360 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
360 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
From <@UICVM.UIC.EDU:TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET> Wed Mar 24 17:21:49 1993
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Received: from DIRECTORY-DAEMON by POBOX.UCS.UMASS.EDU (PMDF #2573 ) id
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<01GW70B3NMOG001P3V@POBOX.UCS.UMASS.EDU>; Wed, 24 Mar 1993 17:21:42 -0500
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<01GW70AXL0B4001OT5@POBOX.UCS.UMASS.EDU>; Wed, 24 Mar 1993 17:21:38 -0500
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5975; Wed, 24 Mar 93 15:34:39 CST
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Date: 24 Mar 1993 15:33 -0600 (CST)
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From: Cu-Digest <TK0JUT2%NIU.BITNET@UICVM.UIC.EDU> (tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu)
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Subject: Subbed to CuD
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To: Cu-Digest <<@mitvma.mit.edu:TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET>> (tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu)
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Message-Id: <01GW70AXRPFM001OT5@POBOX.UCS.UMASS.EDU>
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Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
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Status: OR
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We have received your request to be added to the CuD mailing list. If
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you receive this, it means you have been added. Back issues are
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avaiable from PC-Exec BBS, The Well, Compuserve, GEnie, and from the
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CuD archives via ftp. USENET readers can currently receive CuD
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through comp.society.cu-digest.
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The current ftp sites are:
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red.css.itd.umich.edu (141.211.182.91) in /cud;
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halcyon.com (192.135.191.2) in /pub/mirror/cud; and
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ftp.ee.mu.oz.au (128.250.77.2) in /pub/text/CuD.
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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 DL0 and DL12 of TELECOM; on Genie in the PF*NPC RT
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libraries; from America Online in the PC Telecom forum under
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"computing newsletters;" on the PC-EXEC BBS at (414) 789-4210; in
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Europe from the ComNet in Luxembourg BBS (++352) 466893;
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European readers can access the ftp site at: nic.funet.fi pub/doc/cud.
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Back issues are also available via mailserv from:
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mailserv@batpad.lgb.ca.us (for "help," send a one word message
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of "HELP" in both text and subject header to the mailserv address
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Computer underground Digest is intended as a forum for the discussion
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of legal, ethical, social, and other issues regarding computerized
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information and communications. We welcome contributions reflecting
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diversity of thought and perspective.
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Jim Thomas / Gordon Meyer
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+++++++++++++++++
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FAQs about Cu Digest
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(1 February, 1993)
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We're asked the following questions often enough that we compiled the
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following list. If you have additional questions, let us know, and
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we'll add them.
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******************************
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Q 1: WHAT IS CuD?
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A 1: Cu-Digest, or CuD, is a weekly on-line electronic journal/news
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forum. CuD began at the suggestion and encouragement of Pat Townson
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(moderator of Telecomm Digest) in March 1990. The federal indictments
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of Craig Neidorf (in the "PHRACK case" in Chicago) and Len Rose (in
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Baltimore) generated more posts than Pat could manage, and the nature
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of posts exceeded his Digest's Usenet charter. Jim Thomas and Gordon
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Meyer volunteered to collect the surplus posts, and Pat helped get it
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started. It was originally conceived as an interim forum that would
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quietly depart after a few months. Volume 1, in fact, was originally
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intended as the first and final volume in August '92, but a week later
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Volume 2 appeared because of the continuous material. As of this
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writing, CuD is publishing Volume 4. Each issue is about 40 K.
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Q 2: WHAT IS THE GOAL OF CuD?
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A 2: The broad goal of CuD is to provide a forum for discussion and
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debate of the computer telecommunications culture. This culture
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especially includes, but is not limited to, the unique world of BBSes,
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Internet, and public access systems. We focus especially on
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alternative gropus that exist outside of the conventional net
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community. We try to focus on a broad range of issues that include
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news, debates of legal, ethical, and technical issues, and scholarly
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research of relevance to a broad audience of professionals and lay
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persons. Other than providing a context for an article if necessary,
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the moderators *do not* add commentary of agreement or disagreement.
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We see our role as one of facilitating debate, although we will do
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take part in discussions in separate articles.
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Q 3: WHO EDITS CUD?
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A 3: Gordon Meyer and Jim Thomas publish CuD from Northern Illinois
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University. Gordon Meyer's MA thesis, "The Social Organization of the
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Computer Underground", was the first systematic attempt to place the
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social world of "phreaks, hackers, and pirates" in a context that
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looked at the culture, rather than the "deviance", of alternative uses
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of computer use. Gordon is currently a system engineer with a large
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national firm in the Chicago area. Jim Thomas, a professor of
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sociology/criminology at Northern Illinois University, is a prison
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researcher and qualitative methodologist. Gordon lured him into the
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"underground" world 1987, and he has since become interested in the
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legal and cultural issues of computer use.
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Q 4: WHY THE LABEL *UNDERGROUND*?
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A 4: For some, the term underground connotes malice and a dark side
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of human activity. For others, including the CuD editors, it denotes
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alternative to conventional activity. An electronic digest is an
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alternative to hard-copy forms of information sharing. Like the
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"underground," or "alternative" press of the counterculture of the
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1960s or "underground music" or radio of the 90s, the "computer
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underground" refers to types of behavior or characteristics of a
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subculture that are unique, cohesively identifiable, possessing norms,
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roles, and social expectations that define participants, and are
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considered socially marginal by the dominant culture. Like the term
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"hacker," there were originally no negative connotations associated
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with "underground" when the term was first used. The name "Computer
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underground Digest" was suggested with a bit of irony prior to the
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first issue (how, after all, can a conventional digest that is
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publicly accessible be "underground?"), and the name stayed. Early
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discussions to change the name seemed impractical once the "CuD"
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monogram was established, and the name stands.
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Q 5: IS CuD "PRO-HACKER?"
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A 5: The term "hacker" has been grossly distorted by the media and
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law enforcement personnel, who use it synonymously with "computer
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intruders." CuD editors have repeatedly stated their own opposition to
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all forms of predatory and malicious behavior, including malicious
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computer intrusion. We accept Bob Bickford's definition of a "hacker"
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as someone who derives joy from discovering ways to exceed
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limitations. Hackers, in the original sense, referred to explorers who
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solved problems and exceeded conventional limits through trial and
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error in situations in which there were no formal guidelines or
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previous models from which to draw. In this sense, CuD is quite
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"pro-hacker," and we prefer the term "cracker" for malicious
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practitioners of the hacking craft. Exploration is good, predation is
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not. However, CuD encourages articles from all perspectives and
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attempts to provide a forum for reasoned discussion on all sides of an
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issue. CuD opposes predatory behavior by any group, whether computer
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enthusiasts or those who oppose them. CuD is for civil liberties and
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for civilizing the electronic frontier by securing rights assumed in
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other social realms and by advocating protection from all forms of
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abuse.
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Like rock 'n Roll and Richard Nixon, the computer underground culture
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has not, and will not likely soon, go away. It has become an
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entrenched part of computer culture. CuD attempts to document the
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computer culture and ease the transition as the culture moves toward
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the mainstream with articles that bridge the cultural gaps as
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telecomputing becomes an increasingly important part of daily life.
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The political, legal, economic, and social impact of changes in the
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new technology is poorly covered elsewhere. We see our goal as
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addressing the impact of these changes and providing alternative
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interpretations to events.
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Q 6: WHAT KINDS OF THINGS DOES CuD PUBLISH?
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A 6: We encourage submissions on a broad range of topics, from
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articulate short responses and longer opinion pieces to book reviews,
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summaries of research, and academic papers. We especially encourage:
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1. Reasoned and thoughtful debates about economic, ethical, legal, and
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other issues related to the computer underground.
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2. Verbatim printed newspaper or magazine articles containing relevant
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stories. If you send a transcription of an article, be sure it
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contains the source *and* the page numbers so references can be
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checked. Also be sure that no copyright protections are infringed.
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3. Public domain legal documents (affidavits, indictments, court
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records) that pertain to relevant topics.
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4. General discussion of news, problems, or other issues that
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contributors feel should be aired.
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5. Unpublished academic papers, "think pieces," or research results
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are strongly encouraged. These would presumably be long, and we would
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limit the size to about 800 lines (or 40 K). Longer articles
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appropriate for distribution would be sent as a single file and
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so-marked in the header.
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6. Book reviews that address the social implications of computer
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technology.
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7. Bibliographies (especially annotated), transcripts of relevant
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radio or television programs (it is the poster's responsibility to
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assure that copyrights are not violated), and announcements and
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reports of relevant conferences and conference papers are strongly
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encouraged.
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8. Announcements for conferences, meetings, and other events as well
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as summaries after they've occured.
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9. Suggestions for improvement, general comments or criticisms of CuD,
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and ideas for articles are especially helpful.
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Although we encourage debate, we stress that ad hominem attacks or
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personal squabbles will not be printed. Although we encourage
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different opinion, we suggest that these be well-reasoned and
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substantiated with facts, citations, or other "evidence" that would
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bolster claims. Although CuD is a Usenet group, it does not, except
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in the rarest of cases, print post-response-counterresponse in the
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style common among most other groups.
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Q 7: HOW CAN I PUBLISH IN CUD?
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A 7: To submit an article, simply send it to the editors at
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tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu. If you receive CuD on Usenet, you can reply
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(using the F or f commands) and your response will come directly to
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the editors and will not be distributed across the nets. If you do not
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have an article, but know of people who do, encourage them to send
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their work along. Although CuD is a forum for opposing points of view,
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we do prefer that articles a) be written in English, b) make sense,
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and c) are not out-dated.
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Submissions should be formatted at 70 characters per line and should
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include a blank space separating individual paragraphs. Submissions
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may be edited for spelling and format, but no other changes are ever
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intentionally made without permission. Sigs are also removed to save
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bandwidth.
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Q 8: HOW DO I SEND NEWS ARTICLES IF I DON'T HAVE PERMISSION?
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A 8: Fair use doctrine allows reasonable quotes to be used.
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So, cite the most relevant or crucial parts and summarize the
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rest. Very short articles, however, may generally be reproduced
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without permission.
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Q 9: SHOULD I QUOTE OTHER POSTERS WHEN RESPONDING TO AN ARTICLE?
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A 9: ONLY IF ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Good writing does not require
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excessive quoting. Sometime's it's necessary, but it should be
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avoided. In addition to being generally bad writing, CuD simply
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lacks room for repitious back-and-forth comments/rejoinders.
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Parsimony should rule.
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Q 10: WHO READS CuD?
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A 10: As a conservative estimate, CuD reaches about 35,000 to 40,000
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readers each issue. According to monthly Usenet statistics, CuD
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averages about 23,000 readers a month on alt/comp.society.cu-digest.
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We estimate another 3,000 from the mailing list and feeds into various
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systems. BBS readership, judging from non-scientific sysop feedback,
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constitutes at least another 5,000, and public access systems
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(Peacenet, America Online, GEnie, CompuServe) constitutes the rest of
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domestic readership. Our figures do not include substantial European,
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Australian, or ftp distribution.
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Judging from a survey we took in 1990 and from the feedback we receive
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from readers, CuD readers cut across occupational, ideological, and
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age lines. The overwhelming majority (about 80 percent) of the
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readership is college graduates. About half is computer professionals
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or in related fields. The remaining half is distributed among a
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variety of professions (attorneys, journalists, academicians, law
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enforcement, students) and territory (the mailing list includes every
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continent except Asia and all west European countries).
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Q 11: HOW DO I RECEIVE CuD?
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A 11: If you're reading this, you've already received it, and most
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likely you can just keep doing whatever you did to get it. If you
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aren't sure what you did, you can do any of the following:
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CuD is *FREE*. It costs nothing. The editors make no profit, we take
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no money, we accept no gifts (but we drink Jack Daniels and lots of
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it, should you run into us in a pub). To receive CuD, you can access
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it from many BBSes and most public access systems. Or, if you have
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Usenet access, you can obtain it by subscribing through your local
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system to comp.society.cu-digest.
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If you do not have Usenet access, you can be placed on a mailing list
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by dropping a short note to: tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu with the subject
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header: SUB CuD and a message that says:
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SUB CuD my name my.full.internet@address
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Q 12: CAN I GET BACK ISSUES OF CuD ON DISK OR ON PAPER?
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A 12: Yes. Back issues may be obtained for the price of four
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high-density 3x5 floppies and postage. The complete set of Vols 1
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through 4 is nearly 4 megs.
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Hard copies of back issues are also available. The cost for
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reproduction and postage will be determined on a case-by-case basis
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by the NIU sociology department. Printed back-to-back, issues
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1 through 4 comprise about 2,500 pages. Information on back issues
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can be obtained from the Moderators (Cu-Digest / Department of
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Sociology / Northern Illinois University / DeKalb, IL 60115
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Q 13: HOW DO I SIGN OFF CUD?
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A 13: By sending a message that says "UNSUB <your@logon.id>"
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to tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu or tk0jut2@niu.bitnet
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Q 14: WHERE CAN I GET BACK ISSUES OF CUD?
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A 14: On the ftp sites.
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The current ftp sites are:
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red.css.itd.umich.edu (141.211.182.91) in /cud;
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halcyon.com (192.135.191.2) in /pub/mirror/cud; and
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ftp.ee.mu.oz.au (128.250.77.2) in /pub/text/CuD.
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Issues of CuD also can 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 DL0 and DL12 of TELECOM; on Genie in the PF*NPC RT
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libraries; from America Online in the PC Telecom forum under
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"computing newsletters;" on the PC-EXEC BBS at (414) 789-4210; in
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Europe from the ComNet in Luxembourg BBS (++352) 466893;
|
|
European readers can access the ftp site at: nic.funet.fi pub/doc/cud.
|
|
Back issues are also available via mailserv from:
|
|
mailserv@batpad.lgb.ca.us (for "help," send a one word message
|
|
of "HELP" in both text and subject header to the mailserv address
|
|
|
|
Computer underground Digest is intended as a forum for the discussion
|
|
of legal, ethical, social, and other issues regarding computerized
|
|
information and communications. We welcome contributions reflecting
|
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diversity of thought and perspective.
|
|
|
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Q 15: WHY DOES CuD REPRINT MATERIAL FROM USENET THAT USENET READERS
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HAVE PROBABLY ALREADY SEEN?
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A 15: CuD is read by many non-Usenet readers. Bitnet readers, for
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example, obtain CuD from the mailing list and rarely participate in
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Usenet forums. Many readers have no net access at all, and they read
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CuD from public access systems such as GEnie, The Well, or Compuserve,
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or from their favorite BBS. Therefore, we try to provide non-net
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readers with as much news as possible.
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Q 16: HOW DO I USE FTP?
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A 16: Ask your local Sysad. If you have a system that allows
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ftp transfers, we recommond Brendan Kehoe's ZEN AND THE ART OF
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THE INTERNET or Ed Krol's THE WHOLE INTERNET as quick primer on
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ftp and other Internet/Usnet tricks.
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Q 17: WHY DOES CuD SUBJECT/FROM/DATE LINE SOMETIMES NOT CORRESPOND TO
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REALITY?
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A 17: In order to be read by most mailers as a digest, posts must be
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divided by a marker (i.e., a space and a series of dashes) and three
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lines indicating From:, Subject:, and Date:. We often must add these
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manually, because they may not be included properly in the original
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post, or we may not receive the posts in electronic form. When
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reposting articles from other sources, we try when possible to use the
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author in the From: line (rather than the moderators) to allow
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respondants to commuicate directly with the original author by (on
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Unix) hitting "r" or "R". When a poster requests anonymity, we change
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both the From: and Date: lines.
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Q 18: DOES CuD ACCEPT ANONYMOUS POSTINGS?
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Yes. As we indicated in CuD 1.00 (1990), there are many reasons for
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anonymity, especially if one fears employment repercussions. However,
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we STRONGLY DISCOURAGE anonymous postings without good cause.
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