IP: Today, Oct 21, 1999 is "Jam Echelon Day"

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

[ for the record I neither condemn or condone the following action 
(although I have my private opinion). This is being passed on for 
information and because there are a lot of good links at the first 
url djf]

> Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1999 13:28:47 -0700
> To: David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
> From: Udhay Shankar N <udhay () pobox com>
> Subject: Today, Oct 21, 1999 is "Jam Echelon Day"
>
> http://www.echelon.wiretapped.net/
>
> <quote>
> October 21st, 1999 is "Jam Echelon Day".
>
> Following some discussions on the Hacktivism mailing list, October 
> 21st, 1999 was named "Jam Echelon Day". This was significant because 
> it marks both the first large scale grass-roots effort to "jam up" 
> the works of the global surveillance system operated by the 
> US/UK/Australian/New Zealand Governments known as "Echelon" and 
> because it co-incides with Stop Police Brutality Day. While the goal 
> of "jamming up" Echelon is a lofty and likely unattainable one, is 
> it not better to signal displeasure at being monitored than 
> passively allow it to happen? We believe so. Privacy should not be 
> something that's considered only after it's been breached.
>
> This website was created with a dual purpose. The first is obviously 
> to inform people about Echelon's existence and what things they can 
> do (in theory) to "jam it up", either by sending widely-known 
> "trigger words" or (better yet) not allowing themselves to be 
> subjected to random, anonymous eavesdropping by foreign powers. The 
> secondary purpose of the site is to provide links to information and 
> software that does just that - allows people to secure their email, 
> networks, and operating systems with good practice and cryptographic 
> software of such strength that easy decryption in a reasonable 
> timeframe is not possible for any eavesdropper.
> </quote>
>
> And some amusing stuff from http://www.echelon.wiretapped.net/echelon.cgi :
>
> <quote>
> National Security Action Memorandum
>
> From: Office of the President of the United States of America
>
> To: Colonel Paul F. Capasso, 50th Communications Group Commander
>
> You've got to hook-up with the Spetznatz defector in hiding in Los 
> Angeles about 6 hours. Additionally, An Iraqi diplomat is well 
> positioned to get a shipment of fissionable plutonium across the 
> border and up to Menwith just as everybodys sitting down for 
> Christmas dinner. Further to that, As members of the holy 
> revolutionary front, we must make the drop to MOSSAD in The White 
> House just as everybodys sitting down for Christmas dinner. Finally, 
> SIGINT from the KWT-46 suggests that theyre being blackmailed. As of 
> this morning, it looks like theyll auction the vessel of plutonium 
> to some North Korean nationals working out of London on January 1st 
> as that year 2000 thing really heats up.
> </quote>
> ===============================
>
>
> --
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