896 lines
37 KiB
Plaintext
896 lines
37 KiB
Plaintext
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Computer underground Digest Wed Sep 4, 1996 Volume 8 : Issue 64
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ISSN 1004-042X
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Editor: Jim Thomas (cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu)
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News Editor: Gordon Meyer (gmeyer@sun.soci.niu.edu)
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Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
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Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
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Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
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Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
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Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
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Ian Dickinson
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Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
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CONTENTS, #8.64 (Wed, Sep 4, 1996)
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File 1--Sep 20th SF C'punks meeting: ITAR on trial
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File 2--National ID Card Web Pages
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File 3--Bernie S. attacked in prison
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File 4--Anon.penet.fi is closed!
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File 5--Press Release on anon.penet.fi closing
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File 6--"Wired UK" response to Observer Article
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File 7--London Observer replies (9/1/96) (fwd)
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File 8--British Hacker ("The Squidge") Arrested (fwd)
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File 9--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 Apr, 1996)
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CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ApPEARS IN
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THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 10:57:44 -0700 (PDT)
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From: Declan McCullagh <declan@eff.org>
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Subject: File 1--Sep 20th SF C'punks meeting: ITAR on trial
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
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Date--Fri, 06 Sep 1996 03:51:20 -0700
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From--John Gilmore <gnu@toad.com>
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To--cypherpunks-announce@toad.com
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We're having another "Cypherpunks Dress-Up Day" on Friday, September
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20th. Meet at the Federal Building in San Francisco, 450 Golden Gate
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Avenue, at 11:45AM, in high-quality business drag. [There will also
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be a regular Saturday meeting this month, on Sep 14.]
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It's been eleven months to the day since our first hearings in Dan
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Bernstein's lawsuit against the NSA and State Department. At this
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hearing, starting at High Noon, we hope to convince Judge Marilyn Hall
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Patel to declare that the ITAR (export regulations) and AECA (export
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law) are unconstitutional. We are asking her to order the State
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Department to immediately stop enforcing them with respect to
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cryptographic software.
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Simultaneously, the government is asking her to declare that their
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actions have been completely legal and Constitutional, and to throw
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out our lawsuit.
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Judge Patel has asked both sides to fully explore all the legal issues
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in the case for this hearing, leaving aside any unresolved factual
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questions (like exactly how many people have had their exports
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denied). She plans to decide the questions:
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* Should the government's actions be examined under the "strict
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scrutiny" appropriate when they attempt to restrict speech,
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or under a looser "O'Brien" test that applies when the
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government seeks to restrict conduct and only incidentally
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restricts speech?
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* Is the ITAR Scheme a prior restraint on speech?
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* Does the ITAR Scheme impermissibly punish speech after the fact?
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* Is the ITAR Scheme too vague to constitutionally regulate speech?
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* Is the ITAR Scheme so broadly worded that it unconstitutionally
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limits speech protected by the First Amendment?
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* Were the government's actions as applied to Dan Bernstein
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unconstitutional restrictions on his First Amendment rights?
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It's possible, but unlikely, that the judge will decide some of this
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then-and-there. Instead, we will get some insights into how she is
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leaning, based on her questions and comments. Her written decision
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will come out some weeks or months later. She then plans to certify
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the case for immediate appeal to a higher court (the Ninth Circuit,
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also here in San Francisco), to confirm or deny her legal analysis.
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>From there it will probably go to the Supreme Court.
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Watch the wheels of justice grind! Meet the intrepid lawyers who are
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working hard to protect our rights! Shake hands with one or more NSA
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representatives specially flown in for the occasion! Meet some
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journalists and be quoted talking about crypto freedom!
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We will follow the hearing with a group lunch at Max's Opera Plaza, a
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block away at Van Ness Avenue and Golden Gate Avenue.
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As background, Dan Bernstein, ex-grad-student from UC Berkeley, is
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suing the State Department, NSA, and other agencies, with help from
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the EFF. These agencies restrained Dan's ability to publish a paper,
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as well as source code, for the crypto algorithm that he invented. We
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claim that their procedures, regulations, and laws are not only
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unconstitutional as applied to Dan, but in general. Full background
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and details on the case, including all of our legal papers (and most
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of the government's as well), are in the EFF Web archives at:
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http://www.eff.org/pub/Privacy/ITAR_export/Bernstein_case.
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Like Phil Karn's and Peter Junger's cases, this lawsuit really has the
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potential to outlaw the whole NSA crypto export scam. We intend to
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make your right to publish and export crypto software as well-
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protected by the courts as your right to publish and export books. It
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will probably take more years, and an eventual Supreme Court decision,
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to make it stick. But this is the hearing at which we plan to
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convince our judge that these laws really are unconstitutional. Her
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order restoring our legal right to publish crypto source code could
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come out by Christmas!
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Please make a positive impression on the judge. Show her -- by
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showing up -- that this case matters to more people than just the
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plaintiff and defendant. Demonstrate that her decision will make a
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difference to society. That the public and the press are watching,
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and really do care that she handles the issue well.
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We'll have to be quiet and orderly while we're in the courthouse.
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There will be no questions from the audience (that's us), and no
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photography, but the session will be tape-recorded and transcribed,
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and you can take notes if you like. The lobby guards will want to
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hold onto guns, "munitions", and even small pocketknives, before
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they'll let you go upstairs to the courtrooms.
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So, here's your excuse to put on a nice costume, take an early lunch,
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and pay a call on the inner sanctum of our civil rights. See you there!
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John Gilmore
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PS: If you can't come, you can still contribute. Join EFF's Legal
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Defense Fund; see http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/cyberlegal_fund_eff.announce.
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------------------------------
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Date: 2 Sep 1996 13:52:18 -0500
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From: "Dave Banisar" <banisar@EPIC.ORG>
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Subject: File 2--National ID Card Web Pages
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EXTENSIVE NATIONAL ID CARD WEB SITE IS NOW ON LINE
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The London-based human rights watchdog Privacy International (PI)
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has just opened an extensive web page on National ID cards. The
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initiative comes in the wake of pending efforts in the United
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States, Canada and United Kingdom to implement national ID card
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systems.
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The page contains a 7,000 word FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on
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all aspects of ID cards and their implications. Also included in the
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PI documents is a paper describing successful campaigns opposing to
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ID cards in Australia and other countries. The page also has links
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to numerous other sites and documents.
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PI Director Simon Davies said he hoped the page would help promote
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debate about the cards, "ID cards are often introduced without
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serious discussion or consultation. The implications are profound,
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and countries planning to introduce them should proceed with
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caution."
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"The existence of a card challenges important precepts of individual
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rights and privacy. At a symbolic and a functional level, ID cards
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are often an unnecessary and potentially dangerous white elephant.
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They are promoted by way of fear-mongering and false patriotism, and
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are implemented with scant regard for serious investigation of the
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consequences." he said.
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The URL is :
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http://www.privacy.org/pi/activities/idcard/
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PI has also set up an auto response function for the FAQ document.
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Its address is: idcardfaq@mail.privacy.org
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Privacy International is an international human rights group
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concerned with privacy and surveillance issues. It is based in
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London, UK. For further information contact the Privacy
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International Washington Office at +1.202.544.9240 or email
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pi@privacy.org. PI's web page is available at:
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http://www.privacy.org/pi/
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David Banisar (Banisar@privacy.org) * 202-544-9240 (tel)
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Privacy International Washington Office * 202-547-5482 (fax)
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666 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Suite 301 * HTTP://www.privacy.org/pi/
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Washington, DC 20003
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------------------------------
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Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 15:28:52 -0400 (EDT)
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From: Emmanuel Goldstein <emmanuel@2600.COM>
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Subject: File 3--Bernie S. attacked in prison
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COMPUTER HACKER SEVERELY BEATEN AFTER CRITICIZING PRISON CONDITIONS
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TARGET OF CAMPAIGN BY U.S. SECRET SERVICE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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A convicted hacker, in prison for nothing more than possession of
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electronic parts easily obtainable at any Radio Shack, has been
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savagely beaten after being transferred to a maximum security prison
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as punishment for speaking out publicly about prison conditions.
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Ed Cummings, recently published in Wired and Internet Underground, as
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well as a correspondent for WBAI-FM in New York and 2600 Magazine,
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has been the focus of an increasingly ugly campaign of harrassment
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and terror from the authorities. At the time of this writing, Cummings
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is locked in the infectious diseases ward at Lehigh County prison in
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Allentown, Pennsylvania, unable to obtain the proper medical treatment
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for the severe injuries he has suffered.
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The Ed Cummings case has been widely publicized in the computer hacker
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community over the past 18 months. In March of 1995, in what can only
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be described as a bizarre application of justice, Cummings (whose pen
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name is "Bernie S.") was targetted and imprisoned by the United States
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Secret Service for mere possession of technology that could be used to
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make free phone calls. Although the prosecution agreed there was no
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unauthorized access, no victims, no fraud, and no costs associated with
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the case, Cummings was imprisoned under a little known attachment to the
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Digital Telephony bill allowing individuals to be charged in this fashion.
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Cummings was portrayed by the Secret Service as a potential terrorist
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because of some of the books found in his library.
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A year and a half later, Cummings is still in prison, despite the
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fact that he became eligible for parole three months ago. But things have
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now taken a sudden violent turn for the worse. As apparent retribution for
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Cummings' continued outspokenness against the daily harrassment and
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numerous injustices that he has faced, he was transferred on Friday
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to Lehigh County Prison, a dangerous maximum security facility. Being
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placed in this facility was in direct opposition to his sentencing
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order. The reason given by the prison: "protective custody".
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A day later, Cummings was nearly killed by a dangerous inmate for not
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getting off the phone fast enough. By the time the prison guards stopped
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the attack, Cummings had been kicked in the face so many times that he
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lost his front teeth and had his jaw shattered. His arm, which he tried
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to use to shield his face, was also severely injured. It is expected that
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his mouth will be wired shut for up to three months. Effectively,
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Cummings has now been silenced at last.
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From the start of this ordeal, Cummings has always maintained his
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composure and confidence that one day the injustice of his
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imprisonment will be realized. He was a weekly contributor to a
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radio talk show in New York where he not only updated listeners on
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his experiences, but answered their questions about technology.
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People from as far away as Bosnia and China wrote to him, having
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heard about his story over the Internet.
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Now we are left to piece these events together and to find those
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responsible for what are now criminal actions against him. We are
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demanding answers to these questions: Why was Cummings transferred
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for no apparent reason from a minimum security facility to a very
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dangerous prison? Why has he been removed from the hospital immediately
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after surgery and placed in the infectious diseases ward of the very
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same prison, receiving barely any desperately needed medical
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attention? Why was virtually every moment of Cummings' prison stay a
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continuous episode of harrassment, where he was severely punished for
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such crimes as receiving a fax (without his knowledge) or having too
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much reading material? Why did the Secret Service do everything in
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their power to ruin Ed Cummings' life?
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Had these events occurred elsewhere in the world, we would be quick
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to condemn them as barbaric and obscene. The fact that such things are
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taking place in our own back yards should not blind us to the fact that
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they are just as unacceptable.
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Lehigh County Prison will be the site of several protest actions as will
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the Philadelphia office of the United States Secret Service. For more
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information on this, email protest@2600.com or call our office at
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(516) 751-2600.
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More information on this case can be found on the following
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web site: http://www.2600.com.
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9/4/96
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-30-
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These are the people responsible for keeping Ed Cummings imprisoned.
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Name/Address Phone Fax
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Bucks County Correctional Facility 215.325.3700 215.345.3940
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1730 South Easton Road
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Doylestown, PA
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Director: Mr. Nesbitt (warden equivalent)
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Chief: John Henderson (had Cummings thrown into maximum security
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for receiving a fax from a reporter - later
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told Cummings he had "no right" to speak
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to the press)
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Lehigh County Prison 610.820.3270
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38 North Fourth Street
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Allentown, PA 18103
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Warden: Ed Sweeney 610.820.3133 610.820.3450
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Haverford Township Police Department
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John Morris 610.853.2400 610.853.1706
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(original arresting officer who believed Cummings was involved
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in a drug deal because he was observed selling electronic
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components to a vehicle occupied by African Americans)
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Northampton County Probation Department
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Scott Hoke (parole officer) 610.559.7211 610.559.7218
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(as Cummings' parole officer for a minor infraction years
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earlier, Hoke had told Cummings that parole was a waste of
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time for such a trivial offense. However, after being
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interviewed by the Secret Service, Hoke did an about face
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and began referring to Cummings as a very dangerous criminal
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who needed to be in prison for a long time.)
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Harrisburg Parole Office
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Ralph Bigley 717.787.2563 717.772.3534
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Mr. Bigelow 717.787.5699
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Northampton County Courthouse (main) 610.559.3000
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Judge Panella 610.515.0830 610.515.0832
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US District Court, Philadelphia (main) 215.597.2995
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601 Market Street
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Philadelphia, PA 19106
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Judge Marjorie Rendell 215.597.3015 215.580.2393
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Judge Jay C. Waldman 215.597.9644 215.580.2155
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Judge Charles B. Smith 215.597.0421 215.597.6125
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Assistant U.S. Attorney
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Anne Whatley Chain, Esq. 215.451.5282
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615 Chestnut Street
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Suite 1250
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Philadelphia, PA 19106
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Special Agent Thomas L. Varney
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U.S. Secret Service (main) 215.597.0600 215.597.2435
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Room 7236
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Federal Building
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600 Arch Street
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Philadelphia, PA 19106
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(Varney was the key factor in having Ed Cummings imprisoned
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since March of 1995. It was he who convinced Det. John Morris
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that Cummings' possession of electronic components and certain
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books and magazines made him a danger to society. His testimony
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stands out in its incredible assessment of Cummings as nothing
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short of a terrorist and his ability, as a representative of
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one of the nation's most powerful agencies, to convince others
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in law enforcement that Cummings belongs in prison with the most
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dangerous and most violent of criminals.)
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Every one of these people has the power to do something. Please contact
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them and convince them to take an interest!
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Pennsylvania Elected Officials
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Governor:
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Tom Ridge
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(717) 787-5962
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governor@state.pa.us
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Senators:
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Arlen Specter (R)
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(202) 224-4254
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senator_specter@specter.senate.gov
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Rick Santorum (R)
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(202) 224-6324
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senator@santorum.senate.gov
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Representatives:
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1st District
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Thomas Foglietta (D)
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(202) 225-4731
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2nd District
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Chaka Fattah (D)
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(202) 225-4001
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3rd District
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Robert Borski (D)
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(202) 225-8251
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4th District
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Ron Klink (D)
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(202) 225-2565
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5th District
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William Clinger (R)
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(202) 225-5121
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6th District
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Tim Holden (D)
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(202) 225-5546
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7th District
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Curt Weldon (R)
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(202) 225-2011
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curtpa7@hr.house.gov
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8th District
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James Greenwood (R)
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(202) 225-4276
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9th District
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Bud Shuster (R)
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(202) 225-2431
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10th District
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Joseph McDade (R)
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(202) 225-3731
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11th District
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Paul Kanjorski (D)
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(202) 225-6511
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kanjo@hr.house.gov
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12th District
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John Murtha (D)
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(202) 225-2065
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murtha@hr.house.gov
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13th District
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Jon Fox (R)
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(202) 225-6111
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jonfox@hr.house.gov
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14th District
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William Coyne (D)
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(202) 225-2301
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15th District
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Paul McHale (D)
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(202) 225-6411
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mchale@hr.house.gov
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16th District
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Robert Walker (R)
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(202) 225-2411
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pa16@hr.house.gov
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17th District
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George Gekas (R)
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(202) 225-4315
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18th District
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Mike Doyle (D)
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(202) 225-2135
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19th District
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Bill Goodling (R)
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(202) 225-5836
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20th District
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Frank Mascara (D)
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(202) 225-4665
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21st District
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Phil English (R)
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(202) 225-5406
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------------------------------
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Date: Sun, 1 Sep 96 15:47:45 +0300
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From: daemon@ANON.PENET.FI
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Subject: File 4--Anon.penet.fi is closed!
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Due to both the ever-increasing workload and the current uncertain
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legal status of the privacy of e-mail in Finland, I have now closed
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down this service until further notice. For now, you can still mail
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NON-ANONYMOUSLY to existing anXXXXX@anon.penet.fi users using the
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naXXXXX@anon.penet.fi address convention, so that you might
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establish another way to communicate with people you only know by
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their anon.penet.fi address, but news postings and anonymous mail is
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not supported.
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To use the non-anonymous forwarding service, you have to modify the
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anon address by swapping the first two letters (an to na, standing
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for Not Anonymous), so that an123456@anon.penet.fi becomes
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na123456@anon.penet.fi. But remember that your address will *not* be
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removed - this method is only intended as a stop-gap to enable you
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to establish another way of communicating with the people you only
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know by their anon.penet.fi addresses.
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If you feel that the service has been valuable, you can send a
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letter of support to support@anon.penet.fi, and likewise, if you
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feel it is a good thing the remailer has gone off the air, you can
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use the address against@anon.penet.fi to outline your reasons. As
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people always ask me why anyone would need a service such as
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anon.penet.fi, I am collecting case stories at why@anon.penet.fi.
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I have now maintained this service for over 3 years, and as there
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have appeared a number of other similar, reliable and well
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maintained servers, I feel we have reached a situation where the
|
|
current anon.penet.fi server can be retired. Thank you for a very
|
|
interesting time on the net!
|
|
|
|
Julf
|
|
|
|
P.S.: More info and the full press release on http://www.penet.fi/
|
|
|
|
------------------------------
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|
|
|
Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 08:34:37 -0500
|
|
From: Charles Stanford <cstanfor@mail.coin.missouri.edu>
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|
Subject: File 5--Press Release on anon.penet.fi closing
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|
|
|
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|
PRESS RELEASE
|
|
30.8.1996
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|
Johan Helsingius closes his Internet remailer
|
|
|
|
Johan Helsingius has decided to close his Internet remailer. The
|
|
so-called anon.penet.fi anonymous remailer is the most popular
|
|
remailer in the world, with more than half a million users.
|
|
|
|
"I will close down the remailer for the time being because the legal
|
|
issues governing the Internet in Finland are yet undefined. The legal
|
|
protection of the users needs to be clarified. At the moment the
|
|
privacy of Internet messages is judicially unclear."
|
|
|
|
The idea of an anonymous remailer is to protect the confidentiality of
|
|
its users' identity. The remailer itself does not store messages but
|
|
serves as a channel for message transmission. The remailer forwards
|
|
messages without the identity of the original sender.
|
|
|
|
Finland is one of the leading countries in Internet usage. Therefore
|
|
all decisions and changes made in Finland arouse wide international
|
|
interest.
|
|
|
|
"I have developed and maintained the remailer in my free time for over
|
|
three years now. It has taken up a lot of time and energy. Internet
|
|
has changed a lot in these three years - now there are dozens of
|
|
remailers in the world, which offer similar services.
|
|
|
|
I have also personally been a target because of the remailer.
|
|
Unjustified accusations affect both my job and my private life", says
|
|
Johan Helsingius.
|
|
|
|
The closing of the remailer will raise a lot of discussion among the
|
|
Internet community. "Remailers have made it possible for people to
|
|
discuss very sensitive matters, such as domestic violence, school
|
|
bullying or human rights issues anonymously and confidentially on the
|
|
Internet. The closing of anon.penet.fi will make it harder to discuss
|
|
these matters.", says Helsingius.
|
|
|
|
Child porn claims proven false
|
|
|
|
Last Sunday's issue of the English newspaper Observer claimed that the
|
|
remailer has been used for transmitting child pornography pictures.
|
|
The claims have been investigated by the Finnish police. Observer's
|
|
claims have been found groundless.
|
|
|
|
Police sergeant Kaj Malmberg from the Helsinki Police Crime Squad is
|
|
specialized in investigating computer crimes. He confirms that more
|
|
than a year ago Johan Helsingius restricted the operations of his
|
|
remailer so that it cannot transmit pictures.
|
|
|
|
"The true amount of child pornography on the Internet is difficult to
|
|
assess, but one thing is clear: We have not found any cases where
|
|
child porn pictures were transmitted from Finland", Kaj Malmberg says.
|
|
|
|
Basic rules need to be clarified
|
|
|
|
There are several significant projects going on in Finland at the
|
|
moment that deal with the impact of information technology. Johan
|
|
Helsingius is a participant in both the [1]TIVEKE project run by the
|
|
Ministry of Communications and the [2]Information Society Forum
|
|
project run by the Ministry of Finance. These projects assess the
|
|
political and social issues of networks and the impact of information
|
|
technology. However, these projects need the support of practical,
|
|
down-to-earth work to highlight current problems and suggest possible
|
|
solutions.
|
|
|
|
Johan Helsingius has taken an initiative to set up a working group to
|
|
discuss the practical problems related to ethical and civil rights
|
|
issues in connection with the Internet.
|
|
|
|
"I will try to set up a task force which will include Internet experts
|
|
together with representatives of civic organizations and public
|
|
authorities. The group could suggest ways to deal with problems such
|
|
as the lack of guidelines in applying the existing laws on the
|
|
Internet. I hope that the results of this work will support the
|
|
development of the network", he says.
|
|
|
|
For further information, please contact
|
|
|
|
Johan Helsingius
|
|
Oy Penetic Ab
|
|
e-mail: [3]Julf@Penet.FI
|
|
|
|
------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 19:47:45 +0200
|
|
From: Hari Kunzru <pringler@t0.or.at>
|
|
Subject: File 6--"Wired UK" response to Observer Article
|
|
|
|
Review Editor, Wired UK, from Public Netbase, Vienna, Austria (www.t0.or.at)
|
|
|
|
**** BEGINS ****
|
|
|
|
Dear Will Hutton
|
|
|
|
Your cover splash on paedophilia and the Internet last week was a disgrace
|
|
to the traditions of liberal, intelligent journalism that I and others have
|
|
always looked for in The Observer - a tradition of telling the truth and
|
|
serving the public. It was a disservice to your readers, an affront to
|
|
those of us who care about the future of the Internet - and a setback to
|
|
the cause of fighting the brutalisation and molestation of children.
|
|
|
|
Your piece implies that companies which provide full access to the Usenet
|
|
newsgroups on the Internet - in particular Demon - are willing links in a
|
|
chain of pederasty. It suggests that if the strictures being urged on these
|
|
providers by the Clubs and Vice Unit of the Metropolitan Police were
|
|
heeded, and these companies took data from various Internet newsgroups off
|
|
their machines, then the problem would be eased. It does not mention that
|
|
the Met's list of newsgroups is a mixed bunch, some of which (for example,
|
|
alt.homosexual) are not pornographic.
|
|
|
|
The truth of the matter is that such a change would achieve little if
|
|
anything. Full newsgroup access is currently available from hundreds of
|
|
machines all over the world, all of them accessible through all Internet
|
|
providers. So as a pragmatic measure in the fight against child abuse,
|
|
removing them from the computers of British companies is futile. It is hard
|
|
to understand as anything other than a gesture - a threatening one,
|
|
designed to show that the police can shut down newsgroups without any need
|
|
to show cause or prove a case.
|
|
|
|
The argument that Demon and many other Internet providers are making is
|
|
that the law should recognise that they are not responsible for information
|
|
that is accessed through their computers. In this, they ask for the same
|
|
treatment that phone companies and post offices get. Your article quoted
|
|
DCI French of the Clubs and Vice unit saying that "Morally you cannot adopt
|
|
this position." If this is the case, why not put a director of BT on your
|
|
front page with the caption "Millionaire behind the sordid phone sex
|
|
business". Behind the Internet business, too, for that matter - the system
|
|
uses BT's lines. Are you saying that BT is responsible, too?
|
|
|
|
Obviously not. Paedophiles are responsible for paedophilia - not telecoms
|
|
companies or Internet providers. But your article chose to ignore this and
|
|
look elsewhere - at Demon and at Johan Helsingius, who runs a non-profit
|
|
computer system in Finland which puts computer files on to the Internet
|
|
without any sign of their original provenance. This is a service with many
|
|
uses. It helps in anonymous counselling, it helps in whistle-blowing. You
|
|
claim that it is used for 90% of the Internet's child porn - a claim for
|
|
which I could see no credible support. Mr Helsingius stops messages going
|
|
to newsgroups that have been brought to his attention as likely to carry
|
|
child pornography. His system can be accessed by policemen who go to the
|
|
trouble of getting a warrant (and the Finnish police do not think that
|
|
there is a child porn problem in the system). It retransmits only short
|
|
text files, extraordinarily poorly suited to imagery. And it cannot in
|
|
itself be used, as your article suggests, to participate in anything "live"
|
|
or "interactive".
|
|
|
|
In short, the article on your front page and its companion inside are
|
|
shoddy work. When evidence from the Internet is not available, they bring
|
|
forward the use paedophiles make of videos and magazine photographs - thus
|
|
underlining the crucial point that the Internet is not the cause of all
|
|
this. The truth of the matter is that networks of pederasts existed prior
|
|
to, and independently of, the Internet. Much of the current outrage comes
|
|
from the fact that the Internet is revealing new aspects of this unhappy
|
|
state of affairs. And those who look beyond a knee-jerk shoot-the-messenger
|
|
response see that the Internet can in fact be used to fight the scourge.
|
|
The Dutch police, rather than attacking the companies that provide access
|
|
to the Internet, are using the Internet as a way of finding child
|
|
pornography. They are establishing web sites and hotlines whereby people
|
|
can help them in this work. When they find perpetrators in their
|
|
jurisdiction, they prosecute. They are eager that other police forces work
|
|
with them in exploring these avenues.
|
|
|
|
The position The Observer took last week will not bring about an end to
|
|
paedophile crimes. It will instead usher in a new era of arbitrary
|
|
censorship and surveillance. You
|
|
vilify Johan Helsingius for reposting anonymous messages. Presumably then
|
|
you would applaud if he read all of the messages which passed through his
|
|
machine and deleted those which he disapproved of? And you would encourage
|
|
other media -- like Demon, the Royal Mail and BT -- to do the same? You
|
|
vilify Demon for not immediately banning the newsgroups as requested by
|
|
Scotand Yard. Presumably then you are happy that Scotland Yard should draw
|
|
up lists of material which it deems unsuitable for public consumption and
|
|
enforce them without judicial, political or public review?
|
|
|
|
In your other articles, you document real evidence of real suffering caused
|
|
by this disgusting trade. These offer real constructive ways of fighting
|
|
this evil: combating child-sex tourism, tracking down paedophiles
|
|
themselves, creating an intelligent debate about images of children in the
|
|
mainstream media. In attacking Internet service providers you not only
|
|
endanger freedom of expression on a nascent medium - a freedom about which
|
|
many care passionately. You also take people attention away from the real
|
|
problem, which is attacking the practising paedophiles.
|
|
|
|
Mr Hutton, I'm not blind to the fact that people use the Internet to
|
|
distribute revolting material the creation of which is clearly criminal. It
|
|
is something that a lot of people, online as well as off, want to do
|
|
something about. But it's not Demon's business or Demon's fault. It's not
|
|
something that the Met's cosmetic censorship strategy will change. It's not
|
|
why Mr Helsingius does what he does. And it's not something that journalism
|
|
like this will stop.
|
|
|
|
Sincerely
|
|
|
|
Oliver Morton
|
|
Editor
|
|
Wired UK
|
|
|
|
------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Date: Thu, 5 Sep 1996 23:36:28 -0500
|
|
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
|
|
Subject: File 7--London Observer replies (9/1/96) (fwd)
|
|
|
|
From--mlissa3379@aol.com (Mlissa3379)
|
|
Newsgroups--alt.censorship
|
|
Subject--Re--Against PICS and Internet Censorship
|
|
|
|
The Observer today published an editorial in response to their articles
|
|
last week. Comment, for or against?
|
|
|
|
The Observer, 1 September, 1996
|
|
|
|
Editorial comment
|
|
|
|
In a philosophical tangle over the Net
|
|
|
|
THERE ARE two substantial objections to the story and comment that we
|
|
ran last week over the transmission of paedophile material on the
|
|
Internet, which aroused a fierce response on both sides. The first is
|
|
philosophical. No state or regulatory intervention can be justified in
|
|
the free world of cyberspace. The Internet is the embodiment of
|
|
individual liberty.
|
|
|
|
The second is technical. The Observer betrayed a lack of understanding
|
|
of the Internet - how it works and how impossible, even self-defeating,
|
|
any form of regulation might be. Given the millions of transactions
|
|
that occur daily across national boundaries, cyberspace cannot be
|
|
successfully regulated. Worse, the anonymous servers that might be used
|
|
by sexual deviants can also be used, for example, by victims of
|
|
political persecution. This is much more complex than we indicated.
|
|
|
|
The philosophical issue is comparatively simple. Freedom of expression
|
|
in civil society is qualified by rules - over, say, incitement to racial
|
|
hatred or sexual indecency. John Stuart Mill, in his essay On Liberty,
|
|
accepted the need for constraints of this type on individual freedom;
|
|
even this ardent defender of liberty recognised it cannot be an
|
|
absolute. The Internet is emerging as a major cultural and
|
|
communications force; its freedoms must be protected even while it
|
|
conforms to the same democratically established rules as apply in normal
|
|
society.
|
|
|
|
The effectiveness of intervention is more difficult. We report today on
|
|
some ideas. Service providers can adopt codes of practice and patrol
|
|
their web sites more intensively; regulatory agencies can establish
|
|
hotlines to which users can report illegal material (such a scheme is
|
|
already up and running in the Netherlands); and there is the
|
|
international cybercop unit established last week by the World Congress
|
|
against the sexual exploitation of children. New legal obligations
|
|
might have to be accepted by service providers.
|
|
|
|
The Observer is on the side of the Internet, but against the abuse that
|
|
succours the sexual exploitation of children. Those who say taking such
|
|
a position is absurd, because of the nature of the Internet, should
|
|
pause. If so, what future is there for our civilisation?
|
|
|
|
------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 10:08:12 -0400 (EDT)
|
|
From: Noah <noah@ENABLED.COM>
|
|
Subject: File 8--British Hacker ("The Squidge") Arrested (fwd)
|
|
|
|
From -Noah
|
|
|
|
---------- Forwarded message ----------
|
|
Date--Thu, 29 Aug 1996 19:26:00 -0500
|
|
From--Frosty <sotmesc@datasync.com>
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
C Y B E R - S P A C E P R O J E C T Email List / Instructions at the end
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Nexus :::
|
|
|
|
bibble@madrab.demon.co.uk Cap'n B at Rabbit
|
|
Solutions, UK
|
|
|
|
ENGLAND:
|
|
|
|
The Squidge was arrested at his home yesterday under the Computer Misuse
|
|
Act. A long standing member of the US group the *Guild, Squidge was silent
|
|
today after being released but it appears no formal charges will be made
|
|
until further interviews have taken place.
|
|
|
|
Included in the arrest were the confiscation of his computer equipment
|
|
including two Linux boxes and a Sun Sparc. A number of items described as
|
|
'telecommunications devices' were also seized as evidence.
|
|
|
|
Following the rumours of ColdFire's recent re-arrest for cellular fraud
|
|
this could mean a new crackdown on hacking and phreaking by the UK
|
|
authorities. If this is true, it could spell the end for a particularly
|
|
open period in h/p history when notable figures have been willing to
|
|
appear more in public.
|
|
|
|
We will attempt to release more information as it becomes available.
|
|
|
|
(not posted by Squidge)
|
|
|
|
--
|
|
Brought to you by The NeXus.....
|
|
|
|
* sotmesc@datasync.com aka ---* Frosty, ilKhan of the SotMESC
|
|
* To send a submission, use this address with 'CSP' in the Subject line
|
|
* Thanks to: Voyager, 2600, LOD, Knight Lightning, the Unabomber, etc
|
|
* for supporting us with our scholarship fund and humanity award.
|
|
* Finger SotMESC or http://www.datasync.com/sotmesc/gcms
|
|
|
|
------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 22:51:01 CST
|
|
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
|
|
Subject: File 9--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 Apr, 1996)
|
|
|
|
Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
|
|
available at no cost electronically.
|
|
|
|
CuD is available as a Usenet newsgroup: comp.society.cu-digest
|
|
|
|
Or, to subscribe, send post with this in the "Subject:: line:
|
|
|
|
SUBSCRIBE CU-DIGEST
|
|
Send the message to: cu-digest-request@weber.ucsd.edu
|
|
|
|
DO NOT SEND SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE MODERATORS.
|
|
|
|
The editors may be contacted by voice (815-753-0303), fax (815-753-6302)
|
|
or U.S. mail at: Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL
|
|
60115, USA.
|
|
|
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To UNSUB, send a one-line message: UNSUB CU-DIGEST
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Send it to CU-DIGEST-REQUEST@WEBER.UCSD.EDU
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Issues of CuD can also be found in the Usenet comp.society.cu-digest
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news group; on CompuServe in DL0 and DL4 of the IBMBBS SIG, DL1 of
|
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LAWSIG, and DL1 of TELECOM; on GEnie in the PF*NPC RT
|
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|
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|
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CuD is also available via Fidonet File Request from
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The most recent issues of CuD can be obtained from the
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COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
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------------------------------
|
|
|
|
End of Computer Underground Digest #8.64
|
|
************************************
|
|
|