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30 KiB
Plaintext
663 lines
30 KiB
Plaintext
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Computer underground Digest Sun, Nov 3, 1991 Volume 3 : Issue 39
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Moderators: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET)
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CONTENTS, #3.39 ( November 3, 1991)
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File 1: Moderator's Corner--Brendan Kehoe's FTP information
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File 2: The Secret Service and Protection of Privacy
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File 3: Re: Response to Bill Vajk's FOIA Piece
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File 4: Letters from Prison: Installment #1
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File 5: Diehard 2 And Hacking
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File 6: Re: CuD - Now It Can Be Told
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File 7: Is the Government creating malign hackers?
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Issues of CuD can be found in the Usenet alt.society.cu-digest news
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group, on CompuServe in DL0 and DL4 of the IBMBBS SIG, DL1 of LAWSIG,
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and DL0 and DL12 of TELECOM, on Genie, on the PC-EXEC BBS at (414)
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789-4210, and by anonymous ftp from ftp.cs.widener.edu (147.31.254.20),
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chsun1.spc.uchicago.edu, and dagon.acc.stolaf.edu. To use the U. of
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Chicago email server, send mail with the subject "help" (without the
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quotes) to archive-server@chsun1.spc.uchicago.edu.
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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 as long as the source
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is cited. Some authors do copyright their material, and they should
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be contacted for reprint permission. It is assumed that non-personal
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mail to the moderators may be reprinted unless otherwise specified.
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Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles relating to the
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Computer Underground. Articles are preferred to short responses.
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Please avoid quoting previous posts 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: 3 Nov 91 11:32:33 CDT
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From: Moderators <tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu>
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Subject: File 1--Moderator's Corner--Brendan Kehoe's FTP information
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>I would like to announce the release of the first issue
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>of 'Informatik'. Informatik #1 is available by
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>anonymous ftp at uunet.uu.net under:
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>tmp/inform1.Z
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>tmp/inform1.txt
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Brendan Kehoe reminds everybody that this is in the CuD archives as
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misc/inform-1.1.Z. (For future reference, anybody saying something
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'released on uunet in /tmp/blah' is most likely not condoned by UUnet,
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and isn't guaranteed to be there.)
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Brendan also worked to establish an Australian shadow of the CuD
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archives at the University of Melbourne. It's on ftp.ee.mu.oz.au
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[128.250.1.80] in pub/text/CuD. Everything on ftp.cs.widener.edu and
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chsun1.sps.uchicago.edu will be there. We *STRONGLY* encourage all
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Australian readers to FTP to this machine, to save the international
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link.
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Thanks to Daniel Carosone for all of his help. And to Libby on
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general principle.
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------------------------------
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Date: Thu Oct 24 16:38:35 1991
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From: igloo!learn@DELTA.EECS.NWU.EDU
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Subject: File 2--The Secret Service and Protection of Privacy
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((Moderators' note: Bill Vajk and Glenn Roberts have recently obtained
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several reams of Secret Service files under the Freedom of Information
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Act related to Len Rose's case. Some of this information appears to
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include the names of net people, and as the file by Gordon Meyer
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indicates, having your name on a list could be sufficient to earn the
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"victim" a file of their own)).
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The following is an accurate representation of some of the techniques
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the United States Secret Service uses to protect the privacy of
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citizens from the prying eyes of those who make Freedom of Information
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requests regarding investigations. The following excerpt will be
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familiar to many who have been paying attention to US Secret Service
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activities for the past year.
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NOTE: X, Y, and Z are blankouts by your public servants.
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======================================================================
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TELECOM Digest Sat, 27 Oct 90 16:54:32 CDT Volume 10 : Issue 766
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[......]
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On his final day of employment, Mr. Rose was visited by federal agent
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XXXXXXXXX, the fellow who has been involved with much of the Operation
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Sun Devil investigation since the beginning. On the advice of his
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attorney, Mr. Rose declined to speak with YYYYYYYYY at the time.
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[......]
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As ZZZZZZZZZZ points out in the current issue of %Computer Underground
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Digest% something very strange is going on ... I refer you to the
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current issue of CuD for more specifics on this case. If you are a
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subscriber to CuD, you should have received an issue on Saturday
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morning with this story. If not, and you'd like to subscribe, then
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write the Moderators with your request: tk0jut2@niu.bitnet.
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[......]
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Was this latest turn of events a 'set up' of some kind, or a
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conspiracy against Len Rose? It seems doubtful, yet if the new charges
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against him are true, then he must be a very self-destructive
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individual. Quite honestly, I was shocked to receive this report a few
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days ago from Jim Thomas (I promised not to publish it until he did),
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and I really don't know what to think. I do feel terribly sorry for
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his wife and children at this point, alone in a strange place without
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the resources they need for survival.
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==========================================================================
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Need any hints ?
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X is "Tim Foley". Y is "Mr. Foley". Z is "Jim Thomas", although they missed
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him with their whiteout brush in the second instance in the subsequent
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paragraph. They also obviously did not recognize tk0jut2@niu.bitnet
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as much an identifier as any name.
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>From reading the text above, for which we have available the original
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as a publicly posted article in comp.dcom.telecom, and our understanding
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of the context of the information, it is obvious that the individuals
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reviewing the documents with a commendable intention to preserve the
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privacy of innocent individuals are oblivious to realities of any sort
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regarding the cases they are reviewing.
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This, I suggest, makes them a danger to the privacy we demand regarding
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innocent individuals happening into investigative webs. The other side
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of the double edged sword is equally as bad. Such practices on a
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continuing basis create an effective shield concealing the very
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misbehaviors which the Freedom Of Information Act intended to expose
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to public scrutiny. Federal agents acted on our behalf. The government
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wishes to keep their agent names a secret, out of the public eye. Does
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this not resemble, in highly disturbing ways, the SECRET POLICE of
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other nations in other times ? This trend is not limited to the
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Secret Service. The FBI also routinely deletes agent names from
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reports released under FOIA. The government, as an entity, demands
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more privacy for themselves than they wish to permit to society as
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a whole.
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And the now famous article posted by Len Rose to the network
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deteriorates another nonsensical tidbit under the government
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censor's hand. It appears as follows in the documents released
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by the Secret Service:
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"Hi. I got fired Friday. They had %%%%%%%%%%%% article in
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their hands when they told me the pleasant news."
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Hey there, John. Aren't you proud of how the government is
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safeguarding your privacy and your name ? There was a toasty
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flamewar on usenet about this article. But of course, the folks
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reviewing the documents hadn't a clue. They don't really know
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what they are doing, and it isn't their fault. The system, which
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has succumbed to entropy, is at fault.
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Full Disclosure recently received a mountain of documents from the
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Government. What I've described here is just the smallest bit
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of the tip of an iceberg. Glen Roberts and I have a lot of analysis
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to do. In some respects, the government has made the analysis a bit
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more difficult, a bit more time consuming. In spite of their generally
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contrary nature in such regards, they have nonetheless given us a
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better insight into some of the issues and detail perplexing us.
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It is to be noted that the documents we have received contain
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the first formal evidence that law enforcement agencies are not
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only interested in the doings and discussions on Usenet, but also
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they have sought out and incorporated such discussions into the
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official records of their investigations. Up to this point, such
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thoughts have been hearsay and guessing by those of us not directly
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involved with law enforcement agencies in these regards.
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------------------------------
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Date: Fri, 25 Oct 91 8:57:22 CDT
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From: bei@DOGFACE.AUSTIN.TX.US(Bob Izenberg)
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Subject: File 3--Re: Response to Bill Vajk's FOIA Piece
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I've just read Bill Vajk's excerpts (a digest of digests of Digests,
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if you will) from the Secret Service's reply to his FOIA request. A
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movie-going fool like me sees it as America's Finest nervously
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regarding the Usenet Tall Black Monolith that now graces their veldt.
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In time, they'll understand it and possibly even be positively changed
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by it, but for now the SS lurkers are as primates checking out the
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first subliminal motivation tape...
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> From reading the text above, for which we have available the original
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> as a publicly posted article in comp.dcom.telecom, and our understanding
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> of the context of the information,
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Is it common practice to blank out the names of individuals from
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published newspaper or broadcast coverage? The material in question,
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as Bill notes, isn't the recorded conversation of an investigation
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subject and a confidential informant. It's the subject of an
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investigation being discussed in a public forum.
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> This, I suggest, makes them a danger to the privacy we demand regarding
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> innocent individuals happening into investigative webs. The other side
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> of the double edged sword is equally as bad.
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A more mundane explanation suggests itself for the snipping of the
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names of agents and technical sources from the documents provided.
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Some of those folks whose names are Not To Be Read Aloud have had
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their names read aloud in civil court, as defendants. When people may
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have been wobbling over the thin blue line like a dented gyroscope,
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the desire for anonymity is understandable.
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> Such practices on a
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> continuing basis create an effective shield concealing the very
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> misbehaviors which the Freedom Of Information Act intended to expose
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> to public scrutiny.
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As Bill and others who've received the information can attest, the
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volume of information provided to their FOIA request is substantial.
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In this case, the Secret Service's compliance with Bill and Glen's
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request would do a lawyer litigating a defective product claim for GE
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proud. One of the documents provided, a list of the name of every
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file on one individual's computer, is the size of a major city's
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phonebook. Filing an FOIA request is like asking a genie for "a
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little head": You may not be happy with the results.
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> The government, as an entity, demands
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> more privacy for themselves than they wish to permit to society as
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> a whole.
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What else can a collective consciousness like a government
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organization say on the subject of personal privacy but "Privacy is
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irrelevant. Society is irrelevant. We do what we have to do to
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enforce whatever rules that we set." (I'd have thrown in "Resistance
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is futile" but everybody gets the Secret Service - The Next Generation
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metaphor by now, right?)
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> But of course, the folks
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> reviewing the documents hadn't a clue. They don't really know
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> what they are doing, and it isn't their fault. The system, which
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> has succumbed to entropy, is at fault.
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Of course it's their fault. Computers have been with us in one form
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or another for almost half of this century, and personal computers
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have been around for over a decade. What keeps the ignorance level
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high as a whole is the "us and them" principle. Paranoia and
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laziness, nothing more.
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> Glen Roberts and I have a lot of analysis
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> to do. In some respects, the government has made the analysis a bit
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> more difficult, a bit more time consuming. In spite of their generally
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> contrary nature in such regards, they have nonetheless given us a
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> better insight into some of the issues and detail perplexing us.
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Well, then it was accidental. Governmental replies to FOIA requests
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are grudging at best, and can take the form of the legal threat "I'm
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going to paper you to death." Bill and Glen should be commended, or
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at least bought a beer, for slogging through the pounds of old laundry
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lists, public messages scissored up like WWII V-mail and whatever else
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these rabid pitbulls salvage from their cockeyed monitoring of our
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publicly expressed thoughts and deeds. Side note: It would have been
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interesting to read the response to a request for these documents *in
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electronic form*. We are talking about email, online newsletters and
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digests, after all. A case could be made that the original
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information that was requested was on a disk, not on paper.
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Considering all the names whited out of the documents, a form
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outlining chain of ownership of the documents from disk to paper would
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have so many omissions as to be meaningless. The assertion that the
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documents, which were evidence in a criminal investigation, were not
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altered before printing is one that I'd like to see someone's name
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associated with without concealment.
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------------------------------
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TRANSCRIPTION NOTES:
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The following is a transcription of documents received from the US
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Secret Service in response to a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA)
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request I filed in April of 1991. In that request I asked for all
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records pertaining to myself, and those of SummerCon '88 which I
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attended.
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I received three, heavily censored, photocopies in response. The
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complete contents of those pages are reproduced here. Because the SS
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uses a "white out" technique to censor information, it is difficult
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to determine exactly how many lines or words have been deleted. The
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places marked [censored] below are my estimates of the number of
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missing lines of text. GRM 10/30/91
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
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UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE
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X-REF: 404-704-13800
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X-REF: J-201-775-115386-S
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ORIGIN: Field OFFICE: Chicago, Illinois CASE NO: 201-775-115729-S
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TYPE OF CASE STATUS TITLE OR CAPTION
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Computer Fraud Closed Gordon R. Meyer
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10/12/90
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[written in]
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INVESTIGATION MADE AT PERIOD COVERED
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Chicago & DeKalb,
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Illinois 01/19/90 - 08/01/90
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INVESTIGATION MADE BY
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SA [censored]
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_SYNOPSIS_
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Investigation has not disclosed any
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illegal activity by Meyer, only [censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored] This case is being
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closed.
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_INTRODUCTION_
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This case developed as an extension of the Chicago cross-referenced
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case. [censored]
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[censored] A high interest of
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"hacking" and the "Phrack" magazine on the part of Gordon Meyer, a
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student at Northern Illinois University. Meyer, aka: "Hatchet Molly",
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DISTRIBUTION COPIES REPORT MADE BY DATE DICTATED
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Chicago Orig. [censored] 08/23/90
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Special Agent DATE TYPED
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Fraud Division 1cc 08/24/90
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APPROVED DATE SIGNED
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[signature] 8/27/90
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Patrick T McDonnel DATE APPROVED
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SPECIAL AGENT IN 9/20/90
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CHARGE
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++++[end of page one] ++++
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201-775-115729-S
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08/23/90
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Page 2
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also appears on the "Internet Directory of hackers, January 5, 1989",
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a list of hackers released in a "Phrack" issue by
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[censored]
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Reference is made to all M/R's in the Chicago cross-referenced case,
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J-201-775-115386-S, the latest being that of SA [censored] dated
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5/190, [sic] wherein that case was continued pending judicial action.
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_DETAILS OF INVESTIGATION_
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored] an attempted was made to determine the extent, if any, of
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Gordon Meyer's, aka: Hatchet Molly, involvement with [censored] and
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the Legion of Doom.
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On 2/23/90, a Grand Jury subpoena was served on [censored]
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[censored]
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[rest of page has been censored]
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+++++++++++[end of page two]++++++++++++++
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201-775-115729-S
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08/23/90
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Page 3
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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Investigation to date has not revealed any "hacking" activities by
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Gordon Meyer. As discussed with AUSA [censored] and SA [censored]
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Meyer's possession of the E911 text as published in the Phrack
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newsletter, did not warrant a personal interview.
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NCIC checks were conducted with negative results.
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_DEFENDANTS/SUSPECTS_
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Gordon R. Meyer - Suspect
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_JUDICIAL ACTION_
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On 3/22/90, AUSA [censored] issued a Grand Jury subpoena
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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[censored]
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After review of the above material, I discussed this case with AUSA
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[censored]. Based on this review and the lack of significant
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findings, a personal interview of Meyer was deemed no appropriate.
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_DISPOSITION_
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No substantive leads were developed in this case. This case is being
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closed.
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++++++++[end of page three]+++++++++++++++++++
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++++++++[end of FOIA-obtained documents]++++++++++++
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------------------------------
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Date: Thu, 24 Oct 91 4:21:33 EDT
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From: "Len.Rose@federal.prison.on.our.tax.dollars.edu"
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Subject: File 4--Letters from Prison: Installment #1
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((Moderators' Note: Len Rose pled guilty to possession of unlicensed
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source AT&T Unix source code and was sentenced to a year in prison.
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Many of us feel that Len's sentence was unjustly harsh. We've
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received several long letters from Len, and he has given us permission
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to reprint them in installments. The single dominant theme is that
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prisons are lonely, desolate places, and that even a minimum security
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(Level-I) institution can by psychologically devastating)).
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"Letters from Prison: Part of the Story."
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By Len Rose (October, 1991)
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Greetings from prison!
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I have been here almost four months, and have six and a half left
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before I can return to my family. Time passes very slowly here. I am
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not sure if I will have a family to return to, but there is nothing I
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can do to save them. I'll discuss all of that in a few moments.
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First, a general scenario. Prison life has been what I expected, with
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a few excruciating exceptions. I'll elaborate on these, but let me say
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that my life here has been easy. I live in a dormitory, along with 80
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other convicts. We have small, open cubicles, each containing a bunk
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bed, two small lockers, a small desk, and one waste basket. For
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someone with military experience, (I had six years of it), having to
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perform tasks such as making beds (military style), stripping and
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waxing floors, and generally maintaining the room in spotless
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conditions is easy.
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My work is easy. I pick up cigarette butts all day. We work seven hours
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a day, five days a week. I get paid 12 cents an hour. It sounds like a
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bad deal, unless you consider I get other benefits such as a place to
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sleep, clothing, and of course food. Ah. The food. Well, I don't eat
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breakfast often. It's not bad as far as breakfasts go. I won't say
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anything more about that meal, except to mention the coffee. If you
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can call it that. I don't. It's brown colored water. We have developed
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theories as to where the coffee goes, but no one is certain. We
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just know that we don't get it. Lunch isn't bad either. There are days
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when it's actually edible. Ditto for supper. From looking at the weekly
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menu, one could say that we are fed well. However, the food is not
|
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prepared correctly, and is often ruined. There are several factors
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involved, none of which reflect anything wrong with the Bureau of
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Prisons. The food is prepared by convicts, some of whom actually care
|
||
about their fellow convicts and take pride in their work. The
|
||
majority of kitchen workers here, however, are bitter, unhappy people
|
||
who do the least they can get by with, and not face disciplinary
|
||
actions. The dishes and utensils are dirty. I have learned how to
|
||
sort through stacks of plates, rummage through utensil dispensers,
|
||
and choose clean cups. Again, I don't blame the BoP for this, since
|
||
they have to use the employees--whoops, convicts--they have available.
|
||
|
||
We compete weekly for the privilege of being called first to lunch and
|
||
supper. It's based on the scores we receive from an inspection of our
|
||
dorms. Once a week, we're inspected, and the dormitory that looks the
|
||
best wins the chance to eat first. There is a paradox here. One could
|
||
wonder why people are motivated to strive for this honor, but after
|
||
adapting to the food, learning that hunger is worse, you would be
|
||
surprised. Also, when you are the fifth or sixth dorm, you discover
|
||
that a lot of the "good" food is gone, and you have to eat what's
|
||
left. The dining hall is organized like a large cafeteria, with
|
||
two lines for food. There is also a salad bar. (Thank God for the
|
||
salad bar). Well, enough said about the food.
|
||
|
||
Mail. When I first got here, we were called by dormitory each evening
|
||
to receive mail. An officer (or "hack") in convict language) would
|
||
pass out the mail in a circle of approximately 80 convicts. (If the word
|
||
"convict" assaults your sensibilities, feel free to substitute the word
|
||
inmate, guest, members, etc). It reminds me of army boot camp. I
|
||
cannot ever impress upon anyone the enormous importance of mail to
|
||
someone who has not been in jail or prison for any length of time. I am
|
||
not being dramatic. It is a lifeline to a life that used to be. A link
|
||
with people you love and miss so badly it hurts. An affirmation that
|
||
you are still a person and somewhere out there is someone who
|
||
still cares. One letter can make the difference between sinking in utter
|
||
despair or gaining enough strength to last one more day. I will
|
||
never, never forget those kind people who've had the patience and
|
||
compassion to carry on a correspondence with me here. It has not been
|
||
easy for them, I am sure. God bless them all.
|
||
|
||
We can only receive mail Monday thru Friday, thus the weekends are
|
||
bleak for me. Many other convicts feel differently since they can
|
||
receive visits on the weekends. Since my wife and children are so far
|
||
away and can't afford to come see me, I'll never get a visit. To
|
||
combat my growing depression that seemed to materialize every Friday
|
||
evening, I volunteered to work on the weekends. It has helped a lot.
|
||
For those who are fortunate enough to receive visits, it's very nice.
|
||
|
||
There is a large visitor area with both indoor and outdoor areas.
|
||
They can spend an entire day with their visitors (usually wives and
|
||
children), often being able to hug and kiss a lot. I have been told
|
||
there is a lot of opportunity for mutual masturbation. Pitiful when
|
||
viewed by someone outside the system, but it's amazing what lovers
|
||
will do when they are forced into this situation. I have also heard of
|
||
the occasional brave souls who have actually consummated the act of
|
||
making love. I am told it's difficult, but not impossible. The visitor
|
||
area is under the constant scrutiny of at least two oficers. I would
|
||
not demean myself or my wife in such circumstances, but then again--I
|
||
have not been imprisoned very long.
|
||
|
||
I would give a year of my life to just be able to see my wife and
|
||
children. I can't express myself any other way, since it really is
|
||
the truth. I don't intend to be histrionic. "Just the facts, Man!" I
|
||
think that's enough on that subject too. (Sigh!).
|
||
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 16:42:31 AST
|
||
From: iq/sju@OAMICUS.FIDONET.ORG(Timothy Buchanan)
|
||
Subject: File 5--Diehard 2 And Hacking
|
||
|
||
KB>terrorists. The second piece related to computer terrorism. In it we
|
||
KB>showed footage of Die Hard 2, which was viewed at a congressional
|
||
KB>hearing as an example of how vulnerable we are, and how what happened
|
||
KB>in that movie could happen in real life.
|
||
|
||
No, Krista, it could NOT.
|
||
|
||
In this movie, terrorists cut a cable near a major airport and "hack"
|
||
into "the air traffic control system". They seize communications,
|
||
control radar and flight data, and cause an airliner to crash by
|
||
resetting an instrument landing system.
|
||
|
||
Each tower has several means of talking to airplanes, including a
|
||
portable radio. It would be impossible to block all radio channels. Do
|
||
you think that the pilot would circle helplessly until out of fuel, as
|
||
shown in the film? He would contact another FAA facility and his
|
||
company, and if necessary exercise his pilot in command authority and
|
||
take his aircraft elsewhere.
|
||
|
||
Radar and Flight Data processing are two different functions. It is
|
||
not possible to connect into a computer and steal these functions,
|
||
although they could be disrupted. Again, the pilot and the FAA have
|
||
other means to deal with loss of data.
|
||
|
||
The landing system depicted does not exist, but appears to be a
|
||
combination of an ILS (instrument landing system) and GCA (ground
|
||
controlled approach). This last is only used at a few military fields.
|
||
It would be possible to interfere with an ILS, but not to reset it as
|
||
shown so as to lead a pilot into the ground. Also, the pilot has
|
||
several systems in his aircraft to provide altitude information,
|
||
including a radar altimeter and ground proximity warning system which
|
||
are independent of the ground. When these warned him of low altitude,
|
||
he would go-around.
|
||
|
||
In short, the movie is entertaining but has little basis in fact. Air
|
||
traffic functions, like any aspect of society, are vulnerable to
|
||
terrorists but this would involve hacking with an axe, not computer
|
||
hacking.
|
||
|
||
What is your reason for stating so baldly that such a film could
|
||
happen in real life? It is entertainment, like Geraldo's TV show.
|
||
Don't confuse it with information.
|
||
|
||
I have worked for the FAA for eleven years as a controller and
|
||
trainer, and have some knowledge of the automation systems. I am also
|
||
an IFR rated pilot.
|
||
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
From: chris@ZETACO.COM(Chris Johnson)
|
||
Subject: File 6--Re: CuD - Now It Can Be Told
|
||
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 91 13:22:34 CST
|
||
|
||
I have a strong disagreement with Krista's position as stated above
|
||
(CuD 3.38). Yes, the "media" is made up of individual "reporters", just
|
||
as the software industry is made up of individual "programmers" in
|
||
part. It is also true that we, as parties interested in fair
|
||
representation of, and public education about cyberspace, have an
|
||
obligation (to ourselves) to make sure the media individuals get the
|
||
information and education they need to deliver the messages we want to
|
||
see delivered.
|
||
|
||
However, this does not excuse those individuals in "media" in any way.
|
||
They have chosen to work in the field, and thus can be assumed to have
|
||
chosen "journalism" as a profession. A professional journalist makes
|
||
it her or his duty to become educated about the topics she or he will
|
||
be reporting and presenting to the public. A professional journalist
|
||
has a set of ethics and standards to adhere to, and ignorance and
|
||
misrepresentation are _not_ among them.
|
||
|
||
Krista's statements sound much like those of other media apologists.
|
||
I argue it is her and other "media" reporters' obligation to find out
|
||
the facts, to educate themselves about their chosen topics, and to
|
||
contact individuals who have expertise in those areas to get the
|
||
correct message.
|
||
|
||
We will do our part, I hope. Will the "media" do theirs?
|
||
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Date: 03 Nov 91 20:57:47 EST
|
||
From: Adam Rice <76177.42@COMPUSERVE.COM>
|
||
Subject: File 7--Is the Government creating malign hackers?
|
||
|
||
Permit me to tell you all a story from my college days.
|
||
|
||
I had a friend, John, who was a resident advisor at a big dorm on
|
||
campus. His residents were all freshmen, and it adjoined the section
|
||
where most of the football players lived. As you can probably imagine,
|
||
these football players could get pretty rowdy, and especially liked to
|
||
give freshmen a hard time. Now one of John's residents was a
|
||
politically-conscious hacker, who had a lot of politcal cartoons on
|
||
his door. One of the football players ripped these down one day. The
|
||
next day, this freshmen posted a sign on his door that read something
|
||
like this: "To the guy who ripped down all my cartoons: I know who you
|
||
are. Your credit rating and your GPA are history."
|
||
|
||
John walked into his room with a grin, ripped the sign down, and said
|
||
"Hey, why advertise?"
|
||
|
||
It occurs to me that up to now, most of the hacking that this country
|
||
has seen has been relatively benign: more on the level of pranks than
|
||
sabotage, although it easily could become the latter. I have to wonder
|
||
if any of these gung-ho law enforcement officials have considered that
|
||
they could, possibly, take a "benign" hacker and piss him off
|
||
sufficiently to turn him "cancerous," probably striking back
|
||
specifically at those who had given him grief. What to do about this?
|
||
I don't know, really. As long as cyberspace remains in the legal
|
||
twilight zone it's in, we can probably expect more unprovoked arrests
|
||
and unconstitutional infringements of liberties, though. Sooner or
|
||
later, the authorities will tangle with the wrong guy, I have a
|
||
feeling.
|
||
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
End of Computer Underground Digest #3.39
|
||
************************************
|
||
|
||
|