- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

U.S. wants passenger names one hour before takeoff
by R.A. Hettinga 25 Feb '05

25 Feb '05

<http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050224-105943-7064r> United Press International U.S. wants passenger names one hour before takeoff By Shaun Waterman UPI Homeland and National Security Editor Published 2/24/2005 11:25 PM WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- The Department of Homeland Security is drafting a rule that will require airlines to pass on passenger manifest information as much as an hour before the departure of international flights bound for the United States, officials confirmed to United Press International Thursday. "We need to be able to identify any suspected terrorists or other criminals (on board) before the plane takes off," Christiana Halsey of the department's Customs and Border Protection directorate said, adding that the department was working on a so-called Notice of Proposed Rule Making -- the first legal step down the regulatory path. The regulation then goes through several drafts, each of which is published for comment by interested parties before being finalized by the White House's Office of Management and Budget. Industry representatives declined to comment for the record in advance of the notice's publication but fretted privately that the logistical demands would be another blow to the financially battered airlines. One congressional official suggested that the federal government might have to underwrite any additional costs incurred. Halsey said that the passenger names would, as at present, be checked by the directorate's National Targeting Center against the United States' consolidated terrorist watchlist -- which contains the names and aliases of thousands individuals thought linked to terrorism -- and against several other law-enforcement databases. "We're not just looking for terrorists," she said. All that would change is that airlines would have to submit the data up to one hour before the plane takes off, rather than within 15 minutes of departure under current procedures. Other knowledgeable sources said the rule would also cover passengers who wanted to transit the United States on their way somewhere else, but Halsey said she had no information about that. In August 2003 the so-called Transit-Without-Visa program -- under which foreigners with onward flights could enter U.S. airline transit lounges regardless of whether they were entitled to enter the country or not -- was suspended indefinitely by the United States. The program was beneficial for airlines and U.S. airports, which foreigners could use as hubs for intercontinental flights without having to obtain a U.S. visa. But the interrogation of Sept. 11, 2001, planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other detainees had revealed that the al-Qaida terror network saw the program as a loophole in U.S. border security -- a way to get potential hijackers into planes over American cities. The option the department is currently working on, according to one person familiar with it, would create one group of passengers -- U.S. citizens, foreign visa holders and nationals of Canada and the so-called visa-waiver nations -- who could transit the country without additional security checks. Nationals of a second group of countries would also be eligible to transit if their passenger information was received long enough in advance of their departure. Now that there is a single terror watchlist, officials explain, it makes much less difference whether it is checked weeks in advance of a trip by a consular officer at a U.S. embassy as part of a visa issuance process or hours in advance of a plane's departure by a Customs and Border Protection official at the directorate's National Targeting Center. Indeed, the proposed change to the rule about the passenger manifests -- known as the Advanced Passenger Information System -- overlaps with and to a certain extent renders moot the protracted tussle between Homeland Security and the European Union over the so-called Passenger Name Record. PNR data, a much more extensive record including credit-card and frequent-flyer details as well as religious dietary preferences, has -- partly for that reason -- become a real cause celebre among privacy advocates in Europe, while APIS, which has been submitted by airlines to U.S Immigration and Customs authorities for years, has largely escaped notice. Officials insist -- not entirely convincingly -- that, either way, getting passenger information to U.S. authorities early will benefit the airlines and their customers. Over the past year several transatlantic flights have been diverted -- generally to Bangor, Maine, the Eastern-most major U.S. airport -- after it emerged that one or more passengers on board were matches for individuals with suspected terror links. In the most celebrated case a Washington, D.C.-bound jetliner was diverted last September after officials discovered that Yusef Islam -- better known as the singer Cat Stevens -- was on board. He was deported after being questioned. Officials said at the time that his name was on a "no fly" list and that he should not have been allowed to board the plane. And during the winter of 2004 a dozen flights from London and Paris were canceled -- in some cases after names thought linked to terrorism turned up on passenger manifests. "If we get the information in advance," said Halsey, "we can minimize -- if not entirely eliminate" such costly diversions and cancellations. "They are inconvenient for the passengers and expensive for the airlines." But airlines seem unlikely to welcome the move, nonetheless. "We are not going to comment until we see something definitive," said Diana Cronin of the Air Transport Association, which represents major U.S. carriers. Other industry sources said privately the move could create serious logistical problems for airlines, which currently do not finalize their passenger manifests until the doors of the plane close at the gate as the plane departs. "Airlines make money when their planes are in the air," said one industry lobbyist, pointing out that anything that increases wait times between flights would squeeze an industry already beset by financial crisis. "From our perspective," Ed Fluhr, manager of legislative affairs at the Travel Industry Association of America, told UPI, "the U.S. government recently has done a good job of explaining new security measures" such as the digital fingerprinting and photographing of all foreign visitors arriving by air and sea under the US-VISIT program. But he added that, "Anything that adds to the perception -- or the reality -- of unnecessarily intrusive security measures can be a reason for a traveler to go elsewhere." DHS spokesman Dennis Murphy said the department was very sensitive to the needs of the traveler and the airline industry. "The objective is to get the information early enough in the process without unduly impacting airlines and their passengers. "We are making a huge effort to counter the impression of fortress America," he said, alluding to fears that the introduction of US-VISIT would damage the image of the United States as a tourist destination. Such concerns have so far proved largely groundless, although some industry analysts fret that the weak dollar may be masking the deterrent effect on visitors from Europe and Asia of being fingerprinted upon entry. Nonetheless, officials say they recognize industry concerns about the logistical issues the new rule raises and are working with the airlines to allay them. "We know there are issues with connecting flights," said Halsey. "We know there is concern" about passengers who arrive or cancel their departure at the last minute. "We know there might be additional costs." She said the department was listening to the industry's concerns. "We need the stakeholders on board," she said. One senior congressional staffer was dismissive of industry concerns. "They'll complain about the cost, they'll warn about delays. ... They'll make problems," he said, adding, "No one likes to be regulated. ... That's capitalism." He predicted that, in the end, the airlines would "suck it up" but try to stick the taxpayer with any bill. "There may be cost issues," he said, adding that the industry "lived and died by its margins." When Congress mandated hardened cockpit doors in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the staffer recalled, lawmakers made sure the industry was reimbursed for the cost. "If that (additional cost of the new rule) can be demonstrated, I'm sure Congress would be receptive to the idea of doing that again," he said. None of the officials UPI spoke to cared to make a prediction about when the rule notice would be published. "It is still in the inter-agency process," said Murphy. -- ----------------- 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'

1 0

FW: T-Shirt and Securing Wireless Apps in Vertical Markets Webinar from Unstrung
by Tyler Durden 25 Feb '05

25 Feb '05

>Dear Colleague, > >As an industry professional, you may be interested to know about an >upcoming online event being presented by Unstrung (www.unstrung.com) the >worldwide source for analysis of the wireless economy. This free Web >seminar - "Securing Wireless Applications in Vertical Markets" - will >evaluate recent progress in a critical sector. The benefits of deploying >wireless technology in vertical markets are well documented, but security >issues continue to be the main concern holding back widespread wireless >adoption in these environments. Keeping information out of the hands of >interlopers has become a critical task for any net manager. > >During this presentation we'll focus on: > >- The critical role of security in vertical markets - why does it matter? >- The diverse security demands of different vertical markets >- Potential effects of wireless network attacks in different markets >- Case studies of deployments in vertical markets and lessons learned >- Securing today's wireless networks and emerging future technologies > >Join us on Wednesday, March 2, at 2:00 p.m. New York / 7:00 p.m. London >time, for this live Webinar sponsored by AirTight Networks, Bluesocket, and >Newbury Networks. It's free. What's more, to thank you for your >participation you'll receive a complimentary Unstrung t-shirt. > >Click here to view the Unstrung t-shirt: > >http://img.lightreading.com/unstrung/unstrung_shirt.gif > >To sign up for the Webinar, please register through the following link: > >http://metacast.agora.com/link.asp?m=23979&s=4936527&l=0 > >We hope to see you there! > >Unstrung

1 0

test message, please ignore
by Riad S. Wahby 24 Feb '05

24 Feb '05

see subject -- Riad S. Wahby rsw(a)jfet.org

1 0

None
by somebody 24 Feb '05

24 Feb '05

Gecko/20040910 To: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: TCPA_DEFCON_10.pdf (application/pdf Object) Bob -- This is not the world I desired, damnit! --------- Require third parties to provide the service. Alice and Bob agree that Carol shall provide free beer to all comers in perpetuity. <http://www.cypherpunks.to/TCPA_DEFCON_10.pdf> -- <somebody's .sig> --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- 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'

1 0

None
by somebody 24 Feb '05

24 Feb '05

Gecko/20040910 To: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: TCPA_DEFCON_10.pdf (application/pdf Object) Bob -- This is not the world I desired, damnit! --------- Require third parties to provide the service. Alice and Bob agree that Carol shall provide free beer to all comers in perpetuity. <http://www.cypherpunks.to/TCPA_DEFCON_10.pdf> -- <somebody's .sig> --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- 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'

1 0

George Will: Taking the streets back
by R.A. Hettinga 24 Feb '05

24 Feb '05

<http://www.townhall.com/columnists/georgewill/printgw20050224.shtml> Townhall.com Taking the streets back George Will (back to web version) | Send February 24, 2005 CHICAGO -- He looks like the actor Wilfred Brimley -- round as a beach ball; grandfatherly gray mustache -- but Philip J. Cline, this city's police superintendent, is, like his city, hard as a baseball. And as they say in baseball, he puts up numbers. Actually, he and his officers have driven some crucial numbers down. Last year homicides reached a 38-year low of 448, 25 percent below 2003's total of 600, which was lower than the 2002 and 2001 totals of 654 and 668. Nationally, homicides declined steadily after the peak of dealer-on-dealer violence in the crack cocaine epidemic of the late 1980s and early '90s. But the decline was slow in Chicago, where in 2001, 2002 and 2003 it ranked second, first and second among cities in the number of murders, not just the murder rate. In the last third of the 20th century, Chicago violence killed more than 28,000 people -- the population of many Illinois towns. In an American city, as in Baghdad, which is about the size of Chicago, the key to policing against violence is intelligence and other cooperation from a population that trusts the police. Which means, Cline says, replacing random patrols with strategic deployments of officers. He says 50 percent of Chicago's homicides are gang-related. Gang membership, now an estimated 65,000 strong, used to be a rite of passage for young men. Now it is increasingly a career choice for men turning the gangs into business organizations selling drugs and investing the proceeds in, among other things, real estate. One-third of the drug customers are suburbanites. Video on a police department laptop displays facets of the problem. One clip shows dealers giving away, in broad daylight, free samples to droves of potential customers. Another clip shows mass marketing as customers, again in midday, are walked, in groups of several dozen, across a street to a playground to make their purchases. Another clip shows a violent felon being released from Joliet prison, heading for Chicago but first visiting Indiana, thereby violating his terms of release. He was rearrested two hours out of prison. ``A land speed record,'' says Cline. Fewer than 10 percent of Chicago murder victims are white. And as a mordant student of murder says, ``There's always a correlation between homicides and ice cream trucks.'' Most victims are killed in hot weather, from May to October, mostly in July and August, when people are mingling -- and often drinking -- on stoops and street corners, and are irritable. The crime-infested Robert Taylor high-rise housing projects on the South Side have been closed and the Cabrini-Green project on the near North Side is being closed, which means a jostling for social space among displaced drug dealers. Cline says there were about 100 open-air drug markets in the city last year. Police closed about half of them, producing more displacements as markets opened elsewhere in the city. This process is frustrating but constructive because it means some slowing of the drug trade. But it can also cause an uptick in violence as dealers contest desirable turf. Cline says that when 100 markets are each pulling in $5,000 a day, serious money is at stake. Some of the money buys the guns that settle struggles for turf. Last year police seized 10,509 guns -- 29 a day. They probably will seize as many this year; they did in 2003. But this is not an exercise in bailing the ocean: Stiff sentences for gun possession, and stiffer ones for firing a gun, put a high price tag on regarding a gun as fashion necessity for the well-accessorized young man. Last year about 18,000 of the inmates released from Illinois prisons came back to Chicago; perhaps 25,000 will this year. Some of the returning convicts come home expecting to reclaim their shares of the drug business. Some of the younger dealers will decide it is easier to kill them than accommodate them. A new ``shot spotter'' technology can detect the trajectory of a bullet and direct a camera that scans 360 degrees. Soon there will be 80 such cameras watching strategic intersections. There is nothing surreptitious about this -- indeed, the cameras have blue lights and Chicago Police Department logos. The CPD wants dealers to know the area is being watched. The cost of the cameras is paid by seized assets from dealers. So, Cline says contentedly, ``they're paying to surveil themselves.'' Cline says the message to the neighborhoods is: ``We will take the corner back. You must hold the corner.'' Again, as in Baghdad. -- ----------------- 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'

2 1

Lucky Green: TCPA, the Mother(board) of all Big Brothers
by R.A. Hettinga 24 Feb '05

24 Feb '05

--- begin forwarded text

2 1

Peppercoin and SunTrust ink micropayments deal
by R.A. Hettinga 24 Feb '05

24 Feb '05

<http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?pf=y&id=13273> News Finextra: Peppercoin and SunTrust ink micropayments deal Published: 22/02/2005 14:20:00 US micropayments firm Peppercoin has inked an alliance deal with SunTrust Merchant Services, a joint venture between SunTrust Banks and First Data Corporation, to deliver a small payments processing service to merchants. Reino Parking Systems has been signed as the first client. Peppercoin's Small Transaction Suite cuts processing costs for sub-$20 transactions conducted via conventional debit and credit cards. The SunTrust tie-up follows a similar recent agreement with Chase Merchant Services. Mark Friedman, president of Peppercoin, says: "With our joint solution, SunTrust Merchant Services' 67,000 business clients can immediately convert small cash payments, a $1.32 trillion annual market, to credit and debit card payments." Barbara Roeber, general manager/SVP, SunTrust Merchant Services, says the firm has recorded "a dramatic increase in demand for small payments capability" in the past six months. "Peppercoin's solution is the only one that supports our merchants' needs for digital, mobile and physical point of sale transactions." Reino Parking Systems has begun deployment for the processing of credit card transactions at Multispace parking meters in various US locations. The meters will be able to accept payment via credit card and mobile phone and consumers can elect to receive text messages alerting them to expiry times. -- ----------------- 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'

1 0

Chatter Punks
by John Young 24 Feb '05

24 Feb '05

Maybe it's been mentioned here but the book, "Chatter: Dispatches from the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping," by Patrick Radden Keefe mentions cypherpunks and a slew of people who've been around here, or discussed, cited, admired, attacked and hated here. Crypto is featured, along with the TLAs, the fools who run them, the lackies who suck their tits, the congress critters who give them a free pass no matter what fuck-ups damage the US and the unwary targets of spooks, 9/11 only one of many. It's a "lively read," and a lot of its smooth-narrative content won't be new to avid readers of disputatious, thankfully ungrammatically cpunks, but it does get the slick word out to the public in an easy to swallow fashion. For us jacket addicts, there are favorable blurbs by David Kahn and Seymour Hersh. Keefe calls John Gilmore, Duncan Campbell, and other uninstitutionalized insurgents outcasts, but IEDs are where it's at, right? He also claims the NSA is a pitiful giant, protected against change by ever increasing secrecy blessed by congress and the administration, and that most of its new hires are security guards to protect against knowing what's inside, not the personnel truly needed.

1 0

U.N.: Register every baby born
by R.A. Hettinga 24 Feb '05

24 Feb '05

<http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43005> WorldNetDaily Wednesday, February 23, 2005 THE NEW WORLD DISORDER U.N.: Register every baby born Desmond Tutu launches global campaign, claiming unlisted children 'nonentities' Posted: February 23, 2005 4:23 p.m. Eastern Desmond Tutu in New York urging registration of all children The United Nations is supporting a new campaign urging governments around the world to register every newborn child, and it's getting help from South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu. ''It is, in a very real sense, a matter of life and death,'' the Nobel Peace Prize winner said at a New York news conference. ''The unregistered child is a nonentity. The unregistered child does not exist. How can we live with the knowledge that we could have made a difference?'' The campaign, called "Write me down, make me real," is backed by UNICEF and calls on governments to record the estimated 48 million children whose births go unregistered each year. Sixteen years ago, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child told countries to register every baby immediately after birth. Every nation has ratified the convention except two, the U.S. and Somalia. The aid agency Plan USA has released a report titled ''Universal Birth Registration - a Universal Responsibility.'' While it acknowledges it's impossible to know for sure how many unregistered children actually exist because they're not counted, estimates have suggested the figure is over half a billion. It lists percentages of children not registered by region: Sub-Saharan Africa: 71 percent South Asia: 63 percent Middle East and North Africa: 31 percent Asia Pacific: 22 percent Latin America/Caribbean: 14 percent CEE/CIS and Baltic states: 10 percent Industrialized countries: 2 percent "Governments worldwide are failing the world's children, as millions of youngsters without a birth certificate find it very difficult to prove their age or nationality," said Thomas Miller, Plan's chief executive. "Children without birth certificates are far more likely to find themselves without access to education, health care, civil rights or inheritance laws. "And parents whose children go missing during disasters like the tsunami or because they are abducted by traffickers may even be unable to get help with tracing their sons or daughters because they cannot prove the age of their children - or in many cases that their children even exist." -- ----------------- 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'

1 0