87 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
87 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
ZDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD? IMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM; ZDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD?
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3 Founded By: 3 : Network Information Access : 3 Founded By: 3
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3 Guardian Of Time CD6 02JUN90 GD4 Judge Dredd 3
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@DDDDDDDDBDDDDDDDDDY : Judge Dredd : @DDDDDDDDDBDDDDDDDDY
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3 : File 35 : 3
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3 HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM< 3
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3 IMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM; 3
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@DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD: Operation: SunDevil :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY
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HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM<
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The Washington Post, Business Section, May 31, 1990
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By Willie Schatz
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Mitchell Kapor, inventor of Lotus 1-2-3, the world's most popular
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financial software package, is considering backing a national effort to
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defend computer hackers against prosecutions resulting form Operation Sun
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Devil, a two-year Secret Service investigation of potential computer fraud.
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Operation Sun Devil was disclosed early this month by the Secret
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Service, which conducted 27 searches of suspected hackers' homes and
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offices, confiscating 23,000 computer disks and 40 computer systems. There
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have been three arrests thus far. The Secret Service said the hackers who
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were the target of the probe are individuals who had gained unauthorized
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access to company computer systems--including one at American Telephone &
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Telegraph Co.--or had stolen and distributed software programs that
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belonged to major corporations.
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In an interview from the Cambridge, Mass., headquarters of his new
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company, ON Technology, Inc., Kapor said he thinks the government probe is
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misdirected. He said it is damaging technological innovation and
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dissemination of information through the ubiquitous electronic message
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networks called bulletin boards that are the hackers' prime method of
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communication. Kapor intends to announce tomorrow whether he will pay for
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all or part of the hackers' legal defense.
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"It's plausible that there's a witch hunt going on," Kapor said. "I'm
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concerned that hackers' civil liberties are being violated [by the Secret
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Service]. I'm concerned these kids--which is mostly what hackers
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are--aren't getting a fair shake in the legal system. They don't have
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access to legal counsel that would let them adequately defend their
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rights."
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Sources said Kapor is reviewing a proposal he received yesterday from
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two law firms that asks him to help finance a $200,000 hackers' legal
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defense fund. Lawyers involved in the matter plan to provide much of their
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legal work free. The proposal before Kapor also includes a program to
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lobby Congress to change the computer fraud law and a public education
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campaign about hackers.
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"Sun Devil gives me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach," Kapor
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said. "There's an incongruence between the language of the Secret Service
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and the acts and attitudes of hackers. I understand and know that
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[hackers'] kind of mentality. You don't want to use an A-bomb to kill a
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fly. There has to be an appropriate response and understanding of what's
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at issue. I'm lacking confidence that that's there."
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Earlier this month, Garry J. Jenkins, assistant director of the Secret
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Service, said Operation Sun Devil revealed that an "alarming number of
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young people" exploit computers through credit card fraud, unlawful
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placement of free long-distance phone calls and other criminal activities.
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In an interview, Dale Boll, an assistant special agent in charge of the
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Secret Service's fraud division, defended the government probe.
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"We have not declared war," Boll said. "Computer crime is a serious
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offense, but we don't overreact. There's no tendency for overkill. We
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were given these laws to enforce and we're doing the best we can. We
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prefer to work more hardened criminals. The government didn't prosecute
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hackers when they were juveniles. But now they're growing up and doing
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more serious things."
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The damage form the government's aggressive law enforcement efforts,
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according to Kapor, is a "chilling effect" on the flow in information among
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computer designers and programmers. Kapor contends that if the people
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responsible for operating computer bulletin boards are held responsible for
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information posted on their boards, hackers will stop using the boards.
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John Barlow, a dedicated hacker and a lyricist for The Greatful Dead
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band, said he already is committed to financing the hackers' cause. "I'm
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going to chip in to secure them legal council and so is Mitch," Barlow said
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from his home in Pinedale, Wyo. "I'm sure the [Secret Service's] assault
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is having an effect. It's turning mischievous kids into high-tech
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criminals. These hackers are explorers, not criminals or vandals. They're
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exploring a new information frontier. It's a reincarnation of what
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happened with the settling of the Old West, only in the computer sphere."
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Government officials have a different view. "Many computer hacker
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suspects are no longer misguided teenagers mischievously playing games with
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their computers in the bedroom," the Secret Service's Jenkins said. "...We
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will continue to investigate aggressively those crimes which threaten to
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disrupt our nation's business and government services."
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-JUDGE DREDD/NIA
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[OTHER WORLD BBS]
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