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The problem with 'Gilmore's RSAREF' site...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Here's the bottem line issue with Gilmore's RSAREF site. It isn't Gilmore's, it's EFF's. It isn't Gilmore's butt on the line as it would be for person who participate in his call to action. What's EFF going to do to protect those participants? Nothing. What's Gilmore personaly going to do to protect those participants? Nothing. He's asking others to put their butt in the line of fire while he sits safely in a rear area. In effect he's asking YOU to be cannon fodder for his rights. ____________________________________________________________________ If I can put in one word what has always infuriated me in any person, any group, any movement, or any nation, it is: bullying Howard Zinn The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: Infoworld and Denning's study (fwd)
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> From: pgut001(a)cs.auckland.ac.nz (Peter Gutmann) > (As a side-note, I find it amusing to read that the government policy relies > on people handing over their encryption keys to them. Quite apart from the > question of why anyone would trust the US government with their keys, there's > also the small problem that no criminal will ever do this - that's why they're > criminals after all. The only ones who'll ever get caught by this cunning > plan are you and I). Maybe the government will pass a law requiring criminals to all turn themselves in. Then we won't need LEA's. (And we will no longer have a government.)

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Re: Is Your Web Site A Secret?
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

owl(a)owlsnest.com wrote: > > Is your web site the best kept secret on the Internet? > > We'll promote it to 50 search engines and indexes for $85 > and complete the job in 2 business days. Satisfaction is > guaranteed! Thought the Feds found my AP Bot. Almost had a heart attack.

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Minnesota wins ruling.. in LV website lawsuit
by Steve Schear 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Minnesota wins ruling in LV gaming website lawsuit Assoc Press ST. PAUL, Minn.-Minnesota has the right to regulate Internet activity, the state Court of Appeals ruled in a widely watched l case involving a L as Vegas company's gambling site on the World Wide Web. The site's operator said Monday he would appeal. "For Minnesota to have jurisdiction over a site that has never taken a bet, that requires someone from Minnesota to go look at it, is ludicrous," said Kerry Rogers, president of Las Vegas-based Granite Gate Resorts Inc. The case stems from a push by ~Attorney General Hubert HumPhrey IlI to block Rogers' gambring operation from soliciting business~ from Minnesota residents on the Internet. The court's opinion, filed Friday, said Granite Gate demonstrated a clear intent to solicit business with Minnesota residents, including one successful solicitation. Rogers claimed a lack of jurisdiction because he had not mailed anything or advertised in Minnesota. "We've never taken a single bet in the history of the deal," Rogers said. "It was an idea. I'm being sued for an idea." The decision upholds a district judge's refusal to dismiss the case filed in 1995. The attorney general's office accused Rogers of false advertising, deceptive trade practices and consumer fraud. Now, Humphrey said he would seek a court order to stop the advertising and seek civil penalties of at least $25,000. Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor who specializes in constitutional, copyright and computer technology cases, said the decision is "a barrier to interstate commerce." "This is a very significant case because when you put up a web site in Nevada, you are essentially doing business in every one of the 50 states." He said the debate is over how to characterize the business: Does the transaction occur in the state of the site's origin, the state where the user is, or in cyberspace? --end PGP mail preferred, see http://www.pgp.com and http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html RSA PGP Fingerprint: FE 90 1A 95 9D EA 8D 61 81 2E CC A9 A4 4A FB A9 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Schear (N7ZEZ) | Internet: azur(a)netcom.com 7075 West Gowan Road | Voice: 1-702-658-2654 Suite 2148 | Fax: 1-702-658-2673 Las Vegas, NV 89129 | economic and crypto dissident --------------------------------------------------------------------- The push by western governments for financial transparency and banning unrestricted use of cryptography is blatent politicial tyranny. Free Cypherpunk Political Prisoner Jim Bell

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Gov. archives
by reply＠remail.ecafe.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

For anyone who hasn't already, check out http://csrc.nist.gov. There is a ton of groovy government info on such things as: Computer Systems Security and Privacy Board NIST pubs and letters Privacy forum archives RISK forum archives Software Unix security info Secure internet connections Crypto module validation Secure hash standard NBS data encryption Key escrow Computer security roles in NIST and the NSA Secure telephone terminals Too much other info to be listed!!! Also, you can access them by ftp@ csrc.nist.gov, or access their BBS. (cs-bbs.nist.gov) Have fun. Remember, Big Brother is watching!

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I told you so
by Tim May 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

To my non-surprise, even the House is getting in on the "ban crypto" bandwagon. This just in (excerpted, to limit copyright infringement...read the full article in your Yahoo or the like service) Wednesday September 10 2:52 PM EDT House Panel Votes To Tighten Encryption Controls By Aaron Pressman WASHINGTON - The House National Security Committee has approved a proposal to tighten already strict U.S. export controls on computer encoding technology, dealing a surprise setback to legislation that would have relaxed the limits. In a 45 to 1 vote, the committee adopted an amendment from Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) and Rep. Ron Dellums (D-Calif.) that would condition all exports of coding technology on the potential for harm to national security. Software companies, civil libertarians and Internet user groups were stunned by the amendment, which they said gutted the bill under consideration. Coding technology, or encryption, uses mathematical formulas to scramble information such as electronic mail or a credit card number sent over the Internet to prevent hackers from stealing the information. Encryption has become an increasingly critical means of securing online commerce and global communications. Under current policy, U.S. companies can only export encryption products offering a weak degree of protection, unless the products also allow the government to decode covertly any coded message. The Weldon-Dellums amendment requires the president to set "the maximum level of encryption strength that could be exported from the United States ... without harm to the national security of the United States." Products at or below the established level could be exported after a one-time review specified by the secretary of commerce with the concurrence of the secretary of defense. The president would be required to review the established level annually to determine if it should be changed without harming national security. Representatives of software companies were aghast after the vote. "This is a disaster," said Rebecca Gould, vice president for public policy at the Business Software Alliance. "This was a bold step backward," said Alan Davidson, staff counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a cyberspace civil liberties group. "It is worse than the status quo..... [rest elided] --Tim May There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- 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: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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FW: Survey Says Kids Feel 'Threatened' By Real Life
by Matthew James Gering 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Ack, I missed one. Revised: ---------- Subject: FW: Survey Says Kids Feel 'Threatened' By Real Life A survey has suggested that up to one and a half million British children may have been upset by something they have heard or read. The NOP poll shows that one in five of nearly 4,000 children between the ages of six and 16 interviewed for the survey between September and October this year were "uncomfortable" with the state of world affairs. In the UK, 7.2 million children are estimated to be exposed to the outside world - roughly 98% of all children between six and 16. Of those who have had negative experiences while being outside the home, the largest proportion - 40% - had seen something "rude". 'Not surprised' One in seven said they had encountered information that had "freightened them", while 25% heard ideas that "would get them into trouble". NOP Associate Director Rob Lawson described the numbers as a "significant minority". The children's charity NCH Action for Children suggested the survey strengthened calls for censorship to protect younger people. Charity spokesman John Carr said: "I regret to say I'm not surprised by this survey's findings, it's what we have been saying for some time. Censors "Parents need to know their children are learning in safety and security. At the moment, they have no way of knowing that at all." NCH Action for Children, which advises the government on children's issues, backs the introduction of censors - people who filter out ideas unsuitable for children. The survey, called Kids.net, was paid for by Microsoft, the NSA, the GOP, China, and MCI/Worldcom in syndicate. The Department of Trade and Industry's forthcoming review on Thought regulation is expected to be published before Christmas. [satire on news from news.bbs.co.uk]

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Re: Sometimes ya just gotta nuke em
by Jordan Hayes 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

#if !defined(perry) From tcmay(a)got.net Fri Feb 2 21:32:22 1996 A land invasion of Japan would've likely cost half a million American lives, and perhaps a million or more Japanese citizen lives, according to comprehensive studies I think are on the mark. Sorry to inject a little scholarly research on this topic, but I would urge those of you who are interested in how this mythology was created and disseminated to do an AltaVista serach for Alperovitz; he's potentially the leading scholar on this subject. I've read his book, and Tim probably ought to as well ... If you read nothing else on this topic, I urge you to check out an interview with him at http://www2.ari.net/home/bsabath/950711.html #endif /jordan

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Re:
by Joel O'Connor 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

They say education is power abd naybe they were correct. I agree with the fact that more people need to use encryption, the problem (as you stated) is that people do not understand how to use it, or even know it exists. Unfortunate for us, fortunate for big brother. While the only way we can counteract this debate is through empowerment, the question remains, how do you spread the word to up to a million people, enough to get their interest and keep it, enough to take the time to teach them how to use the tools. I work for an IT department and the users I train rank from intelligent to "where the hell did you come from?!" Teaching people who have no want or need is the hardest part, just ask Christians, they know what it's like. Our greatest problems lie within our inability to train and make use of what lies in front of us, if people don't see the need, then why would they? Another point, some people feel that if they have nothing to hide, then why use it. An acquaitance of mine has the same stubborn attitude, what steps do you take to thwart that? That excuse bothers me beyond belief, but it is a common thought that if you need to take the steps to hide something, then it must be wrong. God help us. . . ---Anonymous <nobody(a)replay.com> wrote: > > I think setting up mirror sites of crypto archives > across the world is a great idea. However, I also > think we need to focus on getting more and more > people to use crypto. I would guess that the vast > majority of computer users worldwide see no use > for encryption in their day-to-day lives -- and > even those that do don't also use it. > > If everybody in the world is using encryption, it > is going to be extremely difficult for "democratic" > governments to tell them they can't use it any more. > > Unfortunately, it's easy for governments to blame > crypto for terrorism and a host of other crimes, > simply because the average citizen doesn't understand > the concept of an "electronic envelope". > > > == Ogre bounces like sonar. . .Peace. Ogre _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

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NYT on NTT/RSA Chips
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Connecting Declan's three dots [...]: The New York Times, June 4, 1996, pp. D1, D4. Japanese Chips May Scramble U.S. Export Ban By John Markoff Washington, June 3 -- The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation has quietly begun selling a powerful data- scrambling chip set that is likely to undermine the Clinton Administration's efforts to restrict the export of the fundamental technology for protecting secrets and commerce in the information age. The existence of the two-chip set, which will have broad potential application for local computer networks, the Internet and telephone switching networks, was disclosed here in a speech today at a public policy workshop by the chief executive of RSA Data Security, a Silicon Valley-based company that has frequently dueled with the Administration over its export-control policies. The executive, Jim Bidzos, said that his company was negotiating with N.T.T., the giant telecommunications concern, to resell the chips in the United States. Mr. Bidzos also said that N.T.T. had already made sales in 15 countries, including in the United States to I.B.M. "N.T.T. has done a lot of research and development work on this product" he said. "There is clearly going to be a lot of demand for their chips." An executive at NTT America said that although there were no restrictions on the export of cryptographic hardware or software from Japan, his company was still anxious to obtain software from RSA Data to use in its chips. That software is still controlled by United States export law, he said. "We'd like to use this technology," said Junichi Kishigami, director of NTT America, which is based in Mountain View, Calif. "It is important to employ good international standards." Mr. Bidzos has been a vocal and longtime opponent of United States export laws that prohibit the sale, without a special license, of products that have powerful data-scrambling capabilities. The Government's policy is directed at limiting the spread of systems that could make it more difficult for American intelligence and law-enforcement agencies to conduct electronic surveillance. Such restrictions have been bitterly opposed in recent years by American computer and telecommunications companies; they have argued that the technology is already widely available internationally and that manufacturers and software developers in the United States are in danger of losing markets to foreign competitors. The N.T.T. technology would seem to support those contentions. "The United States export controls are at risk from Japanese competition," said Stewart Baker, a Washington lawyer who is the former general counsel for the National Security Agency. The N.T.T. device also underscores fundamental differences that exist between Japan and the United States on the issue of privacy in the information age. While United States officials have struggled to maintain their ability to conduct electronic surveillance, Article 21 of Japan's Constitution specifically forbids wiretapping. "It's very interesting that the Japanese regard for privacy in their Constitution translates into better cryptographic technology," said Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington public policy group and an organizer of today's workshop on data scrambling. Mr. Bidzos said that N.T.T.'s chips, which have been developed and manufactured by a subsidiary, N.T.T. Electronic Labs, were far more powerful than the so-called Clipper chip, a data-scrambling system that the Clinton Administration proposed for the nation's telephone system. While the Clipper system has a built-in "back door" intended to permit the F.B.I. to gain wiretap information, the N.T.T. system has no such surveillance feature, It also uses much stronger data-encryption algorithms than United States export laws permit. Those laws restrict the export of encryption systems which employ digital "keys" of more than 40 bits in length. The new N.T.T chips, however, are based on the United States data encryption standard, which has a 56-bit key, and actually triples the strength of that standard. Such a scrambling system is believed to be beyond the capability of the most powerful code-breaking system. In addition to the "private" key system for scrambling data, N.T.T. uses RSA Data's "public" key method to permit computer users who have not previously exchanged information to swap-private key information safely. The N.T.T. system uses the RSA Data key, which is 1,024 bits in length, also far stronger than the United States export regulations permit. "If there is anyone in the Government who hasn't already seen the writing on the wall, here it is," Mr. Bidzos said. He said that RSA Data had set up a small subsidiary in Japan last year and that he was now negotiating with N.T.T. to make a minority investment in that subsidiary in exchange for N.T.T.'s gaining access to the RSA Data public key technology. The N.T.T. technology is at least partly the result of an initiative by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry, which 18 months ago made a $120 million national commitment to develop products to facilitate electronic commerce. "This is a major business opportunity that the Japanese see clearly," said Deborah Hurley, an official at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Paris-based international group. RSA Data was acquired in April by Security Dynamics Technologies Inc., a computer security company based in Cambridge, Mass., in a stock deal valued at $250 million. Mr. Bidzos said that the two companies had continued to operate relatively independently. [End]

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