Slashdot Mirror
Nasty Bad Men Are Using Encryption
ruebarb writes: "It appears that Osama Bin Laden and the majority of the Slashdot community have something in common - they love that free encryption! Bin Laden has been using chat rooms, bulletin boards, email, and (presumably) PGP to plan his terrorist activities. The article is available at cnn.com -- Expect the usual political outcry and demands for restriction of encryption technology to follow shortly hereafter"
And an unnamed correspondent writes: "USA Today has this report about how terrorists are using encryption to distribute secret mayhem instructions via the internet. Gee, you think?
What do you think -- is this part of a PR campaign to show John Q. Public how dangerous encryption is in any hands other than gov?" In related news, several of the major news networks are reporting that innocent-looking newspapers and circulars have been employed to form the ransom notes used by notorious kidnappers; calls to ban newspapers on that ground may face some opposition from extremists, but will no doubt soon reach the legislature.
Late at night, Muslim terrorist headquarters...
General walks into a room unannounced.
General: Samir, what are you doing?!?
Samir (surprised, suddenly turning his attention from the computer): General!!! I-I-I didn't know you were here at this hour, sir!!!!
General: Samir, were you using Allah's network connection to visit porn sites?
Samir: No, General! Of course not! I was just -- I was just, eh, using the porn site's bulletin board to send terrorist messages, sir! (types in something random)
General: But I can't read any of it!
Samir: Of course not, General! You see, sir, they're encrypted! Yes, that's right, they're encrypted!
General: Very well, I'll let it pass this time.
Samir turns off the computer and the lights. Exeunt.
General: By the way, Samir...
Samir: Yes, sir?
General: I think "CIABoy935466" likes you.
To the editors: your English is as bad as your Perl. Please go back to grade school.
http://www.attrition.org/~wrlwnd/crypto/steanograp hy/jpeg-steg/
Maybe you could use this to tunnel IP over USENET porn?
I think it's important to put Bin-Laden's quote in context:
----> The US conducts Operation Desert Storm. The US media reports it is an enormous success -- highlighting the role of Patriot missles and other high-tech systems -- when in fact, MIT researchers later show that none of the Patriots hit their intended targets, cruise missle performance was dismal (30% ish), etc.
----> In 1992, a bunch of Bin-Laden trained hicks kick the US's butt in Somalia. Boy, we don't hear much about US military effectiveness in the media.
----> In Spring 2000, 129 US warplanes are downed in the Yugoslav/Kosovo conflict. The NY Times reports only one of these.
As an advocate of a truly strong military -- as opposed to a bloated, bureaucratic, budget-and-career-path grabbing mess -- I think we ought to be listening pretty strongly when Bin-Laden says America is run by "devils."
Why? Because what Bin-Laden is saying is that America is much weaker than is says it is. That it is run by a bunch of cowards who lie about just about everything -- including our military capacity. And that sort of lying has everything to do with the current case.
Instead of going out there and building a strong, honorable military that can defend Americans along with the ideal of freedom, the FBI and etc. are going out there and building a totalitarian state that prevents the flow of information and the development of ideas. It's saying that people can't have encryption, because we're too cowardly and lazy to defend against it, and playing to the weakness and fear of the public. This is the essence of unfreedom. This is what destroys republics.
It is also the direct opposite of the democratic ideal which protects our society. The idea of freedom of information is that we become strongest when ideas can flow without government restriction -- that we solve problems, build economies, develop new technologies, and learn to protect ourselves better in a free society. And it is for this reason that totalitarian societies are doomed to freedom.
Is Mr. Bin-Laden using encryption? Is he building a military force to fight the U.S. government? Is he hurting the U.S.? If so, then I say, as an American, thank you Mr. Bin-Laden. Thank you for pointing out how weak we have become, under the direction of Mr. Freeh, and Messrs. Bush, and Mr. Clinton. Thank you for showing us that our society is so weak, and so unfree, that it cannot defend itself from you. Thank you for pointing out the devils among us, and how unfree they have made us, and that they are liars.
And that the lie is, that it is good to restrict technology, restrict information, restrict DeCSS, restrict encryption. That it is good to not let Americans see when their planes are shot down, or when their soldier die because they are unprepared for real war, because it "maintains morale" and public support for the military. The lie is, that restrictions and lying and totalitarianism makes us stronger, when it weakens us, weakens our military, and weakens our democracy. The lie is, that this benefits anyone, other than the bastards telling the lie. And by that, I mean Louis Freeh, among others, in this case.
All I have left to say, is that it is time to get the bastards out of office.
When the Marines landed in the last days of 1992, bin Laden sent in his own soldiers, armed with AK-47's and rocket launchers. Soon, using the techniques they had perfected against the Russians, they were shooting down American helicopters. The gruesome pictures of the body of a young army ranger being dragged naked through the streets by cheering crowds flashed around the world. The yearlong American rescue mission for starving Somalians went from humanitarian effort to quagmire in just three weeks. Another superpower humiliated. Another bin Laden victory.
"After leaving Afghanistan, the Muslim fighters headed for Somalia and prepared for a long battle, thinking that the Americans were like the Russians," bin Laden said. "The youth were surprised at the low morale of the American soldiers and realized more than before that the American soldier was a paper tiger and after a few blows ran in defeat. And America forgot all the hoopla and media propaganda ... about being the world leader and the leader of
the New World Order, and after a few blows they forgot about this title and
left, dragging their corpses and their shameful defeat."
Oh yeah me and Osama go way back to the old school days of ef-net.. check out this old log i found:
:DDDD:D:D:D:D:D hey man! whats happening?
;)~~~
*** Osama888 has joined #metallica
<Osama888> wasssuuuuuupppppp >:D
*** UN sets mode: +o Osama888
<brakzilla>
<Osama888> man I was out shopping for nitrogen rich fertilizer at this damn store in al Kabarfi and this zit faced punk at the store was all up in my face
<brakzilla> hehehehe lol!!
<Osama888> hehe then I told the guy, "do you know who I am??" and he was like D:
<brakzilla> werd!
<Osama888> yea w3rd.. brb pizza
don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things
It's kind of funny (but not too funny) how the Western World is as afraid of technology they don't understand (crypto) as they are of cultures they don't understand.
It's supposed to be completely automatic, but actually you have to press this button.