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CDR: I created the "Al Gore created the Internet" story
by Declan McCullagh 20 Oct '00

20 Oct '00

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,39301,00.html The Mother of Gore's Invention by Declan McCullagh (declan(a)wired.com) 3:00 a.m. Oct. 17, 2000 PDT WASHINGTON -- If it's true that Al Gore created the Internet, then I created the "Al Gore created the Internet" story. I was the first reporter to question the vice president's improvident boast, way back when he made it in early 1999. Since then, the story's become far more than just a staple of late-night Letterman jokes: It's now as much a part of the American political firmament as the incident involving that other vice president, a schoolchild, and a very unfortunate spelling of potato. Poor Al. For a presidential wannabe who prides himself on a sober command of the brow-furrowing nuances of technology policy, being the butt of all these jokes has proven something of a setback. I mean, who can hear the veep talk up the future of the Internet nowadays without feeling an urge to stifle some disrespectful giggles? It would be like listening to Dan Quayle doing a please-take-me-seriously stump speech at an Idaho potato farm. Case in point: Mars Inc. lampoons the vice president in a hilarious new commercial for Snickers. In it, a cartoon Al brags that he, variously, invented the Internet, trousers, and when he wasn't busy elsewhere, "lots of other stuff too." When you're getting mocked by a candy company, you know your statesmanship rating has plummeted to a terrifying new low. No wonder one recent poll shows Gore to be solidly ahead of his Republican rival in only 11 states. It's simple: He's got no respect. Which brings us to an important question: Are the countless jibes at Al's expense truly justified? Did he really play a key part in the development of the Net? The short answer is that while even his supporters admit the vice president has an unfortunate tendency to exaggerate, the truth is that Gore never did claim to have "invented" the Internet. During a March 1999 CNN interview, while trying to differentiate himself from rival Bill Bradley, Gore boasted: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." That statement was enough to convince me, with the encouragement of my then-editor James Glave, to write a brief article that questioned the vice president's claim. Republicans on Capitol Hill noticed the Wired News writeup and started faxing around tongue-in-cheek press releases -- inveterate neatnik Trent Lott claimed to have invented the paper clip -- and other journalists picked up the story too. My article never used the word "invented," but it didn't take long for Gore's claim to morph into something he never intended. The terrible irony in this exchange is that while Gore certainly didn't create the Internet, he was one of the first politicians to realize that those bearded, bespectacled researchers were busy crafting something that could, just maybe, become pretty important. In January 1994, Gore gave a landmark speech at UCLA about the "information superhighway." Many portions -- discussions of universal service, wiring classrooms to the Net, and antitrust actions -- are surprisingly relevant even today. (That's an impressive enough feat that we might even forgive Gore his tortured metaphors such as "road kill on the information superhighway" and "parked at the curb" on the information superhighway.) Gore's speech reverberated around Democratic political circles in Washington. Other Clinton administration officials began citing it in their own remarks, and the combined effort helped to grab the media's attention. Their timing was impeccable: In July 1993, according to Network Wizards' survey, there were 1.8 million computers connected to the Internet. By July 1994, the figure had nearly doubled to 3.2 million, a trend that continued through January 2000, when about 72 million computers had permanent network addresses. Small wonder, then, that as the election nears, Gore's defenders have been rallying to defend him. In a recent op-ed piece in the San Jose Mercury News, John Doerr and Bill Joy claim "nobody in Washington understands" the new economy as well as Gore does. Net-pioneers Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf, a Democratic party donor, have written an essay saying "no other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time" than the veep. Scott Rosenberg, in a recent Salon article, joined the fray: "The 'Gore claims he invented the Net' trope is so full of holes that it makes you wish there were product recalls for bad information." It's also true that, as a senator, Gore in the 1980s supported universities' efforts to increase funding for NSFNet, a measure that became law in the High Performance Computing Act of 1991. Gore's guest columns in Byte magazine at the time showed an appreciation of technology that was far from usual on Capitol Hill. But it's also difficult to argue with a straight face that the Internet we know today would not exist if Gore had decided to practice the piano instead of politics. By the time Gore took notice of the Net around 1987, the basics were already in place. The key protocol, TCP/IP, was written and the culture of the Net had blossomed through Usenet and mailing lists, as chronicled in Eric Raymond's Jargon File. At best, Gore's involvement merely hastened its development. Instead of the orderly interstate highway system that Gore had repeatedly used as metaphor, the spread of the Net has resembled something closer to a self-organizing, almost anarchic sprawl. Instead of a government/corporate-controlled system that might have looked like France's wretched Minitel system -- or, more charitably, a 500-channel interactive TV network -- the Net's popularity grew because of far more mundane applications like email and downloading porn. And it's fair to say that other Gore pet projects, like the Clinton administration's abandoned Clipper chip, are hardly ways to protect privacy and security online and promote the development of this technology. Then again, it's also true the Clipper chip was first concocted under a George Bush Sr. administration, and another Bush occupying the Oval Office might well have similar inclinations. We know that George W. Bush may not be any tech-savvier than Gore -- as anyone who caught the governor's the-Net-made-them-do-it comments about the Columbine High School killers can attest. But he seems to have successfully neutralized Gore's advantage on tech issues. In the first debate, Bush jabbed at Gore during a figure-rich discussion of HMO coverage. The delivery was wooden, but it was no joke: "Not only did (Gore) invent the Internet, but he invented the calculator," Bush said. The big surprise was not that Bush used the quip. It has, after all, also shown up in his stump speeches and Republican jibes. No, the surprise was that Gore remained silent. When he had a chance to respond, Gore only talked about prescription drugs: "You can go to the (Bush) website and look. If you make more than $25,000 a year, you don't get a penny of help under the Bush prescription drug proposal." At least he mentioned a website. ###

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CDR: Tim May's anti-semitic rants
by auto9950013＠hushmail.com 20 Oct '00

20 Oct '00

This list is no stranger to Tim May's sarcasm and anti-semitic rants. >You just used a German word. I'm reporting you to the Zionist League. >"Remember, children of Israel, "Eretz Israel" is not the same thing >as "lebensraum," and the suppression of the ragheads in Eretz Israel >is merely pest eradication, not the "Final Solution." War is peace, >freedom is slavery, and Zionists are libertarians." --Tim May

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CDR: Re: Insurance (was: why should it be trusted?)
by James A.. Donald 20 Oct '00

20 Oct '00

-- At 01:42 PM 10/20/2000 +0300, Sampo A Syreeni wrote: > Details, details. People use the term 'anarchy' a bit too casually > here, nothing else. Mostly what they mean is 'libertarian'. The > latter in no way excludes other hierarchical relationships, as we > all know hardcore anarchy does. Tim's favorite characterization of > this side of anarchy is something like socialist simp-wimp mumbo > jumbo. Anarcho socialism has been dead since 1938. (It had the misfortune of being actually tried in 1936, whereupon it instantly became apparent that socialism requires a vastly powerful state in order to apply ruthless terror.) Today's "anarcho" socialists, such as Chomsky, believe that the best way to arrange for the state to wither away is to first make it vastly powerful and all encompassing. Where have we heard that theory before? --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG tD7Rz9+AcnJbU8ma1SUnADe5oj9i+3cuYAlz3GAo 46+a0dJNvfetkNC2myPgoVrhbdqK0GQ+hdsCVmGm/

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CDR: Re: It's all property, folks
by No User 20 Oct '00

20 Oct '00

Neil asked: > Same deal. I'd rather it not be polluted in the first place. > And how do I sue some one if there is no judicial system or government to > enforce the > decision. "Joe's International House of Justice" ? Most EarthFirst! folks have figured out that you just have to forget about the government acting properly to protect Mother Earth. It takes direct, individual (or group) action to do it. Thus came about ELF - Earth Liberation Front -- and ALF, Animal Liberation Front. You probably recall some of their work -- Vail, for instance. My problem with them is that they try to not hurt humans, which is stupid. No, you don't sue -- you get a gun and/or a car bomb and kill some of the assholes. Kill the CEO of the polluting company. Park a car bomb outside the factory and detonate it in the midst of shift change. They'll get the message. And here's where crypto comes in -- read up on Jim Bell's Assassination Politics. People who don't like pollution can act anonymously and pay off the hit men. Sweet, savage, but sweet! Your neighbor pollutes your lungs or your land and you don't know what to do about it? Shit man, get real -- $5 bucks worth of gasoline and a midnight stroll takes care of his house, him, and his family.

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CDR: if not part of the solution youre part of the precipitate
by anonymous＠openpgp.net 20 Oct '00

20 Oct '00

If the ultimate motivation of the car siezures is >to sell them and keep the money, what would happen if somebody acquired a >few ounces or gallons of PCBs (poly-chlorinated biphenyls common in >20+year-old (non-electrolytic) capacitors), and sprayed them (only a very >tiny amount per car should be necessary, maybe 1 milliliter or so?) into >those siezed cars though a broken window (or injected through door seals). A better use involves a flare and, um, an appropriately deserving building :-) Aloha Plume

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CDR: DoJ vs. Privacy
by John Young 20 Oct '00

20 Oct '00

In 1998 Gore proposed a national justice information system which was implemented by AG Reno. The purpose of the program is to make criminal justice and other information easily available to many the parties involved; courts, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, local officials and so on. We ran across a presentation by a DoJ official in which he outlines progress of the program and how to address the conflict posed by information collection technology for privacy concerns of citizens and organizations: http://cryptome.org/doj-ji-pi.ppt (129KB) He advocates that despite the "tension between justice needs and privacy concerns," tools for information collection and sharing be provided the national justice system as soon as possible, while a campaign is initiated to address privacy concerns primarily by PR among US, Canadian, UN and other cooperating agencies. He observes that local parties are not always sensitive to privacy concerns and that they may need education -- but that is not to hold up getting them the tools they need to collect information on citizens. He also notes that current laws do not adequately cover today's and tomorrow's technology for collecting and sharing information. What technology besides Carnivore is outside the law? Here's a June 2000 information distribution technology status report by The Global Justice Information Network: http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/global/documents/is_report.htm And here are the member organizations of the Global Justice Information Network Advisory Committee: Administrative Office of the United States Courts American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators American Correctional Association American Probation and Parole Association Attorney General Advisory Committee Criminal Justice Information Services Advisory Policy Board Criminal Justice Information Services Federal Working Group Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) IACP, State and Provincial Police Division Interpol Major Cities Chiefs Association National Association of Attorneys General NASIRE (National Association of State Information Resource Executives), Representing the Chief Information Officers of the States National Center for State Courts National Criminal Justice Association National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges National District Attorneys Association National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System National Legal Aid and Defender Association National Sheriffs Association North Carolina Department of Justice Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Police Department SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs U.S. Department of Treasury U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of Investigative Agency Policies

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CDR: Declan should hope Bush is elected!
by Tim May 20 Oct '00

20 Oct '00

I know Declan is libertarian-leaning, but it seems to me he has good reason to hope Bush wins. Look at Bush's latest stump speech: Thursday October 19 2:13 PM ET Bush Calls Gore Out of Step with New Economy Reuters Photo By Patricia Wilson FRASER, Mich. (Reuters) - Deriding Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) for ''analog thinking in a digital age,'' Republican George W. Bush (news - web sites) on Thursday cast himself as a better steward of the new economy who would protect the Internet from ``the heavy hand of government.'' .... Bush touted the technology boom in Texas and pointed out that a Texan, Jack Kilby, won a Nobel Prize last week for inventing the integrated circuit in the 1950s. ``It was an amazing achievement, unrivaled in the annals of technology until 1986, when one senator from Tennessee, alone in his office, invented the Internet,'' Bush said. Competing Plans The reference to Gore and the Internet, drew hoots of laughter and prolonged applause. Gore, who while in Congress was credited with helping to push federal funding for research that brought about the Internet, has conceded one of his biggest mistakes was when he was seen as claiming credit for helping invent the Internet. --end excerpt-- Seems to me that if Bush wins, Declan will be quite welcome in the White House. He may even be able to influence Bush further in the direction of "hands off" approaches, especially in censorship and filtering. If Gore wins, I expect Declan will face a chilly reception. --Tim May -- ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, "Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.

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CDR: I.R.S. Seeks Credit Card Slips
by Declan McCullagh 20 Oct '00

20 Oct '00

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/20/business/20BANK.html October 20, 2000 - New York Times (front page) Taking Aim at Tax Havens, I.R.S. Seeks Credit Card Slips By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON The Internal Revenue Service, struggling against Caribbean havens it suspects of draining away at least $70 billion a year in personal income tax revenue, has set its sights on a new target the credit card slips of suspected tax evaders. The agency has asked a federal judge in Miami to issue summonses for two years' worth of records of MasterCard and American Express card transactions in the United States that were billed to bank accounts in Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. Using the Internet and other outlets, banks in those nations openly solicit tax evasion in ways that the I.R.S. says have proved attractive to corporate executives, business owners, doctors and other wealthy people in the United States. Americans can legally move their assets offshore but are required to notify the I.R.S. of those transactions and to pay taxes on their income worldwide. Some Caribbean countries offer an alluring tax haven, however, because they impose no income tax and do not generally cooperate with I.R.S. efforts to track down incomes.

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CDR: RE: Rep. Armey questions Justice Department review of Carnivore
by Diamond, Richard 20 Oct '00

20 Oct '00

If you'd like, forward this to the cypherpunks list (if it rejects submissions from non-members). Mr. Armey told the Washington Post that he thought Carnivore was illegal. That should answer the question quite sufficiently, I think. But I might as well add the justification: "The American people will not simply 'trust' that the Justice Department, which allowed 900 FBI files containing personal information about American citizens to be released into unauthorized hands (i.e. Craig Livingstone), will be more careful with their online privacy." http://freedom.gov/library/technology/reno3letter.asp "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." (4th amdt.) Seems to me there's no difference between my packets and my papers. If they're sniffing all the traffic on my ISP, they're sniffing my papers without a warrant. There are other ways to conduct surveillance on criminals that don't present this difficulty.

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CDR: Rep. Armey questions Justice Department review of Carnivore
by Declan McCullagh 20 Oct '00

20 Oct '00

******** And a Napster poll: http://freedom.gov/vote/vote5.asp ******** http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/19/2251239 Justice Department Carnivore Review a Sham? posted by cicero on Thursday October 19, @05:44PM from the say-could-it-be-an-election-year? dept. Dick Armey, House majority leader and Republican firebrand, is once again making trouble for the Clinton administration. Armey this afternoon sent a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, saying that the Justice Department's review of Carnivore appears somewhat less than objective: "I have questioned the independence of this review. Several in the media have questioned this review. Several universities refused to submit review proposals because, in their opinion, the review process was unfair." Having the supposedly secret names of the government-affiliated reviewers revealed last month sure didn't help. Neither did the information in the Carnivore documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. (Armey's letter is below.) The letter: http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/19/2251239

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