- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Cypherbusts, etc.
by Alan E. Mason 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I just heard about the grand jury BS going down around PGP, etc, via the EFF forum on the Well and would like to do whatever I can to support the defense effort (when it comes) etc. I am a writer with some small access to local media and a big interest in the outcome of this test of our 1st amendment rights. I would also like to get on your "mailing list" if you have one. Mail should be sent to vznquest(a)netcom.com Thanks, and keep up the good work! Alan Mason

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re: more deranged lunatic ravings ...
by Tiffany Lee Brown 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The recent flood of rantmail between Perry Metzger, E. Carp, etc., started as an interesting and relevant argument but has degenerated to the point of annoyance. The former suggested calming down and writing some code - perhaps he could go off and do just that, rather than wasting his time (and ours) trying to keep folx from encouraging others to engage in personal investigation of an issue which concerns them. If you think writing code's the only thing to do - go do it. If you think getting people riled up about the situation is important - go do it. Yammering at each other ain't gonna make the world a safer and more private place. -magdalen

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Re: Definition of "Zero Knowledge"
by doug＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: khijol!erc(a)apple.com (Ed Carp) >Thanks for the definition (but I knew that, anyway). Sorru I wasn't clear - >what I was looking for was examples of how zero-knowledge proof techniques >could make source code impenetrable. An arbitrary algorithm can be translated into a zero proof theory model that is intractable to functionally analyze. Its operations on inputs and outputs can take place within the realm of the intractable model, with the inputs and outputs being transformed from the encoding of the outside realm into an encoding useful to the realm of the model. The inputs and outputs are the queries and answers of zero proof theory. With such a thing, knowing every detail of the registers and instructions being executed at all times still wouldn't tell you what you really wanted to know. I'm unsure whether this has been published, let alone implemented; I just thought it was an obvious corollary back when ZPT itself was first published. It might have been discussed in the literature at the time, but if so, I've forgotten. I'm also not claiming this is necessarily a useful approach in practice, because the obvious ways of implementing such a thing would be more than a little slow. I suspect that it could be done efficiently with a little algorithmic cleverness, but I don't have evidence of that this instant. I'm currently designing something with very much the same flavor, but with somewhat different goals, and computational expense of the operators in the model is precisely the difficulty with that, too, so far. Doug -- Doug Merritt doug(a)netcom.com Professional Wild-eyed Visionary Member, Crusaders for a Better Tomorrow Unicode Novis Cypherpunks Gutenberg Wavelets Conlang Logli Alife HC_III Computational linguistics Fundamental physics Cogsci SF GA VR CASE TLAs

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Re: reporter seeking interview subjects
by remailer＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 11:35 AM 9/19/93 -0400, Stanton McCandlish wrote: >> > looking for interesting "case studies" that I can use to horrify >> > my listeners out of their complacency. My most immediate need is >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> >> Just what I love from the media, using sensationalism to convey a >> preconceived idea instead of looking at the facts and reporting it. >> Does it matter that he is reporting on our side and not the other >> side? > >Why of course it does. No wishing and praying will make the media suddely >become pure and holy. This is a propaganda war, and there's no reason >for both sides not to get in on the act. Otherwise, it's like fighting >guns with slingshots. No horror, no story. Who wants to hear a story about how they're perfectly safe letting the world look at their medical history? If that was true, no one would want to hear about it on the radio.

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Re: Does this seem illegal to you?
by George A. Gleason 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Sprint TeleMap: You've been after this woman who gives you the ultimate hard-on, but she won't play. Every night you write her another letter, pouring out your heart, begging for her hand, telling her all the lucious things you'll do with her once she comes to her senses and lets you into her life. Lately you've been getting your letters back,"return to sender, no such addressee" in purple Post Office ink. But no matter, you call her number, and get the recording with her new number. You've been getting angrier lately, as she's changed her number three times now. If only she would let you into her life, you'd make wonderful music together by the moonlight- but No!, she just won't play. The anger has been building, and lately you've been taking to leaving more and more desperate messages on her answering machine. She's really getting to you now, you want to teach her a lesson, a lesson she'll never forget. You've been trying to follow her car home from work, but for some reason she's not driving the same car or taking the same route; she might even have changed jobs. Boy oh boy, you'll teach *her* a lesson, teach *her* to say No to you! You feel inside your jacket, where your .38 is carefully tucked. Yeah, teach her a lesson for sure! And lo, a Sprint payphone! You dial the 1-800 number and ask for directions... give them her last known phone number... the seconds tick by, your head whirling with the things you're going to tell her and make her plead with you.... a second or two later, the operator comes back on the line. Go right at Harbor... left at Main... two blocks down to Third, second house on the left. Aha, there we go. Thank you, operator. A warm bulge rises in your pants as you contemplate your next move. Boy are you going to teach her a lesson! This special moment brought to you by Sprint TeleMap. ,

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Re: Definition of "Zero Knowledge"
by doug＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

bill(a)twwells.com (T. William Wells) said: >Got a good reference for ZPT? Something that the mathematically >inclined, who wants just the facts, all the facts, and none of >the BS that passes for explanations and which usually obscures >more than it clarifies? In the current context, the best reference that I know of is to the methodology of Goedel's Theorem rather than to ZPT; it has each of the properties that I mentioned except for the ZPT operations, which can be added in a conceptually straightforward way. The most readable in depth treatment of that that I know of is "Goedel's Proof" by Ernest Nagel and James R. Newman, c. 1958 and still in print as a cheap paperback. If someone has good ZPT references that would be interesting too; I've lost the stuff I used to have on that. Doug

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Re: Restrictions on crypto exports
by ANSPRING＠delphi.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

hal finney quotes: "Public domain" is defined in 120.18: "Public domain means information which is published and which is generally accessible to the public: (a) Through sales at newsstands and bookstores; (b) Through subscriptions which are available without restriction to any individual who desires to obtain or purchase the published information; (c) Through second class mailing privileges granted by the U.S. Government; or, (d) At libraries open to the public." I'm way out of my depth here, but can it be argued that what constitutes ublic domain" is not being exhaustively defined here? That is, does the legalese here mean that ONLY a,b,c, and d publishing modes are PD, or can you argue that a,b,c, and d are just *examples* of PD publishing, and that there are other modes that just weren't mentioned. If making something available for anonymous FTP is not putting it in the public domain, then what the hech is it?

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Retry flyer
by jkhastings＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I got some strange mail failure messages from my speech flyer. This attempt won't include any "cc:" to extropians. --------------------------------------------------- "State Evader" comes out of the Green Dragon Tavern BBS (213) 365-1132 pseudonym closet to shamelessly promote his upcoming speeches at the H.L. Mencken Forum and the Libertarian Party of CA Region 62 Los Angeles Westside: ------------------------------------------------------------ State Evader = J. Kent Hastings Assistant Director of the Agorist Institute, "Techtics" columnist for the Tactics of the Movement of the Libertarian Left newsletter, internet cypherpunk, and ham radio operator WA6ZFY. Both speeches will be on the topic: "Cyber Cash: Free Market Money Comes of Age" I will talk about untraceable digital cash, public-key cryptography, spread-spectrum radio, unmanned vehicles, and the latest government actions that threaten everyone's privacy: The Clipper/ Skipjack key escrow agents and the subpoenas served to the Austin Code Works and ViaCrypt for all PGP, RSA export info. -------------------------------------------------------------- Mencken info: (310) 289-3234 (reserve now!) L.P. info: (310) 477-6491 -------------------------- Mencken location: The Old Spaghetti Factory 5939 Sunset Blvd near Hollywood Freeway in L.A. Wednesday September 22, 1993 6:30 Libations, 7:00 Dinner, 8:00 Speaker, 10:00 Adjourn ment First time "virgins" reserved: $3 -------------------------------------------------- L.P. of CA Region 62 L.A. Westside: Chris's Italian Restaurant 10105 Venice Blvd. at Clarington Ave Thursday, September 23, 1993 Cocktails 6:30, Dinner 7:00, Talk 8:30 Not sure if admission is charged. ---------------------------------------------- Kent - <jkhastings(a)aol.com>

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Re: KEY ESCROW PROCEDURES
by cme＠ellisun.sw.stratus.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Meanwhile, where is the proof that the key being requested corresponds to a person on whom a wiretap has been ordered?

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Bidzos on ITAR
by L. Detweiler 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Responding to H. Finney's probing, sterling, and brilliant analysis of ITAR (which I was utterly embarrassed to see buried and sandwiched in sordid flames) J. Bidzos claims that ``The ITAR specifically exempts software from being considered public domain'' and points out that the PKP FTP site in question that H. refers to as `causing a big stink' was *non-anonymous*. I would like to see J. Bidzos' sci.crypt posting reposted here *ASAP* by some bored cypherpunk who would like to ``contribute''! Major cyberspace points await!

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