799 lines
40 KiB
Plaintext
799 lines
40 KiB
Plaintext
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Computer underground Digest Wed Apr 27, 1994 Volume 6 : Issue 38
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ISSN 1004-042X
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Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET)
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Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
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Retiring Shadow Archivist: Stanton McCandlish
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Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
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Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
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Ian Dickinson
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Suspercollater: Shrdlu Nooseman
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CONTENTS, #6.38 (Apr 27, 1994)
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File 1--Public Morality, Civil Disobedience, and Piracy
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File 2--White House tech & Crime
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File 3--Comment on the Lamacchia case
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File 4--hacking congress
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File 5--I hope this saves someone's buttons ("Dstry your data")
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Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
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available at no cost electronically.
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CuD is available as a Usenet newsgroup: comp.society.cu-digest
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Or, to subscribe, send a one-line message: SUB CUDIGEST your name
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Send it to LISTSERV@UIUCVMD.BITNET or LISTSERV@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU
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The editors may be contacted by voice (815-753-0303), fax (815-753-6302)
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or U.S. mail at: Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL
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60115, USA.
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Issues of CuD can also be found in the Usenet comp.society.cu-digest
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news group; on CompuServe in DL0 and DL4 of the IBMBBS SIG, DL1 of
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LAWSIG, and DL1 of TELECOM; on GEnie in the PF*NPC RT
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libraries and in the VIRUS/SECURITY library; from America Online in
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the PC Telecom forum under "computing newsletters;"
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On Delphi in the General Discussion database of the Internet SIG;
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on RIPCO BBS (312) 528-5020 (and via Ripco on internet);
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and on Rune Stone BBS (IIRGWHQ) (203) 832-8441.
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CuD is also available via Fidonet File Request from
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1:11/70; unlisted nodes and points welcome.
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EUROPE: from the ComNet in LUXEMBOURG BBS (++352) 466893;
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In ITALY: Bits against the Empire BBS: +39-461-980493
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FTP: UNITED STATES: etext.archive.umich.edu (141.211.164.18) in /pub/CuD/
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aql.gatech.edu (128.61.10.53) in /pub/eff/cud/
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EUROPE: nic.funet.fi in pub/doc/cud/ (Finland)
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ftp.warwick.ac.uk in pub/cud/ (United Kingdom)
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JAPAN: ftp.glocom.ac.jp /mirror/ftp.eff.org/
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COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
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information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of
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diverse views. CuD material may be reprinted for non-profit as long
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as the source is cited. Authors hold a presumptive copyright, and
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they should be contacted for reprint permission. It is assumed that
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non-personal mail to the moderators may be reprinted unless otherwise
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specified. Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles
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relating to computer culture and communication. Articles are
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preferred to short responses. Please avoid quoting previous posts
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unless absolutely necessary.
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DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent
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the views of the moderators. Digest contributors assume all
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responsibility for ensuring that articles submitted do not
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violate copyright protections.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Tue, 19 Apr 1994 15:19:50 -0400 (EDT)
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From: Dennis Shayne Weyker <weyker@WAM.UMD.EDU>
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Subject: File 1--Public Morality, Civil Disobedience, and Piracy
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I wanted to pass along some email responses I received that made
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factual corrections or additions to my article (on the social ethics of
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piracy, hacking, and phreaking) which might be of interest to CuD
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readers. Since I didn't ask all these people for permission to repost I've
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removed their names from their comments.
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I would also like to respond to some of public comments about my article.
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Hopefully the content of these responses is of broad enough interest to
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make them worth publishing in CuD. I have attempted to keep quoting to
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minimum in the two articles I respond to.
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+>email message 1
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>One point that you didn't make regarding pay-phones. - Manufacturing,
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>installing and maintaIning payphones is not an inexpensive task.
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>Apparently in some areas the payphone companies are getting out of the
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>payphone business because they can't make money at it.
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+>email message 2
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>I detected one definite factual error. Dir. asst. calls from payphones
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>are not necessarily free. They may be in MD, and in DC as well as I
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>learned, but they are not in all areas. Before relocating out here, I'd
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>never gotten a free dir asst. call in my life. In New Mexico, these
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>calls are 50 cents or so (more than the actual phone call in most case,
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>as E.G. pointed out.) I tend to suspect that NM is the norm not the
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>exception. I've also been charged for such calling is AZ, CO, TX and Miss.
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+>email message 3
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> You mentioned a much heard argument
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> that by pirating WP (or whatever) by indivduals, such companies
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> gain market acceptance in the long term.
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> That's undeniably true. But, if WP was not pirated, say it was not
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> possible, people have to buy it. WP is expensive (that's one
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> reason to pirate it), so they are going to buy some cheaper
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> package, likely a shareware one or so. They won't have done this
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> if it was possible to pirate WP.
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> Therefore, pirating software not only `hurts' the pirated company
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> (pirating by indiduals very likely does not hurt, but other
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> pirating does), but also shareware authors or other competitors.
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And now for the two responses.
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+>From: chris.hind@MAVERICKBBS.COM(Chris Hind)
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>You gave an example about if phreakers printed and article in Phrack
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>about how to hack such-and-such equipment then that might change a
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>telco's mind about which brand of equipment they should buy. Now that this
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>information is released, there's a whole new ball game! Now phreakers
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>will use this as power over the market. They could use reverse
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>psychology to screw up the telco's and then that would open up a huge
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>window for phreakers to hack into a telco and pick it's bones clean.
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True. And by your message you've just warned telco engineers to beware of
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such reverse psychology attacks on their procurement decisions.
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What was more interesting to me about this scenario was not so much the
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net effect on the telco's security but rather Phrack's power to almost
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unilaterally take wealth (sales) away from one company and give it to
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another. Doesn't this strike anybody as unfair? And how long will it be
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before Northern Telecom or Fujitsu start *paying* hackers to find and report
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in phrack on the security weaknesses of their competitor's products?
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Next you'll tell me I've hurt the telcos again by showing hackers
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there's money to be made in hacking. It was going to happen sooner or
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later, and unless *all* companies make a practice of using hackers
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to analyze and attack their rivals' products in the above-ground
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hacker-media, those few companies who choose to do this are doing
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something which distorts the market in their favor (because their
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competitors' stuff gets torture-tested by ingenious hackers while their
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own stuff doesn't) and probably should be punished either through
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the judicial system or their business community. And we have to know this
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threat of illict behavior is there before we can think of ways to counter it.
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But there's another way to look at this. Telco's may *want* to buy the
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'compromised' switch over the uncompromised one since they know what's
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wrong with the 'compromised' one and can (try to) fix those holes before
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installing them while they can't fix the holes in the 'uncompromised' switch
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until they discover them the hard way.
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+>From: "AMERICAN EAGLE PUBLICATION INC." <0005847161@MCIMAIL.COM>
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>If you live in a society where there are absolute moral standards,
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>you're probably pretty well off, because you can use those standards like
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>theorem and hypothesis to draw some conclusions. That isn't the United
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>States, though. In our society there are no absolute morals anymore.
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>. . . The point is simple: in a world without absolutes,
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>power is the only rule, and all men do what they can get away with.
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I think your first error is saying that just because christian morality
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has been widely devalued (has lost its ability to control the behavior of
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the masses) there are no longer *any* standards of behavior worth
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following. I disagree. Perhaps I'm unusual because I've had more exposure
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to secular moral philosophy than most folks, but I can think of several of
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moral standards one could choose to live by which would give one's life
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meaning and prevent the conclusion that I should only do what's good for
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me without considering the effects on other people. A few of the better
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known ones:
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Utilitiarianism, which says you should always try to bring the greatest
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good to the greatest number, either on a case by case basis or by
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creating rules to serve that purpose.
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Kantian/Deontological ethics, which say you should only act in ways that you
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would approve of every acting in the same way. Also, that you should never
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treat other persons as merely a means to some end, that every person has
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rights to be treated with the respect due a human being and your own
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desires and rights have to take account of those other persons' rights.
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Virtue ethics say you should try to live a life of excellence. Try to
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live up to the big ideals; honesty, fairness, industriousness, charity,
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self-reflection, etc. etc.
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And nobody said just because society and the government have abandoned
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Christian morality that you have to. It may require more willpower and
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effort on your part to be a good christian when you have to live under a
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government and society that offends some of your values, but that's no
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excuse for giving up. The same goes for Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, etc.
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believers.
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I'm sure most of even the hardcore libertarians out there think there are
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some moral principles (respecting other people's freedom and property?)
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that one ought to follow in the absence of pressure to be nice.
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>The founding fathers plainly appealed to God in
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>the Declaration of Independence and many less noticed writings. Yet
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>any such claims are patently false, in as much as our government now
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>subverts the constitution and the original intent of the fathers at
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>will. . . .
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Historical trivia: I've heard Thomas Paine was a fire-breathing atheist.
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I would say the government has acquired lots of power, but that this alone
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does not mean it is unrestrained. You seem to feel that since government
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no longer plays by the moral rules laid down in the Bible or the original
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interpretation of the constitution that it has become an amoral
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power-grabbing monster.
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I think that while govt. has regulated our lives more, and in doing so
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offended the values of both traditionalists like you (who think
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officeholders' sexual ethics and welfare-state mindset will be the death
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of mankind) and liberals (who would like to see a lot more government
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action on bigotry, economic/racial inequality, corporations' abuse of
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people/animals/the environment, reproductive freedom, and so on). But I
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don't think it mindlessly stomps on *everybody's* values in some
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monomaniacal lust for power. The power of the vote would have to come in
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and halt this somewhere, right?
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As for original intent interpretations of the constitution being morally
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authoritative. . . Think how the world has changed since 1776: industrial
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corporate capitalism with huge disparities of income has replaced the
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Jeffersonian community of relatively-equal small-landholders, we've
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adopted equality-in-theory for women and minorities, and so on. I don't
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think there's anything morally compelling or desireable about living in a
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society regulated by original-intent ideas favoring very restricted
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taxation, property qualifications for voting, second-class citizenship for
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women and minorities, etc.
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>Furthermore, our government
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>is the chief purveyor of immorality. [because it supports condom
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>distribution, doesn't discriminate against homerotic art in federal
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>funding of the arts, uses deadly force against those it arbitrarily
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>determines to be a threat to the public, and permits white-collar
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>criminals, philanderers, and homosexuals to hold office.]
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One of these things (white collar criminals in govt.) is a pet peeve of
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mine too and makes me anxious about the government's integrity (ex. Ed
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Meese, INSLAW). I try to keep in mind though that separation of powers
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and a bloodthristy free press supposedly act as a check on corrupt
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officials.
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But for sexual ethics, I think you are confusing government's devaluation
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of *your* sexual ethics in its pursuit of equal treatment for homosexuals
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(NEA funding, civil rights protections) and a means of protecting
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teenagers and the poor from AIDS (condom distribution) as a broad denial
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of *any* ethical standards. I think both of these policies are compatible
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with the secular moral standards (utilitarianism, etc.) I provided above.
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As for arbitrary govt. use of deadly force (too much in Waco, too little
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in LA riots, you seemed to feel) I can only say that I don't yet see a
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pattern where govt. is crushing all religious minorities and is
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indifferent to riots in the cities. Waco was probably too much, and the
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early police response in LA too little. But like the line goes, "Never
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attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity". Lack
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of prepartion in LA and bad judgement in Waco may explain them better than
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a conspiracy theory about the government gunning for religious groups
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while coddling rioters and looters. And also regarding Waco, I heard the
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siege was costing the government a million or two *every day*. How many
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millions have to be spent paying 50 FBI agents overtime to sit around Waco
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rather than using that money to provide other much-needed police services
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(catching serial killers, dope dealers, bank robbers, kidnappers,
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etc.) before the government is entitled to take a calculated risk in order
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to end the siege? The risk in Waco was miscalculated, but the idea of
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riskily ending sieges because of the huge costs to the taxpayers of
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letting them continue indefinitely has to be considered.
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>As such, the law as a statement of prevailing morality is purely the
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>tool of the powerful. If you have power, you consolidate it into law
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>and give it the name of morality. Machiavelli.
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I sometimes fear (like you) that money and the power associated with it
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dominate lawmaking. But this feeling comes and goes. I believe a fair
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number of laws get passed that seem to conform as much to secular ideas of
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the good as they do to the interests/desires of those with the most cash.
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I don't see the moral void out there that you do, in which it's O.K. to do
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anything and only the power of others prevents you from abusing them.
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>There are two sources of power: first, there's power where the money
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>is: e.g. the software developers. Second, there's power where the
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>technology is. And the technology favors the pirates.
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Yep. You've hit on a pretty accurate description of why piracy is so
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common. But as the philosophers like to say, "you can't derive what you
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ought to do from what is". We don't live in a moral void. Just because
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piracy is easy and common doesn't make it right. You have to have some
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kind of abstract moral standard (or maybe a Christian one) that tells you
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*why* piracy is ok. You yourself appeal to the Bible, indicating it's lack
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of mention of intellectual property, I could counter that respect for
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intellectual property is implied in respect for physical property since
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the underlying idea is that one should be able to enjoy the fruits of
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their labor. And why were you so forceful about noting that you pay for
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the software you use and noting the necessity of violating copyright to
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supporting your customers' obsolete software? I suspect its not because
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you feared the SPA but rather because you felt there was something wrong
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about not paying for software you use.
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>Money has made the law. Technology has made a farce of the law.
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Good line. The rise of social power of the technology elite at the expense
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of money elite gives the world an opportunity to fix some of the
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injustices inherent in a money-controlled system. But in doing so we
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really need to figure out which of those legal and moral laws that "money"
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made are bogus and which are worth keeping.
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Your techno-nihilism, if widely adopted, could lead to the
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institutionalized exploitation of the people by the techno-elite just as
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the industrial revolution saw the exploitation of the people by the
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business-elite. That would be bad.
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>Now, the essence of tyranny is to put everyone in violation of a
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>draconian law at all times . . . Our software piracy law seems to fit
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>well in line here.
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Indeed, the current penalties are harsh, and the expectation that they'd
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only be used to attack big-scale pirates-for-profit (i.e. DOS and Windows
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counterfeiters) has been destroyed by the SPA. Piracy penalties should be
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proportional to the real damage done to the copyright holder (see my prior
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post, and the email comment above about harming competing shareware
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authors) and should take account of the social good that the piracy in
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each case is associated with (allowing the testing/comparison of software
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before buying, allowing the support of obsolete/unsupported programs,
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shorter development times for new applications, etc.).
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>Mr. Weyker [said] . . . "We are all morally bound to obey
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>the law" except in a public protest [except in extreme
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>cases like Nazi Germany].
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>I'll plainly disagree. . . . I mean, whose morals are we talking about
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>here? America's? Then might makes right, and you can do what you like.
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I've already pointed out that I think you're confused society's divergence
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from your Christian values with the U.S. being an amoral place in which
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might and the pursuit of one's own desires are the only relevant guides to
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behavior. The former may be true, the latter does not follow. And in any
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event, living in an amoral place doesn't necessarily give you the license
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to be amoral yourself, you have to duty to live morally except *maybe* in
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some cases where assuring your very survival may force you to passively or
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actively violate your moral principles (like in say, Nazi Germany). And
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Christian ethics give believers less slack in this department than secular
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moral systems.
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But interesting question is: Why should we break the law publicly rather
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than privately? Because if the law is wrong, everyone benefits by a brave
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individual stepping forth to risk their neck in the hopes of getting the
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courts to strike the law down or weaken it. Breaking the law in secret may
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help you get what *you* want while minimizing *your* risks, but it does
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nothing to help the many others who feel the law is wrong but lack your
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advantage of secrecy or who have much more to lose by confronting the law
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head-on. That's why Doc Kevorkian and the Civil Rights protest movement
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have a heroic cast to them, they risked themselves for the benefit of
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others.
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On the other hand, pressure for public confrontation of the law makes
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those who are tempted to deceive themselves (convincing themselves that it
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is not just that the law inconveniences *them* but also that it is a bad
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law for *everyone* that deserves to be broken and held in contempt) into
|
||
|
justifying criminal behavior to themselves that really isn't justifiable.
|
||
|
This tends to take the tool of civil disobedience out of the hands of the
|
||
|
average person and restrict it to very zealous folks who really hate the
|
||
|
law and strongly believe that it will fall if exposed to public scrutiny
|
||
|
in a famous court case. In return for accepting this restriction, we as a
|
||
|
society get a lot fewer people using self-serving, faulty, logic to
|
||
|
justify criminal behavior to themselves and turn their well-deserved
|
||
|
feelings of guilt into blame for the government or business. Thus there's
|
||
|
a trade off, one that may or may not be good on balance. Libertarians and
|
||
|
anarchists would probably like to have civil disobedience be more broadly
|
||
|
available/less risky so more people can get in the habit of bucking the
|
||
|
system. But the value of forcing people to be accountable for their
|
||
|
actions, not just to the government--but the community, shouldn't be
|
||
|
forgotten. That's why I get a bit antsy about the anonymity/cryptography craze
|
||
|
sometimes.
|
||
|
|
||
|
>I think most people try to be fair to vendors most of the time. For the
|
||
|
>most part, they have been to my company, even though there is a cadre who
|
||
|
>aren't.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Not having a law prevents abusive enforcement of that law by the state.
|
||
|
But not having a law also sets up abuse of the trust that must take the
|
||
|
place of the law.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This is like the classic libertarian vs. welfare-liberal debate about what
|
||
|
happens if you stop redistributing wealth and depend on people's
|
||
|
charitable instincts to take the redistribution scheme's place. The
|
||
|
libertarian says charity will do as well or better for the poor than
|
||
|
redistribution. The liberal thinks just the opposite. Here, the
|
||
|
libertarian thinks trusting folks to pay for software will do just as well
|
||
|
for those who write code for a living as a law requiring folks to pay
|
||
|
up. Again, liberals are doubtful. We need good solutions, social,
|
||
|
technical, or a mixture of the two to get out of this dilemma.
|
||
|
|
||
|
>It's not the little guy who will get hurt in such a scheme. He can
|
||
|
>still sell software because chances are his neighbor won't have that
|
||
|
>package anyhow. The big guy will get hurt though. But is that
|
||
|
>necessarily so bad? It sounds to me like a good way to keep monopolies
|
||
|
>out of the software industry.
|
||
|
|
||
|
See my earlier comment about weighing the social benefits of particular
|
||
|
cases (or perhaps classes of cases) of piracy as well as the real amount
|
||
|
of harm to the producer. I think not punishing piracy of Windows and
|
||
|
MS-DOS while punishing an identical case of piracy of MondoBase+ just
|
||
|
because Microsoft is "too damn big and has all the money anyway" probably
|
||
|
runs afoul of constitutional guarantees of 'equal protection under the
|
||
|
law' for the company and moral expectations of equal treatment by innocent
|
||
|
employees of Microsoft (low-level programmers?) who are in no way
|
||
|
responsible for their employer's reputedly aggressive and sneaky legal
|
||
|
behavior and who don't make all that much more than similarly employed
|
||
|
people in other companies.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We have laws about monopoly in the U.S. and Microsoft has gotten to know
|
||
|
them up close and personal because its size and aggressiveness have made
|
||
|
them a Federal Trade Commission target. Time will tell whether this is
|
||
|
enough, or whether the software using community will out of fear of another
|
||
|
monopoly reminiscient of IBM at its peak (which also got busted hard by
|
||
|
the monopoly laws, if I remember right), conspire to drag Microsoft down
|
||
|
through purposeful and targeted violation of their copyright and/or
|
||
|
discrimination against their products when deciding what to buy.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Shayne Weyker
|
||
|
weyker@wam.umd.edu
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 1994 01:18:26 -0800
|
||
|
From: jdav@NETCOM.COM(James I. Davis)
|
||
|
Subject: File 2--White House tech & Crime
|
||
|
|
||
|
THE WHITE HOUSE
|
||
|
Office of the Vice President
|
||
|
____________________________________________________________
|
||
|
For Immediate Release April 20, 1994
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
GORE JOINS BENTSEN, RENO IN CRIME TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION
|
||
|
Vice President Announces Inter-Agency Agreements
|
||
|
|
||
|
WASHINGTON -- To illustrate how the use of technology
|
||
|
can help fight rising crime, Vice President Al Gore today
|
||
|
(4/20) joined Administration officials in a demonstration of
|
||
|
wireless and dual-use technologies that can be used for law
|
||
|
enforcement purposes. He also announced two inter-agency
|
||
|
agreements that will increase cooperation between the
|
||
|
Departments of Justice, Treasury, and Defense in using
|
||
|
technology to help combat crime.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"The technologies demonstrated today provide powerful
|
||
|
new weapons in the war against crime," the Vice President
|
||
|
said. "Technological advances make it possible to fight
|
||
|
crime safer and smarter than ever before. They increase
|
||
|
safety, enhance productivity for our law enforcement
|
||
|
officials, and save taxpayer dollars."
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Vice President joined Treasury Secretary Lloyd
|
||
|
Bensten, Attorney General Janet Reno, Deputy Secretary of
|
||
|
Defense John Deutch, and Office of National Drug Control
|
||
|
Policy Director Lee Brown in the demonstration, which
|
||
|
included a wide variety of technologies that will help fight
|
||
|
crime or support law enforcement.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In addition, the Vice President announced two inter-
|
||
|
agency Memorandums of Understandings. The first MOU,
|
||
|
between the Departments of Justice and Treasury, establishes
|
||
|
an agreement to develop a wireless telecommunications
|
||
|
network for use by federal, state, and local law enforcement
|
||
|
officials. This agreement implements one of the
|
||
|
recommendations of Vice President Gore's National
|
||
|
Performance Review to make the federal government work
|
||
|
better and cost less. The second MOU, between the
|
||
|
Departments of Defense and Justice, is a five-year agreement
|
||
|
to jointly develop and share technologies that are necessary
|
||
|
for both law enforcement and military operations other than
|
||
|
war.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Secretary Bentsen said, "We want to invest in crime-
|
||
|
fighting technology, we want to do it so local and state
|
||
|
police benefit, and we want to do it so costs don't go
|
||
|
through the roof. That's why I'm so eager to sign up
|
||
|
Treasury in a partnership with Justice to develop cost-
|
||
|
effective and efficient technology."
|
||
|
|
||
|
"New technologies increase the effectiveness of law
|
||
|
enforcement, offer police officers greater options for
|
||
|
apprehension, and improve the safety of the public," said
|
||
|
Attorney General Reno. "Today's agreements will unite the
|
||
|
efforts of the Justice Department with those of Defense and
|
||
|
Treasury to help make these technologies available to our
|
||
|
nation's law enforcement community."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Deputy Secretary Deutch said, "Today's Memorandum of
|
||
|
Understanding formalizes our ongoing relationship with the
|
||
|
Department of Justice. It comes at a time when budgets are
|
||
|
decreasing and yet we need different capabilities and
|
||
|
equipment to accomplish our peacekeeping and humanitarian
|
||
|
missions. We are finding that these requirements are
|
||
|
similar in many cases to the needs of law enforcement
|
||
|
agencies, and we look forward to cooperating in this area."
|
||
|
|
||
|
The demonstrations included an automated booking system
|
||
|
to electronically record fingerprints and mug shots, laser-
|
||
|
assisted computer imaging equipment for examining
|
||
|
ballistics, and a portable/hand-held/single-step device to
|
||
|
retrieve more readable fingerprints at crime scenes. They
|
||
|
also viewed technology that provides police cars with
|
||
|
mainframe database information such as criminal records and
|
||
|
traffic violations, and allows them to file reports from
|
||
|
their cars. Several non-lethal weapons for use in pursuit
|
||
|
of a suspect or while a suspect is in custody also were
|
||
|
displayed.
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 11:07:13 -0700
|
||
|
From: "J. Eric Townsend" <jet@NAS.NASA.GOV>
|
||
|
Subject: File 3--Comment on the Lamacchia case
|
||
|
|
||
|
In response to: An Issues Primer for the Lamacchia Case (#6.32)
|
||
|
|
||
|
> 1. Under current criminal statutes, may a systems operator
|
||
|
> ("SYSOP") of a computer BBS be held criminally responsible for
|
||
|
> what *users* of the system do while logged onto the network,
|
||
|
> including the exchange of copyrighted software or indeed, the
|
||
|
> publication of other copyrighted materials?
|
||
|
|
||
|
If the SYSOP actively encourages others to use the system, doesn't
|
||
|
that somehow change this? This is something like saying that because a
|
||
|
bar owner isn't responsible for the activities of prostitutes, they
|
||
|
should go out and encourage prostitutes to frequent their bar.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Providing a place for, and encouraging criminal activities is not
|
||
|
protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution (at least it
|
||
|
wasn't when I went to J-school :-).
|
||
|
|
||
|
> covers for high-class *prostitution* rings. Yet only the people
|
||
|
> who actually run the prostitution services are prosecuted for
|
||
|
> those violations of law.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But what about instances where the editors or publishers actively
|
||
|
sought out 'escort services' to advertise in their paper, with full
|
||
|
knowledge that the 'escort services' were prostitution rings?
|
||
|
|
||
|
> In the case of a SYSOP (like David LaMacchia) of a computer BBS,
|
||
|
> the First Amendment would appear to protect him from criminal
|
||
|
> liability for the arguably illegal actions of other people using (or
|
||
|
> mis-using) his system to upload, download, transfer, copy, and use
|
||
|
> copyrighted software.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Even though the SYSOP provided a place specifically for, and
|
||
|
encouraged such illegal activity?
|
||
|
|
||
|
In short, I don't buy the 1st Amendment defense in this case. A
|
||
|
publisher *IS* culpable if they knowingly or with malice publish
|
||
|
libelous material. A publisher *IS* culpable if they knowingly steal
|
||
|
materials to publish legal material (if I use my US Fed. Gov computer
|
||
|
to put out a newsletter, the 1st doesn't prevent me from being charged
|
||
|
with theft of government resources).
|
||
|
|
||
|
IMHO, the 1st Amendment is being severely abused in this particular
|
||
|
case.
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
From: fernando@UBIK.SATLINK.NET(Fernando Bonsembiante)
|
||
|
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 1994 19:17:14 -0200
|
||
|
Subject: File 4--hacking congress
|
||
|
|
||
|
I'm organizing a congress about virus, hacking and computer underground.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The congress will be in october, in Buenos Aires, and 3 days long. It
|
||
|
will be free or cheap (under u$s 20), and oriented to discuss things
|
||
|
related to hacking, viruses, and the technology impact in the society
|
||
|
of now and in the future. We will also have discussions about
|
||
|
cyberpunk, virtual reality, the internet, the phone system,
|
||
|
programming, etc. The speakers will be both from the 'official' world,
|
||
|
and the 'underground' world. We expect Emmanuel Goldstein (2600
|
||
|
magazine), Mark Ludwig (Little Black Book of Computer Viruses), and
|
||
|
Rop Gonggrijp (Hack-Tic, Holland) to attend. The people coming from
|
||
|
other countries will be offered free rooming at volunteer's homes. We
|
||
|
can't afford plane tickets for anyone, so the travel expenses are up
|
||
|
to you. The official languages will be spanish and english, with
|
||
|
simultaneous translation.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We expect the congress to be as open as possible, offering freedom to
|
||
|
speak to all attendants, being from the 'bad' or 'good' side of the
|
||
|
discussed issues. As we in Argentina don't have yet laws against
|
||
|
hacking or virus writing/spreading, I think it is very important to
|
||
|
discuss all those items as freely and deeply possible.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Saludos, Fernando
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 1994 14:23:07 -0700 (PDT)
|
||
|
From: John Ketchersid <hardware@NETCOM.COM>
|
||
|
Subject: File 5--I hope this saves someone's buttons ("Dstry your data")
|
||
|
|
||
|
This material is to the best of my knowledge, TOTALLY original except
|
||
|
for a very short quote from a previous issue of CUD. I hope you find
|
||
|
it of use and if just one MORE of us is spared LONG down time by this
|
||
|
work, that alone will be enough for me. I am quite sure that all of
|
||
|
us who have ever been creative enough to create an entire reality
|
||
|
within our minds, i.e. written Fiction based upon our own experiences
|
||
|
or the knowledge we have obtained through the efforts of other
|
||
|
authors, have had fleeting thoughts criminal in nature, maybe, but
|
||
|
just as essential to the existence to the alternate Fictitious reality
|
||
|
as the effort, research and many hours of keying by the author.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The basis of this subject is not the mental dexterity of such authors,
|
||
|
rather it is the preface to methods that only a character in a book
|
||
|
would have to employ in order to protect him/herself within the
|
||
|
confines of a ficticious reality, where all of the gonvernmentlaists
|
||
|
have found that they do not have complete control of the worldnet.
|
||
|
They have discovered that there are people who have higher access then
|
||
|
they have. Hence they have instated a network security force
|
||
|
comprised mostly of personnel who have been beating the streets
|
||
|
tracking down drug dealers and other less than savory types in an
|
||
|
attempt to remove these ungrateful and dangerous information thieves
|
||
|
from the face of their fair land.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Sound familiar? Mmmmmm Could beeee.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Methods used in protecting data from seizure by "The Authorities" How
|
||
|
to instantly destroy the data on floppies and HD's Keep in mind the HD
|
||
|
will probably never work again once it has been subjected to this
|
||
|
method of data destruction. But which do you prefer? (1.) Multiple
|
||
|
years in the Gov.s' Jug. (2.) I gotta get another HD. **** If you are
|
||
|
sane, then obviously (2.) **** This being the case you will need the
|
||
|
following items to destroy the data on as many floppies you could ever
|
||
|
have.
|
||
|
|
||
|
If you already have a place for your media, which I assume is the
|
||
|
case. Let us for the sake of this work you presently store your media
|
||
|
in a containment area with these dimensions, 18" from front to back,
|
||
|
18 inches from side to side and 12 inches top to bottom. You will
|
||
|
need: 24 feet of 1/4" steel rebar if you are un familiar with rebar
|
||
|
just go to your nearest hardware store and ask for it, they will be
|
||
|
able to explain.
|
||
|
|
||
|
1000 feet of single core 18 gauge audio wire
|
||
|
with thin insulation. (radio shack about $10.00
|
||
|
1 200W "UPS" Uninterruptable Power Supply with
|
||
|
outputs. IMPORTANT!
|
||
|
(You will know why soon enough)
|
||
|
1 Radio shack home command center. i.e. a
|
||
|
remote control for home appliances.
|
||
|
3 MINIMUM of three receivers for the above item.
|
||
|
1 roll of electrical tape.
|
||
|
1 9 volt transistor battery.
|
||
|
1 17.5" length of piano hinge. (HARDWARE STORE)
|
||
|
10 1/4 taper head phillips head wood screws
|
||
|
1 piece of quarter round 1/2" molding
|
||
|
Some wood glue.
|
||
|
1 electrical cord with an AC plug on the end.
|
||
|
1 bulk tape eraser. (Radio Shack)
|
||
|
1 small low wattage oscillating fan
|
||
|
1 small low wattage night light
|
||
|
1 pinwheel.
|
||
|
|
||
|
What you are about to construct is a cubical electromagnetic matrix.
|
||
|
First you will cut the rebar into the following lengths: (16) 18 inch
|
||
|
sections Next you will wrap each of the sections with a coil of the
|
||
|
audio wire from one end to the other and then back again leave 3-4" of
|
||
|
excess wire hanging off end of the rebar.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[It is easier to do the wrap if you tape one end of the wire to one
|
||
|
end of the section of the rebar leaving the 3-4 inches of excess wire,
|
||
|
hang the wire spool from a coat hanger on a door knob or the back of a
|
||
|
chair. This will keep the wire in a manageable state. Then simply
|
||
|
work your way end of the rebar and back again just remember to leave
|
||
|
the excess 3-4inches of wire at the end of your return coil. and tape
|
||
|
the loose end so as to keep it from uncoiling. The coils should be
|
||
|
tight, but be careful not to break the conductor by pulling to hard.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now that you have all of your sections coiled you will arrange four of
|
||
|
the 18 inch sections pointing from front to back in the bottom of the
|
||
|
containment area. Then you will connect the wires at the ends of the
|
||
|
bars in this formation.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Next you will install the sections that will run from front to back
|
||
|
inside either side of the containment area. How you affix the rebar
|
||
|
to the inside is up to you. I prefer to drill 3 holes about 5 inches
|
||
|
apart starting about 1.5 inches from either end of the container along
|
||
|
the line that the rebar will be placed then use some of the audio wire
|
||
|
strung through the holes and around the rebar.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now you will connect the ends of the wires coming from bar 1 and 4 to
|
||
|
the ends of the two wires coming from the two outside bars. Once you
|
||
|
have mounted and connected the bars on both sides of the containment
|
||
|
you will create a lid for your containment area, that done, you will
|
||
|
affix the final four bars to the inside of the lid. A piece of 1/4"
|
||
|
inch ply wood is usually good for this. Making the lid.
|
||
|
|
||
|
If you go to the hardware store and ask them to cut an 18x18 sheet of
|
||
|
ply 1/4" inch ply wood you'll find they probably won't charge anything
|
||
|
for the cutting. Attach your lid via the piece of piano hinge using
|
||
|
the 10 wood screws to the top inside edge of the container and to the
|
||
|
rear underside of the lid. At the front of the containment measure
|
||
|
1/4" from the top of the containment and glue your piece of molding at
|
||
|
that point, this will serve as a stop for the lid. (NOTE) you should
|
||
|
let the glue cure for 24 hours before you close the lid.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now that you have made your lid you can attach the top bars to the
|
||
|
inside of the lid and connect and tape the left or right loose top
|
||
|
wire to it's mate. Now you have two loose wires. These will be the
|
||
|
lead wires that get connected to the power leads, connect these wires
|
||
|
to the ends of the AC power cord.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now for the Bulk tape eraser. This is for the HD's. Disable the off
|
||
|
switch by either bridging the switch or gluing it in the on position.
|
||
|
Now Hot glue it to the side of your PC case right next to the HD's.
|
||
|
Now you will take your oscillating fan, night light and pinwheel.
|
||
|
Tape, hot glue, super glue or any other solid method of attaching the
|
||
|
night light to the top of the oscillating fan, attach the pinwheel in
|
||
|
such a position that it is just in front of the night light and will
|
||
|
be affected by the air flow of the fan. Now that all of the wiring is
|
||
|
complete we are at the plug in stage.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Plug the UPS into the wall outlet let it charge for the length of time
|
||
|
suggests in the ops-man. Plug the Radio shack home command receiver
|
||
|
into the UPS. Plug a power strip into the UPS's. Plug in two of your
|
||
|
receivers into the UPS powered power strip. Plug the third into a
|
||
|
standard wall outlet for use with a lamp, TV or Stereo system. Test
|
||
|
your UPS and Remote.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(A) Plug the night light and fan into one of your
|
||
|
RadShack Receivers via the power bar.
|
||
|
(a) Insure that the fan and night light are on.
|
||
|
(B) Unplug the UPS from the wall.
|
||
|
(C) Hit the button on the remote control
|
||
|
corresponding to the setting of the receiver.
|
||
|
|
||
|
If all is well the night light will light up the fan will start and
|
||
|
the pinwheel will create some pretty random shadows. Try the other
|
||
|
receivers that you have. Make sure each of them are set for a
|
||
|
different channel. Now plug your two data killers into the same
|
||
|
receiver, this way flops die with the HD's (Why should I buy a UPS
|
||
|
they COST!)
|
||
|
|
||
|
Well my friend. Most GOV boys KNOW that you
|
||
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will try to run a kill file!
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That is why they will either try to stop you
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before you get into your domain. i.e.
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"U.S. Computer Investigation Targets Austinites" by Kyle Pope
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({cr} Austin-American Statesman, March 17, 1990: Pp A-1, A-12). The
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article summarizes the background of the Legion of Doom indictments (see
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|
CuD, 1.00, files 4, 5). In the continuing investigation, federal agents
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and Austin police appeared at the home of a Steve Jackson Employee,
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|
greeting him with guns drawn at 6:30 a.m. They confiscated his equipment,
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|
and also took a number of books and other documents.
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|
Picture this:
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|
I come home from a hard days work. I have my home command remote with
|
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|
me so I can turn the lights on from outside the house I approach the
|
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|
house, they appear. Instead of pressing 1,2,3 or 4 to activate indoor
|
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|
or outdoor lighting, I press 8 that fires up the big hum.
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||
|
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||
|
Or this:
|
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|
I come home from a hard days work. I have my home command remote with
|
||
|
me so I can turn the lights on from outside the house before I
|
||
|
approach the house, I press 1 on the remote. But nothing happens, I
|
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|
look at the other houses, they have electricity, must be a blown bulb,
|
||
|
so I hit #2 again nothing happens. I step back into the shadows and
|
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|
hit #4 on the remote.
|
||
|
|
||
|
You see with any decent UPS you can connect a power strip and power
|
||
|
two or three devices for a very long time.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Well #4 turns on an oscillating fan with a night light and a pinwheel
|
||
|
attached, this creates enough random movement from within that at
|
||
|
least one of the govs will make a move. If so I hit 8. and the data
|
||
|
goes the way of political promises. Also you can create a second
|
||
|
activation circuit connected to your home security system. Hence if
|
||
|
some one breaks in all they get is NOTHING!
|
||
|
|
||
|
OR they will hit you while you are asleep. KEEP YOUR REMOTE WITH YOU
|
||
|
AT ALL TIMES! Of course sense they expect that you will try to run a
|
||
|
kill batch, they will normally cut the power to the domicile, hence
|
||
|
the UPS again! If the govs wonder why you may have nuked the data.
|
||
|
"I use it to keep my journal and I don't
|
||
|
want people reading my PRIVATE thoughts
|
||
|
on religion."
|
||
|
"I use it to keep my journal and I don't
|
||
|
want people reading my PRIVATE thoughts
|
||
|
on politics."
|
||
|
"I use it to keep my journal and I don't
|
||
|
want people reading my PRIVATE thoughts
|
||
|
on sexual practices."
|
||
|
"I use it to write songs about subjects
|
||
|
that could be considered controversial."
|
||
|
|
||
|
I also suggest keeping a set of Backup tapes in a safe place, like in
|
||
|
the hands of someone whom you would trust with your life, that thinks
|
||
|
they are some new kind of VHS tape. i.e. NON TECH.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I could go on for many more pages but I assume that you would become
|
||
|
WAY board with me, so I'll leave the dosage as it is. All thing in
|
||
|
excess, except of course for governmental control and loss of liberty!
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------
|
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|
End of Computer Underground Digest #6.38
|
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|
************************************
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