[117827] in Cypherpunks
Zipping to BlackNet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lucky Green)
Sun Sep 12 01:44:57 1999
From: "Lucky Green" <shamrock@cypherpunks.to>
To: "cypherpunks@Algebra. COM" <cypherpunks@Algebra.COM>
Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 22:34:24 -0700
Message-ID: <LNBBKBDNAIGNIABGAGJLAEJIFLAA.shamrock@cypherpunks.to>
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Reply-To: "Lucky Green" <shamrock@cypherpunks.to>
At today's Cypherpunks meeting, Arvind Srinivasan, the CTO of ZipLip.com
gave a presentation about their "secure" email system. This was one of the
few, if not the only, occasion where a unknown vendor of a "secure" system
addressed a Cypherpunks meeting and didn't get laughed out of the room. [If
your fingers start itching to reply, make sure to read the post in its
entirety. Lucky /is/ going somewhere with this].
First, here is how ZipLip works:
1. The sender of a message connects to the ZipLip https server using 128 bit
crypto.
2. The sender uploads an attachment of up to 256kB.
3. The sender enters the email address of the recipient in a form together
with an (optional) password and (optional) password hint.
4. The server encrypts the uploaded attachment with a 3DES key derived from
the password.
5. The server sends an email to the recipient with a pick-up URL.
6. The recipient clicks on the pick-up URL and is presented with a password
dialog box.
7. The recipient enters the password.
8. The server decrypts the attachment.
9. The recipient downloads the attachment.
10. Twenty-four hours after the recipient first reads the data, the server
deletes the data from disk.
Unread messages will be stored for a month. Also know that there is no limit
to the number of messages the server will retain for a specific recipient
email address.
Now let's extend this protocol somewhat:
1. Content provider encrypts MPEG movie titled "Women without Veils".
2. Content provider chunks data into 256kB blocks.
3. Content provider connects to ZipLip using Freedom.
4. Content provider addresses ZipLip message to her own nym email.
[Follow the rest of the standard ZipLip protocol for a while].
5. Content provider receives emails containing all the pickup URL's from
ZipLip server.
6. Content provider either publishes or sells the pick-up URL's to fans of
movies displaying women without veils. Together with the initial encryption
key.
7. Fans of movies displaying women without veils connects to ZipLip server
using Freedom.
8. Fans join and decrypt MPEG.
9. Fans watch MPEG.
Combining ZipLip (or other services like it) and Freedom, we now have
anonymous high-bandwidth content distribution. A highly useful BlackNet
enabler.
How to automate the entire process with a few perl scripts, AppleScripts, or
whatever you favorite scripting language may be is left as an exercise to
the reader.
Have fun,
--Lucky
--Lucky Green <shamrock@cypherpunks.to>
