2386 lines
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2386 lines
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*******************************************************
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** **
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** PPPPP I RRRRR AAAAA TTTTT EEEEE **
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** P PP I R RR A A T E **
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** PPP I RRR AAAAA T EEEEE **
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** P I R R A A T E **
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** P I R R A A T EEEEE **
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**keepin' the dream alive **
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*******************************************************
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-=> VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5, APRIL, 1990 <=-
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(File 1 of 11)
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**** WELCOME ****
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To the fifth issue of -=* PIRATE *=-!
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>> SPECIAL ISSUE ON LEGION OF DOOM BUSTS <<
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Special thanks for getting this issue out go to:
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Chris Robin
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Ellis Dea
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Hatchet Molly
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Jedi
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Jim Richards
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Pru Dohn
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Several anonymous (by choice) contributors
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Sherlock Ohms
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The Legion of Doom
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Any comments, or if you want to contribute, most of us can
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be reached at one of the following boards:
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BOOTLEGGER'S >>> PIRATE HOME BOARD
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RIPCO (Illinois)
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SYCAMORE ELITE (815-895-5573)
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EURO-AM CONNECTION (Illinois)
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COMPANY OF WOLVES (301-791-1595)
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THE ROACH MOTEL (California)
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PACIFIC ALLIANCE (818-280-5710)
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THE CHIMERAN CONSPIRACY (Minneapolist/St. Paul)
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THE LIGHTNING SYSTEM (414-363-4282)
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Dedicated to sharing knowledge, gossip, information, and tips
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for warez hobbyists.
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** CONTENTS THIS ISSUE **
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File 1. Introduction
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File 2. Commentary (by Ellis Dea)
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File 3. Proscutor Press Release of LoD indictment
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File 4. Federal Indictment of LoD bust
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File 5. What pheds did to The Mentor
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File 6. Pheds Hassle Employers
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File 7. Jolnet Story (part 1)
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File 8. Jolnet Story (part 2)
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File 9. E-Mail Counter suit
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File 10. Hackers Strike Back
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File 11. Phreaks and Hackers as Post-Modernists
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------------------------------------------------
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** ABOUT THIS ISSUE **
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On February 6, 1990, a federal indictment came down in Chicago charging The
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Prophet and Knight Lightning (co-editor of PHRACK) with interstate
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transportation of stolen property, wire fraud, and violations of the federal
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Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (See Title 18, United States Code,
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Section 1343, and Title 18, United States Code, Section 1030(a)(6)(A).
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Although the indictment specifies no hard information other than inuendo and
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rather spurious leaps of logic for the charges of attempted fraud and
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conspiracy, it does claim that E911 documents (a training manual) was taken
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from BellSouth's computer system. The Prophet is charged with obtaining the
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documents, and Knight Lightning is charged with receiving them and editing
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them for PHRACK. It seems KL's only "crime" is exercising his first amendment
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right to freedom of the press, because the indictment indicates that
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publishing information intended to sharpen certain types of computer skills
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should be considered a federal crime.
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In addition to TP and KL, other LoD members have been busted, harrassed, and
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have had their equipment, and the equipment of their employers confiscated,
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despite reliable information that no evidence of wrong-doing existed!
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The Legion of Doom (LoD) busts have implications for every body, even those
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who do not use computers. At stake are Constitutional rights of privacy and
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first amendment rights of free speech, publishing, and information sharing.
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The attempt to purge the world from those nasty computer underground
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participants has led to arrests, "investigations," seizure of property for
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evidence, and other "crimes" by law enforcement agents against computer owners
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and users whether implicated in an offence or not. We find this trend to
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frightening that we devote this issue of PIRATE to the Legion of Doom busts
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and try to raise some of the issues that we see as important for
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**EVERYBODY**!
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What action can you take? Be careful not to violate the law, but DON'T BE
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AFRAID TO EXPRESS YOUR RIGHTS TO SHARE INFORMATION! The "chilling effect" of
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supressing freedom of speech has led some sysops to avoid posting anything
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controversial. Even PIRATE has been deleted from some boards because the
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sysops are afraid of reprisals by the pheds, which can include confiscation of
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equipment and possible loss of income. You can help by uploading news
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articles, stories, or any other info to as many boards as possible to spread
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information and to let the sysops (and the pheds) know that there are still
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people who believe we have a Constitution. Second, you can write your
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congressional representatives and others who have made (and continue to make)
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laws restricting information flow. Let them know you are concerned about
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criminalizing non-harmful behaviors (such as posting PIRATE, PHRACK, or
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articles related to the computer underground), and that you find the penalties
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and the confiscation of equipment without hearing totally undemocratic.
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Finally, talk about this stuff with friends and get your own viewpoint known.
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Repression occurs in a vacuum, and we lose our freedoms not by some major
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revolution, but slowly, gradually, a bit at a time while nobody is paying
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attention.
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>--------=====END=====--------<
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***************************************************
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*** Pirate Magazine Issue I - 5 / File 2 of 11 ***
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*** Commentary (By Ellis Dea) ***
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***************************************************
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A contributor sent over this opinion by Ellis Dea that was found on an
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Illinois BBS. It equates the current witch hunts against the computer
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underground with McCarthyism. It says it nicely, so here it is.
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----------------
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"The Hunt for the CU: The New McCarthyism?"
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>> By Ellis Dea<<
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I just read a paper that discussed the Post-Modernist ramifications of
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"hacking" within the context of criminology {eds' note: This is apparently a
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reference to an academic paper called "The Computer Underground as Postmodern
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Resistance" that's appeared on a number of boards}. I found it interesting,
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especially the earlier parts. This is not to say that the later parts were
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uninteresting, but then I already knew much of the material presented therein.
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What was new about the first part was the theoretical construct placed upon
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the entire CU subculture, a construct I have hinted at perviously, but never
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really formulated.
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The paper takes an analytical stance, analyzing the phenomenon from a
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post-modernist perspective and, I must confess, that these very aspects of the
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situation constitute the attractiveness of it. However, the paper tends to
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ignore much of the political aspects of the problem. The situation seems to
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me not much different from the 1968 convention where the real issue was a
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class struggle manifesting itself primarily in the Vietnam war while the media
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manipulation was a matter of style (the "Yippies").
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Today we are seeing a 90's version McCarthyism involving many of the same
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elements including mass-hysteria, misinformation, and self-aggrandizement by
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governmental functionnaires. The masses out there are firmly convinced that
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any problem with their telephone is a result of "hackers." Police reports of
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the arrests of 14 year olds constantly use the phrase "The Legion of Doom is
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one of the most dangerous organizations in the country." Obviously, "hackers"
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have replaced "communists" as the favorite scapegoat -- a villain we can all
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fight and who is relatively harmless. How many of these nefarious "hackers,"
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for example, have been found with any sort of weapons in their hands?
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It seems also that there is a certain amount of prestige attached to the
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apprehension of these "hackers." While no Senator has attained the prominence
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of a McCarthy of the 50s, it would certainly be unwise for any of them to take
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a position favoring a more realistic criminal code. The political climate and
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media competence (or incompetence) is such that attempting to distinguish
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between someone who has a genuine interest in computers from someone out to do
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damage would be every bit as damaging to ones political and professional
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career as it would be to distinguish between the recreational use of cannabis
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and the sale of crack or heroin. All is lumped together under the term
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"hacker" and anyone who makes distinctions is ultimately in danger of being
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considered threats to national security.
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The recent 911 affair is symptomatic of this. Reports of it on the media gave
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the impression that the entire emergency system hade been damaged or destroyed
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and one was left with the impression that people out there with heart attacks
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and fending off rapists were left without telephone and, hence, assistance.
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Only those who pursued th the documentation for the program that ran parts of
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the system had been downloaded without any damage at all to the operation,
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present or future, of the system. The only possible damage to the system is
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in the embarrassment of those responsible for the security of the system. The
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act did prove that the system could be brought to it knees, so to speak, but
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if also proved that "hackers" had a much higher code of ethics since the
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system was not affected in any way. If anything, the system is now more
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secure as a result of the activities of these people and, rather than
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castigating them in the press, the establishment should give them a medal of
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some sort. The people who left the computer so open to penetration (notice
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how C.I.A. language tends to creep in) are the ones who should be prosecuted.
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They will not be prosecuted, however, because they were operating within the
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system and were hence subject to its code. In other words, they subscribe, at
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least openly, to the propaganda currently directed against "hackers."
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Furthermore, to allow these public servants who pointed out the weaknesses of
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the computer system to escape would be to admit incompetence. The "reasoning"
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is that the prosecuted is wrong, they are prosecuted, therefore nothing was
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wrong with the computer system. This is the same sort of convoluted reasoning
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that is behind so many of the other domestic and foreign policies of our
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country and nothing will happen to alter it. It is sobering to realize today
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that perhaps the single most important figure against McCarthy, and the one
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that made his decline possible, was Edward R. Murrow, a news journalist.
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Murrow knew quite a bit about the dangers of fascism and knew how the soviets
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were our allies during World War II. I do not see any parallel to him today
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as relates to "hacking."
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Lest we think that the media, especially the news components thereof, might be
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able to inform the public about this, allow me to share with you an example of
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how it works. I recently saw a segment on Shakespearian productions that
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contained such bits of information as the fact that the dialect spoken in
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appalachia today is closer to Shakespeare's than is the dialect spoken today
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in England. The announcer then said, "On the serious side, George Bush hung
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blue ribbons on the masts of . . . ." The only rational reaction is to tie a
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yellow ribbon to your modem.
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I will end this with a brief observation. Their are, of course, distinctions
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between the "hackers" of today and the "communists" of the 50s --the "hackers"
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need not be defenseless. They are not criminals, but our government's
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persistance is turning them into criminals.
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>--------=====END=====--------<
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***************************************************
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*** Pirate Magazine Issue I - 5 / File 3 of 11 ***
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*** Federal Press Release of LoD Bust ***
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***************************************************
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Reprinted below is the press release that accompanied the LoD indictment. The
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indictment against The Prophet and Knight Lightning, 13 pages of it, contains
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a variety of charges. The most absurd is that LoD was engaged in a conspiracy
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to bring down the E911 system in the U.S. It is clear that agents are either
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totally ignorant of what the computer underground is all about, or is too
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arrogant to care in building their case. It appears they took the satirical
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article in PHRACK 24 for a "confession" of some kind. In that article,
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anonymous authors describe, humorously, how they got rich from New York's
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Citicorp Bank. However, the Secret Service Agent in charge of the case in
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Atlanta said that, from his knowledge of the case, he saw no indication that
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monetary gain was at issue, and the media seems to ignore such things.
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The case is in the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court, Northern District
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of Illinois, Eastern Division (Address: Chicago, IL, 60604). The case name is
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U.S. v. RIGGS & NEIDORF, and the Docket number is 90-CR-70. For more
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information, call the Assistant United States Attorney in charge of the case,
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William J. Cook, at 312-886-7631. The U.S. Attorney in charge in Atlanta is
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Kent Alexander (404)-331-6488.
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------------------
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INFORMATION RELEASE
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FROM: U.S. Department of Justice
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DATE: February 6, 1990
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IRA H. RAPHAELSON, United States Attorney for the Northern District of
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Illinois, and PATRICK T. McDONNELL, Special Agent In Charge of the United
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States Secret Service in Chicago, today announced the indictment of Robert J.
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Riggs, 20, of {address deleted}, and Craig M. Neidorf, 19 {address deleted},
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on charges that between December, 1988 and February, 1989 they entered into a
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scheme to steal and publish to other hackers highly proprietary and sensitive
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information about the operation of Bell South's Enhanced 911 emergency
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communication system. The seven count indictment charges Riggs and Neidorf with
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Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property, Wire Fraud and Violations of the
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Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.
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Specifically, the indictment charges that Riggs, also known as "Robert
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Johnson" and "The Prophet", stole a copy of Bell South's highly proprietary
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and closely held computer program that controlled and maintained the E911
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system. Bell South's E911 system controls emergency calls to the police, fire,
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ambulance and emergency services in municipalities of the nine state region
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served by Bell South; Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky,
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Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. The indictment alleges
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that in December 1988 Riggs stole the E911 data valued at $79,449.00 by using
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a computer outside the telephone company to call into the telephone company
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computer in which the computer file was stored. The indictment charges that
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Riggs then transferred the E911 data to a computer bulleting board in
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Lockport, Illinois from which Neidorf, also known as "Knight Lightning", down
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loaded it for publication in a computer hacker publication known as "PHRACK."
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The indictment charges that Riggs was a member of a closely knit group of
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computer hackers known as the Legion of Doom whose members are involved in
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numerous illegal activities including:
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*Disrupting telephone service by entering the telephone
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companies switches (which are computers) and changing
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the routing of telephone calls.
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*Stealing computer data from individuals and companies.
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*Stealing and modifying individual credit histories.
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*Fraudulently obtaining money and property from companies
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by altering information in their computers.
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*Disseminating information about attacking computers to other
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computer hackers in an effort to shift the focus of law
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enforcement agencies to those other hackers and away from the
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Legion of Doom.
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The indictment charges that as part of their fraud scheme Riggs and Neidorf
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disclosed the stolen information {reportedly PHRACK #24-eds.} about the
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operation of the enhanced 911 system to other computer hackers so that they
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could unlawfully access the E911 system and potentially disrupt or halt other
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911 service in the United States.
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If convicted on all counts of the indictment Riggs faces a maximum possible
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prison sentence of 32 years and a maximum possible fine of $222,000.00; and
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Neidorf faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 31 years and a maximum
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possible fine $122,000.000.
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In announcing the return of the indictment, Mr. Raphaelson noted that the
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allegations of the indictment have far reaching implications for the health
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and welfare of individuals in the United States who rely on their telephones
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as a lifeline to the outside world. Mr. Raphaelson stated, "People who invade
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our telecommunications and related computer systems for profit or personal
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amusement create immediate and serious consequences for the public at large.
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No one should be made to suffer loss of life or severe injury as a result of
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hackers who have compromised emergency networks. The telecommunications
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industry and law enforcement community have become attentive to these crimes
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and those who choose to use their intelligence and talent to disrupt these
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vital networks will find themselves vigorously prosecuted."
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Raphaelson stated that the indictment in Chicago and a companion indictment in
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Atlanta are the initial results of a year long investigation by agents of the
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United States Secret Service in Chicago, Atlanta, Indianapolis, New York, St.
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Louis and Kansas City. Raphaelson further noted that pursuant to Court Orders,
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technical and expert assistance was provided to the United States Secret
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Service by telecommunication companies including Bell South and its
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subsidiaries, Southwestern Bell, NYNEX (New York), and Bellcore. Raphaelson
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particularly praised the actions of Bell South for its proactive position in
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bringing their intrusion problems to the attention of law enforcement
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officials and for its formation of an Intrusion Task Force to analyze and
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respond to the intrusions noted in the Chicago and Atlanta indictments.
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Assistant United States Attorney William J. Cook, who heads the Computer Fraud
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and Abuse Task Force, and Assistant United States Attorney Colleen D. Coughlin
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presented the case to the federal grand jury and will be trying the case in
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the United States District Court in Chicago.
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Members of the public are reminded that the indictment is only a charge and is
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not evidence of guilt. The defendants are entitled to a fair trial at which
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time it will be the government's burden to prove their guilt beyond a
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reasonable doubt.
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>--------=====END=====--------<
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***************************************************
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*** Pirate Magazine Issue I - 5 / File 4 of 11 ***
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*** The LoD Indictment ***
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***************************************************
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN
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DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
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EASTERN DIVISION
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)
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA )
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)
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v. ) No. ______________________
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) Violations: Title 18, United
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ROBERT J. RIGGS, also known ) States Code, Sections
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as Robert Johnson, also ) 1030(a)(6)(A) and 2314
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known as Prophet, and )
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CRAIG NEIDORF, also known )
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as Knight Lightning )
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COUNT ONE
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The SPECIAL APRIL 1987 GRAND JURY charges:
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PROPERTY INVOLVED
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1. At all times relevant herein, enhanced 911 (E911) was the
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national computerized telephone service program for handling
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emergency calls to the police, fire, ambulance and emergency
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services in most municipalities in the United States. Dialing 911
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provided the public immediate access to a municipality's Public
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Safety Answering Point (PSAP) through the use of computerized all
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routing. The E911 system also automatically provided the recipient
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of an emergency call with the telephone number and location
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identification of the emergency caller.
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2. At all times relevant herein, the Bell South Telephone
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Company and its subsidiaries ("Bell South") provided telephone
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services in the nine state area including Alabama, Mississippi,
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Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Lousiana {sic}, North Carolina, South
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Carolina and Florida.
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3. At all times relevant herein, the E911 system of Bell South
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was described in the text of a computerized file program known as
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the Bell South Standard Practice 660-225-104SV Control Office
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- 1 -
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Administration of Enhanced 911 Services for Special and Major
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Account Centers date March, 1988 ("E911 Practice"). The E911
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Practice was a highly proprietary and closely held computerized
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text file belonging to the Bell South Telephone Company and stored
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on the company's AIMSX computer in Atlanta, Georgia. The E911
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Practice described the computerized control and maintainence {sic}
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of the E911 system and carried warning notices that it was not to be
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disclosed outside Bell South or any of its subsidiaries except
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under written agreement.
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COMPUTER HACKERS
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4. At all times relevant herein, computer hackers were
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individual involved with the unauthorized access of computer
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systems by various means.
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5. At all times relevant herein, the Legion of Doom (LOD)
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was a closely knit group of computer hackers involved in:
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a. Disrupting telecommunications by entering
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computerized telephone switches and changing the
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routing on the circuits of the computerized
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switches.
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b. Stealing proprietary computer source code and
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information from companies and individuals that
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owned the code and information.
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c. Stealing and modifying credit information on
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individuals maintained in credit bureau computers.
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- 2 -
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d. Fraudulently obtaining money and property from
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companies by altering the computerized information
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used by the companies.
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e. Disseminating information with respect to their
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methods of attacking computers to other computer
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hackers in an effort to avoid the focus of law
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enforcement agencies and telecommunication security
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experts.
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6. At all times relevant herein ROBERT J. RIGGS, defendant
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herein, was a member of the LOD.
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7. At all times relevant herein CRAIG NEIDORF, defendant
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herein, was a publisher and editor of a computer hacker newletter
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{sic} known as "PHRACK."
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8. At all times relevant herein, a public access computer
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bulletin board system (BBS) was located in Lockport, Illinois which
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provided computer storage space and electronic mail services to its
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users. The Lockport BBS was also used by computer hackers as a
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location for exchanging and developing software tools for computer
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intrusion, and for receiving and distributing hacker tutorials and
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other information.
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E-MAIL
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9. At all times relevant herein electronic mail (e-mail) was
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a computerized method for sending communications and files between
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individual computers on various computer networks. Persons who
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sent or received e-mail were identified by an e-mail address,
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similar to a postal address. Although a person may have more than
|
|
|
|
- 3 -
|
|
|
|
one e-mail address, each e-mail address identified a person
|
|
uniquely. The message header of an e-mail message identified both
|
|
the sender and recipient of the e-mail message and the date the
|
|
was {sic} message sent.
|
|
|
|
10. Beginning in or about September, 1988, the exact date
|
|
begin unknown to the Grand Jury, and continuing until the return
|
|
date of this indictment, at Lockport, in the Northern District of
|
|
Illinois, Eastern Division, and elsewhere,
|
|
|
|
ROBERT J. RIGGS, also known
|
|
as Robert Johnson, also
|
|
known as Prophet, and
|
|
CRAIG NEIDORF, also known
|
|
as Knight Lightning,
|
|
|
|
defendants herein, together with others known and unknown to the
|
|
Grand Jury, devised and intended to devise and participated in a
|
|
scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money and other things
|
|
of value by means of false and fraudulent pretenses and
|
|
representations, well knowing at the time that such pretenses,
|
|
representations and promises were false when made.
|
|
|
|
OBJECT OF FRAUD SCHEME
|
|
|
|
11. The object of the fraud scheme was to steal the E911
|
|
Practice text file from the computers of Bell South Telephone
|
|
Company though {sic} the use of false and fraudulent pretenses and
|
|
representations and to conceal all indications that the text file
|
|
had been stolen; and to thereafter publish the information about
|
|
the E911 Practice text file in a hacker publication for
|
|
dissemination.
|
|
|
|
- 4 -
|
|
|
|
OPERATION OF FRAUD SCHEME
|
|
|
|
12. It was part of the fraud scheme that the defendant NEIDORF
|
|
would and did advise the defendant RIGGS that he had assembled a
|
|
group of computer hackers for the purpose of distributing computer
|
|
information.
|
|
|
|
13. It was further part of the scheme that the defendant
|
|
RIGGS would and did steal sensitive proprietary Bell South
|
|
information files including the E911 Practice text file by gaining
|
|
remote unauthorized access to computers of the Bell South Telephone
|
|
Company.
|
|
|
|
14. It was further part of the scheme that the defendant
|
|
RIGGS would and did disguise and conceal the theft of the E911
|
|
Practice text file from Bell South Telephone Company by removing
|
|
all indications of his unauthorized access into Bell South
|
|
computers and by using account codes of legitimate Bell South users
|
|
to disguise his authorized use of the Bell South computer.
|
|
|
|
15. It was further part of the scheme that RIGGS would and
|
|
did transfer in interstate commerce a stolen E911 Practice text
|
|
file from Atlanta, Georgia to Lockport, Illinois through the use
|
|
of an interstate computer data network.
|
|
|
|
16. It was further part of the scheme that defendant RIGGS
|
|
would and did store the stolen E911 Practice text file on a
|
|
computer bulletin board system in Lockport, Illinois.
|
|
|
|
17. It was further part of the scheme that defendant NEIDORF,
|
|
utilizing a computer at the University of Missouri in Columbia,
|
|
Missouri would and did receive a copy of the stolen E911 text file
|
|
|
|
- 5 -
|
|
|
|
from defendant RIGGS through the Lockport computer bulletin board
|
|
system through the use of an interstate computer data network.
|
|
|
|
18. It was further part of the scheme that defendant NEIDORF
|
|
would and did edit and retype the E911 Practice text file at the
|
|
request of the defendant RIGGS in order to conceal the source of
|
|
the E911 Practice text file and to prepare it for publication in
|
|
a computer hacker newsletter.
|
|
|
|
19. It was further part of the scheme that defendant NEIDORF
|
|
would and did transfer the stolen E911 Practice text file through
|
|
the use of an interstate computer bulletin board system
|
|
used by defendant RIGGS in Lockport, Illinois.
|
|
|
|
20. It was further part of the scheme that the defendants
|
|
RIGGS and NEIDORF would publish information to other computer
|
|
hackers which could be used to gain unauthorized access to
|
|
emergency 911 computer systems in the United States and thereby
|
|
disrupt or halt 911 service in portions of the United States.
|
|
|
|
22. It was further a part of the scheme that the defendants
|
|
would and did misrepresent, conceal, and hide, and cause to be
|
|
misrepresented, concealed and hidden the purposes of ane {sic} the
|
|
acts done in furtherance of the fraud scheme, and would and did use
|
|
coded language and other means to avoid detection and apprehension
|
|
|
|
- 6 -
|
|
|
|
by law enforcement authorities and to otherwise provide security
|
|
to the members of the fraud scheme.
|
|
|
|
23. In or about December, 1988, at Lockport, in the
|
|
Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, and elsewhere,
|
|
|
|
ROBERT J. RIGGS, also known
|
|
as Robert Johnson, also
|
|
known as Prophet,
|
|
|
|
defendant herein, for the purpose of executing the aforesaid
|
|
scheme, did knowingly transmit and cause to be transmitted by means
|
|
of a wire communication in interstate commerce certain signs,
|
|
signals and sounds, namely: a data transfer of a E911 Practice
|
|
text file from Decatur, Georgia to Lockport, Illinois.
|
|
|
|
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
|
|
|
|
- 7 -
|
|
|
|
COUNT TWO
|
|
|
|
The SPECIAL APRIL 1987 GRAND JURY further charges:
|
|
|
|
1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference
|
|
the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 22 of Count One of this
|
|
Indictment as though fully set forth herein.
|
|
|
|
2. On or about January 23, 1989, at Lockport, in the
|
|
Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division and elsewhere,
|
|
|
|
ROBERT J. RIGGS, also known
|
|
as Robert Johnson, also
|
|
known as Prophet, and
|
|
CRAIG NEIDORF, also known
|
|
as Knight Lightning,
|
|
|
|
the defendants herein, for the purposes of executing the aforesaid
|
|
scheme did knowingly transmit and cause to be transmitted by means
|
|
of a wire communication in interstate commerce certain signs,
|
|
signals and sounds, namely: a data transfer of a E911 Practice
|
|
text file from Decatur, Georgia to Lockport, Illinois, an edited
|
|
and retyped E911 Practice text file from Columbia, Missouri, to
|
|
Lockport, Illinois.
|
|
|
|
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
|
|
|
|
- 8 -
|
|
|
|
COUNT THREE
|
|
|
|
The SPECIAL APRIL 1987 GRAND JURY further charges:
|
|
|
|
1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the
|
|
allegations of paragraphs 1 through 22 of Count One of this
|
|
indictment as though fully set forth herein.
|
|
|
|
2. In or about December, 1988, at Lockport, in the Northern
|
|
District of Illinois, Easter Division, and elsewhere,
|
|
|
|
ROBERT J. RIGGS, also known
|
|
as Robert Johnson, also
|
|
known as Prophet, and
|
|
CRAIG NEIDORF, also known
|
|
as Knight Lightning,
|
|
|
|
defendants herein, did transport and cause to be transported in
|
|
interstate commerce from Decatur, Georgia, to Lockport, Illinois,
|
|
a computerized text file with a value of $5,000 or more, namely:
|
|
|
|
A Bell South Standard Practice (BSP) 660-225-104SV- Control
|
|
Office Administration of Enhanced 911 Services for Special
|
|
Services and Major Account Centers dated March, 1988; valued
|
|
at approximately $79,449.00
|
|
|
|
the defendants then and there knowing the same to have been stolen,
|
|
converted, and taken by fraud;
|
|
|
|
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2314.
|
|
|
|
- 9 -
|
|
|
|
COUNT FOUR
|
|
|
|
The SPECIAL APRIL 1987 GRAND JURY further charges:
|
|
|
|
1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the
|
|
allegations of paragraphs 1 through 22 of Count one of this
|
|
Indictment as though fully set forth herein.
|
|
|
|
2. On or about January 23, 1989, at Lockport, in the Northern
|
|
District of Illinois, Eastern Division, and elsewhere,
|
|
|
|
ROBERT J. RIGGS, also known
|
|
as Robert Johnson, also
|
|
known as Prophet, and
|
|
CRAIG NEIDORF, also known
|
|
as Knight Lightning,
|
|
|
|
defendants herein, did transport and cause to be transported in
|
|
interstate commerce from Columbia, Missouri, to Lockport, Illinois,
|
|
a computerized textfile with a value of $5,000 or more, namely:
|
|
|
|
An edited Bell South Standard Practice (BSP) 660-225-
|
|
104SV- Control Office Administration of Enhanced 911
|
|
Services for Special Services and Major Account Centers
|
|
dated March, 1988; valued at approximately $79,449.00.
|
|
|
|
the defendants, then and there knowing the same to have been
|
|
stolen, converted, and taken by fraud;
|
|
|
|
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2314.
|
|
|
|
- 10 -
|
|
|
|
COUNT FIVE
|
|
|
|
The SPECIAL APRIL 1987 GRAND JURY further charges:
|
|
|
|
1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference
|
|
the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 22 of Count One of this
|
|
Indictment as though fully set forth herein.
|
|
|
|
2. On or about December, 1988, at Lockport, in the
|
|
Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division and elsewhere,
|
|
|
|
ROBERT J. RIGGS, also known
|
|
as Robert Johnson, also
|
|
known as Prophet, and
|
|
CRAIG NEIDORF, also known
|
|
as Knight Lightning,
|
|
|
|
the defendants herein, knowingly and with intent to defraud, trafficked
|
|
in information through which a computer may be accessed without
|
|
authorization and by such conduct affected interstate commerce;
|
|
|
|
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section
|
|
1030(a)(6)(A).
|
|
|
|
- 11 -
|
|
|
|
COUNT SIX
|
|
|
|
The SPECIAL APRIL 1987 GRAND JURY further charges:
|
|
|
|
1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference
|
|
the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 22 of Count One of this
|
|
Indictment as though fully set forth herein.
|
|
|
|
2. In or about January, 1989, at Lockport, in the Northern
|
|
District of Illinois, Eastern Division and elsewhere,
|
|
|
|
ROBERT J. RIGGS, also known
|
|
as Robert Johnson, also
|
|
known as Prophet, and
|
|
CRAIG NEIDORF, also known
|
|
as Knight Lightning,
|
|
|
|
the defendants herein, knowingly and with intend to defraud, trafficked
|
|
in information through which a computer may be accessed without
|
|
authorization and by such conduct affected interstate commerce;
|
|
|
|
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section
|
|
1030(a)(6)(A).
|
|
|
|
- 12 -
|
|
|
|
COUNT SEVEN
|
|
|
|
The SPECIAL APRIL 1987 GRAND JURY further charges:
|
|
|
|
1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the
|
|
allegations of paragraphs 1 through 22 of Count One of this
|
|
Indictment as though fully set forth herein.
|
|
|
|
2. In or about February, 1989, at Lockport, in the Northern
|
|
District of Illinois, Eastern Division and elsewhere,
|
|
|
|
ROBERT J. RIGGS, also known
|
|
as Robert Johnson, also
|
|
known as Prophet, and
|
|
CRAIG NEIDORF, also known
|
|
as Knight Lightning,
|
|
|
|
the defendants herein, knowingly and with intent to defraud, trafficked
|
|
in information through which a computer may be accessed without
|
|
authorization and by such conduct affected interstate commerce;
|
|
|
|
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section
|
|
1030(a)(6)(A).
|
|
|
|
|
|
A TRUE BILL:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________
|
|
F O R E P E R S O N
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________
|
|
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
|
|
|
|
|
|
- 13 -
|
|
|
|
>--------=====END=====--------<
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
*** Pirate Magazine Issue I - 5 / File 5 of 11 ***
|
|
*** Pheds bust The Mentor ***
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apparently, just operating a BBS can rankle the pheds! The Mentor, operator
|
|
of one of the best information BBSs around, was busted and charges that remain
|
|
obscure. Here's what happened (courtesy of an anonymous contributor):
|
|
|
|
-----------------
|
|
>From: mosley@peyote.cactus.org (Bob Mosley III)
|
|
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
|
|
Subject: Austin, TX BBS Shut Down From Joinet Bust Fallout
|
|
Message-ID: <4723@accuvax.nwu.edu>
|
|
Date: 4 Mar 90 17:22:26 GMT
|
|
|
|
This hit most BBS's in the Austin area on Thursday. It's believed the bust
|
|
came down Wednesday morning. In a nutshell, here's what happened:
|
|
|
|
Wednesday morning, Feb. 28, the offices of Steve Jackson Games, inc., were
|
|
raided by FBI and Secret Service officials. The establishment was shut down,
|
|
and all computer systems, including the Illuminati BBS, were confiscated.
|
|
|
|
At that time, a 'retired' member of the LoD, who was identified as 'The
|
|
Mentor' was arrested. The charges reportedly are related to the recent 911
|
|
bust that has shut down Jolnet and ATTATC (or whatever Killer used to be
|
|
called). His home system was confiscated, complete with an entire collection
|
|
of "Phrack" issues and related paraphanalia.
|
|
|
|
As of this writing, the Mentor is reportedly out on bail, sans system and
|
|
network connection. The Illuminati BBS is still down, although SJ Games is
|
|
back in operation, and no charges have been filed against any of the employees
|
|
other than The Mentor. The systems owned by SJ Games have not been returned as
|
|
of this writing.
|
|
|
|
Finally, rumors were trickling in early this morning (Saturday, 3/4) that two
|
|
BBS's in Dallas, three in Houston, and one in San Antonio were busted by the
|
|
same authorites in relation to the same case.
|
|
|
|
[in light of the Mentor's posted defense of the LoD, I kinda thought you'd
|
|
like to see this one! - OM]
|
|
|
|
News is that Illuminati BBS, a system run by a company named Steve Jackson
|
|
Games somewhere in Texas, was also shut down and its equipment seized by the
|
|
federal government because two suspected Legion of Doom members were among its
|
|
users.
|
|
|
|
..I've just gotten a new update on the Mentor's recent apprehension by the
|
|
Feds. Thought you might like to hear something as close to as direct from the
|
|
Mentor as possible under the circumstances.
|
|
|
|
From: Daneel Olivaw #96 @5283 Date: Sun Mar 04 19:55:28 1990
|
|
|
|
I'll have to play the Mentor for now (with permission granted).
|
|
|
|
If you haven't heard the rumors, here is the truth.
|
|
|
|
The Mentor was awakened at 6:30am on Thursday (3/1/90) with the gun of a
|
|
Secret Service agent pointed at his head. The SS proceded to search and seize
|
|
for the next 4 1/2 hours. Things taken include an AT with 80mb HD, HP
|
|
LaserJet II, various documents, and other things. They then proceded to raid
|
|
his office at work, and sieze the computer and laser printer there. Lost in
|
|
the shuffle was a complete novel (being written and due in 2 weeks), and
|
|
various other things.
|
|
|
|
Across town: Those of you who know Erik Bloodaxe, he was also awakened, and
|
|
his house searched.
|
|
|
|
Neither have been charged with anything, but they expect to at least be called
|
|
as witnesses at the case of the Phrack Boys (Knight Lightning and Tarren King)
|
|
in Chicago April 15.
|
|
|
|
Apparently, they did a shoddy job, as they tagged a book that Mentor had
|
|
borrowed from me (Quarterman's "The Matrix"), and then forgot to take it, oh
|
|
well....
|
|
|
|
It ain't lookin so lovely. Also the UT computer systes are under *VERY* close
|
|
watch, as they were/are being hacked on by hackers around the world, including
|
|
some in Australia, and England.
|
|
|
|
OM
|
|
|
|
|
|
>--------=====END=====--------<
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
*** Pirate Magazine Issue I - 5 / File 6 of 11 ***
|
|
*** Feds Hassle Employers ***
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
The following buffered file was captured from ILLUMINATI BBS, a legitimate,
|
|
above board, business BBS in Texas. It belonged to Steve Jackson, who runs a
|
|
business for writing computer games. An employee worked there who was
|
|
investigated by the Secret Service. The employee was "visited" at his home at
|
|
6:30 in the morning, his equipment was confiscated, and then the pheds went to
|
|
his place of employment, Steve Jackson Games, and confiscated some *BUSINESS
|
|
EQUIPMENT* "just in case." Although it is not clear what the employee had
|
|
done, his "evil vibes" may have spread, so off went the pheds with the
|
|
equipment after closing the shop for over half a day! We reprint this because,
|
|
in the CURRENT WITCH HUNT FOR COMPUTER UNDERGROUND MEMBERS, the lesson is:
|
|
|
|
IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!!
|
|
|
|
-----------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
------- start of text from Illuminati BBS -------
|
|
|
|
NOTE! WE RECOMMEND YOU OPEN YOUR CAPTURE BUFFER AS YOU READ THE
|
|
FOLLOWING INFORMATION, OR AT LEAST BE READY TO USE ^S AND ^Q TO
|
|
STOP THE SCROLLING AS YOU READ.
|
|
|
|
PRESS RETURN:
|
|
|
|
|
|
GREETINGS, MORTAL! YOU HAVE ENTERED
|
|
THE SECRET COMPUTER SYSTEM OF
|
|
|
|
|
|
/\
|
|
/ \
|
|
/ () \
|
|
/ ____ \
|
|
/ / \ \
|
|
/__________\
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE ILLUMINATI
|
|
FRONTED BY STEVE JACKSON GAMES
|
|
INCORPORATED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. FNORD
|
|
|
|
NOTE! AT THE MOMENT ILLUMINATI IS AN READ-ONLY SYSTEM. READ THE
|
|
INFORMATION BELOW TO FIND OUT WHY. USING THE SPACE BAR WILL LOG YOU
|
|
OFF. YOU CAN STOP THE SCROLLING AT ANY TIME WITH A CONTROL-S.
|
|
CONTROL-Q WILL RESUME THE SCROLLING.
|
|
|
|
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT OUR CORPORATE MASCOT, WHO USUALLY GREETS OUR
|
|
CALLERS WITH A CHEERFUL SMILE, IS FROWNING TODAY. I THINK YOU'LL AGREE
|
|
HE HAS EVERY RIGHT TO.
|
|
|
|
BEFORE THE START OF WORK ON MARCH 1, STEVE JACKSON GAMES WAS VISITED
|
|
BY AGENTS OF THE UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. THEY SEARCHED THE
|
|
BUILDING THOROUGHLY, TORE OPEN SEVERAL BOXES IN THE WAREHOUSE, BROKE A
|
|
FEW LOCKS AND DAMAGED A COUPLE OF FILING CABINETS (WHICH WE WOULD
|
|
GLADLY HAVE LET THEM EXAMINE, HAD THEY LET US INTO THE BUILDING),
|
|
ANSWERED THE PHONE DISCOURTEOUSLY AT BEST, PROBABLY ATE A FEW OF THE
|
|
ORANGE SLICES THAT WERE ON FEARLESS LEADER'S DESK (WHICH THEY WERE
|
|
WELCOME TO, BY THE WAY), AND CONFISCATED SOME COMPUTER EQUIPMENT,
|
|
INCLUDING THE COMPUTER THAT THE BBS WAS RUNNING ON AT THE TIME.
|
|
|
|
SO FAR WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED A CLEAR EXPLANATION OF WHAT THE SECRET
|
|
SERVICE WAS LOOKING FOR, WHAT THEY EXPECTED TO FIND, OR MUCH OF
|
|
ANYTHING ELSE. WE ARE FAIRLY CERTAIN THAT STEVE JACKSON GAMES IS NOT
|
|
THE TARGET OF WHATEVER INVESTIGATION IS BEING CONDUCTED; IN ANY
|
|
CASE, WE HAVE DONE NOTHING ILLEGAL AND HAVE NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO
|
|
HIDE. HOWEVER, THE EQUIPMENT THAT WAS SEIZED IS APPARENTLY CONSIDERED
|
|
TO BE EVIDENCE IN WHATEVER THEY'RE INVESTIGATING, SO WE AREN'T LIKELY
|
|
TO GET IT BACK ANY TIME SOON. IT COULD BE A MONTH, IT COULD BE NEVER.
|
|
|
|
IN THE MEANTIME, FEARLESS HAS LOANED STEVE JACKSON GAMES THE APPLE SYSTEM
|
|
THE BBS RAN ON BACK IN THE OLD DAYS BEFORE JOLNET. TO MINIMIZE THE POSSI-
|
|
BILITY THAT THIS SJSTEM WILL BE CONFISCATED AS WELL, WE HAVE SET IT UP TO
|
|
DISPLAY THIS BULLETIN, AND THAT'S ALL. THERE IS NO MESSAGE BASE AT PRESENT.
|
|
WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, AND WE WISH WE DARED DO MORE THAN
|
|
THIS. HOWEVER, WE AGONIZED LONG AND HARD, AND DECIDED IT WAS A COURTESY TO
|
|
OUR CALLERS TO LET THEM KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
|
|
|
|
AT THIS POINT WE DON'T KNOW WHEN THE BBS WILL BE BACK UP FOR REAL. IF
|
|
YOU HAVE IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR US, SUCH AS PLAYTEST NOTES, YOU CAN
|
|
MAIL THEM TO US (YEAH, I KNOW, ECCH) OR IF IT'S SOMETHING TRULY
|
|
IMPORTANT, YOU CAN REACH US AT OUR VOICE NUMBER (512-447-7866). IN THE
|
|
MEANTIME, FEARLESS WILL BE CHECKING IN ON A REGULAR BASIS ON SMOF
|
|
(512-UFO-SMOF) AND RED OCTOBER (512-834-2548).
|
|
|
|
IN PARTICULAR, IF YOU HAVE DOWNLOADED THE GURPS CYBERPUNK PLAYTEST
|
|
MATERIAL THAT WAS ON THE BOARD, PLEASE LET US KNOW RIGHT AWAY SO WE
|
|
CAN ARRANGE TO GET A COPY. SOME OF THAT MATERIAL WAS NOT EASILY
|
|
REPLACABLE, AND WE WOULD LIKE TO GET COPIES - IT WOULD MAKE GETTING
|
|
GURPS CYBERPUNK OUT MUCH, MUCH EASIER (AND IT WOULD COME OUT THAT MUCH
|
|
SOONER). PLEASE CALL US AND ASK TO TALK TO CREEDE OR LOYD FOR
|
|
ARRANGEMENTS.
|
|
|
|
THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING, AND THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS GIVEN
|
|
US WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT. WE HOPE WE'LL BE BACK ON LINE,
|
|
FULL TIME, VERY SOON.
|
|
|
|
-- STEVE JACKSON GAMES AND
|
|
THE SYSOPS OF THE ILLUMINATI BBS
|
|
|
|
------- end of text from Illuminati BBS -------
|
|
|
|
>--------=====END=====--------<
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
*** Pirate Magazine Issue I - 5 / File 7 of 11 ***
|
|
*** Jolnet Involvement, Part 1 ***
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
When authorities investigated the Legion of Doom's alleged illicit activities,
|
|
they apparently were aided by JOLNET, a BBS in Lockport (near Joliet)
|
|
Illinois. Despite the cooperation, the board closed down, at least
|
|
temporarily, and some of their equipment was confiscated. The sysop reportedly
|
|
lost his job, although the details are not fully clear. The following
|
|
summarizes JOLNET's involvement and raises some scary issues.
|
|
The following is from TELECOM DIGEST (Vol 10, #166, msg 1, March 12).
|
|
|
|
------------
|
|
|
|
The operator of an Illinois computer bulletin-board system apparently helped
|
|
federal officials crack a multi-state ring of hackers now charged with
|
|
breaking into a computer system running a 911 system in the South and
|
|
distributing a highly technical on- line manual describing how to run - and
|
|
disrupt - the system.
|
|
|
|
Federal officials are not saying much about the investigation, except to say
|
|
it is continuing, but observers in the telecommunications field say it may be
|
|
widened to include a close look at hundreds of on-line break-ins and attempted
|
|
break-ins of computers tied to the international Usenet network since last
|
|
summer.
|
|
|
|
Ironically, though, the Illinois system operator had his system seized by the
|
|
government as evidence in the case. The government may also be seizing other
|
|
bulletin-board systems the hackers may have used. And that raises some
|
|
troubling questions about the protection of electronic mail and
|
|
First-Amendment rights on electronic networks.
|
|
|
|
Charged so far are four members of the ``Legion of Doom,'' which federal
|
|
officials allege did things such as re-programming computerized phone switches
|
|
and changing people's computerized credit ratings.
|
|
|
|
Federal authorities were apparently aided by Rich Andrews, operator of Jolnet,
|
|
one of a small but growing number of private systems connected to the Usenet
|
|
international computer network (itself a part of the Internet research
|
|
network).
|
|
|
|
In an interview with Patrick Townson, who moderates a telecommunications
|
|
conference on Usenet, Andrews says his involvement began about 18 months ago.
|
|
|
|
According to Townson, Andrews noticed the 911 documentation had been uploaded
|
|
to his system and promptly sent it to another Usenet-linked BBS operated by
|
|
AT&T, with a request that it be sent to the right people there.
|
|
|
|
Andrews acknowledged, though, that he then kept a copy of the text himself. A
|
|
few months later, AT&T contacted him, asking him for the manual, and then the
|
|
feds got in touch with him. It was then, about a year ago, Townson says, that
|
|
Andrews decided to cooperate with the feds.
|
|
|
|
According to Townson, Andrews said the 911 software was just ``a small part of
|
|
what this is all about...''
|
|
|
|
As part of the investigation, Andrews did nothing about the Legion of Doom
|
|
members allegedly using his system to pass the 911 manual back and forth and
|
|
to develop programs to crack other systems, Townson says.
|
|
|
|
If convicted, the alleged hackers face upwards of 30 years in jail and several
|
|
hundred thousands of dollars in fines.
|
|
|
|
The seizure of Andrew's system has a number of system operators worried.
|
|
Unlike phone companies, which cannot be held liable for the actions of their
|
|
subscribers, computer bulletin-board systems fall into one of those gray areas
|
|
that remain unsettled.
|
|
|
|
Already, Bill Kuykendall, who runs a Chicago system similar in operation to
|
|
Jolnet, has tightened up his requirements for who he will let on the system.
|
|
|
|
``Today, there is no law or precedent which affords me, as owner and system
|
|
administrator of The Point, the same legal rights that other common carriers
|
|
have against prosecution should some other party (you) use my property (The
|
|
Point) for illegal activities,'' he wrote in a recent message to users of his
|
|
system. ``That worries me.
|
|
|
|
``By comparison, AT&T cannot be held liable should someone use their phone
|
|
lines to transmit military secrets to an enemy. Likewise, Acme Trucking is
|
|
not vulnerable to drug trafficking charges should they pull a sealed trailer
|
|
of cocaine to some destination unknowingly. Yet somehow, I am presumed to be
|
|
cognizant of the contents of every public message, mailed message, and file
|
|
upload that passes through this public access system. On a system this size,
|
|
that may be nearly a gigabyte (1+ Billion characters!) of information a year.
|
|
|
|
``I fully intend to explore the legal questions raised here. In my opinion,
|
|
the rights to free assembly and free speech would be threatened if the owners
|
|
of public meeting places were charged with the responsibility of policing all
|
|
conversations held in the hallways and lavatories of their facilities for
|
|
references to illegal activities.
|
|
|
|
``Under such laws, all privately owned meeting places would be forced out of
|
|
existence, and the right to meet and speak freely would vanish with them. The
|
|
common sense of this reasoning has not yet been applied to electronic meeting
|
|
places by the legislature. This issue must be forced, or electronic bulletin
|
|
boards will cease to exist.''
|
|
|
|
|
|
>--------=====END=====--------<
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
*** Pirate Magazine Issue I - 5 / File 8 of 11 ***
|
|
*** Jolnet Involvement, Part 2 ***
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here's some more info on JOLNET and the issues involved send from a
|
|
contributor who subscribes to TELECOM DIGEST, where the LoD busts
|
|
seem to have stimulated some interest.
|
|
|
|
----------------------
|
|
|
|
Date: 27 Feb 90 08:33:51 GMT
|
|
Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu
|
|
Organization: TELECOM Digest
|
|
Lines: 24
|
|
Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
|
|
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
|
|
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 131, Message 4 of 8
|
|
|
|
From what I have noted with respect to Jolnet, there was a serious
|
|
crime committed there -- by the FBI. If they busted a system with email
|
|
on it, the Electronic Communication Privacy Act comes into play.
|
|
Everyone who had email dated less than 180 days old on the system is
|
|
entitled to sue each of the people involve in the seizure for at least
|
|
$1000 plus legal fees and court cost. Unless, of course, the FBI did
|
|
it by the book, and got warrants to interfere with the email of all
|
|
who had accounts on the systems.
|
|
|
|
If they did, there are strict limits on how long they have to inform
|
|
the users. A case of this type has been filed (just under the two
|
|
year limit) in Los Angeles Federal Court. I have hard copy, will try
|
|
to get it typed in and see about posting it.
|
|
|
|
Incidentally, the entire text of the ECPA is on Portal. The section
|
|
you want to look at is 2701-2707. Keith Henson
|
|
|
|
hkhenson@cup.portal.com
|
|
|
|
[Moderator's Note: From what I have heard, there were serious crimes
|
|
committed there alright.... and the feds had their papers in order.
|
|
I'm rather sure they will observe the law. PT]
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
>From: Chip Rosenthal <chip@chinacat.lonestar.org>
|
|
Subject: Re: AT&T Sourcecode: Poison!
|
|
Date: 3 Mar 90 00:00:00 GMT
|
|
Organization: Unicom Systems Development, Austin (yay!)
|
|
|
|
[Moderator's Note: Original date of 2/25 changed to prevent premature
|
|
expiration. PT]
|
|
|
|
You've got a lot of nerve, Patrick.
|
|
|
|
telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes:
|
|
|
|
>We're told by a deep-throat type that AT&T is on the war path about
|
|
>their software [...] Like jolnet, netsys went down abruptly, with
|
|
>*everything* confiscated [...] Now comes news that attcdc [sic], formerly
|
|
>known as killer went off line in a hurry.....
|
|
|
|
Yessir, after all your complaints about that about anonymous Legion of
|
|
Doom message, this is a really crummy thing to post. Based upon
|
|
unattributed conversations, you imply that Len Rose and Charlie Boykin
|
|
were involved in wrongdoing which lead to the shutdown of their
|
|
systems.
|
|
|
|
I don't know Len personally, but have had uucp connections with him in
|
|
the past. Charlie, on the other hand, I do know personally. He is
|
|
very well regarded in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and was voted "1989
|
|
DFW Administrator of the Year" by the DFW lunch-bunch...errr....DFW
|
|
Association of Unix System Administrators.
|
|
|
|
You have cast some crummy aspersions towards these guys. Since I know
|
|
them, I will wait for the facts to come in. Others who don't know
|
|
them could very well jump to conclusions on the basis of this posting.
|
|
|
|
Was this message really called for?
|
|
|
|
Chip Rosenthal | Yes, you're a happy man and you're
|
|
chip@chinacat.Lonestar.ORG | a lucky man, but are you a smart
|
|
Unicom Systems Development, 512-482-8260 | man? -David Bromberg
|
|
|
|
------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 90 21:38:39 EST
|
|
>From: Mike Riddle <Mike.Riddle@p6.f666.n5010.z1.fidonet.org>
|
|
Subject: Jolnet Seizure
|
|
Reply-to: Mike.Riddle@p6.f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org
|
|
Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha, Ne. 402-896-3537
|
|
|
|
Has anyone tried a novel legal approach to the case of equipment
|
|
seizure as "evidence"? As I remember the Electronic Communications
|
|
Privacy Act, it contains specific procedures for authorities to obtain
|
|
copies/listings of data on a system (which system may have been used
|
|
for illegal purposes, but whose operator is not at the moment
|
|
charged). From this I think a creative attorney could construct an
|
|
argument that the national policy was not to seize equipment, merely
|
|
to obtain all the information contained therein. After all, it's the
|
|
data that caused any harm.
|
|
|
|
Also, the Federal Rules of Evidence, and most state rules, provide
|
|
that computer generated copies are "originals" for evidentiary
|
|
purposes.
|
|
|
|
I hope that someone close enough to the scene can keep us informed
|
|
about what is happening on this one.
|
|
|
|
{standard disclaimer goes here--don't pay any attention to me!}
|
|
|
|
------------------------------
|
|
|
|
>From: brooney@sirius.uvic.ca
|
|
Subject: Article Regarding JOLNET/e911/LoD/Phrack
|
|
|
|
The following is an article I received five days ago which contains, to my
|
|
knowledge, information as yet unpublished in comp.dcom.telecom regarding the
|
|
ongoing JOLNET/e911/LoD discussion. It was printed in a weekly magazine
|
|
with a publishing date of Feb. 27 but other than that I have no exact idea
|
|
of when the events mentioned herein took place.
|
|
|
|
- Ben Rooney
|
|
|
|
MISSOURI STUDENT PLEADS INNOCENT IN 911 SYSTEM INTRUSION CASE
|
|
|
|
Craig Neidorf, a 19-year-old University of Missouri student, has
|
|
pleaded not guilty to federal allegations that he invaded the 911
|
|
emergency phone network for 9 states.
|
|
|
|
As reported earlier, he was indicted this month along with Robert J.
|
|
Riggs, 20, of Decatur, Ga. Both are charged with interstate
|
|
transportation of stolen property, wire fraud, and violations of the
|
|
federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.
|
|
|
|
Prosecutors contend the two used computers to enter the 911 system of
|
|
Atlanta's Bell South, then copied the program that controls and
|
|
maintains the system. The stolen material later allegedly was
|
|
published on a computer bulletin board system operating in the Chicago
|
|
suburb of Lockport. Authorities contend Neidorf edited the data for
|
|
an electronic publication known as "Phrack."
|
|
|
|
According to Associated Press writer Sarah Nordgren, in a recent
|
|
hearing on the case Assistant U.S. Attorney William Cook was granted a
|
|
motion to prevent the 911 program from becoming part of the public
|
|
record during the trial. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Bua set April
|
|
16 for a trial.
|
|
|
|
The 911 system in question controls emergency calls to police, fire,
|
|
ambulance and emergency services in cities in Alabama, Mississippi,
|
|
Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South
|
|
Carolina and Florida.
|
|
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
Article from "A Networker's Journal" by Charles Bowen.
|
|
Info-Mat Magazine (Vol. 6, No. 2)
|
|
|
|
[Moderator's Note: {Info-Mat Magazine}, by the way, is the excellent
|
|
electronic journal distributed on many BBS machines throughout the
|
|
United States who are fortunate enough to be accepted as part of the
|
|
magazine's distribution network. I personally wish it was distributed
|
|
on Usenet as well: it is well written and very informative. PT]
|
|
|
|
------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 19:34:54 CST
|
|
>From: TELECOM Moderator <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
|
|
Subject: A Conversation With Rich Andrews
|
|
|
|
|
|
After the first articles appeared here relating to the seizure of
|
|
Jolnet, and the indictment of some people for their part in the theft
|
|
of '911 software', I got various messages from other folks in
|
|
response. Some were published, while others were just personal
|
|
correspondence to me. One from Chip Rosenthal was held over, and is
|
|
included in this special issue today.
|
|
|
|
One writer, whose comments were attributed to 'Deep Throat' spent some
|
|
time on two occassions on the phone, in a conference call between
|
|
himself, David Tamkin and myself.
|
|
|
|
What was lacking in the several messages which appeared over the past
|
|
week were comments from Rich Andrews, system administrator of Jolnet.
|
|
I got one note from someone in Canada who said Andrews wanted to speak
|
|
with me, and giving a phone number where I could call Andrews at his
|
|
place of employment.
|
|
|
|
I put in a call there, with David Tamkin on the other line and had a
|
|
long discussion with Andrews, who was aware of David being on the line
|
|
with me. I asked Andrews if he had any sort of net access available
|
|
to him at all -- even a terminal and modem, plus an account on some
|
|
site which could forward his mail to telecom. You see, I thought, and
|
|
still think it is extremely important to include Rich Andrews in any
|
|
discussion here.
|
|
|
|
He assured me he did have an account on a Chicago area machine, and
|
|
that a reply would be forthcoming within hours. I had a second
|
|
conversation with him the next morning, but without David on the line.
|
|
He again told me he would have a response to the several articles
|
|
written in the Digest ready and in the email 'very soon'. This was on
|
|
Wednesday morning, and we estimated his message would be here sometime
|
|
later in the day -- certainly by midnight or so, when I am typically
|
|
working up an issue of the Digest.
|
|
|
|
Midnight came and went with no message. None showed up Thursday or
|
|
Friday. I deliberatly withheld saying anything further in the hopes
|
|
his reply would be here to include at the same time. I guess at this
|
|
point we have to go on without him.
|
|
|
|
When David Tamkin and I talked to him the first time, on Tuesday
|
|
evening this past week, the first thing Andrews said to us, after the
|
|
usual opening greetings and chitchat was,
|
|
|
|
"I've been cooperating with them for over a year now. I assume you
|
|
know that."
|
|
|
|
We asked him to define 'them'. His response was that 'them' was the
|
|
United States Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
|
|
He said this without us even asking him if he was doing so.
|
|
|
|
We asked him to tell us about the raid on his home early in February.
|
|
He said the agents showed up that Saturday afternoon with a warrant,
|
|
and took everything away as 'evidence' to be used in a criminal
|
|
prosecution.
|
|
|
|
ME> "If you have been working and cooperating with them for this long,
|
|
why did they take your stuff?"
|
|
|
|
RA> "They wanted to be sure it would be safe, and that nothing would be
|
|
destroyed."
|
|
|
|
ME> "But if you wanted to simply keep files safe, you could have taken
|
|
Jolnet off line for a few weeks/months by unplugging the modems from
|
|
the phone jacks, no? Then, plugged in a line when you wanted to call
|
|
or have a trusted person call you."
|
|
|
|
RA> "They thought it was better to take it all with them. It was mostly
|
|
for appearance sake. They are not charging me with anything."
|
|
|
|
ME> "Seems like a funny way to treat a cooperative citizen, at least
|
|
one who is not in some deep mess himself."
|
|
|
|
He admitted to us that several crackers had accounts on Jolnet, with
|
|
his knowledge and consent, and that it was all part of the investigation
|
|
going on ... the investigation he was cooperating in.
|
|
|
|
Here is how he told the tale of the '911 software':
|
|
|
|
The software showed up on his system one day, almost two years ago. It
|
|
came to him from netsys, where Len Rose was the sysadmin. According to
|
|
Andrews, when he saw this file, and realized what it was, he knew the
|
|
thing to do was to 'get it to the proper authorities as soon as
|
|
possible', so he chose to do that by transferring it to the machine
|
|
then known as killer, a/k/a attctc, where Charlie Boykin was the
|
|
sysadmin.
|
|
|
|
Andrews said he sent it to Boykin with a request that Boykin pass it
|
|
along to the proper people at AT&T.
|
|
|
|
ME> "After you passed it along to Boykin, did you then destroy the
|
|
file and get it off your site?"
|
|
|
|
RA> "Well, no... I kept a copy also."
|
|
|
|
ME> "Did Charlie Boykin pass it along to AT&T as you had requested?"
|
|
|
|
RA> "I assume he did."
|
|
|
|
But then, said Andrews, a funny thing happened several months later.
|
|
The folks at AT&T, instead of being grateful for the return of their
|
|
software came back to Andrews to (in his words) 'ask for it again.'
|
|
Somehow, they either never got it the first time; got it but suspected
|
|
there were still copies of it out; or were just plain confused.
|
|
|
|
So he was contacted by the feds about a year ago, and it was at that
|
|
point he decided it was in his best interest to cooperate with any
|
|
investigation going on.
|
|
|
|
Andrews pointed out that the '911 software' was really just ".... a
|
|
small part of what this is all about..." He said there was other
|
|
proprietary information going around that should not be circulating.
|
|
He said also the feds were particularly concerned by the large number
|
|
of break-ins on computers which had occurred in the past year or so.
|
|
He said there have been literally "....thousands of attempts to break
|
|
into sites in the past year....", and part of his cooperation with the
|
|
authorities at this time dealt with information on that part of it.
|
|
|
|
We asked him about killer/attctc:
|
|
|
|
ME> "You knew of course that killer went off line very abruptly about
|
|
a week ago. What caused that? It happened a week or so after the feds
|
|
raided you that Saturday."
|
|
|
|
RA> "Well the official reason given by AT&T was lack of funds, but you
|
|
know how that goes...."
|
|
|
|
Now you'd think, wouldn't you, that if it was a funding problem -- if
|
|
you can imagine AT&T not having the loose change in its corporate
|
|
pocket it took to provide electrical power and phone lines to attctc
|
|
(Charlie got no salary for running it) -- that at least an orderly
|
|
transition would have taken place; i.e. an announcement to the net; an
|
|
opportunity to distribute new maps for mail and news distribution,
|
|
etc; and some forthcoming shut down date -- let's say March 1, or
|
|
April 1, or the end of the fiscal year, or something....
|
|
|
|
But oh, no... crash boom, one day it is up, the next day it is gone.
|
|
|
|
ME> "What do you know about the temporary suspension of killer some
|
|
time ago? What was that all about?"
|
|
|
|
RA> "It was a security thing. AT&T Security was investigating Charlie
|
|
and some of the users then."
|
|
|
|
Andrews referred to the previous shutdown of killer as 'a real blunder
|
|
by AT&T', but it is unclear to me why he feels that way.
|
|
|
|
We concluded our conversation by Andrews noting that "there is a lot
|
|
happening out there right now."
|
|
|
|
He said the [Phrack] magazine distribution, via netsys, attctc and
|
|
jolnet was under close review. "One way to get them (crackers) is by
|
|
shutting down the sites they use to distribute stuff..."
|
|
|
|
And now, dear reader, you know everything I know on the subject. Well,
|
|
almost everything, anyway....
|
|
|
|
From other sources we know that Len Rose of netsys was in deep
|
|
trouble with the law *before* this latest scandal. How deep? Like he
|
|
was ready to leave the country and go to the other side of the world
|
|
maybe? Like he was in his car driving on the expressway when they
|
|
pulled him over, stopped the car and placed him under arrest? Deep
|
|
enough? This latest thing simply compounded his legal problems.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Patrick Townson
|
|
|
|
>--------=====END=====--------<
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
*** Pirate Magazine Issue I - 5 / File 9 of 11 ***
|
|
*** E-Mail victims counter-sue the pheds ***
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
The legal status of electronic mail is in limbo. It's not totally clear what
|
|
consitutes protected "mail" and what doesn't. Because of lack of case law for
|
|
precendent or statutory law to guarantee protections of Constitutional rights,
|
|
agents seem to feel free to confiscate *and violate* rights first and ask
|
|
questions later, as the above files indicate. Nonetheless, not everybody is
|
|
passively submitting to these violations. The following is reprinted from
|
|
TELECOM DIGEST, Vol 10, #164 (msg 1) from March 12, 1990. It is a suit against
|
|
law enforcement agents who confiscated E-mail. We wish the plaintiffs the best
|
|
of luck. If they win, there is hope. If they lose, we come closer to 1984 as
|
|
time passes.
|
|
|
|
-------------
|
|
|
|
CHRISTOPHER ASHWORTH, A Member of
|
|
GARFIELD, TEPPER, ASHWORTH & EPSTEIN
|
|
1925 Century Part East, Suite 1250
|
|
Los Angeles, California 90067
|
|
Telephone: (213) 277-1981
|
|
|
|
Attorneys For Plaintiffs
|
|
|
|
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
|
|
FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
|
|
|
|
Case NO. SA CV90-021 JSL (RwRx)
|
|
|
|
COMPLAINT FOR
|
|
DECLARATORY RELIEF
|
|
AND DAMAGES
|
|
(Electronic
|
|
Communications Privacy
|
|
Act of 1986;
|
|
18 U.S.C. Section 2701,
|
|
et seq.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
H. KEITH HENSON, HUGH L. HIXON,
|
|
JR., THOMAS K. DONALDSON, NAOMI
|
|
REYNOLDS, ROGER GREGORY, MICHAEL G.
|
|
FEDEROWITCZ, STEVEN B. HARRIS,
|
|
BRIAN WOWK, ERIC GEISLINGER,
|
|
CATH WOOF, BILLY H. SEIDEL,
|
|
ALLEN J. LOPP, LEE CORBIN
|
|
RALPH MERKEL, AND KEITH LOFTSTROM
|
|
|
|
Plaintiffs,
|
|
|
|
v.
|
|
|
|
RAYMOND CARRILLO, SCOTT HILL,
|
|
DAN CUPIDO, ALAN KUNZMAN, ROWE
|
|
WORTHINGTON, RICHARD BOGAN,
|
|
REAGAN SCHMALZ, GROVER TRASK, II,
|
|
ROBERT SPITZER, LINFORD L.
|
|
RICHARDSON, GUY PORTILLO,
|
|
individuals, and the COUNTY OF
|
|
RIVERSIDE, a subdivision of the
|
|
State of CAlifornia, And the CITY
|
|
OF RIVERSIDE, a municipal entity,
|
|
and DOES 1 through 100 inclusive,
|
|
Defendants.
|
|
|
|
Plaintiffs complain of defendants as follows:
|
|
JURISDICTIONAL ALLEGATION
|
|
|
|
1. This case arises under an Act of Congress, namely
|
|
the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986; U.S.C. Section
|
|
2701, et Seq., and in particular, the civil enforcement
|
|
Provisions thereof, 18 U.S.C. Section 2707. Venue is proper in this
|
|
Court in that all of the defendants reside in this district.
|
|
|
|
COMMON ALLEGATIONS
|
|
|
|
2. Plaintiffs are all individuals residing in
|
|
various point and places in the United States. [except Brian
|
|
Wowk who resides in Canada.]
|
|
3. Defendants Carillo, Hill, Cupido, Kuntzman,
|
|
Worthington, Bogan, Schmalz, Trask, Spitzer, Hinman and Mosley
|
|
are all employees of defendant County of Riverside, and at all
|
|
times material, were acting within the course and scope of their
|
|
employment. Defendants Richardson and Portillo are all
|
|
employees of defendant City of Riverside and at all times
|
|
material, were acting within the course and scope of their
|
|
employment. Defendant County of Riverside ["county'] is a
|
|
political subdivision of the State of California. Defendant
|
|
City of Riverside ["city'] is a municipal entity located within
|
|
California.
|
|
Defendants Carillo, Hill, Cupido, Kuntzman,
|
|
Worthington, Bogan, and Schmalz are employed by defendant County
|
|
in the Office of the Riverside County Coroner. Defendants
|
|
Trask, Spitzer, Hinman and Mosley are employed by the said
|
|
county in the office of the District Attorney, Defendants
|
|
Richardson and Portillo are employed by defendant City in the
|
|
Riverside Police Department.
|
|
|
|
-------------------
|
|
|
|
4. All of the events complained of herein occurred
|
|
within two years of the date of filing of the complaint.
|
|
At all times material, Alcor Life Extension
|
|
Foundation, a non-Profit corporation with its principal place of
|
|
business in Riverside County, maintained facilities at its place
|
|
of business whose purpose was to (in part) facilitate the
|
|
sending and receipt of electronic mail ["E-mail"] via computer-
|
|
driven modems and which electronic mail facility was utilized by
|
|
the plaintiffs, and each of them. The Alcor Facility is remote in
|
|
geographical location from all plaintiffs.
|
|
5. At all times material, each plaintiff had one or
|
|
more E-mail messages abiding on electron or magnetic medial at
|
|
the Alcor facility. Prior to [actually on] January 12, 1988, defendants
|
|
procured from the Riverside Superior Court a search warrant
|
|
which authorized, in general, a search of the facilities of
|
|
Alcor. A true and correct copy of that search warrant is
|
|
attached hereto and marked Exhibit "A". The search warrant does
|
|
not purport to reach, nor was it intended to reach, any of the
|
|
E-mail of plaintiffs.
|
|
6. On January 12, 1988, defendant entered upon the
|
|
Alcor premisses and removed many things therefrom including the
|
|
electronic media containing plaintiffs' E-mail.
|
|
7. Contemporaneously with the seizure of the
|
|
electronic media containing plaintiffs' E-mail, defendants were
|
|
explicitly informed that they were seizing plaintiffs' E-mail
|
|
which was not described either generally or specifically in the
|
|
warrant hereinabove referred to.
|
|
|
|
--------------
|
|
|
|
8. No notice was given to any plaintiff by any
|
|
defendant of the impending seizure of their E-mail.
|
|
9. In the process of procuring the warrant, neither
|
|
the defendants nor anyone else made any showing that there
|
|
was reason to believe that the contents of any of plaintiffs' E-
|
|
mail was relevant to any law enforcement inquiry.
|
|
10. Subsequent to the execution of the warrant on
|
|
January 12, 1988, no notice was given to any plaintiff by any
|
|
government entity, including the defendants, nor any
|
|
defendant herein, at any time, regarding the defendants
|
|
acquisition and retention of plaintiffs' E-mail.
|
|
11. The court issuing the warrant in respect of the
|
|
Alcor facility did not, prior to the issuance of the warrant nor
|
|
at any other time, determine that notice to plaintiffs
|
|
compromised any legitimate investigation within the meaning of 18
|
|
U.S.C. section 2705(a)(2).
|
|
12. Not withstanding that defendant and each of them
|
|
were informed that they had taken, along with materials
|
|
describe in the warrant, E-mall belonging to plaintiffs, said
|
|
defendants knowingly and willfully (a) continued to access the
|
|
electronic and magnetic media containing plaintiffs' E-mail and
|
|
(b) continued to deny access to plaintiffs to such E-mail for
|
|
many months although a demand was made for the return of the
|
|
said E-mail. Defendants' wrongful access to and retention of
|
|
plaintiffs' E-mail was intentional within the meaning of 18
|
|
U.S.C. section 2707.
|
|
|
|
--------------
|
|
|
|
13. Proximately caused by the unprivileged actions of
|
|
the defendants hereinbefore described, each plaintiff has
|
|
suffered damage in an amount to be proved at trial, but in no
|
|
event less than $10,000 each.
|
|
WHEREFORE plaintiffs pray:
|
|
1. For damages according to proof;
|
|
2. For cost of suit;
|
|
3. For Attorneys' fees pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
|
|
section 2707(b)(3); and
|
|
4. For such other and further relief as is required
|
|
in the circumstances.
|
|
|
|
Date: January 11, 1990
|
|
|
|
|
|
GARFIELD, TEPPER, ASHWORTH, AND EPSTEIN
|
|
A Professional Corporation
|
|
|
|
(signed)
|
|
CHRISTOPHER ASHWORTH
|
|
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
|
|
|
|
--------------
|
|
|
|
Exhibit "A"
|
|
|
|
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE, STATE OF CALIFORNIA
|
|
SEARCH WARRANT
|
|
|
|
To any Sheriff, Police Officer, Marshal or Peace Officer
|
|
in the County of Riverside.
|
|
|
|
Proof, by sworn statement, having been made this day
|
|
to me by Alan Kunzman and it appearing that there is
|
|
probable cause to believe that at the place and on the
|
|
persons and in the vehicle(s) set forth herein there
|
|
is now being concealed property which is:
|
|
|
|
____ stolen or embezzled property
|
|
__x__ property and things used to commit a felony
|
|
__x__ property possessed (or being concealed by another)
|
|
with intent to commit a public offense
|
|
__x__ property tending to show a felony was committed;
|
|
YOU ARE THEREFORE COMMANDED TO SEARCH : the
|
|
premises located at
|
|
|
|
[description of Alcor address at 12327 Doherty St.]
|
|
|
|
including all rooms attics, basements, storage areas, and
|
|
other parts therein, garages, grounds and outbuilding and
|
|
appurtenances to said premises; vehicles(s) described as
|
|
follows:
|
|
(not applicable)
|
|
and the persons of (not applicable)
|
|
for the following property:
|
|
|
|
1. All electronic storage devices, capable of storing,
|
|
electronic data regarding the above records,
|
|
including magnetic tapes, disc, (floppy or hard),
|
|
and the complete hardware necessary to retrieve
|
|
electronic data including CPU (Central Processing
|
|
Unit), CRT (viewing screen, disc or tape drives(s),
|
|
printer, software and service manual for operation
|
|
of the said computer, together with all handwritten
|
|
notes or printed material describing the
|
|
operation of the computers (see exhibit A - search
|
|
warrant no., 1 property to be seized #1)
|
|
|
|
2. Human body parts identifiable or belonging to
|
|
the deceased, Dora Kent.
|
|
|
|
3. Narcotics, controlled substances and other
|
|
drugs subject to regulation by the Drug
|
|
Enforcement Administration.
|
|
|
|
|
|
4. Article of personal property tending to establish the identity
|
|
of person in control of premise, vehicle, storage areas,
|
|
and containers being searched, including utility company
|
|
receipts, rent receipts, address envelopes and keys and to
|
|
SEIZE it if found and bring it forthwith before me or
|
|
this court at the courthouse of this court.
|
|
Good cause being shown this warrant my be served at any
|
|
time of the day or night as approve by my initials_________
|
|
|
|
Time of issuance _______ Time of execution __1600__
|
|
Given under my hand and dated this 12th day of January 1988
|
|
Thomas E. Hollenhorst Judge of the Superior Court
|
|
|
|
-------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
|
|
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
|
|
|
|
|
|
H. KEITH HENSON, see attachment "A"
|
|
PLAINTIFF(S)
|
|
|
|
vs.
|
|
|
|
RAYMOND CARRILLO, see attachment "A"
|
|
DEFENDANTS(S)
|
|
|
|
CASE NUMBER
|
|
|
|
SA CV- 90-021 JSL Rw Rx
|
|
|
|
SUMMONS
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANT(S), your are hereby summoned and required to
|
|
file with this court and serve upon
|
|
Christopher Ashworth, Esq.
|
|
GARFIELD, TEPPER, ASHWORTH & EPSTEIN
|
|
A Professional Corporation
|
|
|
|
Plaintiff's attorney, whose address is:
|
|
|
|
1925 Century Park East, Suite 1250
|
|
Los Angeles, California 90067
|
|
(213) 277-1981
|
|
|
|
an answer to the complaint which is herewith serve upon you
|
|
within __20__ days after service of this summons upon you, exclusive
|
|
of the day of service. If you fail to do so, judgment by default
|
|
will be taken against you for the relief demanded in the complaint.
|
|
|
|
Date Jan. 11, 1990
|
|
|
|
CLERK, U.S. DISTRICT COURT
|
|
|
|
By MARIA CORTEZ
|
|
Deputy Clerk
|
|
(SEAL OF THE COURT)
|
|
|
|
>--------=====END=====--------<
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
*** Pirate Magazine Issue I - 5 / File 10 of 11***
|
|
*** Hacker Chases Hacker Chasers ***
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
From: RISKS-FORUM Digest Wednesday 21 March 1990 Volume 9 : Issue 77
|
|
|
|
------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Date: 21 Mar 90 10:30:41
|
|
From: John Markoff via PGN (excerpted) <neumann@csl.sri.com>
|
|
Subject: Internet Intruders
|
|
|
|
SELF-PROCLAIMED `HACKER' SENDS MESSAGE TO CRITICS
|
|
By JOHN MARKOFF, c.1990 N.Y. Times News Service
|
|
|
|
A man identifying himself as the intruder who illegally penetrated part of a
|
|
nationwide computer linkup said Tuesday that he had done so to taunt computer
|
|
security specialists who have denounced activities like his. His assertion
|
|
came in a telephone call to The New York Times on Tuesday afternoon. The man
|
|
identified himself only as an Australian named Dave, and his account could not
|
|
be confirmed. But he offered a multitude of details about various electronic
|
|
break-ins in recent months that were corroborated by several targets of the
|
|
intruder. He said he was calling from outside the United States, but that
|
|
could not be verified.
|
|
|
|
Federal investigators have said that in recent months the intruder has
|
|
illegally entered computers at dozens of institutions in a nationwide network,
|
|
the Internet. Once inside the computers, they said, the intruder stole lists
|
|
of the passwords that allow users to enter the system and then erased files to
|
|
conceal himself. [...]
|
|
|
|
Investigators in the new Internet case said the federal authorities in
|
|
Chicago were close to finding the intruder and several associates. The U.S.
|
|
attorney's office in Chicago refused to confirm that assertion. The
|
|
investigators said that in some cases the intruder might have used a program
|
|
that scanned the network for computers that were vulnerable.
|
|
|
|
In his telephone call to The Times on Tuesday, the man said he had broad
|
|
access to U.S. computer systems because of security flaws in those machines.
|
|
As a self-proclaimed computer hacker, he said, he decided to break in to the
|
|
computer security experts' systems as a challenge. Among the targets of the
|
|
recent attacks were Clifford Stoll, a computer system manager at the
|
|
Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory at Harvard University, and Eugene
|
|
Spafford, a computer scientist who specializes in computer security issues at
|
|
Purdue University. The caller said he was upset by Stoll's portrayal of
|
|
intruders in a new book, ``The Cuckoo's Egg.'' ``I was angry at his
|
|
description of a lot of people,'' the caller said. ``He was going on about how
|
|
he hates all hackers, and he gave pretty much of a one-sided view of who
|
|
hackers are.''
|
|
|
|
Several days ago the intruder illegally entered a computer Stoll manages at
|
|
Harvard University and changed a standard welcome message to read: ``Have Cliff
|
|
read his mail. The cuckoo has egg on his face. Anonymous.'' The caller
|
|
explained in detail his techniques for illegally entering computer systems. He
|
|
gave information about Stoll's and Spafford's computer systems that matched
|
|
details they were familiar with.
|
|
|
|
And he described a break-in at an external computer that links different
|
|
networks at Digital Equipment Corp. A spokeswoman for the company confirmed
|
|
that a machine had been entered in the manner the caller described. But the
|
|
caller was not able to penetrate more secure Digital computers, she said.
|
|
|
|
The caller said he had intended to tease the security experts but not to
|
|
damage the systems he entered. ``It used to be the security guys chase the
|
|
hackers,'' he said. ``Now it's the hackers chase the security people.''
|
|
|
|
Several managers of computer systems that were entered said that no
|
|
significant harm had been done but that the invader had wasted the time of
|
|
system administrators, who were forced to drop their normal duties to deal with
|
|
the breaches in security.
|
|
|
|
Ordinary users were also inconvenienced, the managers said, because their
|
|
computers had to be temporarily removed from the system for security reasons.
|
|
|
|
Investigators familiar with the break-ins said the intruder had entered
|
|
systems by using several well-known security flaws that have been widely
|
|
distributed in computerized mailing lists
|
|
circulated among systems managers.
|
|
|
|
Stoll, who from 1986 to 1988 tracked a group of West Germans breaking into
|
|
U.S. corporate, university and nonclassified military computers, said the
|
|
intruders had not proved any point. ``It's sad that people have these
|
|
gunslinger ethics,'' he said. ``It shows how easy it is to break into even a
|
|
modestly secure system.'' Spafford, who has also written <garbled>, but added
|
|
that nothing significant had been compromised. [...]
|
|
|
|
As a result of the break-ins, the Smithsonian Astronomical disconnected its
|
|
computers from the Internet, a network that connects severs around the world.
|
|
|
|
Among the institutions believed to have been penetrated by the intruder are
|
|
the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Harvard, Digital Equipment, Livermore
|
|
Laboratories, Boston University and the University of Texas.
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, the caller asserted that he had successfully entered dozens of
|
|
different computers by copying the password files to his machine and then
|
|
running a special program to decode the files. That program was originally
|
|
written as a computer security experiment by a California-based computer
|
|
scientist and then distributed to other scientists. [... reference to the
|
|
following CERT message...]
|
|
|
|
Asked Tuesday whether he would continue his illegal activities, the caller
|
|
said he might lay low for a while. ``It's getting a bit hot,'' he said, ``and
|
|
we went a bit berserk in the past week.''
|
|
|
|
|
|
>--------=====END=====--------<
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
*** Pirate Magazine Issue I - 5 / File 11 of 11***
|
|
*** Hackers and Phreaks as post-moderists ***
|
|
***************************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This file appeared on PC-EXEC in Milwaukee, and is the one referred to
|
|
by Ellis Dea in File 2. We edited out all the academic stuff that you're
|
|
all seen on message boards a thousand times, and just left in the key points.
|
|
The authors do not condone phreaking or hacking, but argue that it should
|
|
be understood, rather than persecuted. They make a point many have made, which
|
|
is that the media and pheds have distorted what goes on out there. Apologies to
|
|
all if too much has been deleted.
|
|
-------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE BAUDY WORLD OF THE BYTE BANDIT:
|
|
A POSTMODERNIST INTERPRETATION OF THE COMPUTER UNDERGROUND
|
|
(March, 1990)
|
|
|
|
"Hackers are "nothing more than high-tech street gangs"
|
|
(Federal Prosecutor, Chicago)."
|
|
|
|
"Transgression is not immoral. Quite to the contrary, it
|
|
reconciles the law with what it forbids; it is the dia-
|
|
lectical game of good and evil (Baudrillard, 1987: 81)."
|
|
|
|
" There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's
|
|
just stuff people do. It's all part of the nice, but
|
|
that's as far as any man got a right to say (Steinbeck,
|
|
1939:31-32)."
|
|
|
|
The criminalization of "deviant acts" transforms and reduces
|
|
social meanings to legal ones. Legal meanings are not necessari-
|
|
ly social meanings. Most deviancy research tends to reproduce
|
|
conventional social ideology and operative definitions of normal-
|
|
ity within its concepts and theories. On occasion, these mean-
|
|
ings represent a form of "class politics" that protect the power
|
|
and privilege of one group from the challenge of another:
|
|
|
|
Divorcing moral crusades from status group competition
|
|
while denying that cultures are linked to social class-
|
|
es has undermined attempts to link lifestyle politics
|
|
to group struggles (Beisel, 1990: 45).
|
|
|
|
Once a category of behaviors has become defined by statute
|
|
as sanctionably deviant, the behaviors so-defined assume a new
|
|
set of meanings that may obscure ones possessed by those who en-
|
|
gage in such behaviors. "Computer deviants" provide one example
|
|
of a criminalized type of "lifestyle politics."
|
|
|
|
The proliferation of computer technology has been accompa-
|
|
nied by the growth of a computer underground (CU), often mistak-
|
|
enly labeled "hackers," that is perceived as criminally deviant
|
|
by the media, law enforcement officials, and researchers. Draw-
|
|
ing from ethnographic data, we offer a cultural rather than a
|
|
criminological analysis of the underground by suggesting that it
|
|
reflects an attempt to recast, re-appropriate, and reconstruct
|
|
the power-knowledge relationship that increasingly dominates the
|
|
ideology and actions of modern society. Our data reveal the com-
|
|
puter underground as an invisible community with a complex and
|
|
interconnected cultural lifestyle, an inchoate anti-authoritarian
|
|
political consciousness, and dependent on norms of reciprocity,
|
|
sophisticated socialization rituals, networks of information
|
|
sharing, and an explicit value system. We interpret the CU cul-
|
|
ture as a challenge to and parody of conventional culture, as a
|
|
playful attempt to reject the seriousness of technocracy, and as
|
|
an ironic substitution of rational technological control of the
|
|
present for an anarchic and playful future.
|
|
|
|
STIGMATIZING THE COMPUTER UNDERGROUND
|
|
|
|
The computer underground refers to persons engaged in one or
|
|
more of several activities, including pirating, anarchy, hacking,
|
|
and phreaking[1]. Because computer underground participants
|
|
freely share information and often are involved collectively in a
|
|
single incident, media definitions invoke the generalized meta-
|
|
phors of "conspiracies" and "criminal rings," (e.g., Camper,
|
|
1989; Zablit, 1989), "modem macho" evil-doers (Bloombecker,
|
|
1988), moral bankruptcy (Schwartz, 1988), "electronic trespas-
|
|
sers" (Parker: 1983), "crazy kids dedicated to making mischief"
|
|
(Sandza, 1984: 17), "electronic vandals" (Bequai: 1987), a new
|
|
"threat" (Van, 1989), saboteurs ("Computer Sabateur," 1988), se-
|
|
cret societies of criminals (WMAQ, 1990), and "high-tech street
|
|
gangs" ("Hacker, 18," 1989). These images have prompted calls
|
|
for community and law enforcement vigilance (Conly and McEwen,
|
|
1990: 2) and for application of the Racketeer Influenced and Cor-
|
|
rupt Organizations (RICO) Act to prosecute and control the "crim-
|
|
inals" (Cooley, 1984). These images fail to distinguish under-
|
|
ground "hobbyists," who may infringe on legal norms but have no
|
|
intention of pillaging, from felonious predators, who use tech-
|
|
nology to loot[2]. Such terminology provides a common stock of
|
|
knowledge that formats interpretations of CU activity in ways
|
|
pre-patterned as requiring social control to protect the common-
|
|
weal (e.g., Altheide, 1985).
|
|
|
|
As Hollinger and Lanza-Kaduce (1988: 119), Kane (1989), and
|
|
Pfuhl (1987) observed, the stigmatization of hackers has emerged
|
|
primarily through value-laden media depictions. When in 1990 a
|
|
Cornell University graduate student inadvertently infected an in-
|
|
ternational computer network by planting a self-reproducing "vi-
|
|
rus," or "rogue program," the news media followed the story with
|
|
considerable detail about the dangers of computer abuse (e.g.,
|
|
Allman, 1990; Winter, 1988). Five years earlier, in May of 1983,
|
|
a group of hackers known as "The 414's" received equal media at-
|
|
tention when they broke into the computer system of the Sloan
|
|
Kettering Cancer research center. Between these dramatic and a-
|
|
typical events, the media have dramatized the dangers of computer
|
|
renegades, and media anecdotes presented during Congressional
|
|
legislative debates to curtail "computer abuse" dramatized the
|
|
"computer hacking problem" (Hollinger and Lanza-Kaduce, 1988:
|
|
107). Although the accuracy and objectivity of the evidence has
|
|
since been challenged (Hollinger and Lanza-Kaduce 1988: 105), the
|
|
media continue to format CU activity by suggesting that any com-
|
|
puter-related felony can be attributed to hacking. Additionally,
|
|
media stories are taken from the accounts of police blotters, se-
|
|
curity personnel, and apprehended hackers, each of whom have dif-
|
|
ferent perspectives and definitions. This creates a self-rein-
|
|
forcing imagery in which extreme examples and cursively
|
|
circulated data are discretely adduced to substantiate the claim
|
|
of criminality by those with a vested interest in creating and
|
|
maintaining such definitions. For example, Conly and McEwen
|
|
(1990) list examples of law enforcement jurisdictions in which
|
|
special units to fight "computer crime," very broadly defined,
|
|
have been created. These broad definitions serve to expand the
|
|
scope of authority and resources of the units. Nonetheless, de-
|
|
spite criminalization, there is little evidence to support the
|
|
contention that computer hacking has been sufficiently abusive or
|
|
pervasive to warrant prosecution (Michalowski and Pfuhl, forth-
|
|
coming).
|
|
|
|
As an antidote to the conventional meanings of CU activity
|
|
as simply one of deviance, we shift the social meaning of CU be-
|
|
havior from one of stigma to one of culture creation and meaning.
|
|
Our work is tentative, in part because of the lack of previous
|
|
substantive literature and in part because of the complexity of
|
|
the data, which indicate a multiplicity of subcultures within the
|
|
CU. This paper examines of two distinct CU subcultures, phreaks
|
|
and hackers, and challenges the Manichean view that hackers can
|
|
be understood simply as profaners of a sacred moral and economic
|
|
order.
|
|
|
|
THE COMPUTER UNDERGROUND AND POST-MODERNISM
|
|
|
|
The computer underground is a culture of persons who call
|
|
computer bulletin board systems (BBSs, or just "boards"), and
|
|
share the interests fostered by the BBS. In conceptualizing the
|
|
computer underground as a distinct culture, we draw from Geertz's
|
|
(1973: 5) definition of culture as a system of meanings that give
|
|
significance to shared behaviors that must be interpreted from
|
|
the perspective of those engaged in them. A culture provides not
|
|
only the "systems of standards for perceiving, believing, evalu-
|
|
ating, and acting" (Goodenough, 1981: 110), but includes the
|
|
rules and symbols of interpretation and discourse for partici-
|
|
pants:
|
|
|
|
In crude relief, culture can be understood as a set of
|
|
solutions devised by a group of people to meet specific
|
|
problems posed by situations they face in com-
|
|
mon. . . This notion of culture as a living, historical
|
|
product of group problem solving allows an approach to
|
|
cultural study that is applicable to any group, be it a
|
|
society, a neighborhood, a family, a dance band, or an
|
|
organization and its segments (Van Maanen and Barley,
|
|
1985: 33).
|
|
|
|
Creating and maintaining a culture requires continuous indi-
|
|
vidual or group processes of sustaining an identity through the
|
|
coherence gained by a consistent aesthetic point of view, a moral
|
|
conception of self, and a lifestyle that expresses those concep-
|
|
tions in one's immediate existence and tastes (Bell, 1976: 36).
|
|
These behavioral expressions signify a variety of meanings, and
|
|
as signifiers they reflect a type of code that can be interpreted
|
|
semiotically, or as a sign system amenable to readings indepen-
|
|
dent of either participants or of those imposed by the super-or-
|
|
dinate culture:
|
|
|
|
All aspects of culture possess a semiotic value, and
|
|
the most taken-for-granted phenomena can function as
|
|
signs: as elements in communication systems governed
|
|
by semantic rules and codes which are not themselves
|
|
directly apprehended in experience. These signs are,
|
|
then, as opaque as the social relations which produce
|
|
them and which they re-present (Hebdige, 1982: 13).
|
|
|
|
It is this symbolic cultural ethos, by which we mean the
|
|
style, world view, and mood (Hebdige, 1979), that reflects the
|
|
postmodernist elements of the CU and separates it from modernism.
|
|
Modernist culture is characterized especially by rationality,
|
|
technological enhancement, deference to centralized control, and
|
|
mass communication. The emergence of computer technology has
|
|
created dramatic changes in social communication, economic trans-
|
|
actions, and information processing and sharing, while simultane-
|
|
ously introducing new forms of surveillance, social control, and
|
|
intrusions on privacy (Marx, 1988a: 208-211; Marx and Reichman,
|
|
1985). This has contributed to a:
|
|
|
|
. . . richly confused and hugely verbal age, energized
|
|
by a multitude of competing discourses, the very pro-
|
|
liferation and plasticity of which increasingly deter-
|
|
mine what we defensively refer to as our reality (New-
|
|
man, 1985: 15).
|
|
|
|
By Postmodernism we mean a reaction against "cultural moder-
|
|
nity" and a destruction of the constraints of the present "maxi-
|
|
mum security society" (Marx, 1988b) that reflect an attempt to
|
|
gain control of an alternative future. In the CU world, this con-
|
|
stitutes a conscious resistance to the domination of but not the
|
|
fact of technological encroachment into all realms of our social
|
|
existence. The CU represents a reaction against modernism by of-
|
|
fering an ironic response to the primacy of a master technocratic
|
|
language, the incursion of computers into realms once considered
|
|
private, the politics of techno-society, and the sanctity of es-
|
|
tablished civil and state authority. Postmodernism is character-
|
|
ized not so much by a single definition as by a number of inter-
|
|
related characteristics, including, but not limited to:
|
|
|
|
1. Dissent for dissent's sake (Lyotard, 1988).
|
|
2. The collapse of the hierarchical distinction between mass
|
|
and popular culture (Featherstone, 1988: 203).
|
|
3. A stylistic promiscuity favoring eclecticism and the mix-
|
|
ing of codes (Featherstone, 1988: 203).
|
|
4. Parody, pastiche, irony, playfulness and the celebration
|
|
of the surface "depthlessness" of culture (Featherstone,
|
|
1988: 203).
|
|
5. The decline of the originality/genius of the artistic pro-
|
|
ducer and the assumption that art can only be repetitious
|
|
(Featherstone 1988: 203).
|
|
6. The stripping away of social and perceptual coordinates
|
|
that let one "know where one is" (Latimer, 1984: 121).
|
|
7. A search for new ways to make the unpresentable presenta-
|
|
ble, and break down the barriers that keep the profane out
|
|
of everyday life (Denzin, 1988: 471).
|
|
8. The introduction of new moves into old games or inventing
|
|
new games that are evaluated pragmatically rather than
|
|
from some uniform stand point of "truth" or philosophical
|
|
discourse (Callinicos, 1985: 86).
|
|
9. Emphasis on the visual over the literary (Lash, 1988:
|
|
314).
|
|
10. Devaluation of formalism and juxtaposition of signifiers
|
|
taken from the banalities of everyday life (Lash, 1988:
|
|
314).
|
|
11. Contesting of rationalist and/or didactive views of cul-
|
|
ture (Lash, 1988: 314).
|
|
12. Asking not what a cultural text means, but what it does
|
|
(Lash, 1988: 314).
|
|
13. Operation through the spectator's immersion, the relative-
|
|
ly unmediated investment of his/her desire in the cultural
|
|
object (Lash, 1988: 314).
|
|
14. Acknowledgement of the decenteredness of modern life and
|
|
"plays with the apparent emptiness of modern life as well
|
|
as the lack of coherence in modern symbol systems" (Man-
|
|
ning, 1989: 8).
|
|
|
|
"Post-Modernism" in its positive form constitutes an intel-
|
|
lectual attack upon the atomized, passive and indifferent mass
|
|
culture which, through the saturation of electronic technology,
|
|
has reached its zenith in Post-War American (Newman, 1985: 5).
|
|
It is this style of playful rebellion, irreverent subversion, and
|
|
juxtaposition of fantasy with high-tech reality that impels us to
|
|
interpret the computer underground as a postmodernist culture.
|
|
|
|
***********************************
|
|
20 pages of academic gibberish deleted here --eds
|
|
************************************
|
|
|
|
HACKERS:
|
|
Hackers take pride in their assumed
|
|
names, and one of the greatest taboos is to use the handle of an-
|
|
other or to use multiple handles. Handles are borrowed liberally
|
|
from the anti-heros of science fiction, adventure fantasy, and
|
|
heavy metal rock lyrics, particularly among younger users, and
|
|
from word plays on technology, nihilism, and violence. The CU
|
|
handle reflects a stylistic identity heavily influenced by meta-
|
|
phors reflecting color (especially red and black), supernatural
|
|
power (e.g., "Ultimate Warrior, "Dragon Lord"), and chaos ("Death
|
|
Stalker," "Black Avenger"), or ironic twists on technology, fan-
|
|
tasy, or symbols of mass culture (e.g., Epeios, Phelix the Hack,
|
|
Rambo Pacifist, Hitch Hacker).
|
|
|
|
This anti-establishment ethos also provides an ideological
|
|
unity for collective action. Hackers have been known to use
|
|
their collective skills in retaliation for acts against the cul-
|
|
ture that the perceive as unfair by, for example, changing credit
|
|
data or "revoking" driver's licenses (Sandza, 1984; "Yes, you
|
|
Sound very Sexy," 1989). Following a bust of a national hacker
|
|
group, the message section of the "home board" contained a lively
|
|
debate on the desireability of a retaliatory response, and the
|
|
moderates prevailed. Influenced especially by such science fan-
|
|
tasy as William Gibson's Neuromancer (1984), John Brunner's The
|
|
Shockwave Rider (1975), and cyber-punk, which is a fusion of ele-
|
|
ments of electronic communication technology and the "punk" sub-
|
|
culture, the hacker ethic promotes resistance to the very forms
|
|
that create it. Suggestive of Frazer's (1922) The Golden Bough,
|
|
power is challenged and supplanted by rituals combining both de-
|
|
struction and rejuvenation. From this emerges a shared ethos of
|
|
opposition against perceived Orwellian domination by an informa-
|
|
tion-controlling elite.
|
|
|
|
(Hackers will) always be necessary, especially in the
|
|
technological oppression of the future. Just imagine
|
|
an information system that systematically filters out
|
|
certain obscene words. Then it will move on to phras-
|
|
es, and then entire ideas will be replaced by comput-
|
|
ers! Anyway, there will always be people tripping out
|
|
on paper and trying to keep it to themselves, and it's
|
|
up to us to at least loosen their grasp (P.A. Message
|
|
Log 1988).
|
|
|
|
In sum, the hacker style reflects well-defined goals, commu-
|
|
nication networks, values, and an ethos of resistance to authori-
|
|
ty. Because hacking requires a broader range of knowledge than
|
|
does phreaking, and because such knowledge can be acquired only
|
|
through experience, hackers tend to be both older and more knowl-
|
|
edgeable than phreaks. In addition, despite some overlap, the
|
|
goals of the two are somewhat dissimilar. As a consequence, each
|
|
group constitutes a separate analytic category.
|
|
|
|
Phreaks.
|
|
|
|
The attraction of phreaking and its attendant life-style
|
|
appear to center on three fundamental characteristics: The
|
|
quest for knowledge, the belief in a higher ideological purpose
|
|
of opposition to potentially dangerous technological control, and
|
|
the enjoyment of risk-taking. In a sense, CU participants con-
|
|
sciously create dissonance as a means of creating social meaning
|
|
in what is perceived as an increasingly meaningless world (Milo-
|
|
vanovic and Thomas, 1989). Together, phreaks and hackers have
|
|
created an overlapping culture that, whatever the legality, is
|
|
seen by participants as a legitimate enterprise in the new "tech-
|
|
no-society."
|
|
|
|
CONCLUSION
|
|
|
|
The transition to an information-oriented society dependent
|
|
on computer technology brings with it new symbolic metaphors and
|
|
behaviors. Baudrillard (1987: 15) observed that our private
|
|
sphere now ceases to be the stage where the drama of subjects at
|
|
odds with their objects and with their image is played out, and
|
|
we no longer exist as playwrites or actors, but as terminals of
|
|
multiple networks. The public space of the social arena is re-
|
|
duced to the private space of the computer desk, which in turn
|
|
creates a new semi-public, but restricted, public realm to which
|
|
dissonance seekers retreat. To participate in the computer un-
|
|
derground is to engage in what Baudrillard (1987: 15) describes
|
|
as private telematics, in which individuals, to extend Baudril-
|
|
lard's fantasy metaphor, are transported from their mundane com-
|
|
puter system to the controls of a hypothetical machine, isolated
|
|
in a position of perfect sovereignty, at an infinite distance
|
|
from the original universe. There, identity is created through
|
|
symbolic strategies and collective beliefs (Bordieu, cited in
|
|
Wacquant, 1989: 35).
|
|
|
|
We have argued that the symbolic identity of the computer
|
|
underground creates a rich and diverse culture comprised of jus-
|
|
tifications, highly specialized skills, information-sharing net-
|
|
works, norms, status hierarchies, language, and unifying symbolic
|
|
meanings. The stylistic elements of CU identity and activity
|
|
serve what Denzin (1988: 471) sees as the primary characteristic
|
|
of postmodern behavior, which is to make fun of the past while
|
|
keeping it alive and the search for new ways to present the un-
|
|
presentable in order to break down the barriers that keep the
|
|
profane out of the everyday.
|
|
|
|
The risks entailed by acting on the fringes of legality and
|
|
substituting definitions of acceptable behavior with their own,
|
|
the playful parodying of mass culture, and the challenge to au-
|
|
thority constitute an exploration of the limits of techno-culture
|
|
while resisting the legal meanings that would control such ac-
|
|
tions. The celebration of anti-heros, re-enacted through forays
|
|
into the world of computer programs and software, reflects the
|
|
stylistic promiscuity, eclecticism and code-mixing that typifies
|
|
the postmodern experience (Featherstone, 1988: 202). Rather than
|
|
attempt to fit within modern culture and adapt to values and def-
|
|
initions imposed on them, CU participants mediate it by mixing
|
|
art, science, and resistance to create a culture with an alterna-
|
|
tive meaning both to the dominant one and to those that observers
|
|
would impose on them and on their enterprise.
|
|
|
|
Pfuhl (1987) cogently argued that criminalization of comput-
|
|
er abuse tends to polarize definitions of behavior. As a conse-
|
|
quence, To view the CU as simply another form of deviance, or as
|
|
little more than "high-tech street gangs" obscures the ironic,
|
|
mythic, and subversive element, the Nieztschean "will to power,"
|
|
reflected in the attempt to master technology while challenging
|
|
those forces that control it. The "new society" spawned by com-
|
|
puter technology is in its infancy, and, as Sennet (1970: xvii)
|
|
observed, the passage of societies through adolescence to maturi-
|
|
ty requires acceptance of disorder and painful dislocation.
|
|
|
|
Instead of embracing the dominant culture, the CU has creat-
|
|
ed an irreducible cultural alternative, one that cannot be under-
|
|
stood without locating its place within the dialectic of social
|
|
change. Especially in counter-cultures, as Hebdige (1983: 3) ob-
|
|
serves, "objects are made to mean and mean again," often ending:
|
|
|
|
. . .in the construction of a style, in a gesture of
|
|
defiance or contempt, in a smile or a sneer. It sig-
|
|
nals a Refusal. I would like to think that this Reusal
|
|
and the sneers have some subversive
|
|
value. . . (Hebdige, 1982: 3).
|
|
***********************
|
|
Guess we should include all the bibliography in case we deleted something
|
|
important. But we find the list interesting for it's own sake. The authors
|
|
should also take a look at the HARPER'S Forum in the March, 1990 issue, that
|
|
contains a symposium/debate on computer hacking, and includes Phiber Optik and
|
|
Acid Phreak, along with Clifford Stoll, author of the Cuckoo's Egg. We would
|
|
also add CUCKOO'S EGG to this list EedsL.
|
|
*************************
|
|
|
|
BIBLIOGRAPHY
|
|
|
|
Allman, William F. 1990. "Computer Hacking goes on Trial."
|
|
U.S. News and World Report, January 22: 25.
|
|
Altheide, David L. 1985. Media Power. Beverly Hills: SAGE.
|
|
Baudrillard, Jean. 1987. The Ecstasy of Communication. New
|
|
York: Semiotext(e).
|
|
Beisel, Nicola. 1990. "Class, Culture, and Campaigns against
|
|
Vice in Three American Cities, 1872-1892." American
|
|
Sociological Review, 55(February): 44-62.
|
|
Bell, 1976. The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. New
|
|
York: Basic Books.
|
|
Bloombecker, Jay. 1988. Interview, Hour Magazine. NBC
|
|
television, November 23.
|
|
Bordieu, Pierre. 1989. "Social Space and Symbolic Power."
|
|
Sociological Theory, 7(Spring): 14-25.
|
|
Brunner, John. 1989. The Shockwave Rider. New York:
|
|
Ballantine.
|
|
Callinicos, Alex. 1985. "Posmodernism, Post-Structuralism,
|
|
Post-Marxism?" Theory, Culture and Society, 2(3): 85-101.
|
|
Camper, John. 1989. "Woman Indicted as Computer Hacker
|
|
Mastermind." Chicago Tribune, June 21: II-4.
|
|
"Computer Expert's Son Cited as Virus Creator.' 1988. Chicago
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|
Tribune, November 5: 1, 2.
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"Computer Saboteur gets Probation." 1988. Chicago Tribune, Oct.
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22: 4.
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Conly, Catherine H. and J. Thomas McEwen. 1990. "Computer
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Crime." NIJ Reports, 218(January/February): 2-7.
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Cooley, Ronald B. 1984. "RICO: Modern Weaponry against Software
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Pirates." Computer Law>Law Journal, 5(Fall): 143-162.
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Denzin, Norman K. 1988. "Blue Velvet: Postmodern
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Contradictions." Theory, Culture and Society. 5(June):
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461-473.
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"Doctor Crash." 1986. "The Techno-Revolution." PHRACK, I(6):
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Phile 3.
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"EB" %anonymous computerphile%. 1990. Circulated electronic
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|
letter, February.
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Featherstone, Mike. 1988. "In Pursuit of the Postmodern: An
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Introduction." Theory, Culture and Society, 2-3(June):
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195-215.
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Frazer, James G. 1922. The Golden Bough. New York: MacMillan.
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Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretion of Cultures. New
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Gibson, William. 1984. Neuromancer. New York: Ace.
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Glaser, Barney G. and Anselm L. Strauss. 1967. The Discovery of
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Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research.
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Chicago: Aldine.
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Goodenough, Ward. 1981. Culture, Language, and Society. Menlo
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Park (Calif.): Benjamin/Cummings.
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"Hacker, 18, Gets Prison for Fraud." 1989. Chicago Tribune,
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February 15: III-1.
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Hebdige, Dick. 1982. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. New
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York: Metheun.
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Hollinger, Richard C. and Lonn Lanza-Kaduce. 1988. "The Process
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of Criminalization: The Case of Computer Crime Laws."
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Criminology, 26(February): 101-126.
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Hume, Brit, and T.R. Reid. 1989. "Software can be Safeguarded
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|
from Bootlegging, Power Surge. Chicago Tribune, March 25:
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VII: 4.
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Kane, Pamela. 1989. V.I.R.U.S. Protection: Vital Information
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|
Resources under Siege. New York: Bantam.
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Landreth, Bill. 1985. Out of the Inner Circle: A Hacker's Guide
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to Computer Security. Belleview (Wash.): Microsoft Press.
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Lash, Scott. 1988. "Discourse or Figure? Postmodernism as
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'Regime of Signification.'" Theory, Culture and Society,
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5(June):311-336.
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Latimer, Dan. 1984. "Jameson on Post-Modernism." New Left
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Review, 148(November/December): 116-128.
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Levy, Steven. 1984. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution.
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Garden City: Doubleday.
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Lyotard, Jean-Francois. 1988. The Postmodern Condition: A
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Report on Knowledge. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
|
|
Press.
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|
Manning, Peter K. (forthcoming). "Strands in the Postmodernist
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|
Rope: Ethnographic Themes." in N. Denzin (ed.), Studies in
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Symbolic Interaction (Vol. 13). Greenwich (Conn.): JAI.
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Marx, Gary T. 1988a. Undercover: Police Surveillance in
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|
America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
|
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. 1988b. "The Maximum Security Society." Deviance et
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Societe, 12(2): 147-166.
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Marx, Gary T., and Nancy Reichman. 1985. "Routinizing the
|
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Discovery of Secrets: Computers as Informants." Software Law
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Meyer, Gordon R. 1989a. The Social Organization of the computer
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underground. Unpublished Masters Thesis, Northern Illinois
|
|
University.
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of the Computer Age." Pp. 74-82 in P. Kane, V.I.R.U.S.
|
|
Protection: Vital Information Resources under Siege. New
|
|
York: Bantam.
|
|
Meyer, Gordon R. and Jim Thomas. 1989. "Role Differentiation in
|
|
the computer underground." Paper presented at the Society for
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|
the Study of Social Problems annual meetings, Berkeley,
|
|
August.
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