- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Re: The need for FREE cryptography ...
by markh＠wimsey.bc.ca 30 Aug '93

30 Aug '93

> It would be wonderful if somebody would put a > reasonably secure package (much like PGP) and copyleft the source. > ... What I'd need, if I wanted to integrate this technology into > new platforms such as voice communication or an encrypted file system, is a > library of tools for shuffling this data around and piping it through the > "magic" algorithms. > > I wonder if somebody on this list could outline what efforts are being made > in this area. Well the GNU MP library would be a good place to start (it implements the raw RSA operations quite efficiently). It wouldn't be much work to package it up with free code for Triple DES, IDEA, MD5, SHS and some good "random" number generation algorithms. What you are looking for is something like RSAREF with different licensing terms. If this sort of work were to be distributed it should be done by someone outside of the U.S. and Canada. At one point I wrote some code to do part of this based on GMP (using LUC). I've seen old versions of it on anonymous ftp sites. Obviously one would want to add DH key exchange and some other features, but it did come with a very simple sample application called L3 which implemented PGP/RIPEM-like public key encryption and signing. Certainly if you can find an one of these old versions lying around on a ftp site, you are free to do with it as you like (anything I wrote is in the public domain) At this point, I do NOT plan to distribute any newer versions of this, because of anticipated patent infringement claims and because of the overly restrictive licence of GMP. It has essentially become a project for my own personal research and amusement. Mark -- Mark Henderson markh(a)wimsey.bc.ca (personal account) RIPEM key available by key server/finger/E-mail MD5OfPublicKey: F1F5F0C3984CBEAF3889ADAFA2437433

3 2

Re: Apple vs. Free Software Foundation
by nobody＠soda.berkeley.edu 30 Aug '93

30 Aug '93

Steve Davis writes: >When something as broad and necessary as "freedom" is at stake, it is >important to know who your friends are. When my son asks me "What does 'fair' mean?", I had to answer: "It depends on who says it." When someone says "That's not fair!" or "I think that's fair", most often they are not weighing abstract values; they are deciding whether the situation is favorable to them, and describing it with charged vocabulary to sway all other parties to their point of view. Patents on machines are fair; but patents on really useful algorithms -- that I could actually use in my code (if it weren't for that damn patent) -- aren't. Why? Because I don't like it (and I really, really don't like it :( ). Companies act like people in many ways: they grow; they have goals; they protect their interests; and they ignore that which they don't believe will effect them. But like animals and machines, it is important not to anthropomorphize companies. No company is anyones 'friend'. I speak for neither Apple, nor FSF, but it is easy to see why they have taken the courses that they have. Neither path has led to its promised goal. FSF is not punishing Apple. It _is_ punishing programmers, individuals, human beings who have a job to do. In fact, the FSF is punishing me, since I have spent no small amount time programming Apple computers (and no small amount of time porting GNU tools to them). Has Apple's strategy of closely guarded secrets proved the correct one? Let's call up Bill Gates and ask him. In summary, I find your statements to be an undisguised attempt to hang your unrelated personal agenda from a charged political situation. Do I think that's fair? People have been doing it for centuries. I may not approve of Apple's technological strategy, but (even though it is not a human being) I will defend its right to _its_ privacy.

2 1

The need for FREE cryptography ...
by strat＠abc.ksu.ksu.edu 30 Aug '93

30 Aug '93

There is still a void in the arena of free public encryption systems for regular human beings. It would be wonderful if somebody would put a reasonably secure package (much like PGP) and copyleft the source. PGP has never been a very useful tool to me as a programmer because of its internal structure. What I'd need, if I wanted to integrate this technology into new platforms such as voice communication or an encrypted file system, is a library of tools for shuffling this data around and piping it through the "magic" algorithms. I wonder if somebody on this list could outline what efforts are being made in this area. Stratocaster -- Steve Davis (strat(a)cis.ksu.edu) Kansas State University "[Nuclear Weapons] can't help but have an effect on the population as a whole." -- Ronald Reagan

3 2

Re: Apple planning to use Clipper chip?
by nate＠rodin.VIS.ColoState.EDU 30 Aug '93

30 Aug '93

>5. Therefore, for a standard to emerge on the Mac... 1) Apple would have to >begin producing machines that contained this chip; 2) Apple would have to >produce special system software, explicitly for this class of machines, >that used this chip; 3) Apple would have to produce compelling end-user >communications software that used clipper services on this class of machines >and either didn't run at all on earlier hardware, or didn't use clipper >technology. kind of like they put the DSPs in the new macs, and make a new, individualized version o fhte MacOS for EVERY new machine (individualized by the "System Enablers").. and how they make everyone want the new macs because of the speech and video software, that is dependant on the new hardware... Nope, it'll never happen... -nate

1 0

Re: Apple planning to use Clipper chip?
by scott＠Cadence.COM 30 Aug '93

30 Aug '93

At 12:45 PM 8/30/93 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote: >My speculation would be that the Clipper/Skipjack/Capstone deal, if it >is happening at all, is some time off. Perhaps for a phone version of >the av Macs (there had been speculation that Apple was planning to use >the on-board DSP hardware for a modem tool, similar to what NeXT has >done with its hardware). The Centris 660av and Quadra 840av are both equiped with the Phone software to allow them to do modem emulation, phone calls (speaker phone), and faxes in software only. If you want more info on this, send me an email and we'll keep it off this list. scott --- Scott Gustafson '93 ZX-11D Pilot (408) 894-3432 Cadence Design Systems, 555 River Oaks Pkwy., San Jose, CA 95134 Internet: scott(a)cadence.com WARNING: This vechile capable of evading high speed pursuit.

1 0

Re: Another BBS Seizure in Hartford
by Peter Wayner 30 Aug '93

30 Aug '93

BTW, there is a story in today's NYT about a poor, French kid who watched McGiver make a bomb in the TV show and then decided to "try this at home." He was killed. Now his family has filed a nice, big law suit. The guy on the show made the bomb with sugar and some kind of fertilizer or other stuff. -Peter

1 0

Re: Another BBS Seizure in Hartford
by Reply to: hahn＠lds.loral.com 30 Aug '93

30 Aug '93

So this fellow was arrested because one of his BBS clients posted the bomb recipes on his BBS? This makes for a viable means of destroying somebody else's means of info distribution. Say XYZ-BBS attracts clients who are interested in some political viewpoint that I oppose. I would subscribe, pretending to share their interests, then post bomb recipes. I could facilitate my treachery even further by making a call to the appropriate authorities, warning them of a political terrorism conspiracy. XYZ-BBS is destroyed. If I then inform the press, I can also publicly impeach the entire group. BTW, you don't need _The Anarchist's Cookbook_ to make a bomb. I have a US Gubment (DOD special forces) book that provides enough recipes to produce mountains of mayhem. And you can find most of the materials you need in stores that would be present in any small town. What law would it violate to post what the gubment has already published? __ | (V) | "Tiger gotta hunt. Bird gotta fly. | (^ (`> | Man gotta sit and wonder why, why, why. | ((\\__/ ) | Tiger gotta sleep. Bird gotta land. | (\\< ) der Nethahn | Man gotta tell himself he understand." | \< ) | | ( / | Kurt Vonnegut Jr. | | | | ^ |

1 0

unsubscribe
by Mandrake＠f1.n8012.z86.toadnet.org 30 Aug '93

30 Aug '93

unsubscribe

1 0

Re: Apple planning to use Clipper chip?
by collins＠newton.apple.com 30 Aug '93

30 Aug '93

I do not, in any capacity, speak for Apple. But... >Apple even discussed the >pricing and said that if the Clipper/Skipjack chip could be sold to >them for less than $30, they could "design it into every Mac." Based on long experience with Macs and Mac software (system and otherwise), I think this is highly unlikely. 1. Apple has a history of following the 'software only' approach in general. 2. Apple loudly and often touts compatability across its entire line. 3. 3rd party Mac developers have little incentive to write software with mass appeal (e.g., communications software) but limited applicability (because of hardware requirements). 4. If the software isn't pre-installed in your system, then unless it comes from Microsoft, such a 'questionable' standard is probably avoidable. 5. Therefore, for a standard to emerge on the Mac... 1) Apple would have to begin producing machines that contained this chip; 2) Apple would have to produce special system software, explicitly for this class of machines, that used this chip; 3) Apple would have to produce compelling end-user communications software that used clipper services on this class of machines and either didn't run at all on earlier hardware, or didn't use clipper technology. It is unlikely that a 3rd party would do it, or have any impact if it did. But Apples history is scalable software that runs on every machine (ala QuickTime). If Apple wanted to introduce privacy enhancement technology in its system, it seems economically and historically more probable that it would simply license RSA/DES/etc technology and roll in a software only service. This is my opinion, based solely on my nine years of experience as Macintosh developer. To paraphrase Columbo: "It's my experience, sir, that people rarely do things they don't *usually* do." ...which may sound obvious, but then you *saw* the killer do it in the first 10 minutes... Scott Collins | "Few people realize what tremendous power there | is in one of these things." -- Willy Wonka ......................|................................................ BUSINESS. voice:408.862.0540 fax:974.6094 collins(a)newton.apple.com Apple Computer, Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, MS 301-2C Cupertino, CA 95014 ....................................................................... PERSONAL. voice/fax:408.257.1746 1024:669687 catalyst(a)netcom.com

3 2

EXE Encryptor
by Douglas Sinclair 30 Aug '93

30 Aug '93

Development of the EXE encrypting package that s_duck(a)pinetree.org and I were working on has effectivly stalled. We were unable to wedge DOS at the right level to virtualize an .exe file. Sorry for getting your hopes up. If anyone wishes to continue the project, please ask s_duck for the existing code. -- PGP 2.3a Key by finger

1 0