- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Re: MatchPseudonym Technology / Re: encouraging digital pseudonyms
by Zooko Journeyman 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Igor wrote: > > That cypherpunk project came to fruition a year and a half ago. Kudos! You are the greatest! I look forward to spreading and evolution of your software. Regards, Zooko

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InfoWar 20 / Text Version of "The True Story of the Internet" Part 3
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The True Story of the InterNet Part III InfoWar Final Frontier of the Digital Revolution Behind the ElectroMagnetic Curtain by TruthMonger <tm(a)dev.null> Copyright 1997 Pearl Publishing ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- InfoWar Table of Contents * Prelude to the Past ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Title ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Did you notice the way 'Mojave' was misspelled?" the Shadow asked the Rich Man. Bad BillyG nodded slowly, looked up at the Shadow and said, "I also noticed that he used the 'replay' remailer and spoke of 'deja vu.'" "Indio?" the Shadow asked Bad BillyG, not having to wait for his confirmation to know that the anonymous writer was referring to the Wackenhut/Cabazon weapons fencing operation. "I've got someone checking the physical site as we speak," BillyG told the Shadow, "but I think it's obvious that the references to Lefty and the tassel-haired young woman firing a shotgun with one hand means that these people recreated an event that happened over a decade and a half ago, only" Bad BillyG paused to swallow, "only this time, the targets are us, not them." The Shadow and his earthly compatriot turned their attention to the anonymous post, once again, confirming what they already knew, and scanning for more details of the writers veiled message, therein. Subject: Not-News Gorilla NutWork Rocket-Launched From: nobody(a)REPLAY.COM (Anonymous) Organization: Replay and Company UnLimited To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com [Not-News NetWork-- Mohave Desert] Aug 4/97 WHAT DOES A FIVE HUNDRED POUND GORILLA READ AT THE BREAKFAST TABLE? - sog The "Not-News Gorilla NutWork" was rocket-launched in the Mohave Desert early yesterday morning by a rag-tag bunch of paramilitarist computer gurus who unveiled an InterNet Bill of Bytes that included the words, "MicroSoft shall make no laws..." Angered by a self-appointed council of computer industry magnates who have announced their intention to seize fascist control of the quickly burgeoning Information Highway by controlling the definition of all information, the rebels set up a shooting range which contained a wide variety of targets ranging from copies of the Wall Street Journal to life-sized cardboard cut-outs of a hooded figure referred to only as, "a billionaire to be named later." A Che Guerva look-alike named Lefty (a nickname changed from "Lucky" after a laboratory accident took three of the fingers on his right hand) spoke openly about the group's loose-knit plans to impose their own ratings system on corporations who have "taken it upon themselves to decide what is news and what is not--what is information and what is obscenity." "We have decided on two classes of ratings." explained a tassel- haired young woman as she slid shells into a Winchester Defender sitting on her lap. "On..." she said, lifting the shotgun with one hand, then liberating the hooded head from a nearby cardboard cut-out, before turning back to say, with a Cheshire grin, "...and off." The wide array of luxury automobiles and high-end computer gear on display at the gathering lent credence to the claim of a quiet older man whose only comment during my presence was, "The people here probably have a combined access to more soft targets than the NSA." He turned to punctuate his statement, as many others did that day, with a volley of fire that penetrated targets carrying the corporate logos of a variety of big-name players in the computer industry. Surprisingly, the conversation consisted almost totally of issues surrounding privacy, self-determination and freedom from censorship, with hardly a word being spoken about potential plans of action by individuals or the group. As the quiet man's equally quiet wife spoke in what seemed to be a deathly whisper, telling me, "Everyone here knows what they have to do.", a man with a crude, homemade rocket-launcher sent a flaming projectile into the side of a small propane tank several hundred feet away, as if punctuating the last and most meaningful statement of the day. After quietly dispersing a few minutes later, the group packed up their weapons and climbed into their vehicles without a word between them, each seemingly going their own separate ways. I stayed on after the last of the others had left, reflecting on the fact that I had arrived at this gathering by virtue of a late-night phone call to my unlisted number, and found that I knew none of the participants in the activities. I had the strangest feeling that the others there had arrived by the same anonymous process as I had, and I wondered if they were equally mystified as to who had arranged this impromptu assembly of apparent strangers joined in a common cause. Immediately, one of the pickup trucks driving away backfired, and I thought of synchronicity, knowing that the truck would backfire once again, which it immediately did, before disappearing quietly out of sight. Climbing into my own vehicle, I took a last look at the site, which had been cleaned and left exactly the way it was when I had first arrived on the scene. I experienced a moment of deja vu, as if I had just arrived and none of what I had experienced that day had truly transpired. Somewhere in the distance, a vehicle backfired... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclaimer - I am not a reporter, I am not a paramilitarist, and I am not a computer expert. I have no idea what I was doing there and I am not even certain that I should be speaking about the event...but I am. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Player To Be Named Later put down the 'Not-News Gorilla NutWork Rocket-Launched' post and scanned portions of the INSLAW/Octopus report from NaziWorld, once again. The INSLAW Octopus Software piracy, conspiracy, cover-up, stonewalling, covert action: Just another decade at the Department of Justice By Richard L. Fricker But prior to his arrest in 1991, Riconosciuto provided the Hamiltons with an affidavit that once again brought Brian into the Inslaw picture. "I engaged in some software development and modification work in 1983 and 1984 on proprietary PROMIS computer software product," he stated. "The copy of PROMIS on which I worked came from the US Department of Justice. Earl W. Brian made it available to me through Wackenhut (a security company with close FBI and CIA connections) after acquiring it from Peter Videnieks, who was then a Department of Justice contracting official with the responsibility for PROMIS software. I performed the modifications to PROMIS in Indio, Calif.; Silver Springs, Md.; and Miami, Fla." The modifications included a telecommunications "trap door" that would let the US Government eavesdrop on any other organization using the pirated software, Riconosciuto said. Although Brian denies any involvement with Inslaw or Riconosciuto, the House Judiciary Committee received a report from a special task force of the Riverside County, Calif., Sheriff's Office and District Attorney, stating that on the evening of Sept. 10, 1981, arms dealers, buyers and various intelligence operatives gathered at the Cabazon Indian Reservation near Indio, Calif., for a demonstration of night warfare weapons. The demonstration was orchestrated jointly by Wackenhut and the Cabazon Indian tribe. (Many published reports allege that the Wackenhut/Cabazon joint venture served as a weapons fencing operation for Oliver North's Iran- Contra dealings.) Bad BillyG involved in that mess? A Player To Be Named Later shook his head negatively, to himself. It seemed unlikely, but it would explain a few things which had been troubling him, lately. And it would mean that the anonymous poster knew enough intimate details of an event that had been shrouded in deep secrecy to pose a threat to all those connected with the Indio affair. It would also explain the apparently strange ending to a major play by the news and computer industry heavyweights calling themselves the 'Internet Content Coalition' that the anonymous post seemed to be threatening. For starters, Microsoft made an immediate about-face, within hours of the anonymous post, on their plans to include technology supporting the Internet Content Coalition's aims in their next version of Internet Explorer. >From - Wed Aug 06 19:31:05 1997 From: nobody(a)neva.org (Neva Remailer) Subject: MicroGorilla Postpones Rocket-Launch Plans Until..."likely sometime next year." >Anonymous wrote: > > The "Not-News Gorilla NutWork" was rocket-launched in the Mohave Desert > > early yesterday morning by a rag-tag bunch of paramilitarist computer > > gurus who unveiled an InterNet Bill of Bytes that included the words, > > "MicroSoft shall make no laws..." Steven Vonder Haar wrote, the very next day: > Microsoft Corp. has tabled plans to include new technology in its > Internet Explorer 4.0 browser that would have made "news" oriented > sites exempt from content rating standards promoted for use on the > Internet. >Anonymous wrote: > > Angered by a self-appointed council of computer industry magnates who > > have announced their intention to seize fascist control of the quickly > > burgeoning Information Highway by controlling the definition of all > > information, the rebels set up a shooting range which contained a wide > > variety of targets ranging from copies of the Wall Street Journal to > > life-sized cardboard cut-outs of a hooded figure referred to only as, > > "a billionaire to be named later." Steven Vonder Haar wrote, the very next day: > RSAC President C. Dianne Martin said Microsoft is running out of time > to implement the separate designation for news sites before the launch > of the 4.0 version of Explorer later this year. >Anonymous wrote: > > "We have decided on two classes of ratings." explained a tassel- > > haired young woman as she slid shells into a Winchester Defender > > sitting on her lap. "On..." she said, lifting the shotgun with one > > hand, then liberating the hooded head from a nearby cardboard cut-out, > > before turning back to say, with a Cheshire grin, "...and off." Steven Vonder Haar wrote, the very next day: > However, the company > plans to include the news designation in the 5.0 version of Explorer > when it is made available..."likely sometime next year." There wasn't much doubt that 'Nobody' was pointing out to one and all that the Internet Content Coalition was under siege, and that the opening salvo by 'Anonymous' had brought the largest corporation in history to its knees, in surrender. A bold claim, but would this declaration of war in the battle of the giants to seize control of the official reigns of news and information on the InterNet be backed up in the end, by across the board results? A Player To Be Named Later pored over a FreeAmerica report on the resurrection of the Inslaw ghosts in the mid-1990's. Federal Corruption INSLAW Copyright FreeAmerica and Harry V. Martin, 1995 Congressman Jack Brooks of Texas has opened a new investigation into the INSLAW case. Brooks is investigating allegations that Justice Department officials, including Meese, conspired to force INSLAW into bankruptcy in order to deliver the firm's software to a rival company. The rival firm, according to court records and law enforcement officials, was headed by Earl W. Brian, a former Cabinet officer under then California Governor Ronald Reagan and a longtime friend of several high-ranking Republican officials. [Earl W. Brian! Who had seized control of United Press International (UPI) in a deal every bit as shady as the Inslaw affair] On March 21, 1992, [Michael] Riconoscuito stated in an affidavit to the Court and Congress, and before he was arrested, the following: * During the 1980s he served as the Director of Research for a joint venture between the Wackenhut Corporation of Coral Gables, Florida, and the Cabazon Band of Indians of Indio, California. The joint venture was located on the Cabazon reservation. [Near the Salton Sea, a long-time haunt of the Author, who brought a strange variety of computer gurus to the area, purportedly for Corvina fishing, but what was the real story about their travels there?] * The Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture sought to develop and/or manufacture certain materials that are used in military and national security operations, including night vision goggles, machine guns, fuel- air explosives, and biological and chemical warfare weapons. * The Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture was intended to support the needs of a number of FOREIGN governments and forces, including forces and governments in Central America and the Middle East. The Contras in Nicaragua represented one of the most important priorities for the joint venture. * The Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture maintained close liaison with 'certain elements' of the United States Government, including representatives of intelligence, military and law enforcement agencies. * Among the frequent visitors to the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture were Peter Videnieks of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and a close associate of Videnieks by the name of Earl W. Brian. Brian is a private businessman who lives in Maryland and who has maintained close business ties with the U.S. intelligence community for many years. * The purpose of the PROMIS software modification that I made in 1983 and 1984 was to support a plan for the implementation of PROMIS in law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide. Earl W. Brian was spearheading the plan for this worldwide use of the PROMIS computer software. * Some of the modifications that I made were specifically designed to facilitate the implementation of PROMIS within two agencies of the Government of Canada: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS). Earl W. Brian would check with me from time to time to make certain that the work would be completed in time to satisfy the schedule for the RCMP and CSIS implementations of PROMIS. [The RCMP and CSISthe same entities that the Author had shared a Russian language class with in Regina, Saskatchewan, just before the Moscow Olympics. Who had he encountered in that group who would later be instrumental in acquiring the PROMIS software for the Canadians?] * The propriety version of PROMIS, as modified by me, was, in fact implemented in both the RCMP and the CSIS in Canada. It was my understanding that Earl W. Brian had sold this version of PROMIS to the Government of Canada. * A Player To Be Named Later suddenly remembered the email to the CypherPunks mailing list and the corporate headquarters of the Internet Content Coalition that had been forwarded from the LMBoyd Website, which was known to be a forum for the Circle of Eunuchs to send veiled messages to set the stage for their more pointed attacks on the Dark Forces. It was an email that was sent out when the dark specter of the Internet Content Coalition first began to flex their muscles. >From - Fri Jul 25 19:38:14 1997 Subject: Sampler: July 25 To: multiple recipients of <sampler(a)lmboyd.com> ====================================================== The serial killer does in one person at a time in intervals. The mass killer murders however many in a single mad rampage. The mass killer is usually suicidal. The serial killer isn't. Q. Does any animal deliberately stalk human beings for food? A. None but the polar bear. At least, such is the claim of the experts. ====================================================== LMBoyd Web Site / U. S. Newspapers / Start Email / Stop Email http://www.LMBoyd.com/postscript.htm "Of course!" A Player To Be Named Later slapped his forehead, amazed that he had not seen the connection sooner between the 'mass murderer, serial killer stalking humans from the North' email, the Not-News threat singling out "a billionaire to be named later," and the email sent to the Internet Content Coalition players just before they held the meeting where they effectively folded their hand in their attempt to take over control over defining what was 'official' news on the InterNet, and what was not. He reread, once again, the anonymous post sent just hours before the Internet Content Coalition's grand agenda bit the dust: "In July, Anson Ng, a reporter for the Financial Times of London was shot and KILLED in Guatemala. He had reportedly been trying to interview an American there named Jimmy Hughes, a one-time director of security for the Cabazon Indian Reservation secret projects. "In April, a Philadelphia attorney named Dennis Eisman was found DEAD, killed by a single bullet in his chest. According to a former federal official who worked with Eisman, the attorney was found dead in the parking lot where he had been due to meet with a woman who had crucial evidence to share substantiating Riconosciuto's claims. "Both Eisman's and Ng's deaths were declared 'suicides' by authorities. "Fred Alvarez, a Cabazon tribal leader who was in vocal opposition to the developments on the reservation, was found SHOT TO DEATH WITH TWO FRIENDS in 1981. Their murder remains unsolved. At last, the whole bizarre, implausible scenario finally came together in A Player To Be Named Later's mind. The Author's presence near the belly of the beast in Indio had not been a mere coincidence. When the Internet Content Coalition made their move, the Circle of Eunuchs already had the information they needed to connect several of the players in the proposed news cartel with the trail of deaths surrounding both those involved in the INSLAW debacle and the reporters closing in on the real story involved. And they had made it more than plain that some of those involved in the Wackenhut-Cabazon arms deals were now playing for the oppositionand that bullets don't discriminate between the rich and the poor. A Player To Be Named Later was still mystified as to how the Magic Circle had been able to pull off such a bold, in-your-face maneuver on some of the Titans of the news and computer industries. In the early days, after the dissemination of "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" had begun in 1989, the Circle of Eunuchs had come under fierce attack from a variety of sources from within the secret government hunting them. Mysterious deaths, established careers going up in flames, overnight. The Magic Circle had quickly disappeared far into the underground of computer society. Then, the Circle had begun to show their hand, more and more, now reaching the point where they could apparently do battle with the heavyweights working behind the scenes with Gomez and the Dark Allies. But A Player To Be Named Later hadn't seen any indication that the Circle of Eunuchs had managed to gain possession of a hole-card that could account forunless "Casolaro!" A Player To Be Named Later whispered, as if speaking the name aloud might bring down fire from the heavens. Quickly, he did a disk search for a vaguely remembered article from Conspiracy Nation Forwarded: >From the Patriot Archives ftp site at: ftp://tezcat.com/patriot Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 3 Num. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ("Quid coniuratio est?") THE OCTOPUS =========== By Karen Bixman (For The People *News Reporter*, 11/14/94) On the morning of August 11, 1991, Danny Casolaro was found dead in the bathroom of his hotel room at the Sheraton Hotel in Martinsburg, West Virginia. His wrists had been slashed ten times; his briefcase and notes were missing. The authorities labeled the death a suicide, and before Casolaro's family had been contacted, the body was embalmed. ----------------------------------------------------------------- If you would like "Conspiracy Nation" sent to your e-mail address, send a message in the form "subscribe conspire My Name" to listproc(a)prairienet.org -- To cancel, send a message in the form "unsubscribe conspire" to listproc(a)prairienet.org but with absolutely nothing in the subject line of the message. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Damn! He had nailed it! Karen Bixman's article had confirmed everything that A Player To Be Named Later had increasingly suspected as his mind pored over the mountain of information which had seemed so tentatively, but treacherously, related. Bixman had laid down an utterly astounding, twisted trail of closely connected, mysterious deaths and blatant murders surrounding the INSLAW and Iran-Contra misdeeds that completed the connections between the past and current players in the battle for control of world supremacy in computer information and communications. What's more, the timing of the disappearance of Danny Casolaro's extensive notes on the winding serpent of evil surrounding these affairs coincided with the Magic Circle's unmistakable reentry into manifest participation in the battle against the Evil One and the Dark Forces under his command. The Coupe de Gras, however, was the source of the Conspiracy Nation newsletter. Prairienet.org! From whence sprang the apparently unrelated Bureau42 clique who had seized the opportunity to host 'The True Story of the InterNet' transcripts, despite the troubled and bloody history of those who had done so in the past. Bianca had mentioned to Mike Denney, at Basis Inc., that she had been prepared to hack the Bureau42 servers when they came under attack upon placing 'Part II' and 'Part III' on their system, but that they had managed to clear up the problems that developed on their own, and had done so in a surprisingly short period of time. Only one thing was still bothering A Player To Be Named Later. Microsoft had been the first member of the Internet Content Coalition to publicly fold their hand in the battle to control news and information ratings across the InterNet, but Gates seemed, on the surface, to be less visibly connected to the extremely messy past misconduct of the others, and thus seemed to have the least to lose if the shit hit the fan. Gate's quick concession to the veiled threats had definitely been the catalyst in causing the hasty retreat of the other members of the news cartel that had seemed to be on the drawing board for quite some time in the plans of Gomez and the Dark Alliesbut why? Bill Gates had not become the richest and most overtly powerful individual on the face of the earth by fighting against the grand designs of the Evil One, but he seemed to be playing his cards close to his chest, in a manner that suggested that he had an agenda of his own that might not run exactly parallel to that of the Dark Forces. What was BillyG's game? A Player To Be Named Later had been involved in the grand battle taking place behind the scenes of everyday reality for long enough to know that it was all done with mirrors. "And each man, in his time, plays many parts." he said, perplexed for the moment. "To Shakespeare!" A Player To Be Named Later said, lifting his glass in toast. "A member of the Magic Circle, if there ever was one." "If there ever was one" he repeated, smiling at his unintentional inside joke. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Shadow was watching Bad BillyG closely, for any sign of subterfuge in his inner demeanor. "You're certain about Blanc Weber?" he asked, once again. "Well, I could be wrong, but we've investigated her thoroughly, and every indication is that all that nonsense about her development of the HydroCube is just that-nonsense." BillyG shrugged his shoulders, apparently unconcerned with what he regarded as a small, internal company matter. "I could have her isolated, but I don't really see much point. If she is hiding something, then it's probably better not to let her know how closely she is being monitored. Perhaps you should put some of the Dark Allies on her tail for a while, in case there is something that my people have missed." "No, I don't think that will be necessary." the Shadow replied, casually. He had instructed his men to monitor Blanc Weber's movements and activities months ago, as well as those of the spooks Bad BillyG had assigned to watch her. His own spooks had likewise turned up nothing positive, but he had pressed the matter with Gates in order to judge his reaction just the same. "Well, her digital implant went according to plan," BillyG added, "so we will be able to yank her chain on a moment's notice, if it becomes necessary to do so, in the future." The "billionaire to be named later" sat back and allowed himself to indulge in the luxury of looking forward to the moment when A Player To Be Named Later would find out much, much more than he really wanted to know about Bad BillyG's plans for the tattered remnants of the Magic Circle who were attempting to interfere with his own vision of the direction the future of the InterNet should take at this nadir point in time, when the battle for control of virtual reality was about to explode into every single facet of human life ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bubba Rom Dos thought about the forefather of his technical namesake, who had so far managed to walk with the Evil One as far as the bridge in his rise to riches, fame and power a hundred years in the past. The Cowboy, Priscilla, Alexis, Jonathan, and d'Shauneaux were likewise joined with him in contemplation of this paradoxical figure from the past whose role in the great battle between the Forces of Light and the Forces of Darkness had remained an enigma throughout the history and legends of the Circle of Eunuchs. Friend or foe, there was no denying that Billy the Kid was going to play a major role in the direction that the thundering train of history was about to take as it approached the crossroads of destiny on its way to an ElectroMagnetic Future where freedom would hinge on the free flow of Taoist bytes routing around the enslaving chains of Fascist bits that Gomez and the Dark Allies had been carefully laying in place since the dawn of the Computer Era. Bubba Rom Dos, sage and savant, deviant and derelict, raised a glass of "Bubba's Special Reserve" in toast, proclaiming as the tattered remnants of the Magic Circle joined him in his libations, "To Billy the Kidor Bad BillyGto the things that he didor to what he may be" The Trei Transponder began softly humming in the background, as if trying to tell the small assembly something very, very important for them to know. Then it fell silent Copyright "Anonymous TruthMonger <billg(a)microsoft.com>" "That's not a government backdoor <bug>. It's a hacker's backdoor <feature>." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" "WebWorld & the Mythical Circle of Eunuchs" "InfoWar (Part III of 'The True Story of the InterNet') Soviet Union Sickle of Eunuchs Secret WebSite ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Baby Bells Join In Fighting US Encryption Control
by Joe Acosta 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From <http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/970923/tech/stories/encrypt_2.html> [ Yahoo | Write Us | Search | Info ] [ Index | News | World | Biz | Tech | Politic | Sport | Scoreboard | Entertain | Health ] [ Reuters | Wired | ZDNet ] Tuesday September 23 10:04 AM EDT Baby Bells Join In Fighting US Encryption Control By Aaron Pressman WASHINGTON - Five of the influential "Baby Bell" regional telephone companies on Monday joined a coalition urging Congress to reject a proposal that would give U.S. law enforcement agencies access to otherwise secure computer files. The phone companies, along with dozens of high-tech companies and business groups, signed a letter opposing proposed limits on encryption technology used to protect computer files from outside access or interference. Louis Freeh, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has urged Congress to enact the limits. The Baby Bells and other opponents of encryption limits sent their letter to U.S. Rep. Thomas Bliley, Republican of Virginia, chairman of the House Commerce Committee. Later this week, the committee is expected to consider an encryption bill authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican. Prompted by Freeh, the committee is currently leaning toward amending Goodlatte's encryption bill to impose new limits. Five Baby Bells -- Ameritech, Bell Atlantic Corp., BellSouth Corp. , SBC Communications and US West -- signed the letter opposing the restrictions. Other groups signing the letter ranged across the political spectrum from civil libertarians at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) to conservatives at Americans for Tax Reform. This would be a direct hit at the telecommunications infrastructure," said CDT executive director Jerry Berman who helped organize Monday's letter. It's an unmitigated disaster. " The letter was also signed by International Business Machines, which had previously been seen as one of the few companies not openly opposing the Clinton administration's policy restricting encryption exports. But the domestic limits being considered by the Commerce Committee would go well beyond current policy. Encryption products, which scramble information and render it unreadable without a password or software key," are increasingly being used to secure communications and electronic commerce over the Internet. But the FBI and other law enforcement agencies argue that encryption will also be used by criminals and terrorists to thwart wiretaps and police surveillance. The amendment being considered by the committee would require all encryption products sold in the United States to include a back door" allowing the government to crack any message covertly. [ SNIP for FAIR USE ]

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Random character stereograms and stego
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Here's an application which is well suited for steganography. This is a random-character stereogram. Look at it with a monospace font and unfocus your eyes so the two blocks of text merge, and you will see the message HI displayed: VGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3Qg VGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3Qg bWVzc2FnZSB3aGljaCBp bWVc2AFnZB3xaGljaCBp cyBiZWluZyBzZW50IHZp cyBZWmluZBzvZW50IHZp YSBzdGVnYW5vZ3JhcGh5 YSBdGVnYW5v9Z3JhcGh5 LgpIYWQgdGhpcyBiZWVu LgpYW1QgdhpBcyBiZWVu IGFuIGFjdHVhbCBtZXNz IGFIGoFjdVhXbCBtZXNz YWdlLCBpdCB3b3VsZCBo YWdlLCBpdCB3b3VsZCBo YXZlIGJlZW4gZW5jcnlw YXZIGJlZW4vgZW5jcnlw dGVkCnVzaW5nIGEgbWV0 dGVkCVzaUW5nIGEgbWV0 aG9kIHdoaWNoIHByb2R1 aG9kIdoa4WNoIHByb2R1 Y2VzIG91dHB1dCB3aGlj Y2VzI91dAHB1dCB3aGlj aCBpcyBpbmRpc3Rpbmd1 aCBcyBpbmRnpc3Rpbmd1 aXNoYWJsZQpmcm9tIHJh aXNoYWJsZQpmcm9tIHJh bmRvbSBieXRlcy4K bmRvbSBieXRlcy4K This was just done manually, so it's pretty crude. It would be easy to write a program to display any message desired. People could get in the habit of sending long vertical stereograms saying "GO GIANTS" or "MICROSOFT SUX" or whatever they felt like at the moment. The program could either generate its own random numbers or else suck in random data from a disk file. In this case, if you take the left block and reformat it so that it can be base64 decoded, you will see a short message. (Unix users can pass the left block through "mimencode -u".) In a real stego application the message would be encrypted in 'stealth' form so it was indistinguishable from random bits to anyone who did not hold the decryption key. This could even catch on as a legal "thumb your nose at the spooks" fad, people adding random sterograms at the end of their messages. You could even have an active .sig which had a constant message but used different random characters each time. They wouldn't actually be sending anything but there would be no way to be sure. Some people say they'll just forbid transmitting data that looks random, but realistically, that would be very unlikely to happen.

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Mail archive now available for Crowds mailing list
by Avi Rubin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

There is now a hypertext archive of the crowds-talk mailing list at http://www.research.att.com/projects/crowds/archive/ It will be updated regularly.

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Re: Government Regulation & Scienctific Research (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 02:52:06 -0700 (PDT) > From: Alan Olsen <alan(a)clueserver.org> > Subject: Re: Government Regulation & Scienctific Research > I expect the first world to start to take after the East German model. You mean the one that failed after only 40 years?... > -- Those who are precieved as being a possible threat will be > marginalized, jailed, forced to flee, or co-opted. > > -- A large portion of the population will be devoted towards control of > the population. (Either in law enforcement, paid snitches, propaganda, or > similar activities.) There is a problem with these two conclusions. In short, the impact on American business would be devastating. It won't happen to this degree for the simple reason that there wouldn't be anyone to actualy pay for it and the American citizen is a LOT less likely to stand their post after 3 months of not getting paid then a Stasi proll ever did. If you think about it a moment there are really only TWO issues driving this entire situation in this country: - increased technology and its run-away consequences are completely beyond the keen of politico's because they can't spend the number of hours per day playing with it to understand it AND still run a campaign. They feeled threatened and as a consequence their national model (in their heads) is threatened. Politicians hate to hear: "Oh, I don't need any help. Thanks." With the ease that technology jumps ANY boundary it's a futile task they've handed themselves. - the drug war. With the movement currently gaining strength in this country for medical marijuana and the knock-down-drag-out that's coming between the states and the feds over it, the cost will be prohibitive. We are currently at something like 1/150 people in this country in jail, the majority for minor drug offences. The impact of this (this is 1 person in jail out of every 2 blocks of homes) on the citizen-government relationship is souring fast. When the police in San Francisco say on national news they won't prosecute pot houses because they "have more important things to deal with like murder and burglary" something big is coming... And it ain't a bunch of nazi stormtroopers on every corner. > -- Much of the Government's budget will be devoted to citizen control. No it won't, it will be dedicated to spin-control and legerdemain. Government toadies like their air conditioned desks entirely too much. > In 50 years I expect that the creative citizenry will either be > underground, fled, or no longer participating in the active discorse of > the society. All of the life will be sucked out of the population in > order to fight the "Scapegoats of the Week/Month/Year/Century". I doubt it. What's going to happen is that the reach of government is going to weaken because it's going to become harder (not easier) to track individuals. Why do you think these folks are so hot and heavy on this now? They know something is coming that will make their world-view irrelevant and it scares the hell out of them. History shows that any country that does what you describe lasts no more than a couple of generations (the 20 yr. kind). Even if you go back to the Romans you will find that there is a definite pattern to the way the laws swing from restrictive to permissive. > It will only fall apart when we reach a level where no one wants to live > here any more and it falls apart from internal system failure and > hemoraging. It will fall apart because much of the discussion will become irrelevant. It's interesting that doom-sayers like yourself never mention that the number of opposition camps to the fed's is growing, not lessening. They are finding it harder, not easier, to figure out what people are doing and why. The one negative aspect to this movement is that it tends to attrack very indipendant individuals who don't know how to cooperate, cooperation is the only advantage the feds have on their side. ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Not worried? You will be... (fwd from Yucks)
by Adam Shostack 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

----- Forwarded message from Nev Dull ----- >From nev(a)bostic.com Tue Sep 23 02:39:35 1997 Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 14:05:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Nev Dull <nev(a)bostic.com> Subject: Not worried? You will be... To: nev(a)bostic.com (/dev/null) Not worried about companies collecting information about your purchasing habits? You will be... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Dear Mr. Jones: Our research indicates that you have not bought condoms at SpiffyMart recently. (Your last purchase was 8 weeks ago.) Further, you have stopped buying feminine hygiene products, but have sharply increased your frozen pizza and dinners usage in the same time frame. It's clear that Ms. Jody Sanders and you are no longer "an item". (It's probably for the best -- she consistently buys inexpensive shampoo, and it was obvious that the two of you were not economically compatible.) The Postal Service database confirms that she filed a change of address form. We at Hotflicks International offer our condolences. As the number-one vender of hot XXX-rated videos, we want you to know that our products can help you through this difficult period. When you're feeling lonely, check out our unmatched catalog, there is guaranteed to be something that you'll want to purchase! Order from this catalog and we'll throw in an extra tape FREE! Yours Truly, Pat Aureilly, Hotflicks Marketing Manager ps: That "blond" at O'Dougles last Saturday for whom you bought a Strawberry Marguerita? Forget it! Her HMO database confirms that she's had three yeast infections this year and was tested for a sexually transmitted disease. Our tapes are much safer! ------------------------------ ----- End of forwarded message from Nev Dull ----- -- "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -Hume

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Intel Committee Report on SAFE
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The House Select Committee on Intelligence has published its report on SAFE, including supporting and opposing views of its controversial amendment, estimated costs and analysis: http://jya.com/hr105-108-pt4.htm (195K)

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Re: "Matchcode" technology sparks privacy flames.....
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 09:36:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Julie DeFalco <defalco(a)cei.org> To: Declan McCullagh <declan(a)well.com> Subject: Re: "Matchcode" technology sparks privacy flames..... 1) CEI's position on this stuff, in a nutshell, is that the only things the government should worry about on the Internet are the traditional things that the government ought to worry about: enforcing rule of law and private property rights. The government should not run around making up excuses to regulate privacy preferences on the internet. For a full exposition of our position, feel free to check out our filings on the FTC web page (www.ftc.gov) The biggest problem in my mind was that the FTC was talking about a medium that is pretty new and still has a lot of growing pains. The FTC wants to get in on the ground floor of regulation and direct the development of the Internet -- that's industrial policy and should be called that so at least we're all talking about the same thing. Meanwhile, lots of folks find it easier to cry out for a new regulation, rather than negotiate a solution among conflicting interests, which is time consuming and messy. This happens in all other industries, so it's not surprising that such pressure has emerged here. After all, regulators need an excuse for their jobs, and outside groups calling for more regulation often have the opportunity to direct how the regulation is written and implemented (in other words, they can gain power and access to power). I think that the problems discussed at the hearing are not only outside the proper sphere of government (actually, the FTC in my mind is outside the proper sphere of government), but that most of those problems would be eventually worked out in time. 2)>>>>One of the main assertions made by both sides in the privacy >>battles >>>>is people must be informed when a third party is gathering >>"personal" >>>>information about them. No, I never said that. I said that if you release information about yourself into a public sphere, then you have no right to control the downstream use of that information (because that is essentially controlling the behavior of others). I said that in terms of companies' web pages, it would probably be a good idea to inform people of this action. And that without a law, or even without government pushing, it would happen anyway. 3) Re: the gossip question: I was going to write what Declan said, only he said it much better. I don't think that you or anybody can properly draw a line between how much gossip is "too much" gossip, and when one should "draw a line." Maybe we know "too much gossip" when we see it, but do you really want to cede that much control over the speech and actions of others to a judge? That's it for now. Bye, Julie

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NewSpeak: TIS RecoverKey
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text X-Authentication-Warning: fma66.fma.com: majordomo set sender to owner-espam(a)lists.espace.net using -f X-Orig-From: rah-web <rah(a)shipwright.com> X-e$pam-source: Various X-Sender: rah(a)pop.sneaker.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 21:20:35 -0400 To: espam(a)intertrader.com From: Robert Hettinga <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: NewSpeak: TIS RecoverKey X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by lbo.leftbank.com id VAA21601 Sender: owner-espam(a)lists.espace.net Precedence: bulk Reply-To: e$(a)thumper.vmeng.com X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by pop.sneaker.net id WAA04695 --------------------------------------------------------------------- This mail is brought to you by the e$pam mailing list --------------------------------------------------------------------- From: rah-web <rah(a)shipwright.com> Reply-To: rah(a)shipwright.com MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Robert Hettinga <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: NewSpeak: TIS RecoverKey http://www.prnewswire.com:80/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/s tory/9-23-9 7/322338&EDATE= Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; name="322338&EDATE=" Content-Disposition: inline; filename="322338&EDATE=" X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by lbo.leftbank.com i d VAA21516 [Todays News] Frontier Technologies and TIS Announce Strategic Alliance to Deliver RecoverKey-enabled e-Lock Partnership Brings Together Strong Cryptography and User-Controlled Ke y Recovery MEQUON, Wis., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Frontier Technologies and Trus ted Information Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: TISX), today announced a strategic all iance to integrate Frontier Technologies' e-Lock(TM) security family with TIS' RecoverKey(TM) Cryptographic Service Provider (CSP), offering customers a n easy-to-use solution for managing strong encryption across Windows(R) 95 and Windows NT(R) applications. This alliance increases opportunities for implementing and managing strong encryption worldwide while putting users in control of their own data and privacy. The e-Lock products will work seamlessly across the Internet, intrane ts and extranets with the RecoverKey CSP so that users can employ the strong est levels of cryptography with the means to prevent "locked and lost" data. Customers using e-Lock with RecoverKey simply click a button to secure documents and/or to recover data that would otherwise be lost due to a forgotten password or lost key. "RecoverKey gives users the opportunity to enact data saving measures up front when employing the e-Lock solution," said Dr. Prakash Ambegaonkar, Frontier Technologies' Chairman & CEO. "Frontier's expertise coupled wit h TIS' innovative technology gives users the strongest levels of assurance that their valuable information is locked up tight while providing an emergenc y mechanism for unlocking it if the key becomes lost or destroyed." "TIS is pleased to join forces with Frontier Technologies in their commitment to meet market demand for applications that support user contr olled key recovery," commented Homayoon Tajalli, TIS Executive Vice President a nd General Manager, Cryptographic Products. "Global e-commerce and communic ation depends on impenetrable transmission and storage of valuable information. e-Lock can now bring customers the benefit of robust encryption with a ba ckup plan in place for recovering locked data if the original key is inaccessi ble." Frontier Technologies' e-Lock security family is a complete, standards-based solution for creating, using and managing secure applicat ions for intranets and the Internet in both Windows(R) 95 and Windows NT(R) environments. The e-Lock family of products, e-Sign, Secure Messaging Toolkit, and e-Lock PKI support digital signatures, encryption and public key infrastructure. Trusted Information Systems' RecoverKey CSP is the first software of its kind to reach a worldwide commercial market, enabling Windows 95 and Wind ows NT desktop users to implement powerful cryptography at the click of a but ton. Incorporating popular algorithms such as RSA, DES, Triple DES and 128-bit RC2/RC4, the RecoverKey CSP will provide the components necessary to encr ypt and decrypt information seamlessly across applications. RecoverKey CSP trial versions are currently shipping and the RecoverK ey CSP-enabled e-Lock product will be available in late fall. Visit the Fro ntier Technologies website at http://www.frontiertech.com for free download of the e-Lock products. Frontier Technologies' mission is to pioneer Internet and Intranet applications that make individuals more productive and businesses more competitive in a global market. Trusted Information Systems, Inc., is a leading provider of comprehen sive security solutions for protection of computer networks, including global Internet-based systems, internal networks, and individual workstations an d laptops. RecoverKey is a trademark of Trusted Information Systems, Inc. e-Loc k, e-Cert, e-Sign, e-Mail are trademarks of Frontier Technologies Corporatio n. All other product and company names may be trademarks of their respective owners. SOURCE Frontier Technologies CONTACT: Ann M. Krauss, 520-797-0583, 520-797-0182 (fax), Ann(a)Frontiertech.com or Nicole E. Rogers, 414-241-4555 x293, 414-241-7084 (fax), NicoleR(a)Frontiertech.com, both of Frontier Technologies, or Shoshana Rosenthal of Trusted Information Systems, 301-947-7194, shoshana(a)tis.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- [PR Newswire Logo] (Today's News) (Company News On-Call) (Feature News) (Automotive) (Entertainment) (Health/Biotech)(Technology) (Financial) (Energy) (Washington and the World) (Money Talks) (About PRN)(Ask PRN) (Links) (P RN Events) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- ©1997 PR Newswire. All rights reserved. Redistribution, retransmission, republication or commercial exploitation of the contents of this site are expressly prohibited without the written consent of PR Newswire. 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