341 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
341 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
*************************************************************
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STARK NAKED
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The Journal of Stark County Telecom
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Support BBS: The Dragon's Lair BBS
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Running Renegade Beta 216-966-8970
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August 8, 1992 Volume #1, Issue #3
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*************************************************************
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[ Akron Anomoly Follow-Up: Authorities Crack Down on BBS'es ]
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[ A Look at Ohio Law, House Legislation]
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As reported in the last issue of STARK NAKED, the Akron BBS
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Akron Anomoly was closed by authorities for offering porno
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GIFs to minors. In this issue of STARK NAKED, we'll look at
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other cases similar to that in Akron, viewpoints on either
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side of the issue, legislation and local efforts concerning
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Akron Anomoly.
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This was posted at 8:21am on July 25th by Robert
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Nykvist (DCJG12A) on Prodigy's Communications Board.
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SUBJECT: POLICE SEIZED BBS
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Mobile Alabama - Police seize sex computer. More than
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$10,000 worth of computer equipment and a quantity of
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allegeded obscene materials were seized this week after a
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search warrant was served at a local residence. The seizure
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followed a citizen's complaint of sexually explicit
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materials being made available via a computer network that
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had public access. No arrests have been made, and an
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investigation is continuing.
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** In response, Prodigy user SPKX39A, David McClain,
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posted this on July 28 at 10:52am.
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SUBJECT: POLICE SEIZED BBS
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If they are carrying porn, every citizen should point the
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finger! There are lots of subjects for a bbs, Porn doesn't
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have to be one of them. It is really sad to see that it is
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so prevalent in the bbs world. How would one of these people
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feel if they just downloaded the latest porn Gif from the
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local board, they hurry to get out the old gif viewer,
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Sweating, itching with anticipation......the picture comes
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up, and there lays there daughter, or mother, or wife...
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How would they feel then?
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The following message appeared on PCRelay and gives more
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details on the Mobile, Alabama arrest.
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From : DAVID KAHAN Number : 1241 of 1381
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To : MICHAEL HARRISON Date : 07/27/92 8:53am
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Subject : BUSTED BBS Reference : NONE
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Read : NO Private : NO
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Conf : 018 - [ Sysop ] Relay
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MH>I am a sysop of a bulletin board system in a small town in Alabama about
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MH>1 hours drive from Mobile Alabama. I was watching the local Mobile news
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MH>tonight and was very upset about a BBS system that was closed down by
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MH>local Mobile police. According to the news this system was charging $25
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MH>dollars a year for access to the system. On his system he had an Adult
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MH>section, as alot of BBSes do, and had Homosexal material on it.
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MH>One of his PAYING users
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MH>downloaded of of the pictures and
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MH>didn't like the recived image so he called the Police and the system
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MH>was shut down and his equipment taken. No charges have of yet been
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MH>filled but all his equipment is gone. I do not like Homosexal
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MH>activity or .GIFs of it but what gives the Police the right to
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MH>take equipment. This , I believe, should be a violation of the first
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MH>amendment. After all, the user did not walk into a 7-11 and see it
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MH>nor did he turn on the TV and see it. He requested it! As a sysop
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MH>myself, I am conserned that a unhappy user can have my equipment
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MH>taken. I am no lawer but something seems quit wrong with this
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MH>picture. Operation Sunburst comes to mind here. I am righting this to
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MH>inform the BBS world what is going on and to see if anyone else has
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heard of such a case.
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Mike, I agree with you. This user didn't have to download the file.
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Every file should have a description and if he didn't read it
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completely, it's his fault for downloading it.
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Reading stuff like that sometimes makes me think. "Do I or don't I want
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an adult area?" I know I am very picky on who I allow in my adult areas,
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but you never can tell.
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Dave
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---
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MORE BBS (401)849-1874/849-2215 Middletown RI
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This information, also from PCRelay, gives an opinion on
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the Alabama incident as well as some more information on
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Alabama.
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From : JAY HEYL Number : 1323 of 1381
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To : MICHAEL HARRISON Date : 07/27/92 11:04
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Subject : BUSTED BBS Reference : NONE
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Read : NO Private : NO
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Conf : 018 - [ Sysop ] Relay
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I personally agree with your thoughts about violation of First
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Amendment rights, but the Supreme Court has determined that it's up to
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local communities to establish what is considered obscene (not
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protected by the First Amendment) and what is not. Alabama has taken
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a very limited view of what is protected by the First Amendment as far
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as explicit sexual images are concerned. They have effectively shut
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down at least one former "adult" satellite TV operation because this
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company was beaming their signal into Alabama. (Sending obscene
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material across the state line.) Never mind that the only people who
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could view this signal had to have a decoder rented from the company.
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As for why the police can confiscate the equipment, that's been
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discussed ad naseum in this forum. Suffice it to say that if the
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police had a valid search warrant and deemed that there was sufficient
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evidence to indicate a crime had been committed (distribution of
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obscene material in this case), they are within their rights to
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confiscate the equipment to use as evidence. If the sysop is not
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found guilty of a crime, his equipment should be returned after it is
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no longer needed as evidence. (SHOULD is the operative term here, but
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that's a whole 'nother discussion.)
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---
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<20> SPEED 1.10 #1054 <20> The Cookie Jar <20> 714.997.0350 <20> Running GAP 6.0/M
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The Crow's Nest BBS - Monarch Beach, CA
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*** So what exactly can Mark Lehrer be charged with?
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This is what the Ohio Criminal Code says about
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obscene material. Note that the reference in the
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law seem specific to magazine racks and really
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aren't in reference to online "porn."
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Ohio Criminal Law [2907.31.1] 2907.311
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"(A) No person who has custody, control, or supervision
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of a commercial establishment, with knowledge of the
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character or content of the material involved, shall
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display at the establishment any material that is harmful
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to juveniles and that is open in view by juveniles as
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part of the invited general public.
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(B) It is not a violation of division (A) of this
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section if the material in question is displayed by
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placing it behind `blinder racks' or similar devices
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that cover at least the lower two-thirds of the material,
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if the material in question is wrapped or placed behind
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the counter, or if the material in question otherwise is
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covered or located so that the portion that is harmful to
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juveniles is not open to the view of juveniles.
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(C) Whoever violates this section is guilty of displaying
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matter harmful to juveniles, a misdemeanor of the first
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degree. Each day during which the offender is in violation
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of this section constitutes a separate offense."
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Just off of the top of my head (I'm no lawyer), it
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seems that 1) the teenager that downloaded these
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GIFs had to be a paying user because of the "commercial"
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clause, 2) the material was not just in open view,
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it had to be downloaded and a proper program run.
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One of the more disturbing things I found while
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researching for this article was this interesting
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text file from California, courtesy of the Pleasure
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Dome BBS. It is a verbatim transcript of a letter
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sent to a local sysop. In it are some scary things
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especially from a sysop's end.
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Read some of the things in it and think about what
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these people are saying.
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"From: The National Coalition Against Pornography "Standing Together"
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Newsletter. Community Action Column, March-April 1990"
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"Computer pornography? It's Everywhere...."
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by Christine Marshall
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"CHILD MOLESTER NETWORKS
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Apparently, the U.S. Customs Agency has been aware of and investigating
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adult BBS's for some time. Obscene BBS programs that originate in other
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countries and are illegally imported, are being used by American computer
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hobbyists. The privately used foreign programs are now breaking
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obscenity laws and causing damage through computer networks across
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the country. U.S. Customs has learned that many of the BBS's make it
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easier for pedophiles to molest children by listing the names and
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locations of potential victims-and by encouraging sexual activity with
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minors.
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Some of the programs found to this date have come from Germany. U.S.
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Customs has been involved in investigations because the importation of
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obscene material is prohibited by law. In their investigations, they
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have documented the use of these networks by pedophiles as an aid in
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molestation of children.
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ACTION STEPS
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When I learned of all this, I immediately wondered what course of action
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I could take as a relative "computer-illiterate" and average citizen.
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This is what I found that we all can do:
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1. If you have access to a computer and modem, check your local BBS
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networks for adult services. If you find any, notify your sheriff and
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the local U.S. Customs agent. Give them as much information as possible
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to aid in their investigations.
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2. Let other concerned neighbors and groups know of the existence of
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the adult BBS's. Encourage them to join you on Action Step 1.
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3. Write or call the U.S. Customs Agency to encourage them to continue
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investigating pornographic BBS's. You can write them at 1301
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Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20229, or call (202) 566-8195."
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Those are direct quotes from that article. When I read
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about "child-molestation networks" I almost had to laugh,
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but then realized exactly what this woman was saying
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and what it would do. I read in USA Today that only 33%
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of the American population own personal computers. And
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of that 33%, most do not own a modem. And of those that
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do own a modem, many of them are not active on local
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bulletin boards. So when a woman who sounds like she knows
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what she is talking about begins to make this allegations,
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people believe her.
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[ Canton Connection Follow-Up: Rearing Our Ugly Heads (ED) ]
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An Editorial by the Sorcerer
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As I told you in the last issue, Canton Connection BBS has
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refused to allow this newsletter on their system, for some
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reason. And after asking them about it a few times, I was
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refused on their system!
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Since then, I'd like to thank the users that have stood up
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for me on there. There are many who do not want to have
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their names published, but the ones that have let me know
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what side they are on include the Lord, Elminster, Electric
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Messiah, the Magister, and others.
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When Elminster found out that the newsletter had been deleted,
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he posted a public message in the Hello Sig just asking the
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sysops to explain why they thought that the newsletter was
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unfit for download. The message was deleted. So was Elminster.
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Sanguinius also had poetry deleted in the Poetry Sig. This
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news came to me a few days ago and I don't really have any
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details on it.
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So Elminster and I thought that we would call up Larry Smith,
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co-sysop of Canton Connection, and ask him about Elminster's
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account. I was called by Larry right after he deleted me
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last Sunday morning but Elm had been given no reason or anything
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for his "dismissal."
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We called Larry a few days ago. The conversation was extremely
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interesting. Although not verbatim, it went something like,
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"Hello, is Larry there?"
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"This is Larry."
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"Larry, this is the Sorcerer and Elminster. We just want to
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talk to you about Elm's account getting deleted."
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"This is who?"
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"You know, Longshot and Elminster. From your bulletin board."
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"I don't run a bulletin board..."
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ELM: "You have a modem?"
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"A modem? What's that?"
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"Uh, Larry, no offense, but we've talked to you before and
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we know your voice."
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>> CLICK <<
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So we called back.
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>> CLICK <<
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Again, that is not a verbatim account of what happened, but
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it is pretty close. I found it interesting that this Larry
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Smith that we called knew enough to know that one "runs" a
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bulletin board, yet he didn't know what a modem was. Most
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people who aren't aware of what a modem is don't know what
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a bulletin board is, either.
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So, I take it that we aren't going to get a straight answer
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out of the Canton Connection staff. I guess that the users
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there will be happy ... until they post something that the
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sysops don't like.
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By the way, the number that we called for Larry Smith was
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confirmed by three sources. And trust me: it was him.
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At any rate, I would urge everyone that does not believe
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that we should put up with censorship on bulletin boards
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should ask Larry about their decision. And let us know
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what happens. I know that I'm interested. Thanks.
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-The Sorcerer
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[ Making the Rounds: Stark Naked is Getting Around the Area ]
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Imagine my surprise while going through the messages at
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Saturday !! BBS to see this post:
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Msg # 77 of 79 Date: Mon 7-27-92, 11:43 pm
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From: BRENT WOODFORD
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Read: 9 times
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To: SYSOP & ALL
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Subject: Re: Akron Anamoly?
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I just uploaded a txt file that I got from Triway BBS. It is some sort of a
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newsletter from Dragon's Lair BBS. It has a lot of information on the Akron
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Anamoly bust. It was a sting operation in which the police co-operated with
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a 15 year old for 2 months to bust Mark. They confiscated all of his
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equipment. The newsletter also include an article which was in the Plain
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Dealer (July 21, I think). Put it on line so it can be downloaded for more
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info.
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BAW!
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Again Reply Mail Prev Next Goto Thread Other Quit
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Wow ... wasn't I excited! The newsletter is making its way
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around the area!
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[ Have Something to Say? ... Information on Stark Naked ]
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Got something to say? Want it published? You can send it
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to me at the Dragon's Lair BBS. The number is (216) 966-8970
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running Renegade Beta at 3/12/2400, 24 hours a day, 7 days
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a week.
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Also, any sysop who would like his/her system to be a
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distribution site for Stark Naked should contact me. If I
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am a regular user on your system, you can leave me mail there.
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The next issue of Stark Naked will move away from the Canton
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Connection line and also a little from the Akron Anomoly line.
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New stories will be here.
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Let me know how I am doing! I have gotten a little feedback on
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the stuff in Stark Naked Issue #2, but I'd always like to hear
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what you have to say.
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I leave you with this SLMR thought: All prosecutors will be
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violated.
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