- cypherpunks-legacy@lists.ogf.org

Re: CLIPPER: Explanation sheet?
by Valerie Lambert 24 Apr '93

24 Apr '93

In article <Qfpqi9K00WBK8_O4gs(a)andrew.cmu.edu>, David Reeve Sward <sward+(a)cmu.edu> writes: >I (along with others) have some sort of phrase in our .signature saying >"Stop the Clipper Chip" or somesuch. Since adding this, I have had >several people ask me about this, and I have fired off an explanation to >them. I am wondering if there is a Wiretap Chip Explanation Sheet to >send to people instead of trying to make sure I remember everything (and >without double-checking everything I say). Has anyone written such a >beast? I have compiled a "layperson's" Clipper-shit I mean sheet containing a very short intro, announcements from the White House, AT&T, the EFF, the CPSR, and various news articles. David, I will mail you a copy. If anyone else wants one, let me know. -- Valerie Lambert * valerie(a)biocad.com * 415/903-3923 * AT&T: phones with Big Brother Built Inside! Just say "NO" to the Clipper wiretap chip.

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KPFA at Sat Meeting
by geoffw＠nexsys.net 23 Apr '93

23 Apr '93

I took the liberty of calling KPFA's (The Pacifica Affiliate here in the Bay Area and telling them about this saturday's meeting. I figured we could use the help of the "sympathetic pres" and they do have 50,000 watts of power. We could craft a real good statement that would go out to most of the "activist" types in the area. I've take one or two of their phone calls but have been vectoring them over to John (gnu(a)toad.com) and Tim` <tcmay(a)netcom.com> to answer more detailed questions. They seem to know about us as they mentioned John and Eric by name. I sent them the dirtections to the meeting and a couple of e-mail messages (press releases and a few comments) to their account on kpfa(a)well.sf.ca.us. Hope this is a help not a hinderance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEXUS SYSTEMS/CYBERTRIBE-5 Editor/Instigator/Catalyst : Geoff White <geoffw(a)nexsys.net> Production Crew : Universal Movement Trinity <umt(a)nexsys.net> "They might stop the party, but they can't stop the future" --PGP Public key available upon request-- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: encrypted telnet
by Hal 23 Apr '93

23 Apr '93

I missed the context because my mailbox overflowed, but Eric mentioned Diffie-Hellman key exchange. If the need is for a one-shot quick-n-dirty session key exchange (as for the audio talk program John Gilmore mentioned) an alternative is to do a quick PGP keygen, send the session key across using the PGP key, then destroy the PGP key. The only reason I mention this is that it can be done in a couple of minutes with existing tools tomorrow, if you need it. Eric is right that if you are designing something from scratch DH is often more appropriate (although PK's allow for authentication if you have a trusted signature, preventing spoofing attacks). Hal

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A parable
by pmetzger＠lehman.com 23 Apr '93

23 Apr '93

I just posted this to the net. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Newsgroups: alt.privacy.clipper,sci.crypt Subject: A Parable. References: <1993Apr20.013747.4122(a)cs.sfu.ca> <1993Apr21.210353.15305(a)microsoft.com> Distribution: usa Organization: Partnership for an America Free Drug scottmi(a)microsoft.com (Scott Miller (TechCom)) writes: >Stikes me that all this concern over the government's ability >to eavesdrop is a little overblown... what can't they do today? >My understanding is that they already can tap, listen, get access >exc. to our phone lines, bank records, etc. etc again. Well, they can't listen in on much of mine, since I already use cryptography for much of my electronic mail, and will start using it for my telephony as soon as practical. However, allow me to tell a parable. There was once a far away land called Ruritania, and in Ruritania there was a strange phenonmenon -- all the trees that grew in Ruritainia were transparent. Now, in the days when people had lived in mud huts, this had not been a problem, but now high-tech wood technology had been developed, and in the new age of wood, everyone in Ruritania found that their homes were all 100% see through. Now, until this point, no one ever thought of allowing the police to spy on someone's home, but the new technology made this tempting. This being a civilized country, however, warrants were required to use binoculars and watch someone in their home. The police, taking advantage of this, would get warrants to use binoculars and peer in to see what was going on. Occassionally, they would use binoculars without a warrant, but everyone pretended that this didn't happen. One day, a smart man invented paint -- and if you painted your house, suddenly the police couldn't watch all your actions at will. Things would go back to the way they were in the old age -- completely private. Indignant, the state decided to try to require that all homes have video cameras installed in every nook and cranny. "After all", they said, "with this new development crime could run rampant. Installing video cameras doesn't mean that the police get any new capability -- they are just keeping the old one." A wise man pointed out that citizens were not obligated to make the lives of the police easy, that the police had survived all through the mud hut age without being able to watch the citizens at will, and that Ruritania was a civilized country where not everything that was expedient was permitted. For instance, in a neighboring country, it had been discovered that torture was an extremely effective way to solve crimes. Ruritania had banned this practice in spite of its expedience. Indeed, "why have warrants at all", he asked, "if we are interested only in expedience?" A famous paint technologist, Dorothy Quisling, intervened however. She noted that people might take photographs of children masturbating should the new paint technology be widely deployed without safeguards, and the law was passed. Soon it was discovered that some citizens would cover their mouths while speaking to each other, thus preventing the police from reading their lips through the video cameras. This had to be prevented, the police said. After all, it was preventing them from conducting their lawful surveilance. The wise man pointed out that the police had never before been allowed to listen in on people's homes, but Dorothy Quisling pointed out that people might use this new invention of covering their mouths with veils to discuss the kidnapping and mutilation of children. No one in the legislature wanted to be accused of being in favor of mutilating children, but then again, no one wanted to interfere in people's rights to wear what they liked, so a compromise was reached whereby all homes were installed with microphones in each room to accompany the video cameras. The wise man lamented few if any child mutilations had ever been solved by the old lip reading technology, but it was too late -- the microphones were installed everwhere. However, it was discovered that this was insufficient to prevent citizens from hiding information from the authorities, because some of them would cleverly speak in languages that the police could not understand. A new law was proposed to force all citizens to speak at all times only in Ruritanian, and, for good measure, to require that they speak clearly and distinctly near the microphones. "After all", Dorothy Quisling pointed out, "they might be using the opportunity to speak in private to mask terrorist activities!" Terrorism struck terror into everyone's hearts, and they rejoiced at the brulliance of this new law. Meanwhile, the wise man talked one evening to his friends on how all of this was making a sham of the constitution of Ruritania, of which all Ruritanians were proud. "Why", he asked, "are we obligated to sacrifice all our freedom and privacy to make the lives of the police easier? There isn't any real evidence that this makes any big dent in crime anyway! All it does is make our privacy forfeit to the state!" However, the wise man made the mistake of saying this, as the law required, in Ruritanian, clearly and distinctly, and near a microphone. Soon, the newly formed Ruritanian Secret Police arrived and took him off, and got him to confess by torturing him. Torture was, after all, far more efficient than the old methods, and had been recently instituted to stop the recent wave of people thinking obscene thoughts about tomatoes, which Dorothy Quisling noted was one of the major problems of the new age of plenty and joy.

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subliminal channels on ham radio
by Do you know what's in the trunk? 23-Apr-1993 1646 23 Apr '93

23 Apr '93

KLB says: >Hmm... if authenticating signatures can be transmitted, then some >enterprising and patient cryptographers can also transmit messages, >encrypted if desired, back and forth using one of the "subliminal >channel" protocols! [and goes on to explain such steganography] yes, you could _theoretically_ use steganography in the authentication block, but it would be illegal. Very simply, you must not transmit a message over the Amateur bands if that message contains information that is not "in the clear". And I doubt any ham would knowingly transmit such a message... hams would consider it "poor form". Hams and amateur radio has been self- policing since WW 1 and Hiram Maxim's passage of a congressional bill *making* ham radio self-policing to the greatest extent possible. That's why the US hams were not silenced "for security reasons" during WW I, and the tradition of self-policing ham radio has held up ever since. Besides, essentially *all* ham traffic is monitored- usually by other hams, as well as by shortwave listeners, scanner groupies, and even, occasionally, the FCC. Hams will DF (direction-find) in on anybody on their frequencies who break the rules with the ruthless efficiency of Truly and Justly Annoyed Citizens, and the FCC has (at last!) agreed to accept tapes made by hams as legal evidence in seizure proceedings. Thus, the ham radio frequencies are "the wrong pool to piss in", if you get my drift. -Bill, N1KGX

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RADIO: keys, ham, and subliminal channels
by elee9sf＠Menudo.UH.EDU 23 Apr '93

23 Apr '93

> The meaning must still be in clear but you are allowed to send a > authenticating "signature" in code, as long as the signature > contains no information other than authentication itself that was > not also transmitted in clear. That's why autopatch Hmm... if authenticating signatures can be transmitted, then some enterprising and patient cryptographers can also transmit messages, encrypted if desired, back and forth using one of the "subliminal channel" protocols! A subliminal channel allows people to communicate by essentially disguising their true message in the digital signature of the message they transmit openly. It would take several exchanges between the two to transmit a real message, since I recall the subliminal channels I've looked at allow the transfer of a few numbers at a time, but it could be done! /-----------------------------------\ | Karl L. Barrus | | elee9sf(a)menudo.uh.edu | <- preferred address | barrus(a)tree.egr.uh.edu (NeXTMail) | \-----------------------------------/

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On getting local congressional representation for our cause
by crunch＠netcom.com 23 Apr '93

23 Apr '93

I talked with Congressman Starks office today (My district) to discuss what the possibilities are for them to attend a cypherpunks meeting to hear our concerns, and to find out whats possible and the procedures to get them to attend. We would want congresspersons for each of the districts to attend, and people from each district should write them a letter, and include the possible future dates of the Cypherpunks meetings you would want them to attend. Please allow for about 6 weeks for them to schedule in to attend the meetings, as they have lots of other meetings to attend as we all know. After talking to Ron Dellums and Starks office, their procedures are pretty much standardized, and we should have no problem in getting them to attend of we follow their prescribed procedures. They are MOST INTERESTED in hearing our input on this controversial matter, so lets all get together and compose up this letter, and get them off to our local representitives. Before mailing the letter, one should call the local office, and obtain the name of the person who schedules their public appearances to attend such meetings. Once this name is obtained, include it in the letter, Attention Annie Zaitlan (Starks office). We have to do this for every local representitives office in the Bay area. JD

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fear of the NSA/FBI, etc.
by grady＠netcom.com 23 Apr '93

23 Apr '93

Some readers have e-mailed me to warn of the consequences of annoying the NSA by QSTing (not "broadcasting" for you part 97.113 freaks) my cipher fingerprint tomorrow at 17:00 UTC (10 am Pacific Daylight Time) on 7265 Mhz and at 17:30 UTC on 14335 Mhz + or - for QRM. You should copy: pub 1016/2EF221 1993/03/16 Grady Ward <grady(a)netcom.com> (707) 826-7715 Key fingerprint = 15 E2 AD D3 D1 C6 F3 FC 58 AC F7 3D 4F 01 1E 2F spoken by my robot after I call the first Cypherpunks net for check-ins. As long as it's legal, fuck the NSA or any other entity that might try to intimidate. The worst kind of censorship is the mind-numbing self-censorship from fear. Hope to net with all you hams tomorrow! With my modest setup I should be able to cover the west coast from Alaska down to LA as far east, maybe, as Arizona on 40m. 20m should be better for people in the midwest. Easterners -- well, we'll see how the propagation is. 73 de kn6cp

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CLIPPER: THe battle continues
by $HOME/.sig 23 Apr '93

23 Apr '93

> Tim spake: >>George Gleason writes: > >>"AT&T: phones with Big Brother Built Inside!" >> >>-gg > >What a great little slogan! Those stickers that say "Intel Inside" could be >modified to say something pithy like "Big Brother Inside." > >Crypto Yippies (Cryppies?) might even wander into stores like Fry's and >paste them onto the AT&T phones on display. Professionally-made labels >might even remain for months. > >Just another seditious thought. > >- -Tim > > > >- -- >Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, >tcmay(a)netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero >408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, >W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, smashing of governments. >Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: MailSafe and PGP available. >Waco Massacre + Big Brother Wiretap Chip = A Nazi Regime > > >------- End of Forwarded Message Now this is an idea I like... what about using the antitheft-metal base tags that leave a surface impression when removed... it currently leaves a checkboard pattern but that could be reworked to say INSECURE , or TAPPED... then post then on every ATT instrument around... including payphones the front of the label could make reference to CLIPPER and give a voicemail number to call for further info... yippie indeed... cheers kelly

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Press, and a spokesperson and other things..
by crunch＠netcom.com 23 Apr '93

23 Apr '93

In regards to the name of the group... I think that we should organize and establish a Public relations group NOT associated directly with the cypherpunks, but with well established people in the industry that can and should put on a professional image to the public and be a spokesperson representing us as a whole. In this sense, the name of "cypherpunks" as our group is totally irrevelant. As far as I'm concerned it's just the name of the mailing list, but I sort of like that name myself, and have on ocassion used it in public interviews etc. It is publically known that I'm involved with the MacPGP effort in the cause to put forth my programming skills to better serve the Cypherpunk community. But I decline to be a spokesperson for several reasons I'll take up privatly with anyone who wants to know. With my bad rap, and somewhat controversial past, I feel that someone else can better serve the cypherpunk community in this PR effort. Just yesterday, I talked with Craig Larson who has offered some PR suggestions, and he says that he might drop by the cypherpunk meeting between 4 and 6 pm. In the meantime, I'll try and elaborate on some of his PR ideas with the group. First off, Craig suggests having 3 or more press briefings seperated by about two weeks, with emphesis on making it very newsworthey, and by professionals attening, such as the cypherpunks spokesperson, perhaps RSA folks, FBI folks, and other people on hand to ask the right questions that should bring out these issues to the public. I've delt with the press before, and all they are interested in is RAW NEWS, and anything else to sell the story. In other words, "money talks and bullshit walks". NEWS!! is the key.... The more controversy we can generate (And important issues) the better we will be able to get the word out to the John Q. Public. There are TV interviews, background stories, and lets not forget recent news of matters not so related to cryptography, such as hacker busts, and other newsworthey things related to the computer industry that CAN be somewhat related and tied to cryptography. The goals of the press meeting would be to get the word out to as many concerned citizens as possible with an emphasis on ANALOGYS such as "Clipper technology is like giving the police the keys to your house" or something like that. JD

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