On Wed, 8 Nov 1995, Jeff Weinstein, self-styled "Electronic Munitions Expert", from Netscape Communications:
Meanwhile people are having their PGP keyrings collected, their passwords monitorred, and all of the information -- even information which they have NOT posted to Usenet, information that is simply on their personal hard drives, or on a private corporate network that is behind a firewall -- collected by anyone who actualy understands *how* to use Netscape Navigator's standard features to do it.
Please show us some proof. All you have done is post unfounded allegations backed up by flawed logic and a misunderstanding of the technology. Send me a URL, and I will point my navigator at it. If you can collect my PGP key ring you can gloat here or anywhere else.
I think "Jeff" ... Mr. unofficial not speakng for the company Netscape spokesperson, I think that you should rethink what you're suggesting. Your tactics won't serve your personal interests on this one. I really would recommend that you come clean. This is not about "gloating". I really take very little pleasure in this. It's really not a good plan, to suggest that I contravene your "license agreement" or break the laws of my country to satisfy some ego-centred game on your part not to face the FACT, that you have been caught. Not arrested yet, but you have been found out. Or as I wrote some weeks ago, in some oddly inspired flash ... You're "Hoist by your own 'petar" ... (which is a quote that Johnnie Cochrane used during the OJ trial ... a quote taken from Shakespeare which *translated* means that you've been blown up by your own bomb.) I am not nearly so *SLOW* as to offer you ammunition to use against me. Your license agreement -- pardon me -- Netscape's license agreement explicitly sets out the limitations underwhich I must function. An agreement, I respect. It states in part.
RESTRICTED USE. You may not copy the software, except for backup or archival purposes. Any such copy made by you shall be subject to this Agreement and shall contain all of Netscape's notices regarding copyrights, trademarks and other proprietary rights as contained in the Software originally provided to you. You may not lend, rent, lease or otherwise transfer the Software. The Software is protected by the copyright laws of the United States and international copyright treaties.
Ya see ... "Jeff" ... I actually respect that ... and I'll operate within those constraints on this one. Later the Agreement continues with more legalistic boiler plate and says,
TITLE. Title, ownership rights, and intellectual property rights in and to the Software and Documentation shall remain in Netscape and/or its suppliers. This Agreement does not include the right to sublicense the Software and is personal to you and therefore may not be assigned (by operation of law or otherwise) or transferred without the prior written consent of Netscape. You acknowledge that the Software in source code form remains a confidential trade secret of Netscape and/or its suppliers and therefore you agree not to attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer the Software or allow others to do so, except to the extent applicable laws specifically prohibit such restriction. You further agree not to modify or create derivative works of the Software.
Now how do you expect me ... poor little "Alice" ... to exploit KNOWN documented and undocumented security holes in Netscape Navigator ... holes which Netscape willfully and deliberately or alternatively through the grossest of negligence, engineered into the product, when I have implicitly agreed not to violate your License Agreement. My hands are kindof tied, aren't they "Jeff". I need written permission to do that, and considerring that Netscape hasn't even *bothered* to acknowledge email which was sent to them, email which asked whether they will voluntarily open up their experimental MIME objects to IETF review, I somehow doubt that permission will be forthcoming. You can't suck and blow at the same time Jeff. Maybe, what I'll do ... is snail mail Netscape and ask for explicit permission to do just that. I'll also ask for access to all of the source code, and maybe at the same time ask for the email address of Dr James H. Clark, since the Netscape postmaster doesn't seem to reply to email. Afterall, he DOES know about this issue, doesn't he?? Dr. James H. Clark has been briefed, I hope ... Let's see ... Dr. James H Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics Inc, and co-founder of Netscape Communications Corp. does know about this "itsy bitsy" "teeny-weeny" problem doesn't he?? I mean there _will_ be questions as to what he knew and when he knew it and what he did about it. But that'll be his baby ... and I'll let him speak for himself on that one. But the other question ... the question of what the other co-founder of Netscape Communications Corp., Marc Andreessen, knew is not a subject for speculation. We know that. Marc Andreessen, vice-president of technology at Netscape, and creator of NCSA Mosaic's knowledge is clear. We "know" what Marc knew. Marc won't be able to pull an "Ollie North" and redact the public domain electronic archives. It's clear what he knew and when he knew it. A simple one line command tells all ... a command like, maybe: mget rfc* |grep Andreessen run at one of the public domain archives might give us some clues and pointers to anyone who might be familiar with how the net works. Then a little follow up and search of some mailing lists ... lists of the Internet Engineering Task Force ... cross-referencing the records of the IETF might tell us what Marc knew and when. NOTHING which has been written, is gone, is it Jeff?? There are no hidden acts, and there are no solitary acts when it comes to the Network. And isn't that a shame, "Jeff"?? But then what would I know about such things ... I don't *understand* the technology, do I "Jeff", my boy?? Simple question, once again ... does Netscape have any comment to make? Or does it continue to say "no comment". Will Dr. James H. Clark, and/or Marc Andreessen please step forward and address this issue at this time? The international community is beginning to loose its patience.
--Jeff
-- Jeff Weinstein - Electronic Munitions Specialist Netscape Communication Corporation jsw@netscape.com - http://home.netscape.com/people/jsw Any opinions expressed above are mine.
Alice de 'nonymous ... ...just another one of those... P.S. This post is in the public domain. C. S. U. M. O. C. L. U. N. E.