- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Re: Anonymous Remailer threat: Scientologists may subpoena anonymous remailer records?
by Hal 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: tcmay(a)got.net (Timothy C. May) > At 7:37 PM 4/10/96, Jim Byrd wrote: > >to find the identity of -AB-. This turned out to be an alumni account at > >Cal Tech. The poster has never been heard from again. > > This was without a doubt just a user of one of Hal Finney's remailers he > runs out of an account at Caltech. (There's a tiny chance it was someone > else, but it fits the description of Hal's "alumni" remailer exactly, and > is almost certainly just that.) Actually, this is not true. The poster, from rumors I have heard, was someone else with a Caltech alumni account (I don't know who). I have never been contacted by any representatives of Scientology with respect to this case. So it is apparently just a coincidence that this case involved the same system as my remailer. Hal

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Re: Protocols at the Point of a Gun
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

As required by the CDA (Competency Disclosure Act) my Ignorance bit is set to "1" for this speculation. At 11:03 PM 4/10/96, Lucky Green wrote: >If my computer creates the IP packet, what is there to prevent me from >modifying the value of the "Minor/Adult" flag at my leisure? Are the "minor/adult" settings (and Christian/Atheist, Southern Baptist/Reformed Baptist, Creationist/Evolutionist, etc. bits) even be proposed to be set at the IP packet level? I'd've thought it would be at the message level, such as this message or a posting to Usenet. (Granted, many messages are presumably the same as IP messages. But I'd assume that the setting would be within the message, so that any forwarder of the packet would not be likely to tamper with internal message settings....) If we assume IP packet creators are altering ratings system settings, they could just as easily be inserting CDA-violating language or images. Which they could, unless messages were encrypted, signed, whatever. (I'm not supporting mandatory ratings. Indeed, I oppose them.) --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, Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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machine moved, mailing lists intact.
by Alan B. Clegg 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Update: cypherpunks-d, bsdi-users(-d), unix-lizards. The system running the mailing lists has now been physically moved from one place to another (phew, didn't drop it!), and all seems to be OK. A couple of DNS changes still remain to be made, but things seem to be working pretty well. I will be moving a couple of things around and updating some systems OS soon, so we're not all done yet... Please let me know if you see any additional oddities. Just for the record: ISDN really IS cool. I just can't wait to get that other B channel running.. yowza.. 128k to the house! -abc \ Alan B. Clegg Just because I can \ Network Technologist does not mean I will. \ gateway.com, inc. \ <http://www.gateway.com/>

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Re: questions about bits and bytes
by Paul_Koning/US/3Com%3COM＠smtp1.isd.3com.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>No, Bill, a "byte" has ALWAYS been 8-bits. Not so. It appears that the term "byte" originated in the IBM 360, where it is indeed 8 bits. And certainly all present day computers use "byte" to refer to an octet and not to any other size. That has not always been true. The CDC 6000 series used 6-bit characters, though those weren't usually referred to as "byte". On the other hand, on the PDP10 there were "byte instructions" which would operate on an arbitrary piece of the (36-bit) word. On that machine, "bytes" when used to store characters were often 9 bits long. That's where things like "meta" and "alt" started, see the Hacker's Dictionary. paul !----------------------------------------------------------------------- ! Paul Koning, NI1D, C-24183 ! 3Com Corporation, 1-3A, 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough MA 01772 USA ! phone: +1 508 229 1695, fax: +1 508 490 5873 ! email: paul_koning(a)isd.3com.com or paul_koning(a)3mail.3com.com ! Pgp: 27 81 A9 73 A6 0B B3 BE 18 A3 BF DD 1A 59 51 75 !----------------------------------------------------------------------- ! "Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors ! -- and miss!" ! -- Robert A. Heinlein, "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long" ! in "Time Enough for Love"

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Re: Protocols at the Point of a Gun
by Bill Stewart 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>At 9:48 4/10/96, Duncan Frissell wrote: >[...] >>We know that governments would like to impose things like the Simple >>Tax Transfer Protocol on the Net as well as Is A Person (and Is A Minor) >>Protocols. There was a recent discussion on a radio talk show that the IRS is now requiring some large class of taxpayers who submit estimated taxes to do so electronically. The host and callers weren't sure of any of the details (such as exactly who's covered and whether you can deduct the computer you had to buy to submit your taxes electronically :-) but obviously they read Duncan's phrase about Simple Tax Transfer Protocol and decided to implement it real fast.... # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com, +1-415-442-2215

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Re: why compression doesn't perfectly even out entropy
by eli+＠GS160.SP.CS.CMU.EDU 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

JonWienke(a)aol.com writes: >I have no disagreements with this. I merely proposed using the compression >function as a means of roughly estimating entropy and preventing the seeding >of the hash/PRNG with potentially "weak key" type data. It's not a useful estimate of entropy, and I don't see what you mean by "`weak key' type data". There are no keys or PRNGs involved here, just a hash function. Now, if you've got a sufficiently compressible data stream, compression may be a fast way to jump-start the distillation, but you absolutely need a priori information on the entropy of the source. >Would anyone like to propose a means of measuring entropy that we can all >agree on? If your definition of entropy is at least as strong as Kolmogorov complexity, it's infeasible to compute. The way to measure entropy is to spend ten years trying to understand the data source, and hope that no one else can afford to spend twenty. -- Eli Brandt eli+(a)cs.cmu.edu

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Re: Scientologists may subpoena anonymous remailer records
by Powers Glenn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

- > BTW, has anyone out there created an anonymous web forwarder? I'm sure - > there are a lot of people out there who don't like the idea of having - > their email address in the log files of dozens of web servers... Creating - > a simple web forwarder wouldn't be hard. - - I've heard several people make this statement... Can anyone confirm that - it is really possible to log the uid (username) of the person making the - http request? I know they can get your ip address, but I'm skeptical - of getting the username. Yes, there are several web interfaces to anonymous remailers out there (check altavista). No, they cannot get your username UNLESS you have logged into the site by entering a username and password into a www auth dialogue box -or- you are on a Unix box which is running identd -and- the remote site runs a check (unlikely and DOES NOT apply to dialups, unless you are running identd on your dialup). Even in the extremely unlikely event of a remailer running a check using identd, that would not show up in the standard web logs. It would be theorically possible to get a username/True Name from an IP address if you were on a dialup and the ISP kept track of who was on what dialup and when. glenn

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Re: Digital Cash Escrow
by jf_avon＠citenet.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To: Cypherpunks(a)toad.com from: jf_avon(a)citenet.net date: 11 Avril 96 ======================================= John Deters <jad(a)dsddhc.com> wrote: >ObOtherListComplaint (doesn't everyone?): Has anyone suffered ill-effects >by having their mail program filter Jim Bell's postings? Does anyone, especially in Canada, ever noticed that them or their local net friends had their snail mail opened? A friend of mine has his regularly opened; he complained to Canada Post three times, but it stills goes on AFAIK. He is pissed off at me, convinced that the forwarding of Jim Bell's AP related articles is what justified the mail opening. Actually, he does not even reply to my e-mails anymore. We used to be great friends... Neither of us ever engaged in any subversive activities or are involved in illegal actions. It seems that FUD got him. ...sigh... He even refused to *touch* PGP. He is a professionnal programmer, in C++, win, and OS-2. Can you believe it?!? Any comments? JFA -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2i iQEVAwUBMW1pKsiycyXFit0NAQG3Rwf+PUFu0geKEXOEYktp5MP6ao4Yb0CfPSWA dbnZ4R4kJsLm7jQ8tNXdo8KsLRhL7+Qe3NNfAKvTQVmvrN45QImyKk+fZd77Cady TLKuNEYCx1FCrIpLewM13sLj4twCcNpvCIJNRsVV8Q3xcyWkfNJ6PSAakDa2POnD spPnEz0Ptepw58KXoM0G36lE6fJnfv83PEeaogjE+h8Gsxf1uzhK1ZAQxpB6QHLP 4cizjFyKNfEZIVKK4kXebWr7wlalE87XTC6wWpXLQ8XuNYtbzKWG+wB747IpbN2a ijKDBf9fXAZRB/qVQUdF/toEWJ/+Vg6LniFgmYq1EQqToUiPMRT48A== =NnBW -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Tense visions of future imperfect
by jf_avon＠citenet.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- >What the bank does is keep a list of all spent serial numbers, not all >issued ones (since it doesn't know those). That way it can detect double >spending. Correct me if I'm wrong: It means that the weakest point of the digital cash chain is the server. If the server's database is tampered with, or lost, then, the double-spending can be done (in case of loss, if ever the server is put back online) Does that means that for all practical purposes, a server should be run from a vault with security comparable to a big money repository? JFA -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2i iQEVAwUBMW1dnsiycyXFit0NAQFpPQf6A/IvZWumneiGU1IERxbs/udunwFWHWVG p+rbAK9h7bDYG+6NcFCIJp97n4MGfH8/+bbPLV4eIuv+5eyTKRkB+1IdOkVNUhEq LGcKGN1iAScQvLxj+cM/3nthAhDxdaMBXmyaylnphgqh9slKJg7FppWpBfLI56nt YYZJ69ThyYMVCN/g9o5G0zbzYefKFOzV/0lbxaGUn0G/KoKbURMut1NlMdfmhmqw BbTd50ae8LVWLjxlVs5Gi5Ui9Loa2DKlSR5PIp1vlFDSk1UBAjTbbK8fSKVhkEFn thI+YXLifA73LOJNdBWwvneTWyy+kdVxHBSDVFEXH2HMsR4LYeHF1g== =JxPP -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Mystery of the unsuvscrives: SOLVED?
by Black Unicorn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On replying to one of the many recent unsubscrivers I got this in return: A creative spam attack? ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 12 Apr 1996 11:34:53 +0100 From: Batman <batman(a)infomaniak.ch> To: Black Unicorn <unicorn(a)schloss.li> Subject: Re: your mail On Thu, 11 Apr 1996, Black Unicorn wrote: > On Thu, 11 Apr 1996, Batman wrote: > > > Please PUT me OUT of YOUR cypherpunks AND other MAIL-LISTS > > > > Thankx > > Please LEARN to UNSUBSCRIBE from MAILING lists and OTHER THINGS. > > --- > My preferred and soon to be permanent e-mail address:unicorn@schloss.li > "In fact, had Bancroft not existed, potestas scientiae in usu est > Franklin might have had to invent him." in nihilum nil posse reverti > 00B9289C28DC0E55 E16D5378B81E1C96 - Finger for Current Key Information > > I don't think you're the mail-list admin, so, don't send me your advices. I've been flooded and put in that shit mail-list without my permission. GET OUT

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