- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Um, I'm probably already in trouble for the last one.
by Rick Osborne 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded from 0xdeadbeef (inline tabs converted): ----- Michael Strelitz <mstrelitz(a)cix.compulink.co.uk> wrote: > >> But not every bra has a cryptographic function. Most are used for ASCII >> armor or for compression. Some are even designed to make the plaintext >> stand out and more enjoyable to read. > > Touche, but I believe what we have here is a clear case of steganography. Yikes. I think that we should hammer down some definitions before this whole thing gets out of hand. Cryptography: Building an difficult-to-unhook bra. Steganography: Building a flesh-colored bra, or one whose unhook mechanism is hidden somewhere unexpected (Man: "How the Hell...?" Woman: "It unhooks in front." Man: "Damn those steganographers.") Public-Key Cryptography: Building a bra that anyone can put on, but that only Alice can remove. Watermarking: Building a bra that stays on even after smoothing, compression, and rotation. Also, Bob should not be able to put his own bra on over Alice's and claim ownership of her body. Fingerprinting: Um, I'm probably already in trouble for the last one, so I'll just skip this. Signatures: Building a bra with a nametag ("Property of Alice, machine wash warm...") such that bras with Alice's name only fit Alice's body. Bob could in theory remove Alice's bra and replace it with his own, but there's no real reason for him to do so. All-or-Nothing Disclosure Of Secrets: Alice transforms her bra into a duffle bag, and either (a) shows Bob how to open it, or (b) shows Bob how she made it into a duffle bag. Alice repeats the procedure until Bob is satisfied (perverted freak). One-time Pad: Kleenex. NSA: An organization that wants women to go back to wearing corsets and chastity belts. Oh, and Bill Clinton gets to keep all the keys. [looks up at what's written so far and sighs] I'm so damned juvenile. I'm going to go do something more constructive and serious. Well, happy Monday. -Caj [**!!Oh, and these are not the views of my employer!!**] _________ o s b o r n e @ g a t e w a y . g r u m m a n . c o m _________ Haha.. you fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is: Never get involved in a land war in Asia. Only slightly less well know is this: Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!

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Data Fellows announces F-Secure SSH for Internet Service Providers
by Jukka Kotovirta 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Data Fellows Inc. Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 13th, 1997 Data Fellows announces F-Secure SSH for Internet Service Providers Telecom Finland the first ISP to integrate strong encryption with commercial Internet services Helsinki, Finland - Data Fellows, the leading Internet security solutions provider, announced today a new version of their popular F-Secure SSH product, setting a new level of security for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). F-Secure SSH for ISPs gives the customers of an Internet Service Provider unmatched security by using the SSH security mechanism. The SSH protocol is currently being standardized by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) as an application-level security mechanism to be used in conjunction with Internet protocols. SSH is already widely used by security-conscious organizations around the world. The first user of F-Secure SSH for ISPs is Telecom Finland, who bundle the product with their Internet services. "Since we are the leading telecommunications operator in Finland, we need to assure that our services are reliable and data security maintained at a high level" says Mr. Harri Johannesdahl, Director of Internet Services, Telecom Finland. "Good security features also help us maintain our leading edge in this highly competitive market." The F-Secure product line offers strong end-user authentication and encryption of any transferred data. Because the technologies are of European origin, they are not limited by U.S. Export control. Internet Service Providers around the world can now add strong security to their product offering. "Our F-Secure line of products guarantees ultimate security on the Internet. Now companies can use the Internet as a serious business tool without the fear of compromising their corporate assets because of any lack of security", explains Mr. Risto Siilasmaa, CEO of Data Fellows Inc. "Also private Internet users will benefit from this development." The authentication of users dialling in is done with cryptography, making management and access control much easier to arrange on a large scale. Dialling in can be done through any network structure, including the Internet itself, facilitating Internet roaming. "Internet users will gain immediate benefit from F-Secure products. And the emerging concept of 'extranets' between companies cannot launch safely without strong authentication and encryption mechanisms", concludes Mr. Siilasmaa. Data Fellows company background Privately owned Data Fellows is the leading technology provider of data security solutions for computer networks and individual desktop computers. The F-Secure product family offers protection for sensitive communications over TCP/IP networks in Windows, Macintosh and UNIX environments. The family includes products for the creation of strongly encrypted virtual private networks (F-Secure VPN), secure electronic commerce solutions (F-Secure Commerce) and secure files and folders on the local PC using strong encryption (F-Secure Desktop). The F-PROT product is the industry's leading virus protection software. These products are available world-wide in more than 40 countries through Data Fellows and its business partners. See http://www.DataFellows.com for more information. Contact information Europe: USA: Data Fellows Ltd. Data Fellows Inc. Päiväntaite 8 4000 Moorpark Avenue, Suite 207 FIN-02210 ESPOO, FINLAND San Jose, CA 95117, USA tel. +358 9 478 444 tel. (408) 244 9090 fax +358 9 4784 4599 fax (408) 244 9494 http://www.DataFellows.com email: F-Secure-Sales(a)DataFellows.com RTF file ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jukka Kotovirta Tel +358 9 478 444 Director OEM Sales & Major Accounts Fax +358 9 4784 4599 Data Fellows Ltd. Mobile +358 405 883 933 Paivantaite 8 Jukka.Kotovirta(a)DataFellows.com 02210 Espoo http://www.DataFellows.com/ Finland, Europe ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: Access to Storage and Communication Keys et al
by Peter Nicol - VRL / BroomStick Productions 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > Secrecy is a tool, period. Who is TruthMonger? There are *no* > tools (at this abstract level) that are used exclusively by the > state. Also, the raw material of politics is human nature, and politics > permeates all human activity, whether connected to the state or not. > > > > > Two daughters of a silk merchant live in Kyoto, > > > > The elder is twenty, the younger, eighteen. > > > > A soldier may kill with his sword, > > > > But these girls slay men with their eyes. > > > > > > Basho? > > Ummm . . . My copy of "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" only attributes this to > > "A well known Japanese poet". Do you know anythang? > > I no nothing. > > Many years ago I was heavily into zen -- I have a well-worn copy of > Zen Flesh, Zen Bones at home. Further exploration lead me to > Chuang-tzu: > > http://songbird.com/gc/river/chuangtzu.html > danke > Perhaps I saw that poem in ZFZB. But I have a couple of collections > of Japanese poetry at home, as well as a very nice edition of Basho's > "Journey to the North", or whatever it's called (it gets translated > different ways, and I am confused...) > > > current project: www.iinet.net.au/~ratty/legends > > This has moved... Not only that, but the site and the client SUCK. Oh how I hate capitalism. Even when I try to be one of the "winners" and involve myself in it, I still hate it. etc etc rant on > -- > Kent Crispin "No reason to get excited", > kent(a)songbird.com the thief he kindly spoke... > PGP fingerprint: B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44 61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55 > http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html > Thankyou for your posts. It pleases me to see that a bunch of crypto intellectuals will take my posts seriously. I have been interested in this topic for a while and only recently got my shit together enough to understand how to subscribe to a mailing list. The last time I used PGP was when it was in DOS and I found it a hassle. Does that make me a clueless newbie? Ummm . . . my training was in Non Violent Action (NVA). This is being used by ppl at the moment to protect Gibblett Forest from being clear fell logged by a (IMNSHO) corrupt "Conservation and Land Management" (CALM) authority in Western Australia. As a way of countering destructive paranoia, we have developed a doctrine of "secrecy is a tool of the state". (I am well aware of the limitations of Doctrine as a logical formal system godelwise). To this end, we have NO SECRETS. Everything we do is "public domain", ie, everyone, including our "enemies" gets to know it. In practice, this is simple, ie Civil Disobedience. You wanna log the trees, we gonna stop you, aint no big secret. We even go to the lengths of notifying the authourites, ie CALM/police of our strategies and telling them who will be doing an arrestable action on a particular day. At the moment we have 3 ppl up Karri trees on platforms. I find it very empowering. I see no need for secrets. Sure, secrecy is a tool. I ask these questions: 1. Does it work. 2. Is it useful. (also known as the Doctrine of Utility) 3. Does it make me happy. I usually use these to analyse behaviour patterns, but hey . . . 1. Hmmmm . . . It kinda works, but it is a big hassle. Then you gotta worry about looking like you are trying to hide somethang and thereby attracting attention. Also, you get to worry about IF it does actually work and is uncrackable/contains no back door etc. 2. If you are paranoid or cannot organize yourself so that secrecy is unneccessary. 3. I am not sure WHAT makes me happy, but secure communications and commerce are not high on my list of priorities. Perhaps an end to paranoia and capitalism that REQUIRE secure comms would make me happy. Anyway . . . Thanx for the pointer Neter Picol Violence is the last refuge of the Incompetent - Assimov (?) A week is long time in crypto politics Pete Nicol Global Media Magnet nicol(a)iap.net.au BroomStick Productions VRL - the Virtual Record Label (+61 9) 335 9490 fax (+61 9) 335 9508 nicol(a)iap.net.au broomstick(a)occtech.com.au Current Project: www.iinet.com.au/~ratty/legends

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FYI: release of "For the Record: Protecting Electronic Health Information"
by Lee Gibbon 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On-line versions appear to be available at this site as well as means to buy it. http://www.nap.edu/bookstore/enter2.cgi?0309056977 For the Record: Protecting Electronic Health Information by: Committee on Maintaining Privacy and Security in Health Care Applications of the National Information Infrastructure, National Research Council ISBN 0-309-05697-7; 1997, 288 pages "...This book makes practical detailed recommendations for technical and organizational solutions and national-level initiatives. For the Record describes two major types of privacy and security concerns that stem from the availability of health information in electronic form: the increased potential for inappropriate release of information held by individual organizations (whether by those with access to computerized records or those who break into them) and systemic concerns derived from open and widespread sharing of data among various parties. The committee reports on the technological and organizational aspects of security management, including basic principles of security; the effectiveness of technologies for user authentication, access control, and encryption; obstacles and incentives in the adoption of new technologies; and mechanisms for training, monitoring, and enforcement...."

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New key for shamrock@netcom.com
by Lucky Green 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- C'punks, I am preparing to retire my old 1024 bit RSA key. It was generated 1/14/1993 and good key hygiene suggests it is time to retire this key. What better time to generate a new key than now that PGP has moved away from shaky MD-5 and patent encumbered RSA to DSS and DH. I would ask anyone that signed my old key to please sign my new key with fingerprint 4A17 A6D7 8E80 3B44 C196 F509 8971 9FA7 B663 B0FD. The key is on the servers. Thanks, - --Lucky -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 5.0 beta Charset: noconv iQCVAwUBM5+iUwSQkem38rwFAQFQPAP/U8Ck6CYQUJI8W/TEf3BQDW1XF0YmYsF1 GcuIp9fYQnRXdB7fKdYvzSffaSs/N5TCjmyeqpTyuE9c7nFqIlu6L+iHoiwdaFdj UR3DBesS1BpmA71kRKzyt3bue1qttz+dhbhcQFd421sPzkqA7gSkOaQzP1ujspI7 mNS8FH9LyGs= =hwfW -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --Lucky Green <shamrock(a)netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. Put a stake through the heart of DES! Join the quest at http://www.frii.com/~rcv/deschall.htm

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Re: PKCS-11 vs. CDSA APIs
by Dave Emery 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Lucky Green wrote : > > Furthermore, as William has mentioned in the past, encrypted instruction > sets make decompiling and thereby reverse engineering the application next > to impossible. Perhaps he has, but I believe I was the one to post about it first. As you know, my fear is magic stuff in OS inner rings that enforces social policies and perhaps also provides "sovereign right of lawful access" to you know who... Encrypted code may be very difficult to decrypt, and if the OS controls key management also nearly impossible to modify (presuming that the encryption is not just XOR'd with the instruction stream which would allow trivial modification once the instructions were decrypted). That combination is nice for copyright enforcement, but sure has some nasty other uses and is a fundemental enabling technology for such future statist possiblities as restrictions on running modified or unapproved software without a license to do so - a software developers license say, or the old Internet drivers license. I am sure that many businesses would be very happy if all their PCs would only allow software that management approved to run - there would be a huge market for such in fact... and probably a lot of the public would willingly buy machines that would only run approved software if they could pay less for the software or access first run movies or other candy unavailable on free machines. It is really hard to think of a way of controlling what the sheeple do with their computers that does not depend on hard encrypted code in both OS and application - code that is decrypted only inside the silicon of the CPU with precautions taken to make access to the decrypted streams very difficult and expensive for hardware probers. Years of trying other methods have failed to produce something practical from a cost and security standpoint; there are just too many smart and persistant people around who will find a means of attacking anything that is exposed. But it is also obvious that there are billions of dollars in revenue lost to software pirates and additional sales of copyright works that don't happen because the owners aren't happy if it is even remotely possible to obtain pirate copies. And money talks, and with those levels of dollars involved one can expect a lot of things to happen, especially in the current DC climate, and with the possiblity that such technology will both provide the protection of intellectual property that the big money interests want and the social control and surveillance that the fascists want. The good part is that making the whole thing adaquately secure is very hard and the attempt may fail, the bad thing is that there very well may be draconian laws that make any attempt to understand or modify the code running on one's computer a serious felony and people may be locked up for years for just trying to determine what a program is doing to them. There have already been attempts to create these laws. But I've said much of this before... Dave Emery die(a)die.com Weston, Mass.

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NEW TRAVEL INFO -- Antigua (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: >From owner-travel-advisories(a)stolaf.edu Thu Jun 12 16:39:22 1997 Date: 10 Jun 97 11:31:44 EDT From: owner-travel-advisories <owner-travel-advisories(a)stolaf.edu> To: travel-advisories(a)stolaf.edu Subject: NEW TRAVEL INFO -- Antigua Message-ID: <970610153144_76702.1202_CHN44-1(a)CompuServe.COM> Precedence: bulk STATE DEPARTMENT TRAVEL INFORMATION - Antigua & Barbuda ============================================================ Antigua and Barbuda - Consular Information Sheet June 9, 1997 Country Description: Antigua and Barbuda is a developing island nation. Tourism facilities are widely available. Entry Requirements: A valid passport or birth certificate and picture ID such as a drivers license are required of U.S. citizens entering Antigua and Barbuda. A return ticket is sometimes requested. Immigration officials are strict about getting exact information about where visitors are staying. There is no fee for entering the country, but there is a $13.00 departure tax. For further information on entry requirements, travelers can contact the Embassy of Antigua and Barbuda, 3216 New Mexico Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016, telephone (202) 362-5122, or the Consulate of Antigua and Barbuda in Miami. Medical Facilities: Medical care is limited. Doctors and hospitals often expect immediate cash payment for health services. U.S. medical insurance is not always valid outside the U.S. In some cases, supplemental medical insurance with specific overseas coverage, including provision for medical evacuation, has proven useful. For additional health information, travelers may contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's international travelers hotline at (404) 332-4559, Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/. Crime Information: Violent crimes and armed assaults have been perpetrated against tourists. Petty street crime also occurs, and valuables left unattended on beaches are subject to theft. The loss or theft of a U.S. passport overseas should be reported to the local police and the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Retaining a copy of the police report may facilitate return travel to the U.S. A lost or stolen birth certificate and/or driver's license generally cannot be replaced outside the U.S. U.S. citizens can refer to the Department of State's pamphlet "A Safe Trip Abroad," which provides useful information on guarding valuables and protecting personal security while traveling abroad. Both this pamphlet and "Tips for Travelers to the Caribbean" are available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Drug Penalties: U.S. citizens are subject to the laws of the country in which they are traveling. Penalties for possession, use and trafficking in illegal drugs are strict, and convicted offenders can expect lengthy jail sentences and heavy fines. Aviation Oversight: As a result of an assessment conducted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in July 1996, the FAA has found the government of Antigua and Barbuda's civil aviation authority not to be in compliance with international aviation safety standards for oversight of Antigua and Barbuda's air carrier operations. While consultations to correct the deficiencies are ongoing, Antigua and Barbuda's carriers are permitted to conduct limited operations to the U.S. subject to heightened FAA surveillance. Based on the FAA's determination, the Department of Defense does not permit U.S. military personnel to use carriers from Antigua and Barbuda for official business except for flights originating from or terminating in the U.S., or in extenuating circumstances. For further information, travelers may contact the Department of Transportation at 1-(800) 322-7873. Traffic Safety/Road Conditions: Driving in Antigua and Barbuda is on the left-hand side of the road, as in the United Kingdom. Roads are narrow and in poor condition. There is relatively little police enforcement of traffic regulations. The condition of the roads and the speed at which many persons drive lead to serious traffic accidents. More detailed information on roads and traffic safety can be obtained from the Antigua Tourist Board, tel. (268) 462-0480, or the Director General of Tourism, tel. (268) 462-1005. Embassy Location/Registration: U.S. citizens may register with the U.S. Consular Agent, Hospital Hill, English Harbour. The mailing address is c/o U.S. Consular Agent, P.O. Box 664, St. John's, Antigua. The telephone number is (268) 463-6531, Fax (268) 460-1569, e-mail (no caps) ryderj(a)candw.ag. The hours of operation are Monday-Friday, 9:00am-4:00pm. (Please call for appointment.) U.S. citizens may also contact the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados, which is located in the American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) Building, Cheapside, tel. (246) 431-0225, which has consular jurisdiction over Antigua and Barbuda. The hours of operation are Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:00pm. No. 97-098 This replaces the Consular Information Sheet dated March 15, 1996 to include entry requirements information, the CDC Internet address, and a section on traffic safety/road conditions. ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- The "travel-advisories(a)stolaf.edu" mailing list is the official Internet and BITNET distribution point for the U.S. State Department Travel Warnings and Consular Information Sheets. To unsubscribe, send a message containing the word "unsubscribe" to: travel-advisories-request(a)stolaf.edu Archives of past "travel-advisories" postings are available at the URL: "http://www.stolaf.edu/network/travel-advisories.html" or via Gopher: gopher.stolaf.edu, Internet Resources/US-State-Department-Travel-Advisories

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Privacy Strategems
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The New York Times has a long report today on the massive data banks about US citizens operated by commercial services for sale to marketers (and used by databankers for special ops against those who sue them). Emphasis is given to the number of states that sell low-cost inmate services for data entry and preparation of hot-selling Geographical Information Surveys which map and stat in minute detail the life-style preferences of purchasers. And how sharp and horny inmates snatch select data for criminal attacks on unwary citizens (and their children) who cooperatively provided personal information to government agencies and market researchers. Texas is featured as a leader in the privatization of government data and using inmate labor to underbid offshore sweatshop competitors -- all engendered by citizen demands to reduce tax burdens. Another report covers the Microsoft/Netscape effort to ward off government regulation by agreeing on a privacy protection program. It's not clear how government and inmates will join the two public-spirited corps in peddling the illusion of privacy.

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Spam Libs (Frauenfelder on HotWired)
by Bill Frantz 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded-by: Chip Morningstar <chip(a)communities.com> Forwarded-by: Peter Langston <psl(a)langston.com> Forwarded-by: Keith Bostic <bostic(a)bostic.com> Forwarded-by: Jeff Moore <jbm(a)instinet.com> This comes from HotWired's `packet' site, at: http://www.packet.com/packet/frauenfelder/nc_today.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Spam Libs Bulk email spawns ingenious offensives from the masses Do you remember Droodles? They're those simple line drawings that look like nonsense until you read the captions. Droodles were invented in the '60s by a humorist named Roger Price, an author probably best known for his stinging critique of American society, The Great Roob Revolution. I was lucky enough to get to know Roger before he died in 1990. He had lots of great comics, books, and original art (from people like MAD Magazine creator Harvey Kurtzman) lying around his Studio City, California, home. Beside Droodles, Roger also invented Mad Libs. You might remember these, too. Mad Libs were little books with stories in them. But the stories had several missing words, with instructions to insert verbs, nouns, and adjectives in the blank spaces. The game was played at parties, where one person asked the others to supply the missing words. Then the story was read out loud and everybody laughed heartily at the result. (There are dozens of Mad Lib knockoffs on the Web.) Because spammers work their cons anonymously, hiding behind forged email addresses and working out of PO boxes, our imaginations can run wild about what they look like. My fantasy spammer is a rat-skinny, potbellied, 40-year-old with a greasy salt-and-pepper ponytail and beard. And he's rat-smart: After being spammed with get-rich-on-the-Net messages, he bought the lists containing millions of email addresses, and he bought the DIY spam software, and now he's in business for himself, working from the spare bedroom of his mother's house in a Las Vegas suburb. I'm grateful to Roger and his Mad Libs for helping me come up with a fun spam prank. It all started a couple of weeks ago when I received the following: Do you drink bottled water? Are you looking for a discount? How about 4 cents a gallon? With our high quality water-filtration systems, you can bottle your own!! Email your name, address, phone# & email address to The Water Lady - TheWaterLady(a)----.com I copied this stupid message into my word processor, and using the search-and-replace function, swapped every occurrence of the word "water" with "urine," then sent the result to the Water Lady: I received the following advertisement and I'm wondering if it is a joke? Do you drink bottled urine? Are you looking for a discount? How about 4 cents a gallon? With our high quality urine-production systems, you can bottle your own!! Email your name, address, phone# & email address to The Urine Lady - TheWaterLady(a)----.com In a couple of hours, I got the following reply: Dear Mark: I don't know who may have done this sh*t (sic) to the message. Everywhere the word < urine > is found was originally < water >. Please accept our apologies. This is somebody's idea of a joke! Heh - it sure was. Pleased with myself, I sent the mutated mail to my friends. They got in on the action, respamming the Mad-Libbed message back to The Urine Lady. Someone even posted the message on alt.sex.fetish.watersports, with the subject "GOLDEN BOTTLES!" The post was forged to look as though it were sent by The Urine Lady herself. That same day, I got a spam trying to sell me a copy of Floodgate software, a notorious spamming program. I copied the spam to my word processor and did a few swaps. I changed "Floodgate" to "The Pig Spittle Drinkers' Toolkit," "email" to "slobber bottle," "program" to "pig-drool-extraction device," and "software" to "salivary-gland stimulator." Here's what I sent back to the spammer: SPECIAL: Buy the latest version of The Pig Spittle Drinkers' Toolkit before May 21st and receive a list of 30 slobber-bottle swappers who have millions of slobber bottles to swap with you as you build your database. HERE'S WHAT OTHER PIG SPITTLE DRINKERS' TOOLKIT USERS SAY..... "The Pig Spittle Drinkers' Toolkit is truly a dream come true! By following the instructions in the book, I was able to develop a list of 2,400 slobber bottle addresses in less than one hour. Furthermore, the technical support is outstanding. This pig-drool-extraction device will put me on a level playing field with the big boys. They don't teach this stuff in business school!" "This salivary-gland stimulator works fantastic - I'm so busy now I can't keep up with the orders and inquiries! Thanks!" "I ordered the pig-drool-extraction device and haven't stopped running with it since. With your support, (at the drop of a hat), with the finest pig-drool-extraction device ever released for public use, I started my dream business, a bulk slobber-bottle business. "If a 'dummy' like me can use this salivary-gland stimulator, anyone can! Great tool!!!" [snip] Soon, my friends and I were mutating and resending almost every spam we got. Most of the spammers wrote back saying they were mystified and expressed dismay that anyone would want to hurt their wonderful home-based business, apologized profusely, and promised that they'd get to the bottom of the nefarious campaign to defame their good name. This was our intent: to make them think that someone had intercepted their spam and was ruining their good name with wacko faux-spam. Only once did the spammer retaliate by flaming the messenger. Here's the original spam that a friend received: This is a great opportunity for your business. How would you like to get 200-300 responses per day from your advertisement? At Selective Marketing we make it happen for your business. Selective Marketing is a bulk email advertiseing (sic) company that generates hundreds to thousands of responses for your business. [snip] Here is his reply to the spammer: WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS DISGUSTING SATANIC FILTH? ALL FORTY-SIX MEMBERS OF 'CHRISTAIN VIRGINS AGAINST INTERNET SEX' RECEIVD THIS DISGUSTING PIECE OF HATE MAIL AND I DEMAND THAT YOU PROVIDE AN EXPLANATION! WE ARE CONSULTING OUR LAWYERS NOW TO SEE IF LEGAL ACTION CAN BE TAKEN! JOHNATHON JILLIAN DAVES This is a great opportunity for your penis. How would you like to get 200-300 penises per day from your penis? At Selective Marketing we make it happen for your penis. Selective Marketing is a bulk penis advertising company that generates hundreds to thousands of penises for your penis. The spammer sent 61 identical emails to my friend, which read: YOU WILL LEARN NOT TO FUCK WITH ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!!!!!!!! (My friend said it took him "all of 30 seconds" to save the messages in a folder.) If you want to play the Mad Lib Mutated Spam game, here are some tips. (Remember, some of this stuff might get you in trouble with the long tentacle of the law, so proceed at your own risk.) 1. Usually, spams do not contain valid email addresses. But there are a couple of ways to get a real address. First, you can look up the spammer's domain name on InterNIC's Whois database. That'll yield a couple of email address you can use. The other way is to visit the spammer's Web site, which is often listed in the spam. If it isn't, just try typing the spammer's domain into your Web browser, and see if anything pops up. As a last resort, you can fax or snailmail your mutated message to the spammer, as they usually list their phone number and mailing address in their desperate quest to get their sebum-coated hands on your money. 2. If you have an AOL account, create a special email address (you are allowed up to five different addresses per account). I send most of my Mad-Libbed spams through an AOL address used exclusively for antispamming. That way, if the spammer flips out and decides to mail bomb you or forge your name on obscene Usenet postings, it won't matter. This also works with Web-based anonymous email services like HotMail. 3. If you're technically adept, you might want to try "linking two spammers to each other," as another friend suggests. By "sending mutated mail to other spammers," says my Mad Lib buddy, "maybe they will start suspecting each other of mutual spam mutating, and spamming will enter a new era of conspiracy and distrust." If you get any especially good results from playing Mad Lib Mutated Spam, please tell me about it! [Mark Frauenfelder] Send mail to Mark Frauenfelder at mark(a)wired.com Illustration by Dave Plunkert [to webmonkey] [to netsurf central]

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Re: [off-topic CNN] Stolen Laptops and lame 'solution'
by Peter Trei 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Kent Crispin <kent(a)songbird.com> wrote: > On Wed, Jun 11, 1997 at 09:37:42PM -0500, William H. Geiger III wrote: > [...] > >The end buyer should not be held responcible for the illegal activities of > >the seller. > > Regardless of responsibility, if the original owner can prove it is > stolen goods, the end buyer is out of luck -- clearly the original > owner should get their goods back. And if the end buyer provably has > clear knowledge that it is stolen property, they are an accesssory to > the crime. The question of what happens to property which is bought in good faith, but is later discovered to be stolen, is not a clear one, and is dealt with in different ways in different countries. In the US, the property nearly always reverts to the original owner, unless the thief is a government. However, I remember reading articles about stolen art which implied that that is not always the case in Europe. When the stolen article is land, or governments and/or national pride are involved, things get very strange. Greece is still trying to recover the Elgin Marbles, which were taken by a Briton from the Parthenon around 1810, during the Turkish occupation. I'm sure Egypt would also like the Rosetta stone back - this was taken by Napolean in 1799, and later captured by the British. Both are now in the British Museum. Sometimes the claims go across millenia - the record I can think of being that certain specific parcels of land in Israel are claimed by modern Jewish settlers on the grounds that their purchase from the Philistines is explicitly mentioned in the Old Testament, while there is no extant record of their sale to the modern (non-Jewish) owners. [usual disclaimers apply] Peter Trei trei(a)Process.com

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