- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

CDT VTW "aces" launch "bold" new Net-firm, by Brock Meeks
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- http://www.msnbc.com/news/129054.asp Noted Net lobbyists form for-profit firm Two non-profit cyberspace advocates now look to market Internet strategies By Brock Meeks WASHINGTON -- This is a story of defection. Two well-known voices on cyberspace advocacy issues Jonah Seiger of the Center for Democracy and Technology and Shabbir Safdar of Voters Telecommunication Watch said Tuesday they're forming a company specializing in "Internet campaign strategies." Spin doctors for fun and profit. And along they way, they hope to help make the Internet safe for Democracy. [...] The move is a dramatic shift for the two. In four years they have been at the forefront of the most contentious issues in cyberspace. They've created and honed their Internet strategies in the bare-knuckle world of Washington politics with incessant digital lobbying. No more. "We aren't going to be walking around the halls of Congress lobbying on behalf of anybody," Seiger said. IS ANYBODY HERE? The move is bold, even brash. Seiger and Safdar are banking that the Internet is, first, a viable medium for "moving an issue" as they call it and, second, that companies or organizations are going to be willing to pony up money to mount an Internet campaign. On second thought, maybe this is simply blind faith. If this defection is born of blind faith in a nascent medium, then Seiger and Safdar are true disciples. Seizer's own currency inside the Center for Democracy and Technology has been on a steady rise; he routinely is quoted on cyberspace issues. Now he's chucked all that for a start-up that depends on a medium that hasn't yet proven it can sustain a commercially viable site. [...] Whether or not the sound bite plays at the bank and with a host of potential clients, is another matter altogether. If Mindshare is going to be successful, it'll have to have an ace up its digital sleeve. It doesn't. It has two: Seiger and Safdar. ###

3 2

hashcash spam prevention & firewalls
by Adam Back 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I am looking at writing some hashcash (http://www.dcs.ex.ac.uk/~aba/hashcash/) based spam prevention software. The motivation for writing spam prevention software is that spam is better combatted with technical methods than legal or political (we do not want clueless politicians coming in ham-fisted and requiring "Internet Drivers Licenses" or anti-spam legislation or anything else, such actions will be hazardous for the future of remailers, in my opinion). (Hashcash is a way of proving that the sender has consumed a tunable amount of CPU time. The verification process consumes negligible CPU time. This allows us to require the would be spammer to spend say 20 seconds per mail, which will slow him down considerably, over his current tactics of 1000 long Bcc lists allowing him to hand off spamming tasks to mail servers.) So what we want is a filter to bounce messages without the required hashcash postage, we ideally want this to happen at the ISP or organisational SMTP server end, rather than at the recipients end, because a) it is simpler for 1 service provider to install software than 100,000 neophytes, and b) it reduces bandwidth consumption on dial up users pay per second lines as the spam is killed before they see it. The Right Way to do it perhaps is as an SMTP extension, however I consider this impractical in the short term because as far as I know there is no SMTP extension plug-in mechanism (other than access to the source code, and lots of development time) and because there are a large number of mail servers in use, and it will be expensive in developer (that's me) time to provide patches for them all (exarcebated by the fact that in many cases source will not be available). So these problems leave us scratching around for other more generic approaches. One method is to create a proxy which receives mail on port 25 (as the SMTP server normally does) filters examining for correct hashcash postage, and bounces if the postage is missing, and forwards the mail on to the real SMTP server if the hashcash postage is valid. The real SMTP server would then be set to run on another port... say port 26 which is reserved, and have the mail forwarded to it at that port. (You would want to disable non-local access to port 26 either at firewall or with SMTP server configuration if that is possible). Alternatively run the real SMTP server on another machine inside the local network. A few problems with this approach, firstly it may not be possible to configure some SMTP server software to run at ports other than 25. (I know you can do it with sendmail: OOPort=26 does it.) (If this is not possible with a given SMTP server you can still run a proxy by running the real SMTP server on another machine inside the network). Secondly the proxy approach prevents some of the SMTP server functions from operating properly because the process on the other end of the socket is our hashcash proxy on localhost rather than the remote mail hub (modern sendmails can be configured to perform reverse name lookups on IP addresses, call ident (ident sucks anyway IMO), or block based on IP address or domain, etc.) Is this kind of thing likely to be a big problem? Another approach is to try to hook in a hashcash SMTP proxy filter at the firewall. I am not that familiar with firewalls. Anyone have thoughts on the sorts of filtering you could install at the firewall level, and how portable this would be based on installed base of types of firewall? (ie It is not interesting if you can do nifty proxy functions with foobar firewall software if it is used by <1% of sites, and the function is impossible with other firewall software). The required filter functionality is something like this in order of desirability: Accept the SMTP session. Use an EHLO extension HASHCASH to say that this server expects hashcash. (Extended HELO is a method of specifying SMTP extensions (I think)). Accept the headers, and if a valid hashcash postage is not included, hand off to the real mailserver a site configurable bounce message. If the postage is valid, replay the headers to the real SMTP server (with IP masquerading so that the IP address appears to be coming from the originator, so that the SMTP server will not get upset about reverse DNS look up mismatches etc). Then act as a dumb proxy for the rest of the connection passing data through to the normal hashcash server. This still leaves open the question of the user generating their own hashcash postage. Again this could be problematic for neophytes. One solution is to include a URL for a web page including a javascript hashcash generator -- this means that no new software must be installed, the user cut and pastes the generated hashcash into their message. However things would be a whole lot simpler short term if the mail originators ISP created the hashcash for him at the ISPs SMTP hub where the user hands off his mail for further delivery. The main problem with this is that the SMTP mail hub would be overloaded by the CPU intensive task of generating hashcash. There are a few techniques to reduce the overhead of preventing spam with hashcash. One is to require valid hashcash only on the first message to a given address. (Spammers being hit and run types, and even having to generate hashcash for each spamee once would be expensive for a spam list of 10 million unwilling spam recipients). Better, is to require valid hashcash on all mail, _until_ the recipient replies to a mail. This is good because people rarely reply to spammers. Ordinary users who chit-chat backwards and forwards in mail generate little added overhead for the hand off SMTP server -- the only overhead being to generate say 5 seconds CPU worth of hashcash for each new recipient the user sends to. Then you add some hashcash accounting so that users who overspend (consuming more than say 1 minutes CPU consumption on the server in a 24 hour period have their email bounced with explanation of how to generate their own hashcash as a heavy user). Figures would need tuning to see how they worked out in practice, however it seems that it would be feasible to handle the whole operation entirely at the sending and receiving SMTP servers. Comments? Adam -- Now officially an EAR violation... Have *you* exported RSA today? --> http://www.dcs.ex.ac.uk/~aba/rsa/ print pack"C*",split/\D+/,`echo "16iII*o\U@{$/=$z;[(pop,pop,unpack"H*",<> )]}\EsMsKsN0[lN*1lK[d2%Sa2/d0<X+d*lMLa^*lN%0]dsXx++lMlN/dsM0<J]dsJxp"|dc`

15 40

Jim Bell Sentenced: AP Report
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From The Oregonian online: http://www.oregonlive.com/ Bell gets 11 months in prison, 3 years supervised release, fine The Associated Press 12/12/97 7:54 PM Eastern TACOMA (AP) -- A federal judge Friday imposed an 11-month sentence for tax violations on James Dalton Bell, whose 10-part Internet essay, "Assassination Politics," proposed apparent "bounties" on government officials. Federal prosecutors say he was advocating bounties on public officials he considered "miscreants" and "slimeballs." Bell has said he was theorizing, not advocating any killing. The Vancouver, Wash., man pleaded guilty in July to trying to impede Internal Revenue Service agents and to using false Social Security numbers to hide his assets. After his prison term, U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess ordered Bell to undergo three years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay $1,359 in restitution for damage caused by a stink bomb he set off at the IRS's Vancouver office. Bell's essay was cited in the indictment as a means by which he sought to intimidate IRS agents, Assistant U.S. Attorney Annmarie Levins said. A news release from federal prosecutors says that as part of his plea agreement, Bell "admitted advocating a scheme called `Assassination Politics' whereby persons would be rewarded with `digital cash' through the Internet for killing undesirable people. "Bell identified government employees, particularly IRS employees, as such undesirable people, and argued that the threat of `Assassination Politics' would intimidate them from enforcing Internal Revenue laws for fear of being assassinated." He also admitted proposing "Assassination Politics" as an enforcement mechanism for the anti-government Oregon extremist group Multnomah County Common Law Court, which purports to try government officials for performance of their duties, the release said. Prosecutors and Bell's public defender sought a sentence of 6 to 12 months as part of a plea bargain. Federal probation officers recommended 27 months, citing the "totality" of Bell's behavior. Bell described "Assassination Politics" as a means for ordinary citizens to take action against public officials they perceived as having violated their rights. "What if they could go to their computers, type in the miscreant's name and select a dollar amount. The amount they, themselves, would be willing to pay to anyone who `predicts' that officeholder's death," he wrote. "That donation would be sent, encrypted and anonymously, to a central registry organization and be totaled, with the total amount available within seconds to any interested individual." He noted that if one person in 1,000 "was willing to pay $1 to see some government slimeball dead, that would be, in effect, a $250,000 bounty on his head." In an April raid on the home Bell shared with his elderly parents, authorities found the home addresses of about 70 IRS employees, as well as three semiautomatic assault rifes, a handgun and potentially deadly chemicals. He was arrested in May.

3 2

Earn $2,000-$5,000 per week...NOT MLM
by 95059550＠moneymakers.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

<HTML><PRE><BODY BGCOLOR="#000000"> ARE YOU READY TO MAKE IT; WILL THE LIGHT GO ON? Are you tired of working 9-5 for peanuts, with little or no control over your financial destiny? Hello, my name is Dieter and my partners name is Dennis (By the way, please forgive this intrusion. We are looking for people who have an entrepreneurial spirit and can recognize an opportunity when they see it and move on it! If that's you, We'd like to invite you to join our team and work from your home making $2.000 to 5,000 per week and more....much more in some cases. One of our members quit her job of 14 years after one month! Another made the cover of a national magazine after just one quarter! Skeptical? You should be. You've seen every scam out there. So have the rest of us. But simply stated, this is the finest opportunity in America today. We can prove it. How? We have exactly what over-worked, under-paid, over-taxed Americans desperately want and need! REMEMBER, THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS! It's your choice, financial freedom or bondage! INTRODUCTION: Our international association is comprised of a large group of extremely diverse independent individuals from attorneys, physicians, CPA's, licensed financial consultants and other professionals to housewives, students and blue-collar workers. Since the original founders of our organization first banded together just over three short years ago, we have grown to over 20,000 members in the United States and Canada and we are adding literally hundreds of new associates every day. What's so incredible about our phenomenal growth rate is that we are not M L M'ers!! HERE ARE 16 REASONS YOU SHOULD TAKE A SERIOUS LOOK AT THIS: 1.YOU REALLY CAN EARN $2,000 - $5,000 PER WEEK, WORKING FROM YOUR HOME... By and large, the majority of us already are. Why not you too? 2. FAST AND EASY WITH REASONABLE STARTUP COSTS... You can be up and going, trained and generating huge cashflow, within 24 hours from the time you decide to pursue this venture. You won't need any personnel, office, liability or workers comprehensive insurance --- just a fax machine and a phone! 3. REASONABLE FIXED OVERHEAD/OPERATING COSTS... Your only overhead is your phone bill! 4. PROFITS THAT ENTREPRENEURS USUALLY ONLY DREAM OF.. A 90% profit margin on sales of $1,250 or $6,250 respectively, means you net either $1,125.00 OR $5,625.00 on **EVERY** sale! 5. EASY TO MARKET; We don't do any selling..everyone wants and needs our products! All we do is explain it and offer it to people! REAL? Don't take my word, prove it to yourself! Take a look at this and then do what over 20,000 of us have done. 6. NOT MLM... This is not some chain letter or any other kind of bogus, unethical or illegal scheme. (EXAMPLE: Our $1,250 product's actual value is estimated to be between $10,000 and$15,000!). 7. NO INVENTORY MAINTENANCE OR ORDER FULFILLMENT... WITH AN UNCONDITIONAL TEN DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. . 8. 8. DEAL EXCLUSIVELY WITH ONLY INTERESTED PROSPECTS... 9. ALL PROCEEDS ARE ISSUED DIRECTLY TO YOU. 10. ALL THE FRESH HOT LEADS YOU CAN HANDLE.... 11. TRAINING, MARKETING, ADMIN. SUPPORT SECOND TO NONE... Most people who market our products make 1 or 2 sales their VERY FIRST WEEK, we're ALWAYS there to HELP YOU 12. OUR PRODUCTS...THE BEST THERE IS. Simply put, what we sell to earn our extraordinary living, is education, incredible and verifiable factual information that 99% of the world's population doesn't even know exists, including most Attorneys, CPA's, so called Tax Experts, Tax Consultants, Financial Consultants, Investment Strategists and the like. It's no big secret that the rich pay very little (if any) taxes on their incomes, but how do they get away with it? With these simply presented and easily understood educational products, ordinary people just like you and me are now learning to use the same complex tax avoidance and investment strategies that the wealthy have always used! Anyone who purchases our products quickly finds out that no matter what their current situation, they can substantially reduce (and in some cases even totally eliminate) ALL of their personal and/or business tax liabilities, forever and completely legally. And, interestingly enough, the informatio! n is just as valid for those who are wage earners as those who (already) have money! Consumers of these incredible educational products also learn that there are many safe (insured) investment vehicles that the wealthy use, which generate three to five times more yield on their cash investments in one month, than the rest of the world gets in a whole year? Our products not only identify these vehicles, but even show techniques and methodologies that an average person can use in taking advantage of them - even with very little cash to invest! (IMPORTANT NOTE: We, the salespeople who market these products, Do not sell investments or investment opportunities of any kind nor do we give any legal, investment, tax, or other "professional" advice). And, did you know that because our society has become so litigious, the odds of an individual being named as a defendant in a civil litigation in the next 12 months, are now more than 10 times greater than the odds that they'll be hospitalized? These products also show ! average people how to become leg ally "judgement proof" --- how to fully protect both their current and future assets from any form of liens, levies or judgements in any civil legal action wherein they are named as a defendant. 13. CREDIBILITY... Our association is only a little over three years old but has already established itself as a well recognized, well reputed and universally respected international organization. 14. INCREDIBLE, VERIFIABLE TRACK RECORDS OF SUCCESS... You'll be introduced to many others in our association who are already earning a great deal of money(mostly just average middle class people like you and I), and have been able to do so virtually immediately as soon as they started with us. 15. SPEND LOTS MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY... Our turnkey system does not require long hours in order to be successful. 16. THIS IS IT -- NO HYPE -- NO EXAGGERATION... In over 35 years of owning and operating my own businesses, before I took a real good look at this, of course I thought I'd seen it all. Frankly, I was convinced that I already knew everything there was to know about anything relating to marketing and sales, if not business in general. I am well experienced and a professional who considers myself exceptionally savvy. But as soon as I got the full picture, it turned my previous view of business and even the views I had of myself, upside down! My experience then led me to the question, "If my logic as well as my calculations were even half accurate, and I could make great money not even having to sell much, what if I sold a lot?" With that I jumped in on Oct'97 and haven't regretted it for even a split second since. With some experience under my belt now, I can tell you two things without any hesitation whatsoever: 1) Expect to earn an enormous personal income, and 2) do so while enjoying yourself doing it. FROM ME TO YOU, PERSONALLY....... If you are a little skeptical of the above "unbelievable" outline of this opportunity, that's okay. At first, so was I (and so is everyone else who first runs into it). We understand, especially in this day and age, that it's prudent to be cautious. But from me to you, don't let anything, including any bitter memories you have of bad experiences, keep you from at least giving this an honest look. YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY! ". I give you my word, you won't be sorry you did. If you are interested in how you can earn a great deal of money quickly,call us at: (Note please read this letter completely before calling any of the following numbers.) 904-654-7727 (Ext. 6200) For money-making information 904-654-7727 (Ext. 5093) For information on taxes Please call the above two numbers before calling the (888) number below. 1-888-245-9163 - To set up an interview (24 Hours a day) Please feel free to forward any specific questions or comments. We will return all calls in the order they were received. A telephonic interview is required before acceptance . Thereafter you will be given a toll-free number to contact us at any time. We are looking for 5 good people, you could be one of them! Sincerely, DENNIS AND DIETER

1 0

Make $2,000 - $5,000 per week -NOT MLM
by 03133071＠moneymakers.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

<HTML><PRE><BODY BGCOLOR="#000000"> ARE YOU READY TO MAKE IT; WILL THE LIGHT GO ON? Are you tired of working 9-5 for peanuts, with little or no control over your financial destiny? Hello, my name is Dieter and my partners name is Dennis (By the way, please forgive this intrusion. We are looking for people who have an entrepreneurial spirit and can recognize an opportunity when they see it and move on it! If that's you, We'd like to invite you to join our team and work from your home making $2.000 to 5,000 per week and more....much more in some cases. One of our members quit her job of 14 years after one month! Another made the cover of a national magazine after just one quarter! Skeptical? You should be. You've seen every scam out there. So have the rest of us. But simply stated, this is the finest opportunity in America today. We can prove it. How? We have exactly what over-worked, under-paid, over-taxed Americans desperately want and need! REMEMBER, THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS! It's your choice, financial freedom or bondage! INTRODUCTION: Our international association is comprised of a large group of extremely diverse independent individuals from attorneys, physicians, CPA's, licensed financial consultants and other professionals to housewives, students and blue-collar workers. Since the original founders of our organization first banded together just over three short years ago, we have grown to over 20,000 members in the United States and Canada and we are adding literally hundreds of new associates every day. What's so incredible about our phenomenal growth rate is that we are not M L M'ers!! HERE ARE 16 REASONS YOU SHOULD TAKE A SERIOUS LOOK AT THIS: 1.YOU REALLY CAN EARN $2,000 - $5,000 PER WEEK, WORKING FROM YOUR HOME... By and large, the majority of us already are. Why not you too? 2. FAST AND EASY WITH REASONABLE STARTUP COSTS... You can be up and going, trained and generating huge cashflow, within 24 hours from the time you decide to pursue this venture. You won't need any personnel, office, liability or workers comprehensive insurance --- just a fax machine and a phone! 3. REASONABLE FIXED OVERHEAD/OPERATING COSTS... Your only overhead is your phone bill! 4. PROFITS THAT ENTREPRENEURS USUALLY ONLY DREAM OF.. A 90% profit margin on sales of $1,250 or $6,250 respectively, means you net either $1,125.00 OR $5,625.00 on **EVERY** sale! 5. EASY TO MARKET; We don't do any selling..everyone wants and needs our products! All we do is explain it and offer it to people! REAL? Don't take my word, prove it to yourself! Take a look at this and then do what over 20,000 of us have done. 6. NOT MLM... This is not some chain letter or any other kind of bogus, unethical or illegal scheme. (EXAMPLE: Our $1,250 product's actual value is estimated to be between $10,000 and$15,000!). 7. NO INVENTORY MAINTENANCE OR ORDER FULFILLMENT... WITH AN UNCONDITIONAL TEN DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. . 8. 8. DEAL EXCLUSIVELY WITH ONLY INTERESTED PROSPECTS... 9. ALL PROCEEDS ARE ISSUED DIRECTLY TO YOU. 10. ALL THE FRESH HOT LEADS YOU CAN HANDLE.... 11. TRAINING, MARKETING, ADMIN. SUPPORT SECOND TO NONE... Most people who market our products make 1 or 2 sales their VERY FIRST WEEK, we're ALWAYS there to HELP YOU 12. OUR PRODUCTS...THE BEST THERE IS. Simply put, what we sell to earn our extraordinary living, is education, incredible and verifiable factual information that 99% of the world's population doesn't even know exists, including most Attorneys, CPA's, so called Tax Experts, Tax Consultants, Financial Consultants, Investment Strategists and the like. It's no big secret that the rich pay very little (if any) taxes on their incomes, but how do they get away with it? With these simply presented and easily understood educational products, ordinary people just like you and me are now learning to use the same complex tax avoidance and investment strategies that the wealthy have always used! Anyone who purchases our products quickly finds out that no matter what their current situation, they can substantially reduce (and in some cases even totally eliminate) ALL of their personal and/or business tax liabilities, forever and completely legally. And, interestingly enough, the informatio! n is just as valid for those who are wage earners as those who (already) have money! Consumers of these incredible educational products also learn that there are many safe (insured) investment vehicles that the wealthy use, which generate three to five times more yield on their cash investments in one month, than the rest of the world gets in a whole year? Our products not only identify these vehicles, but even show techniques and methodologies that an average person can use in taking advantage of them - even with very little cash to invest! (IMPORTANT NOTE: We, the salespeople who market these products, Do not sell investments or investment opportunities of any kind nor do we give any legal, investment, tax, or other "professional" advice). And, did you know that because our society has become so litigious, the odds of an individual being named as a defendant in a civil litigation in the next 12 months, are now more than 10 times greater than the odds that they'll be hospitalized? These products also show ! average people how to become leg ally "judgement proof" --- how to fully protect both their current and future assets from any form of liens, levies or judgements in any civil legal action wherein they are named as a defendant. 13. CREDIBILITY... Our association is only a little over three years old but has already established itself as a well recognized, well reputed and universally respected international organization. 14. INCREDIBLE, VERIFIABLE TRACK RECORDS OF SUCCESS... You'll be introduced to many others in our association who are already earning a great deal of money(mostly just average middle class people like you and I), and have been able to do so virtually immediately as soon as they started with us. 15. SPEND LOTS MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY... Our turnkey system does not require long hours in order to be successful. 16. THIS IS IT -- NO HYPE -- NO EXAGGERATION... In over 35 years of owning and operating my own businesses, before I took a real good look at this, of course I thought I'd seen it all. Frankly, I was convinced that I already knew everything there was to know about anything relating to marketing and sales, if not business in general. I am well experienced and a professional who considers myself exceptionally savvy. But as soon as I got the full picture, it turned my previous view of business and even the views I had of myself, upside down! My experience then led me to the question, "If my logic as well as my calculations were even half accurate, and I could make great money not even having to sell much, what if I sold a lot?" With that I jumped in on Oct'97 and haven't regretted it for even a split second since. With some experience under my belt now, I can tell you two things without any hesitation whatsoever: 1) Expect to earn an enormous personal income, and 2) do so while enjoying yourself doing it. FROM ME TO YOU, PERSONALLY....... If you are a little skeptical of the above "unbelievable" outline of this opportunity, that's okay. At first, so was I (and so is everyone else who first runs into it). We understand, especially in this day and age, that it's prudent to be cautious. But from me to you, don't let anything, including any bitter memories you have of bad experiences, keep you from at least giving this an honest look. YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY! ". I give you my word, you won't be sorry you did. If you are interested in how you can earn a great deal of money quickly,call us at: (Note please read this letter completely before calling) 1-888-245-9163 - To set up an interview (24 Hours a day) 904-654-7727 (Ext. 6200) For money-making information 904-654-7727 (Ext. 5093) For information on taxes Please feel free to forward any specific questions or comments. We will return all calls in the order they were received. A telephonic interview is required before acceptance . Thereafter you will be given a toll-free number to contact us at any time. We are looking for 5 good people, you could be one of them! Sincerely, DENNIS AND DIETER

1 0

Re: Another of Gary Burnore's Lies Exposed
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

rashidk(a)mailexcite.com (Rashid Kaman) wrote: > X-No-Archive: yes > >The whole "spam bait" issue is obviously a smoke screen, since the alleged > >spam-bait came AFTER the demand for Jeff's logs. > > The spambaits, at a rate of a dozen a day in early and mid-April, came > BEFORE Jeff Burshell, presented with their existence, offered in late > April, to turn over his machine logs. I'm not sure how you're involved in this scenario, nor what your source of information is. I was quoting from a public post by Jeff Burchell, the operator of the remailer in question, and he specifically stated that the so-called "spam baits" began AFTER Gary Burnore had demanded that Jeff turn over his remailer logs to DataBasix, and BEFORE Belinda Bryan sent him the letter claiming to be with DataBasix' "legal department" and formalizing that demand. Read it for yourself: -> I still don't know what the hell is going on with DataBasix, Wells Fargo -> and Gary Burnore, but I suspect that someone used huge.cajones to say -> something extremely unflattering about Burnore (from what I can tell, -> he had it coming). Burnore then decided that he would make things -> difficult for me. First, he wanted the user who had posted something -> "inflammatory" about him revealed. When I told him that I couldn't -> do that, he carried on about mail logs and identifying the host that -> a message came from (the usual). I didn't explain to him that my -> machine keeps logs, but not anything involving a *(a)cajones.com -> address. He then requested the logs, which I denied (and told him -> to get his lawyer to send a request...) Here comes the key part: -> Between the time he first contacted me, and the time I received the -> letter from Belinda Bryan, is when the baiting of databasix addresses -> began (slowly, with just a few posts). It appears that his account differs from yours.

1 0

Re: Kong Re: Please Beta test my communications cryptography product.
by jamesd＠echeque.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-- 177 At 5:00 PM -0800 12/4/97, James A. Donald wrote: > > > I have produced a program that, like PGP, provides digital > > > signatures and communications encryption. > > > http://www.jim.com/jamesd/Kong/Kong.htm > > >This is the first beta. Please beta test this product. At 07:06 PM 12/12/97 -0800, Bill Stewart wrote: > The web page says that the first beta had some problems, Beta 2 is now out. Please uninstall your old copy, using "Add/Remove programs" in the control panel, before installing the new copy, as overinstall does not work. (If you forgetfully overinstall, a warning comes up, but most people cheerfully disregard the warning) >- Signed Message: Delimiter, Message Body, ECC Public Key, ECC Sig. > I didn't notice what hash was used for the signatures -- SHA? > SHA: I failed to document that, will add it to the documentation. >- Encrypted Message: ECC(SessionKey), RC4(Message Body, SessionKey). > > I'm not sure if there are headers that include the recipient's key, > or if there's any special form for an encrypted-and-signed > message. I assume there's no multiple-recipient form? Multiple recipient form works, but the user interface to use it does not yet exist which makes it kind of useless. Coming soon. >1) Are the Signer's Name and the ECC key included in the > material that's hashed for signature? Doing that is > valuable, but depending on it makes it more difficult if > people change addresses. Yes: However the name is only hashed in a cryptographically weak manner, so a third party could change the name in a cleartext message. However if the message is cleartext there is nothing to stop him from copying the body and giving it any signature he pleases, so this does not actually gain the attacker anything. After all, that is what cleartext is. If he changes the name it looks to the user and Kong like a new and different signature. >2) It would be nice if the starting and ending delimiters were >different. > This would let you nest messages without needing >s. Can Kong > tell a nested opening -- from a closing --digsig ? Are --s > escaped, or at least <NL>--digsig? -- Yes: For example this message contains a nested message. --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG J14rDU1EjUofOmSoHg1Ye0GF6/+6wdvxmCwMryE4 1jNcIP5kRfVPada+5w8zfIGEodi2Mrz80ZbvXsK1 >3) How are newlines and whitespace in the message body handled for >signatures? > Canonicalized? Ignored? Not worried about? Not worried about, which is probably a seriously bad idea. Will fix in a later release. In a later release I will canonicalise carriage returns to Microsoft conventions, but not whitespace. As this is alas, a Borg only product, and will remain so for some time, such canonicalisation will not break existing signed documents. > This affects not only reliability of signatures after > emailing, but also affects signing binary files. Signing binary files is not yet supported, and will not be for some time. >4) I'd guess, since you're using 240-bit ECC and base-64 encoding, > that the first 40 characters of garble in the signature are > the key, and the remaining 80 characters are the signature > itself? Yes > If so, is there some easy way to use the 40-char string, e.g. > type in a copy from the bottom of a business card? Yes If Kong says a signature is good, and the public key agrees with a business card then the guy who wrote the business card is claiming to be the author of the message. Actually you do not have to check all 43 characters. It is sufficient to check the first ten characters, or any ten characters. > Some of the documentation says something about the key being > derived from your passphrase and a randomness file hashed > together. How does this affect multiple keys generated by the > same user? I assume it means you can't share passphrases > between keys. If two keys have the same passphrase, but a different secret file, then they will be two completely different keys. However, the same passphrase, and the same file, means the same key. The secret file is merely concatenated with the secret file >5) Is the format of the signature freeform, or do the newlines and > whitespace have to be in their official locations? Minor flexibility. You can add or remove leading blanks, and use either lf or cr or both. It is not totally rigid, but it is pretty rigid. --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG Uy36NbrQf/3FKV77cTtzFrHxsy0dcx9l6Svy/Fl5 xP+I6vLpjTgacrHEqXoD3gv+HF9Tx4Zl+0yDGhQF

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Gilmore to speak on encryption policy at UMBC (Tues, Dec 16)
by Dr. Alan Sherman 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The UMBC Security Technology Research Group presents Two Divergent Views on Encryption Policy: I. Wisdom and Constitutionality in U.S. Cryptography Policy John Gilmore, Co-Founder, Electronic Frontier Foundation II. A Government Perspective on Encryption Policy [Will anyone from the U.S. Government agree to speak??*] Two divergent views on the topic of encryption policy by freedom activist John Gilmore and by a government official, if one agrees to speak. Journalist Peter Wayner will moderate the event, which is free and open to the public. Note: If no one from the U.S. Government is willing to explain and discuss Government encryption policy, then the event will proceed with John Gilmore alone. 8-10:30 pm Tuesday, December 16, 1997 Lecture Hall III (in Administration Building) University of Maryland Baltimore County http://www.cs.umbc.edu/events/fall97/crypto.shtml The fifth employee of Sun Microsystems and a strong believer in the U.S. Constitution, John Gilmore is currently involved in litigation against several government agencies over matters of freedom of information, freedom of expression, and encryption policies. He will discuss the constitutionality of controlling encryption. Directions: Take Exit #47B off interstate I-95 and follow signs to UMBC. LH III is on the ground floor of the (tall) administration building, adjacent the visitor's parking lot, near the I-95 entrance to UMBC. Host: Dr. Alan T. Sherman Associate Professor, Computer Science sherman(a)cs.umbc.edu http://www.umbc.edu (410) 455-2666 This event is held in cooperation with the UMBC Intellectual Sports Council Honors College Phi Beta Kappa honors society CMSC Council of Majors IFSM Council of Majors * The following U.S. Government officials declined to speak on December 16: Barry Smith (Supervisory Special Agent, FBI) [Mr. Smith has agreed in principle to speak at UMBC in the spring on a law enforcement view of encryption policy; the evening of Dec 16 turned out to be a bad time for him.] William Reinsch (Undersecretary for Export Administration, BXA) Bob Litt (Attorney General's Office, DoJ) Scott Charney (Computer Crimes, DoJ) Bruce McConnell (Information Policy, OMB) Ron Lee (General Counsel, NSA) Dr. Clint Brooks (Director, Cryptographic Policy, NSA) Charlotte Knepper (Co-Chair, Inter-Agency Working Group on Encryption Policy) Chris McLean (Staffer for Senator Bob Kerry; helped draft legislation on encryption policy) I am still hopeful to find a second speaker by Tuesday evening.

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Re: Another of Gary Burnore's Lies Exposed
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

"Sam" <sam-001(a)dpinc.ml.org> wrote: > >:That's because there AREN'T any. Again, what are his motives in shutting > >:down something that he obviously considers to be a valuable asset? > > > > OBVIOUSLY? Why obviously? Obviously because he says so? > > Obviously, as in being very apparent, based upon his actions. "Obvious" because I'm the one using a remailer as a communications medium. To attempt to destroy my own means of communications would be ludicrous. Gary, on the other hand, has stated that he does NOT use remailers. He would thus have nothing to lose if any/all of them were closed down. It would be similarly ludicrous (though perhaps less so) to accuse Gary of annoying, flaming, and accusing people as part of a scheme to get Netcom shut down. Interestingly enough, Belinda Bryan, out of the blue, recently taunted a poster to netcom.general by saying, "Are you going to use anonymous remailers to attack Gary next?". It's almost as if the crew at DataBasix is INVITING "abuse" via remailers, and it has had an uncanny knack for appearing right on cue from them in the past, too. (Just like the so-called "spam bait" started showing up right after Gary's initial demand to Jeff that he turn over his logs to DataBasix.) Nor does it make sense that if I wanted to get remailers shut down, I'd limit myself to criticizing one little obnoxious clique on usenet, namely the DataBasix Gang. I doubt that anyone is likely to arouse a hue and cry against remailers from the masses by criticizing Gary, Belinda Bryan, and Billy McClatchie ("Wotan") anonymously. > > "Obviously because if he didn't find them valuable he wouldn't be using them"? > > So when he (and others) uses them to spam bait, is that finding them valuable? > > I do not recall any conclusive proof being posted, or even circumstantial > evidence, that he was responsible for spam baiting. Back when the alleged "spam baiting" was going on, Gary and Belinda were accusing "rfg" of doing it. For awhile, they accused Scott Dentice. Now they've gotten tired of accusing named individuals and have invented a mythical "anon asshole" who is supposedly responsible for just about everything imaginable. (I'm supposedly the latest re-incarnation of this evil, mean ogre.) Since Gary is adamant about there being one and only one "anon asshole" responsible for all of this, at least one of his accusations against people he's named in the past must have been a lie.

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Re: Another of Gary Burnore's Lies Exposed
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

gburnore(a)netcom.com (Gary L. Burnore) wrote: > X-No-Archive: yes > :> That must mean that I'm harassing you as well, right? > : > :That is exactly my objection to the tactics of Gary Burnore and the DataBasix > :gang. > > You've posted no evidence tactics were EVER used. Naturally, you expect > everyone to believe you and naturally, a few like sam will. I don't expect anybody to "believe me". That's why I have posted a URL to a post by Jeff Burchell in which he outlines your tactics, such as your demand that he turn over his logs to you, which would have had the effect of compromising the remailer's security and eroding confidence in it. Is that really what you wanted? For remailer users to distrust the remailer net and stop using it? You have still not explained why you wanted the remailer logs and what you intended to do with the names and addresses contained therein. > : He calls > :the kind of discussion that the three of us are engaging in "harassment", and > :has even, upon occasion, accused posts critical of him of constituting > :"libel". > > You have from time to time constituted libel. Would you care to prove that? Saying something that Gary Burnore or Belinda Bryan don't like is not "libel". To be "libel" a statement must be both DEFAMATORY as well as FALSE. While being reminded of your own actions several months ago might prove to be embarassing, it's not libel. What was really laughable was when your fellow DataBasix staff member Billy McClatchie accused another anonymous usenet poster of "slander"! He must have gone to the same law school as Belinda. <g> > That's not abuse. Your > harassment is only that, harassment. The ABUSE is UCE-Baiting. The fact that > some remailer operators are now taking measures to prevent UCE-Baiting is > evidence not only that the problem existed, but that something COULD be done > about it. That's not what Jeff's post said. It said that your pretext for demanding his user logs was an "unflattering post", not all this nonsense about "spam baiting" that you invented later. My "harassment"? You keep whining about my so-called "harassment", but you have yet to prove ANY of it. > :Actually, Gary may unwittingly prove to be a "friend" of remailers, yet. > > > Unwittingly? I was never NOT a friend of remailers. YOU on the otherhand may > simply be unwittingly trying to shut them down. I happen to believe you're > doing it on purpose, but maybe, just maybe, you have no clue what you're > doing. What would people have to be smoking (and inhaling) to believe that nonsense? Anyone who demands that a remailer operator violate the privacy of all of his users to placate one chronic whiner is no "friend" to remailers. Such "friends" they can do without. What do you think it would have done for the reputation of remailer security if Jeff had actually kept logs and had turned them over to individuals such as you and Belinda? Do you really think it would be more "pro remailer" to just pretend that your attempt to attempt to obtain sendmail logs from the Huge Cajones Remailer didn't occur? Of the two of us, I'm the one that admits to actually USING remailers. For me to try to shut them down would make no sense. > If you don't like being called the anon asshole, stop being an asshole. If you don't like being called anti-privacy, stop being anti-privacy.

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