One of the techniques used by the Spamsters seems
to be word e.obfuscation by punctuation. Basically
take a WORD and modify it so that it is still
visually readable but uses spaces or unobtrusive
punctuation to make it difficult to filter.
For instance
WORD
W,O,R,D
W,O.R'D...
Seems to me it should be possible to create a
filter that counts punctuation in a subject header
and filters anything with more that say # of any
one type or a total of more than # of any type.
Not perfect of course but it would complicate the
lives of the spamming skunk-weasels and anything
that accomplishes this is by definition a Good
Thing.
Good idea Cliff unfortunately this would prevent M$ from breaking things whenever they needed to hence it is unlikely to occur at least as far as M$ Office is concerned. If the proposed remedies in the current M$ anti-trust case include ( as they should ) measures to force ( even temporarily ) M$ to open its file formats then the situation may change. The downside is that M$ will then attempt to coopt whatever the standard becomes and voila there we are back at square one.
What seems to have been forgotten is that IIRC, Mitnick was no great shakes as a "hacker". He was in fact a "social engineer". This is a polite way of saying "dumpster diving conman". Yeah, law enforcement has little to be proud of over this episode but neither does Mitnick. Now having said that what about the restrictions on him. There may be first amendment grounds there but it should be remembered that the ability of probationers to associate with specified people can be restricted although trying to apply that to non-felonious members of the general public is stretching the principle near to breaking.
But how much money does the MPAA actually make from the licensing per se? Isn't it more that if CSS decryption must be licensed they can then en- force region codes as part of the licensing. Yes, its still about money but also control. And on the main topic. If some slob encrypts their puke data using some really complicated protocol like oh say "rot13" does decrypting it with oh say pine's "rot13" function violate the law. ( Pine has rot13 doesn't it or am I mistaken ). And what about Lone Ranger decoder rings? Will they be illegal? Come on people, there has to be a way to turn this around so it bites Mattel in the butt.
Hmmm, no one seems to have mentioned Ursula LeGuin. Charles de Lint writes some good stuff as well. As an aside. I got my introduction to sci-fi from an anthology series my parents bought for us. One volume ( age appropriate and with a theme ) arrived each Xmas. The sci-fi volume arrived around age 12 IIRC. They were quality productions complete with the classic illustrations from those books that had them. If I'd gotten nothing else that single thing alone would have made my day. I'd read some of Jules Verne by that time ( Journey To The Center Of The Earth ) but not much of the genre. Eventually we had two of these type of series and I credit my love for reading to them.
This is about what you'd ecpect given the reception they got at the TRO hearing. I'd say they are trying to make it difficult for the white hats to be everywhere necessary and are prepared to spend what it takes to do that. In military terms disrupt and defeat in detail. It goes without saying that they are jurisdiction shopping as well looking for a more receptive judicial ear.
Slashdot Mirror
One of the techniques used by the Spamsters seems to be word e.obfuscation by punctuation. Basically take a WORD and modify it so that it is still visually readable but uses spaces or unobtrusive punctuation to make it difficult to filter. For instance WORD W,O,R,D W,O.R'D ...
Seems to me it should be possible to create a
filter that counts punctuation in a subject header
and filters anything with more that say # of any
one type or a total of more than # of any type.
Not perfect of course but it would complicate the
lives of the spamming skunk-weasels and anything
that accomplishes this is by definition a Good
Thing.
Only 5 hours. Jeeez, it takes 5 hours for Fidel
(Castro) to finish his opening remarks.
Good idea Cliff unfortunately this would prevent M$ from breaking things whenever they needed to hence it is unlikely to occur at least as far as M$ Office is concerned. If the proposed remedies in the current M$ anti-trust case include ( as they should ) measures to force ( even temporarily ) M$ to open its file formats then the situation may change. The downside is that M$ will then attempt to coopt whatever the standard becomes and voila there we are back at square one.
What seems to have been forgotten is that IIRC, Mitnick was no great shakes as a "hacker". He was in fact a "social engineer". This is a polite way of saying "dumpster diving conman". Yeah, law enforcement has little to be proud of over this episode but neither does Mitnick. Now having said that what about the restrictions on him. There may be first amendment grounds there but it should be remembered that the ability of probationers to associate with specified people can be restricted although trying to apply that to non-felonious members of the general public is stretching the principle near to breaking.
But how much money does the MPAA actually make from the licensing per se? Isn't it more that if CSS decryption must be licensed they can then en- force region codes as part of the licensing. Yes, its still about money but also control. And on the main topic. If some slob encrypts their puke data using some really complicated protocol like oh say "rot13" does decrypting it with oh say pine's "rot13" function violate the law. ( Pine has rot13 doesn't it or am I mistaken ). And what about Lone Ranger decoder rings? Will they be illegal? Come on people, there has to be a way to turn this around so it bites Mattel in the butt.
Hmmm, no one seems to have mentioned Ursula LeGuin. Charles de Lint writes some good stuff as well. As an aside. I got my introduction to sci-fi from an anthology series my parents bought for us. One volume ( age appropriate and with a theme ) arrived each Xmas. The sci-fi volume arrived around age 12 IIRC. They were quality productions complete with the classic illustrations from those books that had them. If I'd gotten nothing else that single thing alone would have made my day. I'd read some of Jules Verne by that time ( Journey To The Center Of The Earth ) but not much of the genre. Eventually we had two of these type of series and I credit my love for reading to them.
This is about what you'd ecpect given the reception they got at the TRO hearing. I'd say they are trying to make it difficult for the white hats to be everywhere necessary and are prepared to spend what it takes to do that. In military terms disrupt and defeat in detail. It goes without saying that they are jurisdiction shopping as well looking for a more receptive judicial ear.
How about small piece of 4mm DAT.