi-Bush, and the Afghan Pipeline, oh my... I kept looking for new stuff, but, in requiem for my ability to suspend disbelief, there was nothing there that I hadn't seen on Free Republic, much less on the cypherpunks list, many times before. Michael Moore does make a great buffoon, obviously, or they wouldn't give him money to make his otherwise obtuse epics. Reprising the usual troll through his union-and-government-"program"-decimated -- and, for him, fictional -- "hometown" of Flint, MI, cataloging the evils of capitalism on same, same as it ever was, just didn't do it for me the third time around after "Roger and Me", and "Bowling for Columbine". It's probably why we didn't get so much Mike-jinks in front of the camera this time either. Even in his own editing-room, Michael surely can see himself that he's just not funny anymore, a bit of an old hat, or, in his case, an old UCLA Film School gimmie cap. However, I must say his ritual cinematic abuse of a "conservative democrat" welfare queen turned "job outreach worker" turned fobber-of-one's-firstborn-son's-upbringing-onto-the-Army turned grieving war-mother was considerably above par for his propagandistic oeuvre, and he's to be commended for upping his game so considerably in light of his lofty target. Speaking of which, who's next, one wonders? First a hack Auto-Bureaucrat in the form of Roger Smith, then a pre-Alzheimer Moses-Clutching-a-Brown-Bess in the form of Charleton Heston, now an Andover-Softball-Commissioner stealth-Bonesman fighter-pilot MBA turned aw-shucks Nuke-ular President in the form of George not-Herbert Walker Bush. Should we expect an attack on the Pope next, if he's still alive? Thatcher? Or, better, after they both go, how about a post-mortem Marxist trifecta of John-Paul, Thatcher, and Reagan? I can't wait for the resulting -- with apologies to Limbaugh - -- Moore-Gorebasm: "See, it really *was* Mikhail Gorbachev that ended the Cold War..." Restrained mirth, indeed. Don't bring that Cherry Icee into the theater and plan to drink it there on peril of your sinuses, is all I have to say. Seeing the discussion about this movie and the forthcoming election on the cypherpunks list and elsewhere reminds me of something that occurred to me during the 2000 Florida recount: it's as if, like all political/economic schema, crypto-anarchy, anarchocapitalism, whatever we end up calling it, requires a certain energy state (higher or lower, again-whatever) than existed in its once-and-future status quo ante. In the inverse of the way that gravity overcomes degenerate electron pressure to collapse atoms and molecules into the neutronium of a neutron star, or degenerate neutron pressure is overcome to collapse very atoms themselves into a black hole, when something in the "real" world shows us just how far from our goal of freedom from government we really are, we all get dragged back to our previous political states, grasping for what we used to believe, like a bunch of deathbed-reconverted ex-atheists. I figure if monopolies on force weren't possible, and the state wasn't our sole-source war contractor, then, by very definition, nation-states would hold the same role that religion, or aristocracy, or sports teams or, of course, movie-stars, do today -- a rooting interest, and nothing more. Fix the cause, inefficient markets and excessive transaction cost, and whatever undesired effects, like uninitiated force by kleptocracies, theocracies, whatever, will stop. To be replaced, preferably, by the use of force in free markets, at probably lower gross "transaction costs" in violence, since it costs less to buy in fact. Violence is conserved, it always is, but it would be spread out into more, less violent, events, most of them, hopefully, financial instead of physical. Take your fight to the market, boys, or you'll *really* piss us off, and all that. However, in the short term, I'm *very* realistic. In other words, the state *still* owns the roads. :-). Since someone came over here and proved that they can kill me, personally, because of who I am, and what I believe, because of what I have that they don't have -- or, in the case of freedom, apparently, what I have that they don't even appear to want -- they, frankly, deserve to die before I do. If that means hiring a bunch of volunteers to go over and kill them in their beds before they try to kill me in mine, cool. The fact that those volunteers are paid for with money extorted from me at the point of a gun is just a happy coincidence, since most of that extorted money gets used for stuff I could really give a damn about otherwise. Which brings us to Mr. Moore himself. He is, as most people probably know, not really from his putative "home town" of Flint. He's actually from Davison, a richer, lily-white bedroom suburb, raised as "petit-bourgeois" as they come, and raised, go figure, just like most "liberal"/commies have been through the ages, from Lenin to Mao, from Guevara to Castro. I'm sure he fancies himself quite the revolutionary, now, having gone from one-man "alternative" newspaper publisher/editor/reporter/ad-salesman to Cannes Palm d'Or presumptive deca-millionaire in less than two decades. I agree with the idea that most people have already made up their minds even this early, and they aren't going to change their vote because of a so-called "documentary". However, as for Mr. Moore's intended audience, I think the first "coming attractions" trailer that morning in the movie theater said it all. It was for a movie version of, wait for it now... Che Guevara's "Motorcycle Diaries" <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318462/>. So, there I was, in yet another lily-white suburb, Randolph, Massachusetts, in a stadium-seating megaplex, watching this trailer with more than a few erst-and-proto "revolutionaries" of the Moore stripe, all of us, revolutionary or not, watching this trailer for a sort of Young-Hero-of-the-Revolution-Before-the-Revolution crypto-homo-erotic biopic, the red-diaper-baby of all Road Pictures, all of us with straight faces, as if it were just an ordinary movie trailer. White titles on, I kid you not, comrade, red background, and all. Okay, truth be told, *I* had the most evil grin on *my* face, my mirth being severely constrained from actual outright laughter by the aforementioned promise to my wife about remaining, uh, decorous. And yet, and yet, I *do* consider it a measure of progress that as late as a few years ago, in lily-white, yes, liberal, Randolph, Massachusetts, that trailer might have even gotten a smattering of *cheers* from the odd true believer out there. Maybe they aren't cheering for the revolution this time, because, game-faced, they hated Bush so much, but I'd rather err on the side of common sense, even in Massachusetts, and think that actual, uncut, explicit Marxism isn't fun, much less funny, anymore. Or so one would hope. So, invoking the spirit of cypherpunks gone on to other things, and probably over their objection in light of my congenital political belief anyway, I actually *do* hope Moore & Co. make a *pile* of money on this. The motorcycle's irony gauge will get stuck on "full", and us "Republican" anarcho-capitalists will have a good laugh at the stupendous concatenation of idiocy it represents, what a brave new world it is to have such statist monsters in it, and all that. The only thing that would make me laugh harder, of course, would be if Kerry gets elected because of Moore's logico-cinematic prestidigitation at political three-card monte, further declaring itself some kind of "Uncle Mike's Cabin" in leftist self-congratulation thereof. Then, at least, the "Republican", if you will, anarcho-capitalists out there, like me, will go back to work for a change, after 4-plus years of inattention to the point of it all. No, better, thrall. Thrall to the fact that, thank God, Al Gore's not in charge right now, that we can still, so far, kick the living shit out of anybody who dares mess with our stuff, much less kill our friends and neighbors. Certainly our "Democrat" anarcho-capitalist bretheren haven't gotten much done, either, for all their Bush-hating. At least when a Democrat was president, even the "liberals" wanted to smash the state, in their own fashion, and actually worked on it. And even made money, for a while. So. Let's have a competition, shall we? The blind signature patent is almost defunct. Whatever we need, code-wise, is laying around on the floor to be used. We have *lots* of book-entry internet transaction systems to plug into as as depositories, reserves for issues of bearer certificates on the net. Kerry gets elected, Michael Moore gets all the credit, and starts on his Marxist trifecta of trash-movies. And, with a Democrat in charge, we've got at least four years of financial decontrol for ostensible enemies of the state, like say, hawala, because, of course, that would be racist, not to mention there'd be no way for the Chinese to pay the Democratic Party, otherwise. :-). First one to the most money wins. Ready, set... No? I thought not... Cheers, RAH - ------- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 8.0.3 iQA/AwUBQOCcK8PxH8jf3ohaEQJu3ACeOHP1fqembZi5WG412cDnHEsDvfwAn08y CwvcyvgOntaJUfB2qgCaH1eH =0EFe -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- ----------------- 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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Type III Anonymous message
by Nomen Nescio 28 Jun '04

28 Jun '04

-----BEGIN TYPE III ANONYMOUS MESSAGE----- Message-type: plaintext

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Re: For Liars and Loafers, Cellphones Offer an Alibi
by Major Variola (ret) 28 Jun '04

28 Jun '04

At 07:21 AM 6/26/04 -0400, R. A. Hettinga wrote: ><http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/26/technology/26ALIB.html?th=&pagewanted=pri…> > >The New York Times > >June 26, 2004 > >For Liars and Loafers, Cellphones Offer an Alibi >By MATT RICHTEL Eventually the cellphones will be able to tell another phone approx where they are. Remember the 911-locator fascism? So the 'victim' would ask the 'liar' to press a button authorizing disclosure of the approx location. The marketing reason would be to help people find others geographically. But it can also be used to evidence (or not) your location. "Look mom, I'm *not* at the mall or Cheech's house, I'm at the library." Of course all these locations will be in a database which performs a kind of latitude/longitude Name Service so Mom won't have to fire up a browser and go to a mapping page. GPS/911 services + wireless + inet bridging. I wouldn't be surprised if DoCoMo wasn't working on it now..

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And now, USA Today Presents a Word from Horseman #2
by R. A. Hettinga 28 Jun '04

28 Jun '04

<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-27-terrorweb-usat_x.htm> USA Today Internet's many layers give terrorists room to post, then hide Terrorists are increasingly using the Internet to spread shocking images and state their demands. In the past month, video and photos of the beheadings of American Paul Johnson Jr. and South Korean Kim Sun Il were posted on Web sites sympathetic to Islamic terrorists. Last week, a Saudi Web site posted a statement from alleged terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claiming responsibility for attacks across Iraq. Weimann says the Web offers terrorists "anonymity, easy access ... and the ability to disappear." By Stephen J. Boitano, AP The sites are often shut down by the governments of the countries in which they're based, but new ones quickly appear. USA TODAY's Mark Memmott talked with an expert on terrorists' use of the Internet, Gabriel Weimann, a senior fellow at the federally funded U.S. Institute of Peace. Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Q: Can't terrorists be caught by tracing who posts their messages? A: You can track it. ... The question is, how deep can you go and how far can you go? Let me explain the layers. ... The first layer will be to look at the Web site and see the address. With the address, you can track the server (host computer) that is used - you can see where the Web site is based. That can be done in seconds. It's not a problem. ... That is being done by security agencies and counterterrorism forces all over the world. Q: What's the next layer? A: To know where the message or the video or the announcement or the picture or whatever was sent from. ... If I try to post something on a Web site, I'm using a server, too. There are two servers connected: the server that I'm using and the server that posts it on your Web site. Q: Sounds simple to trace. A: But there are many options. You can access different servers from different domains, which are public. It can be a university library. You go to a public library or a university library or an Internet cafe. Q: So, physically, there's little evidence to find if investigators get to that library or cafe? A: Now we're getting to the third level: the user. Let's say that I find the server that you used. I still didn't get to the individual user. I can say, 'This was sent from a computer in Jakarta' ... or from wherever. It was in a library or a computer network. ... But the user may disappear seconds after posting the message. Usually they do. So the deeper you go, the harder it is to find the user. This is one of the most important advantages of the Internet for terrorists. Anonymity, easy access, free access and the ability to disappear. Q: And if the person who sat at the computer and sent the video out is ever found, who is he likely to be? A: The guy who's posting the messages for the terrorists, or doing the downloading, is like the smallest of actors in the theater. You won't find the scriptwriters. I'm sure modern terrorists are quite aware of the possibility to track them down. So the chains (in their organizations) will be very long, and probably nobody knows who's the third link from him. Q: How do you, and investigators, monitor terrorists' use of the Web? A: It takes time. ... Al-Qaeda right now is moving among 50 different Web addresses. ... You have to follow the psychology of terrorists, the publicity-seeking mind of terrorists. They want you to find (information they put on the Web). They want people who are supporters or potential supporters, and journalists, to find them. To do so they have to publicize the new (Web addresses). They will go into Internet chat rooms and notify people. Q: So you monitor the chat rooms, watching for messages? A: We call it lurking. You sit quietly in a chat room. You do nothing. Just join it and sit quietly in the dark. This is what I do and what my research assistants are doing. You find very important information. (Relevant chat rooms can be found, for example, by performing a Google "groups" search using key words such as al-Qaeda or jihad.) Q: What are the messages like? A: Someone might ask, "Where can I find video of a Chechen slitting the throat of a Russian?" A few lines later, someone will answer, "Go to this Web site, and you'll see it." Q: People are looking for such things, then? A: Yes, and now we're coming to the speed at which things move. Once (terrorists' messages or video) appears somewhere, especially after an execution or dramatic event, within seconds it will be diffused and posted on other Web sites. You can find it within seconds all over the Internet. Even the beheading of Mr. Johnson. It was posted first on an Arab (Web) forum in England. But within seconds, it was also posted on American servers and American Web sites and then worldwide. -- ----------------- 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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Senate OKs antipiracy plan
by R. A. Hettinga 28 Jun '04

28 Jun '04

<http://news.com.com/2102-1027_3-5248333.html?tag=st.util.print> CNET News http://www.news.com/ Senate OKs antipiracy plan By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5248333.html Story last modified June 25, 2004, 2:09 PM PDT The U.S. Senate on Friday overwhelmingly approved a controversial proposal that would let federal prosecutors file civil lawsuits against suspected copyright infringers, with fines reaching tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. The so-called Pirate Act has raised alarms among copyright lawyers and lobbyists for peer-to-peer companies, who have been eyeing the recording industry's lawsuits against thousands of peer-to-peer users with trepidation. They worry that the Department of Justice could be even more ambitious. Senate leaders scheduled Friday's vote under a procedure that required the unanimous consent of all members present. Now the Pirate Act, along with a related bill that criminalizes using camcorders in movie theaters, will be forwarded to the House of Representatives for approval. "These acts will provide federal prosecutors with the flexibility and discretion to bring copyright infringement cases that best correspond to the nature of the crime and will assure that valuable works that are pirated before their public release date are protected," said Mitch Bainwol, chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America. Counting a new round of lawsuits filed this week, the RIAA has sued 3,429 people so far. Friday's unanimous vote represents a key legislative victory for the entertainment industry, which has been lobbying fiercely for ways to halt the ever-growing popularity of file-swapping networks. Their reasoning: If civil lawsuits brought by the music industry haven't been enough of a deterrence, perhaps federal suits brought by the Justice Department will be. One influential backer of the Pirate Act has been urging an avalanche of civil suits. "Tens of thousands of continuing civil enforcement actions might be needed to generate the necessary deterrence," Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said when announcing his support for the bill. "I doubt that any nongovernmental organization has the resources or moral authority to pursue such a campaign." "This turns the Department of Justice into a civil law firm for the industry's benefit," said Adam Eisgrau, the executive director of P2P United. Its members include BearShare, Blubster, Grokster, Morpehus and eDonkey. -- ----------------- 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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Cryptography Research's Nate Lawson to Speak at USENIX '04
by R. A. Hettinga 28 Jun '04

28 Jun '04

<http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040628/sfm086_1.html> Yahoo! Finance Press Release Source: Cryptography Research, Inc. Cryptography Research's Nate Lawson to Speak at USENIX '04 Monday June 28, 9:05 am ET Presents Lessons Learned in Secure Storage for Digital Cinema SAN FRANCISCO, June 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital cinema transforms the protection and physical transport of film cans into an outsourced storage security problem, but security expert Nate Lawson believes that conventional IT solutions are not up to the task. Lawson, senior security engineer at Cryptography Research, Inc., has used open source software to rapidly prototype digital cinema storage solutions and will offer advice on how to maintain security throughout the entire cinema life cycle, from filming and production to projection, at the USENIX '04 Annual Technical Conference. ADVERTISEMENT Lawson's presentation, "Building a Secure Digital Cinema Server Using FreeBSD," is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 29 in the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel. "Traditional storage security solutions are designed to operate within a data center under the data owner's physical management and control, but in digital cinema, the data representing the film passes through multiple parties with different incentives and levels of security," said Lawson. "While encryption is important, it is not sufficient to ensure data integrity or provide the evidence needed to ensure accountability and mitigate leaks at critical junctures in film production and distribution." According to Lawson, the projection booth at the local cinema is rapidly taking on many of the aspects of a traditional IT data center, with racks of computers and storage devices, high-bandwidth LANs and SANs, and other equipment. Digital cinema is still in an embryonic stage, with about 90 digital cinema-ready theaters across the U.S. Lawson's talk will present new criteria for evaluating storage security solutions, from disk encryption or file system encryption to other storage security products, and show how open source software supported the rapid development of a prototype digital cinema server in a proprietary environment. Lawson will also discuss the importance of standardization efforts, including the Digital Cinema Initiative. Nate Lawson, senior security engineer at Cryptography Research, is focused on the design and analysis of platform and network security. Previously, he was the original developer of ISS RealSecure and various products for digital cinema, storage security, network mapping, and IPSEC. Nate has evaluated cryptographic systems for FIPS 140 and other secure standards. He is a FreeBSD developer in his spare time, contributing a SCSI target driver and working on ACPI and CAM. Nate holds a B.S. computer science degree from Cal Poly and is a member of USENIX and SMPTE. USENIX, the Advanced Computing Systems Association, supports and disseminates practical research, provides a neutral forum for discussion of technical issues and encourages computing outreach into the community at large. USENIX conferences have become essential meeting grounds for the presentation and discussion of advanced developments in all aspects of computing systems. About Cryptography Research, Inc. Cryptography Research, Inc. provides consulting services and technology to solve complex security problems. In addition to security evaluation and applied engineering work, CRI is actively involved in long-term research in areas including tamper resistance, content protection, network security, and financial services. This year, security systems designed by Cryptography Research engineers will protect more than $60 billion of commerce for wireless, telecommunications, financial, digital television, and Internet industries. For additional information or to arrange a consultation with a member of our technical staff, please contact Jennifer Craft at 415-397-0329 or visit www.cryptography.com. Source: Cryptography Research, Inc. -- ----------------- 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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Senate Passes Two Measures To Combat Piracy on the Web
by R. A. Hettinga 28 Jun '04

28 Jun '04

<http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB108820092814147912,00.html> The Wall Street Journal June 28, 2004 E-COMMERCE/MEDIA Senate Passes Two Measures To Combat Piracy on the Web By NICK WINGFIELD Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL June 28, 2004; Page B3 The Senate passed two pieces of legislation designed to help crack down on individuals who trade pirated music and other material over the Internet. But another Senate proposal is causing a growing uproar among technology companies, which are afraid it could stifle innovation and make devices such as Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod a possible target of entertainment-industry lawsuits. The Senate on Friday passed the Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation, or Pirate, Act, introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy and Orrin Hatch, under which the Department of Justice will be able to bring civil copyright-infringement cases against people who download unauthorized copies of music, movies and other works using Internet file-sharing programs such as Kazaa. Under current law, the Justice Department can bring only criminal prosecutions, making copyright-infringement cases more difficult to prove in court. The Senate on Friday also passed a bill introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R., Texas) and Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) that would increase penalties for distributing pre-release copyrighted works and create a federal law against use of camcorders in movie theaters. Comparable bills still need to be passed by the House of Representatives. While the bills were praised by the entertainment industry and criticized by technology-advocacy groups, the greatest controversy stemmed from a proposal introduced in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week by Sen. Hatch (R., Utah), called the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act. The bill, co-sponsored by a powerful bipartisan group including Senators Bill Frist (R., Tenn.), Tom Daschle (D., S.D.) and Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.), would allow entertainment companies to bring lawsuits against any company that "intentionally induces" individuals to violate copyrights by making unauthorized copies of songs, movies and other works. High-tech companies have often been at loggerheads with legislation backed by the entertainment industry, but the latest proposal seems to have struck an especially sensitive nerve in the tech world. The fear: that the proposal could effectively invalidate a key 1984 Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit between Sony Corp. and the movie industry over the video cassette recorder. The ruling protected the VCR, which allowed users to make bootleg copies of movies, because it also had "substantial noninfringing uses." Critics of the Hatch proposal say it could go far beyond penalizing the file-sharing programs that allow users to swap music and movies. Indeed, they said, it could make targets of manufacturers of DVD and CD recorders, personal computers and other hardware. "We are concerned it will have an immediate chilling effect on the introduction of new technologies," says Jeff Joseph, a spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association. Cindy Cohn, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online civil-liberties group, said that under the Hatch proposal it could be argued, for instance, that the huge song storage capacity of Apple's iPod audio player induces copyright violations since it enhances the appeal of file-sharing programs and the piracy therein. Similarly, Toshiba Corp., maker of the iPod's hard drive, and CNET Networks Inc., which has explained how to use music on the iPod, might be considered inducers, the EFF said. Supporters of the bill insisted that such examples are unrealistic and that the proposal is aimed at a more a narrow group of companies, such as makers of file-sharing programs. -- ----------------- 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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Shuffling to the sound of the Morlocks' dinner bell
by R. A. Hettinga 28 Jun '04

28 Jun '04

<http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jun-27-Sun-2004/opinion/2412740…> Sunday, June 27, 2004 Las Vegas Review-Journal VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Shuffling to the sound of the Morlocks' dinner bell In Atlanta over the May 29 weekend, former movie producer, Bette Midler manager/paramour and Nevada gubernatorial candidate Aaron Russo -- who entered the Libertarian Party's national convention as the front-runner for the presidential nomination -- was doing himself no favors on the convention floor. The Libertarian Party has more than its share of dorks and dweebs, who given the chance will corner you and seek a debate on the most arcane details of anything from private space exploration to the Federal Reserve. I can understand Russo's reluctance to waste too much time on this stuff (though in fact, the Federal Reserve seems to have become one of his own favorite topics, of late). But eyewitnesses report Russo's response was to call such gadflies "idiots," sometimes throwing in a few extra modifiers which I can't print in a family newspaper. On the floor, Russo "had a style that some delegates from the South and Midwest fretted would not sell back home -- brash New York ethnic," comments Brian Doherty of Reason magazine (<http://www.reason.com/links/links060304.shtml>). Doherty observed Russo "throwing around the word `baby,' cracking jokes, grabbing floating balloons and nuzzling them, then mock-complaining that one of his vocal opponents would probably call that sexual harassment ... segueing from a mention of orgasms to introducing his wife." If this is the degree of delicacy with which Aaron treated the 808 voting delegates at the very convention whose nomination he sought, who can guess what level of gravitas and aplomb he might bring to a set of tense diplomatic negotiations with, say, Jacques Chirac? I've met Aaron Russo. I believe he's sincerely concerned about the direction this country is headed. But when Aaron ran for governor of Nevada a few years back, he did so from a rented house with rented furniture. On the weekends he commuted back to visit his immediate family in Southern California -- in a fancy car with Vermont license plates. Even in a state where native-born residents are a rarity, Aaron Russo gave carpetbaggers a bad name. The majority of the LP's delegates in Atlanta concluded Aaron Russo might inject some money and some drama, but that he was a loose cannon. "The delegates voted for the man who was the most like them, who presented in the most professional way the modal opinions and views and style of a Libertarian Party activist -- quiet, intense, no deviation from the catechism, more concerned with eternal ideological and philosophical verities than the political events of the day," summarizes Doherty. Michael Badnarik is no table-pounder. But the political maneuverings that landed Badnarik the LP nomination -- a tense, edge-of-your-seat process conducted in the light of day -- produced the best candidate. Michael Badnarik won the nomination, on the issues, because he won the candidates' debate. How close was it? On the first ballot, the delegates split Russo 258, Michael Badnarik 256, and 246 for syndicated radio host Gary Nolan. Then it started to get interesting. Properly covered and explained, it could have made great live television -- but of course no network but C-SPAN will cover such real political drama, any more. Too much chance the voting public might get exposed to some radical new common-sense ideas. Come November, I with perhaps 1 or 2 percent of the populace will cast my lonely vote for Michael Badnarik, an articulate, reasonable, personable freedom fighter of modest means, who lacks any discernible pathological need or expectation for brass bands, snapping flashbulbs or public adulation. I will vote for a candidate who -- if he had his way -- would end the insane war on drugs; end the income tax; restore my God-given and constitutionally guaranteed firearms rights; protect the rights of all Americans to medical privacy; end the noxious daily trampling of our Bill of Rights in the nation's airports; pull us out of the deadly, illegal and unconstitutional war in Iraq; and put the U.S. military back to work tracking down the real culprits of Sept. 11. "At which point, if we can find them, you think it would be OK to just kill them?" I asked the candidate last week. "Sure," Badnarik said. Sounds about right to me. I will cast that vote on Nov. 2, and get my ass whupped (politically speaking), and go to bed proud and justified. In contrast, 95 percent of you (if you bother going to the polls at all -- and who can blame you for your increasing sense of mortification? You must start to feel like the Eloi, shuffling in to the sound of the Morlocks' dinner bell in H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine") will vote for a lying politician who you know to be a lying politician -- one of two interchangeable Skull & Bonesmen without any discernible political principles, who (no matter which wins) will proceed to raise your taxes, take away more of your freedoms, and continue frittering away whatever remains of America's reputation for decency by continuing the violent military occupation of scores of foreign countries that have never attacked nor declared war upon us. All this in hopes of temporarily propping up the bottom lines of sundry well-heeled banks, oil companies and federally subsidized engineering and construction firms. All because you don't want to "throw away your vote" -- and register your disapproval with that state of affairs -- by voting for a guy who would make you feel decent and clean. Because he's going to lose. So, I don't get it: Let's say you flip a coin and manage to pick the winner. What do you win? Vin Suprynowicz is assistant editorial page editor of the Review-Journal and author of the books "Send in the Waco Killers" and "The Ballad of Carl Drega." His Web site is www.privacyalert.us. -- ----------------- 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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Florida to Tax Home Networks
by R. A. Hettinga 27 Jun '04

27 Jun '04

<http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,63962,00.html> Wired News Florida to Tax Home Networks By Michelle Delio? Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,63962,00.html 02:00 AM Jun. 24, 2004 PT Florida state officials are considering taxing home networks that have more than one computer, under a modified 1985 state law that was intended to tax the few businesses that used internal communication networks instead of the local telephone company. Officials from Florida's Department of Revenue held a meeting on Tuesday to see whether the law would apply to wired households, and exactly who would be taxed. About 200 people attended, including community and business representatives. In 1985 the state passed a law to tax businesses using their own communications networks, because otherwise the state could not collect tax revenue on the businesses' local telephone service. In 2001, that law was expanded to make "any system that is used for voice or data that connects multiple users with the use of switching or routing technology" taxable up to 16 percent. The law is so broad that it would apply to networked computers, wireless services, two-way radios and even fax machines -- or "substitute communications systems," as the state calls them. The tax would be applicable (PDF) to the costs of operating such a substitute communications system, not to the purchase of the system's components. In some cases, it appears the tax would be collected by the providers of communications services such as wireless companies or voice-over-IP firms. The tax would be added to the user's bill and then turned over to the Department of Revenue. But some substitute communications services don't require a service plan. For those, the state could take the tax from the amount deducted on business, and perhaps personal, tax filings. "According to my accountant, the way the law is written, if my tax filing includes deductions for the repair or maintenance of my two computer and one printer network, those costs will be subject to state communication taxes," said graphic artist Linda Kellman, who works from home. "Self-employed people get slammed with insane taxes everywhere, and I've sadly but grudgingly accepted that. But this tax, if they ever try to collect it, would be the last straw. Can I outsource my network to a more sensible state, do you think?" Florida businesses and residents -- and even some officials in the Florida Department of Revenue -- agree that the wording of the law is too broad. In May, the Florida Senate unanimously passed a bill that would have prevented collection of the tax until 2006, during which time the law could be carefully reviewed. The bill was then sent to the House, but wasn't voted on before the summer break, clearing the way for officials to begin collecting the tax. As a result, the Florida Department of Revenue, which, according to local newspaper reports, was in favor of the bill to delay the collection of the tax, must now begin to address how the tax should be implemented. "The tax language is so broad that virtually any communication technologies in your home or office could be subject to this tax," said Chris Hart, spokesman for ITFlorida, a not-for-profit industry organization for the state's technology professionals. "It's difficult to imagine a more anti-technology, anti-business tax. It directly attacks the efficient use of information technology." Florida businesses aren't in favor of the tax. It also could tax almost any Florida resident who uses any sort of modern communications technology, something that Florida's battalions of retirees on fixed incomes have just begun to become aware of, according to Hart. "Information on this issue is starting to reach the general public, and it probably isn't widely understood just yet," he said. "However, once people do realize how this tax could impact them on a personal level, they wake up very fast." "All my life, I've willingly paid my fair share of taxes in exchange for community services," said 73-year-old George Fedoro, a retired engineer who now lives in Boca Raton. "But this tax is not fair and could turn senior citizens into criminals, because no one that I know can or will pay it." Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would have to approve any rule the tax department suggests. Bush has said he isn't in favor of the tax, but many fear he may be swayed by city and county government officials. The tax would go, in part, toward school construction and other projects. Additional meetings on the proposed rules for the tax will be held in other locations around the state later in the year, Department of Revenue officials said. If the law is implemented, Florida would have the most wide-reaching state tax on technology. But it may not be the last -- state officials estimate enforcement of the tax could bring in more than $1 billion a year in revenue for the state. -- ----------------- 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: For Liars and Loafers, Cellphones Offer an Alibi
by Bill Stewart 27 Jun '04

27 Jun '04

At 01:13 PM 6/27/2004, Jack Lloyd wrote: >On Sun, Jun 27, 2004 at 01:01:53PM -0700, Bill Stewart wrote: > > Do any of them let _you_ see the GPS results (which would be useful), > > or are they only available to Big Brother and maybe advertisers? > >Not as far as I know. The cheaper ones certainly don't, >it's possible the more expensive ($300+) models do allow this >but I have seen nothing advertising such a feature. Sigh. It probably doesn't even cost them anything - it's just another user interface menu item. (I suppose that's not strictly true - if I were trying to build a GPS Big Brother feature into cellphones for minimum cost, I guess I'd probably look at having the phone just take satellite readings and forward them to a central site for calculations, to avoid having to put any extra computing support into the machine. Don't know if that's a win or loss cost-wise.) >I think the best bet for something like that is to get a Treo (which don't >have >GPS built in), then get a GPS card for it. I've already got a GPS, but I seldom carry it around unless I'm camping - it's old, so it's too clunky.

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