- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

CDR: Re: Imagine
by Gil Hamilton 28 Nov '00

28 Nov '00

Alex B. Shepardsen writes: >So we've got a problem. The voting methods we have aren't adequate. It's >obvious that something needs to be done to fix this for the future... but >what would you have happen now? I wonder if Gore partisans would accept ANY voting method as adequate while their guy was behind. I don't really see that there is a problem. The methods of voting are a local and/or state matter. Various jurisdictions are already making plans to change their voting methods for the next election. Fine, that is their prerogative. However, if some localities continue to utilize punch cards and the so-called butterfly ballots, that's okay too. No ballot is going to be idiot proof (cause you know how ingenious those idiots are). There will always be spoiled ballots; it's just a matter of degree. The proportion of spoiled ballots in the "disputed" areas in Florida is no higher than in many other precincts throughout the country. Since those who created the ballot and who ran the election in the disputed areas of Florida are of the same party as Gore, and since the FL Supremes -- who pretty much just went out and made up their own laws to help Gore out -- are essentially all of Gore's party as well, I'm not worried that some great injustice has occurred despite Bush's brother being "governor of the province". The ballot design may well have been responsible for Bush winning and Gore losing, but since the decisions on the ballot design and deployment were made through the ordinary statutory mechanisms, well, it's just tough shit for Gore. (And as for the notion that some foreigners might think our election looks like that in a "banana republic": Who cares? If it lowers our credibility as the World's Policeman or as potential "election monitors" the next time a *real* banana republic holds an election, that's great! The less we stick our noses in others' business, the better.) >Without a full recount, Bush's victory will always be questioned. It is no longer possible to select a winner in the 2000 election whose victory will NOT be questioned by some. So what? At this point, no matter who wins, at least 48% of the population feels that the winner "stole the election". With respect to future elections, it is probably more advantageous to be the loser in this one (well, at least the losing party, if not the losing candidate). You go into the next election with a solid half of the population convinced that you got screwed; convince a small number of the other half and you've got the 2004 election sewn up. >With more legal battles from Gore, he loses credibility as the US citizens >lose faith in the electorial process. Only from simpletons who believe Gore's oh-so-sincere "every vote MUST be counted." I mean, really: it's a fine sentiment, but it's never going to happen. If our inability to reach perfection is going to cause citizens to "lose faith in the electorial[sic] process", it simply shows that they're not paying attention (big surprise). >How do you propose this be handled? I've not seen any good suggestions yet >that address all concerns. What's to handle? Those who don't like it either get over it, or they join the revolution :-). - GH _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

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CDR: RE: Re: Jim Bell
by Fisher Mark 28 Nov '00

28 Nov '00

> (Wasn't Joshua the computer in "War Games"?) Yes -- or at least it was both the backdoor password and how the computer referred to itself when it was run using the backdoor. A movie that, sad to say, is no longer available to rent at all Blockbuster stores... (Missing from the Noblesville, IN store.) ==================================================== Mark Leighton Fisher Thomson Consumer Electronics fisherm(a)tce.com Indianapolis, IN, USA "Display some adaptability." -- Doug Shaftoe, _Cryptonomicon_

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CDR: Mulle kybernetiK releases the MulleCipher Cryptography Framework
by R. A. Hettinga 28 Nov '00

28 Nov '00

--- begin forwarded text

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CDR: sex.com forgery reversed by judge
by anonymous＠openpgp.net 28 Nov '00

28 Nov '00

Monday November 27 8:35 PM ET U.S. Judge Orders sex.com Address Returned to Owner By Andrew Quinn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A judge ordered a major sex change on the Internet on Monday, ending a hot-blooded struggle over arguably the most valuable piece of real estate in cyberspace -- the rights to the name sex.com. U.S. District Judge James Ware ordered Stephen Cohen, who has turned the sex.com Web site into a multimillion pornography business, to turn the address over to San Francisco entrepreneur Gary Kremen -- who had the foresight to register the address in 1994, at the dawn of the Internet age. Im just a small guy and this is a huge guy who has built an empire based on fraud and deceit, an overjoyed Kremen told reporters outside the San Jose, Calif., courthouse after Wares decision. Im like a little guy, so I feel pretty good about it. Cohen did not return calls seeking comment in the case, and his lawyers declined to speak to reporters at the courthouse. The judges order marked an important step in resolving the issues of Internet claim-jumping and the real value of cyber real estate. According to Kremens lawyers, Cohen took control of the sex.com address in 1995 by presenting forged transfer of ownership documentation to Network Solutions Inc., which oversees the allocation of Web site addresses. Using a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, Cohen proceeded to turn sex.com into what Kremens lawyers call a multimillion dollar sex empire -- a one-stop shop for the nastiest, raunchiest pornography the Internet has to offer. ..snip.. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001127/wr/tech_sex_dc_1.html

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CDR: Janet Reno on Florida, children, violence
by Declan McCullagh 28 Nov '00

28 Nov '00

Today: ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO'S SCHEDULE Attends Florida's Children Exposed to Violence "Safe from the Start" Summit, Palm Beach Community College, 4200 Congress Ave., Lake Worth, FL Location: Location Not Listed. Contact: 202-616-2771

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CDR: ip: Know your enemy By Linda A. Prussen-Razzano
by R. A. Hettinga 28 Nov '00

28 Nov '00

Geodesic politics. ;-). Cheers, RAH Who only started following <http://www.freerepublic.com> since this recent election fiasco began, though, of course, cypherpunks have heard of them pretty much since the site started. --- begin forwarded text

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CDR: pictures free speech compulsory youth education camps
by anonymous＠openpgp.net 28 Nov '00

28 Nov '00

Nov 28, 2000 - 12:12 PM Court to Review Whether Boys Drawings Constitute a Threat The Associated Press BOSTON (AP) - The states highest court is reviewing two drawings penned by a 12-year-old Worcester, Mass., student, to determine if they were a threat against his teacher. The drawings, made two years ago, depict a boy holding a gun pointed at a teacher as she says "please dont kill me" and sobs. A lower court sentenced the boy last year to more than five years probation. The Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments in the case Nov. 7 and is expected to rule soon. Kathleen Kelly, the boys lawyer, told the SJC that a picture cannot be considered a threat, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday. "If a picture communicates a thousand words, why does one need a thousand words?" Chief Justice Margaret Marshall asked. "Because if its a picture alone, theres no intent within that picture to communicate the threat," Kelly answered. Worcester County prosecutor Sandra Hautanen argued that schools must be mindful of recent school shootings. Students in several Massachusetts town have been arrested, disciplined or expelled this year for alleged threats. Some student rights advocates say school leaders have overreacted in the wake of high-profile school shootings. "The punishment really does need to fit the crime, and I feel like weve been using a sledgehammer when a little tapper might be more effective," said Isabel Raskin of the Juvenile Justice Center at Suffolk University Law School.

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CDR: SnapSheild offers encrypted phone service.
by Trei, Peter 28 Nov '00

28 Nov '00

(Vin McLellan pointed this out to me). http://www.computeruser.com/news/00/11/23/news6.html http://www.snapshield.com/ Snapshield (formerly Microlink) is offering a product consisting of special box which sits on your phone line and special PBXs which allow 'end-to-end' encrypted voice/fax etc, based on DES (apparently single DES) and El-Gamal. Calls to or from their Snapshield equipped phones are routed via a special PBX box which provides encryption between the PBX and the phone. If both phones support encryption, the entire link is encrypted. Their page is kind of light on details. In particular it's not clear whether session keys are negotiated between the 'Snapgate' PBX box or between two of the phone boxes. Since they support point-to-multipoint calling, and indicate that monitoring is possible, I suspect the former. For some users, this means that the Snapgate box is an unacceptable point of attack. I can't find any suggestion of robust authentication, though I have not checked everything on their site. They are targetting telcos (for people willing to outsource their security) and large private networks. Anyone have any more information or comments on this product? Peter Trei PS: Their webpage wants me to install a plugin called Data Detective PC Search by Appletware. Anyone know what it does? It sounds ominous. pt Disclaimer: The above represent my personal opinions only.

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CDR: On 60 inches tonight, damn you all
by George＠Orwellian.Org 28 Nov '00

28 Nov '00

http://foxnews.com/national/court/scotus_roadblocks.sml # # Drug Checkpoints Struck Down by High Court # # Tuesday, November 28, 2000 # # In a divided 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court on Monday struck down # as unconstitutional random roadblocks intended to catch criminals # trafficking drugs. # # The ruling weighed privacy rights against the interests of law # enforcement and found that Indianapolis' use of drug-sniffing # dogs to check all cars pulled over at the roadblocks was an # unreasonable search under the Constitution. # # The majority, in an opinion written by Justice Sandra Day # O'Connor, said the ruling does not affect other kinds of police # roadblocks such as border checks and drunken-driving checkpoints. # Those have already been found constitutional. # # But the reasoning behind those kinds of roadblocks - chiefly # that the benefit to the public outweighs the inconvenience - # cannot be applied broadly, O'Connor wrote. # # "If this case were to rest on such a high level of generality, # there would be little check on the authorities' ability to # construct roadblocks for almost any conceivable law enforcement # purpose," the opinion said. # # The three dissenters were the court's most conservative justices: # Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and # Clarence Thomas. # # Lawyers for Indianapolis conceded that the roadblocks erected # there in 1998 detained far more innocent motorists than criminals. # # The city said its primary aim was to catch drug criminals. Civil # liberties advocates called the practice heavy-handed and risky, # and asked the Supreme Court to ban it. # # Law enforcement in and of itself is not a good enough reason # to stop innocent motorists, the majority ruling concluded. # # The court was not swayed by the argument that the severity of # the drug problem in some city neighborhoods justified the # searches. # # "While we do not limit the purposes that may justify a checkpoint # program to any rigid set of categories, we decline to approve # a program whose primary purpose is ultimately indistinguishable # from the general interest in crime control," the majority opinion # said. # # Cars were pulled over at random in high-crime neighborhoods in # Indianapolis, motorists questioned, and a drug-sniffing dog led # around the cars. Most motorists were detained for about three # minutes. # # The city conducted six roadblocks over four months in 1998 before # the practice was challenged in federal court. # # Police stopped 1,161 cars and trucks and made 104 arrests. # Fifty-five of the arrests were on drug charges.

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CDR: BEST DEAL ON NEW CARS AND TRUCKS!
by NEW CAR 28 Nov '00

28 Nov '00

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