---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <72888979-C84F-4481-9255-C4E6155E764B@roscom.com> Date: 6 Mar 2020 11:06:53 -0500 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: The Graham-Blumenthal Bill: A New Path for DOJ to Finally Break Encryption Members of Congress are about to introduce a bill that will undermine the law that undergirds free speech on the Internet. If passed, the bill known as the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (EARN IT) Act (1), will fulfill a long-standing dream of U.S. law enforcement. If passed, it could largely mark the end of private, encrypted messaging on the Internet. The Department of Justice and the FBI have long seen encryption as a threat. In 1993, the Clinton administration promoted the installation of a "Clipper Chip" in consumer devices that would allow for easy government eavesdropping using key escrow. When researchers repeatedly demonstrated that this flawed idea would compromise privacy and security for everyone, not just criminals, the idea was scrapped (2). But U.S. law enforcement agencies spent the next 25 years villainizing the widespread adoption of encryption and highlighting a series of awful criminal acts in their efforts to scare elected officials into requiring backdoors. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/graham-blumenthal-bill-new-path-doj-finally-break-encryption 1. https://www.eff.org/files/2020/01/31/graham-blumenthal.pdf 2. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/clipper-chips-birthday-looking-back-22-years-key-escrow-failures ***** Moderator's Note ***** The one thing that scares Congressmen and Congresswomen is the thought that anyone would be able to germinate and grow the seed of any idea which might threaten their phoney-baloney jobs. I don't know about anyone else, but if I was hauling down $174,000.00 per annum, plus staff and allowances and free insider trading tips (I read that they exempted themselves from the laws against insider trading), I'd be scared of anyone who might rock my boat. But that's not the most important reason for concern: our country's ability to continue as a world-leader in innovation and opportunity is at stake. The real role of the National Security Agency is not to listen in on spies or foreign governments: it is (as the NSA has had to admit to its Congressional oversight committee) "economic," which in plain english means that the NSA is really in the business of making sure that there is never another game-changing duo like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The NSA, sad to say, is really in the business of passing on the next big thing to the 1% of the 1%, so that when the descendents of Jobs & Wozniak make it to the patent office, they find out that their game-changing invention has already been patented by a shell corporation owned by the ruling class. It's up to the voters to decide if they want a society where everthing they write down is available to our rulers. Thomas Paine wouldn't have survived for a month if he were living in the digital age, without encryption to keep his letters private, and the same "attack vectors" can be used to suppress the views of ANYONE who seeks fundamental change in the way Uncle Sam looks at the world - * Religeous groups that help political refugees * Those whom make politicians uncomfortable, e.g. The Black Panthers or The Tea Party or the Nation of Islam. * Corporate whistleblowers seeking to expose bribery, bid-rigging, or other crimes committed behind corporate shields. * Anyone who asks impertinent questions, or thinks "impure" thoughts, like me - or you. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20200308214822.GA2282@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2020 21:48:22 +0000 From: Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org> Subject: CenturyLink, Arizona AG reach settlement on consumer fraud claim PHOENIX - CenturyLink has reached a settlement with the Arizona Attorney General's Office after accusations of using deceptive and unfair advertising and billing methods, AG Mark Brnovich announced Monday. CenturyLink, which provides phone, internet and television services, allegedly committed consumer fraud in instances - including its sign-up "Closer Discount" - in which the company often did not apply the cost markdowns. https://ktar.com/story/3007952/centurylink-arizona-ag-reach-settlement-on-consumer-fraud-claim/ -- Bill Horne Telecom Digest Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20200308220022.GA2465@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2020 22:00:22 +0000 From: Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Erik Prince Recruits Ex-Spies to Help Infiltrate Liberal Groups Mr. Prince, a contractor close to the Trump administration, contacted veteran spies for operations by Project Veritas, the conservative group known for conducting stings on news organizations and other groups. By Mark Mazzetti and Adam Goldman WASHINGTON - Erik Prince, the security contractor with close ties to the Trump administration, has in recent years helped recruit former American and British spies for secretive intelligence-gathering operations that included infiltrating Democratic congressional campaigns, labor organizations and other groups considered hostile to the Trump agenda, according to interviews and documents. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/us/politics/erik-prince-project-veritas.html?te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_nn_20200308&campaign_id=9&instance_id=16586&segment_id=21995 -- Bill Horne Telecom Digest Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <r44dp7$mht$3@pcls7.std.com> Date: 9 Mar 2020 03:39:19 +0000 From: "Michael Moroney" <moroney@world.std.spaamtrap.com> Subject: Re: Keystone [was Re: History "Postal Telegraph" As to non-Bell telephone companies, Rochester NY was separate from Ma Bell, until the Bell breakup, I believe. From that retro Keystonetelephone.com, special numbers link: Interesting how Keystone had a special 3 digit emergency number, and it happened to be 911 backwards. As a kid I just knew to dial O for operator in an emergency. Also for some stupid reason I remember 113 was a special number on our own phone system, but now, I have no clue what that number was even for! Did some areas have several 11x special numbers? ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Tue, 10 Mar 2020