Re: GPS bugs (was: Jim Bell Trial: Third Day (fwd))

[auto211076]

 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  
  Third Day:  Jim Bell trial
  
  The defense requested information about the tracking device that was 
attached 
  to Jim Bell's car: the type, make, and where installed in the car.  
London 
  cited "law enforcement privilege" and argued that giving out that information 
  would enable future surveillance subjects to find and dismantle such 
devices. 
   (Earlier in the trial, it was mentioned that this was the first use 
of 
  a GPS tracking device in the area.)
 
 From what little I know of GPS, the receiver must be able to "see sky."
 So there can't be any metal objects between it and the sky.  That means
 it's unlikely for it to be on the underside of the car.  Possible installation
 places would be under the "skin" above the dashboard, any place that has
 line of sight to the windshield or back window.  If the car is a vinyl 
top,
 under the roof would be good hiding place.

Other speculation was that it might have been inside a vinyl bumper.

 Of course the main body of the "bug" can be hidden anywhere inside the 
car, but
 the antena needs to see sky.
 
 These things are usually cellphone enabled, so that way they don't constantly
 transmit, and won't be easily caught by sweeps.

Gordon's testimony was that it was a continuously-transmitting bug.  Which 
of course brought up the question of the power supply.

The bug transmitted on an RF frequency.  Bell had mentioned to friends that 
he believed that he had been bugged, but lacking an RF frequency analyzer,
 he had been unable to find the bug.  He apparently was concerned that both 
his house and car were bugged.  Although why he didn't hire the services 
of a "bug-sweeper" is beyond me.
 
 Defenses would include GPS and cell phone jammers, but these would have 
to
 be on 24/7, thus draining the car's battery.  GPS jammer would be more
 desireable, since the cell phone side is just used to download the logs
 of where the car has been, and the logs can be recovered by physically
 recovering the bug.

The power supply was a considerable source of speculation.  If the bug had 
been attached to the battery, then it would have been much more detectable. 
 Stories had it that Bell had checked under the hood; it would not take 
more than a VOM to detect a discharge.
 
 One thing I don't know about in relation to GPS: are the military bits
 sent on different frequencies than the civilian bits?  Or are they just
 encrypted?  If they're different frequencies, then, you'd have to know
 these to build an effective jammer.

There was no discussion of military bits vs. civilian bits, rather military 
grade vs. civilian grade.
 
 I of course have no information on what was actually installed in Jim
 Bell's car, where, how, or by whom, except as emails have described
 here, and I take this with a grain of salt.

And some degree of skepticism has to be attached to the court testimony. 
 It was painfully clear that the prosecutor had little handle on technical 
issues, and that even the agent who bugged Bell's car had limited knowledge 
of how the device worked.  Some of the descriptions given in court about 
how GPS works were clearly wrong.
 
 ObDisclaimer to Jeff Gordon and crew: this email posting does not constitute
 any sort of intent to do anything.  It is mereley an excercise of my
 constitutionally protected rights to freedom of speech.  Recall that 
 by the oath you have taken to protect and uphold the laws of the United 
 States of America when you first decided to work for the government, you
 are required to protect defend my right to freedom of speech.

If you weren't on the radar before, you are now.

So are you planning on rooming with Jim or C.J.?


Free, encrypted, secure Web-based email at www.hushmail.com

Jim Bell Trial: Third Day (fwd)

[auto211076]

Third Day:  Jim Bell trial

Rabatin (the computer forensics specialist) took the stand again.

He verified that more documents were pulled from Bell's computer:

1) Message to Ray Dillinger, 10/19/2000, "Judges Needed Killing".  Rabatin 
read an excerpt where Bell suggested a "chemical solution" whereby PCBs 
could be used to contaminate vehicles seized by government agencies, turning 
them from $10,000 assets into $100,000 liabilities.
2) The now oft-cited "Say Goodnight to Joshua" message of 10/24/2000.
3) Message to Jim East (friend of Bell's who testified on Wednesday) on 
10/24/2000, regarding Bell's investigation of addresses of a Jeffrey Gordon 
in Eagle Creek, OR, and Mike McNall.  An excerpt read by Rabatin:  "The 
new renter acted like he knew Mike McNall."
4) Message on 10/25/2000 to John Branton at the Vancouver Columbian, Re: 
Harry Browne in Portland.  Bell writes that he talked to Gordon and McNall. 
 Bell states that Lund got 10 years off sentence in exchange for assistance 
in intimidating Bell into signing the original guilty plea agreement.
5) Message to cypherpunks, 10/25, "CIA in Oregon."
6) Message on 10/26 to Branton, regarding Bell's search through the Oregon 
DMV database for a possible CIA operative.
7) Message to Bob Johnson on 10/26, with a reference to outing feds.
8) Message to cypherpunks, 10/27, regarding the CIA and Intellink in Oregon.
9) Another message to cypherpunks on the same date, same subject
10)   Message to Branton, 10/28, regarding "outing" of "CIA agent" Mueller 
in Bend.
11)   Message (to Branton?), saying that the Mueller in Bend did not have 
the same birthday as previously thought.
12)   Message to cypherpunks, 10/30, Re: Parties, urging people to make 
various public databases easily available.
13)   Message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and [EMAIL PROTECTED], with cc: 
to Declan McCullagh, John Branton, and John Painter.  Bell states that he's 
still interested in uncovering the truth concerning McNall and Lund.  He 
asks the recipients to call the ATF office where he believes that McNall 
works.  As part of the deal that Bell believes that Lund got for cooperation,
 Bell notes that Lund got 27 months instead of 10-12 years for possession 
of an illegal firearm and methamphetamines.
14)   Message to John Young, 11/2, describing his upcoming trip to Bend 
to check out the address of Mueller.
15)   Message to Blanc Weber, 11/3, similar to the previous message to John 
Young.
16)   Message to cypherpunks, 11/4, Re: CIA in Oregon and Intellink" describing 
the Mueller home in Bend, Oregon, and listing license plate numbers on cars 
he found there.

During the above testimony, the prosecution displayed the email messages 
on a monitor that was located about 20 feet from the jury box.  The jurors 
leaned over, squinting to see the messages. Although there had been two 
days of testimony where images had been displayed on this monitor, it wasn't 
until the third day that the judge asked if the jurors had difficulty seeing 
the messages.  Almost all raised their hands.  The judge then encourage 
the jurors to stand up and move around to get a better look at the monitor,
 which they did for a couple of exhibits.  After that, none of the jurors 
made significant physical effort to examine the exhibits.

London asked Rabatin: "How do you know authorship [of these emails]?"  Rabatin 
responded that the email programs are set up for multiple users.  However,
 he generally only looked at emails that were obviously either authored 
by or sent to Jim Bell. Rabatin noted that other family members used email 
on the same computer that Jim did, and that Rabatin had only made a cursory 
review of their accounts.

In cross-examination, Rabatin stated that he had only found email on one 
computer, although three computers were seized in the November 6 raid.  
(Obviously, the two computers that were seized but obviously not used by 
Bell were sitting in the courtroom and had not yet been returned to the 
family.)  In addition, Rabatin had failed to check the date and time on 
Bell's computer, but believed them to be generally accurate.

The prosecution next called Barbara Gordon, wife of a Jeffrey Gordon.  She 
pointed out her husband in the courtroom, a youngish, bearded working-class 
casually dressed man.  She verified that the information that Bell had gathered 
from public databases referred to her and her husband.

She testified that she had never received the October explanation of benefits 
from her insurance carrier, and stated that she and her husband were so 
busy that at times they did not pick up their mail for a couple of days 
at a time from the mailbox at the curb.

In cross-examination, Leen asked her where she had heard of Jim Bell.  She 
was unaware of Bell until Jeff Gordon had approached her.  Asked if she 
knew of any thefts or trespass, she said that she did not.

The next witness was Robert Dutra, Detention Enforcement Officer with the 
U.S. Marshall's Service.