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THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN UNDERGROUND COMPUTING / Published Periodically
======================================================================
ISSN 1074-3111 Volume One, Issue Four June 7, 1994
======================================================================
Editor-in-Chief: Scott Davis (dfox@fennec.com)
Technology Editor: Max Mednick (kahuna@fennec.com)
Consipracy Editor: Gordon Fagan (flyer@fennec.com)
Network Security: George Phillips (ice9@fennec.com)
** ftp site: etext.archive.umich.edu /pub/Zines/JAUC
U.S. Mail:
The Journal Of American Underground Computing
10111 N. Lamar #25
Austin, Texas 78753-3601
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
IMPORTANT ADDRESSES -
============================================================================
To Subscribe to "TJOAUC", send mail to: sub@fennec.com
All questions/comments about this publication to: comments@fennec.com
Send all articles/info that you want published to: submit@fennec.com
Commercial Registration for Profitable Media: form1@fennec.com
============================================================================
"The underground press serves as the only effective counter to a growing
power, and more sophisticated techniques used by establishment mass media
to falsify, misrepresent, misquote, rule out of consideration as a priori
ridiculous, or simply ignore and blot out of existence: data, books,
discoveries that they consider prejudicial to establishment interest..."
(William S. Burroughs and Daniel Odier, "The Job", Viking, New York, 1989)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Contents Copyright (C) 1994 The Journal Of American Underground Computing
and/or the author of the articles presented herein. All rights reserved.
Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission
of the Editor-In-Chief and/or the author of the article. This publication
is made available periodically to the amateur computer hobbyist free of
charge. Any commercial usage (electronic or otherwise) is strictly
prohibited without prior consent of the Editor, and is in violation of
applicable US Copyright laws. To subscribe, send email to sub@fennec.com
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
DISCLAIMER AND NOTICE TO DISTRIBUTORS -
NOTE: This electronic publication is to be distributed free of charge
without modifications to anyone who wishes to have a copy. Under NO
circumstances is any issue of this publication, in part or in whole,
to be sold for money or services, nor is it to be packaged with other
computer software, including, but not limited to CD Rom disks, without
the express written or verbal consent of the author and/or editor.
To obtain permission to distribute this publication under any of the
certain circumstances stated above, please contact the editor at one of
the addresses above. If you have intentions of publishing this journal
in any of the ways described above, or you are in doubt about whether or
not your intentions conflict with the restrictions, please contact the
editor. FOR A COPY OF THE REGISTRATION FORM, MAIL - form1@fennec.com
This publication is provided without charge to anyone who wants it.
This includes, but is not limited to lawyers, government officials,
cops, feds, hackers, social deviants, and computer hobbyists. If anyone
asks for a copy, please provide them with one, or mail the subscription
list so that you may be added.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN UNDERGROUND COMPUTING - Volume 1, Issue 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1) We've tried To Be Nice... Carl Guderian
2) Defcon Convention Update Dark Tangent
3) Obituary / Mimsey Unknown
4) Call For Papers / Neural Networks Readers
5) Press Release: Spyglass/NCSA Agreement Readers
5) The Real Story Carl Guderian
6) Legion Of Doom T-Shirt Ad Chris Goggans
7) Libertarian Party / Opposition To DTA Libertarian Pty
8) Unabom - 1 Million $ Reward William Tafoya
9) The Massachusetts Encryption Bill Unknown
10) Book Review: Information Warfare Scott Davis
11) Whisper Who, A Unix Tool (Source Code) Editors
12) Hacker Barbie Readers
13) The Well: A Small Town... Cliff Figillo
14) The Feminization Of Cyberspace Doctress Neutopia
15) Response To The Feminization Of Cyberspace Jason Webb
16) Easy-to-Use Kennedy Conspiracy Chart Gordon Fagan
17) Meeks Defense Fund MDF
18) HOPE - Hackers On Planet Earth Emmanual Goldstein
19) TV & Movie Mania Radio Show Lauren Weinstein
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Special thanks to the anonymous reader who sent the software to my US Mail
address...it was very cool. -Scott
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The Journal Of American Underground Computing supports DEFCON II in Vegas!!
We will be there, and we encourage you to do the same.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
We've Tried to Be Nice: Other Ways to Fight Clipper
by Carl Guderian (bjacques@cypher.com)
(You've read about Clipper ad nauseam elsewhere, so refer to other sources
if you still don't know about Clipper, the Digital Telephony Act, and
everything else that will be lumped together here under the rubric of
"Clipper." Start with John Perry Barlow's excellent "Jackboots on the
Infobahn" in issue 2.04 of Wired Magazine. If you want balance, ask the NSA
for its opinion and weigh it against our position that Clipper obviously
blows. Onward.)
The Situation, Spring 1994
The Clinton White House is apparently steaming ahead on Clipper despite our
perfectly reasonable arguments and well-mannered campaign against it. To
John Perry Barlow (see intro) it plays like Invasion of the Body Snatchers
II: The White House Years--formerly sensible folks replaced by pod people
blandly assuring us that if "I could tell you what I know, you'd agree with
me." No help there.
Various industry consortia were ready to sell us down the slippery slope
until the feds double-crossed them at the last minute by rescinding the
offer to lift export controls on encryption in exchange for support for
Clipper. An attempt to make RSA/PGP encryption a politico-economic fait
accompli by sheer numbers of users is moving slowly, if at all (PGP really
requires direct internet access, it's hard to use, and RSA's suing Phil
Zimmerman so nobody else is going to dress it up for the market). The White
House spooks may make a bigger splash in the market by ordering their
50,000 electronic keyholes than we can by passing out copies of PGP for
free. We're fighting the enemy on its own turf and terms and we could lose.
It's time to fight dirty. Below are a couple of suggestions.
Mutt and Jeff
Just as for every civil rights Freedom Rider there was a Black Panther, for
every Pat Schroeder there's a Riot Grrl, and for every polished Dixiecrat
Senator there was a KKK Nightrider, so must we field media streetfighters
to complement our sincere and polite public spokesmen. The history of social
progress (and, unfortunately, reaction) is that of good cop and bad cop.
Opponents of Clipper must employ these Siamese twins of persuasion in order
to get anywhere. If you've never been interrogated by police, customs
officials, school principals, or corporate investigators, a little
explanation of good cop/bad cop may help.
In interrogations conducted in civilized countries, the object is to crack
the interviewee without resorting to physical torture. The most effective
method is good cop/bad cop. The bad cop, sent in first, acts enraged and
threatens to beat the truth out of the suspect. He gleefully enumerates all
the terrible things that can happen to an uncooperative suspect. Sometimes
this alone works. If the prisoner stands firm (or is frozen with fear), the
good cop comes to the rescue, radiating sympathy and bonhomie. He offers a
cigarette, a friendly ear, and assurances that, he and the suspect are
really on the same side.
The good cop plays on the suspect's pride, suspicions, or other
psychological weaknesses in order to get a voluntary confession. The good
cop's presence carries the implied threat of the return of the bad cop if
no confession is forthcoming. To accuse the good cop of waging psychological
warfare is to miss the point. Psychological warfare is waged by adept
deployment of both good and bad cops in order to break the prisoner.
It's very effective against folks who don't know any better, especially
young hackers, schoolkids, and Seattle scenesters en route to Vancouver.
The Occult Technology of Power
The point of the above digression is that a tool well-known to the
authoritaries can be, and has been, used against them as well. As gays have
learned, neither the noisy AIDS Die-ins by ACT-UP nor lobbying by advocacy
groups is alone sufficient to win public support. Together the tactics work
because they offer different levels on which the public can deal with issues
(and people) that clearly won't go away.
Clipper advocates already know the weakness of their position, so arguments
are useless. They repeat the same arguments in hopes the public will get
tired of hearing about it and simply sign the blank check. We must pre-empt
the argument with bite-sized zingers. In the economy of attention, the
market goes to the side with the pithiest arguments. When they say "law and
order" we respond with "ATF." Such sound bites are Patriot Missiles that
shoot down the other side's forensic Scuds. Channel the spirits of Dorothy
Parker and Oscar Wilde. Give their straw man a hotfoot; they summon up
nuclear terrorism, we resurrect the Branch Davidians. The issue doesn't lend
itself to riotous demonstrations, but with a really good negative media
campaign we can whip up a good hate frenzy against Clipper. We already do
this somewhat, but we need to go further, with high concept slogans and
catch phrases.
"Clinton chip," like "Hooverville," has a dry, sharp ring to it, commanding
attention like the snap of a bone. Plus, it yokes the President personally
to the issue. If that sounds lame, try something else. The ancient
techniques of propaganda apply here, wedded to the black art of meme/
information virus theory. It's a media war, so we'll use a little McLuhan.
(If you've read his stuff, you know his writing style was really disjointed,
but sounded great! Which may be the point.) Slick attack ads, sound bites,
rants to the editor, whisper campaigns, and other forms of media
manipulation are in order. Anything short of gross distortion or outright
lies is acceptable. The truth is scary enough and can be made to sound
positively Lovecraftian, if we succeed in seizing the metaphors. Detourned
ads such as "big brother inside" are a good start. The opportunities for
satire are boundless, especially given the history of government projects.
Emphasize how much more a Clippered future will play like "Brazil" than
"1984."
Why assume things will always work out for the Bad Guys Conspiracy? Want to
bet that when the government buys Clipper chips the Secret Service, FBI,
CIA, NSA, and State Department will probably spy on each other (since no one
else will use it)? Or that when Clipper charges out the fortress gate its
broken carcass will likely be flung back over the wall (i.e., it will be
cracked and posted to the net)? How will they know I haven't sold my
Clippered cellular phone at a garage sale? And so on.
Negative campaigns don't by themselves win support, but reasonable words
don't win much attention either. Both tricks must be played in their turn.
Not good cop or bad cop, but good cop AND bad cop. A diverse battle plan
gives sympathizers more options for action. Some folks like to lobby and
others like to sling mud. Hey, we're a big tent. And the streetfighters can
keep the lobbyists honest.
Useful Idiots
In order for an issue to get attention it should demonstrably arouse the ire
of a number of large and unrelated groups. Right wing fundamentalist
screwheads as well as flaming liberals stand to lose if Clipper becomes the
law, so we put a bug in their respective ears in hopes of getting a
response. Support for one's position comes from surprising places.
Cyberpagans, for example, will be shocked to learn that Phyllis
"Church Lady" Schlafly denounced Clipper in a syndicated column a couple of
months back (she got a few details wrong, but you have to expect that).
Equally shocking (at least to this writer) is Rush Limbaugh, avid computer
user, so far passing up an opportunity to savage Clinton on Clipper. Liberal
groups can be persuaded that a conservative Republican administration armed
with Clipper would make J. Edgar Hoover look like Norbert the Narc.
This strategy is aimed primarily at right wing groups for a number of
reasons. They already hate the present Democratic administration. They're
best at marshalling money and "good-ole-boy" clout. Right-wing paranoia is
more entertaining than the left-wing variety, so it is more likely to be
heard. To the Christian Right, for instance, Clipper carries the musky scent
of the Beast 666, and they expect Clinton to spend a second term stamping
our hands at the door of the Hellfire Club. And did you ever notice how
many cypherpunks own guns? Play up the gun analogy.
This avenue to political action is time-critical. If 1997 sees a Republican
administration in place, right-wing groups will lose interest in attacking
it. And since it was the Bush White House (or spooks within it) that
proposed Clipper, you can bet the rent that President Dole, Quayle (!), or
whoever will make it a fact of life quicker than you can say "national
security." So much for looking to the Republicans for relief from Clipper.
The Golden Apple of Discord
Thank the Deist god of the Founding Fathers that our government is not a
monolithic entity possessed of a single will. Battles are already underway
over which agency gets the secret skeleton key to the Clipper escrow vault
to bypass the official safeguards that won't work anyway. Getting the Crips
and Bloods to make peace was a cakewalk compared to Clinton's efforts to get
the Three Letter Agencies to talk to each other. As long as they must
compete for funding it will be so.
Not quite the end
With a bit of work we can play up Clipper so that it attracts as much
attention as the abortion, gun control, or gay rights issues have. Getting
the cover of Newsweek was good; mainstream coverage in a proposal normally
of interest only to propeller heads and conspiracy buffs is gratifying.
Remember the fallout after the Hacker Crackdown of 1990? But sustained
pressure is needed. Clinton's people need their noses rubbed in the sheer
breadth of opposition to Clipper. If a White House aide hears "Clinton Chip"
or something similar on the street, the President will hear of it and
realize we're serious.
Really the end
According to a recent issue of Federal Computer Week, the NSA is adopting as
it's mascot the armadillo. Maybe we can thank Bobby Ray Inman for this one.
FCW recently ran a contest to name the "dillo." Entrants were asked to
consider the NSA's reputation for prurience and the animal's best known
habitat (the freeway center stripe). The contest is probably over by now,
but "Roadkill" seemed to be the winner paws down. "Road rash," "Winston
[Smith]," and "Harry Buttle" (the poor sap whose erroneous arrest and
subsequent death under torture--er, information retrieval--trigger the
events of "Brazil") were this author's favorites.
Credits
Many thanks go posthumously to Marshall McLuhan for his theory of
perception, which states that most people see either the figure or the
background (a vase or two faces?) but that true perception is seeing both
figure and background. This seemed pretty wacky a year ago, but it makes a
lot more sense now. Backhanded thanks go to a trio of Canadian customs
guards at the Peace Bridge connecting Buffalo, NY to Ft. Erie, Ontario for
personal instruction in the tactics of "good cop/bad cop". Thanks also to
ReSearch (for PRANKS!), the Situationist International (including King Mob),
Richard Dawkins (meme theory) and the late Count Alfred Korzybski (general
semantics), for inspiration.
Please wash your hands before leaving the 20th century.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
DEFCON UPDATE
by Dtangent (dtangent@defcon.org)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX DEF CON II Convention Update Announcement
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XXXXxxxxxxxxxxXXXX XXXXXXXXX DEF CON II Convention Update Announcement
XXXxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXX X DEF CON II Convention Update Announcement
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XXXXXXxxxxxxXXXXXXXXX X DEF CON II Convention Update Announcement
XXXXXXXxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX DEF CON II Convention Update Announcement
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX DEF CON II Convention Update Announcement
READ & DISTRIBUTE & READ & DISTRIBUTE & READ & DISTRIBUTE & READ & DISTRIBUTE
DISTRUBUTE & READ & DISTRIBUTE & READ & DISTRIBUTE & READ & DISTRIBUTE & READ
============================================================================
What's this? This is an updated announcement and invitation to DEF CON II,
a convention for the "underground" elements of the computer culture. We try
to target the (Fill in your favorite word here): Hackers, Phreaks, Hammies,
Virii Coders, Programmers, Crackers, Cyberpunk Wannabees, Civil Liberties
Groups, CypherPunks, Futurists, Artists, Etc..
WHO: You know who you are, you shady characters.
WHAT: A convention for you to meet, party, and listen to some speeches
that you would normally never hear.
WHEN: July 22, 23, 24 - 1994 (Speaking on the 23rd and 24th)
WHERE: Las Vegas, Nevada @ The Sahara Hotel
So you heard about DEF CON I, and want to hit part II? You heard about the
parties, the info discussed, the bizarre atmosphere of Las Vegas and want to
check it out in person? Load up your laptop muffy, we're heading to Vegas!
Here is what Three out of Three people said about last years convention:
"DEF CON I, last week in Las Vegas, was both the strangest and the best
computer event I have attended in years." -- Robert X. Cringely, Info World
"Toto, I don't think we're at COMDEX anymore." -- CodeRipper, Gray Areas
"Soon we were at the hotel going through the spoils: fax sheets, catalogs,
bits of torn paper, a few McDonald's Dino-Meals and lots of coffee grounds.
The documents disappeared in seconds." -- Gillian Newson, New Media Magazine
DESCRIPTION:
Last year we held DEF CON I, which went over great, and this year we are
planning on being bigger and better. We have expanded the number of
speakers to included midnight tech talks and additional speaking on Sunday.
We attempt to bring the underground into contact with "legitimate" speakers.
Sure it's great to meet and party with fellow hackers, but besides that we
try to provide information and speakers in a forum that can't be found at
other conferences.
While there is an initial concern that this is just another excuse for the
evil hackers to party and wreak havok, it's just not the case. People come
to DEF CON for information and for making contacts. We strive to distinguish
this convention from others in that respect.
WHAT'S NEW THIS YEAR:
This year will be much larger and more organized (hopefully) than last year.
We have a much larger meeting area, and have better name recognition.
Because of this we will have more speakers on broader topics. Expect
speaking to run Saturday and Sunday, ending around 5 p.m. Some of the new
things expected include:
o An Internet connection with sixteen ports will be there, _BUT_ will only
provide serial connections because terminals are too hard to ship. So
bring a laptop with communications software if you want to connect to the
network. Thanks to cyberlink communications for the connection.
o There will be door prizes, and someone has already donated a Cell Phone
and a few "Forbidden Subjects" cd ROMs to give away, thanks to Dead
Addict.
o Dr. Ludwig will present his virus creation awards on Sunday.
o A bigger and better "Spot The Fed" contest, which means more shirts to
give away.
o More room, we should have tables set up for information distribution.
If you have anything you want distributed, feel free to leave it on the
designated tables. Yes, this year there will be a true 24 hour
convention space.
o A 24 hour movie / video suite where we will be playing all type of
stuff.
VHS Format. Mail me with suggested titles to show, or bring your own.
We'll use a wall projector when not in use by speakers.
o Midnight Tech Talks on Friday and Saturday night to cover the more
technical topics and leave the days free for more general discussions.
WHO IS SPEAKING:==========================================================
This list represents almost all of the speakers verified to date. Some
people do not want to be announced until the event for various reasons, or
are waiting for approval from employers. A speaking schedule will go out
in the next announcement.
Phillip Zimmerman, Notorious Cryptographer & author of PGP.
Dr. Ludwig, Author of "The Little Black Book of Computer Viruses," and
"Computer Viruses, Artificial Life and Evolution"
Loyd Blankenship (The Mentor), Net Running in the 90's and RPG.
Padgett Peterson, Computer Enthusiest, Anti-Virus Programmer.
The Jackal, A Radio Communications Overview, Digital Radio and the Hack
Angle.
Judi Clark, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
Gail Thackery, (Of Operation Sun Devil Fame), Topic to be Announced.
To be Announced, The Software Publishers Association, Topic to be Announced.
Toni Aimes, Ex U.S. West Cellular Fraud, Cellular Fraud Topics.
Mark Lotter, Cellular Enthusiest, Hacking Cell Phones.
Lorax, The Lighter Side of VMBs.
Peter Shipley, Unix Stud, Q&A on Unix Security.
George Smith, Crypt Newsletter, Virus Topic to be Announced.
Cathy Compton, Attorney, Q&A Surrounding Seisure Issues, Etc.
John Littman, Reporter and Author, Kevin Poulson, Mitnick, and Agent Steal.
Red Five & Hellbender, Madmen With a Camcorder, Who Knows?
Chris Goggans (Erik Bloodaxe), Wierd Wireless Psycho Shit.. Stay Tuned..
There should be a few round table discussions on Virus, Cellular, Unix and
something else surrounding the industry.
I'll name the rest of the the speakers as they confirm. I'm still working
on a few (Two?) people and groups, so hopefully things will work out and I
can pass the good news on in the next announcement, or over our List Server.
============================================================================
WHERE THIS THING IS:
It's in Las Vegas, the town that never sleeps. Really. There are no clocks
anywhere in an attempt to lull you into believing the day never ends. Talk
about virtual reality, this place fits the bill with no clunky hardware. If
you have a buzz you may never know the difference. It will be at the Sahara
Hotel. Intel is as follows:
The Sahara Hotel: 1.800.634.6078
Room Rates: Single/Double $55, Tripple $65, Suite $120
(Usually $200) + 8% tax
Transportation: Shuttles from the airport for cheap.
NOTE: Please make it clear you are registering for the DEF CON II
convention to get the room rates. Our convention space price is
based on how many people register. Register under a false name if
it makes you feel better, 'cuz the more that register the better for
my pocket book. No one under 21 can rent a room by themselves, so
get your buddy who is 21 to rent for you and crash out. Try to contact
people on the Interactive Mailing List (More on that below) and
hook up with people. Don't let the hotel people get their hands on
your baggage, or there is a mandatory $3 group baggage fee. Vegas
has killer unions.
OTHER STUFF:
I'll whip up a list of stuff that's cool to check out in town there so if
for some reason you leave the awesome conference you can take in some unreal
sites in the city of true capitalism. If anyone lives in Las Vegas, I
would appreciate it if you could send a list of some cool places to check
out or where to go to see the best shows and I'll post it in the next
announcement or in the program
-o I am asking for people to submit to me any artwork, pictures, drawings,
logos, etc. that they want me to try and include in this years program.
I am tring to not violate any copywrite laws, but wat cool shit. Send
me your art or whatever and I'll try and use it in the program, giving
you credit for the work, of course. Please send it in .TIF format if it
has more than eight bit color. The program will be eight bit black and
white.
-o in case you want to make adjustments on your side.
*** NEW MAILING LIST SERVER ***
We've finally gotten Major Dommo List Serv software working (Kinda) and it
is now ready for testing. MTV spent alot of time hacking this thing to work
with BSDi, and I would like to thank him. The purpose of the list is to
allow people interested in DEF CON II to chat with one another. It would
be very sueful for people over 21 who want to rent hotel space, but split
costs with others. Just mention you have room for 'x' number of people, and
I'm sure you'll get a response from somone wanting to split costs. Someone
also suggested that people could organize a massive car caravan from
Southern Ca. to the Con. My attitude is that the list is what you make of
it. Here are the specifics:
Umm.. I TAKE THAT BACK!! The mailing list is _NOT_ ready yet. Due to
technical problems, etc. I'll do another mass mailing to everyone letting
them know that the list is up and how to access it. Sorry for the delay!
MEDIA:
Some of the places you can look for information from last year include:
New Media Magazine, September 1993
InfoWorld, 7-12-1993 and also 7-19-1993 by Robert X. Cringely
Gray Areas Magazine, Vol 2, #3 (Fall 1993)
Unix World, ???,
Phrack #44
COST:
Cost is whatever you pay for a hotel room split however many ways, plus
$15 if you preregister, or $30 at the door. This gets you a nifty 24 bit
color name tag (We're gonna make it niftier this year) and your foot in the
door. There are fast food places all over, and there is alcohol all over
the place but the trick is to get it during a happy hour for maximum
cheapness.
==========================================================================
I wanted to thank whoever sent in the anonymous fax to Wired that
was printed in issue 1.5 Cool deal!
===========================================================================
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
For InterNet users, there is a DEF CON anonymous ftp site at cyberspace.com
in /pub/defcon. There are digitized pictures, digitized speeches and text
files with the latest up to date info available.
For email users, you can email dtangent@defcon.org for more information.
For non-net people call:
For Snail Mail send to: DEF CON, 2709 E. Madison Street Suite #102,
Seattle, WA, 98112
For Voice Mail and maybe a human (me), 0-700-TANGENT on an AT&T phone.
A DEF CON Mailing list is maintained, and the latest announcements are
mailed automatically to you. If you wish to be added to the list just send
email to dtangent@defcon.org. We also maintain a chat mailing list where
people can talk to one another and plan rides, talk, whatever. If you
request to be on this list your email address will be shown to everyone,
just so you are aware.
STUFF TO SPEND YOUR MONEY ON:
o Tapes of last years speakers (four 90 minute tapes) are available for $20
o DEF CON I tee-shirts (white, large only) with large color logo on the
front, and on the back the Fourth Amendment, past and present. This is
shirt v 1.1 with no type-o's. These are $20, and sweatshirts are $25.
o DEF CON II tee-shirts will be made in various colors this year, including
a few long sleeve shirts. Sizes will be in large only again, with a
few white mediums made. Shirts will be $15, Long Sleve $17, Sweat shirts
will be $20.
o We will have a few (ten maybe?) embroidered hats with this years logo.
Not shure how much they will be.. like $10 maybe.
o Full sized 4 color DEF CON II wall posters will be for sale for about $5.
o Pre-Register for next year in advance for $15 and save half.
o Make all checks/money orders/etc. out to DEF CON, and mail to the address
above. Way above.
If you have any confidential info to send, use this PGP key to encrypt:
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.3
mQCrAiyI6OcAAAEE8Mh1YApQOOfCZ8YGQ9BxrRNMbK8rP8xpFCm4W7S6Nqu4Uhpo
dLfIfb/kEWDyLreM6ers4eEP6odZALTRvFdsoBGeAx0LUrbFhImxqtRsejMufWNf
uZ9PtGD1yEtxwqh4CxxC8glNA9AFXBpjgAZ7eFvtOREYjYO6TH9sOdZSa8ahW7YQ
hXatVxhlQqve99fY2J83D5z35rGddDV5azd9AAUTtCZUaGUgRGFyayBUYW5nZW50
IDxkdGFuZ2VudEBkZWZjb24ub3JnPg==
=ko7s
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
- The Dark Tangent
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
TO: EDITORS@FENNEC.COM
Subject: OBITUARY - VAX 8600, aka Mimsy, dead at age 8
An era of computing in the University of Maryland Computer Science
Department came to an end Sunday, March 20th, when the Department's last
VAX, an 8600, peacefully died in its sleep. After a power-down, the VAX,
which had been off maintenance since July, 1993, was not able to boot as
a result of a disk/controller that finally went bad.
The 8600 had arrived in 1986 as the Department's most powerful machine
and had been named "Brillig"; in November 1990, when the Department's VAX
11/785 was retired, the 8600 assumed the name and duties of "Mimsy" and
had served in that capacity until its semi-retirement in July, 1994. At
that time, the 8600 was renamed "Imladris" and the "Mimsy" moniker was
bestowed upon a Sun SPARC 10/30.
Along with being the last VAX, the 8600 was also the last UMD machine
running the mutoid 4.3/4.3tahoe/4.3reno/Net-2 conglomeration (4.3BSD Torix,
as it was called here) that emerged over the span of a decade of working
with Unix. Although it is now gone, the hacks it helped inspire live on
in locally-changed versions of the SunOS, Ultrix, OSF/1 and BSDI offerings
in hundreds of other systems here.
It is somewhat ironic that the VAX ended the way it did. Its demise
was originally scheduled for earlier that week, when the 8600, after a short
ceremony, was to have committed suicide. The machine would have, under its
own free will and volition, executed (through the "cron" facility) a shell
script prepared by Dr. Vax Kevorkian which would have issued an "rm -rf /"
command. Onlookers were to have watched the process until the machine seized
up, and would have then powered the machine down and gone to dinner.
However, an earlier problem with the building Uninterruptible Power
Supply (UPS) necessitated a load test for the 20th, and as a large consumer
of power, it was decided the 8600 would remain on for this one last task. As
a result of a short power-down during the UPS load test, the machine's
mighty heart (ummm, disk) gave out.
Funeral arrangements are not yet complete, but tentative plans call
for shipping the remains to Chris Torek's apartment in Berkeley, as a token
of the staff's appreciation. The staff has requested that all gifts of
condolence be made to the University of Maryland's Dinner-for-Wayword-
Hackers Fund; checks may be made payable to Pete Cottrell.
MIMSY IS DEAD! LONG LIVE MIMSY!
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
CALL FOR PAPERS: Neural Networks for Automatic Target Recognition
By Dept of Cognitive and Neural Systems (announce@retina.bu.edu)
ATR is a many-faceted problem of tremendous importance in industrial and
defense applications. Biological systems excel at these tasks, and neural
networks may provide a robust, real-time, and compact means for achieving
solutions to ATR problems. ATR systems utilize a host of sensing modalities
(visible, multispectral, IR, SAR, and ISAR imagery; radar, sonar, and acoustic
time series; and fusion of multiple sensing modalities) in order to detect
and track targets in clutter, and classify them. This Special Issue will
bring together a broad range of invited and contributed articles that
explore a variety of software and hardware modules and systems, and
biological inspirations, focused on solving ATR problems. We particularly
welcome articles involving applications to real data, though the journal
cannot publish classified material. It will be the responsibility of the
submitting authors to insure that all submissions are of an unclassified
nature.
Co-Editors:
-----------
Professor Stephen Grossberg, Boston University
Dr. Harold Hawkins, Office of Naval Research
Dr. Allen Waxman, MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Submission:
-----------
Deadline for submission: October 31, 1994
Notification of acceptance: January 15, 1995
Format: as for normal papers in the journal (APA format) and no longer
than 10,000 words
Address for Papers:
-------------------
Professor Stephen Grossberg
Editor, Neural Networks
Boston University
Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems
111 Cummington Street
Room 244
Boston, MA 02215 USA
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
PRESS RELEASE: SPYGLASS/NCSA AGREEMENT
From: Eric W. Sink (eric@spyglass.com)
The following press release announces our new relationship with NCSA
and Mosaic. I would like to prepend a clarification or two:
Initially, Spyglass will sell Mosaic to volume users requiring a
minimum of 5000 licenses per year. It is our intention to let the
needs of smaller volume customers, including end-users, be met thru
other channels.
Also, remember that NCSA Mosaic, for Windows, Mac, and UNIX will
continue to be freely available from NCSA. Development of the free
versions will continue at NCSA, and Spyglass will be in collaboration
with the NCSA development team.
At Internet World Booth #609:
For Immediate Release
Spyglass Signs Agreement with NCSA to Enhance and Broadly Relicense
Mosaic Graphical Browser for the Internet
(C)1994 Internet World
Commercial Windows and Macintosh Versions Available in June; X Windows
Version to Follow in July
INTERNET WORLD, SAN JOSE, Calif., June 1 -- Spyglass, Inc. and the
National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the
University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign have entered into an agreement
that will get Mosaic, NCSA's graphical browser for the Internet, to
the desktops of millions of people. The agreement gives Spyglass full
rights to enhance, commercialize and broadly relicense
Mosaic. Spyglass is making a multimillion-dollar commitment to NCSA
and will focus initially on developing a commercially enhanced version
of Mosaic that other companies will incorporate with their products
for distribution to their customers. The announcement was made today
in San Jose, on the opening day of exhibits at the Spring '94 Internet
World conference.
Developed by NCSA, Mosaic gives users point-and-click access to the
World Wide Web (WWW), an information retrieval system on the Internet
with more than 2,300 graphical, multimedia databases of "hyperlinked"
documents. The Internet is a vast "supernetwork" of public and private
networks connecting thousands of organizations and an estimated 20
million individual users. New users are joining the Internet at the
rate of 2 million each month, and hundreds of new WWW servers are
coming online every month. Because of the reach of the Internet, it
offers an attractive vehicle for electronic publishing and for
conducting business globally.
"Mosaic and World Wide Web are two key ingredients for successful
electronic publishing and commerce on the Internet. But, to date,
businesses have tapped only a fraction of the Internet's potential
because these tools haven't been commercially available. Working with
NCSA, we're going to change this," said Douglas Colbeth, president of
Spyglass, which was formed in 1990 and has commercialized other NCSA
technologies.
"We're committed to evolving Mosaic so it becomes a robust, commercial
tool with complete documentation, technical support and advanced
features," explained Tim Krauskopf, co-founder of Spyglass and
developer of NCSA Telnet. "We'll be collaborating with NCSA and other
key partners to create new tools and establish standards that will
help organizations build robust World Wide Web information servers
quickly and inexpensively."
"It has been thrilling to see the universal acceptance of NCSA Mosaic
as an interactive window into cyberspace," said Larry Smarr, director
of the NCSA. "I am very pleased to see Spyglass making such a
financial commitment to the commercialization of Mosaic, which frees
NCSA up to develop the next level of functionality for the public
domain. Spyglass has been a terrific technology partner for us in the
past and we look forward to an even closer working relationship in the
future."
"We welcome Spyglass as our partner in this effort because of the
company's track record in commercializing other NCSA technologies and
our rapidly developing close working relationship with the people at
Spyglass," said Joseph Hardin, associate director of NCSA's software
program. "Spyglass gives us the cross-platform development, global
distribution and ongoing financial resources we need to take the
Mosaic environment to the next level. With this commercialization
arrangement with Spyglass in place, NCSA is freed to continue to
develop core technologies for Mosaic as well as new technologies that
leverage the Internet. We encourage companies to take advantage of
this new relationship with Spyglass and contact them about volume
licensing arrangements for Mosaic technology."
Mosaic has been called the "killer application" for the Internet
because it lets users navigate the Internet by browsing through a
series of graphical, multimedia documents. The WWW was developed
several years ago by CERN, a European consortium of scientists based
in Switzerland, to keep track of researchers' information and to
provide an easy method of sharing data. Subsequently, WWW has grown
into one of the world's most open and widely used environments for
information publishing, browsing and retrieval.
WWW servers contain eye-catching documents with built-in links to
other documents, allowing the user to move easily and naturally around
the Internet. With Mosaic, users can browse through page after page of
menus, hyperlinked to data dispersed all over the world, without
having to know the location or network address of the information they
are seeking.
Spyglass has re-architected Mosaic so it will be a more robust and
full-featured tool. Enhancements available in Enhanced NCSA Mosaic
from Spyglass include improved installation, better memory management,
increased performance, new forms capabilities, online hypertext-based
help, support for a proxy gateway and user interface improvements such
as support for multiple windows. Future versions will include enhanced
security and authentication, which will enable credit-card and other
business transactions to take place on the Internet; filters that will
enable documents from popular document readers to be read seamlessly
by Mosaic; and integration with emerging editing and document
management tools. A number of businesses are already using Mosaic and
WWW to publish magazines, deliver goods and services, provide
technical support to customers and conduct other forms of business
electronically. For example, Mosaic and WWW are part of the recently
announced $12 million CommerceNet project, a public- and
private-sector-backed initiative exploring various ways to conduct
commerce over the Internet and other data networks. NCSA will continue
to maintain a public-with-copyright version of Mosaic, which Internet
users can download for free from the Internet. NCSA, which began
distributing Mosaic in the late fall, estimates that more than one
million people use Mosaic and that more than 30,000 copies are being
downloaded each month.
Spyglass will be targeting the following types of customers as initial
prospects for large-scale Mosaic client licensing agreements: computer
systems and communications vendors, publishers and content providers,
and online information service providers. For example, a publisher
might want to include Mosaic with a subscription to an online magazine
or a computer vendor might want to include Mosaic with each system
sold. By building WWW servers themselves and distributing Mosaic
clients to their customers, businesses can easily use this system for
communicating with customers, providing technical support,
distributing product and marketing information and other kinds of
commerce.
Enhanced NCSA Mosaic from Spyglass will be available for Microsoft
Windows and Apple Macintosh desktop computers this month and for X
Windows computers in July. To navigate the Internet, Mosaic users
require a direct connection to the Internet or a PPP or SLIP
connection. Enhanced NCSA Mosaic from Spyglass will be priced
aggressively for high-volume distribution, enabling licensees to
incorporate Mosaic into their products and services for a modest
cost. For more information about Enhanced NCSA Mosaic from Spyglass,
contact Spyglass directly at (217) 355-6000, mosaic@spyglass.com or
http://www.spyglass.com/.
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications, based at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is supported by grants
from the National Science Foundation, other federal agencies, the
State of Illinois, the University of Illinois and corporate partners.
Founded in 1990, Spyglass, Inc. is the leading developer of visual
data analysis tools for the engineering and scientific marketplace,
which support Windows, Macintosh and UNIX platforms. The company's
venture-capital partners include Greylock Management of Boston,
Mass. and Venrock Associates of New York City.
Spyglass is a registered trademark of Spyglass, Inc. All other brands
or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders and should be treated as such.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
THE REAL STORY
By Carl Guderian (bjacques@cypher.com)
The Real Story
(The following report is a compilation of printed materials and transcripts
of personal interviews conducted by the author(s). In the course of this
exhaustive research we have come to feel that, given the controversial
nature of the subject matter, it is best that the authors as well as their
primary sources be kept confidential. Perhaps it is just as well, as the
events depicted in the report are years or decades in the past. Many of the
principals are retired or dead and, therefore, beyond any earthly reward or
revenge. The author(s) may be dead, too. In this line of journalism, that is
very likely.
1994, Leopold & Loeb, Media Consultants)
Employee Motivation Seminars
Employee motivational seminars are a modern management tool, predicated on
the assumption that external motivation, whether carrot or stick or
combination thereof, is insufficient to move employees to give 110% to the
job; rather, internal motivation must be cultivated in the employees
somehow. Motivational seminars, usually conducted by outside consulting
firms, employ a variety of techniques, from survey questionnaires to group
exercises to meditation. These seminars have become enormously popular since
their introduction in the 1950s (mostly in sales-related fields then), as
they present a real advance over basic reward/punishment systems (-Theories
X and Y+) or even Frederick W. Taylor's scientific methods. More
importantly, they have actually worked. Workplace productivity has markedly
increased since the introduction of motivational seminars.
However, no innovation is universally welcomed. Recently, deeply religious
employees have begun to level serious accusations against motivational
seminars, declaring the programs promote a socialistic or New Age ethic. A
socialistic attitude, they argue, will lead otherwise sensible people to
embrace a world government under the Anti-Christ, as predicted in the Book
of Revelation in the Christian Bible (as interpreted by fundamentalist
Christians). A related and more serious charge is that the meditation
techniques (such as those used in the Krone program) open employees to
possession by demons. The latter charge is the focus of this report.
The diabolical connection is real. Employee motivational seminars did indeed
spring from an arrangement between American industry and the Prince of
Darkness. Satan respects Americans like he respects no other people because
it was an American, Daniel Webster, who defeated him in court, using his
wits. Others have beaten the Devil, but only through invoking the powers of
Heaven, a tactic akin to bringing in grownups to restrain a schoolyard
bully. American corporate executives cut a deal with the Devil to deliver
the souls of underlings in exchange for the usual favors. Though the souls
of corporate employees are industrial grade, and therefore not worth as much
as the souls of the elite, an executive must deliver a number of them in
exchange for infernal favors. Paradoxically, the worth of elite American
souls has risen in direct proportion to the degradation in the worth of
those of followers. The perfect mechanism for delivering B-grade souls by
the bushel is, of course, an employee motivational seminar, in which large
numbers of workers are possessed at once (By the way, television evangelists
work the same way; their mass public healings are actually mass
possessions).
This cozy arrangement between American leaders and Satan has served both
sides well. Demons consider possession of Americans to be a kind of working
vacation, a welcome relief from tormenting the damned souls toiling
eternally in the flaming dung-pits of Hell. Not that this isn't enjoyable
work, but even a demon likes a change of scenery. Satan and his lieutenants
can dole out plum earthside assignments for demonic devotion, thus
reinforcing the infernal hierarchy. American leaders, of course, get the
usual rewards of power, sexual potency (or firm breasts and derriere), and
that Christmas bonus for boosting corporate productivity while laying off
excess workers.
Lately, however, the system's inherent problems have begun to manifest
themselves. As motivational seminars have gained in popularity, they have
increased the demand for demons. As the innovation has become more
widespread, it has ceased to be a competitive advantage. In Hell, too, the
system's success has presented similar problems, and Satan is now seems
ready to pull out of the deal.
The shortage of demons is a Hellish fact. Present-day demons, of course, are
the same ones who participated in the original rebellion of Lucifer (now
Satan). All the angels were created at once, and no new ones have been made
since. The pool of demons, then, is a subset of that group. Occasionally a
truly wicked soul is promoted to demon status, but equally often a demon is
devoured by an angry superior (a la C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters). On
the whole, the supply of demons should be considered to be fixed.
In the early years of the program, American executives were pleased to see
their employees possessed by only the most hard-working demons. Today,
however, all the good ones are taken. Latter-day possessions by demons of
procurement fraud, office-supply theft, and general loafing on the job have
taken their toll on the system. Worse, even the best and brightest demons
seem to have gone native or become Americanized, becoming easily distracted
by the attractions of our post-industrial society or falling dangerously
into sympathy with the modern worker. One formerly trustworthy (!) demon
was even caught committing workplace sabotage in solidarity with his
co-workers! An embarrassed Satan had to deal personally with the matter.
All in all, the phrase working like a demon has begun to lose its cachet.
As more corporations jumped on the infernal bandwagon, they found that the
employees of their competitors were performing equally well (or recently,
equally poorly). Worse, as the quality of the everyday American soul has
declined, many hapless executives have found themselves caught short. In one
company, the worth of the workers' souls had fallen drastically between the
signing of the contract and the possession of the workers. The contracting
executive killed a fellow executive (who was his wife - also on the infernal
take) over the shrinking soul pie at their company in order to hold up his
end of the bargain, lest he be forced to hand over his own soul. It didn't
help. The wife caught up with him in Hell.
Meanwhile, in Hell the situation has also deteriorated. Eventually all
demons have been recruited earthside, so the dream ticket has ceased to be a
credible reward for exemplary effort. Furthermore, production in the Satanic
Mills is down. Temporarily out of sight of their demon overseers, damned
souls have begun shirking on the eternal job.
By piecing together accounts channeled through trance mediums (leaks are now
worse than ever!), the authors have been able to determine that Satan has
begun revoking all contracts dealing with motivational seminars, releasing
the possessed workers and taking back favors bestowed on contractees. This
may partly explain the recent decline of the old industrial corporations in
favor of information technology firms, in which traditional religious values
are relatively absent.
Thus, the era of employee motivation seminars seems to be drawing to a
close. The heyday of private economic deals with the Devil seems to be over
as well. Overheard executive conversatons reveal that Satan is simply not
interested in any more such contracts. Though some may be tempted to see the
above episode as another case of the power elite enlisting the powers of
Hell to fuck over the little guy, they should look at the larger picture and
realize the system seems to have taken care of itself according to the laws
of the Free Market. The Invisible Hand really does seem to work.
Postscript
It now appears that Satan plans to compete in the world labor market after
having seen the prevailing trend toward cheaper labor. He has an advantage
over the Chinese, who lead the market using convict/slave labor. Political
prisoners have to be fed bread and water and must be allowed 3 or 4 hours of
sleep a day. The damned souls of Hell, of course, eat nothing and work
tirelessly twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The Devil now knows
quite a bit about management theory (in relation to his demonic supervisors)
and wants to recall them to Hell to oversee the re-engineering of Hell's
production lines. Modern world leaders thinking to hold off this development
are doomed to failure. Hell has on its side such notables as Albert Speer,
Josef Stalin, Adolf Eichmann, and Roy Cohn (to handle the legal work) and
will soon have Henry Kissinger to handle international relations. Given a
team like that, it's only a matter of time.
Post-postscript
The original (now void) contracts are sought-after collectors items, not the
least for their blackmail value. Even when the signatories are beyond
blackmail, as in the case of the aforementioned executive and his wife,
their contracts are worth a lot simply as works of art. The Devil is a
traditionalist at heart, and insists that contracts be handwritten by demons
noted for their calligraphic skill and that the documents bear his seal and
those of major demons acting as witnesses. The early contracts (pre-1983)
are worth the most, as they are the most visually stunning and bear the
names of America's best and brightest of the time, as well as the seals of
Hell's best known demons and devils.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
LEGION OF DOOM T-SHIRTS!! Get 'em
By Chris Goggans <phrack@well.sf.ca.us>
After a complete sellout at HoHo Con 1993 in Austin, TX this past
December, the official Legion of Doom t-shirts are available
once again. Join the net luminaries world-wide in owning one of
these amazing shirts. Impress members of the opposite sex, increase
your IQ, annoy system administrators, get raided by the government and
lose your wardrobe!
Can a t-shirt really do all this? Of course it can!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"THE HACKER WAR -- LOD vs MOD"
This t-shirt chronicles the infamous "Hacker War" between rival
groups The Legion of Doom and The Masters of Destruction. The front
of the shirt displays a flight map of the various battle-sites
hit by MOD and tracked by LOD. The back of the shirt
has a detailed timeline of the key dates in the conflict, and
a rather ironic quote from an MOD member.
(For a limited time, the original is back!)
"LEGION OF DOOM -- INTERNET WORLD TOUR"
The front of this classic shirt displays "Legion of Doom Internet World
Tour" as well as a sword and telephone intersecting the planet
earth, skull-and-crossbones style. The back displays the
words "Hacking for Jesus" as well as a substantial list of "tour-stops"
(internet sites) and a quote from Aleister Crowley.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
All t-shirts are sized XL, and are 100% cotton.
Cost is $15.00 (US) per shirt. International orders add $5.00 per shirt for
postage.
Send checks or money orders. Please, no credit cards, even if
it's really your card.
Name: __________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________________
City, State, Zip: __________________________________________
I want ____ "Hacker War" shirt(s)
I want ____ "Internet World Tour" shirt(s)
Enclosed is $______ for the total cost.
Mail to: Chris Goggans
603 W. 13th #1A-278
Austin, TX 78701
These T-shirts are sold only as a novelty items, and are in no way
attempting to glorify computer crime.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
LIBERTARIAN PARTY ANNOUNCES OPPOSITION TO DIGITAL TELEPHONY ACT
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
1528 Pennsylvania Avenue SE
Washington DC 20003
For additional information:
Bill Winter, Director of Communications
(202) 543-1988
Calling it a "serious infringement of civil liberties and a
gross violation of property rights," the Libertarian Party National
Committee unanimously voted to oppose the Digital Telephony and
Communications Act of 1994.
At their quarterly meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, the
governing body of America's third-largest political party charged that
"the Digital Telephony Act would make furnishing the FBI with easy
wiretapping capability the overriding priority for designers of
telephone equipment and related software."
"It is a lie to call this legislation a 'Privacy Improvement
Act,'" said Bill Evers, the National Committee member from California
who sponsored the resolution.
The Digital Telephony Act, noted the resolution, "requires
telephone, cable television, and computer network companies to ensure
that the government can conduct surveillance while private communication
is going on. It requires the installation of surveillance-facilitating
software in telephone switching equipment to expose personal information --
such as telephone-calling patterns, credit card purchases, banking
records, and medical records -- to the view of the government."
"Such personal information should be the private property of
either the company that assembles it or the individual to whom it
pertains," said Evers.
Libertarians also oppose the Digital Telephony Act because it
"would require a fundamental re-engineering of the communications
infrastructure at great expense to American taxpayers, and to the
owners of private communications systems," said Evers.
The Libertarian National Committee also unanimously voted to
oppose the National Security Agency's Escrowed Encryption Standard -
the so-called Clipper Chip system - or any "government policies
promoting or requiring specific encryption methods for civilian use."
The party also urged the "repeal of the U.S. ban on export abroad of
Clipper-free encryption devices produced by American companies."
"Government-mandated encryption standards will foster
indiscriminate surveillance of private communications by the
government," charged Evers.
The resolution said "the Clinton Administration plans to induce
American manufacturers to install government-readable encryption devices
in every telephone, fax machine, and computer modem made in the United
States."
"The Clinton Administration is explicitly denying that the
American people have the right to communicate in private," said Evers.
By contrast, he said, "The Libertarian Party has long upheld the civil
liberties of the American citizen."
Approximately 120 Libertarians serve in elected and appointed
office around the country, including four State Representatives in New
Hampshire and two mayors in California. The Libertarian Party platform
calls for vigorous defense of the Bill of Rights, free enterprise,
civil liberties, free trade, and private charity.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
UNABOM
$1,000,000 Reward
SERIES OF 14 UNSOLVED BOMBINGS
William L. Tafoya, Ph.D. Special Agent, FBI
UNABOM Task Force, San Francisco, CA (btafoya@orion.arc.nasa.gov)
Beginning in May, 1978, a series of 14 bombing incidents have
occurred across the United States for which there is no apparent
explanation or motive. No person or group has been identified as
the perpetrator(s) of these incidents. The explosions have taken
place in seven states from Connecticut to California. As a result
of these bombings, one person has been killed and 23 others
injured, some grievously. There had been no incidents identified
with this series of bombings since 1987. However that changed in
late June, 1993, when a well known geneticist residing in Tiburon,
California, and a renown computer scientist from Yale University,
New Haven, Connecticut, opened packages which had been mailed to
them and both were severely injured when these packages exploded.
In the past, targets of the bomber have been associated with
the computer industry, the aircraft and airline industry and
universities. Seven of these devices have been mailed to specific
individuals and the other seven have been placed in locations
which suggest there was no specific intended victim. All but two
of the explosive devices functioned as designed and exploded. All
14 crimes, dubbed "UNABOM", have had common effects: all have
caused terror, grief, and fear. On September 11, 1985, Hugh
Scrutton, the owner of the Rentech Computer Company, in
Sacramento, California, was killed by one of these diabolic
devices. The two most recent victims narrowly escaped death.
In response to the June, 1993, events, the Attorney General
directed that a task force of federal law enforcement agencies be
reestablished to urgently investigate and solve these crimes. The
UNABOM Task Force, consisting of investigators from the FBI, ATF,
and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, has been operational in
San Francisco and Sacramento, California, since July 12, 1993, and
is dedicated exclusively to the investigation of these crimes.
Among the clues in the case are the following words in what
appears to be a note possibly written by the bomber as a reminder
to make a telephone call: "call Nathan R--Wed 7PM." The UNABOM
Task Force believes that "Nathan R" may be associated, perhaps
innocently, with the bomber and that "Nathan R" may have received
a telephone call from the bomber on a Wednesday prior to the June,
1993 bombings.
The two most recent tragic bombings illustrate the senseless
and tragic consequences of these crimes and demonstrate the urgent
necessity of solving this case. This serial bomber will strike
again. We do not know who the next victim will be. We do believe
that there is someone out there who can provide the identity of
the person or persons responsible for these crimes. This person
may be a friend, a neighbor, or even a relative of the bomber(s).
UNABOM's chronology is as follows:
1) Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois
May 25, 1978
A package was found in the Engineering Department parking lot
at the Chicago Circle Campus of the University of Illinois. The
package was addressed to an Engineering Professor at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. The package had a return
address of a Professor at Northwestern's Technological Institute.
The package was returned to the addressor who turned it over to
the Northwestern University Police Department because he had not
sent the package. On May 26, 1978 the parcel was opened by a
police officer who suffered minor injuries when the bomb
detonated.
2) Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois
May 9, 1979
A disguised explosive device which had been left in a common
area in the University's Technological Institute, slightly injured
a graduate student on May 9, 1979, when he attempted to open the
box and it exploded.
3) Chicago, Illinois
November 15, 1979
An explosive device disguised as a parcel was mailed from
Chicago for delivery to an unknown location. The bomb detonated
in the cargo compartment of an airplane, forcing it to make an
emergency landing at Dulles Airport. Twelve individuals were
treated for smoke inhalation. The explosion destroyed the
wrapping to such an extent that the addressee could not be
determined.
4) Chicago, Illinois
June 10, 1980
A bomb disguised as a parcel postmarked June 8, 1980 was
mailed to an airline executive at his home in Lake Forest,
Illinois. The airline executive was injured in the explosion.
5) University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
October 8, 1981
An explosive device was found in the hall of a classroom
building and rendered safe by bomb squad personnel.
6) Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
May 5, 1982
A wooden box containing a pipe bomb detonated on May 5, 1982,
when opened by a secretary in the Computer Science Department.
The secretary suffered minor injuries. The package was initially
mailed from Provo, Utah on April 23, 1982, to Pennsylvania State
University and then forwarded to Vanderbilt.
7) University of California
Berkeley, California
July 2, 1982
A small metal pipe bomb was placed in a coffee break room of
Cory Hall at the University's Berkeley Campus. A Professor of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science was injured when he
picked up the device.
8) Auburn, Washington
May 8, 1985
A parcel bomb was mailed on May 8, 1985, to the Boeing
Company, Fabrication Division. On June 13, 1985, the explosive
device was discovered when employees opened it. The device was
rendered safe by bomb squad personnel without injury.
9) University of California
Berkeley, California
May 15, 1985
A bomb detonated in a computer room at Cory Hall on the
Berkeley Campus. A graduate student in Electrical Engineering
lost partial vision in his left eye and four fingers from his
right hand. The device was believed to have been placed in the
room several days prior to detonation.
10) Ann Arbor, Michigan
November 15, 1985
A textbook size package was mailed to the home of a
University of Michigan Professor in Ann Arbor, Michigan from Salt
Lake City. On November 15, 1985, a Research Assistant suffered
injuries when he opened the package. The Professor was a few feet
away but was not injured.
11) Sacramento, California
December 11, 1985
Mr. Hugh Scrutton was killed outside his computer rental
store when he picked up a device disguised as a road hazard left
near the rear entrance to the building. Metal shrapnel from the
blast ripped through Scrutton's chest and penetrated his heart.
12) Salt Lake City, Utah
February 20, 1987
On February 20, 1987, an explosive device disguised as a road
hazard was left at the rear entrance to CAAMs, Inc. (computer
store). The bomb exploded and injured the owner when he attempted
to pick up the device.
13) Tiburon, California
June 22, 1993
On June 22, 1993, a well known geneticist received a parcel
postmarked June 18, 1993, at his residence. The doctor attempted
to open the package at which time it exploded severely injuring
him. It has been determined that this parcel was mailed from
Sacramento, California.
14) Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut
June 24, 1993
On June 24, 1993, a Professor/Computer Scientist at Yale
University attempted to open a parcel which he had received at his
office. This parcel exploded severely injuring him. It has been
determined that this parcel was mailed from Sacramento, California
on June 18, 1993.
At this time, the UNABOM Task Force would appeal to the
public for assistance. For this purpose, a one million dollar
reward is being offered for information which results in the
identification, arrest and conviction of the person(s)
responsible. Contact the UNABOM Task Force at 1-(800) 701-
2662.
William L. Tafoya, Ph.D.
Special Agent, FBI
UNABOM Task Force
San Francisco, CA
btafoya@orion.arc.nasa.gov
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
MASSACHUSETTS ENCRYPTION BILL
THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS
MASSACHUSETTS 179TH GENERAL COURT -- 1994 REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE NO. 4491
BY MR. COHEN OF NEWTON, PETITION OF DAVID B. COHEN AND ANOTHER RELATIVE
TO ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PRIVACY OF PERSONAL RECORDS LAW AND REGULATING THE
TECHNOLOGY OF DATA ENCRYPTION. THE JUDICIARY.
February 25, 1994
AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE TECHNOLOGY OF DATA ENCRYPTION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after
chapter sixty-six A the following chapter:
CHAPTER 66B. MASSACHUSETTS PRIVACY OF PERSONAL RECORDS ACT.
Section 1. For the purposes of this chapter the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
"Personal data files", any machine readable information or information
in a state of electronic, optic, or other computer based transmission
which is capable of being read, stored, copied, transmitted, changed,
or deleted by or through computer or telecommunications devices and
which relates to or describes any person, including a corporation,
partnership or sole proprietorship, or such person's real or personal
property. It shall include, but not be limited to, magnetic tapes,
disks, cartridges, floppy disks, CD-ROM's, optical cubes or other
optical storage devices, documents printed in magnetic ink or OCR
symbol sets, and any other medium capable of being read or stored at
high speed, in large volume, or without substantial human
intervention. The term denotes the substance of the information as
distinguished from the incidental medium of its storage or
transmission.
" Encrypted" , changed in form by programmed routines or algorithms so
as to be unintelligible to any person without employing a suitable
decryption routine or algorithm.
"Decryption", the reverse process of encryption, so as to restore any
data so encrypted to its original, human readable form.
"Routine or algorithm", any series of discrete steps in a computer,
microprocessor, or calculator native machine language which is
performed as a unit to encrypt or decrypt data, or to present such
decrypted data on an end user display medium; provided, however, that
it shall not include source code written in any human readable
language.
"End user display medium", a video display terminal or paper.
"Source code", any programming language used to produce the native
machine language described in the definition of "routine or
algorithm".
"Authorized end user", any person, including a corporation,
partnership, sole proprietorship, or governmental body for whose
specific use the data in question is produced. If shall specifically
exclude any person, including a corporation, partnership, sole
proprietorship, or governmental body into or through whose possession
said data may pass before reaching said authorized end user.
"Numeric data", symbols representing exclusively quantities. It shall
specifically exclude expressions containing number which represent
nonnumeric entities including, but not limited to, social security
numbers, license numbers, bank account numbers, street addresses, and
the like.
"Custodian", a person, including a corporation, partnership, sole
proprietorship, or governmental body, that has access of any kind
whatsoever to personal data files.
"Live data", any personal data which currently represents or at any
time in the past had represented any actual person, including a
corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship or such person's
property.
SECTION 2. Personal data files within the commonwealth shall be
encrypted.
SECTION 3. Decryption of encrypted data may be accomplished only by,
for, or on behalf of the authorized end user of such data, and only to
render such data into human readable form for the use of such
authorized end user or an end user display medium. Any intermediate
storage or transmission of decrypted data in machine readable form
shall be a violation of this chapter.
SECTION 4. Machine executable routines or algorithms used to decrypt
encrypted data shall reside only in those routines or algorithms which
present the data to authorized end users upon end user media. Source
code for such routines or algorithms shall reside only at the situs of
the authorized end user or at the situs of a party engaged in the
development or maintenance of said source code. No party so engaged
may use live data for any purpose whatsoever except as provided in this
chapter.
SECTION 5. Any copy, excerpt, summary, extension, transmission, or
other transfer of any personal data, whether or not originally
encrypted, shall be encrypted during such transfer until it reaches
the authorized end user.
SECTION 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
numeric data may be stored in decrypted form during testing of summary
or other numeric routines or algorithms in connection with development
or maintenance of software whose purpose is the processing or display
of such data for the use of the authorized end user, where such testing
would be rendered impossible or unreasonably burdensome using
encrypted data. For the purposes of this section, amounts used to
calculate simple algebraic sums shall not qualify for decrypted storage
under this section.
SECTION 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any
personal data which is stored and maintained exclusively or generally
for the purpose of providing access to such data by the public shall be
exempted for the encryption requirements this chapter. The exemption
provided hereby shall extend to excerpts, and compilations of such
data, however and by whomever used. Any and all other data from other
sources which are not specifically exempted under this section or under
sections nine or ten shall be encrypted, whether or not merged,
appended, inserted, or otherwise attached to exempted data, and are
subject to all of the provisions of this chapter in the same manner as
if such exempted data did not exist.
SECTION 8. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any
routines or algorithms used for the decryption of encrypted data may
be provided to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for the purpose
of assuring compliance with various national, state, and local laws.
For the purposes of this section, such law enforcement agencies shall
be considered authorized end users.
SECTION 9. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any
person may waive the protections afforded by this chapter. Evidence of
such waiver must be given in writing by such person to each custodian
of data pertaining to said person. When more than one person is
entitled to protection under this chapter, by virtue of joint ownership
or other such relationship, no waiver shall be effective unless signed
by all parties so involved. Such waiver shall be construed to waive
protection only with respect to the specific kinds or elements of
information enumerated on its face, and shall operate to exclude only
encryption of said data by the particular custodian of such data as is
named in said waiver and in whose possession to waiver is kept. The
waiver may operate in perpetuity or be limited to a particular time.
Any ambiguities in any waiver given under this section shall be
resolved in favor of encryption of the most data colorable under its
terms.
SECTION 10. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
decrypted data may be stored in a secure location apart from the situs
of any user of such data, provided that the sole purpose to which such
data shall be put shall be to restore data which has been lost or
corrupted. Any routines or algorithms used to restore used files using
said decrypted data shall employ encryption rountines or algorithms as
required by this chapter. For the purposes of this section, decryption
routines or algorithms may be considered lost or corrupted if a
reasonable belief exists that security employed in the custody of such
routines or algorithms has been breached.
SECTION 11. Reasonable security shall be employed by persons in the
management of the routines and algorithms used for the encryption and
decryption of data, as required by this chapter. Such secuirty shall
consist as a minimum in the storage of such routines and algorithms at
one situs and the nature and location of its associated data at
another.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOOK REVIEW: INFORMATION WARFARE
CHAOS ON THE ELECTRONIC SUPERHIGHWAY
By Winn Schwartau
INFORMATION WARFARE - CHAOS ON THE ELECTRONIC SUPERHIGHWAY
By Winn Schwartau. (C)opyright 1994 by the author
Thundermouth Press, 632 Broadway / 7th floor / New York, NY 10012
ISBN 1-56025-080-1 - Price $22.95
Distributed by Publishers Group West, 4065 Hollis St. / Emeryville, CA 94608
(800) 788-3123
Review by Scott Davis (dfox@fennec.com)
If you only buy one book this year, make sure it is INFORMATION WARFARE!
In my 10+ years of existing in cyberspace and seeing people and organizatons
debate, argue and contemplate security issues, laws, personal privacy,
and solutions to all of these issues...and more, never have I seen a more
definitive publication. In INFORMATION WARFARE, Winn Schwartau simply
draws the line on the debating. The information in this book is hard-core,
factual documentation that leaves no doubt in this reader's mind that
the world is in for a long, hard ride in regards to computer security.
The United States is open to the world's electronic terrorists.
When you finish reading this book, you will find out just how open we are.
Mr. Schwartau talks about industrial espionage, hacking, viruses,
eavesdropping, code-breaking, personal privacy, HERF guns, EMP/T bombs,
magnetic weaponry, and the newest phrase of our generation...
"Binary Schizophrenia". He exposes these topics from all angles. If you
spend any amount of time in Cyberspace, this book is for you.
How much do you depend on technology?
ATM machines, credit cards, toasters, VCR's, televisions, computers,
telephones, modems...the list goes on. You use technology and computers
and don't even know it! But the point is...just how safe are you from
invasion? How safe is our country's secrets? The fact is - they are NOT
SAFE! How easy is it for someone you don't know to track your every move
on a daily basis? VERY EASY! Are you a potential victim to fraud,
breech of privacy, or general infractions against the way you carry
on your daily activities? YES! ...and you'd never guess how vulnerable
we all are!
This book will take you deep into places the government refuses to
acknowledge. You should know about INFORMATION WARFARE. Order your
copy today, or pick it up at your favorite book store. You will not
regret it.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
WHISPER WHO: A Unix tool
Here is a handy little tool for you to use on your Unix machine. Follow the
instructions provided!
-------cut here-------------------cut here---------------cut here------------
/*****************************************************************************
* This program can be changed without too much trouble to a program *
* that logs everybody in and out of a system. Need to add *
* signal(SIGHUP,SIG_IGN) to it though, so it continues after you are gone. *
* This program whispers to you when somebody logs on or off, and is pretty *
* hard to kill. ( you have to send SIGKILL to kill this one.) *
* As is right now, it will not stay active after you logoff. To prevent *
* annoying anyone, just put it in your .profile. *
* *
* CUT THIS PART OUT OF THIS FILE AND NAME THE TEXT: wwho_1.c *
* *
* To compile: cc -o wwho wwho_1.c *
* or gcc -o wwho wwho_1.c *
*****************************************************************************/
#include <signal.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <utmp.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#define MAXPROCESSES 40
struct utmp who[MAXPROCESSES]; /* list of all rembered users on-line */
struct utmp u[MAXPROCESSES]; /* list of all users in the utmp file */
int counter = 0; /* number of users in memory */
void sig_hand(int sig) {
register int x;
x=0;
switch(sig) {
case 15: signal(SIGTERM,sig_hand);
case 3: signal(SIGINT,sig_hand);
for(x=0; x<counter; x++)
printf(": Name: %s, Device: %s.\n",who[x].ut_name,who[x].ut_line);
break;
}
}
void main(int argc,char *argv) {
int prio, /* process id of 'child' process */
u_handle, /* handle for the /etc/utmp file */
z; /* loop control varriable*/
int pid; /* process id of 'forked' process */
if(argc>=2) prio = atoi(argv[1]); /* if arg, then new prio = arg */
if(argc < 2) prio = 20; /* if no arg, then prio = 20 */
pid = fork(); /* create new process */
if(pid==-1) { /* Cannot create new process error */
printf(": cannot create process\n");
exit(-1);
}
if(pid > 0 ) { /* if initial program then print intro and exit */
printf(": Wisper Who is now in effect.\n");
printf(": Created process id %i\n",pid);
exit(0); /* exit copy of program that YOU ran */
}
nice(prio); /* make low priority, be nice */
signal(SIGQUIT,SIG_IGN); /* Ignore QUIT signal */
signal(SIGINT,sig_hand); /* ignore INTERRUPT signal */
signal(SIGTERM,sig_hand); /* Ignore TERMINATE signal */
while(1) { /* Main part of program. Never ends */
int x;
register int y;
if((u_handle = open("/etc/utmp",O_RDONLY))==-1) { /* open utmp for reading */
printf(": Cannot Open /etc/utmp\n"); /* error in opening */
exit(0);
}
x = 0; /* reset thr number of utmp entries to 0 */
while(read(u_handle,&u[x],sizeof(u[x])) != 0) { /* Read utmp file
* until EOF */
if(u[x].ut_type == USER_PROCESS) { /* if not an user, then read next entry */
z = new_user(x); /* check to see if new */
if(z==1) warn_em(x,0,0); /* if new, then warn */
}
x++;
if(x>=MAXPROCESSES) { /* TOO many process logged in. */
printf(": Error -- More process are running than there are spaces\n");
printf(": Error -- allocated for.\n");
printf(": Error -- change 'MAXPROCESSES xx' to 'MAXPROCESSES %i'.\n",x+10);
exit(-1); /* Quit */
}
}
close(u_handle); /* close utmp */
for(z=0; z<counter; z++) { /* compare list to see if anybody */
int c; /* logged out */
c = 0; /* varriable that holds a 1 if *
* still here, else a zero */
for(y=0; y<x; y++) { /* Loop to compare utmp file to *
* remembered users */
if(u[y].ut_type==USER_PROCESS) { /* if process is a user...*/
if(strcmp(who[z].ut_name,u[y].ut_name)==0) { /* compare */
c=1; /* if same, break */
break;
}
}
}
if(c!=1) warn_em(z,1,z); /* if gone, warn */
}
sleep(10);
}
}
/* new_user -- function that returns either a 1 or a 0 depending on
whether that user is in the who list
-- Pass it the entry number of the user in the utmp file */
int new_user(int y) {
register int x;
for(x=0; x<counter; x++) { /* check to see if just logged in */
if(strcmp(u[y].ut_name,who[x].ut_name)==0) return(0);
}
who[counter] = u[y];
counter++;
return(1);
}
/* warn_em returns a 1 always. Prints Messages to your device telling you
whether somebosy logged in or out.
All Normal Output, besides errors and intro */
int warn_em(int x,int code,int n_who) {
char buff[9];
buff[8]=0;
if(code==0) {
strncpy(buff,u[x].ut_name,8);
printf(": %s has just logged in on device /dev/%s.\n",buff,u[x].ut_line);
} else {
strncpy(buff,who[x].ut_name,8);
printf(": %s has just logged off.\n",buff);
pack_who(n_who); /* make who list smaller */
}
return(1); /* return OK */
}
/* pack_who -- Packs the list of users on-line, and deletes the one that
logged out.
-- Pass it the number that the user was in the on-line list */
int pack_who(int dead) { /* pack the who list of users on-line */
register int z; /* loop control */
for(z=dead; z<counter-1; z++) { /* loop to delete use that logged out */
who[z] = who[z+1];
}
counter--; /* decrement counter */
return(1); /* return OK */
}
--------cut here-------------cut here---------------cut here---------------
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
HACKER BARBIE
TO: Editors@fennec.com
Subject: 'Hacker' Barbie...
(LA, California) Mattel announces their new line of Barbie products, the
"Hacker Barbie." These new dolls will be released next month. The aim of
these dolls is to revert the stereotype that women are numerophobic,
computer-illiterate, and academically challenged.
This new line of Barbie dolls comes equipped with Barbie's very own
xterminal and UNIX documentation as well as ORA's "In a Nutshell" series.
The Barbie is robed in a dirty button-up shirt and a pair of worn-out jeans
with Casio all-purpose watches and thick glasses that can set ants on fire.
Pocket protectors and HP calculators optional. The new Barbie has the
incredible ability to stare at the screen without blinking her eyes and to
go without eating or drinking for 12 hours straight. Her vocabulary mainly
consists of technical terms such as "IP address," "TCP/IP," "kernel,"
"NP-complete," and "Alpha AXP's."
"We are very excited about this product," said John Olson, Marketting
Executive, "and we hope that the Hacker Barbie will offset the damage
incurred by the mathophobic Barbie." A year ago, Mattel released Barbie
dolls that say, "Math is hard," with condescending companions Ken. The
Hacker Barbie's Ken is an incompetent consultant who frequently asks Barbie
for help.
The leading feminists are equally excited about this new line of Barbie
dolls. Naomi Wuuf says, "I believe that these new dolls will finally
terminate the notion that women are inherently inferior when it comes to
mathematics and the sciences. However, I feel that Ken's hierarchical
superiority would simply reinforce the patriarchy and oppress the masses."
Mattel made no comment.
Parents, however, are worried that they would become technologically behind
by comparison to the children when the Hacker Barbie comes out. "My daughter
Jenny plays with the prototype Hacker Barbie over yonder for two days," says
Mrs. Mary Carlson of Oxford, Mississippi, "and as y'all know, she now pays
my credit card bill. Ain't got no idea how she duz it, but she surely duz
it. I jus don't wanna be looked upon as a dumb mama." Mattel will be
offering free training courses for those who purchase the Hacker Barbie.
The future Hacker Barbie will include several variations to deal with the
complex aspects of Barbie. "Hacker Barbie Goes to Jail" will teach computer
ethics to youngsters, while "BARB1E R1TES L1KE BIFF!!!" will serve as an
introduction to expository writing.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The WELL:
Small Town on the Internet Highway System
by Cliff Figallo (fig@well.sf.ca.us)
[This document was adapted from a paper presented to the "Public
Access to the Internet" meeting sponsored by the John F. Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard University in May, 1993.
You may distribute and quote from this piece as you wish, but
please include the request that my name and contact information be
included with any quotations or distribution.
Thank you. -- C.F.]
Introduction
The Internet serves as a routing matrix for electronic mail
messages, file transfers and information searches. Internet
sites, those machines and sub-networks that are "internetworked",
have thus far served mostly as file archives, email
addresses and administrative caretakers for their locally
serviced users. Historically, these sites have been universities,
corporations or military and government installations. With
the popularization and commercialization of the Internet, new
models of Internet sites are connecting to the web of high
speed data lines.
One unique Internet site, accessible by anyone with an Internet
account, is The Whole Earth Lectronic Link (hereafter referred to
by its popular name, The WELL). In the future, the Internet will
certainly feature many small, homegrown, regional commercial
systems like The WELL. Such systems will pay for their own
operations and for their Internet connections through user fees,
handling all of the billing and administrative tasks relating to their
users, developing their own local community standards of behavior
and interaction. Their users will often leave the "home" system,
going out through Internet gateways to other regional systems or
searching for information in the myriad databases of the Net. Internet
voyagers will drop in to visit the unique communities they find
outside their home systems, sampling the local cultural flavors and
meeting and conversing with the individuals who inhabit those
systems.
The main attractions of these local Internet "towns" will prove to be
their characteristic online conversations and social conventions and
their focus on specialized fields of knowledge or problem solving.
The WELL is a seminal example of what these small pioneering
towns on the Internet highway system will be like.
The WELL is a computer-mediated public conferencing and
email system linked to the Internet through BARRNet, the
regional Internet vendor. The WELL's headquarters are
located in Sausalito, California. It is co-owned by Point
Foundation (producers of Whole Earth Review and the Whole
Earth Catalogs) and Rosewood Stone, a financial investment
company owned the founder and ex-owner of Rockport Shoes.
The WELL was, from its founding in 1985 until January of
1992, accessible to its users only via direct or packet switched
dialup. It had carried stored-and-forwarded USENET news
groups since soon after startup. These files were imported via
regular phone links with Internet-connected sites. Among its
users were some small minority of students, academics and
technical professionals with Internet accounts on other
systems. The feasibility of the WELL connecting to the Internet
increased steadily through the 1980s until financial, technical
and political conditions allowed it to happen. It is significant,
though, that the character of the WELL developed under
conditions of relative network isolation. Indeed, part of the
justification given by BARRNet, the regional Internet service
provider, for allowing a commercial system like the WELL to
connect through their facilities was the unique character of the
WELL as an established system with thriving and interesting
discussion, and its perceived value as a an information-
generating resource for the Net. The WELL would, they
figured, make an interesting and potentially rewarding
stopover on any user's Internet Tour.
The WELL is often associated with the term "online
community". The idea that community can develop through
online interaction is not unique to the WELL. But the WELL,
because of its organizational and technical history, has survived
primarily through the online personal interaction of its
subscribers and staff rather than through successful business
strategy developed by its owners and managers. The
discussion and dialog contained and archived on the WELL are
its primary products. The WELL "sells its users to each other"
and it considers its users to be both its consumers and its
primary producers. Databases of imported information and
libraries full of downloadable software are scarcely present.
Third-party services such as stock-trading news, wire services,
airline reservation access and software vendor support have
never been offered to any significant extent.
The WELL today counts around 7,000 paying subscribers. It
has a growing staff of over 12 and a gross annual income
approaching $2 million. It is a small but healthy business and
has historically spent very little on advertising and promotion.
It gets far more than its share of free publicity and notoriety
through the Press coverage as compared to much larger
commercial systems. This is so in spite of what most people
would consider a "user-hostile" interface and relatively high
pricing.
The WELL had a rather unique upbringing. I will describe its
early growth and the foundations of its character in the rest of
this paper. I do this from the point of view of having been the
person in charge for six years, though I took great pains to de-
emphasize the "in charge" part whenever possible. I tried to
focus more on maintenance and the distribution of responsibility
through the user community rather than on control. Though my
record for making the WELL a technical showpiece is not
without blemish, my main emphasis was in preserving
and supporting the exercise of freedom and creativity by the
WELL's users through providing an open forum for their interaction.
It is my assertion that the actual exercise of free speech and
assembly in online interaction is among the most significant
and important uses of electronic networking; and that the value
of this practice to the nation and to the world may prove
critical at this stage in human history. I regard the WELL as a
sample of the kind of small, diverse, grassroots service
provider that can and should exist in profusion, mutually accessible
through the open channels on the Internet.
The possibility that the future "Internet" (or whatever replaces
it) may be dominated by monolithic corporate-controlled
electronic consumer shopping malls and amusement parks is
antithetical to the existence and activity of free individuals in
the electronic communications world, each one able to interact
freely with other individuals and groups there.
A Very Brief Biography of the WELL
Founded in 1985 by Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant as a
partnership of Point and NETI , the WELL came online in
February of 1985 and began taking paying customers April 1,
1985. It's initial staff of one full-time and one part-time
employee grew to 12 paid employees and well over one
hundred online volunteers by 1992. As of this date, The WELL
runs on a Sequent multi- processor mini-computer located in a
cramped room in a small office building next to the houseboat
docks in Sausalito, California. The WELL has full Internet
connectivity which is currently offered for the use of its
subscribers at no surcharge. Most users call in to the WELL
over regular phone lines and modems., and most long distance
customers reach the WELL using an X.25 commercial packet
network for an additional $4.00 per hour. An increasing
number of users are logging in to the WELL via the Internet,
many using Internet accounts on commercial gatewayed
systems rather than the packet switching nets.
The WELL's notable achievements are many, not the least of
which is that it has survived for eight years while so many
other startup systems, though much better-funded, have failed.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation was born largely out of the
free speech ferment that exists on the WELL and out of
discussions and debate that go on there concerning the unique
legal and regulatory paradoxes that confront users, managers
and owners of systems in this new communications medium.
These discussions also attract a population of journalists who
find cutting edge ideas and concepts arising constantly in the
WELL's forums. Many other formal and informal organizations
and collaborations that are effecting the world today call the
WELL home.
The WELL Story -- a Less Brief Biography
Birth
The WELL was the conceptual and partnered creation of Larry
Brilliant and Stewart Brand. They agreed to have their
respective organizations cooperate in establishing and
operating a computer conferencing network that could serve as
a prototype for many regional (as opposed to national)
commercial systems. "Let a thousand CompuServe's bloom," is
how Brilliant put it.
Initial funding came from Brilliant's company, Networking
Technologies International (NETI) in the form of a leased VAX
11/750 computer and hard disks, UNIX system software, a
"conferencing" program called Picospan, and a loan of $90,000.
Point Foundation, the non-profit parent corporation of Whole
Earth Review, contributed the name recognition of "Whole
Earth", the personal attraction of having Stewart Brand to
converse with online and the modest but important
promotional value of constant mention in the small circulation
but influential "Whole Earth Review" magazine.
Business goals for The WELL were, from its inception,
purposefully flexible. But the idea that interesting discussion
would attract interesting discussants was at the core of the
theory that drove the WELL's growth. Initially, many free
accounts were offered to people who had, at one time or
another, been associated with Whole Earth publications and
events, or who were known by Whole Earth staff to be likely
productive and attractive participants (referred to, tongue-in-
cheek, as "shills"). In April of 1985, the WELL began offering
subscriptions at $8 per month plus $3 per hour.
Initial Design and Rule making
The WELL presented its first users with the sole disclaimer:
"You own your own words." The owners of the WELL sought to
distance themselves from liability for any text or data posted
or stored online by WELL users while, at the same time,
providing a free space for creative, experimental and
unfettered communication. An alternative interpretation of the
original disclaimer (now referred to as YOYOW) held that rather
than only laying responsibility for WELL postings at the feet of
the author, the phrase also imparted copyrighted ownership of
postings to the author under the implied protection and
enforcement of the WELL. Management and ownership
resisted the onus of their serving as legal agent for the WELL's
users, recognizing the potential expense and futility of pursuing
people for electronically copying and using customers' words.
Thus, the evolving interpretation of YOYOW provided fuel for
years' worth of discussion on the topics of copyright,
intellectual property and manners in electronic space.
A general aversion to the making and enforcement of rigid
rules has continued at the WELL although incendiary incidents
and distressing situations have occasionally brought calls for
"more Law and Order" or absolute limits to speech. WELL
management rejected these calls, resisting being put in the role
of policeman and judge except where absolutely necessary, and
espousing the view that the medium of online interpersonal
communication was (and still is) too immature, too formative to
be confined by the encumbrances of strict rules and
restrictive software. The imposition by management of
arbitrary limitations on language and speech, aimed at
protecting the feelings or sensibilities of small groups of people
could not possibly protect all people's feelings and sensibilities.
Besides, by stifling free and open dialog, we might have lost
our chance to discover what kinds of interaction really worked
in this medium. Interaction in public access systems seemed to
be much more productive, innovative, educational and
entertaining where there were fewer prohibitions imposed by
system management. If limitations were to be imposed and
enforced, they could be handled best from within the user
population on a "local", not system wide basis. The creation of
private interactive areas where such local rules held sway
allowed public forums to retain their openness while providing
more regulated "retreats" for those who felt they needed them.
Staff-Customer Collaboration
Immediately after opening the system to public access, the
small WELL staff and the original participants began the
collaborative process of designing of a more friendly interface
from the raw Picospan software. Picospan included a toolbox of
customization utilities that could be used to make changes on a
system-wide or at-user's-option basis. Picospan was tightly-
integrated with the UNIX operating system and could therefore
provide transparent access to programs written to operate in
the UNIX environment. The libertarian, anti-authoritarian
philosophy of Picospan's author, Marcus Watts, showed through
in its design which prevented un-acknowledged censorship by
system administrators, forum moderators (hosts) or authors
themselves. Picospan also allowed topics (discussion threads)
to be "linked" into several forums at once...a feature that aids
the cross-pollination of ideas and groups through the system.
The influence that Picospan has had on the WELL's
development as a community and hotbed of discussion cannot
be underestimated. Its display of topics as continuously-
scrolling dialog documents (rather than as fragmented
collections of individually-displayed responses) had a
tremendous effect on user involvement in ongoing discourse.
Staff Background
The background of four of The WELL's non-technical senior
managers--people who worked there during its first seven
years--must be considered very significant to the formation of
the WELL's open and independent culture.
The first director of the WELL, Matthew McClure and myself,
his successor, both spent the decade of the 1970's living in an
intentional community of some renown called The Farm as did
the WELL's first customer service manager, John Coate, and his
successor, Nancy Rhine.. Undoubtedly, this experience of living
cooperatively in multi-family situations in a community that
reached a peak population of over 1500 adults and children,
had a profound influence on the style of management of The
WELL. Principles of tolerance and inclusion, fair resource
allocation, distributed responsibility, management by example
and influence, a flat organizational hierarchy, cooperative
policy formulation and acceptance of a libertarian-bordering-
on-anarchic ethos were all carryovers from our communal
living experience. John Coate is known for having been integral
to the setting of a tone of the WELL where users and staff
intermingled both online and at the WELL's monthly office
parties. He has authored a widely-distributed essay on
"Cyberspace Innkeeping" based on lessons learned in dealing
with customers in his time at the WELL..
Maintaining a History
An important component to the establishment of community in
any setting or medium is a historical record of its environs, its
people, and their works and the relationships and organizations
that defined the direction of the collective entity. For a variety
of reasons besides the security of backups, the WELL still has a
significant portion of its online interaction saved on archived
tape, on its user-accessible disks and in the possession of many
of its conference hosts who have made a practice of backing up
topics on their home machines before retiring them from the
WELL. WELL users were always vocal in their insistence that a
history be kept and went so far as to create an Archives
conference where topics judged of historical significance from
other areas of the WELL were linked and eventually "frozen"
for future reference. These valuable conversational threads,
this "history" of the WELL, contributes to its depth and feeling
of place and community. New users and veterans alike can
refer to these archives for background to current discussion
and to sample the flavor of the WELL from its early days.
When new users, experiencing the same revelations that
stirred WELL veterans years ago, bring up their own
interpretations of "you own your words", they are referred to
the several preserved topics in Archives where lengthy online
deliberations on the subject have been preserved..
Connections
Originally, only direct dial modems could be used to reach the
WELL, but by the end of its first year of operation, an X.25
packet system was in place allowing long distance users to
reach the WELL at reasonable cost. The WELL kept its San
Francisco focus because local callers had cheaper access and
could stay online longer for the same cost, but national and
international participants were now more encouraged to join in.
Also, in 1986, Pacific Bell conducted a test of a regional packet-
switched network for which the WELL was enrolled as a "beta"
site. For most of a year, users from most of the San Francisco
Bay Area were able to dial in to the WELL without phone toll
charges. This fortuitous circumstance helped boost the WELL's
subscription base and connected many valuable customers
from the Silicon Valley area into the growing user pool.
Over time, the percentage of users from outside of the Bay
Area climbed slowly but steadily. As word spread through
frequent unsolicited articles in the press, the WELL became
known as a locus for cutting edge discussion of technical,
literary and community issues, and it became even more
attractive to long distance telecommunicators.
On January 2, 1992, the WELL opened its connection to the
Internet through the regional provider, BARRNet. After much
debugging and adjustment and a complete CPU upgrade, full
Internet service access was offered to WELL customers in June
of 1992. Staff and users opened an Internet conference on the
WELL where discussions and Q&A take place and where new
features, discoveries and tools are shared. The Internet
conference serves as a "living manual" to the resources, use and
news of the Net.
Community
In a medium where text is the only means of communication,
trust becomes one of the most difficult but essential things to
build and maintain. With no audible or visual clues to go by,
the bandwidth for interpersonal communication is quite thin.
There are, though, ways in which trust can be built even
through the small aperture of telecommunicated text.
By being deliberately non-threatening, owners and managers can
eliminate one of the major barriers to trust on the system. One of the
most menacing conditions experienced by new users of public
conferencing systems is that of hierarchical uncertainty. Who holds
the Power? What is their agenda? What are The Rules? Who is
watching me and what I do? Do I have any privacy? How might a
"Big Brother" abuse me and my rights? The WELL Whole Earth
parentage brought with it a historical reputation of collaboration
between publisher and reader. Whole Earth catalogs and magazines
were widely-known for soliciting and including articles and reviews
written by their readers. Whole Earth customers knew that the
publications had no ulterior motives, were not owned and controlled
by multi-national corporations and did not spend their revenues on
making anyone rich. Readers supported the publications and the
publications featured and came clean with the readers. We strove to
continue that kind of relationship with our customers on the WELL
although the immediacy of feedback often made openness a tricky
proposition.
We realized that we were in a position of ultimate power
as operators of the system; able to create and destroy user
accounts, data, communications at will. It was incumbent on
us, then, to make clear to all users our assumptions and the
ground rules of the WELL in order to minimize any concerns
they might have about our intentions. Our aim was to be as
much out front with users as possible. Indeed, John Coate
and I took the initiative, posting long autobiographical stories
from our communal past, inviting users to join us in problem-
solving discussions about the system and the business around
it, confessing to areas of ignorance and lack of experience in the
technical end of the business, and actively promoting the users
themselves as the most important creators of the WELL's
product.
Staff members were encouraged to be visible online and to be
active listeners to user concerns in their respective areas of
responsibility. Staff took part in discussions not only about
technical matters and customer service, but about
interpersonal online ethics. When the inevitable online
quarrels surfaced, staff participated alongside users in
attempts to resolve them. Over time, both staff and users
learned valuable lessons and a "core group" of users began to
coalesce around the idea that some kind of community was
forming and that it could survive these periodic emotional
firestorms. The ethical construct that one could say whatever
one wanted to on the WELL, but that things worked best if it
was said with consideration of others in mind, became
ingrained in enough peoples' experience that community
understandings developed. These "standards" were not written
down as rules, but are noted conspicuously in the WELL's User
Manual and are mentioned online as observations of how
things really seem to work. Productive communication in this
medium can take place if it is done with care.
Beginning in 1986, the WELL began sponsoring monthly face-
to-face gatherings open to all, WELL user or not. Initially,
these Friday night parties were held in the WELL's small
offices, but as attendance grew and the offices became even
more cramped, the potluck gatherings, still called WELL Office
Parties (or WOPs) moved to other locations, eventually finding
a regular home at the Presidio Yacht Club near the foot of the
North end of the Golden Gate Bridge. These in-person
encounters have been an integral and important part of the
WELL's community-building. They are energetic, intense,
conversation-saturated events where people who communicate
through screen and keyboard day after day get to refresh
themselves with the wider bandwidth of physical presence.
Often, the face to face encounter has served to resolve
situations where the textual communications have broken
down between people.
Collaboration Part II
The WELL was a bootstrap operation from its initial investment
in 1985. As a business venture, it was undercapitalized and
struggled constantly to stay ahead of its growth in terms of its
technical infrastructure and staffing. At the same time, it stuck
to the ideal of charging its users low fees for service. The
undercapitalization of the WELL and the low user charges
combined to force management into a constant state of creative
frugality. From the first days of operation, the expertise and
advice of users was enlisted to help maintain the UNIX
operating system, to write documentation for the conferencing
software, to make improvements in the interface and to deal
with the larger problems such as hardware malfunctions and
upgrades.
Over the years, many tools have been invented, programmed
and installed at the suggestion of or through the actual labor of
WELL users. In an ongoing attempt to custom design the
interface so as to offer a comfortable environment for any user,
the WELL has become, if not a truly user-friendly environment,
a very powerful tool kit for the online communications
enthusiast. One of the basic tenets of the WELL is that "tools,
not rules" are preferred solutions to most people-based
problems. Menu-driven tools were created to give control of
file privacy to users, allowing them to make their files
publicly-readable or invisible to others. The "Bozo filter",
created by a WELL user, allows any user to choose not to see
the postings of any other user. Some WELL veterans, after
years of teeth-gritting tolerance of an abrasive individual, can
now be spared any online exposure to or encounter with that
individual.
Other tools have been written to facilitate file transfers, to
allow easy setup of USENET group lists, to find the cheapest
ways to access the WELL, and to extract portions of online
conversations based on a wide range of criteria. These tools
have all been written by WELL users, who received only free online
time in exchange for their work, or by WELL employees who were
once customers.
Free time on the WELL (comptime) has always been awarded
liberally by WELL management in exchange for services. At
one time, half of the hours logged on the WELL in a month was
uncharged, going to comptime volunteers or staff. Hosting
conferences, writing software, consulting on technical issues
and simply providing interesting and provocative conversation
have all earned users free time on the WELL. Much as we
would have liked to pay these valuable people for their
services, almost to a person they have continued to contribute
to the WELL's success as a business and public forum,
demonstrating to us that they considered the trade a fair one.
Conclusion
As can be seen, the WELL developed from its unusual roots in
some unique ways. The purpose of this piece is not to advocate
more WELL clones on the Net, but to demonstrate that if the
WELL could make it, other systems of the WELL's size and
general description could spawn from equally unique
circumstances around the country and offer their own special
cultural treasures to the rest of the world through the Internet.
What has been learned at the WELL can certainly be of value
when planning new systems because the WELL experiment has
demonstrated that big funding bucks, elegant interface design,
optimum hardware and detailed business planning are not
essential to growing a thriving online community and, in the
WELL's case, a successful for-profit business. More important
is that the owners and managers of the systems openly foster
the growth of online community and that there be a strong
spirit of open collaboration between owners, managers and
users in making the system succeed. These critical elements of
viable community systems are attainable by local and regional
civic networks, small organizations and entrepreneurs with
limited funding and technical skills... and some heart.
*****************************
Cliff Figallo (fig@eff.org) is a Wide Area Community Agent who
also works part time as Online Communications Coordinator
for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Before coming to work
at EFF, Cliff was Director of the Whole Earth Lectronic Link for
six years (Aug '86 through July '92). Cliff now lives in the San
Francisco area and works remotely at his job using the
Internet, Pathways, the WELL, CompuServe and America Online daily.
He can be reached via email at the following addresses:
fig@well.sf.ca.us fig@eff.org fig@path.net fig@aol.com
76711,320@compuserve.com
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
THE FEMINIZATION OF CYBERSPACE
by Doctress Neutopia (neutopia@educ.umass.edu)
During the final year of my doctoral work I discovered the new
world of Cyberspace. Having been involved in utopian thought for
more than fifteen years, inventing my own utopia from the ideas of
such futurists and architects as Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
Starhawk, Eiane Eisler, Paolo Soleri, Buckminster Fuller, etc,
which I call Neutopia, I find the world of virtual reality is the
perfect place for my Neutopian imagination be to born into reality.
The central nervous system of Neutopia is the evolving Global Brain
which we are now seeing come about through information technologies
and the world of Cyberspace.
Cyberspace is changing the very nature of text. Electronic
text takes us into the age of non-text which means writing has
become solely an electronic experience requiring no paper form.
Printed matter is no longer necessary in the world of Cyberspace.
In this world today, the power of ideas, and to some degree one's
writing style and skills is the persuader. In the ideal sense,
Cyberspace becomes a place for the autonomous individual, a place
where the integrity of the Self is the determining factor of social
prestige. With the elimination of printed matter and the
decentralized nature of email, a new relationship between
authoress/author and audience is opening up. Editors who have had
the centralized control over the printed word are no longer the all
powerful controller of literature since in Cyberspace the unknown
poetess can post a message along side a literary giant. Because of
the democratizing aspects of the Usenet open forum, the matter in
which one gains social status is also changing. In Cyberspace,
literary merit is achieved through the depth and sincerity of one's
message. In other words, the old hierarchal structures of language
and the old gatekeepers of ideas are being broken down as you read
these words.
Nevertheless, Cyberspace is no paradise on Earth. Quite the
contrary! I don't believe I am being an extremist to say that
there is a war against the feminist voice occurring in Cyberspace.
The Net term for such activity, which most of the postings of the
discussion groups reflect, is called "flaming." For me, the flames
symbolize the "Burning Times" when civilization was moving from the
Medieval Ages into the Renaissance and the rise the market economy.
It was during this rebirth of classical thought when thousands of
innocent women healers and religious leaders were being burned as
heretics.
A biologist friend has also pointed out to me that in his
laboratory "flaming" means to sterilized a test tube from bacteria.
In that sense, I feel that the "flaming" of my posts have been an
attempt by some people to cleanse the Net from my non-conformist
"disease". After all, the Gaia Religion which I have been
researching is about the role bacteria play in regulating life and
love!
Entering into the Computer Age, we find ourselves in another
social transition. The technological possibilities for
revolutionary change on a world-wide level are now available to us.
That is, if feminist ideology can come to the forefront of the
dialogue. Now, of course, as in the "real" world, the patriarchal
religion of Capitalism is the dominant thought. Anyone who opposes
this thought are "flamed" for their "inappropriate behavior". On
many occasions, I have been "flamed" for my alternative Neutopian
Vision, not by one individual, but by various Usenet and Listserve
groups.
For example, I am subscribed to a Listserve called
Leri@pyramid.com. This group has about 200 people who are
subscribed. There are two kinds of people on the myriad of
Listserves, the Writers and the Lurkers. Lurkers are people who
compose the reading audience who occasionally voice an opinion, but
for the most part, they are silent observers. Of the writers, the
majority are white upperly-mobile middle-class young men who are
computer literate. Many of them are from the scientific class who
are busy creating the Technocracy. When I began to point out the
blatant sexist language and attitudes on Leri, I was "flamed" by
members of this so called "virtual love commune."
We are seeing here a rise of a new form of tribalism. If the
tribal leaders (the Patriarchal Writers) sense a voice which might
be threatening to the tribal harmony of the old-boys network, then
the group attempts to eliminate that voice in opposition.
Unfortunately, for the most part, the educational system has not
taught these young men to analyze and understand the reason why the
feminist voice is annoying to their Establishment prevailing
thought. Consequently, the Net has become but another sophisticated
toy for rich minded college kids to entertain each other as the
rest of the world starves to death and the global ecology
collapses.
There was much discussion which arose on Listserve Leri as to
what to do about me. Several writers declared my vision to be a
"case of insanity." They even were discussing whether it was a case
of biological or psychological aberration. Others suggested that
I needed to go to the self-help section of a book store and find a
book which would help me fit into the society. Others felt my
"unhappy and depressed" character was a result of "inner confusion"
and that if I changed myself [conform to their way of thinking],
then I would be "liberated from oppression". Still others believed
that I would be saved if I found my way back to Christ or began to
practice Buddhist meditation or yoga.
Finally, it was decided that the best thing they could do with
my heresy was to follow the example of the Shaker Community. The
worst punishment the Shakers did to a dissenting personality was to
shun them and so this was what Listserve Leri proceeded to do to
me. Other technicians proposed to bar me by setting up the
technology called "kill filters" so that my email messages would
not even appear on their screens.
There is also a IRC #leri channel where I began to go to
explain my philosophy to the students in Real Time. When the
conversation began to become controversial and conflicting ideas
were pecking, the boys and the girls who think like boys, would
type in an /ignore all neutopia messages so that I was blocked from
the public dialogue. Another tactic of censorship in IRC is the
/kick ban which several of the boys threaten to set up so that I
would not be kicked off the channel if I tried to enter it. So
much for democracy on the Net!
During the holidays, Leri was going to hold a "fleshmeet" in
New Mexico which all the members of the Leri Listserve were invited
to so that people could meet one another in the living flesh.
However, when I expressed interested in attending the party, the
hostess said that if I came "she would have me shot." Then she
wrote me a personal email with a one line message to the effect of
"The Patriarchy Wins." I was experiencing social ostracism for my
feminist beliefs and it was a very loney and painful experience.
But the worst treatment of all occurred on a sister list of
Leri called Aleph@pyramid.com when the archivist said that he was
deleting my posts from the archives. This action was so malicious
because I know this is what has happened to feminist thought
throughout recorded history. Women who resist the patriarchy are
eliminated from the collective memory. I recall a past life when
I was being burned at the stake and the governmental/religious
officials laughed at me as my flesh burned. Before I fell
unconscious from the smoke, the sinister officials took out my
manuscripts which they had confiscated and threw them in the fire.
The messages of my life burned along with my body...my soul
forgotten....my work unacknowledged...my poetic love verse
destroyed.
The point is that there is a serious ideological war in
progress in this underworld of Cyberspace, a place which also
controls the nuclear weapons of the world through the Computer
Empire. This war is the same war which women have been struggling
against for thousands of years. As the millennium changes, so too
is it time to end this war which is draining our vital resources
that are needed to save the Biosphere from total destruction. It is
time that women be acknowledged as the natural sovereigns of the
species so that we will be in a position to use our knowledge and
wisdom we have in creating a world where all our benevolent dreams
find a way to self-actualize.
My mission is to encourage Feminists to play an active role in
the future of Cyberspace. Here is a window of opportunity open for
us to play our role essential in forming the future social
architecture of Cyberspace. If we, Feminists, do not act now and
recruit other like minded Earthlings to take up the cause of the
"Global Feminization of Cyberspace," then we will be caught in the
same trap that we are in today. It is time for us to demand a new
world where everyone has access to the global resources...a world
where everybody's spiritual and physical needs are met. Only then
will the Net become a vehicle of global emancipation and a home of
the Neutopian thinker.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
RESPONSE TO THE FEMINIZATION OF CYBERSPACE
By Jason Webb (jwebb@world.std.com)
I am writing in response to the article THE FEMINIZATION OF
CYBERSPACE by Doctress Neutopia (neutopia@educ.umass.edu). The issues
raised and the accusations made in the article are very serious and
deserve some discussion.
The author cites cases in which her opinions were repressed in several
different ways ranging from individual kill files to having her messages
elminiated from the archives of the group. It seems to me that the real
issue at stake is what the purpose of the Listserve groups is.
Clearly, if the purpose of the group is to promote the free expression
of ideas they are not succeeding. It is true that the internet does eliminate
discrimination based on physical characteriscics. Predictably, however,
technology alone cannot create a better world: we have to be active in trying
to create an environment where all ideas can be expressed without the fear of
being ostracized.
On the flip side, a few of the authors statements are disturbing
because they imply that the male species is to blame for all of these
problems. For example:
>When the conversation began to become controversial and conflicting ideas
>were pecking, the boys and the girls who think like boys, would
>type in an /ignore all neutopia messages so that I was blocked from
>the public dialogue.
>It is time that women be acknowledged as the natural sovereigns of the
>species so that we will be in a position to use our knowledge and
>wisdom we have in creating a world where all our benevolent dreams
>find a way to self-actualize.
Girls who think like boys? Natural soverigns of the species?
It seems hypocritical that the author complains of experiencing
ostracism for voicing her feminist beliefs and then goes on to make
such exclusionary statements herself.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
THE EASY-TO-USE SOLVE THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION THEORY CHART
By Gordon Fagan (flyer@fennec.com)
Instructions:
Write down the total # of persons involved. Then write down the approximate
frame number of the Zapruder film that matches where you believe each shot
occurred. Then it's a simple matter of going through the list and putting
an X under each shot number and beside each item that applies to that
particular shot. If it doesn't apply, mark nothing. If the item applies
but not to any particular shot number, then use the 0 shot#. Mark it with
an X for "conspiracy to kill" or an "O" for involved in the coverup (:It
also comes in handy for the "a tiger got him" crowd.:) I've tried to be as
thorough as possible, but to make sure everything was covered, I did leave
an "others" category with a fill-in-the-blank at the end of each section.
As for the exactness of your answers, use as close of approximations as you
feel comfortable with. Include all overlap, ie: if you believe Oswald fired
shot #4 but was under the command/control of Naval Intelligence - mark
Oswald and Naval Intelligence for shot #4. For simultaneous shots, give
them both the same frame number. It's pretty much self-explanatory once
you get into it. Enjoy.
The JFK Conspiracy Theory Outline Form
---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Total number of persons involved
---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Conspiracy to Assassinate: __________
---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Conspiracy to Coverup: __________
---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
||||Shot# Reference line|||||||| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Approx. Zapruder frame of shot#| | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
-------(:note: if you believe in more than 8 shots, see your doctor:)-------|
shot# fired from:
(0 means spotter/involved non-shooter)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
TSBD-6th floor - east end | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
TSBD-6th floor-other | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
TSBD-roof | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
TSBD-other | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
GK-black dog man position | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
GK-badgeman position | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
GK-other | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Dal-Tex | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Dal. County Records Bldg | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Dallas County Court Bldg | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
storm drain | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
umbrella man | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
other:_______________________ | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
other:_______________________ | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
shot# Fired by: (Include all overlap)
(0 means involved in/knew about but fired no shots)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Lee Harvey Oswald | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Cuban (anti-Castro) | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Cuban (pro-Castro) | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Russian (anti-communist) | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Russian (KGB/Pro-communist) | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Marseille professional | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
other professional | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Mafia | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
CIA | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
FBI | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Naval Intelligence | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Lyndon Johnson | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Clay Shaw | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
David Ferrie | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Roscoe White | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
J.D Tippit | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Jack Ruby | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
umbrella man | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
George Hickey (S.S) - AR-15 | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
William Greer (S.S) - driver | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
nazis | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
UFO's/MJ-12,etc. | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
government conspiracy/coverup | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
non-govt. conspiracy/coverup | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
other:_______________________ | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
other:_______________________ | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
shot# to hit:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
John Kennedy | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
John Connally | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
James Tague | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
grass | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
sidewalk/road | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
limousine | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
street sign | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
targetting "rice" bag | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
other:_______________________ | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
other:_______________________ | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The original Hacker Crackdown text file, hacker.crackdown, has been expanded
and worked upon, and is now available in many formats, including ASCII (as
before), TeX DVI, PostScript, etc. Look in:
ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/Publications/Bruce_Sterling/Hacker_Crackdown/
gopher://gopher.eff.org/00/Publications/Bruce_Sterling/Hacker_Crackdown/
http://www.eff.org/pub/Publications/Bruce_Sterling/Hacker_Crackdown/
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
MEEKS DEFENSE FUND
From Meeks Defense Fund <fund@idi.net>
Subject: Details on Brock Meeks Case
Dear Net Citizen:
The recent Internet posting launching a fund raising drive in
order to help Brock Meeks defray the legal expenses of a lawsuit
brought against his news wire, CyberWire Dispatch, has drawn
several inquiries for a summary of the issues involved in this
case. In response, we have put together the following summary.
(Please note, too, that the case was featured in the April 22
(Fri.) issue of the Wall St. Journal (page B1))
Sometime during February of this year, an electronic solicitation
began appearing on the Internet from a company identified only as
the "Electronic Postal Service" (EPS).
The solicitation from EPS said the service, "will pay you money
to receive commercial e-mail. EPS estimates you will be paid an
average of 6.5 cents per commercial e-mail message. It is
estimated that the average commercial e-mail receiver can make
$200.00 to $500.00 a year and likely more. There is absolutely
no charge, periodic charge, hourly charge or phone charge to
receive or review EPS commercial e-mail. The sender bears all of
the cost.
You are provided with a free EPS mailbox and you may access this
EPS mailbox through a toll free phone number so there are no
phone line charges... In addition... EPS offers you... full
Internet access including network Internet e-mail remote log-in,
file transfer capability and much more."
To sign up you were required to call an 800 number or send for
information to the EPS Internet account (eps@world.std.com). You
had to include your name and address.
Brock called and asked for the EPS information. It never came.
Instead, he received an unwanted and unsolicited direct mailing
from a company called Suarez Corporation Industries (SCI). The
mailing came in the form of a 6 page letter signed by Benjamin
Suarez. That mailing claimed that for a price of $159, Suarez
would send you a book and software that could help you create a
"net profit generation system" capable of earning anywhere from
$30,000 to $1 million per year.
Brock began investigating why he received the SCI mailing and
soon found out that Suarez had obtained his name from the request
for EPS information. More investigation found that the EPS
account was registered to Suarez Corporation Industries. Brock
then looked into the background of this company.
During his investigation into SCI, Brock discovered that state
and federal enforcement agencies had brought actions against SCI
result of their direct mailing practices.
In his article, Brock expressed his personal disapproval of the
SCI business activities. SCI objected to the article and has
filed a defamation lawsuit claiming Brock made defamatory remarks
and sought to disparage his products "and otherwise tortiously
(sic) interfere with the plaintiff's ability to develop" EPS.
Suarez claims the Dispatch article lost him business and he is
seeking compensatory and punitive damages and demanding an
injunction to block Brock from writing further about SCI or its
founder, Benjamin Suarez.
The April 22 (page B1) issue of the Wall St. Journal says lawsuit
"is one of the first U.S. libel cases to arise out of the
free-for-all on the Internet... If it succeeds, some legal
experts say it could spawn other complaints."
For those who don't know Brock, he has a long history as a
journalist writing in the on-line field, having written for Byte,
Wired and other journals over the years. He lives and works
today in the Washington, D.C. area writing during the day for a
communications trade journal. Cyberwire Dispatch is his own
creation. The suit against him was filed in Ohio. Without
the generous offer of legal support from his current lawyers, who
have offices in Ohio, Brock's situation would be even more dire.
The Meeks case raises legal issues that may have far-reaching
implications for freedom of speech and free expression on the
internet. If journalists are unable to pursue important
investigative issues without fear of reprisal, then
all of us will suffer. This is exactly the type of chilling
effect hat the First Amendment was intended to avoid and the
reason we need your support.
Of course defamation laws are to be applied to the Net, but how
they are applied -- and this case will be an important first step
in that process -- could determine just how open and free people
will feel to speak their minds.
This is NOT a case in which a writer on the Internet has, in
fact, libeled someone else. Brock absolutely denies the charges
against him. And every lawyer that Brock has consulted and
looked at the text Brock wrote, and the charges against him,
believe that he ha not written anything that can fairly be
characterized as libelous.
The Legal Defense Fund is formed to assure that Brock is well
defended.
As a reminder, contributions can be made in two ways, either
tax-deductible or non-deductible.
A special thanks goes to the Point Foundation for agreeing early
on in the process to assist in organizing and serving as a
collection agent for the Fund.
If you have any questions, you can contact the Fund at
Fund@idi.net.
For tax-deductible contributions send those checks to:
Meeks Defense Fund
c/o Point Foundation
27 Gate Five Road
Sausalito, CA 94965
For those who don't care about the tax deductible status, send
contributions to:
Meeks Defense Fund
c/o IDI
901 15th St. NW
Suite 230
Washington, DC 20005
THE BROCK MEEKS DEFENSE FUND COMMITTEE
Samuel A. Simon
President, Issue Dynamics, Inc.*
ssimon@idi.net
John Sumser
Editor/Executive Director
Whole Earth Review/ Point Foundation
jrsumser@well.sf.ca.us
Mitch Kapor
Chair, Electronic Frontier Foundation*
mkapor@eff.org
David Farber
The Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunications Systems
University of Pennsylvania*
farber@central.cis.upenn.edu
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Senior Writer
TIME Magazine*
ped@panix.com
Marc Rotenberg
Electronic Privacy Information Center*
Rotenberg@epic.org
Nicholas Johnson
Former FCC Commissioner*
1035393@mcimail.com
Jerry Berman
Electronic Frontier Foundation*
jberman@eff.org
Mike Godwin
Electronic Frontier Foundation*
####################################################################
# Meeks Defense Fund | Internet: fund@idi.net #
# ---------------------------------------------------------------- #
# c/o IDI c/o Point Foundation #
# 901 15th St. NW 27 Gate Five Road #
# Suite 230 Sausalito, CA 9465 #
# Washington, DC 20005 #
####################################################################
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
HACKERS ON PLANET EARTH
From: Emmanuel Goldstein (emmanuel@well.sf.ca.us)
To: Editors@fennec.com
HACKERS ON PLANET EARTH
The First U.S. Hacker Congress
Yes, it's finally happening. A hacker party unlike anything ever seen
before in this country. Come help us celebrate ten years of existence
and meet some really interesting and unusual people in the process.
We've rented out the entire top floor of a midtown New York hotel,
consisting of several gigantic ballrooms. The conference will run
around the clock all weekend long.
SPEAKERS AND SEMINARS: Will there be famous people and celebrity
hackers? Of course, but the real stars of this convention will be
the hundreds of hackers and technologically inclined people journeying
from around the globe to share information and get new ideas.
That is the real reason to show up. Seminars include:
social engineering, cellular phone cloning, cable TV security,
stealth technology and surveillance, lockpicking, boxing of all sorts,
legal issues, credit cards, encryption, the history of 2600,
password sniffing, viruses, scanner tricks, and many more in the
planning stages. Meet people from the Chaos Computer Club, Hack-Tic,
Phrack, and all sorts of other k-rad groups.
THE NETWORK: Bring a computer with you and you can tie into the huge
Ethernet we'll be running around the clock. Show off your system and
explore someone else's (with their permission, of course). We will
have a reliable link to the Internet in addition. Finally, everyone
attending will get an account on our hope.net machine. We encourage
you to try and hack root. We will be giving away some valuable prizes
to the successful penetrators, including the keys to a 1994 Corvette.
(We have no idea where the car is, but the keys are a real
conversation piece.) Remember, this is only what is currently planned.
Every week, something new is being added so don't be surprised to find
even more hacker toys on display. We will have guarded storage areas
if you don't want to leave your equipment unattended.
VIDEOS: We will have a brand new film on hackers called
"Unauthorized Access", a documentary that tells the story from
our side and captures the hacker world from Hamburg to Los Angeles
and virtually everywhere in between. In addition, we'll have
numerous foreign and domestic hacker bits, documentaries,
news stories, amateur videos, and security propaganda. There
has been a lot of footage captured over the years - this will
be a great opportunity to see it all. We will also have one
hell of an audio collection, including prank calls that put
The Jerky Boys to shame, voice mail hacks, and even confessions
by federal informants! It's not too late to contribute material!
WHERE/WHEN: It all happens Saturday, August 13th and Sunday,
August 14th at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City
(Seventh Avenue, between 32nd and 33rd Streets, right across
the street from Penn Station). If you intend to be part of
the network, you can start setting up Friday night.
The conference officially begins at noon on Saturday and will
run well into Sunday night.
ACCOMMODATIONS: New York City has numerous cheap places to stay.
Check the update sites below for more details as they come in.
If you decide to stay in the hotel, there is a special discounted
rate if you mention the HOPE Conference. $99 is their base rate
(four can fit in one of these rooms, especially if sleeping bags
are involved), significantly larger rooms are only about $10 more.
Mini-suites are great for between six and ten people - total cost
for HOPE people is $160. If you work with others, you can easily
get a room in the hotel for between $16 and $50.
The Hotel Pennsylvania can be reached at (212) PEnnsylvania 6-5000
(neat, huh?). Rooms must be registered by 7/23/94 to get the
special rate.
TRAVEL: There are many cheap ways to get to New York City in August
but you may want to start looking now, especially if you're coming
from overseas. Travel agencies will help you for free. Also look in
various magazines like Time Out, the Village Voice, local alternative
weeklies, and travel sections of newspapers. Buses, trains, and
carpools are great alternatives to domestic flights. Keep in touch
with the update sites for more information as it comes in.
WANTED: Uncommon people, good music (CD's or cassettes), creative
technology. To leave us information or to volunteer to help out,
call us at (516) 751-2600 or send us email on the Internet at:
2600@hope.net.
VOICE BBS: (516) 473-2626
INTERNET:
info@hope.net - for the latest conference information
travel@hope.net - cheap fares and advisories
tech@hope.net - technical questions and suggestions
speakers@hope.net - for anyone interested in speaking at the
conference
vol@hope.net - for people who want to volunteer
USENET NEWSGROUPS:
alt.2600 - general hacker discussion
alt.2600.hope.announce - the latest announcements
alt.2600.hope.d - discussion on the conference
alt.2600.hope.tech - technical setup discussion
REGISTRATION: Admission to the conference is $20 for the entire weekend
if you preregister, $25 at the door, regardless of whether you stay for
two days or five minutes. To preregister, fill out this form, enclose $20,
and mail to: 2600 HOPE Conference, PO Box 848, Middle Island, NY 11953.
Preregistration must be postmarked by 7/31/94. This information is only
for the purposes of preregistration and will be kept confidential. Once
you arrive, you can select any name or handle you want for your badge.
NAME: _______________________________________________________________
ADDRESS: ____________________________________________________________
CITY, STATE, ZIP, COUNTRY: __________________________________________
PHONE (optional): ____________ email (optional): ____________________
IMPORTANT: If you're interested in participating in other ways or
volunteering assistance, please give details on the reverse side.
So we can have a better idea of how big the network will be, please
let us know what, if any, computer equipment you plan on bringing and
whether or not you'll need an Ethernet card. Use the space on the back
and attach additional sheets if necessary.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
TV & MOVIE MANIA RADIO SHOW HITS THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
By Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com)
LOS ANGELES -- In a first for an entertainment-oriented show, a
version of the popular "Professor Neon's TV & Movie Mania" radio
program begins worldwide distribution directly to listeners this
week via the Internet (or as it is becoming popularly known,
the "Information Superhighway").
"The Internet now includes over 20 million users in more than 30
countries, and is growing at an enormous rate," pointed out the
show's producer, Lauren Weinstein of Vortex Technology.
"Professor Neon's TV & Movie Mania has also broadcast via
over-the-air stations, but it's apparent that the time has finally
arrived when the global facilities of the Internet can bring this
audio show to an even wider audience. Nobody has ever used the
Internet to transmit a show like this before," he added.
"Professor Neon's TV & Movie Mania" is a unique show which
features a look at a broad universe ranging from classic to
current television, films, and videos, with a special emphasis on
the unusual, odd, silly, strange, bizarre, cult, surreal, and
weird. The shows include reviews, interviews, and a wide range of
special audio clips, trailers, and many other features.
The interview guest for the debut Internet version of the show is
Robert Justman, a man whose work has greatly influenced classic
television programs ranging from "The Outer Limits" (on which he
was assistant director) to both the original "Star Trek" and "Star
Trek: The Next Generation" (on which he was associate producer and
co-producer, respectively). Many of the most familiar aspects of
these programs were the result of his ideas, and he speaks
candidly with the show's enigmatic host, Professor Neon, about the
production of these programs in this fascinating interview.
Professor Neon has featured programs focusing on topics ranging
from "Plan 9 From Outer Space" (with guest "Vampira" who starred
in the classic cult film), to Forrest J. Ackerman (publisher of
"Famous Monsters" magazine), to shows focused on topics from "The
Twilight Zone" to "The Three Stooges".
The half hour Internet version of the program is being distributed
biweekly on the Internet via the Internet Multicasting Service in
Washington D.C., on the "Internet Town Hall" channel, and is also
available as a file for retrieval by any Internet user from the
many Internet Multicasting / Internet Talk Radio archive sites
around the world. Users retrieving the audio files can then play
them on virtually any workstation, PC, Mac, or other computer
with even simple audio facilities.
The most recent show, as well as other information regarding the
program, can also be heard by calling Professor Neon's TV & Movie
Mania Machine" on (310) 455-1212.
The Internet version of the show is freely distributable via
computer networks and BBS systems. Use by over-the-air
broadcasters requires the permission of Vortex Technology. For
more information regarding accessing the show via the Internet,
please use the contact below. Inquiries regarding other access
and versions of the show for broadcast use are also invited.
CONTACT: Lauren Weinstein at Vortex Technology, Woodland Hills, CA.
(818) 225-2800 (9:30-5:30 PDT)
lauren@vortex.com
Notes to Internet folks:
Information regarding the show, including current guest schedule, etc.
is also available via FTP from site "ftp.vortex.com" (in the "tv-film-video"
subdirectory) or via gopher from site "gopher.vortex.com" (under the
"TV/Film/Video" menu item).
For a list of Internet Multicasting Service / Internet Talk Radio archive
sites to obtain (via FTP) the audio file for playback, send a message
(content is not important) to:
sites@radio.com
The debut of the Internet version of the show will run via Internet
Multicast from Interop on Thursday, May 5. FTP to site "ftp.media.org"
or "www.media.org" for schedule information. The audio file of the show
should become available in the archive sites for retrieval within a few
days, though exact timing is variable. The filenames will probably
be "mania1.au" for the audio and "mania1.txt" for the accompanying
descriptive text file, though the archive maintainers may change
the names at some point to fit their overall naming system. If you
have trouble locating the files after a few days, please let us know.
If you have any other questions regarding the program, feel free to
email or call.
In two weeks, our interview guest for the next show will be Joel Engel, the
author of the definitive Rod Serling biography: "The Dreams and Nightmares
of Life in the Twilight Zone," and of the newly released and highly
controversial new book, "Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man
Behind Star Trek."
If you have any questions for Mr. Engel please email them to:
neon@vortex.com
as soon as possible. Thanks much!
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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