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by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Looking for recommendations for any other mailing lists which allow one to stay current, on similar topics... Thanks, KTO

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A secure cryptosystem with a 40-bit key?
by Scott Brickner 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I've been reading a bit recently on constructed languages like Esperanto. I came across one that developed out of something called "LOGLAN" that was published in Scientific American in the early sixties. The current active project is called "Lojban". It has one really curious property that gave me an idea for an interesting symmetric-key cryptosystem. All "native" Lojban words are of entirely predictable forms. "Root" words are all five characters containing three consonants and two vowels in one of two patters (CCVCV and CVCCV). "Structure" words have four forms (VV, CV, CVV, and CV'V). "Combining forms" have two forms (CVC and CV'C). All other words are not "native" words (being either proper names or borrowed words). The upshot of this is that there is a fixed limit on the size of the Lojban dictionary of 249500 words (given 17 consonants and five vowels). The grammar of the language is *so* regularized that they are able to give a YACC description for it. A message written entirely using native Lojban words can be encrypted in a codebook fashion where the particular codebook to be used is a permutation of the dictionary represented by an 40-bit number (18 bits to permut the "root word" list, 10 bits for the "structure word" list, and 12 bits for the "combining form" list). This system has the interesting property that *any* plaintext with the same grammatical structure is a potential encryption of a given cyphertext. This is similar to some more usual cryptosystems which operate at the lexical level but which are designed to create this effect, but has the curious side effect that it is *very* easy to determine a false-key which makes the transmitted message say nearly anything you want, thus making mandatory key escrow systems irrelevant. When you want to send the message "attack at dawn", you devise a grammatically identical message, "party 'til you puke" (which is grammatically identical in Lojban), generate a random key, as well as the key representing a similar permutation, but with "attack" and "party" exchanged, "puke" and "morning" exchanged, and so forth. Transmit the message with the false key in the LEAF field (or report it to your government-approved escrow agency) and government eavesdroppers get the wrong message. Other eavesdroppers get a grammatically correct, but apparrently nonsensical message ("drink by brick"). There's still the problem of borrowed words and proper names, which remain problems in any codebook approach, but represents a small portion of the language, and the words which represent individual letters are part of the "structure words" category, and could be sent spelled-out. This works well in Lojban because it never changes word forms based on grammatical usage. Most natural language declensions and conjugations would make the encrypted message ungrammatical, and make it *much* more difficult to determine a false key for the LEAF field. The irregularity of word forms makes the dictionary much more complicated, too. Comments?

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Mark Twain Bank (was: Anonymity: A Modest Proposal)
by cman＠communities.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

First of all, those who have looked over the MT Bank stuff all know that they are clearly off to a very shaky start. I know of three guys that could have done a _much_ more professional job, almost a year ago. Unfortunately we were rejected by Chaum as insufficiently respectable. So now we get a service that is lame, confusing and expensive -- at least at the bank end. Chaum apparently continues to suffer from the belief that he needs a real bank to issue e-cash. Well, MT Bank is a real bank, but they have managed to violate at least one major Federal Reserve requirement (accounts in the ECash mint are clearly demand deposit accounts -- it would have been trivial to define them differently but somebody apparently wasn't thinking.) A technically-oriented NBFI could have done a much better job, without a lot of the "real bank" baggage, such as minimum deposits ($250, not $2,500, but still pretty steep for someone wanting to spend $.10 on something.) My understanding is that the _bank account_ is FDIC insured, but not the ECash. I could be wrong -- their materials are extremely confusing and hard to follow. As one of my co-workers said today, "It will be interesting to sit back and watch them take regulatory mortar fire." Indeed. I'm really hoping that they pull their act together -- I've already sent in my account application -- but things look really grim at the moment. There are certainly a lot of projects list members are working on that would be greatly enhanced by functioning, popular e-cash. I encourage everyone to give them lots of helpful feedback so that they can turn this around. On another note, I'm hoping that some of you will also bite the bullet, get accounts, and join me attempting to win valuable prizes in Sameer's "Hack Digicash" promotion. I'd rather see one of us find holes in this than see the whole thing melt into the ground. This extremely unprofessional, bungled launch does, I admit, make Mondex (with scads of beautiful marketing literature) look better all the time, although based on some conversations on Sunday, it appears that they may have _extremely serious_ architectural security problems. We'll see how things play out. Later, Doug > With the release of digicash I hope that we can soon make this >stuff for-pay and much of the spam problem will be fixed. (Not all of >it, of course.) > (I am rather hesitatnt to setup an account with Mark Twain >though.. $2,500 min balance and not FDIC insured?)

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Re: Anonymity: A Modest Proposal
by steveha＠cix.compulink.co.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In-Reply-To: <199510232235.SAA26441(a)opine.cs.umass.edu> I'm well advanced with a Windows Pre-Mailer for use with Nymservers. The project was inspired by a very serious emotional support group I'm in. It's LISTSERV based and doesn't mix well with anon.penet.fi. Nymservers would be excellent for such purposes if they were easy to use. Hence this project. I certainly don't want to create a Spammers tool. Right mow, I have put in space for managing up to 10 Nyms. I chose 10 because I thought it was more than anyone would want.... Steve

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(fwd) WebNet-96 CFP (San Francisco)
by rah＠shipwright.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text From: "assoc. advancement computers ed." <aace(a)poe.acc.virginia.edu> Subject: WebNet-96 CFP (San Francisco) To: AACE <aace(a)virginia.edu> Date: Mon, 23 Oct 95 21:00:21 EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- The complete WebNet-96 Call for Papers may be obtained by returning the information request form below or online from the AACE home page: http://aace.virginia.edu/aace/conf/calendar.html +*************************************************************+ * * * W e b N e t - 9 6 * * * * WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE WEB SOCIETY * * * * * * October 16-19, 1996 * San Francisco, CA USA * * * * * * FIRST CALL FOR PARTICIPATION * * * * Submission Deadline: March 1, 1996 * * * * Papers * Short Papers * Panels * Tutorials * * Workshops * Demonstrations * Posters * * * * Sponsored by * * The Web Society and AACE-- * * Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education * +*************************************************************+ ---------- INVITATION ---------- WebNet-96 -- the first World Conference of the Web Society is an international conference, organized by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). This annual conference serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the dissemination of information on the research, development, and applications on all topics related to the use, applications and societal and legal aspects of the Web in its broadest sense, i.e. encompassing all modern tools to peruse the Internet. This conference is a must for all who plan to use the Internet for informational, communicational or transactional applications or, who are currently running or planning to run servers on the Internet. We invite you to attend the WebNet-96 conference and submit proposals for papers, panels, tutorials, workshops, and demonstrations/posters. All proposals are reviewed for inclusion in the conference program. Major Topics ------------ Novel Applications of the Web Collaboration Using the Web The Web as Teaching Tool Electronic Publishing and the Web The Web as Marketing Tool Offering Services on the Web New Server Technologies for the Web New Navigational Tools for the Web Integration of Web Applications and Services Country Specific Developments The Web and Distance Education Net-based Multimedia/Hypermedia Systems Computer-Human Interface (CHI) Issues New Graphic Interfaces for the Web The Web and 3D Virtual Reality on the Web Intelligent Agents on the Web Directory Services on the Web Network Software for Large Data Bases Security and Privacy on the Web Charging Mechanisms for the Web Legal and Societal Aspects of the Web Courseware development for the Web Building Knowledge Bases on the Web Care and Feeding of Web Servers Educational Multimedia on the Web Browsers,Searchers and Other Tools Feedback Mechanisms on the Web Conference Background --------------------- WebNet is the annual conference of the Web Society that was founded in 1995 out of a concern that an organisation addressing the application aspects of the Web and representing a lobby for Web users independent of specific platforms and without the domination of commercial organisations was needed. The WebSociety complements existing other bodies such as the Internet Society and W3C. The former is, by definition, more concerned with providing global Internet services than anything else and the latter is specifically oriented towards one particular system WWW. The Web Society and hence WebNet takes a more general view, dealing with a variety of modern Internet tools and their integration including services such as Gopher, WWW, Hyper-G, WAIS, directory services, FTP, email and cooperative applications and novel approaches from Hot Java to VRML, from Web compatible teaching modules to 3D interfaces. For more details on the Web Society, see http://info.WebSoc.org O / O / -------------- x ---------- Cut Here ---------- x ------------------- o \ o \ ------------------- INFORMATION REQUEST ------------------- To receive future WebNet-96 announcements, please complete this form and return to the address below. Name: _________________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________ [A _______________________________________________________________ City/State/Code: ______________________________________________ Country: ______________________________________________________ E-Mail: _______________________________________________________ Please send me: __ Call for Participation __ Registration material __ Proceedings ordering information __ Brochure on the Web Society __ Brochure on Association for the Adv. of Computing in Ed. (AACE) __ Other information (please specify) _____________________________ Return to: WebNet-96/AACE P.O. Box 2966 Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA E-mail: AACE(a)virginia.edu; 804-973-3987; Fax: 804-978-7449 http://aace.virginia.edu/aace ===================================================================== --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) Shipwright Development Corporation, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA (617) 323-7923 "Reality is not optional." --Thomas Sowell >>>>Phree Phil: Email: zldf(a)clark.net http://www.netresponse.com/zldf <<<<<

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Verification of Registration
by verify＠cnet.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Your membership registration has been processed. To become a full member of c|net online, please return the text of this message (to verify(a)cnet.com) The following magic token in this message [cypherpunks::752400770] will be automatically processed to verify you. Please note: The number included in the token is *not* your password; the one to use on the site is the one you entered on the registration form. Please include the complete token appearing above, including the brackets. The best way to return it to us is to include this entire message in your reply. If you mailer does not allow you to do this, retype or cut and paste the magic token (including the square brackets) into a new message to verify(a)cnet.com. If you are having difficulty completing this process, please direct your questions to support(a)cnet.com. Once you are verified you will be able to take advantage of the full range of c|net online's services.

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Mark Twain Bank (was: Anonymity: A Modest Proposal) (fwd)
by sameer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> pretty steep for someone wanting to spend $.10 on something.) My > understanding is that the _bank account_ is FDIC insured, but not > the ECash. I could be wrong -- their materials are extremely confusing > and hard to follow. My understanding is that the accounts are "WorldCurrency Access" accounts-- which appear to be Money Market funds, which can be denominated in one of 25 currencies. (Ecash-linked accounts must be denominated in dollars.) Being a money market fund, a positive return is -not- guaranteed, and it is not FDIC insured. It is an "investment" account, not a "savings" account. (That is my understanding, which could very well be flawed.) Does anyone understand their non-merchant pricing structure? It had me very confused. Also, what is the difference between a merchant and a non-merchant. I saw nothing on the pages describing that. Suppose Community ConneXion wanted to accept ecash. Could we get a non-merchant account? > > As one of my co-workers said today, "It will be interesting to sit > back and watch them take regulatory mortar fire." Indeed. > > I'm really hoping that they pull their act together -- I've already > sent in my account application -- but things look really grim at > the moment. There are certainly a lot of projects list members are > working on that would be greatly enhanced by functioning, popular > e-cash. I encourage everyone to give them lots of helpful feedback > so that they can turn this around. > > On another note, I'm hoping that some of you will also bite the > bullet, get accounts, and join me attempting to win valuable > prizes in Sameer's "Hack Digicash" promotion. I'd rather see one > of us find holes in this than see the whole thing melt into the > ground. > > This extremely unprofessional, bungled launch does, I admit, make > Mondex (with scads of beautiful marketing literature) look better all > the time, although based on some conversations on Sunday, it appears > that they may have _extremely serious_ architectural security problems. > We'll see how things play out. > > Later, > > Doug > > > With the release of digicash I hope that we can soon make this > >stuff for-pay and much of the spam problem will be fixed. (Not all of > >it, of course.) > > (I am rather hesitatnt to setup an account with Mark Twain > >though.. $2,500 min balance and not FDIC insured?) > > -- sameer Voice: 510-601-9777 Community ConneXion FAX: 510-601-9734 The Internet Privacy Provider Dialin: 510-658-6376 http://www.c2.org (or login as "guest") sameer(a)c2.org

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Re: PA Remailer Concerns
by Greg Broiles 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Lee Tien writes; > > What is the cite for [the PA anti-remailer] statute? > Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, Title 18, Sections 910 and 3926. It's available on the web at http://moose.erie.net/~italo/rssb655.html - - the Westlaw version of the enacted bill is at "1995 PA S.B. 655 (SN)". -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMIxskH3YhjZY3fMNAQGkCgQArF13peddXG+zXThyf2uz7Syo7/sQpLtx 2f5UNaPE0VMZbk/rnAq2KbeBjqiOQ6waQ7awQXs1EFnBfAhIUONeI66fdX2OJY+0 X7Nw4hq06pWk/3HSl58Svd5EgZ1yjzylWn1tutAa5e3SPlKV5ABextzN2EnAB8Vd 8/cI687VeT0= =te/3 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: [reformatted] how secure can privasoft be?
by Rich Salz 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>their framework...it's the pluggable encryption that NSA has had such a hard >time with but seems to be in favor of now. What makes you say the NSA is in favor of pluggable crypto?

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Re: FidoNet Remailer
by Jim.Cannell＠f21.n216.z1.fidonet.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Thanks to all of you who have responded to my announcement of the FidoNet remailer. I appreciate the good words. So far, the remailer has handled everything that you have thrown at it. One remailed message bounced back to me because the FidoNet/internet gateway system could not find the addressed system. That one looks like a gateway problem. Please keep sending messages through it. Send grunged messages, improperly addressed messages -- anything you can think of to make it barf. I want it to be able to withstand the vicious attacks that I'm sure will come once the control phreaks in Fido find it exists. I will be gone the next two weeks, so the system may go down. Don't expect any response from me until then, either. I will answer any mail when I return. In the meantime, I'm off tomorrow morning to enjoy Vincent Cate's hospitality at the Anguilla cypherpunks meet. Jim - International SecureMail Host (ISMH) PGP key 1024/B7822B3D fingerprint = 0F F4 79 06 3B 33 99 D1 07 36 66 66 80 85 76 B3 Protect your right to privacy. Say no to GAK. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMIxwyCWTIMO3gis9AQFFqgP/eODPSOVdx3yMHnTRqWzSNkGVFTxf66rs 9JahzuOrM8lleL+RDCAJXYL/bhPcYKwcOWcgMrri/WZjIBsf/uS1WtDO+v1cOnv5 p5doPIslL/8dZlUJGMeWblNeCj4recHwX+dZQxLyFAPbhDtpF9AzEmsF4Ch0Q8b8 N3y02QVHOr0= =WYIx -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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