August 2016 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Re: [tor-talk] Revolt Against Tor Over Rape Claims, Process, Board, Etc
by Zenaan Harkness 19 Aug '16

19 Aug '16

On Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 08:07:17PM +0200, Sebastian G. <bastik.tor> wrote: > 18.08.2016, 07:28 grarpamp: > > https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/765933853143859200 > > 8:30 AM - 17 Aug 2016 > > Tor revolt over rape claims... > > Why wikileaks? 0) The processes and actions done and upheld by those carrying seats of power in Tor Inc, with respect to Jacob Applebaum, are abhorrent. Justice has been denied to all involved. Serious problems have been caused to those who are genuine and or potentially genuine victims, and these problems continue to be perpetuated by those with authority in Tor Inc. Lies and deceptions have been ignored, outright denied, or otherwise perpetuated under the aegis of Tor Inc. Abhorrent behaviour has been ignored, upheld or indeed to a casual observer, have resulted in promotions of authority within Tor Inc. All these things are an absolute disgrace and those with authority in Tor Inc ought be fundamentally ashamed of the approach you have taken and continue to uphold: - implicitly, - tacitly, - and explicitly. 1) Tor is on topic for public consciousness around online privacy, anonymity, etc. and your question implies a fundamental missing of this fundamental point, and our fundamental needs in a democracy, and therefore the significance of that which is occurring at Tor Inc and within "the Tor community". The available options for those seeking a higher discourse are few and far between. The significance of the fundamental problems that are occurring as we speak, within Tor Inc and the Tor community, is deep, of deep concern, and is seen by far more than the mere few who take steps to highlight the wrongs and or to improve the situation. 2) Wikileaks is much harder to censor, unlike other recent publications e.g. the call for a 24 hour boycott of the Tor network was swiftly censored. There is an evident campaign to censor genuine and sincere, and needed actions and communications in regards to this whole affair. 3) Some of those with power in Tor Inc appear, to some of us in "the tor community" as being one or more of the following: - fundamentally compromised ( e.g. lawyer, also "victim", also "investigator" - are you absofiretrucking serious??!!!??!! ) - covering for other compromised Tor Inc power brokers - tacitly consenting to evidently compromised Tor Inc power brokers by ignoring, and or focussing on how to "massage" the "public message" so as to "minimize damage" (to what? to Tor Inc? What about damage to principles? damage to the community? damage to the dreams and intentions of hundreds of unspoken folks who gave their good intent, their hearts and often their time and money to contribute to the Tor network???) - refusing to call a spade a spade - evidently compromised due to covering for other Tor Inc power brokers who have demonstrated fundamental sociopathic and/ or highly objectionable actions, behaviour and words 4) Wikileaks has public mindshare and visibility. 5) Getting published on Wikileaks makes it much harder for those who want to appear clean-faced (Dingledine etc) to ignore the fundamental problems which have happened, are continuing to happen, and are, to the eye of this not so humble observer: - ethically objectionable, - compromised - and fundamentally problematic in oh so many ways!!! Time to grow up folks. Own the damn mess. Clean up your shit. Get rid of those individuals who are evidently compromised in ways that can not be tolerated. Fail to take these steps and you will forever lose your ability to claim "we did our best" or "we didn't see what we were doing". If you cannot see, and you refuse to see when the problems are pointed out, you will have none but yourselves to blame. Many of us are doing our best to point out fundamental problems, and we get either banned from the public discussion (Juan, Afalex and others), booted from the community or Tor Inc (Jacob Applebaum and implicitly quite a number of others it has turned out - it's all coming out in the wash in that grande olde thing called the Internet - you might have heard of that?) or shouted at to "get off the cross, we got work to do". Yes, you sure do... plenty of work to clean up this mess - continue to pretend it does not exist at your peril. By holding yourselves out as a "leading light" of free speech, dissodent speech, genuine anonymity and or privacy whilst online, and also a purportedly fundamentally ethical approach to the activities Tor Inc purports to champion, - you have been, - are, - and shall continue to be, held to a high standard. This is not your option. Tor Inc is not a "normal" company - none of you (employees of Tor Inc) are held by us in the Tor community as "normal" employees or "regular" folks - we have been, are, and shall continue to hold you to a higher standard than we hold "normal" capitalist 'pigs' to. That also means you suffer a far greater disgrace, and far more publicly, than most other normal people ever would suffer. And this is simply how it is - it is not something you have any control over. It is we, the Tor community, who choose how to hold our so called and purported (even though self elected) "leaders". You have no choice in the standard we hold you to. You have no choice in the consequences in our minds and in our hearts when you fall from the grace we previously assumed you to be in. You have absolutely no choice in the long term default consequences in our respective consciousnesses, each of us individually, of how we hold each and every one of you in the face of your words, your actions, and your non-actions. And take good notice - it is perhaps most often your non-actions, which demonstrate your tacit support for evils done, which have the greatest consequences in our consciousness. Meet our (!!) standard and you shall stand as heroes. Fail to meet our standard and you and your purported principles shall forever be "the ones who fell from grace, disgraced themselves and disgraced the community, spitting on the very principles we all held to be sacred and inviolable". Your time is close to running out. Your sincerely, With absolute, unequivocal, and unshakable conviction, Zenaan Harkness, Victoria, Australia

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[JUSTICE] The Netherlands to close more prisons: Here’s what Australia could learn.
by Zenaan Harkness 18 Aug '16

18 Aug '16

An example worth highlighting, at least compared to the USA and Australian "justice" systems. ----- Forwarded message from Jim <jim.sovereign(a)optusnet.com.au> ----- The Netherlands to close more prisons: Here’s what Australia could learn news.com.au Debra Killalea August 3, 2016 Dutch Prison System: How it works THE days are filled playing sport, reading, and practising new skills. There is learning, course work and open communication with support networks is strongly encouraged. This may sound like a great place to learn, but this isn’t a university or school campus. It’s a prison and this is how the Dutch teach its offenders to keep out of trouble. It may sound like a soft touch but with talk of closing prisons, the Dutch believe they have a lesson to teach the world when it comes to rehabilitation. While some countries struggle with overcrowding in prisons and crime, the Netherlands intends to close its jails. In March, the Dutch government revealed it had too many empty cells and not enough prisoners to fill them. It announced it was strongly considering closing five prisons, on top of the 19 they already shut down last year because the national crime rate continues to fall. Justice Minister Ard van der Steur told parliament that not only were judges imposing shorter sentences but criminals were spending less time in jail. He also claimed less serious crime was being reported according to The Telegraaf. The Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen (DJI) Custodial Institutions Agency, which carries out the sentences, reveals more than 13,000 detainees are held in the country’s prison system. This cost the government an estimated 2 billion euro a year. In an effort to reduce that cost, DIJ treat those undertaking prison sentences a little differently and focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment. According to a video produced last year by DJI, the philosophy behind their work involves reversing criminal behaviour and therefore reducing the risk of reoffending. It may look like a university dorm, but this is how prisoners live in the Netherlands. Picture: Youtube/DJI Source:YouTube This involves an intense program of education, skill sharing and undertaking courses which will better serve detainees once they are released. Detainees also have access to an intensive support network once they are back in the community. Juveniles undergo more intensive programs with counselling, education and parental support all crucial to ensuring as many of the 1600 youngsters in detention remain trouble free. The crime rate in the Netherlands has decreased by an average of 0.9 per cent in recent years, Sputnik News reported. Just like the German system, the focus in the Netherlands is keeping inmates engaged. Some even have the option of spending weekends at home. Dutch prisons are full of social workers, mental health professionals and lawyers. A 2013 VIJ report revealed the emphasis is on “therapeutic culture” for enabling inmates to return successfully to society. In Germany, prison workers receive two years training before being placed in the system in Germany compared to five weeks in the US state of Colorado,Next Cityreported. In both Germany and the Netherlands less than one in 10 convicted criminal offenders are sent to prison compared to 70 per cent in the US. AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE Managing senior lawyer Jimmy Singh told news.com.au he believed we had a lot to learn from the European approach. Mr Singh, from Sydney Criminal Lawyers, said Australia had high recidivism rates and the focus was on locking up offenders rather than keeping them out of the system. “NSW has some of the highest recidivism rates in Australia,” he said. “In NSW 48 per cent of inmates returned to prison within two years.” Mr Singh said he believed the Dutch and Swedes had it right when it came to focusing on rehabilitation as recidivism rates were among the lowest the world. These cells are not what most of us imagine prison to look like. Picture: Youtube/DJI Source:YouTube “Dr Don Weatherburn from the Australian Bureau of Crime Statistics even said between 2015-16 there was a 12 per cent increase in the prison population,” he said. “In Europe the emphasis is on diversion and rehabilitation, here it is on punishment. I think the Europeans have definitely got it right. “The statistics speak for themselves.” He said he believed our tough bail laws and the scrapping of diversion programs such as the Court Referral of Eligible Defendants Into Treatment (CREDIT) was partly to blame. He said sending people to jail didn’t always work especially when a first-time offender was imprisoned with inmates serving time for much more serious offences and mental health issues were not addressed. Writing on the Sydney Criminal lawyers blog, Lawyer and Principal Ugur Nedim said the Dutch model was so successful even Norway was sending some of its prisoners there to fill the cells. He pointed to falling crime rates in nearby Sweden as further proof the European model worked in reducing crime and reoffending rates. “Sweden’s prison numbers fell by about 1 per cent per year from 2004 to 2011,” he writes. “Then, between 2011 and 2012, they declined by 6 per cent.” He also highlighted a decision by the Swedish Supreme Court in 2011 to give more lenient sentences for drug offences. Mr Nedim said this meant inmates spent less time behind bars but also made it easier for offenders to return to society. Source: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/the-netherlands-to-clo…

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Bitcoin Warns Of State Attack In Binaries
by grarpamp 18 Aug '16

18 Aug '16

https://bitcoin.org/en/alert/2016-08-17-binary-safety 0.13.0 Binary Safety Warning 17 August 2016 Summary Bitcoin.org has reason to suspect that the binaries for the upcoming Bitcoin Core release will likely be targeted by state sponsored attackers. As a website, Bitcoin.org does not have the necessary technical resources to guarantee that we can defend ourselves from attackers of this calibre. We ask the Bitcoin community, and in particular the Chinese Bitcoin community to be extra vigilant when downloading binaries from our website. In such a situation, not being careful before you download binaries could cause you to lose all your coins. This malicious software might also cause your computer to participate in attacks against the Bitcoin network. We believe Chinese services such as pools and exchanges are most at risk here due to the origin of the attackers. Mitigation The hashes of Bitcoin Core binaries are cryptographically signed with this key. We strongly recommend that you download that key, which should have a fingerprint of 01EA5486DE18A882D4C2684590C8019E36C2E964. You should securely verify the signature and hashes before running any Bitcoin Core binaries. This is the safest and most secure way of being confident that the binaries you’re running are the same ones created by the Core Developers.

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US election: both candidates are shit, system broken
by grarpamp 18 Aug '16

18 Aug '16

https://contraspin.co.nz/just-as-intended-the-u-s-election-is-tearing-us-to… Just As Intended: The U.S. Election Is Tearing Us To Shreds July 29, 2016 The only credible narrative about the US election is that both the main candidates are shit and the system is fundamentally broken. The third-party candidate, while enjoying organic growth in public support, is largely blacklisted by media and in the last election cycle was handcuffed to a chair for a prolonged period of time in order to prevent her from participating in the Presidential debates at all. In the backwards Orwellian nightmare we live in, exercising common sense or stating things as they quite plainly are and thus expressing views that oppose the monied and complicit status quo, is deemed a ‘radical’ and untenable position. Radical because too few have the proverbial balls to openly speak their mind or own the full extent of their true opinions in public, making those of us who do a rarity. Untenable because doing so makes you a target for relentless persecution or worse; a deterrent which is highly effective against those who treasure their public perception or persona, possessions, property, prosperity or (perceived) privacy above the need to appease their conscience by calling a spade a spade, honouring their humanity and openly advocating for the sociopolitical evolution we so desperately need. It was only a few years ago that millions of people were emboldened to speak up and demand radical (read: common sense) change. The relative speed with which they were largely subdued and corralled back into the political mainstream is frankly shocking and testament to the lethal efficiency of the systems of social control that surround us. Even Occupy Has Forgotten What Occupy Is About “No true democracy is obtainable when the process is determined by economic power.” – The Occupy Wall Street General Assembly wikileaks, etc...

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TOR Project: Still coming unwrapped
by Steve Kinney 18 Aug '16

18 Aug '16

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Holy F Society, the TOR Project just came unwrapped. MORE. This essay keeps getting more outrageous, without losing credibility, until it turns a corner that "network security" people could easily attribute to hostile tradecraft. https://shiromarieke.github.io/tor -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux) iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJXtUn5AAoJEECU6c5XzmuqHbQH/182mmOyXQsN6MigrmS4WhI4 xxVoNJoXwt1DBctCMC1eMq1o/nCCbicIeXwMMztzdmKQ9GReWzXrTW8hNjy7R4rR +JpUarD4xw5wRwllg4RD4QsBuu+RJp1c/Tyo+GZX49TmYeYk80Chgnfu3zoH2+nw SCftTWIZdlheUbY4GYnHUVWOkJaASvPz/ibZIRs5J6rIx4FPkqiuCckRkILJ7FXs ZzmepzzPY7cAnuW2Zm+kdkkACGnMUfYTdp4vM3pXLu8b4zfOpeRe5JxPVoapOF3P kDrJbDCyHnIDCsYOAeg1pPg3dlQAktN/FBqzQTS3UbaBq+NUJ47o1XvmyzGmZIs= =e8hU -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Riffle: an efficient communication system with strong anonymity
by grarpamp 17 Aug '16

17 Aug '16

http://news.mit.edu/2016/stay-anonymous-online-0711 https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/99859 https://people.csail.mit.edu/devadas/pubs/riffle.pdf https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/99859/927718269-MIT.pdf

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Is it fun owning augmented reality? Internet of Things?
by Georgi Guninski 17 Aug '16

17 Aug '16

Is it fun owning augmented reality? Or the Internet of Things? Any 'real reality' damages? http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/pokemon-go-security-flaw-enables-hacker-take-over-… Pokemon Go security flaw enables hacker to take over gyms in London and New York using eggs

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Hedge fund manager profited from death arbitrage.
by jim bell 17 Aug '16

17 Aug '16

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-08-16/hedge-fund-manager-profi… "A vital function of the financial system is to shift risk, but that is mostly a euphemism. Finance can't make risks go away, or even really move them all that much. When the financial system shifts the risk of X happening from Y to Z, all that means is that Z gives Y money if X happens. If X was going to happen to Y, it's still going to happen to Y. But now Y gets money. Death is a central fact of human existence, the fundamental datum that gives meaning to life, but it is also a risk -- you never know when it will happen! -- and so the financial industry has figured out ways to shift it. Not in any supernatural sense, I mean, but in the regular financial-industry sense: by giving people money when death happens to them. One cannot know for certain how much of a consolation that is.""Another vital function of the financial system is to brutally punish the mispricing of risk through arbitrage. Actually I don't really know how vital that one is, but people are pretty into it. If someone under- or overestimates a risk, someone else will find a way to make them pay for it. That's how markets, even the market for death, stay efficient.""The normal way to shift the risk of death is life insurance -- you die, the insurance company gives you money -- but there are other, more esoteric versions, and they are more susceptible to arbitrage.One version involves "medium and long-term bonds and certificates of deposit ('CDs') that contain 'survivor options' or 'death puts.'" Schematically, the idea is that a financial institution issues a bond that pays back $100 when it matures in 2040 or whatever. But if the buyer of the bond dies, he gets his $100 back immediately, instead of having to wait until 2040. He's still dead, though."[end of partial quote] AP ('Assassination Politics'; https://cryptome.org/ap.htm ) can be considered to be 'death arbitrage' with a few key differences: The person who will die isn't part of the agreement, and doesn't profit when the initial deal is struck, nor later. Jim Bell

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Weed, USPS, Tor... cypherpunk [was: Tor Browser]
by grarpamp 17 Aug '16

17 Aug '16

On 8/16/16, John Newman <jnn(a)synfin.org> wrote: > Awful lot of dope makes its way through USPS, with TOR as the medium for > setting up delivery, every day all day... Just log in to alphabay and browse > around ... ;) > > But, who knows how long they'll last, there might be sealed indictments > already... Great thing is... this is all testing a whole lot of new ground. >From anonymous overlay networks, delivery / drop models, comms tools, law enforcement, crypto, law itself, politics, leaks, hacking the IoT, privacy, etc... And it's getting faster, you only have to wait a few years to get a rough early status of each new iteration. Overall, it's exactly what should happen, and it's been a long time coming. PGP, 2600, and mixmaster were just some of the first forays, There's so much more to come, and to be done... be it for the world, or even just the peace pipe at 4:20.

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Fwd: [liberationtech] Tor Browser 6.0.4 is ready for testing
by Cecilia Tanaka 17 Aug '16

17 Aug '16

Uff... Some months ago, I would be happy. Now, it means nothing... :(( ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Yosem Companys" <companys(a)stanford.edu> Date: Aug 15, 2016 12:10 PM Subject: [liberationtech] Tor Browser 6.0.4 is ready for testing To: "Liberation Technologies" <liberationtech(a)lists.stanford.edu> Cc: "Georg Koppen" <gk(a)torproject.org> From: Georg Koppen <gk(a)torproject.org> Hi all, We are pleased to accounce that Tor Browser 6.0.4 is ready for testing. Bundles can be found on: https://people.torproject.org/~boklm/builds/6.0.4-build2/ This release finally brings Tor Browser users the latest Tor stable, 0.2.8.6, and avoids pinging Mozilla servers for system extensions. The latter was responsible for users getting an extension into their Tor Browser that resulted in annoying and confusing "Your Firefox is out of date" notifications on start-up (bug 19890). Thanks to Mozilla engineers who fixed that issue as fast as possible on their side: the extension is not shipped to Tor Browser users anymore if they ping Mozilla's server. Users that are on the alpha channel or are using the hardened Tor Browser were not affected. The same goes for Tails users as far as we know. The full changelog since Tor Browser 6.0.3 is: Tor Browser 6.0.4 -- August 16 * All Platforms * Update Tor to 0.2.8.6 * Update NoScript to 2.9.0.14 * Bug 19890: Disable installation of system addons Georg -- Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of list guidelines will get you moderated: https://mailman.stanford.edu/ mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at companys(a)stanford.edu.

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