taint.org: Justin Mason’s Weblog

The Irish Road Safety Authority have just revised Irish law as it relates to ‘learner drivers’, the 15% of drivers who haven’t yet passed a driving test. (This includes me — my US driving license doesn’t allow me to drive a manual-transmission car in Ireland, so I’m still a learner over here!)

They helpfully released the details as a rather broad PDF entitled ‘Road Safety Strategy 2007-2012‘, which covers the changes along with other plans and statistics; and a more focused document, ‘Learner Permit and Changes to the Driver Licensing System‘, dealing with just the learner-permit system.

Unfortunately, the latter was released as an MS Word document. Given the problems this raises — lack of searchability, integration with the web, etc. — I thought it’d be helpful for searchers if I put up the text in full here, so here it is.

Introduction of Learner Permit and Changes to the Driver Licensing System - Changes to the Driver Licensing System announced on 25 October 2007

In this document you will find information about changes to the driver licensing regime. These changes affect learner drivers and recognise the fact that learner drivers are a vulnerable group of road users. The changes also serve to emphasise the importance of the learning phase for drivers, one element of this is the replacement of provisional licences with learner permits. The changes also highlight the important role played by the driver who accompanies a learner driver.

Over time the intention is to expand the range of conditions applying to a learner permit and to develop a graduated licensing system where there will be a number of different restrictions/conditions applying at different stages. These restrictions will apply while driving with a learner permit and in the initial years of driving with a full driving licence.

Specific details about each of the current changes together with questions and answers on the impact of each change are set out below.

Provisional licences are being replaced by learner permits to emphasise the fact that the holder is a probationary driver and is learning to drive. Existing provisional licences will continue in force until their expiry date. On renewal the person will be issued with a learner permit.

Q: When will learner permits start to issue?

A: Learner permits will issue as and from 30 October 2007.

Q: Does the learner permit system apply to all driving licence categories?

A: Yes, the learner permit system will apply to all licence categories.

Q: Is there any change to the period of validity or the fee for a learner permit compared to that for a provisional licence?

A: No, the duration and fee remain the same as applied to provisional licences.

Q: Are there any changes to apply under the learner permit system?

A: A number of changes detailed below are being introduced for drivers with a learner permit. These are also being applied to drivers with a current provisional licence.

The holder of category B (Car) learner permit (provisional licence) must be accompanied by and under the supervision of a qualified person at all times. This change removes an exemption that, up to now, allowed a person on a second provisional licence to drive unaccompanied. To drive unaccompanied will be a penal offence and the person will be subject to prosecution.

Q: When does this new rule come into effect?

A: This is coming into effect as and from 30 October 2007.

Q: I am currently on a second (provisional licence) learner permit for driving a car, and was not required to be accompanied heretofore with this (provisional licence) learner permit. Must I now be accompanied?

A: Yes, you must be accompanied at all times when driving with a (provisional licence) learner permit for a car.

Q: I have passed the driving test in a vehicle with an automatic transmission and now hold a (provisional licence) learner permit for driving a car with a manual transmission, can I drive this car unaccompanied.

A: No, you must be accompanied by a qualified person until such time as you pass the driving test for a manual transmission car.

Q: In respect of which licence categories is a person who holds a (provisional licence) learner permit required to be accompanied by a qualified person?

A: Drivers with a (provisional licence) learner permit for vehicles of category B, C1, C, D1, D, EB, EC1, EC, ED1 or ED, (Cars, Trucks, Buses and Articulated Vehicles) must be accompanied by and under the supervision of a qualified person.

An accompanying qualified person must hold a full driving licence for the vehicle category for at least two years. It will be a penal offence for the driver not to be accompanied by a qualified person so licenced to drive.

Q. When is this change coming into effect?

A. This change will apply as and from 30 October 2007.

Q: If I am a learner driver driving a car and the accompanying person has held a driving licence for two years in respect of a motorcycle, or a tractor/work vehicle, can this person act as an accompanying qualified person?

A: No, the accompanying qualified person must hold a driving licence for two years for the category of vehicle you are driving.

Q: If a person has passed a driving test to drive the vehicle category, can this person act as an accompanying qualified person?

A: No.

Q: If a person has held a full driving licence for an automatic vehicle for two years, may this person act as the accompanying person?

A: Yes, but only if the learner driver is driving an automatic transmission vehicle in the same category. If s/he is driving a manual transmission vehicle, the accompanying qualified person has to hold a full driving licence for at least two years for a manual transmission vehicle.

Q: If I have a learner permit (provisional licence) in category C1 (small truck) can I be accompanied by a person who holds a full driving licence for category B for two years and for category C1 for one year?

A: No, the accompanying qualified person must hold a full driving licence for two years in respect of the vehicle category which you wish to drive, in this case category C1.

Q: If the accompanying driver has heId his / her driving licence since six years ago but has been disqualified for 2 of the last 3 years, may he /she act as an accompanying driver?

A: No, the accompanying qualified person, at the time you are driving, must hold a full driving licence for two years in respect of the vehicle category which you wish to drive. He/she must not have been disqualified for any period of the previous two years.

The carrying of a passenger by a motorcyclist with a (provisional licence) learner permit is a penal offence.

Q. When is this change coming into effect?

A. This change will apply as and from 30 October 2007.

Q: Can I carry a passenger on any motorcycle category for which I hold a learner permit (provisional licence) ?

A: No, you must have a full driving licence for the motorcycle in order to be able to carry a passenger.

Q: Can I carry a passenger on a category A motorcycle for which I hold a learner permit/ provisional licence if I have a full driving licence for category A1?

A: No.

Q: If I pass the motorcycle driving test, can I carry a passenger?

A: No, you must first exchange your certificate of competency (driving test pass certificate) for a full driving licence to be able to carry a passenger.

It is a penal offence for a holder of a category W (Tractor/Works vehicle) learner permit (provisional licence) to carry a passenger unless the vehicle is constructed or adapted to carry a passenger and the passenger is a qualified person, ie. a person who holds a full driving licence for the vehicle category for at least two years.

Q. When is this change coming into effect?

A. This change will apply as and from 30 October 2007.

Q: When can I carry a passenger?

A: When the passenger holds a driving licence for the vehicle category for at least two years, and where the vehicle is constructed or adapted to carry a passenger.

Q: Can I carry a passenger who is a qualified person if there is no passenger seat?

A: No, the vehicle must be constructed/ adapted for the carriage of a passenger.

It is a penal offence for the holder of a learner permit (provisional licence) in respect of any licence category to carry in the vehicle any passenger for reward.

Q. When is this change coming into effect?

A. This change will apply as and from 30 October 2007.

Q: Can I carry a passenger for reward in the course of my employment?

A: No, you may not do so while driving under a learner permit (provisional licence).

Q: If I have a category D1 learner permit (provisional licence) to drive a minibus, can I carry a passenger for reward?

A: No, you may not do so while driving under a learner permit (provisional licence).

It is a penal offence for the holder of a learner permit (provisional licence) for vehicles of category B, C1, C, D1, D, EB, EC1, EC, ED1 or ED, to drive such a vehicle unless there are displayed on the vehicle rectangular plates or signs bearing the letter ‘L’ not less than 15 centimetres high in red on a white ground, in clearly visible vertical positions to the front and rear of the vehicle.

Q. When is this change coming into effect?

A. This change will apply as and from 30 October 2007.

Q: If I have a category B full driving licence and a learner permit for category C (truck) or category D1 (minibus) must I display L plates?

A: Yes, you must display L plates on the truck or minibus if driving on a learner permit.

It will be a penal offence for the holder of a learner permit (provisional licence) for vehicles of category B, C1, C, D1 or D, to drive such a vehicle while the vehicle is drawing a trailer.

Q: If I have a category B driving licence and a learner permit for category C1 (small truck) can I draw a trailer?

A: No, you may not drive a truck while drawing a trailer if you hold a learner permit (provisional licence) for a truck. You must have the trailer entitlement for the category on the learner permit (provisional licence) in order to draw a trailer.

Learner Motorcyclist to display ‘L’ plates on a high visibility tabard.

Q: From what date will motorcyclists have to display L plates on a high visibility tabard?

A: It takes effect as and from 1 December 2007.

Q: Which learner motorcyclists are required to display L plates on a high visibility tabard?

A: All persons with a learner permit (provisional licence) for category A, A1, or M, must when driving such a vehicle display a yellow fluorescent tabard bearing the letter ‘L’ not less than 15 centimetres high in red on a white ground, in clearly visible vertical positions worn over the chest clothing. The ‘L’ plates are to be to the front and rear of the person’s torso. It will be a penal offence not to so display L plates.

A person who is a first time holder of a learner permit (provisional licence) cannot take a driving test for a six month period after the commencement date of the permit (provisional licence).

Q. When is this change coming into effect?

A. This change will apply to driving test applicants with an appointment date for a test on or after 1 December 2007 and who hold a learner permit (provisional licence) for less than six months. At this point driving tests are scheduled up to this date and the change will not affect existing appointment holders.

Q: Does the change apply to all licence categories?

A: Yes, It applies to all licence categories.

Q: Why is the six month limitation being applied?

A: The purpose of the provisional licence/learner permit is to allow a learner driver to gain experience of driving. Research shows that the longer a learner is supervised while driving, the less likely s/he is to be involved in an accident. For this reason the six months limitation is being applied.

Q: I hold a first learner permit (provisional licence ) for less than six months. I have an appointment already arranged for a driving test. Can I take the test?

A: Yes, the change is being introduced with effect from 1 December 2007 and should not affect existing appointments for driving tests.

Tags: drivers-license, driving, driving-license, government, ireland, learners-permit, provisional-license, rsa

The European Health Insurance Card is dead handy, providing access to healthcare for EU residents while travelling in Europe – it’s definitely worth having one.

There were a few reports in the Irish newspapers last week of an announcement by the Health Service Executive, warning of “a bogus website” which charges a fee of EUR22 to process applications for this:

The HSE also warned that the site is asking applicants to submit detailed financial information. “It has come to the attention of the Health Service Executive that Irish residents are being targeted by a website which is unnecessarily charging people to apply for EHIC cards. The bogus site concerned — http://www.ehic-card.eu/ — is not connected to the HSE,” said the HSE in a statement.

I’d link to the HSE’s press release on the topic, but it’s down, apparently — and that’s pretty indicative of the problem. You see, I’ve been trying to apply for one of these recently.

The HSE has been announcing that there’s no need to use this “bogus site”, since we can just use the “real” site at http://www.ehic.ie/ to apply for one. Here’s what they neglect to mention:

• (a) that unless you’re a pensioner you can’t apply for one online — you have to print out a form, fill it in, and post it to your local health office.
• (b) there’s no indication on the site as to what exactly your “Local Health Office” may be, just a long list of mysterious locations.
• (c) in order to apply, the form demands that you supply all that ‘detailed financial information’ — namely your name, address, date of birth, proof of residency, and PPS number — anyway.
• (d) the “bogus site” isn’t really all that bogus after all.

If they had a simple and usable online application process, perhaps they wouldn’t be plagued by other sites attempting to offer that service for what is really a quite reasonable EUR22 fee?

This is a pretty frequent phenomenon on Irish governmental websites; a half-assed attempt to bring governmental services online, resulting in shiny informational sites, full of clip-art of smiling people talking on the phone, which all come down to a bottom line of “print this out and post it in” or “call this number” – business as usual. Having said that, at least I can generally still get a human on the phone, which still beats dealing with US government agencies, I guess!

BTW, I notice the HSE claim that it only takes 10 working days for an EHIC to arrive using their system. I applied for mine 3 weeks ago, and there’s been no word yet…

Tags: ehic, eu, government, health, hse, internet, ireland

Science: in passing — this came up elsewhere, and it’s worth copying here, too (for reference).

The question was: how much should publicly-funded researchers be required to disclose - should they be allowed to generate ‘closed-source’ solutions at the taxpayers’ expense?

In the US and world-wide, there used to be a tradition that government-funded research should be made open to all, since if it was funded from public taxation, the fruits of that taxation should go back to the public. However, 25 years ago, the US enacted the Bayh-Dole Act, in which:

• Universities were encouraged to collaborate commercial concerns to promote the utilization of inventions arising from federal funding.
• It was clearly stated that universities may elect to retain title to inventions developed through government funding.
• Universities must file patents on inventions they elect to own.

So in other words, the government has dictated since 1980 that government-funded research should not produce open-source or public-domain solutions, necessarily, as the results of research are to be considered private-sector profit-generating centers for the host universities. Naturally, cash-strapped universities have imposed internal regulations to maximise revenue from their research staff.

The implications for whatever ‘the next BSD TCP/IP stack’ may be are obvious.

Tags: copying, expense, funding, government, public, question, reference, research, science, taxation, tradition

Patents: Børsen: Bill Gates threatened to kill 800 Danish jobs if Denmark opposed software patent directive:

Danish financial newspaper Børsen reports that Microsoft founder Bill Gates threatened the Danish government in connection with software patents. According to the article, Gates told Rasmussen and two Danish ministers in November that he would kill all 800 jobs in Navision, a Danish company acquired by Microsoft in 2002, unless the EU were to quickly decide to legalize software patents through a directive. Denmark is a country with only 5 million inhabitants and a relatively small high-tech sector to which the loss of 800 jobs would have significant implications.

Lovely — a blunt blackmail attempt. The article goes on:

It would not be the first threat of its kind. A group of large corporations including Philips is reported to have previously threatened European governments to outsource all of their European software development jobs to low-wage countries unless the EU were to allow patents on software through the directive that is currently being worked on.

In January, leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported on a letter addressed by the Polish subsidiaries of Siemens, Nokia, Philips, Ericsson and Alcatel to Poland’s prime minister Marek Belka … it is said to have indicated that the respective companies would reconsider making investments in Poland if the Polish government upheld its resistance to the legalization of software patents in the EU.

Again, note the FUD-busting on this point. I notice that Florian Mueller of NoSoftwarePatents.comhas a a good one-liner response along the same lines — ‘The country in which you develop a technology has nothing to do with where you can take out patents.’ He goes on:

If they move jobs to Asia, they won’t get a single additional patent, neither in Asia nor in Europe. If you warn politicians of consequences that are directly related to a legislative issue, that’s acceptable. If you threaten with causing damage that has no factual connection whatsoever, then it’s blackmail. Plain and simple.

Tags: article, brsen, country, directive, government, microsoft, newspaper, patent, patents, philips, software

Security: some crypto drama.

Ahmad Chalabi apparently told the Iranian government that the NSA had broken their secret code, according to ‘US intelligence officials’: NYTimes: Chalabi Reportedly Told Iran That U.S. Had Code. This story is still running — Bruce Schneier has just posted his expert opinion, as has Ross Anderson. As I noted on Eric Rescorla’s weblog, here’s my (non-expert) theory ;)

It’s known that the Iranians used Crypto AG equipment up until about 1992, and it’s been widely reported that Crypto AG’s systems were backdoored by the NSA and traffic routinely decrypted. (also, Baltimore Sun story, 1995)

Reportedly, the Anglo-Irish discussions of the 1985 were a rather one-sided affair, because the Irish government used Crypto AG machines to communicate between their Embassy in London and Dublin, and intercepts of their reports were fed back to the UK government.

In addition, according to this article (backup), the NSA also provided Iraq with intercepts of Iranian secret traffic, while Iraq was a US ally — which could explain why Chalabi would have known about it.

It also speculates as to how it was done:

‘Knowledgeable sources indicate that the Crypto AG enciphering process, developed in cooperation with the NSA and the German company Siemans, involved secretly embedding the decryption key in the cipher text. Those who knew where to look could monitor the encrypted communication, then extract the decryption key that was also part of the transmission, and recover the plain text message. Decryption of a message by a knowledgeable third party was not any more difficult than it was for the intended receiver. (More than one method was used. Sometimes the algorithm was simply deficient, with built-in exploitable weaknesses.)’

So my opinion is that Chalabi’s claim was very old news from the 80’s and early 90’s — which pretty much fits in with the rest of his tip-offs to everyone else ;)

Tags: code, crypto, decryption, government, nsa, opinion, reportedly, security, story, text, traffic

Language: So, here’s a word worth noting — ‘Neverendum’. This Guardian article notes:

(Quebecois politician Mario Dumont’s) meteoric ascent is a sign of how weary voters in the French-speaking province have become about what has been dubbed the ‘neverendum referendum’, the debate over whether Quebec should become a country. It has dominated Quebec politics for three decades.

It looks like Ireland’s ever-recurring referenda (motto: ‘if at first the Government fails to get their desired result, try, try again’) have driven the word into usage over there too, judging by this Irish Family Planning Association press release:

‘The idea of holding another pro-life neverendum is clearly ludicrous and serves only to distract from the daily reality of Irish Abortion.’

And there’s even a song, referring to the Nice referendum:

‘The Government should not patronise us but should respect the views of the people,’ he said. Or, as he puts it in verse, ‘What part of our No don?t they understand?’

Tags: article, ascent, government, guardian, irish, language, neverendum, politician, quebecois, referendum, word

Politics: The massive opposition to e-voting without a VVAT by Irish Citizens for Trustworthy Evoting and others, has clearly got Minister Martin Cullen thoroughly needled.

As John Lambe points out here, in the Dail on Wednesday he stated that ICTE are ‘not experts in this field’, ‘have no expertise or international accreditation’, and best of all, he has resorted to the 21st-century equivalent of calling ICTE ‘reds under the bed’ — they are apparently ‘linked to the anti-globalisation movement’. Here’s a cut and paste from the online transcripts:

Mr. Bernard Allen, FG: Electronic voting is a good idea but this system has been badly thought through and public confidence has been badly shaken by a Government unwilling to listen to anyone but its own so-called experts. The Government has called the introduction of this system a step forward, a point reiterated by the Minister. I submit that it is a retrograde step based on insufficient knowledge on the use of technology. The Minister has a new toy and thought everyone would like it. They do not. The Irish Computer Society said: ‘Any electronic voting system must include a paper-based voter-verified audit trail.’ The Minister in his arrogance recently said these people were cranks and Luddites.

Mr. Bernard Durkan, FG: Are they cranks?

Mr. Martin Cullen, FF: They are linked to the anti-globalisation movement. The Deputy should check them out. They are all the same.

Mr. Allen: It is all a–

Mr. Cullen: If Fine Gael bases its policies on such people, it is no wonder it is in decline.

Mr. Durkan: The people concerned are computer experts.

Mr. Allen: We do not know what the Minister’s policies are and where he stands on any matter.

Mr. Paul Kehoe, FG: The Minister should know more about policy having been a member of more than one party.

Mr. Allen: Irish technology experts have told the Government its system must include a paper-based voter-verified audit trail.

Mr. Cullen: They are not experts in this field.

Mr. Allen: The Minister has made a serious allegation about genuine people–

Mr. Cullen: They are not accredited to anything. They have no expertise or international accreditation.

(Interruptions).

Mr. Michael Ring, FG: Fianna Fáil are experts on everything. They have filled every tribunal in the country.

Mr. Allen: The Minister has come to this House and–

Acting Chairman (Jerry Cowley, Ind): Deputy Allen should direct his comments through the Chair.

Mr. Allen: The Chair should ask the Minister to cease interrupting.

Mr. Cullen: Such comments are pathetic. It is no wonder Fine Gael is in such a disorderly state.

Mr. Ring: Fianna Fáil are the experts.

Acting Chairman: I remind Members that this is not a Committee Stage debate. We are dealing with Second Stage and I ask Deputies to allow Deputy Allen to continue without interruption, please.

Mr. Allen: The Minister has vilified people who cannot protect themselves.

Mr. Durkan: Outside the House.

Mr. Allen: The Minister should withdraw the allegation against–

Mr. Cullen: I have not vilified them. I said they are not accredited–

Mr. Allen: The Minister said they are linked to the anti-globalisation movement and suggested we should check them out.

Mr. Cullen: Yes, they are.

Acting Chairman: Deputy Allen, please continue.

Mr. Allen: The Minister should withdraw that allegation against people who cannot protect themselves.

Mr. Cullen: I will not.

Acting Chairman: Deputy Allen, please continue.

Mr. Durkan: The Minister has cast aspersions on people outside this House. In accordance with Standing Orders–

Mr. Cullen: I think they are proud of their links.

Mr. Durkan: On a point of order, the making of such an allegation is not in accordance with the Standing Orders of this House. Perhaps the Minister would like to comment.

Acting Chairman: The Chair has ruled on that matter.

Mr. Durkan: With respect, the Chair has no authority to rule on this matter. Standing Orders apply.

Acting Chairman: That Chair has ruled on the matter.

Mr. Durkan: No, I am sorry, I do not agree. On a point of order, the Minister has cast aspersions–

Mr. Cullen: I paid them a compliment.

Mr. Durkan: The Minister has cast aspersions on people outside this House.

Mr. Cullen: They will regard my remarks as a compliment, a badge of honour.

Tags: audit, field, government, icte, irish, politics, step, system, technology, trail, voting

eVoting: Highly recommended — Adrian Colley’s Lies, Damn Lies, and Six Independent Consultancies. Adrian debunks in a very clear, step-by-step fashion, the spin being produced by Ireland’s government on the e-voting furore. If you’re following the issue, don’t miss this page.

Tags: consultancies, damn, evoting, fashion, furore, government, highly, independent, issue, lies, spin

Linux: MS loses to Linux in Thailand Struggle (LinuxInsider):

The people’s PC project, formally known as the ICT PC Project, revolutionized the Thai PC market, and its effect is being felt around the region. The Ministry of ICT aims to sell 700,000 PCs and 300,000 notebooks in the first year of the project. To make the PCs affordable, the government has insisted that computer makers offer the machines at fire-sale prices — $250 for PCs and $400 for notebooks, including the software.

The government did invite Microsoft to participate in the project, but the company initially refused to lower its prices. Microsoft has a long-standing policy of charging the same prices throughout the world, which could help explain the widespread piracy in developing markets like Thailand, where the average annual income is about $7,000. Charging Thai consumers nearly $600 for Windows/Office is the equivalent of charging U.S. consumers $3,000.

… Microsoft’s newly appointed regional general manager, Andrew McBean, no doubt having consulted Redmond, offered to supply the ICT PC Program with the Windows/Office package for a mere $37 — a price cut of 85 percent.

Looks like the Linux-based machines are popular, too:

The rock-bottom prices — and easy financing terms — generated enormous interest in the ICT PCs. An estimated 35,000 people showed up at a Bangkok convention center where the machines were launched. Some people even camped overnight to sign up for the program. By August of this year, Thai consumers had snapped up 300,000 ICT PCs.

Tags: government, ict, linux, microsoft, office, project, struggle, thai, windows, year

Politics: Nelson Mandela banned from visiting the US. oops! But they’ve fixed it:

The good news is that the United States government has removed Nelson Mandela, Tokyo Sexwale and Sidney Mufamadi from its list of global terrorists. The bad news is that the removal is only for the next 10 years. ….

‘To make an exception for those who struggled against apartheid would require congress to change the law, and that would be a very lengthy process,’ (Virginia Farris, the public affairs spokesperson for the US embassy in Pretoria) said.

Via Wendy M. Grossman, who reckons myself and the other SpamAssassin guys are Mrs. Beeton. ;)

Tags: apartheid, congress, exception, government, list, make, news, politics, removal, sexwale, tokyo

Patents: While I was reading LWN’s excellent writeup on the results of the EuroParl patent vote, I came across this very worrying snippet:

Readers in the United States may be interested to know that the U.S. government has chimed in with opposition to article 6a, which states that patents can not be used to block interoperability.

Sure enough, it links to an FFII page noting

‘the US’ believes that conversion between patented file formats should generally not be allowed without a license, and therefore demands deletion of Art 6a.’

‘the US’ is in quotes because FFII reckon that evidence suggests that this is the US Mission’s IPR representatives forwarding the text direct from the US Patent Office, since the USPTO is an agency of the Dept of Commerce.

…. ‘It is part of a US Government ‘Action Plan’ to ‘promote international harmonisation of substantive patent law’ in order to ’strengthen the rights of American intellectual property holders by making it easier to obtain international protection for their inventions’. This plan has been promoted aggressively by top officials of the US Patent Office in international fora such as WIPO, WSIS and OECD as well as through bilateral negotiations.’

BTW, that is exactly the wording used in the USPTO’s 21st Century Strategic Plan paper. FFII go on to comment on their letter, including this note:

‘The US’ is propagating conventional wisdom such as ‘the more patents the more property, the more property the more innovation’, which is in sharp contrast to consensus of all serious scholars of software economics, as expressed in numerous studies conducted in the USA and in reports by the US Academy of Sciences.

Moreover, ‘the US’ has been ignoring the voice of its own software industry, which is, as shown by last year’s FTC hearings, characterised by ‘continued animosity against software patents’ and whose major players, including such companies as Adobe, Oracle and Autodesk, all opposed software patentability at the USPTO hearing of 1994. The same USPTO which is ghostwriting this paper in the name of ‘the US’ today proceded to legalise program claims shortly after the 1994 hearing, thereby completely ignoring the voice of the US software industry.

One comment on the LWN story notes: ‘as the United States is seeking to rewrite European law to their
agenda, what steps can European Citizens take to help turn the USPTO agenda around into something approaching the spirit of the US Constitution and those who wrote it?’

A good question.

Tags: ffii, government, lwn, office, patent, patents, plan, property, software, uspto, writeup

BBC: NZ flatulence tax outrages farmers:

New Zealand’s farmers have criticised a proposed tax on the flatulence emitted by their sheep and cattle. The move is part of the Wellington government’s action to meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

Scientists estimate that methane emitted by farm animals is responsible for more than half of the country’s greenhouse gases.

Flatulence from cows, sheep and other ruminants is a serious environmental problem, accounting for about 15% of worldwide emissions of methane - one of the most potent of greenhouse gases.

Tags: action, bbc, flatulence, government, greenhouse, methane, move, part, sheep, tax

Margaret McGaley has been investigating the Nedap/Powervote e-voting system that’s recently come into use in Ireland, as part of her undergrad thesis, and the conclusion is not good: ‘E-voting poses a threat to our democracy’. She goes on:

I hope to mount a campaign over the next few months with the following goals:

• to prevent the use of the Nedap/Powervote system in Irish elections,
• to prevent the purchase of any more equipment or software from
  • Nedap/Powervote by the Irish government, and
• to convince the government that any electronic voting system used in this country should be developed here, using formal methods and the Mercuri method, and should be open source.

More info at the the report site.

The Nedap/Powervote e-voting system is the one that the Irish government never bothered getting a copy of the source for, instead doing a basic under-NDA source audit. Reportedly, there were comments in the resulting review doc along the lines of ‘The source code and comments for this section is in Dutch, so we’re not sure exactly what it does’. And if that’s not bad enough, it runs on WinCE, with the votes tabulated in an Access database. ;)

Let’s hope Nedap/Powervote use their election-fixing powers purely for good, and not for evil! ;)

BTW, myself, I’m surprised the Irish government (a) went to a Dutch company for the technology to do this, and (b) didn’t get hold of the entire system’s components and source, or at least do a stronger audit, given their experience of imported computing devices including some ‘bonus functionality’ in the past.

Tags: audit, government, nedap, part, powervote, source, system, undergrad, use, voting

Goodbye to Baghdad (Guardian). Some good snippets:

The information ministry and TV headquarters were obvious targets (for looters), but the wanton destruction of St George’s church was unexpected. … A man living next door to the church said Christians were seen as part of the regime.

Tariq Aziz, after all, is a Christian. Also, this — I knew it! –

The US tanks that shot their way into the city have lost their menace. Children now go right up to the US soldiers, smile, and swear at them in Arabic, finding it hilarious that the troops think they are being friendly.

And the politics of the Shia/Sunni divide:

‘The whole administration has been robbed and destroyed, except for those institutions which have been guarded by them (provisional Shia local government),’ said the hospital director. He was transparently unhappy at having to take orders from the Shia clergy, but said America had left him no choice.

‘Without them, this hospital would have vanished. We have no civilian administration now. Until now America hasn’t done anything for the civilian administration. They are just occupying us and doing nothing.’

The doctor’s dilemma raises a larger question. Did Bush go to war on Saddam Hussein’s secular dictatorship to pave the way for an Islamist Shia regime bordering Iran? Because that is what is beginning to take root in Saddam City, and in other neighbourhoods of Baghdad. ….

The new Shia assertiveness - whether through ambitions of religious government or the exuberance with which millions this week participated in a religious pilgrimage banned under Saddam - has horrified the Iraqi middle and upper classes, and the minority Sunni elite, which has been the traditional ruler of Iraq from the days of the Ottoman empire.

Like the Americans, they have been slow to react these past two weeks, stunned by the speed with which the regime collapsed and mortified by the knowledge that millions have watched on TV as Iraqis laid waste to their own country, and history.

Tags: administration, church, goodbye, government, guardian, hospital, regime, shia, sunni, way

(or humour?) Rod Liddle: How I was seized for my smoker’s cough:

Despite the almost total absence of SARS around here, the various governments are very worried, apart from the Singaporean government, which, I suspect, likes nothing more than imposing rigorous screening and quarantine programmes upon its somewhat cowed citizens and scrubbing everything down with disinfectant every five minutes. Stand on a street corner for too long in Singapore and you’re likely to be sprayed with Dettol. But that was true long before SARS presented itself. …

We are still in the blame stage of this ‘epidemic’ and the blame shifts according to where you are and what the local government believes. A similar pattern of xenophobic mythology established itself during the early stages of Asian flu, Aids and the Ebola virus. Nasty, incurable diseases are almost always the fault of foreigners doing despicable, uncivilised things, usually with animals. Betcha there’s a gruesome SARS film from Hollywood by the end of next year, with a heroic American doctor played by Ben Affleck, who saves Chicago, or something.

Rod Liddle is very clearly on holiday.

Tags: absence, blame, cough, government, humour, nothing, sars, screening, singaporean, smoker

Guardian: Ministers may be questioned over cover-up.

The cover-up into security force collusion with loyalist murder gangs in Northern Ireland may have reached the highest echelons of the army and even government ministers, Britain’s most senior police officer revealed yesterday. …

He said loyalist paramilitaries had been helped by RUC officers and members of a covert army squad, the FRU (force research unit), and that the cooperation between them included ‘wilful failure to keep records, the absence of accountability, the withholding of intelligence and evidence, and the extreme of agents being involved in murder’.

Tags: army, collusion, cover-up, force, government, guardian, loyalist, ministers, murder, security

Son of Star Wars leaves drivers stranded (Guardian). Interesting collision between military and civvie radio technology.

The upgrading of the security and surveillance systems at (RAF Fylingdales base in Yorkshire, which is planned to be used as a UK base for new US ‘Star Wars’ projects) … is knocking out the electrical systems of expensive cars. … High power radar pulses trigger the immobilising devices of many makes of cars and motorcycles - BMW, Mercedes and Jeep among them. Many have had to be towed out of range of the base before they can be restarted.

Wing Commander Chris Knapman, of RAF Fylingdales, said it was not up to the base to resolve the problem. ‘We have had the frequencies we use for a very long time,’ he said. ‘They are allocated to commercial, military and government users, and the allocation is very tightly controlled. As far as we are concerned, the radars are working on frequencies which are well known, and most car manufacturers take that into account.’

A spokesman for Jeep said: ‘The problem is that the government gives manufacturers such a narrow band to operate in - so the radio wave (sic) we use for our key fob is severely restricted.’

Tags: base, fylingdales, government, jeep, military, problem, radio, raf, son, star

Danny reports “the always excellent c’t magazine analyses the hypotheticals of the Dutch IP-surveillance scandal:

According to anonymous sources within the Dutch intelligence community, all tapping equipment of the Dutch intelligence services and half the tapping equipment of the national police force, is insecure and is leaking information to Israel. …”

Yikes. You’d think they’d have learnt from Ireland’s mistakes…. this article (update: moved to here) reports that massive back-door use by a third-party government occurred before in similar circumstances, during the Anglo-Irish negotiations of 1985.

For those of you who don’t know, these discussions were between the Republic of Ireland and the UK, and took place in London.

In order to allow the negotiating team to contact their government and civil service securely, a million-pound cryptographic system had been bought in order to secure the link between the Irish Embassy in London and the government in Dublin.

Unfortunately, this equipment was thoroughly compromised.

It turns out that the Swiss company from which the equipment was bought, namely Crypto AG, had cooperated with the NSA and the BND (the NSA’s German equivalent), to allow them to decipher the traffic trivially. (Judging from the snippet from another article below, sounds like this was done using a known-plaintext attack).

The NSA routinely monitored and deciphered the Irish diplomatic messages. All it took then was for the UK’s NSA equivalent, GCHQ, to pull some strings, and the UK government had a distinct advantage in the negotiations from then on.

Another source for details on Crypto AG’s breakage is Der Spiegel, issue 36/96, pages 206-207. Here’s some snippets:

The secret man (sic) have obviously a great interest to direct the trading of encryption devices into ordered tracks. … A former employee of Crypto AG reported that he had to coordinate his developments with “people from Bad Godesberg”. This was the residence of the “central office for encryption affairs” of the BND, and the service instructed Crypto AG what algorithms to use to create the codes.

Members of the American secret service National Security Agency (NSA) also visited the Crypto AG often. The memorandum of the secret workshop of the Crypto AG in August 1975 on the occasion of the demonstration of a new prototype of an encryption device mentions as a participant the cryptographer of the NSA, Nora Mackebee. …

Depending on the projected usage area the manipulation on the cryptographic devices were more or less subtle, said Polzer. Some buyers only got simplified code technology according to the motto “for these customers that is sufficient, they don’t not need such a good stuff.”

In more delicate cases the specialists reached deeper into the cryptographic trick box: The machines prepared in this way enriched the encrypted text with “auxiliary informations” that allowed all who knew this addition to reconstruct the original key. The result was the same: What looked like inpenetrateable secret code to the users of the Crypto-machines, who acted in good faith, was readable with not more than a finger exercise for the informed listener.

Full text here.

So what’s the bottom line? Use GPG! ;)

From: Julian Assange (spam-protected)

To: (spam-protected) (spam-protected)
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 13:24:31 +1000 (EST)

Approved: (spam-protected)

Subject: BoS: Crypto AG = Crypto NSA/BNG ?

Thanks to Anonymous for this English translation of the German original.

secret services undermine cryptographic devices

Archive of “DER SPIEGEL” issue 36/96 pages 206-207

“Who is the authorized fourth”

Secret services undermine the protection of cryptographic devices.

Switzerland is a discreet place. Uncounted millions of illegal money find an asylum in the discreet banks of the republic. Here another business can prosper, which does not need any publicity: the production of cryptographic devices.

A top address for tools of secrecy was for several decades the company Crypto AG in Zug. It was founded in 1952 by the legendary Swedish cryptographer Boris Hagelin. Hundreds of thousands of his “Hagelin-machines”, pendants of the German “Enigma” devices, were used in World War II on the side of the Allies.

A prospectus of the company states: “In the meantime, the Crypto AG has built up long standing cooperative relations with customers in 130 countries.” Crypto AG delivers enciphering devices applicable to voice as well as data networks.

But behind this solid facade the most impudent secret service feint of the century has been staged: German and American services are under suspicion of manipulation of the cryptographic devices of Crypto AG in a way that makes the codes crackable within a very short time, and this allegedly happened until the end of the eighties.

Customers of Crypto AG are many honorable institutions, like the Vatican, as well as countries like Iraq, Iran, Libya, that are at the top of the priority list of U.S. services. At the beginning of the nineties the discreet company was suspected to play an unfair game. What was the source of the “direct precise and undeniable proofs” U.S. president Reagan referred to when he ordered the bombardment of Libya, the country he called the wire puller of the attack against the disco La Belle? Obviously the U.S services were able to read encrypted radio transmissions between Tripoli and its embassy in East Berlin.

Hans Buehler, a sales engineer of Crypto AG, got between the fronts of the secret service war. On March 18, 1992, the unsuspecting tradesman was arrested in Teheran. During the nine and a half months of solitary confinement in a military prison he had to answer over and over again, to whom he leaked the codes of Teheran and the keys of Libya.

In the end Crypto AG paid generously the requested bail of about one million German marks (DM), but dismissed the released Buehler a few weeks later. The reason: Buehlers publicity, “especially during and after his return” was harmful for the company. But Buehler started to ask inconvenient questions and got surprising answers.

Already the ownership of the Crypto AG was diffuse. A “foundation”, established by Hagelin, provides according to the company “the best preconditions for the independence of the company”.

But a big part of the shares are owned by German owners in changing constellations. Eugen Freiberger, who is the head of the managing board in 1982 and resides in Munich, owns all but 6 of the 6,000 shares of Crypto AG. Josef Bauer, who was elected into managing board in 1970, now states that he, as an authorized tax agent of the Muenchner Treuhandgesellschaft KPMG [Munich trust company], worked due to a “mandate of the Siemens AG”. When the Crypto AG could no longer escape the news headlines, an insider said, the German shareholders parted with the high-explosive share.

Some of the changing managers of Crypto AG did work for Siemens before. Rumors, saying that the German secret service BND was hiding behind this engagement, were strongly denied by Crypto AG.

But on the other hand it appeared like the German service had an suspiciously great interest in the prosperity of the Swiss company. In October 1970 a secret meeting of the BND discussed, “how the Swiss company Graettner could be guided nearer to the Crypto AG or could even be incorporated with the Crypto AG.” Additionally the service considered, how “the Swedish company Ericsson could be influenced through Siemens to terminate its own cryptographic business.”

The secret man have obviously a great interest to direct the trading of encryption devices into ordered tracks. Ernst Polzer*, a former employee of Crypto AG, reported that he had to coordinate his developments with “people from Bad Godesberg”. This was the residence of the “central office for encryption affairs” of the BND, and the service instructed Crypto AG what algorithms to use to create the codes. (* name changed by the editor)

Members of the American secret service National Security Agency (NSA) also visited the Crypto AG often. The memorandum of the secret workshop of the Crypto AG in August 1975 on the occasion of the demonstration of a new prototype of an encryption device mentions as a participant the cryptographer of the NSA, Nora Mackebee.

Bob Newman, an engineer of the chip producer Motorola, which cooperated with Crypto AG in the seventies to develop a new generation of electronic encryption machines, knows Mackebee. She was introduced to him as a “counselor”.

“The people knew Zug very good and gave travel tips to the Motorola people for the visit at Crypto AG”, Newman reported. Polzer also remembers the American “watcher”, who strongly demanded the use of certain encryption methods.

Depending on the projected usage area the manipulation on the cryptographic devices were more or less subtle, said Polzer. Some buyers only got simplified code technology according to the motto “for these customers that is sufficient, they don’t not need such a good stuff.”

In more delicate cases the specialists reached deeper into the cryptographic trick box: The machines prepared in this way enriched the encrypted text with “auxiliary informations” that allowed all who knew this addition to reconstruct the original key. The result was the same: What looked like inpenetrateable secret code to the users of the
Crypto-machines, who acted in good faith, was readable with not more than a finger exercise for the informed listener.

The Crypto AG called such reports “old hearsay” and “pure invention”. But the process, that was started by the company against the former employee Buehler, on the grounds that he had said that there might be some truth in the suspicions of the Iranian investigators, surprisingly ended in November of last year.

After the trial, that could have brought embarrassing details to the light, the company agreed to an settlement outside the court. Since that time Buehler is very silent with regard to this case. “He made his fortune financially,” presumed an insider of the scene.

“In the industry everybody knows how such affairs will be dealed with,” said Polzer, a former colleague of Buehler. “Of course such devices protect against interception by unauthorized third parties, as stated in the prospectus. But the interesting question is: Who is the authorized fourth?”

– “Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies, The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” - C.S. Lewis, _God in the Dock_ +———————+——————–+———————————-+ |Julian Assange RSO | PO Box 2031 BARKER | Secret Analytic Guy Union | (spam-protected) | VIC 3122 AUSTRALIA | finger for PGP key hash ID = | (spam-protected) | FAX +61-3-98199066 | 0619737CCC143F6DEA73E27378933690 | +———————+——————–+———————————-+

Tags: article, crypto, dutch, equipment, equivalent, government, intelligence, magazine, nsa, order

BoingBoing forwards 2 links to hilarious Nigerian Scam parodies, one from Dick Cheney and one from Laura Bush. Cory quotes it already, but it’s too good to miss, so I will too:

I am the widow of the late President George W. Bush of the United States of America. I am writing you this letter in confidence regarding my current circumstances.

I escaped the United States ahead of death squads with my husband and two children Jenna and Frank, moving first to England and then, when my husband’s political enemies took power there, to Austria. All of our wealth, obtained legitimately through baseball, oil drilling and insider trading, was seized by the new government of the USA under the despotic regime of (Dr.) Noam Chomsky, except for the contents of a few Swiss bank accounts. These bank accounts, which contain social security lock-box funds and the bulk of the 2001 budget surplus, could not be accessed by me or my children, due to agreements made between the socialist government of the USA and Swiss bank regulators. They seized our ranch in Crawford, Texas and now use it to teach homosexualist propaganda to schoolchildren.

Tags: bank, boingboing, confidence, cory, government, husband, letter, nigerian, scam, widow

Gerry reckons the Irish Times are taking the piss.

Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 14:42:46 +0100
From: “Gerry Carr” (spam-protected)
To: (spam-protected)
Subject: IT are taking the piss out of me

Mere days after I send them this letter

Dear Sir,

Having read Mr Cruishank’s invaluable insight into the Health Shambles, can I offer the majority of your contributors a handy Irish Times letter generator;

Dear Sir/A Chara

How can one convince this Government that we need; a decent health system; help for the homeless; housing for travellers; free care for drug addicts; help for the 3rd World; free computers for every school; more social welfare money; more money for teachers/nurses/doctors/public servants/dustbinmen/soldiers wives

much more urgently than:

2 stadiums; a spike in O Connell Street; politicians’ beanos on St Patrick’s Day; a Eurovision song contest; sponsoring a race car; bailing out RTE; fireworks on the Liffey; a government jet/building/pay rise/reception/refurbishment/chauffer/travel expenses/secretary/ etc.

Is the government lacking morals/priorities/reason/sense of proportion/focus/ethics/

yours etc/Is mise [ADD NAME HERE]

Just delete as appropriate and you’ve got yourself 6 months worth of material.

Yours etc.

They print these 4 in a row;

POLICY ON SPORTS STADIUMS

Sir, - Let’s see if I understand the £60 million offer of our money to the GAA. It appears to have been offered the money to ensure that foreign games would not be played at Croke Park (thereby strengthening case for Stadium Ireland), and on the understanding that some key GAA matches would be played at the folly. In effect, does this mean that the payment is designed to ensure that Croke Park will be under-utilised? Just how far are our politicians willing to go to support an ego trip which could cost a billion or so by the time it is build? How will its annual financial costs of, say, £60 million be met? That amount equates to a Croke Park “donation” for every year to infinity! Surely, this money could be better used - to reduce the national debt, improve the infrastructure, assist the underprivileged and so on. Yours, etc.,

BRIAN FLANAGAN, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Sir, - The money being proposed for financing a national stadium in Abbotstown would be equally well spent on a submerged clock counting down the 998-plus years, second by second, to the next millennium. - Yours, etc.,

JERRY TWOMEY, Woodlawn Court, Santry, Dublin 9. Sir, - I would like our Taoiseach to complete the following sentence. I believe that £1 billion should be spent on a national stadium and not on our ailing health service because . . . - Is mise,

CIARAN MacAONGHUSA Baile an tSratha, Tír Chonaill. Sir, - Haemophiliacs are offered £4 million, the GAA is to receive £60 million. What a great little country we live in. - Yours, etc.,

EAMONN TIERNEY, Beverly Avenue, Knocklyon, Dublin 16.

Tags: date, gaa, government, health, irish, letter, money, sir, times, tue