311 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
311 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
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= F.U.C.K. - Fucked Up College Kids - Born Jan. 24th, 1993 - F.U.C.K. =
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Major51
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-------
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Several months ago, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal ran
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articles detailing a Secret Service operation that resulted in the
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arrest of several "hackers".
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While the articles were well written, and generally factual, there are
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several points of contention, mostly attributable to direct quotes made
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by government officials. Also, while the information contained in the
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articles is mostly correct, many points are simply not covered.
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So, for those who may be vaguely familiar with this case, I would like to
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offer some clarifications. And for those who may not have heard about it
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at all, here it is.
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Following, I will quote excerpts from the aforementioned articles, along
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with my own comments (my comments will appear in [] ). The two articles
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have been "cut and pasted", and will appear as one article except where
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noted.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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NEW YORK - It was a classic sting operation, the kind of undercover gambit that
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has nabbed bad guys for decades: federal agents disguised as big-time thieves
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set up shop and put the word out on the street that they were eager for
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business. Soon shifty characters were stopping by, officials said, peddling
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stolen goods that were worth millions of dollars.
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[This is highly misleading. What the federal agents did was establish a
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BBS, named "Celco 51" which, as they advertised, catered primarily to those
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with a technical interest in telephony, especially cellular telephony.
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I doubt that any of the users there could really be described as shifty,
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with the possible exception of the sysop, and one of the users who was,
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in fact, a Secret Service agent.]
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``People all over the country responded,'' said Peter A. Cavicchia 2nd, the
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special agent in charge of the Newark office of the Secret Service, which ran
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the investigation. ``They felt they could do this with impunity.''
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[I find this quote to be incredibly objectionable. Celco 51 purported to
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be a BBS where people could discuss the technology of the day, exchange
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thoughts and ideas, and even socialize with other like-minded individuals.
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Of course people felt they could do that with impunity. Why? Because
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they can. There is nothing wrong, legally or morally, with doing that.]
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It is relatively easy to put together a private computer bulletin board,
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requiring only a computer, a modem, phone lines and communications software.
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Special Agent Bauerschmidt was assisted by an informer with experience as a
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computer hacker, officials said. The equipment and phone line for the scheme
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were located in a Bergen County, N.J., apartment building.
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[In this case: at least one computer, four modems and phone lines, and an
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800 number were paid for by the taxpayers.]
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The sting began operating in January, and numerous hackers posted messages,
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including some saying they wanted to fence cell-phone "cloning" equipment
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[I believe the word "fence" is inappropriate here, since they are referring
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to equipment that is quite legal to own. While debating the difference
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between "legal to own" - versus - "legal to use" may appear to be an
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argument of semantics, the fact is, there is a difference. Furthermore,
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there are legitimate uses for that equipment.]
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and stolen cell-phone numbers. An undercover agent, using the computer alias
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of "Carder One," then posed as an interested buyer and negotiated to purchase
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the illegal gear, having it send to a New Jersey address in return for sending
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cash to the suspects.
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[I offer no defense to those engaged in the buying or selling of ESN/NAM
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pairs (which is what the article refers to as "cell-phone numbers"), but
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again I stress that the "programming gear" is not illegal. Also, their
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chronology is a bit off..."Carder One" did not wait for others to offer
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anything for sale, she was actively soliciting the purchase of a variety
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of items long before anyone even had an opportunity to offer them to her.]
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the startling growth in computer-assisted crime. Cellular-phone fraud
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alone cost companies $482 million last year, the cellular-phone industry
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estimates. [from the New York Times article]
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[I've always looked at the losses reported by the telecommunications
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industry with a bit of skepticism, and this is no exception...]
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The industry loses as much as $1 billion annually to cell-phone fraud,
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estimates suggest. [from the Wall Street Journal article]
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[...especially in light of how rapidly the number seems to grow!]
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The ``computer service,'' which led to the arrests of at least six suspected
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hackers and the possibility of more, is the latest indication that law
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enforcement agencies are being forced to try novel strategies to keep up with
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the startling growth in computer-assisted crime.
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Last January, a Secret Service special agent, Stacey Bauerschmidt, using the
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computer nickname Carder One, established a computer bulletin board that she
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called Celco 51.
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``We consider this to be one of the most significant of the wireless fraud
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busts that have come down so far,'' said Michael T. Houghton, a spokesman for
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the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, a trade group. ``These
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guys took it another degree.''
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[After being in operation for nearly a year, and having attracted some of
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the brightest minds in the hacker community (there were around two-hundred
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users on Celco 51), they found six people who (allegedly, I might add)
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stepped over the line of legality. Bear in mind, that this was on a
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"private" BBS which was considered to be "secure" and "hacker-friendly".
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In other words, an environment where those inclined to partake in illicit
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activities would be likely to do so. I too consider these figures to be
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"most significant".]
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The disclosure of the investigation came a few days before the release of the
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film ``Hackers,'' a coincidence that was noted by Ms. Krappa, the assistant
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U.S. attorney.
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``The movie industry will tend to glamorize these individuals, but they really
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do cause a lot of loss,'' she said. ``People look at them as errant children,
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that this is a joke, but it actually costs a lot, and that filters down to
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consumers.''
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[The movie industry has no need to glamorize "these individuals". The fact
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that the vast majority of "evil" hackers on Celco 51 were in fact not evil
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at all provides all the glamorization that is needed.]
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Now, some words from "Carder One" herself. These are actual messages
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from Carder One posted on Celco 51.
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- Area: celcodez------------------------------------------------------------
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Msg#: 3517 Date: 04-05-95 21:02
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From: Carder-one Read: Yes Replied: No
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To: ** All ** Mark:
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Subj: funz
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Just a few from my friend who gave me a shitload
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917-859-4655 C3586A8C
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917-855-3421 9D071C2B
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God this is funz...CARDER
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[I understand that in undercover operations, law enforcement officials are
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sometimes forced to do things that mirror the behavior of the "criminals"
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that they are trying to apprehend, but the Secret Service posting cellular
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esn/nam pairs to a bunch of suspected cell-phone-service-thieves is the
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equivalent of the D.E.A. handing out cocaine to dealers on the street.]
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- Area: codez------------------------------------------------------------
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Msg#: 104 Date: 02-03-95 16:22
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From: Carder-one Read: Yes Replied: No
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To: Mark:
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Subj: cardz
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I am in the market for some new cards specific being Amex with some
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identifier info. If you can provide hit me up and we will workout
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a deal. Give me an e-mail and we will talk in teleconf. CARDER-ONE
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[Carder One...buying.]
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- Area: codez------------------------------------------------------------
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Msg#: 784 Date: 02-13-95 21:22
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From: Carder-one Read: Yes Replied: No
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To: Mark:
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Subj: cardz
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hey I got some new Atts up fur trade.Hit me up in an E-mail CARDER.
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[Carder One...selling.]
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- Area: codez------------------------------------------------------------
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Msg#: 2057 Date: 03-07-95 22:33
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From: Carder-one Read: Yes Replied: No
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To: ** All ** Mark:
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Subj: hey
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im in a bit of a pick....i need some at&t cards for a friend in Italy
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if ya got some around since he pesters the shit outa me if he cant
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call...if ya can deal hit me up and well we can deal.....
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[...and buying again.]
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- Area: INTER------------------------------------------------------------
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Msg#: 2362 Date: 03-14-95 23:46
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From: Carder-one Read: Yes Replied: No
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To: ** All ** Mark:
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Subj: AT&T
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If you need I can get...in exchange f course...leave me mail here if
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your not on IRC....later CARDER
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[...and selling again. Perhaps these types of messages are the sort of thing
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you might expect to see on an "underground" BBS. It is certainly the sort
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of thing that the Secret Service expected to see. They must have been quite
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disappointed, since Carder's were the only posts of this nature...]
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- Area: codez------------------------------------------------------------
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Msg#: 467 Date: 02-10-95 21:27
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From: Sysop Read: Yes Replied: No
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To: Mark:
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Subj: cardz
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All you guys going on about cards... we haven't seen any samples
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floating around here... lets ee sum so *I* can see if any of them
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are any good for me.. i need another computer...
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shame u can't card phone lines... 8)
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[...except when the sysop jumped in. It is fortunate that the Secret
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Service was wrong about the people who would frequent a BBS such as
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Celco 51. There was a lot of information, not just in the message areas,
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but in the file bases as well, that could have been very valuable to
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a person interested in committing the sort of crimes that the Secret
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Service predicted they would want to commit. I find it interesting that
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the Secret Service went to such great lengths to facilitate such criminal
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endeavors. In closing, I offer a couple of messages from users who are
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far more representative of the hacking community than the government or
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the media realizes:]
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- Area: celprog------------------------------------------------------------
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Msg#: 2658 Date: 03-18-95 15:27
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From: Read: Yes Replied: No
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To: Mark:
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Subj:
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Well, I don't hate you. I prefer more of the 'behind the scenes' info,
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ie. Switching. It's just that so many people are cloning these days, the
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sad thing is that it is so easy, to do, and in my opinion get caught.
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Why not explore something that is unexplored, instead of buying a cable
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and software and cloning a phone, what a challenge! (joke) That is what
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80% of the so called cellular 'hackers' do, buy most of their shit,
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clone a phone, and boom, they label themselves hackers. I guess a name
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can be deceiving.
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- Area: celprog------------------------------------------------------------
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Msg#: 688 Date: 02-12-95 15:45
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From: Read: Yes Replied: No
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To: Mark:
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Subj:
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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it seams to me that you even though i don't have a cellular, i have
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read a lot of cell docs etc, i find the technology itself really
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interesting... how it all works..
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[There it is. I hope that any aspiring hackers will keep in mind that hacking
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is not about fraud, theft, or destruction. It is about a person learning
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about cellular phone technology, a person who doesn't even own a cellular
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phone. And I hope that those without any interest in hacking themselves
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will keep this in mind the next time they read "the evil hackers", and
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realize that it is quite likely that they are not reading the whole story.
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As for the people who were busted as a result of the Celco 51 sting, well,
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I wish them all the best, bearing in mind that they are innocent until
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proven guilty. Should it come to pass that they are found guilty, I hope
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that others will not recognize them as "hackers", but rather, as people
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who were willing to commit shady deals with somebody with a nick as lame
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as "Carder One". Finally, I hope that the government can, as soon as they
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are through patting themselves on the back, realize that they worked very
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hard, for a very long time, with some rather negligible results.
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``If they are selling the stuff in cyberspace, law enforcement has to be
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willing to go there,'' said Donna Krappa, an assistant U.S. attorney in Newark,
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I wholeheartedly agree, and I submit that if Celco 51 is any example of the
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degree of lawlessness to be found in cyberspace, that law enforcement has to
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be equally willing to go elsewhere.
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Major
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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= Questions, Comments, Bitches, Ideas, Rants, Death Threats, etc etc... =
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= Internet : jericho@netcom.com (Mail is welcome) =
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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= gote land +27.31.441115 =
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= Arrested Development +31.77.3547477 =
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= Chemical Persuasion 203.324.0894 Celestial Woodlands 214.252.6455 =
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= Goat Blowers anon 215.750.0392 Hacker's Haven 303.343.4053 =
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= E.L.F. (NUP) 314.272.3426 Misery 318.625.4532 =
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= Dungeon Sys. Inc. 410.263.2258 Psykodelik Images 407.834.4576 =
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= Paradise Lost 414.476.3181 Black SunShine 513.891.3465 =
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= underworld_1995.com 514.683.1894 Digital Fallout 516.378.6640 =
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= PSYCHOSiS 613.836.7211 Bad Trip 615.870.8805 =
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= Plan 9 716.881.3663 suicidal chaos 718.592.1083 =
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= Phallic Paradise 801.944.7353 Purple Hell 806.791.0747 =
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= Atrocity Exhibition 905.796.3385 Phoenix Modernz 908.830.8265 =
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= The Keg 914.234.9674 =
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= Files through Anonymous FTP: FTP.NETCOM.COM - /pub/je/jericho/FUCK =
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= FTP.FC.NET - /pub/deadkat/misc/FUCK =
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= FTP.WINTERNET.COM - /users/craigb/fuck =
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= FTP.GIGA.OR.AT - /pub/hackers/zines/FUCK =
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= ETEXT.ARCHIVE.UMICH.EDU - /pub/Zines/FUCK =
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= Files through WWW: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/je/jericho/jericho.html =
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