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Computer underground Digest Sun Feb 4, 1996 Volume 8 : Issue 12
ISSN 1004-042X
Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Ian Dickinson
Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
CONTENTS, #8.12 (Sun, Feb 4, 1996)
File 1--big bro closing in (AOL records searched)
File 2--German Prosecutors now Threatening AMERICA ONLINE
File 3--AP: UMass censors Zundelmirror
File 4--EFC: -- Net Censorship Backfires --
File 5--First Raid to Japanese ISP for distribution of obscenity
File 6--ISP's and Common Carrier status (A response to Mr. Townson)
File 7--Academic Press virus book borrows from SKISM/40Hex
File 8--Journal of Technology Law & Policy
File 9--Gay Oregon State Rep. George Eighmey Is OUT on the Web
File 10--Re: Big Copyright Ruling
File 11--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 16 Dec, 1995)
CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "James P. Galasyn" <blackbox@HALCYON.COM>
Subject: File 1--big bro closing in (AOL records searched)
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 10:41:11 -0800 (PST)
NJ POLICE INTERNET INVESTIGATION OF MURDER THREATENS PRIVACY
Excerpted, Trenton Times, 1/28/96
Police needs vie with privacy
The bizarre E.Windsor killing that led to a gay "chat room" on
America OnLine (AOL) has underscored how on-line computer
discussions & e-mail - thought by many users to be private - are
vulnerable to routine criminal investigations. Fairfax Co. VA
police assisting in the local investigation of the 1/5 murder of
Hesse Unger of Hamilton, obtained a criminal search warrant and
descended on America Online's Vienna, Va., headquarters Monday to
perform the first such search ever of America Online records.
After sifting through electronic information and e-mail all day,
officers confiscated dozens of files and turned them over to
authorities in New Jersey. East Windsor Detective John Funda said
local police received the files Thursday evening, but had not yet
examined them.
The search of the America Online (AOL) computers has sparked fierce
debate on the Internet and given law enforcement agencies food for
thought. Although civil and criminal court subpoenas have been
served on on-line services in recent years, this week's search
warrant has demonstrated law enforcement's ability to reach
information some computer users incorrectly thought was
confidential.
"IN FIVE YEARS, we are going to see police pulling someone's
America Online records or Compuserve records" commonly, said David
Banisar, an analyst for the Washington-based Electronic Privacy
Information Center, 'a watchdog group specializing electronic
communication issues. "They are going to have access to very
personal, private information," he said. "They will be able to
read your messages, find out who you talk to, even what your
fetishes might be. And right now, very little of that information
is being protected."
But law enforcement sources said that to obtain most computer
records, investigators will have to seek search warrants under the
same standards that now apply to searches of private homes and
businesses. Still, police are enthusiastic about the potentially
incriminating information stored in computers. "It's an 'area in
the future that we'll look at as an avenue to gather information
and evidence," said Fairfax County Police Lt. Judi Lukens Torian.
"We don't want to overstep our bounds, and this would be used only
in necessary cases. But there is a lot of information on those
disks that could,be vital to cases."
The case that led to the search began Jan. 5 in East Windsor when
police found the lime-covered body of Unger, 38, wrapped in a blue
plastic tarpaulin in the basement of George Hemenway's Jeffrey Lano
home. Hemenway, 39, has confessed to shooting and killing Unger
while a 15-year-old Hamilton boy looked on ' prosecutors said. The
teenager, whose name is being withheld due to his age, told The
Times that he, Unger and Hemenway had met through AOL. The boy
said the three computer users often met in an AOL chat room titled
"NJ M4M," which is the shorthand title for "New Jersey Men for
Men," a gay-themed chat room.
CHAT ROOMS allow users with common interests to exchange electronic
messages as they sit before their computers, which are connected
to the service by modems and phone lines.
Two other AOL users - Michelle Benson, 24, of Trenton and Timothy
Brown, 24, of Hightstown - became involved in the East Windsor
murder case when Hemenway asked them to help remove Unger's body
from his basement, prosecutors said. Benson later informed police
about the body, and she and Brown have been charged with tampering
with evidence.
Fairfax County police obtained the AOL search warrant and handed
over their information to local investigators, who already had
seized the computers of Hemenway, Unger and the teenager, said East
Windsor Detective John Funda. A computer expert with the New
Jersey State Police Technical Support Unit has begun examining the
files stored on the hard drives of those computers, Funda said.
"One of the computers we're looking at had a lot of files that were
deleted. Someone was deleting like crazy," said Funda, who added
that experts often can retrieve files that have been deleted from
a hard drive.
The combined information from the hard drives and the AOL search
may shed light on the motive and planning of the homicide, Funda
said. It's possible the hard drives will contain much more
information than was turned up with the AOL search, because the on-
line provider does not archive chat room conversations, and e-mail
sent between members is purged from the AOL system five days after
it is read, AOL spokeswoman Pam McGraw said. Unread e-mail is
purged from the system after 30 days, the spokeswoman said.
ON THE OTHER HAND, computer users can easily choose to save
permanent copies of their on-line excursions to their hard drives.
Several crime and computer specialists said Thursday that the East
Windsor case is the first time they had heard of a homicide victim
meeting his attacker on-line. And the unusual case has led
investigators into controversial terrain. Appeals courts have not
specifically ruled on law enforcement access to such records, but
Congress is considering several bills that would try to curb some
behavior online, including criminalizing indecentspeech. Banisar,
whose group advocates special due process protections before
authorities can search on-line users' data, said Monday's search
illustrates how people other than the targets can be scrutinized
in a cornputer-based criminal probe.
Mary J. Culnan, a Georgetown University associate professor
and expert on computer privacy laws, said many computer users
believe what they write on-line "goes off into the cosmos, never
to be seen again. They don't know there is an archives. "We
already grapple with the issue of police overstepping its bounds,"
Culnan added. "With technology today, that becomes even more
creepy."
McGraw of AOL said it is the company's policy to comply with
subpoenas and that the service cooperated fully with this
investigation.
"We certainly respect and abide by our customers' right to
privacy," she said. "But we also are going to follow the law. We
have 4.5 million customers - that's the size of a city. When we
have some problems, we have to deal with it responsibly."
Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org
To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse
To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 1996 19:13:52 -0500
From: PNOEric@AOL.COM
Subject: File 2--German Prosecutors now Threatening AMERICA ONLINE
FYI. From Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily 2/2/96.
GERMAN PROSECUTORS NOW THREATENING AMERICA ONLINE
German prosecutors now are threatening to file criminal charges
against America Online as well as CompuServe for allowing access to a
neo-Nazi World Wide Web site.
The charge would be inciting racial hatred for allowing access to
material that contends the Holocaust never happened. Publishing or
distributing neo-Nazi or Holocaust-denial literature is a crime in
Germany.
Mannheim prosecutors are attempting to ban access to a site run by a
German-born activist named Ernst Zuendel, now said to live in Toronto.
Zuendel runs The Zundelsite at
http://www.webcom.com/~ezundel/english/.
Last week CompuServe Inc. and a German company, T-Online, were
threatened with legal action and T-Online shut off Web access. Now
America Online, which recently began service in Germany in partnership
with Bertelsmann AG, has been threatened.
AOL CEO Steve Case said in a statement that "this could be one of the
most important developments affecting our industry." He said AOL will
discuss the issue with German prosecutors and explore the options
available.
The online services take the position that, like telephone companies,
they are a common carrier and not responsible for content put up by
others.
Zuendel's site is hosted by Web Communications of Santa Cruz, CA,
which sells Web space and boasts that it is home to 1,536 Web sites,
including Tupperware and Jamaica tourism.
Rob Gelphman, a spokesman for the company, told Media Daily that the
company views itself as a common carrier "like the Postal Service. If
we monitor or edit the content, we become a publisher, and therefore
liable. But we don't like what this guy is doing."
He said the company has not been contacted by German authorities.
Ironically, traffic on Zuendel's site has been "unbelievable" because
of the publicity, Gelphman said.
Last December, Bavarian prosecutors forced CompuServe to prevent
millions of customers worldwide from accessing some 200 sexually
oriented Internet newsgroups.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 1996 19:42:46 -0500 (EST)
From: "Declan B. McCullagh" <declan+@CMU.EDU>
Subject: File 3--AP: UMass censors Zundelmirror
UMass Shuts Down Web Site Containing Material Discounting Holocaust
By Associated Press, 02/02/96
BOSTON (AP) - A University of Massachusetts graduate student
has been ordered to remove material he posted on a web site of
the school's computer system that claims the Nazi Holocaust
never happened.
Lewis McCarthy said he posted the writings to protest attempts
by the German government to censor the Internet. McCarthy said
he is not a neo-Nazi, just an advocate for absolute freedom of
speech.
[...background on zundel...]
The action sparked protest from Internet users around the
world. Two free-speech advocates, Rich Graves at Stanford
University and Declan McCullagh at Carnegie-Mellon University,
obtained the material from Zundel's web site and posted it on
the Internet.
[...object is to spread zundelish material to make difficult to
censor...]
McCarthy said he joined in the effort because he believes the
threat of censorship is worse than Nazi propaganda.
``Deutsche Telekom is trying to suppress unpopular speech,''
McCarthy told The Boston Globe, ``and I believe that's wrong
and dangerous.''
[...]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 96 20:37:14 EST
From: djones@INSIGHT.MCMASTER.CA(David Jones)
Subject: File 4--EFC: -- Net Censorship Backfires --
URL = http://www.efc.ca/pages/pr/efc-pr.01feb96.html
--
ELECTRONIC FRONTIER CANADA (EFC) --- PRESS RELEASE
(For immediate release --- February 1, 1996)
Net Censorship Backfires
Germany's clumsy attempt to block access to specific sites
has resulted in the controversial information being copied
all over the Internet.
German prosecutors are at it again -- bumbling around in cyberspace,
trying to block access to information they think might be illegal under
German law. According to some reports, the prosecutors hope the case
will end up in court where it may start to resolve some of the
uncertain legal issues about who is responsible for information
accessible through computer networks.
They've declared a computer in Santa Cruz, California (www.webcom.com)
to be 'off limits' because one of Web Communications' more than 1,500
customers is Ernst Zundel -- a Canadian resident notorious for claiming
the Holocaust is a Jewish hoax. Stefan Althoff, spokespeson for
Deutsche Telekom, indicates his company's T-Online service (Germany's
largest) has complied with a request from the Mannheim prosecutor's office.
``We have blocked access via the Internet to Herr Zuendel and
his information,'' he says.
* Smoke and Mirror Sites *
``What's ironic, is that this latest attempt at censorship has backfired.
Instead of limiting the audience for Zundel's propaganda, Germany's
clumsy attempt to block access has resulted in the information being
copied to new locations in cyberspace and becoming even more accessible,
... and with the publicity, more people might want to visit these web pages
to see what all the fuss is about,'' says David Jones, president of
Electronic Frontier Canada, a non-profit organization that advocates
freedom of expression on the Internet. ``It's rather unfortunate,''
says Jones, who stressed that EFC ``strongly disagrees with Zundel's views.''
So-called 'mirror sites', which contain copies of Zundel's propaganda,
are springing up at various locations in the world-wide-web.
``It reminds me of the Greek myth in which Hercules battled the
many-headed serpent, Hydra. Whenever he sliced off one head with
his sword, two more grew back in its place,'' comments
EFC vice-president, Jeffrey Shallit.
The appearance of so many mirror sites is partly due to the efforts
of Declan McCullagh, a free speech activist, who has packaged up the
controversial information into a single file and posted a message in
a Usenet newsgroup with instructions on ``how to open your very own
Zundelsite mirror archive in five minutes or less.'' So far there are
at least ten mirror sites, including ones at Carnegie Mellon University,
Stanford University, and MIT. ``If Germany starts to prevent their
University's from connecting to other Universities outside the country,
it defeats the purpose of them being on the Internet in the first place,''
observes David Jones.
* Detours on the Infobahn *
Mirror sites aren't the only headache for German censors.
The oft-quoted adage: ``The Internet recognizes censorship as damage
and routes information around it'' still rings true. ``Students in
Stuttgart, Germany who can't access Zundel's web pages directly can
still visit them indirectly, by using an innovative and award-winning
web site in Toronto called the 'Canadianizer','' explains Jones.
[ URL = http://www.io.org/~themaxx/canada/can.html ]
Created as a sort of joke, this web site in Toronto, allows you to
type in the URL of *another* web site that could be anywhere in the world.
The computer in Toronto then fetches a copy of that web page and
inserts a few 'Canadianisms', such as ending a sentence with 'eh?'.
Once Canadianized, the web page is displayed for you. But since the
page appears to be coming from Toronto, the German blocking mechanism
will be fooled -- it cannot detect that the information really originated
in California. ``It's just a detour on the Infobahn,'' says Jones.
* Information wants to be free; Information wants to be true *
If censorship won't work, you might wonder, what should be done about
people like Zundel who spread hate and lies? ``Zundel thrives on
publicity,'' says EFC's Jeffrey Shallit. ``The right right way to deal
with him is either to ignore him, or to counter his propaganda with the
truth about the Holocaust.'' Shallit points to the efforts of the
'Nizkor Project', based in Vancouver, which has assembled a huge
electronic archive on the Holocaust that researchers around the world
can consult to counter the bogus claims of Holocaust deniers.
``Anyone with an open mind will see who's telling the truth,''
says Shallit, who himself lost many relatives in the Holocaust.
The approach is not new; Justice William O. Douglas, said in 1958:
``The way to combat noxious ideas is with other ideas. The way to combat
falsehoods is with truth.'' Ken McVay, who runs the Nizkor Project,
was recently named to the prestigious 'Order of British Columbia'
for his successful work fighting hate in Canada and elsewhere.
Montreal newspaper reporter, Matt Friedman, recently wrote:
``... while the mainstream and the traditional authorities
dither about, befuddled by the growth and power of the on-line medium,
unable to settle on either a coherent plan of action or a means of
combating hatred without bringing down the Internet in its wake,
McVay and his colleagues are doing battle -- and winning.''
-30-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
EFC Contact Information:
Electronic Frontier Canada
Dr. David Jones phone: (905) 525-9140 x24689 fax: (905) 546-9995
email: djones@efc.ca
Dr. Jeff Shallit phone: (519) 888-4804 fax: (519) 885-1208
email: shallit@efc.ca
Dr. Richard Rosenberg phone: (604) 822-4142 fax: (604) 822-5485
email: rosen@efc.ca
Electronic Frontier Canada, online archives:
URL: http://www.efc.ca/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Other Contact Information:
The original "Zundelsite"
http://www.webcom.com/~ezundel
The company that runs the computer that houses the "Zundelsite"
is "Web Communications", 125 Water St, Suite A1, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
They are directing media inquiries to:
Rob Gelphmanphone: (408) 451-8420
email: gelphman@ix.netcom.com
The "Canadianizer" was created by Rob Stanley and Andrew Chak.
This site was awarded a *prize* by a Toronto radio station
(102.1 FM "The Edge") and a software company "InContext Spider".
URL:http://www.io.org/~themaxx/canada/can.html
Declan McCullaghphone:(412) 441-6768
email: declan@well.com
Declan McCullagh's page on circumnavigating German censorship, URL =
http://www.cs.cmu.edu//afs/cs/user/declan/www/Not_By_Me_Not_My_Views/censorship.
html
The Nizkor Project combats hate propaganda by telling the truth.
URL:http://www.almanac.bc.ca/
Ken McVay is director of the Nizkor Project,
email: kmcvay@nizkor.almanac.bc.ca
The Simon Wiesenthal Center (Toronto Office) is concerned about
online hate propaganda. Their spokesperson in Canada is Sol Littman.
phone:(416) 864-9735
The Simon Wiesenthal Center (Los Angeles office), phone: (310) 553-1303
Matt Friedman, Montreal newspaper reporter who has covered the issue
of hate propaganda on the Net extensivelyphone: (514) 486-3613
email: mattf@friedman.interax.net
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 22:21:31 +0900 (JST)
From: Kenji Rikitake <kenji@RESEAU.TOYONAKA.OSAKA.JP>
Subject: File 5--First Raid to Japanese ISP for distribution of obscenity
Nikkei Shimbun Newspaper Morning Edition, Page 39, February 1, 1996
edition wrote that on January 31st Tokyo Metropolitan Police
investigated an Internet Provider in Sumida-ku, Tokyo (Mainichi
Shimbun reported that the provider was Bekkoame/Internet) for alleged
distribution of obscene graphic materials, along with two members of
Bekkoame, one aged 28 lived in Edogawa-ku, and the other aged 18 lived
in Shinagawa-ku, both in Metropolitan Tokyo. The police says that the
28-years-old member put 67 obscene pictures for open retrieval through
Internet since last December, and that the 18-years-old member put 8
obscene pictures since last September. Nikkei shimbun says the police
would arrest the 28-years-old member soon.
This is the first time for Japanese Police to arrest persons who
distribute what-police-considers-obscene materials on the Internet,
while there has been a few cases of similar investigation on
non-Internet BBSes. Japanese Criminal Law Article 175 says
distribution of obscene pictures or literatures constitutes a crime of
maximum 2 years imprisonment with labor or a maximum fine of
2,500,000yen.
My questions: Is the ISP (Bekkoame/Internet) liable on relaying
pornographic materials? What about pornographic anime pictures widely
available in the Internet? Well, one thing is for sure: beware of
getting raided, Japanese underground activists.
// Kenji Rikitake <kenji@reseau.toyonaka.osaka.jp>
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 12:57:45 -0800 (PST)
From: Jeremy Lassen <jlassen@MINDCRIME.AX.COM>
Subject: File 6--ISP's and Common Carrier status (A response to Mr. Townson)
>there is no prohibition
>against you starting your own newspaper to print it instead. An ISP
>who takes a responsible approach and refuses service to any variety
>of clients --
Patrick Townson Seems to be missing an important point here. ISPs
are not Newspapers. They are not even Content providers. They are
Common Carriers. As soon as an ISP starts deciding who and what they
will carry, they make themselves liable for everything that
originates, or passes through their system.
Mr. Townson says to this What a cop out! What a damn cop out!!!!
This is not a cop out'. his is a smart and necessary business
decision.
One of the major On line providers (Prodigy, I think) was FOUND
LIABLE for a user's post BECAUSE THEY CLAIM TO CONTROL AND REGULATE
what goes on their system. The judge ruled that the service
provider did not have common carrier status because of this.
From a legal standpoint, the moment ISP's decide they will not carry
something, they are saying they are responsible for everything they
do carry, including e-mail, public posts, FTP sights, Websights,
etc....
If Mr. Townson wants to publish a newspaper, electronic or otherwise,
he can decide what he wants to carry. But If he wants to be a
common carrier (ISP), And have the protection that the law provides
for common carriers, He can not simply block a certain group, or
person because he finds their politics or ideology offensive. This
is not a cop out. THIS IS THE LAW!
Neo-Nazi's use the telephone system. Should AT&T refuse to allow
them to use the phones, just because they don't agree with what the
Neo-Nazi's are saying? Of course not. In fact, they could be sued
if they tried to do so.
The bottom line is, If an ISP is willing to take responsibility for
EVERYTHING that comes and goes through its system, then by all means,
refuse to carry and propagate any offensive material, BUT if they
want common carrier protection, they can not pick and choose what
they will and will not carry. There is a legal precedent for this.
I think all ISP's should keep this in mind before they start refusing
to carry things. ISP's are not content providers, and they are not
publishers. They are common carriers.
Aside from any questions of liability, The best response to Mr.
Townson was made by Voltaire, hundreds of years ago -- I disapprove
of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Keep talking Mr. Townson. Just because I find your blatant
disregard for the first amendment offensive, If I were your ISP, I
would not prohibit you from using my service, nor would I refuse to
propagate any messages of yours that passed through my system.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1996 19:17:48 -0600 (CST)
From: Crypt Newsletter <crypt@sun.soci.niu.edu>
Subject: File 7--Academic Press virus book borrows from SKISM/40Hex
Faithful readers of Crypt Newsletter know that when they see
the tired hacker bromide "Information wants to be free!" it's
time to grasp the wallet firmly because a ripoff is in the
making. Danish programmer Rune Skardhamar's computer virus
book for Academic Press ($35 cash money) drop-kicks the reader
with cliches like "Information [on computer viruses] needs to be
free" in the introduction and goes steadily downhill with a
collection of humorous errors, non-working computer virus samples
pulled from virus exchange BBSes and rudimentary anti-virus
programs which, if assembled, either corrupt computer files
or pronounce virus-infected programs clean.
One source for the book is phalcon/SKISM's 40Hex magazine which
Skardhamar calls possessed of a "propagandist" view of computer viruses.
Paradoxically, one of the viruses included in the book is a direct
action .COM-infector produced by the earliest version of the
phalcon/SKISM MPC virus-maker software which, as published, does not
work. Skardhamar's PS-MPC virus sample contains a small error in one
of its DOS function calls that ensures its code cannot be written
to host files and while it's an easy correction for most people
familiar with computer viruses, it's probably beyond the ability of
the audience of beginners at which the book is aimed.
Purely by serendipity, this is to Skardhamar's advantage.
Here's why:
"Virus Detection and Elimination" also comes with a companion diskette
containing some TASM-compatible assembly language programs written
by the author for the purpose of detecting and disinfecting the viruses
included in the book. The "disinfector" for the PS-MPC virus is quite
novel in approach: It cleans the virus by truncating infected programs
by the virus's length and then overwriting the remainder of the
program with garbage from memory, totally corrupting the file.
This appears to be another laughable gaffe which most readers
won't run across simply because the virus the book's "cleaner" is
paired with isn't contagious.
Another interesting example of Skardhamar's approach to virus
detection is the scanning program designed for a companion virus
included in the book. The virus, written by "Wonko the Sane" and
dubbed "The slightly orange avenger" works if you detect the typo
in the code and add a space. (Even for those who don't recognize
it, the error is so small that running the instructions for the
virus through any assembler will flag it and prevent compilation
until a correction is made.) However, the scanner for "Wonko the
Sane's" companion virus doesn't work, instead inspecting infected
files, the binary images of the virus, and gaily announcing to the
user "OK"!
Although not all of the programs on Skardhamar's diskette were
tested, the reader might approach the code (particularly the
detection and disinfection routines) slowly, given the performance
of other examples offered upon it. Indeed, disclaimers peppered
liberally across the diskette balefully proclaim:
"No responsibility whatsoever will be taken for any damage
incidential [sic] or otherwise resulting from the use or misuse of
this program. Neither will responsibility be taken for omissions
or errors in the code, comments etc. You are now resonsibly [sic]
for your own actions."
This type of indirect warning that the reader is about to suffer
a computer hotfoot is paraphrased straight from the computer virus
underground.
The point to be made here, and which I suspect was a bit beyond
the technical editors at Academic Press when they went over the
manuscript - is "Virus Detection and Elimination" is in many ways,
simply the product of trolling virus exchange BBSes and refitting
the subject matter recovered in a more expensive-looking suit.
It's fair to say that lay readers will find portions of "Virus
Detection and Elimination" extremely fascinating
but it would have been easier on consumers to give it a title like
"What I Found After a Few Months of Visiting Virus Exchanges on
BBSes and the Internet" since there is nothing in the book's enclosed
programing that is of much practical use in "detection and
elimination." Of course, a good editor could shorten the new title
to something a bit more zippy and saleable.
Additionally, "Virus Detection and Elimination" covers technique, also
apparently lifted from 40Hex and other files from the computer
underground, on making viruses refractory to trivial attempts at
analysis. In its computer virus history portion, retold again is the
legend of Bulgaria as computer virus factory for the world. The story
has been repeated and exaggerated so often for magazines and newspapers
it's now an inescapable tenet of computer virus lore. An enterprising
individual in search of a few quick bucks would be smart to consider
printing up some black T-shirt's, perhaps emblazoned with "I survived
the Bulgarian computer virus factory!" and setting up a kiosk at
hacker conventions in 1996.
Dave Hannon, an editorial staffer at Academic Press, commented to
Crypt that English was Skardhamar's second language. For readers
of "Virus Detection and Elimination," it's, uh, noticeable. As for the
faults in the anti-virus programs and viruses included with the book,
Hannon also conceded appraising the material and code included in the
book was beyond the technical ability of its American publisher and it
fell to the author to look over his own material for mistakes of this
nature prior to publication.
"Please do not use the information carried in this book to wreck
havoc," Skardhamar writes near the end of his book. He means "wreak
havoc." Further, he writes, "Any stupid fool can make a virus; the
genius is the one who will put the coding techniques to some creative
use." In view of the "code" included with "Virus Detection and
Elimination," this statement - as Skardhamar's parting shot - is
a bone-crusher. His bones, though, not yours, making the book
a solid collector's item amid the increasing "lore" devoted to
the world of computer viruses.
http://www.soci.niu.edu/~crypt
Crypt Newsletter
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 01 Feb 1996 12:54:25 -0500
From: altom@NERVM.NERDC.UFL.EDU
Subject: File 8--Journal of Technology Law & Policy
Journal of Technology Law & Policy
University of Florida
College of Law
******************************************
CALL FOR PAPERS
*****************************
Spring 1996
The Journal of Technology Law & Policy is devoted to exploring the
legal and policy issues raised by emerging technology. We invite
contributions of original works for our Spring, 1996 issue. Student
contributions are encouraged.
To promote access to the Journal, the Journal will be published on the
World Wide Web. Submissions to the Journal are encouraged to take full
advantage of this medium. Relevant graphics, sound, and video may be
utilized.
There are no length limitations for submissions. Submissions must
include a copy in electronic form. All citations should be in Bluebook
and endnote form. Please include the URL of any cited information
available online.
_____________________________
http://grove.ufl.edu/~techlaw
techlaw@grove.ufl.edu
Fax number: (352)-377-7655
Mailing Address:
Journal of Technology Law & Policy
University of Florida
College of Law
P.O. 117640
Gainesville, FL 32611-7640
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1996 23:07:00 EST
From: davidbat@PRODIGY.COM(MR DAVID W BATTERSON)
Subject: File 9--Gay Oregon State Rep. George Eighmey Is OUT on the Web
by David Batterson
PORTLAND--Oregon State Rep. George Eighmey (D-Portland), a longtime
prominent figure in Oregon's GLBT community, has now launched his own
site on the growing World Wide Web.
Eighmey has been out for some time now, and has no qualms about
appearing publicly in an electronic venue that reaches worldwide. In
addition to information on current legislative proposals, there are
links to other governmental Web sites in the state and elsewhere.
He has worked in the State Legislature on issues revolving around
corrections, children and families, and the rights of the terminally
ill. In addition to lawyering, Eighmey is a community activist,
donating his time to the Oregon Gay and Lesbian Law Association, Our
House of Portland (an AIDS hospice), REACH Community Development,
Ladd's Addition and Hosford-Abernathy Neighborhood Associations and
the Oregon Speak Out Project.
The Web address for Rep. George Eighmey is:
http://www.portals.pdx.edu/~eighmey. E-mail: RepGeorge@aol.com.
###
David Batterson's Web site is at:
http://pages.prodigy.com/webazine/homepage.htm. Or you may e-mail
him
via: davidbat@prodigy.com.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 11:36:23 +0000
From: Joshua M.K. Masur <jmkm@echonyc.com>
Subject: File 10--Re: Big Copyright Ruling
On 1 Feb 96 at 10:40, I wrote:
> Quoth _US Law Week_ vol 64 no.28, pp. 64 LW 1109-1110:
>
> "A competitor that copied a CD-ROM telephone directory and then
> made that information accessible via an original search program on
> the Internet did not commit a copyright violation[.]... [T]he
> court held that the 'shrinkwrap license' employed by the CD-ROM
> manufacturer to limit the use of its product is unenforceable...."
>
> The case in question is ProCD v. Zeidenberg, decided by the US
> District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, 95-C-671-C
> 1/4/96.
>
> "The listings are ... a collection of facts arranged in a
> non-original fashion" and therefore not subject to copyright;
> furthermore, the court recognized that the defendant was not
> actually publishing the raw data on the net, but providing
> added-value -- search results.
The court relied on precedent (Feist Publications, Inc. vs. Rural
Telephone Services Co., 499 US 340, 1991) that states that phone
company "white pages" are not copyrightable because they contain raw
information lacking "the minimum degree of creativity necessary to
constitute a copyrightable compilation of facts." [US Law Week 64 LW
2451]. This appears likely to stand up to appeal.
> Most important to us all, though, the "license contained on the
> discs' packaging is not bargained for by the product purchaser and
> thus is unenforceable under Sections 2-206, 2-207, and 2-209 of
> the Uniform Commercial Code." Basically, the buyer doesn't have
> "adequate opportunity" to review the terms of the contract before
> purchase to validate it as a contract.
The legal theory behind this finding is that because licences try to
replace any actual agreement between the producer and consumer of
software, the software becomes goods, rather than services, and is
thus subject to limitations of the UCC. "[T]he terms...[are] not
presented...at the time of sale[;]... the [user does] not receive
the opportunity to inspect or consider those terms." [US Law Week
64 LW 2451] Specifically, it cites the fact that licenses often
change between initial purchase and upgrade purchase as rendering
them invalid generally.
This is sure to be challenged on appeal, with briefs no doubt filed
by the Sofware Publishers' Association, among others. It remains
unclear whether this portion of the decision will stand over the long
term, but clearly, the potential impact is huge.
Please note that I am not a lawyer and am bringing this subject up
for your information, discussion, and review.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Dec 1995 22:51:01 CDT
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