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Swarthmore Students Keep Diebold Memos Online
An anonymous reader submits "Two student groups based out of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania announced today that they are rejecting Diebold Elections Systems' cease-and-desist orders and are initiating an electronic civil disobedience campaign that will ensure permanent public access to the controversial leaked memos. You can read the memos, search the memos, or download the memos."
Or host them in another country, and you'll always have access to them.
I bet Diebold just posted it too slashdot too destroy it (servers dead with one post)...
damn there creative
You can have a real effect on what is going to happen. Please take a few minutes to help us out with this action.
Here's how to help:
1) The students engaging in this civil disobedience are meeting with the Dean of their college Wednesday, October 22nd at 4pm. We need you to email *nice* and *supportive* emails to rgross1 (at) swarthmore.edu and cc them to info (at) why-war.com *before* October 22nd at 4pm EST. Please help Dean Bob Gross understand the importance of this issue!
2) Download the entire memo archive:
http://why-war.com/memos/s/lists.tgz
3) Join the disobedience by hosting the memos and posting the URL in this thread
SCDC: http://scdc.emegaweb.net/
Why War?: http://www.why-war.com/
Pleas join an existing, legitimate effort at http://verifiedvoting.org -
This site, rather than continually despairing at the fact that there are problems with electronic voting, has concrete steps that average citizens can take to make change.
Seriously, print up pamphlets and distribute them, citing the e-mails and memos, with a "dumbed down" non technical explaination of just what the problems are with Diebold machines. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on copies, just print out 10-50 pamphlets.
Then hand them out to anyone and everyone you see on the street. If you can manage to do it outside of polling locations, all the better.
There's only about 5 million people online, and talking about it amongst ourselves is not going to make any difference, especially since the mainstream news has been ignoring the issue. We are, in essense, the minority. The majority are those who need to be informed. The guys without computers, the guys without internet service.
And maybe, just MAYBE, the more people in the general public that are made aware, then perhaps enough people will start asking questions that NOBODY can ignore the issue any further.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
Friday, 12 September 2003 (PDT)
.mdb file with MS-Access, and alter its contents. That includes the audit log. This isn't anything new. In VTS, you can open the database with progress and do the same. The same would go for anyone else's system using whatever database they are using. Hard drives are read-write entities. You can change their contents.
.mdb file. Even technical wizards at Metamor (or Ciber, or whatever) can figure that one out.
.mdb file to prevent Metamor from opening it with Access. I've threatened to put a password on the .mdb before when dealers/customers/support have done stupid things with the GEMS database structure using Access. Being able to end-run the database has admittedly got people out of a bind though. Jane (I thin
By Bev Harris - blackboxvoting.org
http://www.blackboxvoting.com
If certification isn't being done properly, the whole house of cards falls. Below are actual copies of internal Diebold memos which show that uncertified software is being used in elections, and that Diebold programmers intentionally end-run the system.
Quick backgrounder first, scroll down to see the memos.
BACKGROUND
Our voting system, which is part of the public commons has recently been privatized. When this happened, the counting of the votes, which must be a public process, subjected to the scrutiny of many eyes of plain old citizens, became a secret.
The computerized systems that register voters, will soon sign voters into the polling place using a digital smart card, record the vote we cast, and tally it are now so secret they are not allowed to be examined by any citizens group, or even by academics like the computer scientists at major universities.
The corporate justification for this secrecy is that these systems adhere to a list of "standards" put out by the Federal Election Commission, and that an "ITA" (Independent Testing Authority) carefully examines the voting system, which is then provided to states for their own certification.
As it turns out, the states typically do not examine the computer code at all, relying instead on a "Logic and Accuracy" test which will not catch fraud and has frequently missed software programming errors that cause the machines to miscount.
A Diebold message board has been used since 1999 to help technicians in the field interact with programmers to solve problems. The contents of this message board were quietly sent to reporters and activists around the world, most likely by a Diebold employee. In a letter to WiredNews, Diebold has acknowledged that these memos are from its own staff message boards.
Without further commentary, judge for yourself whether Diebold has been following certification requirements:
From Nel Finberg, Technical Writer, Diebold Election Systems
(Note: Metamor/Ciber is the ITA assigned to certify the software)
alteration of Audit Log in Access
To: "support"
Subject: alteration of Audit Log in Access
From: "Nel Finberg"
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 23:31:30 -0700
Importance: Normal
Jennifer Price at Metamor (about to be Ciber) has indicated that she can access the GEMS Access database and alter the Audit log without entering a password. What is the position of our development staff on this issue? Can we justify this? Or should this be anathema?
Nel
Reply from Ken Clark, principal engineer for Diebold Election Systems
RE: alteration of Audit Log in Access
To:
Subject: RE: alteration of Audit Log in Access
From: "Ken Clark"
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 09:55:02 -0700
Importance: Normal
In-reply-to:
Its a tough question, and it has a lot to do with perception. Of course everyone knows perception is reality.
Right now you can open GEMS'
Now, where the perception comes in is that its right now very *easy* to change the contents. Double click the
It is possible to put a secret password on the
If you think an auditable paper record is important, contact your representatives and voice your support for the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003.
As far as I can tell, it's only sleezy Diebold who is telling people not to post the memos. Unless these kids are standing up against a court order to take down the information, they are hardly participating in civil disobedience just because they are pointing out serious flaws in Diebold's buggy system and not listening to Diebold when they say to stop, flaws that Diebold would apparently like to hide.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Freenet.
Exactly why it exists.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Just another example of how America's colleges promote liberalism
Okay. That's a good thing.
and anti-americanism
How is it anti-American to expose flaws in voting machines which could threaten the very heart of our society; the fair democratic election of our leaders?
and promote the acceptance of lawbreaking
We should accept lawbreaking when the laws being broken. Did you ever learn about the Boston Tea Party? Ever hear of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus? Civil disobedience has a long, proud history in America.
If you like conservatism and patriotism, and you dislike civil disobedience, then move to Communist China. They are very conservative, very patriotic, and don't tolerate civil disobedience. Your kind of people...
The aptly-named "liberal arts college" should be banned if you ask me.
No one did, but you'd have really appreciated Mao's Cultural Revolution where intellectuals were rounded up and sent to brutal labor camps.
Comming right up sir! You are just our kind of consumer. Double plus good for you, don't listen to anyone but solid dependable whores we pay. It's not like you need an impartial third party telling you what they think happed. Let the good folks of GE, MSNBC, Disney, and MacDonalds feed you just what does them the best good.
Whatever you do, don't read the internal memos from DiBold's techs. Those people are no longer associated with DiBold for their lack of proper corporate protocal. They should have used Microsoft's famous disapearing ink email, instead of bathering all over the internet. Go back to sleep while they chose your next mayor, govenor, president, forgein policy and conservation laws designed to maximize my^H^H your wealth. Good night, sweet prince!
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Is this the same Indymedia which consists of "stories" posted by raving lunatics that try to pass their most rabid conspiracy theories as legitimate news items?
Sounds kind of like Slashdot.
If that's independent news media, give me my biased greedy coporate controlled news anyday.
1) The open newswire you blast is handled differently on different IMCs. Some sites have an iron-fisted editorial policy, while others are practically free-for-alls. Since the newswire clerks tend to be activists familiar with being ignored and shouted down, the topic of censorship and editorial control is always sensitive. I've argued for a looser editorial policy in some cases, and I've argued for a harder line on crap in others. Read the mailing lists sometime--a lot of people who spend time working on an IMC or two share similar concerns about the unsourced, unsubstantiated crap that some people post as news. Unfortunately, it's hard to argue that such stuff should be immediately hidden when corporate and state media sources post similarly unsourced or half-cocked news with a hardline editorial policy.
2) One person's wacko conspiracy theory is another person's reality. Mind you, this does not excuse some of the greater excesses of the tinfoil hat crowd (the whole "plane didn't hit the Pentagon" crap is so blatantly factless I have to wonder if it's someone's idea of a joke, or a lame COINTELPRO plant, for one example). However, the term "conspiracy theory" seems to be aimed at practically any argument that challenges conventional wisdom, instead of being reserved for the truly raving shit. I actually feel better letting those we view as nutters present their case, so it can be judged on the merits (or lack thereof), instead of having someone else decide for me before the info/crap can even reach my eyes.
3) Some reactionaries like to refer to Indymedia as "Nazimedia" because some of the morons from the neo-Nazi crowd think they've found a place where they can post freely and get away with it. Going back to my first point, many (ok, practically all) IMCs have editorial policies that explicitly ban racism, sexism, or other forms of hatred based upon intrinsic, immutable characteristics. We hate the Nazi fuckers just as much as you do--even more, perhaps. The Jewish-world-conspiracy morons get the same reaction from real progressive and radical activists that I imagine many of you would have upon reading the crap, and if it can't be hidden due to an extremely loose editorial policy, the imbeciles can at least get slapped down in comments.
Finally...
4) The open newswires found on most sites are a fluke of history. The original newswire, on the Seattle IMC, dates from the 1999 "Battle of Seattle". It was intended solely as an experiment in relatively unfiltered, frontline reporting from any observer who could get to a computer. It's rather amazing that many IMCs haven't cracked down and just rid themselves of the often-criticized and -abused open wires, but perhaps it speaks to the committment of most volunteers to ideals of freedom of information and debate.
"You are your own journalist."--English tagline of Indymedia Israel.
Someday, you're going to die. Get over it.
being a patriot is equated to being a nazi.
I've voted green in the last election, and will in the next, but I love my country and I'm sure the grand parent poster does too. Does that make us 'nazis' in your eyes, junior?
From the link...
War? believes that what we are doing is legal; though we see it as an issue of electronic civil disobedience we believe it is Diebold which is abusing copyright law in an attempt to shut down free speech and the democratic process.
Okay, now it's either legal OR it's civil disobedience (i.e., intentionally breaking a law, and accepting an unjust punishment, to draw attention to an issue). As someone who supports this effort -- someone who's done a little political action and gets steaming mad at scatterbrained hippies who drag down liberal progressive movements -- I'd prefer that they straighten out the claims of their action.
I think it would be preferable to claim that Diebold's cease-and-desist order is illegal and unenforceable. Then, keeping the memos online is even better than civil disobedience (noble in its own right), it's actually civil obedience for a just cause.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
If you don't like the newswires (and they can be pretty noisy) each local site has edited features, which should make note of the better articles in the newswire. Of course, it's all entirely volunteer, so results may vary.
Latin American Indymedia sites have been very active, while mainstream media ignores events there almost entirely. Bolivia and Argentina have been very active covering recent events.
It's not like this is going to favor Republicans just because the guy running Diebold is a Republican - with security this bad it's open season for everyone. I think the more worrying thing would be if these machines weren't hackable but were iron-clad, then the only backdoors would belong to the guys who wrote the code; instead, the backdoors are wide open to any idiot who wishes to wander in.
If these machines really are hackable then they'll be hacked, and going by the intelligence of your average script kiddie they'll be hacked to such a ridiculous degree that the results will clearly be fake and the judiciary will declare all of these elections invalid. I mean, really, when Kevin Mitnick is mysteriously elected governor of Minnesota in a write-in vote and NORML supporters sweep the legislative elections in nine states, somebody's going to start asking questions...
all of them. its the only way to be sure.
I'm not joking by the way.
My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle...
Before we condemn these students about a civil disobedience stance against electronic voting, keep in mind these folks are at a Quaker-based college and are acting in those traditions. A few of the posts modded up have been somewhat critical of the motives and methods.
l y- 02-18-2002.shtml
The Society of Friends -- Quakers -- have a long history of questioning that which is conventionally accepted. Thus, they were among the first to question slavery:
http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/DAILYF/2002/02/dai
Quaker-based organizations -- The American Friends Service Committee and British Friends Service Council -- won the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize for their material aid efforts in postwar Europe, particularly in Germany which was then an international paraih:
http://www.afsc.org/about/nobel.htm
And they were in Cambodia when nobody else would go.
Pick a topic -- civil rights, underground railroad, women's rights, GLBT, tolerance of different religions among them -- and Quakers have been quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) questioning convention and willing to stand by their decisions, even when confronted with prison and punishment.
Check http://www.quaker.org if you want to read about how these people have stood in the face of convention and often ended up ahead of their times. Hint: William Penn Hat Trial.
And no, they DO NOT dress like the 17th century guy on the oats box. That's more of an Amish style.
From Nel Finberg, Technical Writer, Diebold Election Systems
(Note: Metamor/Ciber is the ITA assigned to certify the software)
alteration of Audit Log in Access
To: support
Subject: alteration of Audit Log in Access
From: Nel Finberg
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 23:31:30 -0700
Importance: Normal
Jennifer Price at Metamor (about to be Ciber) has indicated that she can access the GEMS Access database and alter the Audit log without entering a password. What is the position of our development staff on this issue? Can we justify this? Or should this be anathema?
Nel
Reply from Ken Clark, principal engineer for Diebold Election Systems
RE: alteration of Audit Log in Access
To:
Subject: RE: alteration of Audit Log in Access
From: Ken Clark
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 09:55:02 -0700
Importance: Normal
In-reply-to:
Its a tough question, and it has a lot to do with perception. Of course everyone knows perception is reality. .mdb file with MS-Access, and alter its contents.
That includes the audit log. This isn't anything new. In VTS, you can open the
database with progress and do the same. The same would go for anyone else's
system using whatever database they are using. Hard drives are read-write entities.
You can change their contents.
Right now you can open GEMS'
Now, where the perception comes in is that its right now very *easy* to change the contents. Double click the .mdb file. Even technical wizards at Metamor
(or Ciber, or whatever) can figure that one out.
It is possible to put a secret password on the .mdb file to prevent Metamor
from opening it with Access. I've threatened to put a password on the .mdb before
when dealers/customers/support have done stupid things with the GEMS database
structure using Access. Being able to end-run the database has admittedly got
people out of a bind though. Jane (I think it was Jane) did some fancy footwork
on the .mdb file in Gaston recently. I know our dealers do it. King County is
famous for it. That's why we've never put a password on the file before.
Note however that even if we put a password on the file, it doesn't really prove much. Someone has to know the password, else how would GEMS open it. So this technically brings us back to square one: the audit log is modifiable by that person at least (read, me). Back to perception though, if you don't bring this up you might skate through Metamor.
There might be some clever crypto techniques to make it even harder to change the log (for me, they guy with the password that is). We're talking big changes here though, and at the moment largely theoretical ones. I'd doubt that any of our competitors are that clever.
By the way, all of this is why Texas gets its sh*t in a knot over the log printer. Log printers are not read-write, so you don't have the problem. Of course if I were Texas I would be more worried about modifications to our electronic ballots than to our electron logs, but that is another story I guess.
Bottom line on Metamor is to find out what it is going to take to make them happy. You can try the old standard of the NT password gains access to the operating system, and that after that point all bets are off. You have to trust the person with the NT password at least. This is all about Florida, and we have had VTS certified in Florida under the status quo for nearly ten years.
I sense a loosing battle here though. The changes to put a password on the .mdb file are not trivial and probably not even backward compatible, but we'll
do it if that is what it is going to take.
Ken
Reply by Nel Finberg
RE: alteration of Audit Log in Access
To:
From http://www.indymedia.nl/nl/2003/10/14569.shtml: http://www.emptylogic.com/suprnova/torrents/451/li sts.tgz.torrent
Enjoy!
Withdrawal before climax is very ineffective and those who try this are usually called "parents."
Thankfully, the EFF is more enlightened than you are.
they've been doing most of the grunt work on this issue. Bev Harris deserves alot of credit. They have a really easy way to donate on their front page. 2 paypal buttons, 1 is a one time payment, the other is a $1.99 supscription. 2 bucks a month is cheap if you consider what these people are trying to do. So please help them out.
I used to worry about all the lame-brained, right-wing-liberal, hippie-conservative, crazy assed shit that I've said over the years, and whether having my various posts where I've been all over the political spectrum, all over the spectrum of sanity and insanity, and everywhere from reasonable and educational to bloodthirsty pirate and troll.... I've worried that this legacy would take some explaining, maybe someday, if I were being recruited by the NSA or something, or any other job interview.
But I WOULD NOT trade for anyone named on any of these Diebold memos.
If these discussions are really true, if they are really from developers and QA people, they had better count their lucky stars if the interviewer at their next job isn't political.
You could probably get away with a batch file that prints "system test passed" for all I know.
--Ken Clark
I may have said some crazy-assed crap in my time, but that's because I tend to be a clown. But I don't think I'd want to go on record with something like this. I actually might be more inclined to blow the whistle on this operation. Which is obviously what someone did do.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Try this bittorrent mirror link; this torrent uses multiple trackers so even if the tracker is taken down it will still work, as long as there are seeds connected (or even once complete copy of the file across all the downloaders).
Dear God. What these people consider a 'release" version should count as criminal negligence on an ordinary project. This is about an election, nothing - with the possible exception of the judicial system that may have to step in over this - is more important in our system of government.
I mean... My God ! They don't know what they're sending to the client ! "Is this a "testing" release or not? (Ashamed to ask). I think the hallucinations ought to be resurfacing with Steve already. Ken"
Where are the US Marshall's ? Ashamed to ask ? How's he gonna feel under interrogation ? Or on the witness stand. Draft 'em and send 'em to Leavenworth.
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
"This would completely knock Watergate out of the history books."
Would it?
Watergate was an incident of a political party's attempt to manipulate an election. The perpetrators were caught, and even a conservative view of the facts indicates that members of the highest level of government conspired to coverup the incident. The effort was a failure, and led ultimately to the only resignation of a sitting US president in history.
The Diebold situation seems to consist of a correspondence record of some engineers and managers who botched the quality control phase of a project. The closest thing to a crime indicated here, would be on the hands of whoever allowed an uncertified product to be used in a public venue where certification was required.
I'm afraid Watergate still holds its place on the scale of national scandals. There's really no evidence that Diebold's incompetence is because they have been instructed by a political party. There is some evidence for negligence though. I wouldn't want to be ANY of the people whose names are on these memos, at least not while looking for my next job.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Currently, a leading manufacturer of electronic voting systems named Diebold Systems is attempting to squelch critics and critical discussion of their products and business methods. Some of these critics are your students, as you are probably well aware. Such Cease and Desist orders are the first step in a campaign to control those who would dissent, and to intimidate those who would research.
I believe this discussion rightly should include the publication of confidential business memoranda that have been acquired from Diebold Systems. These memoranda may show certain antipathy to the proper methodology and design for a secure voting infrastructure. It is only through such exposition that a frank discussion of security and responsibility can be pursued.
Lastly, I am very concerned at corporate influence in government function. I have long held the position that "a corporation has no vested interest in the rights of the individual." I am not anti- business or anti-profit, but companies which perform vital government functions such as producing voting equipment must be adherent to the principles of a free and informed electorate, both in products and in deeds.
I recommend you support your students, and support their cause to inform the public where possible on these issues.
Please show your students that Democracy and Research are more important than corporate greed, and that transparency is critical when building a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
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