- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Cypherpunk failures
by Nomen Nescio 18 Nov '01

18 Nov '01

Declan McCullagh wrote: > I'm told this bill is expected to become law by Christmas. > > >The Secretary of State shall issue, and may from time to time revise, a > >code of practice relating to the retention by communications providers of > >communications data obtained by or held by them... Speaking of laws by Christmas, anyone want to give odds on the accuracy of Tim May's prediction on September 13: Dark times are coming. I'll bet a complete ban on strong, unescrowed crypto is passed in all European countries, Russia, China, Japan, and the U.S. by, say, December 15th. and I'm betting, as I said in my last post, that strong unescrowed crypto will be illegal by December 15th. Does anyone think this prediction will come true? Or is it as mistaken as so many other Tim May predictions over the years? And by the way, who was Tim May betting with? Hopefully the sum they stand to gain is substantial. The larger question is, what is it about the cypherpunk worldview which is so wrong? Why do cypherpunks constantly predict events which don't come true? And is this faulty vision responsible for the failure of the cypherpunks to maintain their cultural and technological influence, and to make progress towards their goals? The most crippling error of the cypherpunks has been their unremitting pessimism. Ever since the group was created they have predicted imminent crackdowns on cryptography. And yet the trend has consistently been in the opposite direction. Rather than keeping to an optimistic vision of a better world, cypherpunks have sunk into a morass of doomsaying. The Y2K debacle was perhaps the most prominent example of failed pessimism. Why work on crypto if the world is coming to an end? Another mistake has been to view the world in simplistic terms of black and white, true patriots versus those who "need killin'". Government in this view is a monolithic entity with the single-minded goal of destroying individual rights and creating a tyrannical dictatorship. Society is composed of "sheeple" who are ignorant of their own best interests and easily manipulated by those in power. This view ignores the complex nature of political and corporate influence and the many competing groups which vie for power in the world. And of course much energy has been wasted in internal debate and rhetoric which, because founded on these erroneous points, has been useless and irrelevant. It's easier to moan and complain when bad things happen than to adopt a positive view of the world and work in an optimistic way to make it happen. Meanwhile the most interesting technological changes are passing the cypherpunks by. The open source movement, peer to peer exchange, the music and copyright wars, all have had little impact in the cypherpunk world. Peer to peer technology alone has tremendous potential as a foundation for long-term cypherpunk dreams like anonymizing proxies, encrypted data sharing, eternity, even DC nets. Encryption should be a fundamental part of file sharing systems. Digital reputations are the solution to the problem of bogus data being maliciously inserted into networks in order to clog them and interfere with searches. Crypto protocols can help against some kinds of denial of service attacks. If cypherpunks had been engaged in the world over the last few years instead of staring into their pessimistic navels, they could have played a part in today's revolutions. As it is, they appear to be "headed for the trash heap of history," to use Tim May's unfortunate phrase. Maybe it's not too late. But if this group is ever to resume its role as an exciting place where the future of computing is visible, it must refocus its efforts. Cypherpunks should think positively, look past current troubles, and start talking again about crypto technology and how it can change the world. That would be a conversation worth having.

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Fw: Your Info
by usa＠registeredsite.com 18 Nov '01

18 Nov '01

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IP conference: copyright law has gone too far
by Steve Schear 18 Nov '01

18 Nov '01

IP conference: copyright law has gone too far The recording industry and the Business Software Alliance squared off against the Electronic Frontier Foundation and US Rep. Rick Boucher Wednesday in a debate over laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act aimed at protecting large copyright holders, with the hearts and minds of a crowd of Washington, D.C., decision-makers as the prize. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/22876.html

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Fw: Your Info
by usa＠registeredsite.com 18 Nov '01

18 Nov '01

Post fra midt-troms.net (usa(a)registeredsite.com) pa* Friday, November 16, 2001 at 04:41:37 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- message: In addition to the information you selected, we thought you might be Interested in the latested FREE LEADS RESIDUAL INCOME OFFER. One of our Sponsors has a Unique Home Business Lead Generation System and is offering Uniquely Qualified Leads to support a Residual Income Opportunity. If interested in details, just respond here: For more info Click here mailto:clari277@yahoo.com?subject=MORE_INFO (Please include name, phone, and email, and the best time you can be reached.) Sincerely, Click here mailto:clari277@yahoo.com?subject=MORE_INFO P.S. Find out the NEW 3 foot rule in MLM. "Why Old School MLM is nearly dead." *********************************************************************************************** **If somehow your Form Submission is inaccurate; and you wish us to activate a filter to determine why you received this, then please email us here: Nomore_Leads(a)excite.com

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Re: The Crypto Winter
by Faustine 18 Nov '01

18 Nov '01

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Jim wrote: >I think this is the central key problem. >To establish any medium of exchange, one faces an enormous >critical mass problem, as the stupendous expenditures by >paypal and its competitors demonstrate. Maybe once average people become fully comfortable with the idea of online banking and bill-paying services, they'll be more receptive. I think it might just be a question of widespread digital cash being few years ahead of its time. Also, I wouldn't rule out the "intelligence divide" as a factor here: if half the population has an IQ under 100, what are you doing to make your product accessible to people of average intelligence, and below? AOL is so popular for a reason: ease of use while providing services average people really care about (all that family, community and chat garbage, etc). So maybe it's worth putting a little effort into thinking of ways to AOLize (for lack of a better term) digital cash: a mass market reqires mass appeal. Something that's all-too-easy to forget, especially if you're the kind of person who got all excited over learning how to program BASIC in elementary school, the way most of us probably did. ~Faustine. *** The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedoms. - --William O. Douglas, Associate Justice, US Supreme Court -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGPsdk version 1.7.1 (C) 1997-1999 Network Associates, Inc. and its affiliated companies. (Diffie-Helman/DSS-only version) iQA/AwUBO/cGQPg5Tuca7bfvEQIBiQCdGIYRqJmHFiGK5rUARTN0J/m8qP8AoPnN fUGhS8oVvJayjy0zd4ADCwXE =zSwB -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Fw: Your Info
by usa＠registeredsite.com 18 Nov '01

18 Nov '01

Post fra midt-troms.net (usa(a)registeredsite.com) pa* Friday, November 16, 2001 at 04:41:37 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- message: In addition to the information you selected, we thought you might be Interested in the latested FREE LEADS RESIDUAL INCOME OFFER. One of our Sponsors has a Unique Home Business Lead Generation System and is offering Uniquely Qualified Leads to support a Residual Income Opportunity. If interested in details, just respond here: For more info Click here mailto:clari277@yahoo.com?subject=MORE_INFO (Please include name, phone, and email, and the best time you can be reached.) Sincerely, Click here mailto:clari277@yahoo.com?subject=MORE_INFO P.S. Find out the NEW 3 foot rule in MLM. "Why Old School MLM is nearly dead." *********************************************************************************************** **If somehow your Form Submission is inaccurate; and you wish us to activate a filter to determine why you received this, then please email us here: Nomore_Leads(a)excite.com

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Fw: Your Info
by usa＠registeredsite.com 18 Nov '01

18 Nov '01

Post fra midt-troms.net (usa(a)registeredsite.com) pa* Friday, November 16, 2001 at 04:41:37 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- message: In addition to the information you selected, we thought you might be Interested in the latested FREE LEADS RESIDUAL INCOME OFFER. One of our Sponsors has a Unique Home Business Lead Generation System and is offering Uniquely Qualified Leads to support a Residual Income Opportunity. If interested in details, just respond here: For more info Click here mailto:clari277@yahoo.com?subject=MORE_INFO (Please include name, phone, and email, and the best time you can be reached.) Sincerely, Click here mailto:clari277@yahoo.com?subject=MORE_INFO P.S. Find out the NEW 3 foot rule in MLM. "Why Old School MLM is nearly dead." *********************************************************************************************** **If somehow your Form Submission is inaccurate; and you wish us to activate a filter to determine why you received this, then please email us here: Nomore_Leads(a)excite.com

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Fw: Your Info
by usa＠registeredsite.com 18 Nov '01

18 Nov '01

Post fra midt-troms.net (usa(a)registeredsite.com) pa* Friday, November 16, 2001 at 04:41:37 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- message: In addition to the information you selected, we thought you might be Interested in the latested FREE LEADS RESIDUAL INCOME OFFER. One of our Sponsors has a Unique Home Business Lead Generation System and is offering Uniquely Qualified Leads to support a Residual Income Opportunity. If interested in details, just respond here: For more info Click here mailto:clari277@yahoo.com?subject=MORE_INFO (Please include name, phone, and email, and the best time you can be reached.) Sincerely, Click here mailto:clari277@yahoo.com?subject=MORE_INFO P.S. Find out the NEW 3 foot rule in MLM. "Why Old School MLM is nearly dead." *********************************************************************************************** **If somehow your Form Submission is inaccurate; and you wish us to activate a filter to determine why you received this, then please email us here: Nomore_Leads(a)excite.com

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ATM Fiends On A Spree Of Rip-Offs
by Steve Schear 18 Nov '01

18 Nov '01

ATM FIENDS ON A SPREE OF RIP-OFFS By LARRY CELONA and ANDY GELLER [My security group at Citicorp (which designed and built the crypto systems for our ATMs and switching fabric processors) predicted in the late '80s that Van Eck freaking an ATM might be a successful way to eavesdrop on PINs and card info.] November 17, 2001 -- EXCLUSIVE The NYPD and the Secret Service have launched a major investigation into complaints that bank customers have lost thousands of dollars through unauthorized ATM withdrawals. Since last Saturday, the NYPD has received more than a dozen complaints of unauthorized withdrawals, mostly from people who have used ATMs on the Upper East Side. But customers who use ATMs in the Financial District and the West Side have also been hit. Cops are expanding their probe citywide and expect to find many more cases. Sources said most of the complaints involve Citibank customers, but people who bank with Chase and other institutions also have been victimized. Customers have lost up to $3,000 apiece - even though their bank cards have never left their possession. Most of the victims are people who used ATMs in grocery stores, delis and shopping malls, the sources said. Investigators believe that the thieves have managed to hook up personal computers to the ATM and download information about customers, the sources said. Then they make phony bank cards and withdraw money using the customers' personal identification numbers.

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Re: HOWTO Build a Nuclear Device
by keyser-soze＠hushmail.com 18 Nov '01

18 Nov '01

When I was in high school, studying programming, a friend who worked at a weapons lab contractor gave me sample FORTRAN code to study for style. The huge stacks of print out were labled Nuclear Code Library (or something similar). The code comments contained references to cross sections and reaction rates. If I still have the stuff, unlikely, I'll OCR and post.

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