Investing on Information We Get Here

At 1:35 PM 9/19/95, Duncan Frissell wrote:
>At 11:00 PM 9/18/95 -0400, John Young wrote:
>>   The New York Times, September 19, 1995, pp. A1, D21.
>>
>>
>>   Security Flaw Is Discovered In Software Used in Shopping
>>
>>   By John Markoff
>
>On the Front Page, *above* the fold.  Perhaps John was trying to make up for
>being scooped by the WSJ on the SSL Crack story.

Also front page, above the fold, for the "San Jose Mercury News," the
newspaper of record of the Silicon Valley.

And CNBC is reporting the story on its hourly updates of the news.

(These computer lists are really great for investors! I heard about the
Apple problems a few days before they hit the street, and was able to
unload a bunch of shares at $45, a day before it dropped, now down to
around $36. "He who hesitates to act on inside information is lost.")

P.S. On Netscape, I've finally decided to do some buying. Sure, this latest
flaw is another embarrassment. But more deals and link-ups than ever are
being inked, and they've got the resources to really spruce up Navigator
and related products. I just don't see too many competitors on the horizon.

Actually, I was planning to buy some Netscape stock, now that the IPO froth
has settled. And since I have this info on the flaw, I _have_ to buy it,
else be guilty of "insider non-trading." As Stew Brownstein, a friend of
mine, has noted, if insider trading rules are interpreted logically, then
_failure_ to make a planned trade on the basis of insider information is
just as illegal as deciding to make some trade on the basis of insider
information. The SEC should require all insiders to file a daily report,
preferably before the market opens in NY, listing all of their planned
transactions for that day, so that violations of the "insider non-trading"
laws can be detected and prosecuted.

(Yes, I know that I am not an "insider" by SEC definitions. Poetic license.)

--Tim May

---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
Corralitos, CA              | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839      | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

On Tue, 19 Sep 1995, Timothy C. May wrote:

> P.S. On Netscape, I've finally decided to do some buying. Sure, this latest
> flaw is another embarrassment. But more deals and link-ups than ever are
> being inked, and they've got the resources to really spruce up Navigator
> and related products. I just don't see too many competitors on the horizon.

Let's not forget that Netscape is the biggest and best boon to the 
internet I've ever seen.  It is selling more bandwith, servers, and 
dial-up IP than anything that has come down the road.  It is enabling 
people to put even more info on the net, and I love it!

Of course, that is why it was targetted for the 40-bit RC4 crack, its 
immense popularity.  The total bogosity of 40-bit keys is now pretty 
apparent, and it is helping moves to 64-bit export, and perhaps beyond.

-Thomas

> (These computer lists are really great for investors! I heard about the
> Apple problems a few days before they hit the street, and was able to
> unload a bunch of shares at $45, a day before it dropped, now down to
> around $36. "He who hesitates to act on inside information is lost.")

This isn't inside information in the illegal-to-trade-on-in-the-US sense,
is it?  cypherpunks, while maybe not mainstream, is publicly available.
-- 
Shields.

On Wed, 20 Sep 1995, Michael Shields wrote:

> > (These computer lists are really great for investors! I heard about the
> > Apple problems a few days before they hit the street, and was able to
> > unload a bunch of shares at $45, a day before it dropped, now down to
> > around $36. "He who hesitates to act on inside information is lost.")
> 
> This isn't inside information in the illegal-to-trade-on-in-the-US sense,
> is it?  cypherpunks, while maybe not mainstream, is publicly available.

You'd have to argue that reverse engineering was mis-appropriation within 
the meaning of the rules, and that the data was tipped to the tippee's 
with the intent of gain.  In otherwords, you must have a fraud with 
respect to the rightful owner of the "misappropriated" information.  That 
an important commerce system is insecure, be it publicly held or whatever, 
when publically posted, is hardly misappropriation, or if it is alleged 
so, I'll defend the accused (if they are in my jurisdictions of 
license).  

I might add that trading on information that has been released but just 
not propogated to the entire market yet is hardly illegal.

If anyone wants a detailed analysis with cases on the subject, I will 
post to the list with enough interest.

> -- 
> Shields.
> 

---
"In fact, had Bancroft not existed,       potestas scientiae in usu est
Franklin might have had to invent him."    in nihilum nil posse reverti
00B9289C28DC0E55  E16D5378B81E1C96 - Finger for Current Key Information