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Re: MIT TOC SEMINAR--ADI SHAMIR--MONDAY--MAY 16--4:15pm
by Peter Murphy 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Imvery curious as to how humans can directly decode encrypted > pictures. Do they stare at it for 10 minutes and go "ah, there > it is". > Paul E. Baclace > peb(a)netcom.com Well... maybe if it was one of those stereographic pictures, it would be a little bit easier. You just have to get your eyes in focus (and that's a bit hard for some people). Pling! You suddenly discover the hidden message, like "HITLER IS ALIVE AND LIVING IN ARGENTINA!" or some other related message. It's in 3-D, so the letters appear to be 5 mm tall! (Reminds me of when Jaws III was out at the cinema. :-)) Of course, you might have to print it out first. Sorry, just me being silly. ======================================================= | Peter Murphy. <pkm(a)maths.uq.oz.au>. Department of | | Mathematics - University of Queensland, Australia. | ------------------------------------------------------- | "What will you do? What will you do? When a hundred | | thousand Morriseys come rushing over the hill?" | | - Mr. Floppy. | =======================================================

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Re: PGP 2.5 available from Electronic Frontier Foundation ftp site
by Tommy the Tourist 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- From: Stanton McCandlish <mech(a)eff.org> Date: Wed, 11 May 1994 16:46:49 -0400 (EDT) Despite the patent & licensing issues being resolved, PGP is still not legally exportable from the United States (except to Canada), due to ITAR export restrictions which categorize cryptographic materials as weapons of war. Thus, EFF can only make PGP and other crypto tools and source code available to US and Canadian nationals currently residing in the US or Canada and connecting to EFF's site from a US or Canadian site. I was under the impression that NAFTA is the reason that Canada is included. Am I misinformed? If NAFTA is the reason, isn't Mexico equivalent to Canada in this context? Could someone clarify this aspect of the export situation, or perhaps point me at a document that explains the situation? Zeke -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLdJIuBVg/9j67wWxAQEebAP/flhqUugfCUJ9at1nI8kCbkXiF10NYfcE s+1+ZFNnvz16gwI/O7nEfrIHKQl6mqmqT8T4e2JCsMiw7uM7L3vYIKHJvRek45gk /6JoUE7sjVb8nyvyct9sKeExAGqKFLxAAsOZfYno88qOMAE4nc3QRxMoqLb3XDbI EbxPLyo8T/s= =RqOv -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ------------ To respond to the sender of this message, send mail to remailer(a)soda.berkeley.edu, starting your message with the following 7 lines: :: Response-Key: ideaclipper ====Encrypted-Sender-Begin==== MI@```$YS^P;+]AB?X9TW6\8WR:>P&2'9,7.YM5[D--('+[6(0O]013@CTWLQ FKWZ$M2G9>G1>/=5O1[0U.E)J&63=DHF($P$KX#I8T]5&9!GFQ]@` ====Encrypted-Sender-End====

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Re: low-quality posts
by Cyber City 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Derek Upham <upham(a)cs.ubc.ca> wrote: > There are two ways to filter for content: filter at the newsgroup > source via moderators, or filter at the newsgroup destinations via > killfiles. Moderating does seem to get rid of most of the cruft, but > the moderators are required to read every post that comes through, > and, worse, make judgements with some degree of impartiality (which is > not always possible). There's a simpler solution. Using the majordomo hack I posted earlier, mail from known abusers would be bounced to the moderator for his approval or rejection. This would be a small volume, which should be within the capabilities of one moderator. It's important to note that even abusive posters have their moments of lucidity. For example, one or two of Detwelier's posts were actually worth reading. So a wholesale and automatic filtering would be wrong. As for the marginal stuff, it should be passed for redistribution, and the end-users should be educated on means to do their own filtering. For example, here's a simple scheme to employ the filter distributed with ELM: .forward file: "|/path/to/filter -vo $HOME/.elm/filter-errors" .elm/filter-rules file: if (from = "lassie") then save "~/mail/nal" if (to contains "cypherpunks") then save "~/mail/Cypher" -- Alex Brock

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Lunch Tuesday at Atlanta COMDEX 5/24/94
by mlshew＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Version 0.1--This will change in case of conflicts, etc. I'll post V1.0 on Wednesday 5/18/94. (This is version 0.1 of this file. For the most recent version, try the following: o finger mlshew(a)netcom.com, to read my .plan. (This file.) o get "plan" by ftp in netcom.com:/pub/mlshew This was originally sent to the cypherpunks and extropians lists.) If you would like to meet informally with other readers of these lists during next week's COMDEX, I would suggest meeting Tuesday (5/24/94) at noon, directly above the food court in CNN Center--------->+ | | Map: (Badly out of scale and oversimplified to make sense | for walkers but not drivers) | | | | | | | -------------------+ +---------------------------------|-------------- Marietta Street | -------------------+ +---------------------------------|-------------- | | | +----------------+ | | +----------+ +-------V-----------+ | World Congress | | | | The Omni | | CNN Center | | Center (COMDEX)| | | +----------+ | (Food Court here) | | Walk this way like the rest of the mobs of people | +----------------+ | | +-------------------+ | Inter- | +--------------------+ |national| | MARTA Rail Station| | Blvd. | | (The local subway) | | | +--------------------+ | | | | Lots of very expensive parking here for those | | who want to drive directly to COMDEX in the | | middle of incredible traffic and raise their More Parking | | blood pressure instead of taking a shuttle from | | their hotel, or parking at a free-parking MARTA | | lot and taking MARTA in, as is the sensible | | way to go about it. (For those who haven't been to an Atlanta COMDEX before, the CNN food court is a place where almost every COMDEX attendee is likely to eat at least once during the week. If you happen to forget, loose, or never receive the ASCII map originally above this paragraph, any random person you might ask for directions can probably point you in the direction of the "CNN Center food court.") The court is in the center of the floor you will (likely) come in on. So don't go getting confused when you see smaller sets of restaurants and tables and chairs as you enter. That's not the central court. You won't miss it, just keep going in. (Of course, you won't have much choice in the matter: There will be a mob of hungry Comdex attendies behind you, and stopping in their path is simply not a viable option.) Go to the food court, and look up. You will see a single pedestrian walkway one floor above you. That is where we'll all be. Take yourself and your food up one floor, and enjoy the pleasant conversation. (Note that up on the walkway there's no place to put your food, but that's okay, because there's no place down in the food court either--it's _really_ crowded. Down there there's hardly a place to stand, much less sit, but go up one floor, and it's a virtual dessert.) I'd like to make a publicly available list that includes the following. (To be appended to this file.) o Persons coming to Spring Comdex, interested in attending a meeting such as this, and wishing to let that and related information be known to the world. o Whether they can make the noon Tuesday meeting. o Where they heard this announcement. o Good/bad days and times. Be specific but brief. Please include this in any event, so if 3 people say only Wednesday, and 7 don't bother to mention that Wednesday is impossible for them, that I don't switch to Wednesday. No guarantees of course. o Personal interests. (Explained below) o Misc. other information they want known to the world. If you would like to enter or modify yourself in such a database, modify and mail a form such as one at the end of this file to mlshew(a)netcom.com, with this subject line or "comdex meeting info". Feel free to also add in: o Any job openings you know about. (Esp. EE/DSP/Programming) :-) If you would like to tell me and everyone to expect one more person, just mail the form with a number "1" in the "Name" column, so you needn't broadcast your name. If you'd like to tell no one anything and just show up, that's okay too. I'll append the information (edited!) to the end of this file. As to why I included a field about interests, it will allow everyone to mull over everyone else's idea of what would be nice to talk about, the theory being that it might help conversation naturally bend towards topics all are interested in. As to the other information, it's also to help other people who might want to get together to do so if they don't want to go to this meeting. (Or to remember remember to bring that book they borrowed from another person three years ago.) It is not a "vote" on what time the get-together will be. Appended are two sample forms (since this is the first version: V0.1). Delete everything else, put in your own info, and mail it back to me. See you soon! Mark Shewmaker mlshew(a)netcom.com Noon Tue. OK? Name Where heard Can Schedule at Interests ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Y Mark Shewmaker extropians Flexible all days Schelling points of mlshew(a)netcom.com cypherpunks lunch meetings near conventions Thinks this is a great place to meet, and a nice place to watch everyone come and go. Need an employee? Apply now before prices go up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- N One fake anonymous never tell MWF 10-2 Mental Cryptography person just as an example I just kind of feel silly telling everyone that I'm going to be there; I look forward to meeting you there, though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Hasta la vista, baby!
by GERSTEIN＠SCSUD.CTSTATEU.EDU 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Well Cypherpunkers, As the semester comes to an end, I have to sign off the list to prevent the unwanted buildup of "list-mail-itis". Therefore, I must say good-bye, for now. I will sign off the list in a day or so, but until then, I have a (hopefully) simple question for you.... Does anyone know how to make a kill file for VAX/VMS? I know it's not really pertinent to this topic, but I know that all of you guys (and gals) are pretty experienced, so I hope that someone knows. Let me know via private mail if you can help me out. Adam Gerstein GERSTEIN(a)SCSU.CTSTATEU.EDU -=-=-=- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3 iQBVAgUBLc0c/AT73QJlKKVlAQGV5QIAmusRN0C58o/ScjA1/V7Mq77XurUi3Ktk XZfUXkk6yLJtxtKj5kIddxMiJISfRLbNFvKkAv7LFbYDAdI0RYpnxg== =vEVx -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Mykotronx
by Tommy the Tourist 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The latest Mykotronix dirt, pulled off of my source just last week. Scattered information, but perhaps this can be assembled with the other information to create a better profile. !(myko) ------------- TELEDYNE SYSTEMS COMPANY MYKOTRONX METROLOGY DEPT. 357 VANNESS WAY TORRANCE, CA FIELD SERVICES METROLOGY CALIBRATION SERVICE SPER PROPOSAL MET $2,000.00 $2,000.00 5/2/93 1 LOT $2,000.00 PLEASE MAKE RECALL PERIOD ONE (1) YEAR FOR EACH ITEM UNLESS ADVISED BY MYKOTRONX, INC. ATTN: DEAN BURNGART (881)886-2211/(881)717-6881 William H. Doy 1eTRWR2 20041 Space Park Redondo Beach, CA 90278 Bobby Daniels Caremella Mestriannatot Tim Hauersperger Bob Todd Rick Oberbbndorf Roger Brouwer Chris Curren Kathleen Fairley Rod Fujikawa Roger Brouwer Mike Furusawa Bill Greenfield Gerald Krause Russell Matsui Margaret McNeil Chris Curren Joe Heindl Jesse Mirilesie Landi Riley Rod Fujikawa Glenn Higuchi Scott Mobdderly Rick Oberndorf Wendy Goble Jason Moku Sam Morrissette Roy Usui Paul Smith Bob Todd Mr. Ed Martin AEROJET 1100 W Hollyvale Street Azusa, CA 91702 8403 Destruct Security Labels $106.78 4-5-93 One Hundred six dollars and 78/100*** Modern Data 4-5-93 Richard Takahashi Rob Ertgray GERALD KRAUSE JAN DOLPHIN 408-432-8180 SPY R US 2280 ZANKER ROAD, SUITE 207 SAN JOSE, CA 94135 6203 LITRONICK INDUSTRIES 2950 Redhill Ave. Costa Mesa, CA 92626 NCJ03078 FD70322040601 Myk-5 Ground Unit Serial Number s146 and l652EA $64,910 $93,820 10110111101 Acceptance Test Procedure/Test Report Report 2EA --J.Liaci AFCSC/LMJYP 4-8-93 BOB TO DDJ.LIACI210977-2356AFCSC/LMJYP Kelly AFB 250 Hall Blvd, Suite 112 San Antonio, TX 78243-7061 RJAMESLICCACIAFCSC/LMJYP Kelly AFB 250 Hall Blvd, Suite 112 San Antonio, TX MR JOHN WIMPY AFCSC/LMMLC Building 2028, Room 208 San Antonio, TX 78243-5000 NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY Elkridge Landing Road Linthicum, MD 21090-2902 Checkfree Corporation Problem Resolution Department P.O. box 987 Columbus, OH 43216-0897 RALPH O'CONNELL 1401 Woodbridge Road Baltimore, MD 21228 3939 S. Figureora Street Los Angeles, CA 90037 Ms. Hazel M. Smith MS:W3-7534 Harris Corporation GISD P.O. Box 98000 Melbourne, FL 32902 Mr. Vito DiGigilio VLSI Technology, Inc. 634 Balboa Blvd., Suite 100 Encino, CA 91316 R. Takahashi Mykotronx, Inc. 357 VanNess Way uite 200 Torrance, CA 90501 Contract Administrator 210977-2821 HQAFIC/LECCS 306 Wakkanai St., Suite 1 San Antonio, TX 78243 Defense Investigative Service Industrial Security Field Office(S53LB) Attention: Barry W. Hash 3605 Long Beach Blvd., Suite 405 Long Beach, CA 90807-4013 R. Todd Lee George 408 629-2880 938 Foothill Drive San Francisco CA 95123 Franchise Tax Board P.0.Box 942840 Sacramento, CA 94240-000 John C. Droge 414 Sixth Street Hermosa Beach, CA 902540 Mr. Tom Black GLANTZ & BLACK 25043 Narbonne Avenue Lomita CA 90717 Maryland Procurement Office 7318 Parkway Drive South Hanover, MD 21076 ---- VLSI Technologies, Inc. 6345 Balboa Blvd. Bldg #1 Suite 100 Encino, CA 91316 Attn: Dr. Freeman PE4-18-93 PD4-12-93 $75,000.00 4-14-93 Seventy-five thousand dollars and no/100 **** Mykotronx, Inc. Payroll Account #731081567 ---- Mr. Tom Black Glantz & Black 25043 Narbonne Avenue Lomita, Ca 90717 14 April 1993 Dear Tom, Per your request attached has is a list of our sales from 1-1-93 through 3-13-93. I've marked the items as Government or Non-government. If you have any questions or need additional information, please call me on (310)533-8100. Sincerely, Patti ---- Maryland Procurement Office Attn: N22144(CEB)(MDA 904-92-G-0354/J.0.5001) 9800 Savage Road Fort George G. Meade, MD 20755-6000 Cryptographic Support Center Logistics Management Branch 250 Hall Blvd., Ste 311 San Antonio, TX 78243-0760 ------------ To respond to the sender of this message, send mail to remailer(a)soda.berkeley.edu, starting your message with the following 8 lines: :: Response-Key: ideaclipper ====Encrypted-Sender-Begin==== MI@```%AS^P;+]AB?X9TW6\8WR:*P&2&#E66'?22E^>4!79;]2Q5!'U$<<JHX M`"[QYE??E1ASFX#P?M@\HN3EX*PWZYQ!,?+42=@Y22SIOI/F+;(_!LI82<S^ #V?,2 ====Encrypted-Sender-End====

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message brokering
by Matt Thomlinson 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

nobody says: Is there someone out there who would like to act as a broker (for a small fee, natch), so that I can maintain rigorous anonymity while trading? This seems like a good way to earn some ghostmarks! I'm sure *someone* will take you up on this offer. Alternatively, you could perhaps do business through the penet remailer...? mt Matt Thomlinson University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. phone: (206) 548-9804 Check my home page -- ftp://ftp.u.washington.edu/public/phantom/home.html PGP 2.2 key available via email, or finger phantom(a)hardy.u.washington.edu

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More FOIA docs online at EFF
by Stanton McCandlish 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

A few new arrivals at ftp.eff.org that may be of immediate interest. The first is a recent bill, scheduled for markup very soon. EFF urges you to ask your Senators to co-sponsor and support this bill. Those following EFF Boardmember John Gilmore's FOIA battle with NSA, the Justice Dept. and other recalcitrant agencies will know why this is so important. For those that don't, the issue in a nutshell is that the original FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) did not adquately cover records that are not in hardcopy format, such as computer files; it granted overly-broad excuses to not release documents, and provided for few penalties for violating FOIA. As a result, secretive agencies have been breaking the law with impunity, vastly exceeding the mandated times in which the law requires them to respond to FOIA requests from citizens, and have been using technicalities, vague passages, and filmy excuses to withold important information that belongs to the American people. This new bill, supported by EFF, aims to correct these problems, and ensure that FOIA works the way it should. The other file is adequately described by it's entry from our /pub/README.changes file, excerpted below. 05/12/94 - added important recent bill supported by EFF: Electronic Freedom of Information Improvement Act (S1782), sponsored by Sens. Leahy & Brown. Please ask your Senators to co-sponsor this bill to "fix the bugs" in FOIA, and prevent agencies from illegally delaying and refusing to release information to the public, and also mandate procedures for dealing with electronic information as well as hardcopy: /pub/EFF/Issues/Activism/FOIA/ e-foia.bill - added 10/4/93 Clinton & Reno memos to heads of Depts. and agencies on FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) issues: /pub/EFF/Issues/Activism/FOIA/foia_clinton_reno_93.memos - Clinton urges agencies to keep pace with their FOIA obligations, saying "I therefore call upon all Federal departments and agencies to renew their commitment to the Freedom of Information Act, to its underlying principles of government openness, and to its sound administration." Something that also may be of interest: - added new E-Mail Policy in Federal Government: Report of the Electronic Mail Task Force Prepared for the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Apr. 1, 1994 - /pub/EFF/Policy/Govt_online/ federal_email_policy_omb_report -- Stanton McCandlish * mech(a)eff.org * Electronic Frontier Found. OnlineActivist "In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps. When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it." - Philip Elmer-Dewitt, "Who Should Keep the Keys", TIME, Mar. 14 1994

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Re: San Jose Mercury News Washington News in Brief Blurb
by collsc＠snowbird.aud.alcatel.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > Thursday May 12, 1994 > > ELECTRONIC SNOOPING TAKES SHARP UPTURN > > Wiretaps and electronic monitoring by federal agents, > primarily against suspected drug traffickers, grew by a > third during the first year of the Clinton administration, > the largest increase in a decade. > [N722] > This from the same Administration which rationalizes its attempts to emasculate cryptography by citing the need for and widespread use of such methods. Coincidence? You decide. +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Scott Collins Alcatel Network Systems| |collsc(a)aud.alcatel.com Richardson, Texas| | Even if my employers agreed with this, they would never admit it. | | GCS d? -p+ c++@ l u e- m* s+/ n- h+ f? g-(+++) w+@ t-- r- y? | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Postal Service and IRS mull national identity cards (fwd)
by harry＠starbase.sj.unisys.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I know you are interested in electronic privacy issues, so I thought you would like to see the following article. Yikes! -- Harry Subject: Postal Service and IRS mull national identity cards Forwarded-by: bostic(a)vangogh.CS.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic) Forwarded-by: kole(a)hydra.convex.com (John P. Kole) Forwarded-by: cavasin(a)bach.convex.com (Vince Cavasin) >From Digital Media, May 9, 1994. EVER FEEL LIKE YOU'RE BEING WATCHED? YOU WILL.... Postal Service and IRS mull national identity cards, Clinton to sign orders Digital Media has learned that the Clinton administration is debating not if, but how, to create a card that every American will need in order to interact with any federal government agency. Combined with two potential executive orders and the Postal Service's designs on putting its stamp on personal and business electronic transactions, the card could open a window on every nuance of American personal and business life. The wrangling among the administration, the U.S. Postal Service, the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Defense, emerged into the public eye at this April's CardTech/SecureTech Conference. The gathering of security experts was convened to discuss applications for smart card and PCMCIA memory card technologies in business and government. The Postal Service, at the conference presented a proposal for a "general purpose U.S. services smartcard," which individuals and companies would use to authenticate their identities when sending and receiving electronic mail, transferring funds and interacting with government agencies, such as the I.R.S., Veterans Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services. President Clinton is also considering signing two executive orders that would greatly expand the government's access to personal records, including an order that would allow the I.R.S. to monitor individual bank accounts and automatically collect taxes based on the results, said sources close to the White House. The collection service will be presented as a convenient way to avoid filling out a tax return. The White House did not respond to requests for comments about this report. The Post Office: We deliver for you. The Postal Service's U.S. Card would be designed to use either smart cards (plastic cards with an embedded microprocessor carrying a unique number that can be read by a electromagnetic scanner and linked to computerized records stored on a network) or PCMCIA cards, which can contain megabytes of personal information. (You've probably seen this type card in AT&T's "You Will" ad campaign, which shows a doctor inserting a woman's card in a reader in order to access a recording of a sonogram). The Postal Service said it is considering AT&T and other companies' smart card technologies. In a slide presentation at the conference, Postal representative Chuck Chamberlain outlined how an individual's U.S. Card would be automatically connected with the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Treasury, the I.R.S., the banking system, and a central database of digital signatures for use in authenticating electronic mail and transactions. The U.S. Card is only a proposal, Chamberlain insists. Yet the Postal Service is prepared to put more than a hundred million of the cards in citizens' pockets within months of administration approval, he said. "We've been trying to convince people [in the different agencies] to do just one card, otherwise, we're going to end up with two or three cards," said Chamberlain. He said in addition to the healthcare card proposed by President Clinton last year, various government agencies are forwarding plans for a personal records card and a transactions (or "e-purse") card. Chamberlain said the I.R.S in particular is pursuing plans for an identity card for taxpayers. Don't leave home without it. Though he did not name the U.S. Card at the time, Postmaster General Marvin Runyon suggested that the Postal Service offer electronic mail certification services during testimony before the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee in March. The proposal is clearly intended as a way to sustain the Postal Service's national role in the information age, since it would give the agency a role in virtually every legally-binding electronic transaction made by U.S. citizens. For instance: % When sending or receiving electronic mail, U.S. Card users would be able to check the authenticity of a digital signature to screen out impostors. % Banking transactions (notably credit card purchases) that depend on authentication of the participants identities and an audit trail, would be registered in Postal Service systems. % Veterans, or for that matter college students and welfare recipients, could check their federal benefits using the identification data on their U.S. Cards. % Visitors to an emergency room would have instant access to medical records at other hospitals, as well as their health insurance information. These examples may seem benign separately, but collectively they paint a picture of a citizen's or business's existence that could be meddlesome at best and downright totalitarian at worst. Will buying a book at a gay bookstore with a credit card that authenticates the transaction through the Postal Service open a Naval officer up to court martial? If you have lunch with a business associate on a Saturday at a family restaurant, will the IRS rule the expense non-deductible before you can even claim it? "There won't be anything you do in business that won't be collected and analyzed by the government," said William Murray, an information system security consultant to Deloitte and Touche who saw Chamberlain's presentation. "This [National Information Infrastructure] is a better surveillance mechanism than Orwell or the government could have imagined. This goddamned thing is so pervasive and the propensity to connect to it is so great that it's unstoppable." Deep Roots; Deep Pockets; Long History. Chamberlain said the Postal Service has been working for "a couple years" on the information system to back up the U.S. Card. He said the project was initiated by the Department of Defense, which wanted a civilian agency to create a national electronic communications certification authority that could be connected to its Defense Messaging System. Chamberlain said the Postal Service has also consulted with the National Security Agency, proponents of the Clipper encryption chip which hides the contents of messages from all but government agencies, like law enforcement. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames Research Laboratories in Mountain View, Calif. carried out the research and development work for Clipper. "We're designing a national framework for supporting business-quality authentication," said John Yin, the engineer heading up the U.S. Card- related research for NASA Ames' advanced networking applications group. "This is not specifically with just the Postal Service. We'll be offering services to other agencies and to third-party commercial companies that want to build other services on the card." For example, VISA or American Express could link their credit services to the U.S. Card. Yin, who works on Defense Messaging Systems applications, said his group has collaborated with "elements of Department of Defense" for the past year, but would not confirm the participation of the National Security Agency, a Department of Defense agency. The NSA is specifically prohibited from creating public encryption systems by the Computer Security Act of 1987. Yin also would not comment on the budget for the project, which other sources said was quite large and has spanned more than two years. A false sense of security? According to Yin, the cards would allow individuals or businesses to choose any encryption technology. "It's not our approach to say, 'Here's the standard, take it our leave it,'" he said. "We're not trying to create a monopoly, rather it's an infrastructure for interoperability on which a whole variety of services can be built." Yet, NASA, which is a participant in the CommerceNet electric marketplace consortium will "suggest" to its partners that they adopt the U.S. Card certification infrastructure, he said. The reality is that government agencies' buying power usually drives the market to adopt a particular technology -- not unlike the way the Texas Board of Education, the largest single purchaser of textbooks in the U.S., sets the standard for the content of American classroom curricula. Since, the administration has already mandated use of Clipper and its data-oriented sibling, the Tesserae chip, in federal systems it's fairly certain that the law enforcement-endorsed chips will find their way into most, if not all, U.S. Cards. Even in the unlikely event that one government agency should weather the pressure and pass on the Clipper chip, it's still possible to trace the source, destination, duration and time of transactions conducted between Clippered and non-Clippered devices. "Most of this shift [in privacy policy] is apparently being done by executive order at the initiative of bureaucracy, and without any Congressional oversight or Congressional concurrence, " Murray said. "They are not likely to fail. You know, Orwell said that bureaucrats, simply doing what bureaucrats do, without motivation or intent, will use technology to enslave the people." EDITOR'S NOTE: Digital Media has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Clinton and Bush Administration, Postal Service, NSA, Department of Defense, NASA, I.R.S. and other documents related to the creation of the U.S. Card proposal. -- Mitch Ratcliffe Copyright 1994 by Mitch Ratcliffe and Seybold Publications. Digital Media: A Seybold Report 444 De Haro St., Ste. 128 San Francisco, Calif. 94107 415.575.3775 dmedia(a)netcom.com Mitch Ratcliffe Editor in Chief 415.575.3775 office 206.581.1892 home godsdog(a)netcom.com

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