- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Re: DEA Intercepts
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 9:19 PM 7/7/96, John Young wrote: >Would anyone know more about the DEA "process the intercepts by computer" >in the excerpt below from today's Wash Post? Any connection to Peter >Neuman's remarks at the CRISIS press conference about LEA training and >technology as alternatives to breaking strong crypto? > and process the intercepts by computer. The FBI is plowing > millions into developing new intercept techniques for > digital lines and expanding its cadre of agents who use the > bureau's high tech surveillance gear. I have no way of knowing (and I doubt anybody knows and can also speak publically about it), but my informed speculation would be that the FBI is continuing its cooperation with the NSA (as noted by Ken Bass at last week's SAFE forum) and is using COMINT processing gear and programs developed at the Agency. It has been widely reported, from Bamford on, that much of the Agency's computer power is devoted to keyword analysis from audio intercepts. While computer translation programs may not have progressed much beyond "The vodka is strong, but the meat is rotten" stage, it is quite reasonable to assume that computers can mark for later analysis vast amounts of audio surveillance material, based on words said, voiceprints of known targets, etc. The trend of the next few decades is likely to be the turning of the government's Big Ears and Big Eyes on its _real enemies_, namely, the people. > "I don't think J. Edgar Hoover would contemplate what we > can do today in terms of technology," Reno testified during > a Senate hearing in May. Actually, I think Hoover could well imagine the capabilities. Minaret and such programs were in place while he was alive, and his use of confidential dossiers as an instrument of power predated the current use by the Clintons by several decades. > The total number of federal wiretaps is just one measure of > the rise in federal surveillance. The build-up also is > evident in the increased use of electronic devices that > record the numbers dialed by a target telephone, and the > origin of calls to it. > > These devices allow agents to identify a person's > associates. Beginning in 1993, Justice agencies began using > the court-authorized monitors more often and leaving them > installed for longer periods of time, according to a > Justice Department report. Needless to say, key escrow is quite useful in compiling contact lists. A virtual pen register, as it were. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: [RANT] Giving Mind Control Drugs to Children
by AwakenToMe＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Tim, You have a very good point about what goes on in this thread. I wasnt speaking about you yelling at me.. some of the members decided to write me 'personal' memos..one idiot being 'AOL SUCKS KILL ALL AOL SUCKS' or some stupid idiotic undereducated statement like that. Thanks for the response though..it was appreciated. :) Adam

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Re: Style gettting in the way of clear reporting
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Believe it or not, this has some very slight cypherpunk relevance. (Gasp) At 10:06 PM 7/7/96 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote: > Sadly, simple expository prose must be considered to be too boring, too banal. > > (Actually, were only a few writers doing this, it might be mildy tolerable. > Speaking for myself, that is. But so _many_ "cyberspace journalists" are > doing bad pastiches of famous stylists that the reportage is being lost in > the noise. When news media were concentrated into fewer and fewer hands during the twentieth century, the appearance of neutrality, objectivity, and authoritativeness became a major selling point, and so media adopted a tone and manner of neutrality, with an accompanying "just-the-facts" style, though in reality they became far less neutral Now that everyone can grab the megaphone, people are not so worried about objectivity. If something is unfair to Nazis or blacks or evil polluting capitalists, they know they will hear about it from the Nazis, the blacks or the evil polluting capitalists. As a result, people no longer value the superficial appearance of neutrality and objectivity. Suddenly colorful and openly biased reporting has become popular. This has led to some people engaging in florid excesses of colorful style and concocting totally phony attitudes., just as when word processing programs first gained the capability to handle a wide variety of fonts, some people produced memos that looked like ransom notes. Soon enough they will settle down. English prose was at its greatest in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when many voices could be heard, and some of them were on the florid side. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

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Re: Style gettting in the way of clear reporting
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:40 AM 7/8/96, James A. Donald wrote: >When news media were concentrated into fewer and fewer hands during >the twentieth century, the appearance of neutrality, objectivity, >and authoritativeness became a major selling point, and so media >adopted a tone and manner of neutrality, with an accompanying >"just-the-facts" style, though in reality they became far less neutral An interesting point. You are probably right that journalism is becoming more florid as "amateurs" flood the market. However, I don't quite buy the concentration argument, as things were pretty concentrated in the Hearst era, and the explosion of magazines in the past few decades has not been as concentrated. (In any case, these are hard things to quantify without more research, which I for one am unlikely to pursue.) >Now that everyone can grab the megaphone, people are not so worried >about objectivity. If something is unfair to Nazis or blacks or evil >polluting capitalists, they know they will hear about it from the >Nazis, the blacks or the evil polluting capitalists. > >As a result, people no longer value the superficial appearance of >neutrality and objectivity. Suddenly colorful and openly biased >reporting has become popular. I still think of "The Wall Street Journal" and "The Economist," two of my favorites, as being _careful_ in their reporting (careful is different from unbiased). But my main focus in this thread was on the _styles_, and this I think is more explained by faddishness. And advertising. To get "mind space," as with "shelf space," the packaging must entice, fool, and trick the reader. >This has led to some people engaging in florid excesses of colorful >style and concocting totally phony attitudes., just as when word >processing programs first gained the capability to handle a wide >variety of fonts, some people produced memos that looked like >ransom notes. Yes, and many of the newsletters we're seeing--as many are cc:ed or forwarded to our list--are the kissing cousins of "zines." Same faux style, same emphasis on "flash" over substance. (Not all of them of course.) --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: more about the usefulness of PGP
by Steve Reid 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> make sure that you are protected from replay attacks. > a good idea would be to make the server to send cookies by request of > the remote user (you can limit the number of people to whom the server > sends cookies) and make sure that messages without the latest cookie > will NOT be executed. A simpler solution would be for the user to number each message. He would send message #1, then message #2, then #3, etc... Skipping some numbers should not be a problem. The server would just have to keep track of the most recently recieved message number, and only accept messages with a larger number. The user would also have to keep track... It would be very easy to do; the user could number each message based on date and time. ===================================================================== | Steve Reid - SysAdmin & Pres, EDM Web (http://www.edmweb.com/) | | Email: steve(a)edmweb.com Home Page: http://www.edmweb.com/steve/ | | PGP (2048/9F317269) Fingerprint: 11C89D1CD67287E68C09EC52443F8830 | | -- Disclaimer: JMHO, YMMV, TANSTAAFL, IANAL. -- | ===================================================================:)

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Re: RFD: Developing Nations and crypto (based on excertp from Edupag
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 3:57 AM 6/26/96, Deranged Mutant wrote: >An interesting possibility: information tech expands and 'centers' in >third-world/developing countries, since (1) they need to skip >industrial techs to catch up to N.America, Europe, etc. (2) they >aren't bogged down in older ways of doing business, communicating, >etc. (3) 'emerging democracies' might embrace crypto tech as a >safeguard against Orwellian practices, to use digital authentication >to protect from fraud, etc. (4) cheaper costs for rent, wages, etc. >[though in many cases exploitavily cheap] may outweigh building an >infrastructure from scratch, (5) building an infrastructure from >scratch has advantages of building in flexibility towards uses that >were not built into older structures in N.Am, Eur., etc. (6) desire >for investment (7) desire for skills or tech to drive education etc. >in region Sadly, most developing countries (Third World, LDCs, whatever) have repressive governments of various stripes...few are libertarian. Several have embraced computer technology, but primarily as an instrument of social control. Singapore is an example of a country that jumped from former colonial status, surrounded by relatively poor (GNP) countries, to the "Information Age." And what is the result? What our own Sandy Sandfort dubbed "Disneyland with a Death Penalty." No spitting, no cursing, no long hair, no "Wall Street Journal," no pornography, no Internet free access, no dissension. And smartcards track the movements of all Citizen-Units. Not an encouraging example. As for the comment that "they aren't bogged down in older ways of doing business, communicating, etc." Well, some of these "older ways" include: - concepts about the ownership of property and transfers of title - contracts, and the ability to make and enforce them - understanding of the Uniform Commercial Code (the descendent of the "Law Merchant" which Western societies have embraced for centuries) - a stable middle class, solid educational facilities, and a tradition of business and technical achievement (These are all things which are missing in many Third World countries, for whatever reasons. Even in many Second World countries, such as the former U.S.S.R., and these lacks are making the development of modern economic systems problematic.) Certainly some small nations--perhaps island nations--can essentially jump directly to an "information based economy." The Cayman Islands and several other examples come to mind. I find it harder to believe that a _large_ nation is likely to make such a transition. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Life imitates art (InfoWar, Sunday Times article)
by Peter Trei 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Winn Schwartau is much too modest. Following up on the alleged info-ransom attacks on European financial institutions, I've tracked down his entertaining fascinating resume at: http://www.homecom.com/people/schwartau-frame.html This led me to the most amazing discovery: Winn predicted the technologies used in the alleged attacks at least three years ago, in the self-published science fiction novel "Terminal Compromise." The text of this prescient work can be found on the web at: http://www.inform.umd.edu:8080/Educational_Resources/ReadingRoom/Fiction/Te… I won't quote from it (there are dire warnings against doing so in the intro), but here are some of the elements in which alleged real life is so closely imitating Winn's art: EMP bomb attacks against financial institutions chapter 11 "HERF" guns (described but un-named) chapter 16 info-ransom demands against large corporations chapter 17 ... and many others. If I had predicted the future so well and so far ahead, I'd be shouting it from the rooftops, and use the strength of the reputation I'd instantly establish to set up shop as a professional prognosticator (for fat fees). I wonder why Winn hasn't bothered to bring this to our attention - and I hope that Peter Warren and the editors of the London Sunday Times have heard about his astounding foresight. Winn, my hat's off to you, and my $7 "shareware fee" will be in mail as soon as I finish the book! Peter Trei ptrei(a)acm.org

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Re: AT&T bans anonymous messages
by Sandy Sandfort 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C'punks, At 11:16 AM 6/26/96 -0700, Rich Graves wrote: >I see no excuse for the craven "indecency" and "personal >information" bits of the AUP, but... Plausible deniability. Currently, the majors don't want to be publicly associated with "naughty" uses of their networks. The do, however, want the lucrative fees generated by them. As a result, an enormous market niche has come open for "resellers" of 900/976 services. The majors can say, "We don't offer our services to THOSE types of services, but we are powerless to stop our resellers from doing that sort of business." The same rational applies to the Internet. S a n d y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Re: Alternic.net (was domain zapping)
by mccoy＠communities.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

John Fricker writes: > At 05:54 AM 6/26/96 -0400, Perry wrote: [...regarding alternte registries...] > > > >They can offer to sell you anything they like, of course, and you can > >pay them, but you don't get anything at all for the money. Domains > >registered with them don't appear in the real DNS. > > What constitutes "real DNS"? For 99.99999% of the Internet "real DNS" is defined by the root server list distributed with the most recent version of BIND. > DNS server administrators need only add one line to their named.boot file to > resolve .nic hosts. > > secondary nic 204.94.42.1 db.nic > > It's that easy! Sorry, but this only gives you domain name resolution for the .nic TLD, not the other new top-level domains they want to create or any domains that alternic is proposing to provide service for. To do that one needs to add an appropriate line into the root.cache file (or whatever the root server list is in your name server setup), at which point you are also trusting alternic with pointing you properly to any domain they get queried on. > The concept of centralized name resolutions is flawed and > only exists out of habit. It is not just about habit, it is also about trust. There are alternatives, but they need to be thought-out much more than this alternic stuff... jim

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Re: The Reno Text URL.....
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Why, thank you very much for the kewl compliment. May I correct your correction of the URL for addres.txt: it should be "jya" not "jwa," to read: http://pwp.usa.pipeline.com/~jya/addres.txt Several c'punks have kindly noted my clumsy typing thumbs by breaking them. Regards, Kohn

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