From: Mathew Ellman <mellman@niia.net> Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 16:11:54 -0500
TO ALL MEMBERS, IM TIRED OF ALL THIS SHIT I HAVE UNSUBSCRIBED MANY TIMES AND ALL I GET IS SOME STUPID ASS REPLY ABOUT CLOSED LIST OR ADDRESS NOT MATCHING AND I GET NO REPLY SO UNLESS YOU ALL WANT TO GET A BUNCH OF UN WANTED BULLSHIT (LIKE THE SHIT IM GETING FROM YOU ) I SUGEST SOMEONE FIND A WAY TO GET ME THE FUCK OFF THIS LIST . I HAVE GOT IN TOUCH WITH THE PESON THE REPLY TELL ME TO AND NO REPLY. IM TIRED OF ALL THIS SHIT.
As many of you know, the secret to getting off the cypherpunks mailing list is closely guarded and only even understood by a few, highly skilled cryptographers. The problem is that if there were any simple way of sending a simple mail message saying, "hey get me off this list", then the NSA could simply forge this message for every member of the list thereby suppressing all the subversive information discussed on this mailing list. An alternative would be to require a cryptographically signed unsubscribe message. However, even then we would run the risk of the NSA cracking our private keys with their superior technology. Moreover, President Clinton has made it illegal to use cyptography in many countries other than the United States, so that foreigners would still not be able to unsubscribe. This leaves only one solution, and has resulted in the cypherpunks philosophy: "Once a cypherpunk, always a cypherpunk." Anyone who joins the cypherpunk mailing list must remain on the mailing list for the rest of his existence. Unbeatable, you may think. How can I get off the mailing list if there is no way to unsubscribe? Well, I will now reveal the secret of leaving the cypherpunks mailing. Before reading further, however, I must ask that you become a US citizen or permanent resident if you are not one already. You must also agree not to discuss this information with any foreigners, as providing any kind of assistance to non-US cryptographers is a federal crime for American cicizens. Now, though you must remain a cypherpunk for the rest of your existence, you will be removed from the mailing list when you cease to exist. The trick to unsubscribing is therefore to convince the cypherpunks majordomo and the NSA that you non longer exist, when in fact you really do. Though for years cypherpunks have thought this ment cancelling one's E-mail account, there is, in fact, a second, secret escape route from cypherpunks: exit code 67. That's right, if your local mailer exits with code 67 on receipt of each cypherpunks mail message, you will suddenly seem to have disappeared. The cypherpunks will simply believe that the NSA finally got to you, and that nothing more can be done to communicate with you. All the while, though, you can continue exchanging private E-mail on topics other than cryptography. How then, do you use exit code 67? First, you must create a file called "cypherpunks-filter" which contains the following: #!/bin/csh setenv PATH /bin:/usr/bin set username=`id | sed -e 's/).*//' -e 's/.*(//'` set homedir=~$username set tmpfile=$homedir/.mailtmp.$$ cat > $tmpfile if ( { egrep -q '^Sender: owner-cypherpunks@toad.com' \ $tmpfile } ) then rm -f $tmpfile exit 67 endif (rm -f $tmpfile; exec /bin/mail -d $username) < $tmpfile Then, create a file called ".forward" in your home directory. In this file, place the following line: |"IFS=' '&&exec csh /path/to/cypherpunks-filter #yourlogname" You must replace '/path/to/cypherpunks-filter' with the actual path of the the file you just created, and you must replace `yourlogname' with your actual log name. After you have done this, you will stop receivingn all cypherpunks E-mail. Eventually, you will even be removed from the mailing list. Be aware, however, that this procedure is illegal in Georgia unless you first legally change your name to "Mailler Daemon".