111 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
111 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
Index: Day Three of the Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service Lawsuit. The
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judge spent time straight reprimanding a Agent of the Secret Service for
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the behavior regarding the raid and subsequent investigation of Steve
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Jackson Games. Report by Joe Abernathy of Houston Chronicle.
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Paco X Nathan: Steve Jackson Games - Day 3
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Fri, 29 Jan 1993 11:12
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Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service wrapup
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By JOE ABERNATHYCopyright 1993, Houston Chronicle
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AUSTIN -- An electronic civil rights case against the Secret
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Service closed Thursday with a clear statement by federal District Judge
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Sam Sparks that the Service failed to conduct a proper investigation in
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a notorious computer crime crackdown, and went too far in retaining
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custody of seized equipment.
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The judge's formal findings in the complex case, which will
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likely set new legal precedents, won't be returned until later.
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A packed courtroom sat on the edge of the seat Thursday morning
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as Sparks subjected the Secret Service agent in charge of the
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investigation to a grueling dressing-down.
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The judge's rebuke apparently convinced the Department of
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Justice to close its defense after calling only that one of the several
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government witnesses on hand. Attorney Mark Battan entered subdued
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testimony seeking to limit the award of monetary damages.
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Secret Service Special Agent Timothy Foley of Chicago, who was
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in charge of three Austin computer search-and-seizures on March 1, 1990,
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that led to thelawsuit, stoically endured Spark's rebuke over the
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Service's poor investigationand abusive computer seizure policies. While
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the Service has seized dozens of computers since the crackdown began in
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1990, this is the first case to challenge the practice.
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"The Secret Service didn't do a good job in this case. We know
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no investigation took place. Nobody ever gave any concern as to whether
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(legal) statuteswere involved. We know there was damage," Sparks said in
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weighing damages.
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The lawsuit, brought by Steve Jackson Games of Austin, said that
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the seizure of three computers violated the Privacy Protection Act,
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which provides First Amendment protections against seizing a publisher's
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works in progress. The lawsuit further said that since one of the
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computers was being used to run a bulletin board system containing
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private electronic mail, the seizure violated the Electronic
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Communications Privacy Act in regards to the 388 callers of the
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Illuminati BBS.
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Sparks grew visibly angry when it was established that the
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Austin science fiction magazine and game book publisher was never
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suspected of a crime, and that agents did not do even marginal research
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to establish a criminal connectionbetween the firm and the suspected
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illegal activities of an employee, or to determine that the company was
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a publisher. Indeed, agents testified that they were not even trained in
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the Privacy Protection Act at the special Secret Service school on
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computer crime.
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"How long would it have taken you, Mr. Foley, to find out what
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Steve Jackson Games did, what it was?" asked Sparks. "An hour?
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"Was there any reason why, on March 2, you could not return to
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Steve Jackson Games a copy, in floppy disk form, of everything taken?
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"Did you read the article in Business Week magazine where it had
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a picture of Steve Jackson -- a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen --
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saying he was a computer crime suspect?
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"Did it ever occur to you, Mr. Foley, that seizing this material
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could harm Steve Jackson economically?"
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Foley replied, "No, sir," but the judge offered his own answer.
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"You actually did, you just had no idea anybody would actually
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go out and hire a lawyer and sue you."
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More than $200,000 has been spent by the Electronic Frontier
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Foundationin bringing the case to trial. The EFF was founded by Mitchell
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Kapor amid a civil liberties movement sparked in large part by the
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Secret Service computer crimecrackdown.
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"The dressing-down of the Secret Service for their behavior is a
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major vindication of what we've been saying all along, which is that
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there were outrageous actions taken against Steve Jackson that hurt his
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business and sent a chilling effect to everyone using bulletin boards,
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and that there were larger principles at stake," said Kapor, contacted
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at his Cambridge, Mass., office.
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"We're very happy with the way the case came out," said Shari
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Steele, who attended the case as counsel for the EFF. "That session with
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the judge and Tim Foley is what a lawyer dreams about."
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That session seemed triggered by a riveting cross-examination of
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Foley by Pete Kennedy, Jackson's attorney.
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Kennedy forced Foley to admit that the search warrant did not
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meet even the Service's own standards for a search-and-seizure, and did
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not establish that Jackson Games was suspected of being involved in any
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illegal activity.
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"Agent Foley, it's been almost three years. Has Chris Goggans
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been indicted? Has Loyd Blankenship been indicted? Has Loyd
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Blankenship's computer been returned to him?"
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The purported membership of Jackson Games employee Blankenship
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in the Legion of Doom hacker's group triggered the raids that day on
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Jackson Games, Blankenship's home, and that of Goggans, a Houstonian who
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at the time was a University of Texas student. No charges have been
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filed, although the computer seized from Blankenship's home --
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containing his wife's dissertation -- never has been returned.
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After the cross-examination, Sparks questioned Foley on a number
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of keydetails before and after the raid, focusing on the holes in the
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search warrant,why Jackson was not allowed to copy his work in progress
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after it was seized, and why his computers were not returned after the
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Secret Service analyzed them, aprocess completed before the end of
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March.
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"The examination took seven days, but you didn't give Steve
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Jackson's computers back for three months. Why?" asked an incredulous
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Sparks. "So here you are, with three computers, 300 floppy disks, an
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owner who was asking for it back, his attorney calling you, and what I
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want to know is why copies of everything couldn't be given back in days.
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Not months. Days.
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"That's what makes you mad about this case."
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