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The Economist on Netscape "hackers"
by Raph Levien 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Looks like every cypherpunk's favorite newsweekly has slipped a bit. This week's Economist (Oct 7-13, 1995, pp. 77-78) has a story about banks getting on the Internet, and some of the security risks involved. It's not _too_ bad, but, well, judge for yourself: "By far their biggest worry, however, is the threat posed by computer hackers. In recent months, numerous defects have been detected in the state-of-the-art Navigator program developed by Netscape, the leading maker of Internet ``browsing'' software. Earlier this year, a French hacker broke the program's code, albeit with the help of 120 computers. Although Netscape claims that the glitches in Navigator have now been smoothed out, their very existence has shaken confidence. ..." Sigh. No mention of export restrictions (I wanted to add "of course," but for the Economist it shouldn't be an "of course"). Shall I write the letter to the editor, or does someone else want to? One thing I'll need is a brief outline of Damien Doligez's acheivements to support the idea that characterizing him as a "hacker" is not quite right. Raph (who's wondering if there's something inherent in the media process that keeps them from getting their stories straight)

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Re: what are these people selling????
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 7:22 AM 10/13/95, an116512(a)anon.penet.fi wrote: >why is the cp meeting sponsored by sun? >so we can hear a sales pitch on java? Again, anonymity is used to cloak an ignorant flame. But I'll respond anyway. First, who cares who hosts the meeting? Does anyone think we are so "corruptable" as to change opinions based on who hosts a meeting? Second, we met for our first 15-18 months at the Mountain View offices of Cygnus Support. Did this taint us? Did we all become Gnu hackers? Then we met for about a year at the Mountain View offices of Silicon Graphics. Same question. Third, there is much interest in Java. Positive interest, and skeptical interest. Most meetings have a focus on some topic....this one happens to be a focus on Java. Fourth, Marianne Mueller is coordinating this meeting, and she happens to work for Sun. We should be glad we have a meeting site. (Meeting sites that can hold 25-40 people for an entire afternoon are not that easy to find. Pizza places typically don't get enthusiastic about all-day meetings. Homes are typically too small. And so it goes.) So, come out of your anonymity and stop the mindless insults. --Tim May Views here are not the views of my Internet Service Provider or Government. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: IDEA algorithm
by Jonathan Zamick 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 7:50 PM 10/12/95, Adam Shostack wrote: >| (Btw... what would be the absolute coolest thing folk would like to see >| added to RSAREF? That is, other than code that we will need to negotiate >| for. What new thing, speed upgrade, enhancement, etc would just tickle?) > > Consistant pricing. The knowledge that any app I develop >using RSAREF can be made into licensed for commercial use product for >a set, known, published fee. This would be the biggest win for >Consensus. To some degree that is already true. There is no upfront cost for the licensing, so it is straight royalty based. Right now its 5-4% declining with gross sales. > Another really big win would be to add more entry points to >the code to legitimize Wei Dai's excellent Crypto++ library, which has >to jump in at all sorts of unpublished interfaces. I'll look into this one. We have the ability to add more entry points. Thanks. That is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to get. >Adam Jonathan ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ..Jonathan Zamick Consensus Development Corporation.. ..<JonathanZ(a)consensus.com> 1563 Solano Ave, #355.. .. Berkeley, CA 94707-2116.. .. o510/559-1500 f510/559-1505.. ..Mosaic/WWW Home Page: .. .. Consensus Home Page ..

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Exporting Mental States
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 2:30 PM 10/13/95, Michael Froomkin wrote: >On Thu, 12 Oct 1995, Vincent Cate wrote: >[..] > >> If while you are outside the USA you want to write some software that uses >> encryption and sell it worldwide, let me know. I could put you up while >> you wrote it and my company could sell it for share of the selling price. >> Let me know what you are thinking of and how long you think it would take. > >Of course if you are a US person (citizen or green card holder) this is >just as much a violation of the ITAR than if you did it from inside the US... And recalling Matt Blaze's hilarious tale of trying to get the right forms filled out and approved at an airport prior to departure for Europe, one has to wonder what confused looks would be gotten were someone to try to get a "Commodity Jurisdiction Request" (or whatever is needed) to export one's thoughts.... "Yes, I'm trying to find out what forms I need to fill out to export the cryptography knowledge that's now in my head." "Huh?" "Well, I understand that it's illegal for me to think crypto thoughts in Anguilla, where I'm going on vacation. So, to protect me in the event I talk in my sleep, and a foreign national hears me, I want to register with your office." "Huh?" --Tim May Views here are not the views of my Internet Service Provider or Government. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: what are these people selling????
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <9510130722.AA03096(a)anon.penet.fi>, an116512(a)anon.penet.fi wrote: > why is the cp meeting sponsored by sun? > so we can hear a sales pitch on java? Where are clueless idiots that post messages such as the one quoted above comming from? - --- [This message has been signed by an auto-signing service. A valid signature means only that it has been received at the address corresponding to the signature and forwarded.] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Gratis auto-signing service iQBFAwUBMH7UnyoZzwIn1bdtAQGPDAF+IRhbPNJK0fo6PXTrKliTU7ITwkzPOD5L agjzNaBIDukCFmtfz1ZZNyHCC8OTeq5r =B+J8 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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CAT_sho
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The Econom of Oct 14 ogles the catfight between Wintel and JavaNet to outclaw whineflesh. "Will your next computer be a tin can and a wire?" This week's fall in technology stocks was bad enough. But what if the Internet destroyed the personal-computer industry ...? Sun, Oracle and Netscape are spending tens of millions of dollars on a bet that the Internet can do a lot more than pass around e-mail and transmit data. They think it can also do much of the work of today's computers, holding not just information but software, from word processors and spreadsheets to games and entertainment programs. Most radically, they go on to argue that this could end the reign of the personal computer. Forget Windows 95; some people are starting to wonder if they need Microsoft at all. But those who predict that such machines will kill the PC are ignoring computing history, and glitch-prone real life. The PC beat the mainframe because users wanted the whole computer on their desktop, not in the basement. That makes Java terminals look like a step backwards: by putting program storage far away down a shared network, it makes it vulnerable to delays, congestion, and all the unpredictability of anything out of a user's control. CAT_sho (10 kb)

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Re: what are these people selling????
by cman＠communities.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>why is the cp meeting sponsored by sun? >so we can hear a sales pitch on java? Actually, the idea for the meeting came out of a discussion at a party that Marianne and I attended last summer. Chip Morningstar (one of the co-founders of Electric Communities) and I were getting heavily into Java; also, my wife and I were starting to write a crypto package for Java (JCrypt). Subsequently, at a focus group meeting at Sun, we discovered that practically all of us were on cypherpunks. It's just a happy accident that discussion about Java has hit a crescendo here on the list. I suggested to mrm that we have it at Sun, since the warehouse loft space in SF where we've been meeting, charming as it is, isn't a great spot for doing presentations and would likely have capacity problems for this topic. So no, this is not some great conspiracy on Sun's part to co-opt the list. You can return to your regularly scheduled paranoid fantasies. Thank you....

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Re: Exporting Mental States
by Brad Shantz 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I just arrived in Ottawa, Canada from Seattle, USA. I had sort of thought through exactly what Tim just described. I had a little notebook with me and was doing some calculations and design of a fractal compression algorithm. I started to think about El-Gamal and decided to look at elliptical curve algorithms. So, I pulled out my copy of Applied Crypto to look up some things and started writing things down. (BTW: I had Applied Crypto with me for recreational reading on the plane, I don't normally carry it everywhere I go.) Anyway, i got to customs in Ottawa, and they asked me if I had anything to declare. I immediately thought, "Should I tell them about the notebook?" I decided against it. How does export of intellectual property work? The other question they asked me was "Do you have any eggs?" I started giggling. **SARCASM ON** I always carry an egg around in my inside coat pocket. Who knows when you might need one, especially when in a foreign country. **SARCASM OFF** I don't know, I guess the question just struck me as funny. Brad Shantz TRISource (formerly TriLogic) Windows Development Services

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Re: what are these people selling????
by carolann＠censored.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- >So no, this is not some great conspiracy on Sun's part to >co-opt the list. You can return to your regularly scheduled >paranoid fantasies. Thank you.... DAMN!.....I thought someone was on to something here. I mean maybe we could get Microhard to do a meeting. Or the dreaded RSA or somebody. Love Always, Carol Anne -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMH75T4rpjEWs1wBlAQFM2QP9Eeh1wcbdUMRk+Z8MXX8rix2VeZt1rqnb d735C9bt0B2x0FtYjOTi6r8FPUYWV6AVYjn2z/m+RjZ71H7MoOSoyHOk+XA+biGM TAzSCPcJNvTTjAyAGs7/wC8WC0z6QudMXkitPuXW4s5ZeqX3yuEbPjlyBYwRbt3h LNTVc/BfrsI= =NgMw -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Member Internet Society - Certified BETSI Programmer - Webmistress *********************************************************************** Carol Anne Braddock (cab8) carolann(a)censored.org 206.42.112.96 My Homepage The Cyberdoc *********************************************************************** ------------------ PGP.ZIP Part [017/713] ------------------- M8H,),S$8G>&.WP(8IRA`-M['+`Q%&_C"">5-F%LX@<_Q$;*P'',Q$Z/AA[8M MF=O0H+*%(-S%&>S%+FS&<LS%3(Q&#W1"<]2%`H^;,]^1C$'HBN8PX$4SYAU^ MPGD<Q0ZLA0D+,`MCT!LA**4M[-JPAK9F?40!AJ,CW"'%DR#:'9?Q)3[%<DQ` ------------------------------------------------------------- for next chunk to export --> http://dcs.ex.ac.uk/~aba/export/

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Re: Certificate proposal
by daw＠lagos.CS.Berkeley.EDU 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <199510120147.LAA13833(a)sweeney.cs.monash.edu.au>, Jiri Baum <jirib(a)sweeney.cs.monash.edu.au> wrote: > What you are missing is that you should not say > "I want to send my credit card number to Egghead Software" > you should say > "I want to send my credit card number to 12 34 56 78 9A BC DE F0" Why does this sound so much like defining the problem away? Maybe I just don't get it... - --- [This message has been signed by an auto-signing service. A valid signature means only that it has been received at the address corresponding to the signature and forwarded.] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Gratis auto-signing service iQBFAwUBMH8QCSoZzwIn1bdtAQFm1QGApigaZIVNZTghR9YrzwL/1dMCdu5zGMK5 QPCEJPY2W1hTrL/znVMkcOCg/Tw5ampO =+2Co -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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