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Cypherpunk help with Hal Finney demo
by hal＠finney.org 11 Feb '05

11 Feb '05

Here's a semi-urgent request. I introduced the RPOW project last year on this list, rpow.net. It provides a sort of play-money form of digital cash, an implementation of Nick Szabo's concept of "bit gold". I am giving a talk at CodeCon, www.codecon.org, on this system, in about an hour(!) and I could use some help from you. One of the things I have done to demo a possible use is to make a patched version of BitTorrent, the widely used file sharing program, that exchanges RPOW data objects in order to reward people for uploading and seeding files. In exchange, people with RPOWs can get priority on future downloads, so by seeding today you can get a better download tomorrow. That's the concept, although at this point it is just an experiment. What I need is to have a dozen or so people doing regular BitTorrent downloads of a file I will offer during the demo, which will be at about 5:15 PM Pacific Standard Time, 8:15 PM EST, 1:15 AM GMT. That's 1 hour from now. You don't need to use any special RPOW software, just the regular BitTorrent client. If you have a BitTorrent client and know how to use it, could you start up and leave running a download of the following .torrent file: http://www.finney.org/~hal/ArkyMovie.mpg.torrent This is fully legal, it's just a home movie of my dog Arky playing on the beach with his brother. Nothing will happen with the download until I start the demo after 5. But if you could start up your BitTorrent client before then and just leave it running, it would be a big help for me. If you are able to do this, please send me an email when you start up your BT client, at hal(a)finney.org. If you've never used BT, don't bother to try downloading and figuring it out. I only really need a minimum of 4 or 5 people doing it, but as I said a dozen or more would be great. Sorry about the last minute notice; I know that most people won't see this until too late, but if anyone sees it now and you know how to use BT I'd appreciate your help. Thanks! Hal Finney

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[osint] Technology and Terror: The New Modus Operandi
by R.A. Hettinga 11 Feb '05

11 Feb '05

--- begin forwarded text To: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Thread-Index: AcUQiaDiEfkM6EBiRXa/4exIK6zyqQ== From: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Mailing-List: list osint(a)yahoogroups.com; contact osint-owner(a)yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list osint(a)yahoogroups.com Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 17:32:54 -0500 Subject: [osint] Technology and Terror: The New Modus Operandi Reply-To: osint(a)yahoogroups.com http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/tech.html Technology and Terror: The New Modus Operandi By Andrew Becker For all the fear that cyber terrorists will turn the Internet into a weapon of mass disruption, many intelligence experts contend the Web is most effective (or detrimental) as it was designed to be -- as a way to communicate and create community. This essay explores how jihadis are using the Web, plus some of the cyber "tricks" used by terrorists to avoid detection and how the authorities can respond. It was all laid out in a polished, 25-minute training video: how to make an explosive belt to blow yourself up and kill as many people as possible. This particular video, first posted on a jihadist message board in December 2004, presented the necessary explosives, shrapnel and vest for a suicide bomber. It demonstrated how to assemble the materials and wear the belt. And then the video showed a test of the explosive belt, with a simulated detonation aboard a crowded bus. As translated on a Web site <http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications13804&Category=pub lications&Subcategory=0> that tracks Islamic terrorist organizations, the producers analyzed the bomb's impact on the mock victims: We notice that the following 2 seats were not directly hit. This is due to the fact that, when the person who will be wearing this explosive vest goes on the bus, and wants to blow himself up, he must be facing the front with his back towards the back. There is a possibility that the 2 seats on his right and his left might not be hit with the shrapnel, however, the explosion will surely kill the passengers in those seats. Such Web sites and training videos, which are often posted then quickly removed to avoid detection, have multiplied after Sept. 11. In doing so, they opened perhaps the widest front in the war on terror: cyberspace. In essence, the Internet is the perfect communication tool for terrorists, and it mirrors the framework of their operations: decentralized, anonymous, and offering fast communication to a potentially large audience. The Internet is used to plot and claim responsibility for terrorist acts, to address sympathizers and enemies alike, and to raise money and attract new recruits. It has created a virtual "umma" -- Arabic for the larger Muslim community as a whole -- and like the actual umma, the cyber umma encompasses both moderate Muslims and Islamic fundamentalists. For all the fear that cyber terrorists will turn the Internet into a weapon of mass disruption, many intelligence experts contend the Web is most effective (or detrimental) as it was designed to be -- as a way to communicate and to create community. In a keynote speech at a security conference for government agencies in Washington, retired CIA director George Tenet called for tightening security of the Internet, which he said was "a potential Achilles' heel." Tenet acknowledged that it would be "controversial in this age when we still think the Internet is a free and open society," but "ultimately the Wild West must give way to governance and control." But, as Gabriel Weimann writes in the United States Institute of Peace report "How <http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr116.html> Modern Terrorism Uses the Internet," the restriction of the Internet under the guise of counterterrorism measures, particularly by authoritarian governments, can infringe on privacy, limit freedom of speech, and impede the free flow of information, in turn placing restrictions on the open society that makes the Western world strong. "There's just no question that if the Internet wasn't there, the terrorists would have loved to invent it," says Jeffrey Simon, a former terrorism analyst for the RAND Corp., author of The Terrorist Trap and a consultant who has studied terrorism for 20 years. "It's always a technological battle with terrorists. The technology is always out there for everyone to take advantage of." + Hosting terror at home Although a number of extremist sites are located abroad, in many cases, terrorists take advantage of the technology inside the U.S. Recently, more jihadist Web sites in Europe have switched to U.S. computer servers -- mostly because they can, says Rita Katz, director of the Washington-based Search for International <http://www.siteinstitute.org/> Terrorist Entities (SITE) Institute. American Web hosting is cheap, easy to access and U.S. servers are technologically among the best in the world. To avoid detection, terrorists frequently change Web addresses and often squat undetected on other Web sites or Internet servers. Katz believes the most hard-core Al Qaeda and jihadist Web sites are hosted in the U.S. because of freedom of speech protections. Katz points to the August 2004 arrest of Babar Ahmad, a British citizen charged in the U.S. with providing material support to terrorists, conspiring to kill people in a foreign country, and money laundering, because Web sites that he ran from the U.K. were hosted by an Internet service provider in Connecticut. The indictment alleges that through the Web sites and other means, Ahmad provided "expert advice and assistance, communications equipment, military items, lodging, training, false documentation, transportation, funding, personnel and other support designed to assist the Chechen mujahideen, the Taliban and associated groups." "The Internet today is really 'command central' for all terrorist organizations," says Katz, who wrote a memoir The Terrorist Hunter and has tracked international terrorists since the 1990s. "You don't really need to be in Afghanistan anymore. It's all on the Internet." She keeps edited examples of terrorist training manuals, videos, newsletters and communiquis on the SITE Institute's subscriber-based Web site, including the suicide bomber instructional video. The information on these Web sites can vary from how to set up a safehouse to instructions for using rocket-propelled grenades. "If you know where to look, [they're] not difficult to find. Not for an Arabic speaker," she says. The Internet is "something we set up for our use to make our life better, but terrorists have hijacked the Internet literally." + Increasing sophistication In the summer of 2004, Lee S. Strickland, director of the Center for Information Policy at the University of Maryland and a career senior intelligence officer and computer specialist, oversaw a study that examined terrorists' use of the Internet. The study found that the terrorist sites tend to be as sophisticated and efficacious as many mainstream Western corporate sites. The researchers used 26 variables of highly effective Web sites including design, content and how often they are updated. "You're really seeing a growing sophistication of video and the Web," Strickland says. The study examined a number of terrorist linked sites, ranging from Al Qaeda and Hamas to the Tamil Tigers. When compared with Microsoft.com, Hamas' site, for instance, shared 23 of these 26 highly valuable design features, such as search engines, mission statements, a "what's new" section and a frequently asked questions page. There were even job boards, online applications for recruitment, testimonials, an online store and chat rooms. If the sites aren't directly recruiting, many solicit funds. Strickland says these sites employ an effective array of interactive games, cartoons, jokes, and even bedtime stories that appeal to children. They recruit young adults ages 14 to 24 with videos and music: For example, in early 2004, a Muslim rapper in Great Britain named Sheik Terra released a video for his song "Dirty Kuffar" (Infidel) in which he carries a copy of the Quran and a pistol and calls for the death of all non-Muslims. + Reconnaissance With the abundance of information available on the Internet, terrorists also use the Web for reconnaissance, especially with the availability of public information on things like electrical grids and other infrastructure -- a problem highlighted by George Tenet late last year. Terrorists regularly search the Internet for data mining purposes to facilitate financial transactions and crime, according to former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke. Clarke says the government should limit what information is available by first examining the content on government Web sites. If they don't, reconnaissance of potential targets by terrorists will continue. "The Pentagon has done this. It's generally a good idea for any company or government to do," he says. "There's way too much information available." An Al Qaeda training manual recovered in Afghanistan confirms that the group researched critical infrastructure online. The manual explained that at least 80 percent of the information gathered on the enemy was done through open and legal methods. Whether it's GIS mapping of the electrical and cyberoptic infrastructure of New York City or major dams, much of the information is still openly available, according to Strickland. "You can get information anonymously, store it in a database and apply data mining tools to it," he says. "And the tools to exploit are commercial tools!" + Avoiding detection For years intelligence experts and officials have suspected that some Al Qaeda operatives are technological whizzes who use espionage tools like encryption or the practice of hiding messages within other messages known as steganography. Encryption works by altering letters or numbers with software. It is illegal to export encryption software to certain countries overseas, but the programs can be easily downloaded. Arrests of Al Qaeda members and computers captured in U.S. raids have turned up evidence of encrypted e-mails dating to the 1990s, including the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa. Wadih <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/upclose/elhage.html> El Hage, an associate of Osama bin Laden who was convicted for his role in the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, encrypted e-mails while plotting the attacks. Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center attack, used encryption from his base in the Philippines in the mid-1990s when he plotted to blow up 11 U.S. airplanes over the Pacific. More recently, U.S. officials believe the Al Qaeda Web site www.alneda.com used encrypted information to link Al Qaeda members to more secure sites, according to Weimann's report. Steganography dates to ancient Greece and was widely used by Allies and the Axis during World War II. Russ Rogers, a security researcher and CEO of security services company Security Horizon, Inc., says there are more than 100 tools readily available on the Web that can help hide information inside documents such as JPEG image files using algorithms to modify the pixels in a file without altering the visible image. There are even Web sites and programs that can transform a message to make it look like spam e-mail or a play script. + The virtual politics of violence The Web's use as a propaganda and political tool may be its biggest asset to terrorists. An intelligence aide to a U.S. senator, who spoke on condition of anonymity says, "The Internet is the poor man's television network. Buy a $300 video camera and a PC and you're in business. You can communicate in a very powerful medium almost instantaneously, almost undetectable and free." One of the more striking examples of terrorists' political use of the Internet involves a document that argued for an attack against Spanish forces months before March 11. Written in early December 2003, the document titled "Jihadi Iraq, Hopes and Dangers" called for attacks in order to influence the parliamentary elections. A few weeks after the document was published, Brynjar Lia, senior analyst at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, found the document on a jihadist Web site while making his usual rounds on the Internet. "It was interesting to me for two reasons -- the document's sophisticated strategic analysis and its specific recommendations," Lia says. "Many of the documents are religious and propagandist in tone and entirely devoted to providing justifications for jihad. If you've read one or two, you've read them all." But this document was different. It mentioned the Spanish elections, which were four months away, and recommended "painful strikes" in the run-up to the election in order to influence its outcome. The author lays out the argument as for why an attack against Spain would be most effective. There wasn't a specific call for an attack in Europe, Lia says, but rather the terms called for an attack against Spanish forces. As translated <http://www.mil.no/felles/ffi/start/article.jhtml?articleID=71589> by Lia and his colleague Thomas Hegghammer, the document contends: We think that the Spanish government could not tolerate more than two, maximum three blows, after which it will have to withdraw as a result of popular pressure. If its troops still remain in Iraq after these blows, then the victory of the Socialist Party is almost secured, and the withdrawal of the Spanish forces will be on its electoral programme. "Like everyone else, I assumed all the intelligence agencies in the world were monitoring these Web sites and checking them out," Lia says. "I didn't think to alert anyone. It seemed obvious. I thought they must have been read." + Monitoring Web sites The U.S. government doesn't actively monitor Web sites, according to Richard Clarke. Some ISPs and Web hosts might, although currently there is no legal obligation to do so. "You're treading on dangerous ground when you start limiting content, unless the site is clearly linked to a violation of the law," he says. But while First Amendment concerns exist, it is the sheer volume of Web sites and e-mail traffic that mostly hampers monitoring. "Unless there is a specific complaint, [Web hosting companies] don't have the wherewithal to monitor the content or the responsibility," says FBI agent Mike Rolince, of the Washington, D.C. field office. The same issue of resources prohibits the Department of Justice from monitoring Web sites says Department of Justice spokesman Bryan Sierra. "We don't have the manpower or the desire to sit around and monitor the Web 24-7," Sierra says. "We're not the guys out there trying to determine what is on the Internet. That's not our goal. Our goal is to determine what is illegal." California-based Yahoo! spokeswoman Mary Osako would not comment on how aggressively Yahoo! monitors the content of the Web sites it hosts, but the company investigates every complaint it receives. She says that the company has the "ability across languages" to scrutinize sites but for the most part Yahoo! relies on its members to report any inappropriate use. Osako would not disclose how many reports the company has received regarding terrorist-related material. In the end, taking down a Web site isn't going to solve the problem. "The opposition sees that as nothing more than a temporary inconvenience," according to Rolince. Going forward, Dale Watson, former special agent in charge of counter-terrorism in the Washington bureau of the FBI, expects the bureau to continue to use the e-mail equivalent of telephone wiretaps as a surveillance tool. Since March 2004, the European Union has discussed imposing requirements on Internet service providers (ISPs) and cell phone companies to keep permanent records accessible to law enforcement. The European Council will vote on the matter in June 2005. For the Department of Justice, the main obstacle and main challenge will be keeping up with the emerging technologies terrorists use, Sierra says. But the intelligence aide to the U.S. senator believes that the cyber age and "all the cool tools" shouldn't dazzle law enforcement. "There is an increasing need for old-fashioned, shoe-leather spying, human intelligence and agents who will tell us things about the bad guys," he says. "It's face-to-face where we can really make strides against terrorism." Andrew Becker is a student at the Graduate School of Journalism at University of California, Berkeley. His articles have appeared in the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, and FRONTLINE. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-osint(a)yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor bisoldi(a)intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint(a)yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --- 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'

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Blinky, etc.: [osint] Terrorists' Tricks and Counter-Measures
by R.A. Hettinga 11 Feb '05

11 Feb '05

--- begin forwarded text To: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Thread-Index: AcUQicQJIaX+jMBUTx2fNeBGtdezfw== From: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Mailing-List: list osint(a)yahoogroups.com; contact osint-owner(a)yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list osint(a)yahoogroups.com Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 17:33:53 -0500 Subject: [osint] Terrorists' Tricks and Counter-Measures Reply-To: osint(a)yahoogroups.com http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/techsidebar.html The Terrorist's Tricks and Counter-Measures + Tricks + Two terrorists on opposite sides of the globe might agree to open 30 anonymous web-based e-mail accounts with 30 different passwords. On the first of the month the first account is used, on the second of the month the second account is used and so on, until each account is used once. "It's very difficult to catch, because there is no pattern of use," former U.S. counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke says. "One-time anonymous accounts are extremely difficult to monitor." + One terrorist drafts a Web-based e-mail and instead of sending it, saves it to the draft folder, accessible online from anywhere in the world. The other terrorist can open the same account, read the message, and delete it. The e-mail has never been sent, and cannot be tracked. + Many e-mails are sent on public computers, for example in libraries or cyber cafis, making them even more difficult to trace. + The language in the e-mails can also be cloaked, says Dale Watson, a 24-year veteran of the FBI who served as the first executive assistant director for counterterrorism. In preparing for the Sept. 11 attacks, suspected hijacker and pilot Mohamed Atta and alleged 9/11 conspirator Ramzi bin al-Shibh pretended to be students as they exchanged e-mails, talking about "architecture" (the World Trade Center), "arts" (the Pentagon), "law" (the Capitol) and "politics" (the White House). + Counter-Measures + If a jihadist site hosted in another country is not taken down by the government in that country, the U.S. needs to hack the site and bring it down, Clarke says. + The U.S. can use active and passive attacks to disrupt terrorists' electronic networks. Active attacks include using computer viruses to infect enemy computers. Passive attacks monitor e-mails and transferred data, and watch traffic patterns. + The viruses used in active attacks wouldn't do damage or send mass mailings, but rather selectively collect data and discreetly send the e-mail back to U.S. intelligence. That could include getting address books, or collecting the "cookies" written to the computer's hard drive when the terrorist visits certain Web sites. There are also ways to monitor keystrokes, even if a terrorist uses encryption. Counterfeit e-mails can also used to confuse or subvert communications. "They certainly can be very effective," the University of Maryland's Lee Strickland says of active attacks. "To escape, [terrorists] have to be lucky every day. We only have to be lucky once." + Passive attacks aim to monitor the terrorists' information network, not overtly disrupt it. That includes watching electronic banking transactions, for example, and following e-mail traffic patterns and other data exchanges. Doing so may arouse suspicion and force terrorists to use less efficient modes of communication. "The goal is not only to acquire information in the terrorists' possession, but also to force them to use other forms of communication -- perhaps slower and less effective, or perhaps someone that may be easier to intercept or that may provide more information upon intercept," Strickland wrote in a 2002 report called "Fighting Terrorism with Information." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-osint(a)yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor bisoldi(a)intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint(a)yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --- 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'

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[osint] Arab Bank Announces Withdrawal from the U.S.
by R.A. Hettinga 11 Feb '05

11 Feb '05

--- begin forwarded text To: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Thread-Index: AcUQg90Ntm4eZXoQRjGRmZ+BhzYIgw== From: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Mailing-List: list osint(a)yahoogroups.com; contact osint-owner(a)yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list osint(a)yahoogroups.com Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:51:38 -0500 Subject: [osint] Arab Bank Announces Withdrawal from the U.S. Reply-To: osint(a)yahoogroups.com Arab Bank Announces Withdrawal from the U.S. Yesterday Arab Bank PLC, Jordan's largest bank, announced that it intends to withdraw from the United States. Arab Bank, which maintains a branch on Madison Avenue, is currently under federal regulatory investigation, reportedly for failing to abide by U.S. anti-money laundering laws. Arab Bank also faces a flurry of allegations from over 800 U.S. and Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorism who allege that the Arab Bank, including specifically the New York branch, facilitated systematic payments to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers and to HAMAS front organizations (see prior <http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/01/arab_ban k_as_te.html> post here). For purposes of full disclosure, I am serving as Special Counsel to the largest such suit. In announcing the retreat, a statement from Jordan's Central Bank said: "The climate of operating in the United States at present is not expedient with the bank's strategy and vision." Unlike al Qaeda financing, the financing of the second intifada has been conducted openly and in plain sight. According to the suits, much of the money that moved through Arab Bank originated in Saudi Arabia, as part of an organized undertaking known as the Saudi Committee in Support of the Intifada Al Quds (later renamed the Saudi Committee for Relief of the Palestinian People). The Saudi Committee helpfully posts its records (updated through the Spring of 2002) on the web at www.alquds-saudi.org. The web site even makes clear that contributions to the Saudi Committee are sent via Arab Bank, and includes records of disbursements of approximately $5300 each made to the families of numerous known terrorist operatives, including, for example, suicide bombers responsible for the August 2001 attack on the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem and the June 2001 attack on the Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv. Those attacks killed or injured many innocent civilians, including scores of Americans. According to the suits, payments knowingly made by and through Arab Bank have provided an incentive for these and other acts of terrorism since September 2000. The payoffs are remarkable, as is the decision of the bank to withdraw from the United States in a clear attempt to avoid further scrutiny and possible massive liability. As Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY), the Vice-Chair of the House Financial Services committee, stated: "Americans would be appalled by the notion that the families of Al-Qaeda murderers were being rewarded through a financial institution located in New York." Ron Motley and Gary Osen, lead attorneys for Israeli and American victims, respectively, yesterday said that they would take immediate steps to make sure that relevant documents and records remain in the United States as Arab Bank flees for safer jurisdictions. The U.S. government should also take immediate steps to assure moral and legal accountability for the financing of the second intifada as, we hope, prospects for peace in the Middle East continue to improve and the terror of the last four years recedes. http://counterterror.typepad.com/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-osint(a)yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor bisoldi(a)intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint(a)yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --- 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'

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Studios Settle Copyright Suit Against Web-Site Operator
by R.A. Hettinga 11 Feb '05

11 Feb '05

<http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB110814951191552648,00.html> The Wall Street Journal February 11, 2005 2:21 p.m. EST E-COMMERCE/MEDIA Studios Settle Copyright Suit Against Web-Site Operator Associated Press February 11, 2005 2:21 p.m. LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood movie studios have settled a copyright lawsuit against a Web site operator they say had helped people find pirated copies of films for download. The Web site, LokiTorrent.com, hosted "torrents," or file markers used by online file-swapping programs like BitTorrent to comb the Internet for other computer users sharing a given file. Edward Webber, who ran the site, agreed to pay a "substantial" fine to settle the lawsuit and agreed to turn over copies of his computer server logs and data, the Motion Picture Association of America said Thursday. Those records might prove to be even more valuable to the trade group as a way to ferret out individual computer users who had visited the site, which had more than 750,000 registered users downloading thousands of files, said John Malcolm, head of the MPAA's antipiracy division. The MPAA also took over the LokiTorrent.com domain name and posted a warning against trading movie files online with the slogan "You can click, but you can't hide." The settlement is the first announced by the MPAA following an unspecified number of lawsuits filed by Hollywood studios in December against operators of more than 100 computer servers in the United States and Europe. The MPAA also announced a second round of litigation against U.S. sites that host indexes for BitTorrent, eDonkey and DirectConnect and against individual computer users, but Mr. Malcolm declined to identify who the defendants are or how many. Calls to Mr. Webber's attorney weren't immediately returned Friday. -- ----------------- 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'

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Security show set to spark debate
by R.A. Hettinga 11 Feb '05

11 Feb '05

<http://www.vnunet.com/print/it/1161190> Security show set to spark debate Catch it if you can Roger Howorth, IT Week 11 Feb 2005 The RSA Conference 2005, hosted by security specialist RSA, kicks off in San Francisco on Monday. Keynote speakers include Bill Gates of Microsoft and fraud author Frank W Abagnale. Roundtable discussions will cover possible legislation affecting vendor liability for security products. Some observers argue that the number of flaws in computer products might be reduced if vendors were held legally accountable for damage caused. Gates is unlikely to cover vendor liability in his keynote, but could face a stiff grilling on the matter by attendees. Personal identity theft is one of the fastest growing types of crimes, and also one that is ripe for tackling at the event with emerging technologies based around biometrics and encryption. Other briefings will cover a range of industry topics, including compliance, cryptography, web services and new ideas about mobile & wireless security. Computer Associates will also unveil details around the next phase of integration between its own products and those acquired with last year's purchase of identity management firm Netegrity. -- ----------------- 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'

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Quantum leap
by R.A. Hettinga 11 Feb '05

11 Feb '05

<http://www.canada.com/components/printstory/printstory4.aspx?id=deca9b6c-4f…> Quantum leap A chance encounter between a computer-science professor and a physicist launches new field of quantum cryptography ALISON MACGREGOR The Gazette Friday, February 11, 2005 CREDIT: MARIE-FRANCE COALLIER, THE GAZETTE Universite de Montreal's Gilles Brassard has made Canada a world leader in the fast-growing quantum cryptography field. It began 25 years ago in the warm coastal waters of Puerto Rico when a stranger swam over to Gilles Brassard and struck up a conversation about using quantum physics to make bank notes impossible to counterfeit. "I had no idea who he was," recalled Brassard, then a 24-year-old prodigy and computer-science professor at the Universite de Montreal. "He just started talking nonsense about quantum physics." The stranger turned out to be U.S. physicist Charles H. Bennett. Their chance meeting while attending a theoretical computer science conference would end up revolutionizing the art of code making, also known as cryptography. Together, Brassard and Bennett would go on to found a field of science - quantum information processing - whose effects on society some say could even rival the impact that the steam engine had in its time. Already, experts agree, Brassard and Bennett's most famous invention, a technique known as quantum cryptography, is set to eliminate terrifying vulnerabilities that could soon arise in the way governments, banks, the military, business and the public use computers and the Internet to communicate and store data. Some observers see the technology as one day making the Internet secure enough that medical professionals could share confidential health data online in ways that would be insecure now. Yet for all its promise, this invention is also making governments nervous. The ability to send unbreakable coded messages could just as easily be exploited, authorities fear, by criminals and terrorists who now lack a foolproof way of avoiding having their messages cracked. In the midst of all this excitement and controversy is Montreal-based Brassard, who has made Canada a world leader in his fast-growing field. Because of him, Canada "has turned out to be the best place in the world" to do research in quantum information processing, says physicist Raymond Laflamme, a leading figure in the field who recently returned to Canada from a post with the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory. "All of this is thanks to Gilles," he says. Barry Sanders, a quantum physicist who recently returned to Canada from a research post in Australia, agrees, saying Brassard has played a key role in making this country "the world leader in this field." Brassard and Bennett's invention sprung from their discovery of how principles from the previously unlinked fields of quantum physics and computer science could be combined to establish an unbreakable secret key. Instead of transmitting information along cables via electronic signals, they use polarized photons - tiny particles of light - that are so sensitive that when intercepted, they immediately become corrupted. This renders the message unintelligible and tips off both sender and intended recipient to the spying attempt. What's causing particular excitement now is that the way that applications of Brassard and Bennett's technology have just been commercialized and put to market. Since late 2003, consumers have been able to acquire quantum cryptographic systems that make short-haul computer links unbreakable to spies. The systems are being sold by two competitors in Geneva and New York for as little as $70,000 U.S. Both firms' devices use Brassard and Bennett's seminal insight. But that's only a start, Laflamme says. "The potential is absolutely enormous." - - - Intrigued during their chance encounter off the shores of Puerto Rico by the idea of impossible-to-forge bank notes, the two men repaired to air-conditioned restaurants and cafes where they tossed it around some more. They left the island firm friends, returning, respectively, to Montreal and Croton-on-Hudson, a village just north of New York City, where they continued their brainstorming. While the anti-counterfeiting idea ultimately proved impractical, both scientists soon realized that one of its underlying principles - a theory that exploited the unique properties of photons - could be applied more broadly to code making. Cryptography has always been a race between code-makers and code-breakers. Today's most sophisticated codes, used for the protection of information on computers, rely on hugely complex mathematical calculations that present-day computers aren't believed to be powerful enough to solve. Yet as Brassard explains, it's possible someone has already figured out how to crack these codes. If so, such a person might want to keep this quiet so as to benefit personally, Brassard remarked, although there could also be an altruistic reason for doing so. The reason? "Society would collapse, electronic commerce would collapse," Brassard says. "There would be chaos. I would keep quiet - just as I would if I found a new weapon of mass destruction." But the biggest fear in the cryptographic world is that a new kind of super-powerful "quantum computer" could soon be constructed that would have the capacity to quickly solve the kinds of code-breaking problems that today's computers are stumped by. Already, experts say, a U.S. mathematician, Peter Shor, has developed a formula that could be used by a quantum computer, once one has been built, to crack current encryption technology. The prospect of such a computer being constructed obviously worries governments, business and the military - and should be of concern to all who value their privacy. It would be "a nuclear bomb to the Internet," says Barry Sanders, director of the University of Calgary's Institute for Quantum Information Science. "All of the security that we rely on when we use the Internet would be obsolete." And this is why Brassard and Bennett's invention is causing such a stir: theirs is the first practical form of cryptography that could not be broken, even by some yet-to-be-built quantum computer. The key to the security of a quantum cryptography code, Laflamme explains, is that it "does not involve solving a mathematical problem; it would involve breaking the laws of physics." Brassard and Bennett's collaboration has led to another breakthrough, too. In an invention reminiscent of Star Trek, the two physicists and their colleagues have developed a "quantum teleportation" technology that can dissemble a particle of matter in one location and beam it for reassembly in another. This technique was invented in 1992, first tested experimentally four years later with photons and is still being tested by scientists around the world. (One of the co-inventers of the technique was Brassard's former student Claude Crepeau, who now directs his own research team in quantum information processing at McGill University.) In 1999, the invention inspired a best-selling novel - Timeline, by Michael Crichton - and a spinoff Hollywood movie of the same name. Filmed in Montreal and released two years ago, the storyline features protagonists being quantum-teleported back to the Middle Ages. - - - Brassard and Bennett's inventions have also generated enormous attention from the world science media. An October 1992 cover story in Scientific American magazine gave the duo's quantum cryptography technique its first burst of stardom. Now, a second wave of coverage has come as experiments prove the commercial viability of their cryptography technique and fledgling new products make their way to market. Most recently, Brassard and Bennett's cryptography technique was again the subject of a cover story - this time in the January issue of Scientific American. They've also drawn coverage from Britain's New Scientist and as well as in German, Australian and Japanese media outlets, among others. Yet the technology still faces serious distance limitations. Photons can only travel so far before they fade. They require amplification at regular intervals if they're to be transmitted over long distances - something that has not yet proved feasible. Scientists are working hard to overcome this limitation. So far, the record for transmitting coded messages through fibre-optic cables is 100 kilometres; the maximum distance reached to date through the air is 23 kilometres between two mountaintops. This latter achievement is of particular significance because it's generally considered harder to transmit photons through the thicker air found near the Earth's surface than up toward space, where there's less atmospheric interference. That's why scientists are hopeful they'll soon be able to send photons to satellites, which typically orbit 150 kilometres above the Earth. Such a development would set the stage for the launch of the world's first truly global unbreakable encrypted communications system. So promising is the field of quantum information processing that governments and corporations around the world are investing millions of dollars in research in the field. The first-ever local quantum-encrypted network of computers is now up and running in Cambridge, Mass., where it is managed by the pioneering Internet firm BBN Technologies Inc. And the Los Alamos National Laboratory's quantum cryptography team has joined with six European research institutions to push the field further. In December, the team tied with another group to snag one of the world's most prestigious science prizes - the European Union's $1.3-million (U.S.) Descartes research prize - for its project to build a secure global quantum cryptographic communications system. In Canada, Research in Motion founder and co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis put up $100 million of his own money in 1999 to fund the non-profit and independent Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, now a leading centre of quantum information research. (Two more RIM executives have since contributed another $20 million, while Ottawa and Ontario have kicked in another $54 million.) Last month, the University of Calgary got into the act, launching its Institute for Quantum Information Science. There have been commercial developments, too. In 2003, a Swiss firm, id Quantique SA of Geneva, became the first to sell a quantum cryptography system to the public. Another company, New York City's MagiQ Technologies Inc., soon followed. Yet Brassard and Bennett haven't made a penny from these ventures; they've chosen not to patent their discovery in the hopes of fostering an environment where colleagues can feel unhindered in their efforts to develop the field. Other companies with projects in the works include IBM - where Bennett is a research fellow at the company's Yorktown Heights, N.Y., research centre - and Japanese computing giants NEC, Fujitsu and Toshiba. So great is the interest among potential buyers that industry analyst Martin Illsley predicts the technology will be widespread in business and government settings in as little as five years. Early adopters will likely be financial institutions, governments and telecommunications firms, said Illsley, an associate partner at consulting firm Accenture Inc., in a telephone interview from France. Others share that optimism. In a report, International Data Corp. has predicted the market for quantum cryptography products will be about $30 million U.S. within three years - and about $300 million within 10 years. - - - Brassard has gathered a devoted group of researchers and students at the Universite de Montreal's computer science department. Now 49, he grew up in Ahuntsic, where his father was an accountant and his mother taught yoga. He credits his three older brothers - all scientists as well - with inspiring him to pursue his precocious interest in math, a precursor to his fascination with computers and physics. A brilliant student, Brassard had entered secondary school by age 10 and was already doing his undergraduate studies at the Universite de Montreal by age 13. At the time, he recalls, he thought there was "nothing unusual" about attending university so young. He said other students treated him well "even though I looked rather small and young for my age." Now living in Outremont with his two daughters, Brassard says he reads, cooks and listens to classical music in his spare time. He used to play squash and go cross-country skiing too. But these days, he says wistfully, there's no time for that. All the attention swirling about him - and the fast pace of developments in his field - keeps Gilles Brassard a very busy man. amacgregor(a)thegazette.canwest.com Further Readings Bennett, C. H., Brassard, G. and Ekert, A. K., Quantum cryptography, Scientific American, October 1992, pp. 50-57. Stix, G., Best-Kept Secrets, Scientific American, January 2005, pp. 78-83. Singh, S., The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography, Random House Inc., 1999. Web Sites Gilles Brassard: http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~brassard Charles Bennett: http://www.research.ibm.com/people/b/bennetc/home.html Claude Crepeau: http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~crepeau/ Raymond Laflamme: http://www.iqc.ca/people/rlaflamme/ Barry Sanders: http://qis.ucalgary.ca/~bsanders/Institutions Universite de Montreal: Laboratoire d'Informatique Theorique et Quantique - http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/labs/theorique/ McGill University: Crypto and Quantum info lab - http://crypto.cs.mcgill.ca/ Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics: http://www.iqc.ca/ University of Calgary's Institute for Quantum Information Science: http://www.iqis.org/Commercial products id Quantique SA: http://www.idquantique.com/ MagiQ Technologies Inc.: http://www.magiqtech.com/ -- ----------------- 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'

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[osint] Indonesia Off Money Laundering List
by R.A. Hettinga 11 Feb '05

11 Feb '05

--- begin forwarded text To: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Thread-Index: AcUQb3dHsLUt0QFdTjyUpZpa+PkdQA== From: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Mailing-List: list osint(a)yahoogroups.com; contact osint-owner(a)yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list osint(a)yahoogroups.com Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:25:38 -0500 Subject: [osint] Indonesia Off Money Laundering List Reply-To: osint(a)yahoogroups.com http://www.laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=3 <http://www.laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=3&news_id=7907> &news_id=7907 Indonesia Off Money Laundering List February 12, 2005 01:43 AM, Laksamana.Net - The government is expecting the nation's investment ratings to be upgraded after an international anti-corruption group removed Indonesia from a list of countries known for money laundering. The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) this week removed Indonesia, the Philippines and the Cook Islands from its list of countries deemed non-cooperative in efforts to halt money laundering. FATF in 2001 blacklisted Indonesia and 18 other countries, making it more costly for their banks to conduct international transactions. FATF was established by the G7 group of industrialized nations following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the US in an effort to track the flow of funds to terrorist organizations. Indonesia passed an anti-money laundering law in April 2002, but FATF said much still needed to be done before the country could be withdrawn from the blacklist. Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said Friday (11/2/05) the removal of Indonesia from the list was due to intense lobbying by herself and three other ministers. She said Indonesia had complied with 40 requirements made by FATF's member countries. "They see that the set of measures they required has been fulfilled, including the establishment of the Finance Transaction Analysis Report Center and the compliance audit," she was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara. Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie said Indonesia's country risk would decline and its investment ratings would increase accordingly. "As such, payments for interest on state and private debts will decline. And no one will suspect that any financial transaction with us is money laundering," he said. Separately, Finance Minister Jusuf Anwar said Australia and New Zealand had expressed their appreciation of Indonesia's efforts to fight money laundering. Several agencies, including Standard and Poor's and Fitch, raised Indonesia's ratings after last year's general elections bolstered hopes for further macroeconomic stability and economic reforms. Further credit upgrades will make it cheaper for Indonesia to raise funds in the wake of the December earthquake and tsunamis that killed more than 240,000 people in northern Sumatra. Despite Indonesia's anti-money laundering legislation, experts say corrupt individuals and organizations still set up bogus accounts with brokerage houses and use such them to move huge sums of money from sources such as corruption, drug dealing, prostitution and gambling. <http://www.laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=3&news_id=7907#top> back to top [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-osint(a)yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor bisoldi(a)intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint(a)yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --- 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'

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House backs major shift to electronic IDs
by R.A. Hettinga 11 Feb '05

11 Feb '05

<http://news.com.com/2102-1028_3-5571898.html?tag=st.util.print> CNET News House backs major shift to electronic IDs By Declan McCullagh Story last modified Thu Feb 10 17:46:00 PST 2005 The U.S. House of Representatives approved on Thursday a sweeping set of rules aimed at forcing states to issue all adults federally approved electronic ID cards, including driver's licenses. Under the rules, federal employees would reject licenses or identity cards that don't comply, which could curb Americans' access to airplanes, trains, national parks, federal courthouses and other areas controlled by the federal government. The bill was approved by a 261-161 vote. The measure, called the Real ID Act, says that driver's licenses and other ID cards must include a digital photograph, anticounterfeiting features and undefined "machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements" that could include a magnetic strip or RFID tag. The Department of Homeland Security would be charged with drafting the details of the regulation. Republican politicians argued that the new rules were necessary to thwart terrorists, saying that four of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers possessed valid state-issued driver's licenses. "When I get on an airplane and someone shows ID, I'd like to be sure they are who they say they are," said Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, during a floor debate that started Wednesday. States would be required to demand proof of the person's Social Security number and confirm that number with the Social Security Administration. They would also have to scan in documents showing the person's date of birth and immigration status, and create a massive store "so that the (scanned) images can be retained in electronic storage in a transferable format" permanently. Another portion of the bill says that states would be required to link their DMV databases if they wished to receive federal funds. Among the information that must be shared: All data fields printed on drivers' licenses and identification cards, and complete drivers' histories, including motor vehicle violations, suspensions and points on licenses. The Bush administration threw its weight behind the Real ID Act, which has been derided by some conservative and civil liberties groups as tantamount to a national ID card. The White House said in a statement this week that it "strongly supports House passage" of the bill. Thursday's vote mostly fell along party lines. About 95 percent of the House Republicans voted for the bill, which had been prepared by the judiciary committee chairman, F. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican. More than three-fourths of the House Democrats opposed it. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat from Washington, D.C., charged that Republicans were becoming hypocrites by trampling on states' rights. "I thought the other side of the aisle extols federalism at all times," Norton said. "Yes, even in hard times, even when you're dealing with terrorism. So what's happening now? Why are those who speak up for states whenever it strikes their fancy doing this now?" Civil libertarians and firearm rights groups condemned the bill before the vote. The American Civil Liberties Union likened the new rules to a "de facto national ID card," saying that the measure would force "states to deny driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants" and make DMV employees act as agents of the federal immigration service. Because an ID is required to purchase a firearm from a dealer, Gun Owners of America said the bill amounts to a "bureaucratic back door to implementation of a national ID card." The group warned that it would "empower the federal government to determine who can get a driver's license--and under what conditions." -- ----------------- 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'

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National ID bill vote results and more
by R.A. Hettinga 11 Feb '05

11 Feb '05

--- begin forwarded text

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