From hungary-online-owner Sat Dec 2 05:18:26 1995 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id FAA23607 for hungary-online-out31415; Sat, 2 Dec 1995 05:04:15 -0800 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id FAA23596; Sat, 2 Dec 1995 05:03:46 -0800 Received: from ddt@lsd.com () via =-=-=-=-=-= for hungary-online@hungary.yak.net (23594) Received: from netcom13.netcom.com (root@netcom13.netcom.com [192.100.81.125]) (fnord) by nando (8.6.5/8.6.5) with ESMTP id FAA23591 for ; Sat, 2 Dec 1995 05:03:36 -0800 Received: from [129.46.82.84] by netcom13.netcom.com (8.6.12/Netcom) id EAA17097; Sat, 2 Dec 1995 04:26:50 -0800 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/pgp; name="(put_this_in_your_wallet)_the_" ; format="mime" Content-Disposition: inline; filename="(put_this_in_your_wallet)_the_" Message-Id: X-Sender: Level Seven Design X-PGP-KeyID-Fprnt: 4AAF00E5 - 30D81F3484E6A83F 6EC8D7F0CAB3D265 X-PGP: http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/htbin/pks-extract-key.pl?op=get&search=lsd X-Floppyright: (f)1995 LSD.com _ Unlicensed retransmission prohibited. Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 04:31:56 -0800 To: ($) From: Dave Del Torto Subject: (HOL) (put this in your wallet) the Ecash bank protocol goes public Cc: Sender: owner-Hungary-Online@hungary.yak.net Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Hungary-Online@hungary.yak.net -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Sender: Level Seven Design X-PGP-KeyID-Fprnt: 4AAF00E5 - 30D81F3484E6A83F 6EC8D7F0CAB3D265 X-PGP: http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/htbin/pks-extract-key.pl?op=get&search=lsd X-Floppyright: (f)1995 LSD.com _ Unlicensed retransmission prohibited. Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 04:31:38 -0800 To: ($) From: Dave Del Torto Subject: (put this in your wallet) the Ecash bank protocol goes public Cc: FYI, -------> URL: <------- Something Very Good happened on the Internet today. Something historic. The text at the World WIde Web URL above is the result of DigiCash founder and patent-holder Dr. David Chaum agreeing to make the Ecash(tm) bank protocol available for public review after requests from Cypherpunks and other privacy and encryption activists. I'd guess there was probably some pressure (from certain governments and banks) not to release it, but Chaum and DigiCash have done The Right Thing, in beginning to release this information (it's only partial at this time). The complete protocol (once we can view it) is, to say the least, an important thing for people to feel confident about, as it's the "key" (pun intended) to the cryptological software that forms the basis for one of the more revolutionary advancements in Economics since money was first "coined:" ecash is electronic "coins, wallets, and bank accounts" unlike any other systems that exist today (this is not "ATM" technology). To learn more about the money of the future, visit . This will touch you someday: I "guarantee" it. We all understand the Power of the Purse. The ecash protocol is virtually a blueprint for how to mint and manage electronic money. The Public's ability to inspect this protocol and feel assured that any system that purports to implement it in the future is free from tampering [see: for the first example of "hard" ecash], is as fundamental to the Commonweal as it is for citizens to feel confident that a government can mint, tend and warrant difficult-to-counterfeit currency. In this case, DigiCash's electronic "currency" is made extremely secure by being computationally infeasible to counterfeit because the encryption algorithms used are similar to the military-grade encryption used by the famous PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) freeware (visit: ). Philip Zimmermann (the original author of PGP) was the first individual to make the complete source code to a powerful cryptographic system available in perpetuity for public inspection, and his continuing willingness to take the heat [cf. ] fro m the US government, which classifies cryptographic code as "munitions" (rather than a powerful, universally understood branch of information mathematics which was long ago "out of the barn") is one reason why you can still rely on PGP being the most secure way to exchange extremely secure private messages with others worldwide (or store your own private information so that it remains private). Chaum's willingness to make the ecash protocol public now makes it possible for users of money in the future to trust in ecash's integrity as they do in PGP's. With the final release of the complete protocol, ecash will come closer to being "everyone's" electronic currency system, not just the exclusive territory of powerful financial institutions and multinational corporations as some feared. The posting of the ecash protocol also demonstrates in the most profound way that "emperors" in the US Government who wish to artifically restrict the transfer of private messages between persons residing across international borders by restricting the dissemination of cryptographic technology are logically "wearing no clothes." DigiCash's world-class cryptological work was performed outside the territorial borders of the US by an international team of engineers in Amsterdam led by Chaum, and is now the standard by which any future digital money systems should be judged. This technology, which is based on public key cryptography algorithms developed by US and non-US academics (on US taxpayer funds), has now been developed outside the US and is now equal to none. Here's the interesting part: it's legal for anyone to import this technology INTO the USA via any means (electronic or otherwise), BUT -- in a prototypical "Catch-22," one would be subject to federal prosecution under ITAR (the State Dept's Internation Traffic in Arms Regulations: cf. [334K]) for sending the same files back OUT of the country moments later via the same network connection one received them over (unless one had official permission, which is virtually impossible to obtain under the US Government's current restrictions, even for MIT or UC Berkeley where some of the fundamental algorithms were originally developed). The free flow of encrypted material is now both the basis of future currency systems and a technology considered a "weapon" by certain "agencies" of the US Government. Clearly, something somewhere has to give: I'm betting on the marketplace, driven by companies like DigiCash. Even if DigiCash is unsuccessful (a highly unlikely scenario) in propagating this technology so that everyone within a few years carries their money as ecash (contained on handy, wallet-sized "SmartCards" -- another of DigiCash's innovations), your knowing *anything* about this technology now may someday assist you or someone you know in understanding the fundamentals of electronic cash as it applies to your bank account. Chaum's decision to release this information is a profoundly positive step toward empowering everyone with the knowledge of how electronic currency systems operate (see also: ). So... "check" it out. ;) dave [disclaimer: all opinions and errors above belong to me] ________________________________________________________________________ Economists don't hunt elephants, believing instead that if elephants are paid enough, they will eventually hunt themselves. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Verbum sapienti satis est. iQCVAwUBMMBHNKHBOF9KrwDlAQGm2AP/YwkgM6AaYwWHmMkgRsg0EBRO0d1Mg0gv fZxtxAfeqorTyxjycgtsdc4zR8ghb8w0Ot0v0yWoYtIRYfli48AZ/n0iL6H7URKU aWxkXpFA3GwS1H0w7K6bPrlcqBGmKNpx3q8RV0x/DrdelQQfhWI7g9z+rsjqusBA TdTSfWzC1CQ= =B4RW -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ############# # This message to Hungary-Online@hungary.yak.net # was from Dave Del Torto # # To unsubscribe, # send "unsubscribe" to # An announcement-only subscription (less volume) is available # at # Send mail to for more information, # or to if you need human assistance. #############