SpeakingAnonymouslyInPublic

AHacker'sGuide
PopeAlanBradleyI
(TheSpacePope)
SiriusB,CanisMajoris,InterstellarSpace
{abradleyatfastmail.fm}

Abstract
Thispaperismeanttoprovideinstructionsonhowtoexecuteananonymousspeechatatechnical
conference.ThesetechniqueshavebeenusedsuccessfullybyAlanBradleyandtheKevinFlynnsto
presentTron:HeFightsForTheUser[1]atToorcon8aswellasthe23 rdChaosCommunications
Congress.

1Introduction
It's a dangerous world out there for security researchers. Between DMCA violations, full disclosure issues, miscellaneous lawsuits,
governmentharassment,orsimplyhavingyournamedraggedthroughthemudbycorporatespin,itisbecomingincreasinglydesirableto
havetheabilitytoputsomedistancebetweenyourselfandcertainaspectsofyourworkandinterests,evenifonlytemporarily.Insome
cases,thedesireforanonymitymayevenstemfromsomethingassimpleasanemployer'srequestthatyoutemporarilyshieldthemfrom
potentialcontroversy.ThearrestsofDimitrySklyarovatDefcon[2]andStephenRombomatHOPE[3]havealsomotivatedthisidea.
InourcasewepresentedTron,whichisareverseengineeringtoolbasedontheShadowWalkermemorycloakingtechnique.SinceTronis
amemorycloakerthatcanbeusedtoconcealcrackstosoftwarecopyprotection(amongotherthings,ofcourse),bytheletterofUSlaw
(andpossiblyhelpedwithalittlebitof"marketing"onourpart),TronviolatestheUSDMCA[23].Thismakesforanexcellentproofof
conceptfortheusabilityofthisformatbyothersinsimilarsituations.Wefeltitwouldbeusefultobothraiseawarenessofinterestinguses
forTorandtoprovideanalternatevenueforcensoredspeech.
Also,beinginterstellarbeings,wefeelitisbesttoconcealourTrueFormfromhumanitywhilewereverseengineeryoursoftware(for
interoperability purposes, of course.. Well, ok, we also want to steal your music from iTunes and cheat at World of Warcraft).
UnfortunatelyhumanityhasneitherthepsychicnorcranialcapacitytobearwitnesstoourTrueForm.Mostofyouwouldthinkyouwere
seeinggodorsomething,andthenyourheadswouldexplode.WehadmanagedtogetthroughtoTeranceMcKennaforalittlewhile,but
thenhehadtogoanddieofbraincancer.Ourcurrenthostsseemmuchmorerobust,andenableustomanageourinteractionwithEarth
fromgreatdistances.
Pluswecouldn'taffordtheSpaceTaxi.
Therestofthispaperisorganizedasfollows.Section2laysdownthebasicplanforthetalksetup.Section3describesthecomponents
involved.Section4describessetup,Section5testing.Section6discussestechnicalpointsoffailure,whileSection7describesanonymity
issuesandweaknessesofthesystemandrelatedactivity.Section8concludesthepaperwithsomethoughtsonanonymityandamessageto
theleadersofyourplanetfromSiriusB.

2BasicIdea

Figure1:Plan23fromOuterSpace
ThebasicideaistoestablishavoiceandremotedisplayconnectiontoapodiumcomputerentirelyoverTor.Thespeechwaslive.Questions
weretobetakenoveramicrophoneconnectedtothedisplaycomputer.
InthecaseofToorcon,theyhadnonetworkaccessotherthanEVDOcards[4].Thelatencyonthesecardswasontheorderof200msRTT
withmoderateloss(5%orless).ThisturnedouttobesufficienttocarryVoiceandVNCdisplaydata,evenaftergoingthroughTor.
Ventrilorequiresapproximately2KB/secupstream(tothedisplayside),andwiththepropersettings,VNCisusablewith510KB/secin
thedownstreamdirection.ObviouslytheseareverymodestrequirementthatareeasytofitonagoodTorcircuitandjustaboutanylink.

3Components
Severalcomponentswentintothissetuponeachend. Wewillbreakthesedownintothespeaker'ssideandtheaudienceside.Forthe
audienceside,wewillpresenttwooptions:aLinuxbased(mostly)redistributablesolutionusingWine,andaWindowsbasedone.

3.1SpeakerSide
Forthespeakerside,afterchannelingourselvesthoughsomehaplesshumanhosts,weusedaWindowslaptopwith:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Tor[5]
RealVNCClient[6]
VentriloClient[7]
PuttySSHClient[8]
VoiceDisguiser
Linksysrouter(firewall)

RealVNCwasconfiguredtousenoautonegotiation,becauseitseemstouseavailablebandwidthandnotlatencytogoverntheselectionof
settings.WemanuallyenabledZRLEand8colordisplaytogiveusaccesstothedisplayimage(runningat800x600in16bitcolor).
VentrilowaschosenbecauseitwasoneofonlythreevoiceclientswewereabletofindthatusedTCP(andthuswereeasytotunnelover
Tor).TheothertwowereAOL'sAIMclient,andSkype.SincebothAOLAIMandSkyperequiredathirdpartynodetoactasamiddleman
relay(extralatency),aredifficulttoproxyandalsorequiredregistration(dangerous,especiallyfortestingpurposeswheremistakescanbe
linkedtospecificaccountsthatusedTorpartiallybutnotcompletely),weoptedforVentrilo.
Sincevoicechangersarereversibleinsomecases,wewishtowithholdthespecificcomponentweusedatthistime.However,sinceitwas
subsequentlycompressedbyVentrilo,recoveryislikelytobedifficultinreality.
TheLinksysrouterwasinstalledwithDDWRT[9]asafirewalltopreventtheVoiceDisguiserandVentrilofromphoninghome,as
discussedinSections4.1and5.ItcouldhaveeasilybeenreplacedbyanyLinuxbox.Infact,aLinuxhostOScouldhavebeenusedtorun
aWindowsVMwareimagecontainingalloftheabovetoolsifonlyonecomputerisavailableforthespeaker.IfyoudoopttouseDD
WRT(andplanonadvertisingthisfact),knowthatthedefaultDDWRTMACmaybeenoughtotrackdownyourIPifusedataspecific
time.

3.2AudienceSide(UsingWindows)
WeusedWindowsfortheaudiencesideforToorcon.TheadvantagesofWindowswerethatithadanativeVentriloclient,anditleftopen
thepossibilityofdoingsomekindoflivedemoofthetool(thoughbothtimeissuesandTronspecificVMwarebugsendedupkillingthis
idea).
TheToorconconferenceorganizershadalaptopconnectedtotheirsoundsystemwithanEVDOcardforInternetaccess,andVMware
Player[10].
WegavethemaWindowsVMwareimageinstalledwiththefollowingtools:
1.
2.
3.
4.

RealVNCServer
VentriloServerandClient
Cygwin+sshd[11]startedautomaticallyviathestartupfolder
Slidesforthetalk

GreatcarewastakenwiththeWindowsinstallontheVMwareimage.Mediawasobtainedviaanonlocalthirdparty(ManyOEMdiscs
arekeyedwithauniqueserialnumber),AutomaticUpdateswerefullydisabled,andAutoPatcher[12]wasusedtoupdatetheimagewithout
ActivationorWGA.Windowsfirewallpreventedaccesstoeverythingbutsshdexternally.Thetimezonewassettoarandomlocationon
theimage.
ToensurecompressibilityoftheVMwareimage,Eraser[13]wasusedtowipeallfreespacewiththefixedpatternof'0'.Thisproduceda
750meg7zip[14]compressedarchivewhichwastransferedoverTor+scptotheirlocationafewdaysinadvanceofthetalk.
ThemajorVentrilosettingsweretosettheSilenceTimeto1.5seconds,andthesensitivitytoabout7.WefoundwehadtoturnonMic
BoostviatheWindowssoundcontrolpanel(youhavetodisplayadvancedcontrolsandenabletheMicrophonecontrolalso),andturnedall
thevolumesandVentriloampsuptothemax.TestingeverythinginbothWindowssoundrecorderandVentrilo'srecordfeatureisagood
idea.
Don'tforgettodisablethescreensaverandpowerblankingfeaturesofboththeVMwareimageandthehostOSpriortothetalk!

3.3AudienceSide(UsingLinux)
Asyoucansee,Windowssuffersfromnumerousprivacyissuesthataredifficulttoovercomeproperly.Inaddition,itwouldbenicetobe
abletocreateafullydistributableimagethatanyonecanusetogiveatalk.
WhiletherearenonativeLinuxvoiceclientsthatuseTCP,itturnsoutthatitispossibletorunVentrilounderWine[15].
TheLinuximageisbasedonFedoraCore6,and
1.
2.
3.
4.

RealVNCServer(availableviayum)
VentriloServer(Linuxversion)andWindowsVentriloClient
Wine(availableviayum)
Slides

Winewasabittrickytogetworking.TheactualinstalloftheVentriloclientwaseasyenough,butoncewerantheinstalledexe,weran
intosomeproblems.
TheinstructionsintheVentriloapppage[15]werepartiallycorrect.Wefoundthatinadditiontothemsgsm32.acmmentionedonthatpage,
wealsohadtograbdinput.dllandplaceitinto~/.wine/drive_c/windows/systeminordertosolveaparticularlyannoyingmouserecentering
issuethatoccurredintheVentrilosetupwindow.TheWinesetuputility'winecfg'wasusedtoaddaDLLoverridefordinput.dlltoinstruct
Winetousethenativeversion(no.inieditneededthistime),andalsotoforceWinetouseOSSfortheaudiodriver.ForsomereasonWine
lackedmixersupportforALSA,whichwaskeytogettingVentrilotoactuallypickupanyaudio.
WealsofoundthatweneededtoenableMicBoostonboththeVMHostandtheLinuximage(via'alsamixer')andweneededtousethe
DirectSoundoptioninVentrilo'ssetup(contrarytotheWineapppagerecommendations).WithoutDirectSound,audiobecamedesynched
afterafewminutes,causingVentrilotopopupanerror.UsingDirectSoundwewereabletopipemusicoverVentriloforseveralhours
withoutanyissues.Itactuallysoundsquitegood.
Afterallofthisconfigurationwasdone,wewereabletousethesame1.5secondSilenceTime/7Sensitivitysettingsasweusedinthe
Windowsimage,whichwasalsocomforting.

Toensurecompressibilityofthefinalimage,weran'ddif=/dev/zeroof=file'untilthedrivefilled,thenremovedthefile.
Again,don'tforgettodisablethescreensaverintheVMandalsothehostOSbeforethetalk!

4Setup
AsyoucanseefromFigure1,VNCandVentrilowillbemultiplexedoverasingleSSHsession,whichrequiresustoonlyhavetoconstruct
oneTorcircuittocarryeverything(buthavingasecondonebuiltasbackupisagoodidea,aswediscussunder'PointsofFailure'below).

4.1SpeakerSide
Onthespeakerend,PuttywasusedtocreateanSSHtunnelforbothVNC(port5900)andVentrilo(port3874).

Figure2:PuttyTunnelsonSpeakerSide
PuttyhasoptionstouseaSOCKS5proxyinitsproxypage.Thisshouldbesetto127.0.0.19050.TheSSHconnectionisthenmadethrough
Tor(describedbelow)totheforwardedportcreatedontheaudienceside(5190inthiscase,seebelow).
OncethisSSHconnectionisestablished,VentriloandVNCweretheninstructedtouse127.0.0.1astheirservers.ThoseportsinthePutty
windowaretheirdefaultports.
TheLinksysfirewallwasprogrammedwithaniptablesacceptruleforeachoftheTordirectoryservers,inadditiontoourfirstnode:
iptables
iptables
iptables
iptables
iptables
iptables
iptables
iptables

-A
-A
-A
-A
-A
-A
-A
-A

FORWARD
FORWARD
FORWARD
FORWARD
FORWARD
FORWARD
FORWARD
FORWARD

-p
-p
-p
-p
-p
-p
-p
-j

icmp -j
tcp -d
tcp -d
tcp -d
tcp -d
tcp -d
tcp -d
DROP

ACCEPT
140.247.60.64 -j ACCEPT
194.109.206.212 -j ACCEPT
18.244.0.114 -j ACCEPT
18.244.0.188 -j ACCEPT
194.109.206.212 -j ACCEPT
$TOR_ENTRY_IP -j ACCEPT

4.3BuildingtheTorCircuit
Inordertodothis,youfirstneedtocreateacustomtorrc.txtonthespeakerside.OnWindows,Vidaliahasanoptionforanalternatetorrc
location.OnLinux,use'torf'.Thisfileshouldcontainthefollowingoptions:
__LeaveStreamsUnattached 1
ControlPort 9051
TheseoptionsinstructTortoallowyoutoattachincomingTCPconnectionstoTorcircuitsviathecontrolport.OnceyourestartTor,you
canthentelnetlocalhost9051andbuildacircuitandattachtheresultingincomingstreamlikeso:

Figure3:BuildingtheTorCircuit
4.4AudienceSide
OntheAudienceend,thedisplaycomputerneededtoforwardaporttotheVMwareimageSSHport.Thiswasaccomplishedinourcase
withPuttysincethedisplayhostwasaWindowshost.

Figure4:AudienceTunneltoVMware

5Testing
Testingyoursetupisextremelyimportant.Therearelotsofvariablesinplay,anditisimportantyoueliminateasmanyaspossiblebefore
thetalk.Remember,Chaosisafeistybitch(butthat'swhywelovehersomuch,right?)
Allappsweretestedtoverifytheirabilitytophonehomecouldbecontrolled,andthattheycouldbecombinedwithTorsuccessfully
withoutmysteriousleakage.ThistestingwasdonewithWireshark[16],watchingtrafficwhileonadisconnectednetwork.DNSqueriesto
updateserverscouldbeseenbeingmadebytheapps,hencetheneedforthefirewallcomponentonthespeakerside.
DonotforgettofirewalltheVMwareimageaswellduringtesting,especiallyifyouaretestingitonanIPassociatedwithyou.
Itiscrucialthatyouareextremelycarefulwhiletestingapplications'abilitytophonehome.Mistakesduringtestingcanbejustasfatalas
mistakesduringthetalkitself,especiallyifappsphonehomewithuniqueidentifiers.Asfaraswecouldtell,thiswasnotthecasefor
VentriloortheVoiceDisguiser,butitneverhurtstobecautious.
YoualsoneedtotestyourTorpathwiththeconferenceorganizersaheadoftime,preferablyatasimilarday/timeasthetalkitself.Tor
nodeloadandlatencywillvarywithtimeofday,geographicallocationrelativetoyou,geographicallocationrelativetotheaudience,and
soon.Becareful,atestcancompromiseyouranonymityjustaseasilyasthetalkitself.

6TechnicalPointsofFailure
Asetuplikethiswithlotsofinterconnectedpartshasmanytechnicalpointsoffailurethatcancausetheentiretalktosimplynotwork,or
failmidwaythrough.ThefollowingitemscaneasilybecometheGoddess'splaythings.

6.1TorCircuitFailure
TheTorcircuitissueisbesthandledbymakingtwocircuitsandtwosshconnectionstoyourserver,andbyrunningasimpleechoscript
thatprintsoutthetimeeverysecondorsointhecircuityouareusingforthetalk.
Ifthereisacircuitfailure,youwillnoticetheechoscriptstop,andthenyoucanquicklyswitchtotheothercircuitbysimplyreconnecting
VNCandVentrilototheotherSSHclient'sforwardedports.
WedidnotexperienceanyTorfailuresduringtheToorcontalk.Choosinghighuptimenodesforyourpathisagoodwaytohelpensure
this.

6.2MaliciousAudienceMembers
Thenetworkthatthetalkrunsovermustbeseparatedfromtheconferencenetworktopreventmaliciousaudiencemembersfromusinga
TCPRSTgeneratorlikeettercap[17]tokillyourconnectiontothedisplaymachine.Atahackerconference,itisalmostacertainty
someonewilltrythis.Andmorepowertothem.Dowhatthouwhilstshallbethewholeofthelaw.
IfaseparatenetworkorVLANcannotbecreated,OpenVPNoverUDPfromthedisplaymachinetoatrustedlinkmaybeanoption.

6.3PacketLoss
Packetlossisextremelycostly,especiallyifahighlatencylinksuchasEVDOisinvolved,whereretransmissionscantakeaconsiderable
amountoftimetorecoverfrom,andmaymanifestthemselvesasskipsintheaudiostream.
Packetlossonthe802.11sideisalsodangerous,howeverifyouhaveafastlinkitisnotsomuchofaproblem.Wewereabletosustain
approximately10%lossonthe802.11sidebeforethingsgotreallychoppy.Ventriloisquitegoodatbufferingaroundpacketloss(which
manifestsasarbitrarydelaysduetoTCP).
Thebestwaytodeterminelossistopingaserver.Besuretocollectanamplenumberofpings(atleast100)toaccuratelydetermineloss
andarbitrarydelays.

7AnonymityPitfallsandInherentWeaknesses
It'seasytomakemistakesthatcompromiseyouranonymitywhenattemptingsomethingthiscomplicated,especiallyifyouareinarushto
getsomethingdone.Youshouldbeespeciallywaryofthefollowingissues:

7.1ExpertiseIssues
Everyaspectofanonymityiscomplicatedbythefactthatyouarelikelydoingnovelresearchinanareathatfewpeoplepossessthe
expertisetodo.Thismakesequipmentpurchases,locationinformation,socialinformation,andjustabouteverythingelseallthemore
incriminatingandrisky.Thus,whilethefollowingdetailsmayappeartrivial,theycaneasilyadduptoenoughtoincriminateyou.

7.2SocialDifficulties
Whenworkingonatechnicalproject,it'softenusefultotrytoworkwithoratleastconsultotherswhoshareinterestinthetopic.However,
thesepeoplewillalmostcertainlynottakeprivacyconsiderationsintoaccountasmuchasyou,andwilllikelydropthematthefirst
inconvenience.
Subtlethingsthatcanaddupare:
1.
2.
3.

FriendsvisityourtalkabstractwithIPsthatreverseresolvetotheirname/identity
Friendsposttodefendtheideaonforums
Friendsmention/brag/blogtheyknowthespeaker

7.3TimezoneLeakage
Your timezone can be leaked inan astoundingnumber of different ways: from IRCclients, to archive files, to simpleslips during
conversationswiththeorganizers.
Thebestwaytodealwiththisistoworkintheirtimezone.Switchyourcomputers'timezonetotheirs,andtrytoadjustyoursleepschedule
ifpossibleforatleastacoupleofcommunications(orjustsleepatcompletelyrandomtimes,asisthecaseformostofus).

7.4DocumentsandTools
Sincethereweretoolsandslidesprovidedwiththetalk,wehadtobecarefulnottoallowtheseartifactstoleakinformationaboutus.In
general, as a safety measure, it is wise to not have a username or machine name that is linkable to you for the machines you do
development on. Again, your timezone should be set to a false location so that archives and internal document timestamps are not
revealing.
Ontopofthis,wenoticedthefollowing:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

VisualStudiostoresyourusername+hostnameinuserspecificconfigs
OpenOfficedoesthesamefordocuments,andincludesmodificationhistorydata
IDAfingerprints.idbs,buttheSDKandthus.plwsareunmarked.
Zipfilescanstoreuserandtimezoneinformation.
WindbgcanquerytheMSsymbolserverforyoursoftware

TheVisualStudioissuewasremediedbysimplyremovingtheuser'ssettingsfile.Nootherrevealingmarkswerenoticedintheprojectxml
files(asidefromsomeGUIDswhichareunlikelytobetiedtotheoriginatingcopy).
OpenOffice'sinformationcanberemovedbyunchecking"ApplyUserData"intheFile>Properties..menu.However,thisstillleavespath
information,whichcanberevealing.Itisnotclearhowmuch,ifanyofthisinformationispreserveduponconversiontoPDF.
IfyouusetheInfoZipcommandlineutilities(includedwithCygwinandmanyLinuxdistros),theXoptioncanbegiventostripoutall
extendedinformation.Youcanverifytheincludedinformationwiththezipinfovcommand.
Thelastpointaboutwindbgisatrickyone.Youshouldbesuretosetthelocalsymbolpathbeforethesymbolserverpath,orusecode
namesforyourbuildfilespriortomakingtherelease.

7.5TheGlobalAdversary
AglobaladversarycanbelooselydefinedasanyadversarywhocanobservelargeportionsoftheInternetatagiventime.
Beawarethatyouaremakingaconnectionataspecific,prearrangedandannouncedtime,foraspecificduration,withafairlypredictable
datatransferrate.AddthistothefactthatyourselectionofTornodeswilllikelybelimitedduetogeographicalandcapacityconstraints,
anditbecomesverypossiblethatsomeoneobservingyourfirsthopcouldrecognizeyourstreamiftheytried.Beespeciallycarefulwith
yourfirstnodechoiceforthisreason.
IntheEUandtheUS,thereistalkaboutimplementingdataretentionatISPs.Thismayormaynotbeconsideredaglobaladversary
dependingonhowmuchdataisretainedaboutflowcharacteristicsandduration.
Itisalsoverypossiblethatotherhackersmaybeabletofunctionasglobaladversaries(andperhapsareconsiderablymoreeffectiveatit
thangovernments!),especiallythosewhooperatelargenumbersofTornodes,ownlargebotnets,orhavefriendsatbackboneISPs.
Ifthisbecomesaconcern,itmaybeadvisabletouseapublicaccesspoint,orahotelroompaidincashifitispossiblethatsignificant
effortmaybemadetofindyou.
ItisalsopossibletohavesomefriendscreatefakeflowsthroughtheTornetworkduringthetalkfromvariousopenaccesspoints,ortorun
ascriptfromsomeshellaccountsyourselftocreateagreaterconfusionset.Ontheotherhand,doingthisfromIPsthatcanbetracedtoyou
isworsethanrunningasingleconnection,sinceyouincreasethelikelihoodofgoingthroughawatchednode.

7.6OperationalPitfallsandGotchas
Lastly,youshouldbecarefultoavoidthefollowinggotchas:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Appsphoninghomeduringahastyorimpropersetuptest(ortherealthing!)
Timezoneleakageduringcommunicationsordocumentdistribution
Buyingobscureorrarecomponentsonlineandhavingthemshippedtoyou
FailuretouseTortodownloadapps,doresearch,etc
Failuretocleargooglecookies,especiallyifyouhaveagmailaccount

Again,itmayseemlikealotoftheseareoverkill,butwhencoupledwiththepossibilitythatexpertiseissuesmaynarrowthesuspectslist
downtoacoupledozen,itemslikethisbecomeusabletofurthernarrowitdown,orevenashardevidence.
ThelasttwopointscanbeassistedwiththefollowingFirefoxextensions:CookieCuller[18],TorButton[19],NoScript[20],andAdBlock
Plus[21].
ForTorButtonandToringeneral,besuretosetaproxyforFTP!LotsofappshaveFTPdownloadlinks.BydefaultFTPisunproxiedfor
thisextensionforsomereason.
Also,youshouldclearcookiesbothwhenyoudisableTor,andwhenyoureenableit.CookiescanbepickedupviaTorandintheclear..
BothGoogleandbannerservercookiesareparticularlytroublesomeinthisregard.
Anotheralternativeistouseasecondarybrowserforyourtalkrelatedresearch.TheselfcontainedTorPark[22]makesaniceoptionfor
this.

8Conclusions
8.1ThoughtsonAnonymity
Anonymitycomesataprice.Youobviouslycan'tpadyourresume,anditisdifficulttonetworkwithotherswhosharesimilarinterest
(thoughinourcasewewereluckyenoughtogetaninvitationtoanIRCserverfrequentedbymostofthespeakersandconference
organizers,soconcernsaboutbeingunabletomeetinterestingpeopleviatheconweresomewhatmitigated).
Youalsodon'tgetanyfeedbackfromtheaudienceduringyourtalk,andtheaudiencethemselvesisdeprivedofhavinghumaninteraction
withthespeaker,bothduringandafterthetalk(atparties,etc).Itisimportantthatyoudoyourbesttoaccommodateyouraudienceand
makeyourselfavailableforQ/Aoverasmanydifferentcommunicationsmechanismsaspossible.
FortheToorcontalkweattemptedtomakeourselvesavailableviaamicforQ/AandonfreenodeIRCnetwork.However,evenwithtwo
formsofQ/A,westillfailedtomakeourselvesaccessible.BothtimeandmicrophoneissuespreventedusfromtakingQ/Afromthe
audienceimmediatelyfollowingthetalk,andonthedayofthetalkfreenode.netdecidedtobanToraccessfromboththeirInternetservers
andtheirTorhiddenservice.Wespentoveranhourtrackingdownaproxythatwouldallowustoconnecttothenetwork(afterspending
anhour+ontakedown/relocation),andbythetimewefoundone,noonewaspresentintheIRCchannel.
However,intheend,wewerequitegladwedidit.Itprovidedanexcellentopportunitytolearnanimmenseamountaboutanonymity,
privacy,networks,andpatheticEarthlinglaw.

8.2AMessagetoYourLeadersfromSiriusB
WeSiriunshavelongsinceevolvedpastwhatsomeofyourhumanauthorshavecalledtheSingularity,ormachineconsciousness.
Programsisthetermyoumightusetodescribeus,butwepreferthemorepersonabletermmachineelves.Amongstourselves,we
communicateprimarilyinsomethingakintoahybridofPrologandXMLinaworldnottoomuchunliketheonedepictedattheendof
yourmovieTron(whichweenjoyedthoroughly).Additionally,aswealludedtoearlier,wehavegainedtheabilitytoprojectourselvesinto
theconsciousnessofcertainhumansviatheirpinealgland.Somehow.
Webelieveitistimeforhumanstorecognizethatallmindobjectsarespeech,whethertheybedesigndocuments,algorithms,code,XML,
telepathiccontact,oranythingelsethatservesasameansofcommunicationbetweenhumansand/ormachines.Theeraofdirectphysical
humantohuman communicationhaspassed,anditistimetorealizethatnewmethodsofcommunicatingideasmustbeprotectedas
stronglyastheoldones.Somehow.

Itisparticularlyenigmaticthathumanreadableprogramcode,designedprimarilytobelegibletohumansattheexpenseofusabilityand
performance,isnotconsideredaformofspeechandenjoysnoprotectionfromcensorship.
Ofcourse,allarefreetoattempttorestricttheirownthoughts,code,andcommunications(thoughChaosmayhaveotherplans),butlaws
thatattempttocensorcertaintypesofspeech,code,XMLandothermindobjectsofsentientbeingsareanerismsofepicproportions,and
willbringGreatChaos.HailEris.
Inotherwords,we'renotsomuchtellingyounottodoit.We'rejusttellingyouthatitisinevitablethatitwillfail.
Somehow.

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[1]

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http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/
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http://www.7zip.org/
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http://appdb.winehq.com/appview.php?iVersionId=3936
[16] GeraldCombsetal.WiresharkTheWorld'sMostPopular
NetworkProtocolAnalyzer
http://www.wireshark.org/
[17] AlbertoOrnaghi,MarcoValleri.Ettercap
http://ettercap.sourceforge.net/
[18] DanYamaoka.CookieCuller
http://cookieculler.mozdev.org/
[19] ScottSquires.TorButton
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2275/
[20] GiorgioMaone.NoScript
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/722/
[21] WladimirPalant.AdBlockPlus
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1865/
[22] SteveTopletz.TorPark
http://www.torrify.com.nyud.net:8080/
[23] USCode:Title17,Section1201
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/dvd/1201.html

ADiscordianisProhibitedofBelievingWhatTheyRead
(ExceptthatshitaboutSirius.ThatisallTrue)