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AboveTheLaw - Tor hacks: The FBI Can Keep Its Code, Or Its Criminal, Not Both
by Rayzer 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan ordered the FBI to produce the full code of its malware. The government refused. I’m not making that up. A federal judge told the government to do something and the FBI essentially said, “How you gonna make me?” This is not good. I thought Apple had a really solid argument for refusing to help the government hack into one of their phones that was used by the San Bernardino shooter. The government eventually figured out how to do it without Apple’s help, but I don’t think a company should be forced to break its own system. Same goes for the government. I don’t think the government should be compelled to reveal its code for catching criminals. Don’t get me wrong, I do think the government should be compelled to reveal that it has a code or a hack or some malware that allows it to spy on us. I think they should have to explain in plain English how it works, and I think we should be able to have a national, public conversation about whether or not we want to the government to have this kind of power. But I see limited upside in forcing the government to reveal the actual code for its software, if it doesn’t want to and reasonably believes that revealing the code would do real harm. However, there are consequences to that position. If the government obtains evidence against you, you have the right to know how they did it. If the government doesn’t want to reveal that to you, well, then you get to take a walk. That might sound “unfair” to the vast majority of Americans who would trade seemingly all their liberties for a little enhanced security, but the Fourth Amendment is there to protect you from the government even when you don’t know you need protecting. All of these competing interests are coming to a head in a Washington case involving an alleged child pornographer. The FBI obtained evidence against Jay Michaud, a local teacher, by placing malware on a Tor site frequented by “dark web” users. Michaud’s attorneys would like to see the code used by the government to gather evidence against their client. Normally, that’s a pretty standard and reasonable request. Unfortunately, other dark web users would also really like to know how the FBI is catching them. Getting their hands on the code would be huge. Even if the code is produced in “sealed” documents, we can’t pretend that we live in a leak-free world. U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan ordered the FBI to produce the full code of its malware. The government refused. I’m not making that up. A federal judge told the government to do something and the FBI essentially said, “How you gonna make me?” This is not good. This is a borderline constitutional crisis. In response, Judge Bryan tossed the evidence against Michaud obtained by the malware, but allowed the case to continue. On Simple Justice, Scott Greenfield has written passionately about how Judge Bryan caved to pressure from the executive branch. (Judge Kneels And Welcomes His Governmental Overlords link) I don’t think the FBI should be compelled to release its code. I’m reminded of when the Allies broke the Enigma code, a story recently popularized in the movie The Imitation Game. Once we broke the German code, we didn’t stop every attack we knew was coming. Preserving the hack was more important than preventing individual losses. People died because we didn’t want to reveal what we had. There were consequences to our decision. Here, Judge Bryan should have tossed the whole case against Michaud. That should be the consequence of the FBI’s decision. Yes, that means one alleged child pornographer and teacher goes free. Yes, that is unfortunate. But if the FBI really wants to protect its code, then they should be willing to give up this one guy for all of the information they are getting through using this hack. It’s a difficult decision, but if the FBI and Judge Bryan don’t want to make it, they should get into the cupcake business and leave the balancing of liberty and security to sterner men and women. Prosecute the alleged criminal under the agreed upon rules that are there to protect all of us, or do not. There is no try. With links onsite: http://www.atlredline.com/the-fbi-can-keep-its-code-or-its-criminal-not-bot…

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Re: [tor-dev] Freenet + Onioncat: Is the traffic welcome?
by grarpamp 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

On 6/22/16, konstant(a)mail2tor.com <konstant(a)mail2tor.com> wrote: > I posted steps on how to connect Freenet nodes over Onioncat and Garlicat > for Tor/I2P. I am looking to scale it into an Opennet inside Tor with a > lot of peers: > > https://emu.freenetproject.org/pipermail/devl/2016-June/039056.html > https://emu.freenetproject.org/pipermail/devl/2016-June/039059.html Cool. You may want to review two recent threads regarding # bittorrent https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-talk/2016-June/041355.html # onioncat https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2016-April/010847.html (Some portion of these threads are on tor-talk, tor-dev, cypherpunks, etc so you'll need to search those for full context. They may span multiple months so you'll have to dig those out. And note that torproject's archives destroy useful things like cc, attachments, crypto sigs. Cypherpunks is intact.) > Is the extra traffic desirable in Tor? Reading asn's comment, I was under > the impression that you are interested in adding higher latency traffic > such as Freenet or mixnets for better anonymity: > https://blog.torproject.org/blog/crowdfunding-future-hidden-services >From the operations and UX side, as opposed to theory and design side... Some [officials] within torproject will decry traffic, and have even gone so far as to suggest they'll deploy coded countermeasures (which since the traffic is anonymous, and the code is opensource, doesn't work and kills someone else's good as well). In the end, just like video on clearnet, users and their traffic will come, and utilize whatever capacity and features they can, nothing you can do about it. A more qualified thought... I find ongoing intentional exclusive use of exits so people can basically get their trivial entertainment LOL's using filesharing apps such as bittorrent (or any other use that is known to tax networks)... to be rather immature to unethical. However I do see fine use in performing initial import of clearnet datasets via exits (if maintaining anonymity of such import action is necessary), provided they then cut their clients over to run exclusively within the anonymous networks. (In the case of bittorrent, that means disconnecting the split horizon network path to clearnet, swapping out clearnet trackers for trackers within the anonymous overlay networks, using PEX / DHT within those nets, and possibly managing running two instances over various datasets.) ie: Someone might import the latest opensource unix iso's via clearnet without use of exits, then cut and seed exclusively via anon overlay nets. Same person might need to import the latest political leaks and civil rights videos via exits, then cut and seed similarly. > Using both projects in tandem can finally realize the vision of FreeHaven. > You are the best at firewall circumvention, performance and accessing the > web, Freenet supplies users with censorship resistant publishing and p2p > services. There is a HotPETs 16 paper co-authored by George Danezis on > renewing interest in anonymous storage networks: > > http://www0.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/M.Isaakidis/p/isaakidis-p2pstorageservices-h… I agree that linking the various overlays, features, services, and users together is generally a good thing. I tend to argue IPv6 for that since so many of todays apps and users speak that. However there's certainly other shims, proxies, and addressing stacks people can dream and code up, particularly for asynchronous / non-real-time messaging and file like storage services. Users also need to research and think clearly about any security and privacy impact using such links may have on them.

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Closed CPU's and Fabs Untrustworthy
by grarpamp 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

https://boingboing.net/2016/06/15/intel-x86-processors-ship-with.html Recent Intel x86 processors implement a secret, powerful control mechanism that runs on a separate chip that no one is allowed to audit or examine. https://libreboot.org/faq/ Links being mostly on the billions of gates we know exist, unfortunately not on the top secret ones we don't...

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Phony Nakamoto applying for Bitcoin patents
by John Newman 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0Z61GM -- John

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Re: comprehending the heart's nationalism
by Александр 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

*This article is not some amateur propaganda. This is truth, people. I speak in the name of the vast majority of hundreds of Russian people i know/knew very well.* __ It would never occur to any hero from a Russian epic to sacrifice his life in exchange for riches. He did not hesitate to reject the path by which he would “be rich,” instead voluntarily taking the road on which he would “be killed.” ___ The Russian champion has always gone to war as a liberator, not a conqueror! And in this we can see the difference between Russians and Western Europeans. __ Humanity in Western Europe is motivated by will and intellect. The Russian people are above all guided by their hearts and imaginations, relegating the mind and will to a supporting role. __ The Russian people never committed the same atrocities for which the enlightened Europeans were responsible in their own conquered lands. __ Spiritual strength is the basis for Russians’ renowned forbearance and tolerance toward others. __ Continually invaded from all sides and forced to live in an incredibly harsh climate, the Russian people managed to colonize vast swathes of land, but without slaughtering, enslaving, robbing, or forcibly baptizing any nation. __ Western Europeans’ policies of colonialism annihilated the aboriginal populations on three continents and forced natives from across Africa into slavery, while its cities grew rich on the backs of those colonies. The Russian nation never treated their conquered subjects as the Europeans did. __ Russia has never been a nationalist state – it has belonged to all who inhabit her. __ Precisely because they have borne so much suffering and heavy sacrifice, my people deeply empathized with the pain and suffering of other people. __ The patriotism displayed by Russian soldiers in the fields of the Great Patriotic War met the highest ideal of patriotism – something unprecedented in the history of any nation anywhere in the world. And I will never agree with the media’s pronouncements about Russian “barbarianism” vs. European “virtue.” __ I stand proud that our ancestors – our heroic ancestors – were so lovely, steadfast, courageous, and resilient, and that we are their descendants! __

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Led By Dems, US Congress Now Orlando'ing Their Constitution
by grarpamp 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

https://theintercept.com/2016/06/21/democrats-war-on-due-process-and-terror… Crypto, guns, rights and process... all cannon fodder to these fucks. related slopes... http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-1373_83i7.pdf

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LimeSDR brings apps to SDR
by grarpamp 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

https://www.crowdsupply.com/lime-micro/limesdr A Software Defined Radio for Everyone LimeSDR is a low cost, open source, apps-enabled (more on that later) software defined radio (SDR) platform that can be used to support just about any type of wireless communication standard. LimeSDR can send and receive UMTS, LTE, GSM, LoRa, Bluetooth, Zigbee, RFID, and Digital Broadcasting, to name but a few. While most SDRs have remained in the domain of RF and protocol experts, LimeSDR is usable by anyone familiar with the idea of an app store - it’s the first SDR to integrate with Snappy Ubuntu Core. This means you can easily download new LimeSDR apps from developers around the world. If you’re a developer yourself, you can share and/or sell your LimeSDR apps through Snappy Ubuntu Core as well. The LimeSDR platform gives students, inventors, and developers an intelligent and flexible device for manipulating wireless signals, so they can learn, experiment, and develop with freedom from limited functionality and expensive proprietary devices.

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PayPal enforces spy or die
by grarpamp 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

https://seafile.de/en/important-infos-about-app-seafile-de-and-licensing-pu… https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11944011 PayPal has demanded that we monitor data traffic as well as all our customers’ files for illegal content. They have also asked us to provide them with detailed statistics about the files types of our customers sync and share on https://app.seafile.de Since complying with this demand would violate German / European data protection laws (and also be morally wrong in our opinion) we have declined to comply with this demand.

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the fall of the USA's Magnitsky Act (a massive conviction without trial)
by Zenaan Harkness 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

The Magnitsky Act is one foundation for the Western "taking it on faith" litany of assumptions leading to action which is disgraceful towards Russia, indicting of the West and its so called 'leaders', and facilitating the media to spoon feed the public with again more assumptions that Russian government/ Putin is despotic, does really bad things like stealing money from 'innocent ex-pat investment bankers' and arresting, torturing and murdering whistleblowers. "A lie will circle the world before the truth puts its boots on." But when the truth finally gets going, those chickens will come home to roost. For anyone who has bought into this particular thread of the Western regime, this documentary, when it's available, is going to be important to watch. The hysterics arising from the Putinism "Russia is not the kind of a country that extradites human rights champions. (Россия не та страна которая выдаёт борцов за права человека.)" can be enjoyed just that little bit more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putinisms The extent of the efforts at various levels and from various (Western) parliamentarians to suppress this documentary, leaves a bad taste indeed. The linked prior article about the first cancelled screening is worth reading too and sets a fuller stage (besides providing a text book case of the Streissand effect): http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/empty-seat-william-browder-once-again… And this whole Magnitsky saga is highly topical in respect of a certain days of our lives opera occurring in other forums over the last week or so: "We heard about the inconsistencies of the Magnitsky narrative that Browder has peddled in all venues, and the eureka moment of the film maker that led him to change the message of his film mid-way through production into what ultimately became a scathing critique of Browder, and also a serious critique of the entire concept of applying personal sanctions against alleged human rights abusers without due process, as was the case in the compilation of the Magnitsky List." --- Advance Review of Devastating Film About Bill Browder Which He Tried to Suppress Gilbert Doctorow http://russia-insider.com/en/exclusive-advance-review-devastating-film-abou…

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anarchic money options?
by Zenaan Harkness 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

Whilst Putin and Russia, BRICS nations and south east Asia in particular are working as diligently as they can toward a post-hegemonic world order, what are the anarchists planning? The P/E, debt to equity, national debt and private debt levels in the USA are simply not sustainable past 2024 mathematically, and most likely 2020 or earlier. That is, when you can no longer make interest payments, you go bankrupt, and if you're the FED printing as much QE money as you can possibly get away with, when you hit the wall, you take the entire currency with you. Earlier emails have linked to graphs which show this tax receipts vs US govt debt wall has an absolute end date of 2024, but most likely confidence in the US dollar will collapse well prior to then. So. Turmoil and upheavel when that moment comes. And some are well prepared to survive short to medium term food, water and shelter problems. Many are not. Some others have been and continue to put away tonnes of gold (Russia, China and other nations) whilst the sleepy democratic upstanding nice ones doddle along as though nothing's changed, like Canada who sold out 99.999% of their state gold reserves. The good news is that during such upheavel and crises, opportunities arise for very limited numbers of individual humans - mostly for those who prepared in advance. Now, those who are more than one can make more hay when the opportunities arise. To the hard core anarchists, the pioneers (not the settlers, and probably not even the squatters, only the hard core pioneers) - if you want to sieze the day, the best way to do so is to plan well in advance. My thoughts? Well, for broad acceptance of any political system of human interaction, broad acceptance (by those you communicate with in your broader communities) is of course required. Amidst the chaos and turmoil survival will dominate a human's every thought. Any advance planning, to be successful, must embrace the realities to come. Those who will be able to speak with clarity, having imbibed the understandings of the existing foundations (constitutions, amendments, money and its control), and considered well possible futures, may be able to inspire others to "a better future". But that can hardly be possible by sitting around hoping for someone else to do so. "Better" foundations must be practical, straightforward to the mind - you will have to communicate them with sheep after all, and ought be discussed and thrashed out and options and alternatives considered, well in advance. Community arises in interaction of humans, be it action, communication or contention (verbal and physical). Without powerfully simple yet constructive conversations arising between millions of people (USA has ~300 million population), then a new system shall be imposed, instituting babylon once again. And the sheep shall be shorn. What futures can even be communicated? We must start somewhere...

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