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Drug policy activist *searched and detained* by notorious South Carolina principal after being invited onto school grounds
by Tim Meehan 22 Nov '03

22 Nov '03

Report by Dan Goldman (dan(a)ssdp.org) of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (http://www.ssdp.org) Forwarded from Loretta Nall (alabamamjparty(a)graffiti.net) of the US Marijuana Party (http://www.usmjparty.com) Loretta said: This just in from my buddy Dan Goldman who is still on the ground in South Carolina --- Now I promised you a good story and here it is... On Thursday when I went back to Stratford High School, I had a rather unexpected encounter. I started the day out as usual, passing out DPA's information, SSDP's stickers and a few of the SSDP t-shirts that I had left. At one point, a pair of teachers walked passed and I offered both of them the pamphlet and booklet. One of them asked "What is it?" and one of the students around him answered, "It has to do with keeping our school drug-free." A heavy-set man whose name I later learned was Mr. Green, took both the pamphlet and the booklet. The man next to him, a younger, smaller teacher whose name I later learned was Mr. McCombs refused my offer. In my youthful exhuberance, I said some snide remark to the effect of, "Way to set an example for your students by remaining ignorant." I know I shouldn't have said something like that and I didn't even think he heard me, but I was mistaken. Read on... Now, after most of the students dispersed, I did what I did the day before and walked through a muddy foot path, about 30 feet over to the school grounds to pass out a few more flyers. As I was walking back through the foot path to my car, I saw both of the teachers again and I kindly offered my last pamphlet to Mr. McCombs, who had neglected to take it before. This time he was very upset. He wanted to know why I would say what I said to him about staying ignorant. He said, "I've been to college and I've been teaching for 4 years, don't you think I may know a little something about keeping kids drug-free?" I said, "You may know a little something, but you probably haven't been exposed to what's in this pamphlet, so why don't you take one and find out?" He told me he didn't have time to read one and I suggested he do what most people do and put it in his pocket to read when he does have time. Mr. McCombs continued to wonder aloud why I thought it was necessary to undermine him in front of students and I continued to wonder to myself how one snide comment can undermine the authority of a teacher who has their attention every day for an hour? Now at this point, the two teachers began threatening me with this whole issue of tresspassing on school grounds. Since I was in fact on school grounds momentarily without permission, I really didn't want to get into it with them. I was about to leave with the excuse of another appointment (which was true, Ian Mance was arriving around 4:30pm and I wanted to see him as I've been staying at his parents' house for the last week) but then they made me an offer I couldn't refuse.... They offered to take me to see Principal McCrackin. Now, last week Mr. McCrackin had sent home a letter to parents offering to meet with any of them that still had concerns about the drug raid. However, according to the parents I've spoken with who've tried to meet with him, he's always busy. So I didn't think I would have the chance to meet the man behind the myth, and when the chance just presented itself like that, I thought it was too good to be true. Well, like everything too good to be true... It was! As I walked through the school, continuing my witty banter with the two teachers, we entered the principal's office and to my surprise, there were two officers of the law instead of one Principal. Immediately, one of them, a very big man named Cpl. Aucoin demanded my identification. Now having just seen BUSTED, I wasn't immediately inclined to give it to him. However I did tell him my name and I showed him the materials I was distributing. I asked Cpl. Aucoin if I was free to go and he said, "No," that he was detaining me. The two teachers insisted they caught me tressassing and I corrected them and explained they encountered me in between the back of strip mall and the school grounds on that muddy foot path. Then, in came McCrackin... I'm not sure how many of you have seen a picture of George McCrackin, but he's in his mid to late 50's, I would guess, dark hair that's greying but looks like he colors it. He's about 5 ft. 7in tall and maybe 170 lbs. He's a short, stout man, the kind with a Napolean complex of sorts. He looks tired beyond his years, like a man who has been at his job for too long. He's been principal of Stratford High School since it opened 20 years ago and before that he was assistant Superintendent of Schools in North Charleston and a principal and teacher for years before that, so the man has been in education for quite some time -- his entire adult life, in fact. That he cares for children was evident from speaking to many people in the community, but that he pre-judges people and labels them "good" or "bad" and then acts towards them accordingly, was also quite evident from speaking to his students, especially those who were at one time "good", but then did something to get themselves labeled "bad". They speak quite insightfully about how he treats his students. Upon speaking to Mr. McCrackin and being threatened with an arrest for tresspass, I decided to give up my ID. Cpl. Aucoin ran my ID as Mr. McCrackin disappeared with his two teachers to persumably view the videotape from one of the school's 70 surveillance cameras. He came back and said he had evidence I was "on his campus." I admitted to passing out a few materials to 6 students, said as much to him and apologized for not knowing I needed his permission to pass out flyers. (It wasn't as sarcastic as it sounds when you read this, honest.) He then asked me where I was parked, I think because he wanted to nail me for parking in "his lot" as well, but unfortunately as I told him, I was parked in the strip mall parking lot, which is off school grounds. Cpl. Aucoin asked if I saw the sign that said "For Customers Only" and I explained that I had purchased my lunch at the Subway in the strip mall, so I was indeed, a customer. Now at this point things got really weird. See earlier that afternoon, as school let out, a bunch of kids were speeding around the parking lot and burning the rubber on their tires. Then the police came and chased one of them. I believe Mr. McCrackin was rightly concerned with this incident, but seemed to place the blame in a strange place. (Does this sound framiliar?) When I told them I bought my lunch at Subway, he went on about how he was going to have that place closed down and what a dangerous situation it was causing. I couldn't understand how a sandwhich shop could be responsible for high school kids doing stupid things in their cars, but I guess it makes sense somewhere in McCrackin World. After he ended his subway tirade, I got to explaining about the "Safety First" philosophy and from what he said to me in response, I can say with 100% certainty that this man has lost his grip on reality. He told me he knew "Just Say No" wasn't working because they have Red Ribbon Week at school and although it's a school of 2700 people, there were 20-30 who were just going to do what they wanted to do anyways. I was honestly shocked that this man who has been an educator all his life, believes that there are only 20-30 students using drugs at his school. I spoke to at least 20-30 kids every day after school and I know I'm not hitting the lion's share of the drug using population at that school (most of whom are overwhelmingly marijuana smokers only), just the ones who happen to walk home that way or hang out in that area after school. So with what must have been a look of stupified incredulity on my face, the unexpected happened... George McCrackin told me to turn around and put my hands on my head with my fingers crossed. He said he was going to search me, as he had the right to search anyone in his school. He asked me if I had anything in my pockets I shouldn't have. The whole time I'm in utter disbelief that I'm being detained and searched by the principal of Stratford High School, Mr. George McCrackin. The irony was too much. After emptying my pockets and picking my pants back up for me (my belt wasn't tight enough) and not finding anything of interest in my pockets other than cash, keys and scraps of paper, I was told to sit down. He was still looking through my stuff when he asked me, "Who's Steve Silverman?" (I had Steve's name on a list of voicemail messages to return.) I told him "Mr. Silverman works for an organization called "Flex Your Rights" out of Washington, DC. It teaches young people to assert their constitutional rights during police encounters." Neither the cops nor the principal looked too thrilled to hear about that. There was another cop in the room this whole time, but he never said much. His name was Detective Brooder, and he used to work for the NYPD's bomb squad. He took much more interest in my ID than anyone else and kept bending it, I suspect to see if it was fake. (Earlier, when I was pulling out my ID, Cpl. Aucoin thought my expired International Student ID card was another license and he wanted to see that as well.) These folks in Goose Creek law enforcement just aren't too bright. At least on these two most recent searches, they're 0 for 2! Before I left, Mr. McCrackin took two copies of DPA's pamphlet and an SSDP sticker. He told me he would read the pamphlet even if I didn't believe him (which I assured him I did) and I apologized for not having anymore copies of the "Safety First" booklet on me to give to him. I then realized he took the copy of the pamphlet that had the names of the teachers and staff I had just encountered written on the back and when I asked for it back, in exchange for a different pamphlet, I was told, "I didn't need to have the names of his teachers." As if it was going to be so difficult to remember all four names. A tresspass warning was filled out with my name on it and my picture was taken by Cpl. Aucoin. ("No smiling!" he told me.) After he snapped my mug, I was given the warning which I was told to sign and I was reminded that it didn't have to be this way, they could have had me arrested, if they wanted. Now, having not lined up local counsel in advance, I wasn't too eager to spend an evening in the Berkeley County jail and frankly, I'm glad it didn't have to come to that. Before I left, I was also told to stay away from the strip mall behind the school and that I would be "run out" if I tried to come back there again. I guess tomorrow we'll see about that! I left the principal's office, walked off campus towards my car and on my way I ran into a few more students back in the strip mall parking lot. I told them what happened and we had a nice laugh. Dan Goldman McCrackin Victim #108 --- Dan Goldman is a 2001 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received a B.A. in history. He has been active in SSDP since the first meeting of the UW-Madison chapter in the fall of 1999. Since then he has attended every national SSDP conference, and in the spring of 2001, he organized SSDP's first regional conference for SSDP activists throughout the midwest. Upon graduating, Dan worked for the Drug Reform Coordination Network in Washington, DC and most recently, he was the September 11th Detention Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee's Immigrant Rights Program, in Newark, NJ. Dan currently resides in Madison, WI, where he is working on his first book. -- Tim Meehan, Communications Director Ontario Consumers for Safe Access to Recreational Cannabis tim(a)ocsarc.org * http://www.ocsarc.org * 416-844-2431

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Drug policy activist *searched and detained* by notorious South Carolina principal after being invited onto school grounds
by Tim Meehan 22 Nov '03

22 Nov '03

Report by Dan Goldman (dan(a)ssdp.org) of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (http://www.ssdp.org) Forwarded from Loretta Nall (alabamamjparty(a)graffiti.net) of the US Marijuana Party (http://www.usmjparty.com) Loretta said: This just in from my buddy Dan Goldman who is still on the ground in South Carolina --- Now I promised you a good story and here it is... On Thursday when I went back to Stratford High School, I had a rather unexpected encounter. I started the day out as usual, passing out DPA's information, SSDP's stickers and a few of the SSDP t-shirts that I had left. At one point, a pair of teachers walked passed and I offered both of them the pamphlet and booklet. One of them asked "What is it?" and one of the students around him answered, "It has to do with keeping our school drug-free." A heavy-set man whose name I later learned was Mr. Green, took both the pamphlet and the booklet. The man next to him, a younger, smaller teacher whose name I later learned was Mr. McCombs refused my offer. In my youthful exhuberance, I said some snide remark to the effect of, "Way to set an example for your students by remaining ignorant." I know I shouldn't have said something like that and I didn't even think he heard me, but I was mistaken. Read on... Now, after most of the students dispersed, I did what I did the day before and walked through a muddy foot path, about 30 feet over to the school grounds to pass out a few more flyers. As I was walking back through the foot path to my car, I saw both of the teachers again and I kindly offered my last pamphlet to Mr. McCombs, who had neglected to take it before. This time he was very upset. He wanted to know why I would say what I said to him about staying ignorant. He said, "I've been to college and I've been teaching for 4 years, don't you think I may know a little something about keeping kids drug-free?" I said, "You may know a little something, but you probably haven't been exposed to what's in this pamphlet, so why don't you take one and find out?" He told me he didn't have time to read one and I suggested he do what most people do and put it in his pocket to read when he does have time. Mr. McCombs continued to wonder aloud why I thought it was necessary to undermine him in front of students and I continued to wonder to myself how one snide comment can undermine the authority of a teacher who has their attention every day for an hour? Now at this point, the two teachers began threatening me with this whole issue of tresspassing on school grounds. Since I was in fact on school grounds momentarily without permission, I really didn't want to get into it with them. I was about to leave with the excuse of another appointment (which was true, Ian Mance was arriving around 4:30pm and I wanted to see him as I've been staying at his parents' house for the last week) but then they made me an offer I couldn't refuse.... They offered to take me to see Principal McCrackin. Now, last week Mr. McCrackin had sent home a letter to parents offering to meet with any of them that still had concerns about the drug raid. However, according to the parents I've spoken with who've tried to meet with him, he's always busy. So I didn't think I would have the chance to meet the man behind the myth, and when the chance just presented itself like that, I thought it was too good to be true. Well, like everything too good to be true... It was! As I walked through the school, continuing my witty banter with the two teachers, we entered the principal's office and to my surprise, there were two officers of the law instead of one Principal. Immediately, one of them, a very big man named Cpl. Aucoin demanded my identification. Now having just seen BUSTED, I wasn't immediately inclined to give it to him. However I did tell him my name and I showed him the materials I was distributing. I asked Cpl. Aucoin if I was free to go and he said, "No," that he was detaining me. The two teachers insisted they caught me tressassing and I corrected them and explained they encountered me in between the back of strip mall and the school grounds on that muddy foot path. Then, in came McCrackin... I'm not sure how many of you have seen a picture of George McCrackin, but he's in his mid to late 50's, I would guess, dark hair that's greying but looks like he colors it. He's about 5 ft. 7in tall and maybe 170 lbs. He's a short, stout man, the kind with a Napolean complex of sorts. He looks tired beyond his years, like a man who has been at his job for too long. He's been principal of Stratford High School since it opened 20 years ago and before that he was assistant Superintendent of Schools in North Charleston and a principal and teacher for years before that, so the man has been in education for quite some time -- his entire adult life, in fact. That he cares for children was evident from speaking to many people in the community, but that he pre-judges people and labels them "good" or "bad" and then acts towards them accordingly, was also quite evident from speaking to his students, especially those who were at one time "good", but then did something to get themselves labeled "bad". They speak quite insightfully about how he treats his students. Upon speaking to Mr. McCrackin and being threatened with an arrest for tresspass, I decided to give up my ID. Cpl. Aucoin ran my ID as Mr. McCrackin disappeared with his two teachers to persumably view the videotape from one of the school's 70 surveillance cameras. He came back and said he had evidence I was "on his campus." I admitted to passing out a few materials to 6 students, said as much to him and apologized for not knowing I needed his permission to pass out flyers. (It wasn't as sarcastic as it sounds when you read this, honest.) He then asked me where I was parked, I think because he wanted to nail me for parking in "his lot" as well, but unfortunately as I told him, I was parked in the strip mall parking lot, which is off school grounds. Cpl. Aucoin asked if I saw the sign that said "For Customers Only" and I explained that I had purchased my lunch at the Subway in the strip mall, so I was indeed, a customer. Now at this point things got really weird. See earlier that afternoon, as school let out, a bunch of kids were speeding around the parking lot and burning the rubber on their tires. Then the police came and chased one of them. I believe Mr. McCrackin was rightly concerned with this incident, but seemed to place the blame in a strange place. (Does this sound framiliar?) When I told them I bought my lunch at Subway, he went on about how he was going to have that place closed down and what a dangerous situation it was causing. I couldn't understand how a sandwhich shop could be responsible for high school kids doing stupid things in their cars, but I guess it makes sense somewhere in McCrackin World. After he ended his subway tirade, I got to explaining about the "Safety First" philosophy and from what he said to me in response, I can say with 100% certainty that this man has lost his grip on reality. He told me he knew "Just Say No" wasn't working because they have Red Ribbon Week at school and although it's a school of 2700 people, there were 20-30 who were just going to do what they wanted to do anyways. I was honestly shocked that this man who has been an educator all his life, believes that there are only 20-30 students using drugs at his school. I spoke to at least 20-30 kids every day after school and I know I'm not hitting the lion's share of the drug using population at that school (most of whom are overwhelmingly marijuana smokers only), just the ones who happen to walk home that way or hang out in that area after school. So with what must have been a look of stupified incredulity on my face, the unexpected happened... George McCrackin told me to turn around and put my hands on my head with my fingers crossed. He said he was going to search me, as he had the right to search anyone in his school. He asked me if I had anything in my pockets I shouldn't have. The whole time I'm in utter disbelief that I'm being detained and searched by the principal of Stratford High School, Mr. George McCrackin. The irony was too much. After emptying my pockets and picking my pants back up for me (my belt wasn't tight enough) and not finding anything of interest in my pockets other than cash, keys and scraps of paper, I was told to sit down. He was still looking through my stuff when he asked me, "Who's Steve Silverman?" (I had Steve's name on a list of voicemail messages to return.) I told him "Mr. Silverman works for an organization called "Flex Your Rights" out of Washington, DC. It teaches young people to assert their constitutional rights during police encounters." Neither the cops nor the principal looked too thrilled to hear about that. There was another cop in the room this whole time, but he never said much. His name was Detective Brooder, and he used to work for the NYPD's bomb squad. He took much more interest in my ID than anyone else and kept bending it, I suspect to see if it was fake. (Earlier, when I was pulling out my ID, Cpl. Aucoin thought my expired International Student ID card was another license and he wanted to see that as well.) These folks in Goose Creek law enforcement just aren't too bright. At least on these two most recent searches, they're 0 for 2! Before I left, Mr. McCrackin took two copies of DPA's pamphlet and an SSDP sticker. He told me he would read the pamphlet even if I didn't believe him (which I assured him I did) and I apologized for not having anymore copies of the "Safety First" booklet on me to give to him. I then realized he took the copy of the pamphlet that had the names of the teachers and staff I had just encountered written on the back and when I asked for it back, in exchange for a different pamphlet, I was told, "I didn't need to have the names of his teachers." As if it was going to be so difficult to remember all four names. A tresspass warning was filled out with my name on it and my picture was taken by Cpl. Aucoin. ("No smiling!" he told me.) After he snapped my mug, I was given the warning which I was told to sign and I was reminded that it didn't have to be this way, they could have had me arrested, if they wanted. Now, having not lined up local counsel in advance, I wasn't too eager to spend an evening in the Berkeley County jail and frankly, I'm glad it didn't have to come to that. Before I left, I was also told to stay away from the strip mall behind the school and that I would be "run out" if I tried to come back there again. I guess tomorrow we'll see about that! I left the principal's office, walked off campus towards my car and on my way I ran into a few more students back in the strip mall parking lot. I told them what happened and we had a nice laugh. Dan Goldman McCrackin Victim #108 --- Dan Goldman is a 2001 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received a B.A. in history. He has been active in SSDP since the first meeting of the UW-Madison chapter in the fall of 1999. Since then he has attended every national SSDP conference, and in the spring of 2001, he organized SSDP's first regional conference for SSDP activists throughout the midwest. Upon graduating, Dan worked for the Drug Reform Coordination Network in Washington, DC and most recently, he was the September 11th Detention Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee's Immigrant Rights Program, in Newark, NJ. Dan currently resides in Madison, WI, where he is working on his first book. -- Tim Meehan, Communications Director Ontario Consumers for Safe Access to Recreational Cannabis tim(a)ocsarc.org * http://www.ocsarc.org * 416-844-2431

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RE: [Asrg] Re: [Politech] Congress finally poised to vote on anti -spam bill [sp]
by Hallam-Baker, Phillip 21 Nov '03

21 Nov '03

Yeah, Yeah dictionary attacks... The key is that the search space is actually thinly populated enough to make dictionary attack hard. Most usernames are 6 characters or more, many include numbers, that is about 26^6 worth of search space per domain. Of course this is not evenly populated, but the odd thing is that the usernames turn out to be more random than the average password. This is because random is not unguessable. Many usernames are surnames, many are compounds of initial plus surname, only a relative handfull are commonly used names and those tend to get grabbed fast. so you have a pretty big search space, millions of possibilities and that for each one of fifty million domains. The same does not hold for do-not-call lists. The problem there is that something like 80% of the numbers available at active exchanges are already allocated. Most of the stock of unused numbers are on exchanges that have not yet been allocated. Since something like 30% of subscribers sign up for do not call the result is that dictonary attacks are easy. Also we add out of service addresses that get spammed anyway to the list. So the list is not an accurate way to find out if an address is in service or not. Alan knows quite a few addresses that get spammed that are invalid. > -----Original Message----- > From: Hallam-Baker, Phillip [mailto:pbaker@verisign.com] > Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 7:21 PM > To: 'Steve Schear' > Cc: cypherpunks(a)lne.com; asrg(a)ietf.org > Subject: RE: [Asrg] Re: [Politech] Congress finally poised to vote on > anti -spam bill [sp] > > > We need to consider the technical workings of the do-not-spam > list and the > requirements that we would like the FTC to meet. > > I propose as a minimum: > > 1) Allow individual subscribers to list their email addresses with the > service. > 2) Permit mail sender to quickly determine whether a given > email is on the > list > 3) Be distributable in a form that does not permit use as a > mailing list. > 4) Permit the storage of attributes in association with each listing, > minimally the date of subscription. > > In addition we might add: > > 5) Allow domain name owners to list their domains. > 6) Provide for authentication of listing requests > > > These requirements can be met using completely generic and to > my knowledge > unencumbered technology. For the purposes of avoiding patent > encumberabces I > disclose the following - I published note on the basic idea > of using a one > way hash to conceal an email address on a do not spam list in > 1995, I also > implemented the scheme at that time. The idea is not entirely > novel, hash > databases have been used for at least twenty years, there may also be > similar ideas in the cryptography litterature. > > My proposal would be to use a message authentication function such as > HMAC-SHA1 with a key such as SHA1 ("FTC Do Not Spam List") > to create a > unique digest function for the purpose. There is a security > consideration > here, use of a digest such as SHA1(email) might lead to > chosen protocol > attacks. > > To add an individual email address "alice(a)example.com" to the list we > calculate HMAC ("alice(a)example.com") to create the key. A > domain may be > represented by the string "example.com". > > To determine whether the address "bob(a)example.com" is on the > list it is > necessary to test for both the specific email address and the domain. > > [This can be made to meet arbitrarily complex requirements] > > > The list is distributed as a set of key/value pairs. Sorting the list > according to the key values allows rapid lookups by means of > binary search, > or since the hash function is guaranteed homogenous using > ranged search > using the hash value as an estimator for the index position. It is not > necessary to distribute the list sorted. > > There are also a few tricks that can be used to reduce the > usefulness of > such a list for address validation. > > This same concept can be used to conceal the filter terms used in > cersorware. > > Phill > > _______________________________________________ > Asrg mailing list > Asrg(a)ietf.org > https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/asrg

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Vivendi to Destroy MP3.com archive
by proclus＠gnu-darwin.org 21 Nov '03

21 Nov '03

Vivendi et al. about to demonstrate how they value artists and their work. http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/11/21/14616/561 Somebody please tell me that this is a nightmare, and I am about to wake up. Regards, proclus http://www.gnu-darwin.org/ -- Visit proclus realm! http://proclus.tripod.com/ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GMU/S d+@ s: a+ C++++ UBULI++++$ P+ L+++(++++) E--- W++ N- !o K- w--- !O M++@ V-- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP-- t+++(+) 5+++ X+ R tv-(--)@ b !DI D- G e++++ h--- r+++ y++++ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ [demime 0.97c removed an attachment of type APPLICATION/pgp-signature]

2 1

RE: [Asrg] Re: [Politech] Congress finally poised to vote on anti -spam bill [sp]
by Hallam-Baker, Phillip 21 Nov '03

21 Nov '03

We need to consider the technical workings of the do-not-spam list and the requirements that we would like the FTC to meet. I propose as a minimum: 1) Allow individual subscribers to list their email addresses with the service. 2) Permit mail sender to quickly determine whether a given email is on the list 3) Be distributable in a form that does not permit use as a mailing list. 4) Permit the storage of attributes in association with each listing, minimally the date of subscription. In addition we might add: 5) Allow domain name owners to list their domains. 6) Provide for authentication of listing requests These requirements can be met using completely generic and to my knowledge unencumbered technology. For the purposes of avoiding patent encumberabces I disclose the following - I published note on the basic idea of using a one way hash to conceal an email address on a do not spam list in 1995, I also implemented the scheme at that time. The idea is not entirely novel, hash databases have been used for at least twenty years, there may also be similar ideas in the cryptography litterature. My proposal would be to use a message authentication function such as HMAC-SHA1 with a key such as SHA1 ("FTC Do Not Spam List") to create a unique digest function for the purpose. There is a security consideration here, use of a digest such as SHA1(email) might lead to chosen protocol attacks. To add an individual email address "alice(a)example.com" to the list we calculate HMAC ("alice(a)example.com") to create the key. A domain may be represented by the string "example.com". To determine whether the address "bob(a)example.com" is on the list it is necessary to test for both the specific email address and the domain. [This can be made to meet arbitrarily complex requirements] The list is distributed as a set of key/value pairs. Sorting the list according to the key values allows rapid lookups by means of binary search, or since the hash function is guaranteed homogenous using ranged search using the hash value as an estimator for the index position. It is not necessary to distribute the list sorted. There are also a few tricks that can be used to reduce the usefulness of such a list for address validation. This same concept can be used to conceal the filter terms used in cersorware. Phill

1 0

Vivendi to Destroy MP3.com archive
by proclus＠gnu-darwin.org 21 Nov '03

21 Nov '03

Vivendi et al. about to demonstrate how they value artists and their work. http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/11/21/14616/561 Somebody please tell me that this is a nightmare, and I am about to wake up. Regards, proclus http://www.gnu-darwin.org/ -- Visit proclus realm! http://proclus.tripod.com/ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GMU/S d+@ s: a+ C++++ UBULI++++$ P+ L+++(++++) E--- W++ N- !o K- w--- !O M++@ V-- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP-- t+++(+) 5+++ X+ R tv-(--)@ b !DI D- G e++++ h--- r+++ y++++ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ [demime 0.97c removed an attachment of type APPLICATION/pgp-signature]

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Re: [Politech] Congress finally poised to vote on anti-spam bill [sp]
by Steve Schear 21 Nov '03

21 Nov '03

At 04:13 PM 11/21/2003 -0600, Declan McCullagh <declan(a)well.com> wrote: >A copy of the bill is here: >http://news.com.com/pdf/ne/2003/FINALSPAM.pdf I interpret paragraph 1037(a)1 - 5 as possibly prohibiting the use of anonymous remailers, or proxies and nyms in registering email accounts, for the purpose of commercial speech. steve

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Re: article on Rivest and Micali's Peppercoin system
by Steve Schear 21 Nov '03

21 Nov '03

At 11:37 AM 11/17/2003 -0500, Steve Bellovin <smb(a)research.att.com> wrote: >http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/huang1203.asp A nice puff piece but it steers clear of well know, if not respected, prognosticators that poo-poo any near-term potential for micro-payments. Conspicuously absent is e-gold which predates all of the listed vendors, does a daily average of $3 million in transactions, relatively simple to use, requires no special end-user software and internally cost effective enough to handle payments less than $0.01. It seems e-gold has been smeared (unfairly I think) in the press as only attracting gray market types. steve --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo(a)metzdowd.com

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Re: e voting
by John Washburn 21 Nov '03

21 Nov '03

I agree. The paper printout may be unconnected to fraudulent tally numbers produced later for publication. This is better than the literal nothing produced at present. There is a small chance many voters could use there receipts to counter fraudulent tally in low-vote ward. -----Original Message----- From: Roy M. Silvernail [mailto:roy@rant-central.com] Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 12:12 PM To: cypherpunks(a)lne.com Subject: Re: e voting On Friday 21 November 2003 12:19, Tim May wrote: > On Nov 21, 2003, at 8:16 AM, Major Variola (ret.) wrote: > > Secretary of State Kevin Shelley is expected to announce today that as > > of 2006, all electronic voting machines in California must be able to > > produce a paper printout that voters can check to make sure their votes > > are properly recorded. > > > > http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-shelley21nov21,1,847438.story? > > coll=la-headlines-california > > Without the ability to (untraceably, unlinkably, of course) verify that > this vote is "in the vote total," and that no votes other than those > who actually voted, are in the vote total, this is all meaningless. Quite true. But given the fact that we don't have that ability *now*, what exactly is the difference? Other than streamlining and centralizing the present distributed corruption?

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RE: DigiCash Saves PayPal?
by Scott Guthery 21 Nov '03

21 Nov '03

Not to mention the pneumatic tube systems in department stores that sent your charge plate upstairs for approval. "Those who do not learn from ..." Oh, never mind. Cheers, Scott -----Original Message----- From: R. A. Hettinga [mailto:rah@shipwright.com] Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 3:20 PM To: cryptography(a)metzdowd.com; cypherpunks(a)lne.com; mac_crypto(a)vmeng.com; Digital Bearer Settlement List; fork(a)xent.com; epay(a)ca0.net; internet-payments(a)ls.fstc.org; DIGSIG(a)LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU; CYBERIA-L(a)LISTSERV.AOL.COM; InfoSec News; nettime-l(a)bbs.thing.net Subject: DigiCash Saves PayPal? >And Greg Aharonian, San Francisco-based patent expert, said eBay could get >the case dismissed if it finds a company or institution that developed its >own "trusted intermediary" or similar electronic payment system even >before AT&T researchers filed for their patent. Bingo. Somebody at First Data should haul out the old DigiCash pitch-ware they probably have laying around, and beat AT&T over the head with it... Cheers, RAH ------ <http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=36570023> Lycos AT&T: EBay, PayPal Infringe on Patents E-mail orPrint this story 20 November 2003, 6:03pm ET By RACHEL KONRAD AP Business Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- AT&T Corp. reached out and smacked eBay Inc. with a patent infringement lawsuit Thursday, claiming the online auction company has been using a payment system that the telecommunications giant developed more than a decade ago. The case, filed in federal court in Delaware, comes on the heels of an August verdict in which a Virginia judge ordered eBay to pay $29.5 million to an inventor who accused the company of stealing his ideas for fixed price sales formats. AT&T's suit demands that eBay pay an undisclosed amount in licensing fees because its lucrative PayPal division functions as a "trusted intermediary" between buyers and sellers who may not know each other. The system _ widely regarded as critical to eBay's gangbuster growth and a boon to e-commerce in general _ lets buyers provide credit card or bank account information to a reliable third party instead of individual sellers around the world. Buyers merely have to trust PayPal, and they don't have to worry about disreputable sellers using sensitive financial data for fraudulent purposes. AT&T says three senior engineers working for the phone company filed for a patent in 1991 for exactly such a process, which they called "Mediation of Transactions by a Communication System." The patent was granted in 1994, AT&T said. EBay spokesman Chris Donlay dismissed the lawsuit as "meritless," and he said customers should count on continuing to use PayPal. EBay acquired PayPal in October 2002, and the division immediately became an engine of profits for San Jose-based eBay, one of the few Silicon Valley companies to emerge unscathed from the dot-com collapse. PayPal produced $106.4 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2003, nearly twice what it generated in the same period last year. More than 11 million people used PayPal to conduct transactions from July to September, according to eBay's most recent earnings statement. Before PayPal, eBay relied on a similar system called Billpoint, which is also named in the lawsuit. Mentioned Last Change INDU 9605.7913.63 (0.14%) EBAY 51.800.23 (0.44%) T 19.630.53 (2.77%) AT&T spokesman Gary Morgenstern said the lawsuit is the result of more than a year of negotiations between the two companies. EBay refused to pay any licensing fees, he said. "AT&T invests hundreds of millions of dollars every year in our research and development efforts, which have yielded a sizable portfolio of patents _ that's what we're vigorously protecting here," Morgenstern said. "EBay and PayPal have refused to compensate us for patented technology, and so we're forced to take this to the courts." Numerous inventors and small companies have sued or threatened to sue eBay, and legal experts have been skeptical of many such claims. But some said the newest plaintiff's heft gives the AT&T lawsuit the credibility that cases brought by obscure inventors and operators of now-defunct dot-coms lacked. "To be sure, AT&T's involvement makes this case different from others," said Neil A. Smith of the San Francisco-based law firm Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin. "AT&T's a well respected company that doesn't just wave around patent lawsuits unless there's some merit." Others, however, said that AT&T is unlikely to even force a settlement _ which is the way Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com resolved what might have been the last such high-profile legal skirmish over Internet sales strategies. That case, involving Amazon's "one-click" checkout method, was filed in 1999 and settled last year. The companies have refused to disclose the terms. David Pressman, a San Francisco patent lawyer and author of "Patent It Yourself," said at least half of all patent infringement lawsuits are won by the defense or eventually dropped before reaching the courtroom. And Greg Aharonian, San Francisco-based patent expert, said eBay could get the case dismissed if it finds a company or institution that developed its own "trusted intermediary" or similar electronic payment system even before AT&T researchers filed for their patent. "The question is, did anyone else have trusted third parties in the 1980s? My gut reaction is that they existed," said Aharonian, publisher of the daily Internet Patent News Service newsletter. "Some university professor could have written an article on this, but no one paid attention and no banks adopted it. Something like that could invalidate the lawsuit completely." ___ On the Net: http://www.att.com http://www.ebay.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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