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Computer underground Digest Sun May 22 1993 Volume 5 : Issue 38
ISSN 1004-042X
Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET)
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Ian Dickinson
Copy Editor: Etaoin Shrdlu, Senrio
CONTENTS, #5.38 (May 22 1993)
File 1--Here We Go Again - 2600 Magazine Threatened With Lawsuit
File 2--Obtaining Whitehouse E-Publications
File 3--UK Computer Misuse case
File 4--CPSR Position Openings
File 5--A little feedback on Bridges of Understanding
Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
available at no cost electronically from tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu. The
editors may be contacted by voice (815-753-6430), fax (815-753-6302)
or U.S. mail at: Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL
60115.
Issues of CuD can also be found in the Usenet comp.society.cu-digest
news group; on CompuServe in DL0 and DL4 of the IBMBBS SIG, DL1 of
LAWSIG, and DL0 and DL12 of TELECOM; on GEnie in the PF*NPC RT
libraries and in the VIRUS/SECURITY library; from America Online in
the PC Telecom forum under "computing newsletters;"
On Delphi in the General Discussion database of the Internet SIG;
on the PC-EXEC BBS at (414) 789-4210; and on: Rune Stone BBS (IIRG
WHQ) 203-832-8441 NUP:Conspiracy
CuD is also available via Fidonet File Request from 1:11/70; unlisted
nodes and points welcome.
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AUSTRALIA: ftp.ee.mu.oz.au (128.250.77.2) in /pub/text/CuD.
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ftp.warwick.ac.uk in pub/cud (United Kingdom)
Back issues also may be obtained through mailserver at:
server@blackwlf.mese.com
COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of
diverse views. CuD material may be reprinted for non-profit as long
as the source is cited. Authors hold a presumptive copyright, and
they should be contacted for reprint permission. It is assumed that
non-personal mail to the moderators may be reprinted unless otherwise
specified. Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles
relating to computer culture and communication. Articles are
preferred to short responses. Please avoid quoting previous posts
unless absolutely necessary.
DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent
the views of the moderators. Digest contributors assume all
responsibility for ensuring that articles submitted do not
violate copyright protections.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 May 1993 21:55:32 EDT
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@mindvox.phantom.com>
Subject: Here We Go Again - 2600 Magazine Threatened With Lawsuit
Emmanuel Goldstein, editor of 2600, reports that the magazine is again
being threatened with litigation by a large teleco, this time AT&T.
Last year, BellCore threatened legal action (CuD #4.33). Emmanuel
recently posted the following:
+++ begin Emmanuel's message
It looks like 2600 is being threatened with yet ANOTHER lawsuit.
This time it's AT&T we've apparently annoyed. The following letter
was just received by us:
AT&T
131 Morristown Road
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920-1650
908 204-8413
FAX 908 204-8537
R.A. Ryan
Trademark and Copyright Attorney
April 13, 1993
Eric Corley
P.O. Box 99
Middle Island
New York 11953-0099
Dear Mr. Corley:
I have been informed that the Winter 1992-93 edition of
your publication 2600 Magazine includes material copied
from AT&T's Eastern Area Directory.
The material copied by you is proprietary to AT&T and
subject to the protection of state and federal law
including The Copyright Law of the United States.
AT&T will take immediate action to protect its
proprietary information and its copyrighted property in
the event you persist with its publication.
Very truly yours,
R.A. Ryan
Recycled Paper
(end letter and Emmanuel's message)
The 2600 article in question is simply 2 3/4 pages (pp 36-38) of
addresses of AT&T offices. The article's is: "IS AT&T HIDING NEAR
YOU?" It's introduced with a short blurb:
"This is a list of every AT&T office (including switching stations)
in eight states. The leftmost column is the "work location code"
which is what the office is known as to AT&T bureaucrats."
CONNECTICUT CT4630, 92 CHESTNUT ST, BRANDFORD, 06405
And so forth for nearly 3 pages. It seems about as proprietary as
telephone listings, but we're probably mistaken. We're certain that
AT&T wouldn't stoop to using it's power to harass others for frivolous
reasons.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 22:15:15 EST
From: Dave Banisar <banisar@WASHOFC.CPSR.ORG>
Subject: Obtaining Whitehouse E-Publications
WHITE HOUSE ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS AND PUBLIC ACCESS EMAIL
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Updated April 7, 1993
Table Of Contents
I. Signing up for Daily Electronic Publications.
A. Widely Available Sources.
B. Notes on Widely Available Sources.
C. Direct Email Distribution
II. Searching and Retrieving White House documents.
- WAIS
- GOPHER
- FedWorld BBS
III. Sending email to the White House.
- CompuServe
- America OnLine
- MCI
- Fidonet
- Internet
I. HOW DO I SIGN UP FOR ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS BY THE WHITE HOUSE?
The White House Communications office is distributing press releases
over an experimental system developed during the campaign at the MIT
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
You can obtain copies of all the press releases from a wide variety of
on-line services or discussion groups devoted to either national
politics in general or President Clinton in particular. These are
listed in sections I and II.
Section Ic explains how you can sign up to receive press releases
directly from the experimental MIT system by using an automated email
server. The present system was not designed to handle high levels of
message traffic. A more powerful system will become available in due
course, and in the meantime, it would be appreciated if you used this
service sparingly. One appropriate current use is secondary
redistribution and archiving. If you use it, you will be carried
forward when the more powerful system that replaces it.
A. WIDELY AVAILABLE SOURCES
1. On USENET/NETNEWS, electronic publications are found on a variety
of groups:
Direct Distribution
alt.politics.clinton
alt.politics.org.misc
alt.politics.reform
alt.politics.usa.misc
alt.news-media
alt.activism
talk.politics.misc
Indirect Distribution
misc.activism.progressive
cmu.soc.politics
assocs.clinton-gore-92
2. On CompuServe: GO WHITEHOUSE
3. On America Online: keyword WHITEHOUSE or THE WHITEHOUSE or CLINTON
4. On The WELL: type whitehouse
5. On MCI: type VIEW WHITE HOUSE
6. On Fidonet: See Echomail WHITEHOUSE
7. On Peacenet or Econet: See pol.govinfo.usa.
B. NOTES ON WIDELY AVAILABLE SOURCES
2. CompuServe's White House Forum (GO WHITEHOUSE) is devoted to
discussion of the Clinton administration's policies and
activities. The forum's library consists of news releases and
twice daily media briefings from the White House Office of
Media Affairs. CompuServe members can exchange information and
opinions with each other in the 17 sections in the forum's
message area. The message board spans a broad range of topics,
including international and United Nations activities,
defense, health care, the economy and the deficit, housing and
urban development, the environment, and education and national
service.
3. On America Online the posts are sent to the White House Forum,
located in the News & Finance department of the service and
accessible via keywords "white house" and "clinton." The
White House Forum on America Online contains the press
releases from the White House, divided into the categories
"Press Briefings," "Meetings & Speeches," "Foreign Policy,"
"The Economy," "Technology," "Health Care," and
"Appointments." The area features a message board so you can
discuss the releases with other AOL members, and a searchable
database for easy retrieval of releases in the topic that
interests you.
4. MCI Mail users can access daily information on the administration's
programs provided by the White House through MCI Mail bulletin
boards. The available boards are: WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC, WHITE
HOUSE FOREIGN, WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL, WHITE HOUSE SPEECHES and
WHITE HOUSE NEWS. A listing of these boards can also be
obtained by simply typing VIEW WHITE HOUSE at the COMMAND
prompt.
C. DIRECT EMAIL DISTRIBUTION
If you don't have access to the these accounts or if you would prefer
to receive the releases via email, then the next section details how
to sign up for this service. The server is not set up to answer
email letters, comments or requests for specific information. To
reach this MIT server, send email:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org
Subject--Help
The server works by reading the subject line of the incoming message
and taking whatever action that line calls for. If you want to sign up
to automatically receive press releases, then your subject line would
begin with the word RECEIVE. You can then specify what kind of
information you are interested in receiving. The categories of
information are:
ECONOMIC POLICY
Get releases related to the economy such as budget
news, technology policy review, etc.
FOREIGN POLICY
Get releases related to foreign policy such as
statements on Bosnian airdrop, Haitian refugee status,
etc.
SOCIAL POLICY
Get releases related to social issues like National
Service (Student Loan) program, abortion, welfare
reform, etc.
SPEECHES
All speeches made by the President and important
speeches made by other Administration officials.
NEWS
Transcripts of press conferences released by the White
House Communications office, as well as the
President's remarks in photo ops and other Q&A
sessions.
ALL All of the above
So, if you wanted to sign up to get releases related to the economy
your email message would look like this:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org
Subject--RECEIVE ECONOMY
When you send a signup message to the clinton-info server, it sends
you back a status message letting you know what distribution streams
you are signed up for. If you ever want to check on what groups you
are signed up for send the following message:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org
Subject--STATUS
You can stop receiving email releases by sending a REMOVE message to
the clinton-info server. The word REMOVE would be followed by whatever
distribution stream you wanted to drop. If you wanted to stop
receiving message about the ECONOMY then your mail would look like
this:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org Subject--REMOVE ECONOMY
You could substitute SOCIAL, FOREIGN, SPEECHES, NEWS or ALL for
ECONOMY in the above message and you would be dropped from that
distribution list. If you send the subject line REMOVE ALL, then you
will be taken off the email distribution system all together and will
not receive further releases of any kind.
You can also ask for help from the automated server. Send an email
query as follows:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org
Subject--HELP
The server will respond by sending you a detailed form that will guide
you through the process of signing up for the various distribution
streams. As you will quickly discover, there is a automatic form
processing interface that parallel the quick and easy subject line
commands discussed here. More detailed help is available by sending
an email query as follows:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org
Subject--Please Help!
Finally, if you want to search and retrieve documents, but you do not
have access to the retrieval methods discussed in section II, you can
do this via email through the MIT server. You can obtain the WAIS
query form by sending an email query as follows:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org
Subject--WAIS
Once you have identified the documents that you want, be careful not
to request them all at once, because you may be sent a message
containing all the documents and this message may be too big for some
mail delivery systems between the email server and you.
II. HOW DO I RETRIEVE WHITE HOUSE PUBLICATIONS FROM INTERNET ARCHIVES?
Various sites are archiving the press releases distributed . What follows
is an
incomplete list of some of the sites containing the documents that
have been released to date. This FAQ will be updated to reflect new
sites as they become known.
SITE DIRECTORY
1. SUNSITE.UNC.EDU /HOME3/WAIS/WHITE-HOUSE-PAPERS
2. FTP.CCO.CALTECH.EDU /PUB/BJMCCALL
3. FTP MARISTB.MARIST.EDU
4. CPSR.ORG /CPSR/CLINTON
5. FedWorld BBS 703-321-8020 8-N-1
Notes: The following are notes on how to log in and get
information from the above sites.
1. Office FOR Information Technology at University of
North Carolina Maintains the full collection of White
House electronic release available for search with WAIS and
also accessible via Gopher.
1.a WAIS
(:source
:version 3
:database-name "/home3/wais/White-House-Papers" :ip-
address "152.2.22.81"
:ip-name "sunsite.unc.edu"
:tcp-port 210
:cost 0.00
:cost-unit :free
:maintainer "pjones@sunsite.unc.edu"
:description "Server created with WAIS release 8 b5 on
Feb 27 15:16:16 1993 by pjones@sunsite.unc.edu These are the
White House Press Briefings and other postings dealing with
William Jefferson Clinton and Albert Gore as well as members
of the President's Cabinet and the first lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton, Chelsea, Socks and others in Washington DC. Dee Dee
Meyers and George Stephanopoulos. Other good words:
United States of America, Bill Al Tipper Democrats USA
US These files are also available via anonymous ftp
from sunsite.unc.edu The files of type filename used in
the index were:
/home3/ftp/pub/academic/political-science/whitehouse-
papers/1993 ")
Folks without WAIS clients or gophers that act as WAIS
clients may telnet to sunsite.unc.edu and login as swais
to access this information via WAIS.
1.b GOPHER is a distributed menuing system for information access on the
Internet developed at the University of Minnesota. gophers are
client-server implementations and various gopher clients are
available for nearly any computing platform. You may now use
gopher clients to assess the White House Papers and other
political information on SunSITE.unc.edu's new gopher server.
You may also add links from your local gopher server to
SunSITE for access to the White House Papers.
For gopher server keepers and adventurous clients to access
SunSITE you need only know that we use the standard gopher
port 70 and that our internet address is SunSITE.unc.edu
(152.2.22.81). Point there and you'll see the references to
the Politics areas.
For folks without gopher clients but with access to telnet:
telnet sunsite.unc.edu login: gopher The rest is very straight
forward. Browsing options end with a directory mark (/),
searching options end with an question mark (?). There's
plenty of on-line help available.
2. No special instructions.
3. The CLINTON@MARIST log files which contain all the official
administration releases distributed through the MIT servers
are available via anonymous FTP. These logs contain in
addition to the official releases, the posts that comprise the
ongoing discussion conducted by the list subscribers.
To obtain the logs:
FTP MARISTB.MARIST.EDU - the logs are in the CLINTON directory
and are named CLINTON LOG9208 thru CLINTON LOGyymm where yymm
stands for the current year and month. Problems should be
directed to my attention: URLS@MARISTC.BITNET or
URLS@VM.MARIST.EDU.
Posted by Lee Sakkas - owner, CLINTON@MARIST
4. Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility is
providing all Clinton documents on technology and privacy
at the CPSR Internet Library, available via
FTP/WAIS/Gopher at cpsr.org /cpsr/clinton (and in other
folders as relevant). For email access, send a message
with the word "help" at the 1st line of text to
listserv@cpsr.org.
5. The FedWorld Computer System, operated by the National Technical
Information Service, archives White House papers in a traditional BBS
type file library. Connect to FedWorld by calling (703) 321- 8020.
No parity, eight data bits and one stop bit (N-8-1). FedWorld
accommodates baud speeds of up to 9,600. White House papers are
located in the W-House library of files. To access this library from
the main FedWorld menu, enter <f s w-house>. Files are named with the
first four digits being the release month and day (e.g. 0323XXX.txt).
Some standard abbreviations after the date include:
rem - Remarks by the President
pc - Press Conference transcript
pr - Press Release
AM - AM Press Briefing
PM - PM Press Briefing
sch - The President's public schedule
spch- Text of major speeches.
These files are saved in ASCII format. Files can be viewed online by
requesting to download a file and then selecting (L)ist as the
download protocol. This will display the file a screen at a time.
White House papers are kept in the above format for up to two months.
Papers more than two months old are compressed using Pkzip into a
single file that contains all of the files for that month (e.g.
0193.zip contains all papers released during January 1993). In
addition to White Documents, FedWorld also provides a gateway to more
than 100 government funded BBSs and computer systems.
III. HOW DO I SEND EMAIL TO THE WHITE HOUSE?
The White House email system is under construction. This is a new
project and suffers from all of the problems common to a startup
operation. The Communications office is currently working on defining
what this system will do, as well as trying to come up with equipment
and staffing to make sure that it works. Email messages are
currently being printed out and responses are being sent out via US
Mail.
Nobody wants this new venture to work more than the staff that has
devoted so many hours to getting it up and running. But much time and
effort will be required before the system is truly interactive. In
the mean time, they will need a little patience from the electronic
community. If you send a message to the White House, please include a
US Post office address for replies.
You can send email to the following accounts:
CompuServe: 75300,3115
GO: WHITE HOUSE finds White House forum
America OnLine: clinton pz
KEYWORD: WHITEHOUSE finds White House area
MCI TO: WHITE HOUSE
VIEW WHITE HOUSE views bulletin boards
Fidonet TO: WHITEHOUSE@1:2613/333
Echomail: WHITEHOUSE views echomail conference
Internet: Clinton-HQ@Campaign92.Org
75300.3115@CompuServe.Com
clintonpz@AOL.Com
Please send corrections, deletion and additions to this FAQ to:
Updates@Clinton92.Org
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 22 May 93 20:34:33 GMT
From: david@SWARB.DEMON.CO.UK(David Swarbrick)
Subject: UK Computer Misuse case
==============================================================
BBS--Just Mooting Legal BBS
Date--22-05-93 (19:49) Number--5
From--DAVID SWARBRICK Refer#--NONE
To--ALL Recvd--NO
Subj--CMA convictions Conf--(5) Comp Misus
+----------------------------------------------------------------
The two co-accused of Paul Bedworth Neil Woods and Karl Strickland,
are the first to be imprisoned in the UK for offences associated with
the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
At Southwark Crown Court on Friday 21 May 1993, both defendants were
given six month sentences. They pleaded guilty to an offence of
conspiring to commit offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, and
of offences under the Telecommunications Act of 1984. The actual
offences were causing criminal damage (Woods), conspiracy to obtain
telegraphic services dishonestly, and engaging in the unauthorised
publication of computer information (I confess the last one is a new
one on me - perhaps it is under the Data Protection Act?).
Woods admitted causing 15,000.00p damage to one computer system, and
otherwise it is clear that the three gained access to some 'serious'
computer systems. They also ran up very large bills for some
organisations such as the Financial Times.
The judge accepted that the accused had neither intended to cause
harm, nor had they profited in any dishonest way.
He said 'I have to mark your conduct with prison sentences both to
penalise you for what you have done and for the losses caused, and to
deter others who might be similarly tempted.'
'If your passion had been cars rather than computers we would have
called your conduct delinquent, and I don't shrink from the analogy of
describing what you were doing as intellectual joyriding ... There
may be people out there who consider hacking to be harmless, but
hacking is not harmless. Computers now form a central role in our
lives, containing personal details, financial details, confidential
matters of companies and government departments and many business
organisations.
Some, providing emergency services, depend on their computers to
deliver their services. It is essential that the integrity of those
systems should be protected, and hacking puts that integrity into
jeopardy'
He said he wanted to give a clear signal that hacking would not be
tolerated.
DS Barry Donovan formerly of the computer crimes squad said that
hacking as an activity had much decreased since the arrests.
The co-accused, Paul Bedworth was found not guilty a few weeks ago
after a three week trial. That trial ended in some confusion for the
law. Paul Bedworth had admitted all the acts he was accused of, but
claimed (and had medical evidence to suppor him) that he was addicted
to hacking and therefore not capable of committing the crime.
The judge had in Paul's case, quite properly, told the jury that even
if established, the defence claim was not capable of being a defence
under English law, and that in effect therefore the jury could only
convict him. The jury rejected this and acquitted him. In the UK, no
one is allowed to enquire as to the inner workings of the jury room,
but I offer my own speculation. His defence was both insufficient in
law, and inherently implausible (addicted to your keyboard? No way)
Another possible explanation (gathered from the woolly realms of
speculation - and worth no more) is that the prosecution was seen to
have been bullying Paul, and the jury refused to do the bully's work
for them.
In any event, anyone reading this who hopes to rely upon his defence,
is advised that a life of innocent virtue is more to be recommended.
(Source in part Stephen Ward, Independent 22 May
1993)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 May 1993 17:28:50 PDT
From: Nikki Draper <draper@CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
Subject: CPSR Position Openings
The following jobs are available in the CPSR National Office in Palo
Alto, California. Please feel free to pass these listings along to
any interested parties.
Nikki Draper
Assistant to the Director
*********************************************************************
COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
MANAGING DIRECTOR
*********************************************************************
The CPSR National Managing Director is responsible for the top-level
administration and organizational development of
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Inc., a non-profit
public-interest organization of computer scientists and other
professionals concerned about the impact of computer technology
on society. The job is the highest level administrative position
within the organization and requires extensive autonomous decision-
making and implementation, along general guidelines of activity
established by the Board of Directors. The key areas of responsibility
are the following:
% Overall coordination of the national organization, including
management of relations among the national office staff, program
office, the Board of Directors, and the chapters.
% Oversight for financial management, including bookkeeping,
approval of expenses, interaction with accounting and payroll
services, and, in conjunction with the Finance Committee &
Board Treasurer, preparation of an annual budget and financial
status reports.
% Provide assistance to the Board in its fundraising efforts.
% Oversee production of the Annual Report.
% Close work with the Board of Directors and its committees in
the development and execution of long-range plans for
organizational development.
% In conjunction with the Communications Director, supervise
the planning and staging of the Annual Meeting.
% Responsibility for hiring, supervision, and evaluation of
national office staff.
Part-time, 20-25 hours per week $20,000-23,000 plus benefits. One
year appointment. Participation in meetings demands flexibility in
scheduling. Occasional travel to national board meetings.Women
and people of color are encouraged to apply.
Send resume plus cover letter by June 8 to CPSR, PO Box 717, Palo
Alto, CA 94301, (415) 322-3778 or CPSR@csli.stanford.edu
*********************************************************************
COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Database/Office Manager
*********************************************************************
The CPSR Database/Office Manger is responsible for the the
maintenance and development of CPSR databases as well as the day
to day administrative operations of Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility Inc., a non-profit public-interest organization of
computer scientists and other professionals concerned about the
impact of computer technology on society. The job is a critical
position within the organization. The key areas of responsibility are
the following:
includes accurate data entry, responding to membership queries
regarding the status of their membership, producing reports from
the databases as needed
% Execute organizational mailings of membership materials,
including membership renewal letters, new members development
packages, brochures, event announcements, direct mail fundraising
appeals, and the quarterly newsletter.
% Handle information requests and orders for publications
% Collect and process the mail
% Deposit checks
% Keep inventory of office supplies and order material as needed
% Work with Director of Communication to keep inventory of
educational material and reorder as needed
% Assist with board meetings
% Manage institutional memory, including file maintenance
% Other tasks as needed
Qualifications: Experience with computers - preferably Macs, able
to prioritize, capable of working with minimal supervision, work
effectively as part of a team, self motivated, detail oriented,
experience in dealing with databases and issues surrounding
database management.
Part-time, 25 hours per week, $13,000 - $15,000, plus benefits.
Women and people of color are encouraged to apply. Send
resume plus cover letter by June 8 to CPSR, PO Box 717, Palo Alto,
CA 94301, (415) 322-3778. CPSR@csli.stanford.edu
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 17 May 93 09:43:41 CDT
From: larry@DUCKTALES.MED.GE.COM(Larry Landwehr)
Subject: A little feedback on Bridges of Understanding
In CuD 5.36, the CuD moderators wrote in re: "Building Bridges
of Understanding:"
> The obvious question, of course, is: Why should law enforcement
> personnel bother discussing these issues with an audience that
> includes "kids," law students, attorneys, professors, computer
> specialists, and other LE agents? To us, the answer is simple: If the
> goal is to minimize computer abuse rather than to simply "prosecute,"
> then open dialogue is a cost-effective and efficient way of
> educational outreach. It's in everybody's interests for law
> enforcement personnel to encourage and participate in these dialogues.
> Kim Clancy moderates the round-table forum with a gentle, but incisive
> hand. She combines her experiences as a security specialist with her
> belief in the value of dialogue and information-sharing as an
> educational tool as a means of building bridges and promoting
> understanding. We share her view that increased understanding is a
> significant means of decreasing unacceptable accesses.
"educational outreach"?
"dialogue and information-sharing"?
Come on. You have _got_ to be kidding. Or else extremely naive. Are
you seriously suggesting that someone in management (in a police
bureaucracy) would seriously back such a nebulous concept? That they
would put their professional reputations and jobs on the line for so
something so intangible that you can't even measure it? Get real!
Since at least the time of Robert Peal and his "bobbies" in London,
and probably long before that, law enforcement personnel have used
informants to manage crime. Stool pigeons, snitches, narks, whatever
you want to call them, are the most cost effective way of controlling
crime. Sometimes you get a little spinoff like actually helping
someone get their life straightened out so they quit their criminal
activities, but this is pure icing. The reason why law enforcement
personnel associate with criminals is to make more arrests. That's it
- pure and simple. Cops are pragmatic.
Now that many people in law enforcement are college educated, we start
to see police organizations with "public relations departments". My
view is that this is an experiment in social engineering, done for the
benefit of the liberal members of law enforcement (which are a
minority) and for the benefit of the media (which is very liberal).
The conservative members of law enforcement go along with these
programs because they originate in upper management and because
conservatives are pragmatic and cynical enough to subvert these
programs and use them as a cover to spread their nets for more
informants.
Anyone who engages in illegal activity had better understand the
psychology of law enforcement personnel or they will shortly be doing
time in a calaboose. A marriage between liberalism and law enforcement
is like trying to mate a donkey with a horse. It can be done, but the
result is almost certainly going to be as sterile as a mule. Elegant
social theories can be a productive seedbed for new ideas, but
pragmatism does the weeding. Those readers of CuD who cannot
distinguish the map from the territory will be in for a rude awakening
if they engage in illegal activities. CuD should at least warn them of
this.
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End of Computer Underground Digest #5.38
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