419 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
419 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 93 16:54:21 PDT
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Reply-To: <surfpunk@osc.versant.com>
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Return-Path: <cocot@osc.versant.com>
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Message-ID: <surfpunk-0088@SURFPUNK.Technical.Journal>
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Mime-Version: 1.0
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Content-Type: text/plain
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From: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (ORTVA CTC ZRFFNTR)
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To: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (SURFPUNK Technical Journal)
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Subject: [surfpunk-0088] USENET: We are Becoming Politically Correct Sheep
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> The only thing that will cause the death of Usenet is a
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> *halt* to discussion on so-called "delicate" subjects...
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>
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> -- abbey1@husc10.harvard.edu (Joshua Abbey)
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Quite right. One prodigy is enough.
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The three postings below are all by Tim May.
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They're in cronological order.
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You'll have to imagine the other hundred messages that mix with these.
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strick
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________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
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Newsgroups: alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children
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Date: Sat, 26 Jun 93 02:20:06 GMT
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From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
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Subject: GIF
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std. decrypt, then open
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-----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----
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Version: 2.2
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b2cCrVJKUYUZf7UBA/i1tSSz66dOx4+cJKzNkm1JBhGigMdRvxM8Slm3TyC7kgWW
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L8J3w/On10thisi487rU/Gl7xOMajxCQedHrb6k0+wYDGjxmVcu9xwLWAWpkgq+5
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fUiNKBnF/SUA/JisFrWvn63rt44n+DqROwx8CXuSvL1mUdqLRTS0t/timjHnhIwC
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VmLN1FTnSD8BBACFa38SqiwByarfcVhFg/fuKWc4AgKtYqSt5oWW6sYLckC3nEen
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ZcHV+DNFo36Exg7r0trapoBXpjoe9ENCsCbFJ7i/M7FwFYvK1QAcxQ6zGt+3HICM
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9Hsxg1d5Goqp4+nmpW+9Y/UVY16+WVl9moY3c7Iv04Cp0ipu2B5qfIxPZoSMAlKv
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tpiLITm1AQP+MePTv9pKo01NnW3/EBZ+glrMRNIDSWS+WPWbLRpZ0Fnn8ZWJPLPg
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FPmhHl0liM40bf5p7XQ43wwEb7jShpHXwm/aUeWAWpKoilv5LwuR4nZxTPBfgt9Q
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f+hx23tQYkzzDFkhLoefRAUH/cD2zSEUGK0ESNqTUpX+1tghi1KyycOETAJUA0cU
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ACLlLQECAISGu23kb8cKQi1Slzc8TQHubtK3LB0BavAII1Ui/o1B57sizTzehPM1
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m9AB/HF+XX2pC3cEY3rzwQOd/LDz8biEjALidd4O/2f3CwED/0ajlHGBpaLn6Rqv
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7o38QMQ28qN8qafW7gObGgLMoziFyNUtW98S3IHkgpfwWkkWlejxg5/023IgseVL
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WgGw0UL4V04CSklM+WAC2/Y6RtVIWjfrs1nOmqZCsqm2VmeA+AOBdt0Halhh9Q/4
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op9guFy8ZWgnPNUWtJB4JUq04nJ7pgAAA4jJ1pSBvwGXP4+c4QHOzr3vHlIfCOxK
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voG+HI+k0nL/pP9he4kFUGDHK53p3V5X3y2uy2NEB6KseYU5izTW0vQu/WicruTx
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iLtGFm/iwfWrZilphmb03JhychKvFNT+k90soQDVt0A0t6a6UqzaOBWADh6UiJKp
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NmHp4UthisItDFgLCm+sEdKTqAhpJzZPGL9bYNuQNbSY/IA34E0PiXkNeB0ANxwa
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7ZmdkeF8Ywlooksvimz+Ji7OavkUKQ6FNbwDoeVK31nHgOVsMWI9pYfUc9N/OeTB
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qELEhSzXTTMrxDvlikeJ4SX4H1M93LiQRgASy20NGAZVKgUkKNz6EyrCSHWJ2YHl
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4DYJBwmpbMzVIxxeAMxa0u7vR6v2faZILDRPI8Vh/Rzf2cytRsVoPrJ8SJiU8S0B
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XHdg9+NQYt7b5EAxFIYSstingjDJTpfsrfGD91fizkarA3tc/FAsGnksPcGh5xfH
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H8T/76zuy4n9KSQ9iUlAiN/WbIChv+TR+36QpBJVWqxgnKJ+pgOAgOc9zZ/wsf8X
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CR4mjVSH9QLclfK1Nc1+0KQ6q0usS0uGx9PGgKSujY0rGdcqw3AQMVsvO57miUZ+
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6ch+rz7pPZ/BgDaul+Puuf1j4c8LF1lT48LNANgl9a3gFxxwdrNV2GBI0n3FSwCM
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KlpIp6Rq0+IucF2Ag2gMrvPm4hZs/jM+oTebq7qnM8q+z5F8kjGL+mKsfAM3JMPy
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add4tK+dQ6ZHl9EHPhQu4lfPIdYdGGQ4+DD7/LUwNCw3w88cqGBWE+umeVioGy/t
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K6J4G2fPQQqNIItJPDv/L/kC7n/Azh6tjrXC3YWTqsKfgYcMauCf/8A7hdLMGBQY
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/d2ih7xrGmC8nND2CnSJXOlvozEi3t3Wgl4SirfOqYQvMCF0zaric2OEPyLTmYuG
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puKc7au15QobrRGICm0HjDLEhnDu3pqXw2yZUCdswg31TnhsheMfP9JqOGEHdTB8
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zbpTII/7+bAliB+n+5Jx6TonURnT8ropkXDs8uQHjvkScbK2ib/sCy5sOUVCWTwW
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dJEH9vrmngNklBtEobgmVHHHsOwvxQlmCD5sFQUtnnMjQWfUzxPpOghrnCJA/hYm
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E0j3rZS1I4VJyoTDFfSPLHxyaEySPCcEKW4PPCSPe2SMQ6hUwQAHBMIbODmu2+WI
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/2h3HLezLQwxrSmrrQ1YJgj8384fjb87wO
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=hPyII
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-----END PGP MESSAGE-----
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--
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..........................................................................
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Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
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408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
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W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments.
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Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
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Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it.
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________________________________________________________________________
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Newsgroups: alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children,alt.config,netcom.netnews
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Date: Sat, 03 Jul 93 09:28:29 GMT
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From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
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Subject: GIFs--Now it can be told
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Xref: netcom.com alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children:89 alt.config:17255
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netcom.netnews:1433
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One week ago tonight a new group appeared at my site,
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"alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children," a group certain to provoke
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controversy, to bring out the Net Cops, and to induce a certain kind
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of "Stockholm Syndrome," wherein some folks scramble to initiate
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censorship prior even to the Feds doing it. (Their battle cry is "Eeek! If
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we don't nip this in the bud, _right now_, think of what might
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happen!)
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My experience has been that these Net.Censors are usually too quick to
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claim something has clearly gone beyond the bounds of decency and
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acceptability. Thankfully, they usually fail in their efforts.
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Anyway, seeing this strange new group appear on my system, I decided
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to conduct an experiment.
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I posted an "encrypted GIF," not further identified, and waited for
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the reaction. The file was as follows (only part of it shown):
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-----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----
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Version: 2.2
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b2cCrVJKUYUZf7UBA/i1tSSz66dOx4+cJKzNkm1JBhGigMdRvxM8Slm3TyC7kgWW
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L8J3w/On10thisi487rU/Gl7xOMajxCQedHrb6k0+wYDGjxmVcu9xwLWAWpkgq+5
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fUiNKBnF/SUA/JisFrWvn63rt44n+DqROwx8CXuSvL1mUdqLRTS0t/timjHnhIwC
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VmLN1FTnSD8BBACFa38SqiwByarfcVhFg/fuKWc4AgKtYqSt5oWW6sYLckC3nEen
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ZcHV+DNFo36Exg7r0trapoBXpjoe9ENCsCbFJ7i/M7FwFYvK1QAcxQ6zGt+3HICM
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9Hsxg1d5Goqp4+nmpW+9Y/UVY16+WVl9moY3c7Iv04Cp0ipu2B5qfIxPZoSMAlKv
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.....
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Not to my surprise, about 20 people have (so far) requested the key to
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this file. (The whole encryption rationale is covered later.) I didn't
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reply to them...some of them asked for the key a second time!
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What surprised me is that nobody carefully looked at the file. Here it
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is again, with some places marked:
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-----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----
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Version: 2.2
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b2cCrVJKUYUZf7UBA/i1tSSz66dOx4+cJKzNkm1JBhGigMdRvxM8Slm3TyC7kgWW
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L8J3w/On10thisi487rU/Gl7xOMajxCQedHrb6k0+wYDGjxmVcu9xwLWAWpkgq+5
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^^^^
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fUiNKBnF/SUA/JisFrWvn63rt44n+DqROwx8CXuSvL1mUdqLRTS0t/timjHnhIwC
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^^
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VmLN1FTnSD8BBACFa38SqiwByarfcVhFg/fuKWc4AgKtYqSt5oWW6sYLckC3nEen
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^
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ZcHV+DNFo36Exg7r0trapoBXpjoe9ENCsCbFJ7i/M7FwFYvK1QAcxQ6zGt+3HICM
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^^^^
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9Hsxg1d5Goqp4+nmpW+9Y/UVY16+WVl9moY3c7Iv04Cp0ipu2B5qfIxPZoSMAlKv
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.......
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I put a couple of other "subliminal messages" in, which I suppose
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could provoke the Religious Right into squawking that "Satanic
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messages" are being hidden in computer files *that children could
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possibly read*. Gasp!
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Needless to say, such ASCII surgery performed on a PGP file (which, by
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the way, was just some random message someone had sent me a while
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back, utterly unreadable by anyone other than the two of us--and not
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even that after I mutated various characters) makes it completely
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unreadable. Even if someone had the other half of the PGP key
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pair--which never existed--the file would not even checksum as a legal
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PGP file!
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(Putting plaintext into the file was both a message I hoped astute
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readers would eventually notice--though it *is* pretty hard to
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see--and an ironclad proof that the file could not be a real PGP
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message, let alone a GIF, let alone kiddie porn.)
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There are some quasi-legitimate issues surrounding the area of child
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erotica. Was the child coerced? Was consent meaningful? Etc.
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But the posting of mere bits qua bits causing such anger and flamage
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indicates a serious overreaction.
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Are mere thoughts the crime? Orwell covered this, didn't he?
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* What if such images merely "look like" children (and just what is the
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age of consent? 18? 16? "Children" of 15 can get married in most
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countries of the world.)...are such "fakes" illegal?
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* What if they are computer-generated images, of children that never
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existed outside of a computer? Which children were exploited? We're
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back to thoughtcrime again. (Don't laugh, a leading interpretation is
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that even computer-generated child porn would be illegal, not because
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of crimes committed against children, but because of the "atmosphere"
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and "climate" it might produce. That is, thoughtcrime.)
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* What if the images were morphs? Not wholly computer-generated, but the
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morph of an adult image into that of a child?
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* What if one 15-year old child took photos of a another 15-year old
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child? What if one child "exploited" another? What if a child took
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pictures of herself, self-portraits?
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* What if the images, if they were ever to be posted, originated
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someplace where they are legal? Perhaps Amsterdam, someone suggested.
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If the U.S government tries to stop the Net (which is already a market
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anarchy, thankfully) from distributing this material, mightn't all the
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various countries that have different laws than ours do the same
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thing? There goes alt.fan.salman.rushdie. And there goes soc.motss and
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all the "normal" alt.binaries.pictures.* groups. Of course it won't
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likely happen, nor will alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children go
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away,either. Get used to it. (Again, I don't care for it, but wailing
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and moaning won't make it go away.)
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* What if someone scanned-in images from the widely available books by
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David Hamilton, or Robert Mapplethorpe? Certainly many of these photos
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are of nude children...would the imminent death of Usenet finally
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happen if someone went down to B. Dalton Books, bought a David
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Hamilton collection, and posted some of the photos in a.b.p.e.c.?
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So, I would encourage folks to lighten up. In a week on the Net, not a
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single kiddie porn picture has been posted. And if it does happen, try
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to just ignore it. The kid whose picture was taken is probably grown
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up by now (I'm guessing that many such images are from old magazines,
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etc.). In any case, the occasional picture is hardly going to create a
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new slave trade in children.
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The issue of how the media may react is a more serious one. Part of
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the reason I'm explaining my little experiment now is to make sure my
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posting, at least, is not used by some nitwit reporter as the basis of
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a story. (If it's being used, then he'll soon have egg on his face.)
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That's the story. I hope you enjoyed the ride.
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P.S. I said I'd say something about why I used encryption. Aside from
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not being a real PGP-readable file, the idea was to make it look like
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one. This is the likeliest way for such material to get posted, along
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with anonymous remailers. The "look for the key in the 'usual places'"
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bit was to resonate with the "binary nerve gas" idea, where the
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dangerous pieces are stored separately and only combined at the last
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minute. I don't know if such techniques are already in use, but I
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expect them soon.
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The mutant condors that one reader (who claimed to be a Pope in the
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Church of the Subgenius, but who humorlessly missed the joke--but I
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forgive him, for he knew not what he saw) wanted to feed me to, can
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now stop circling my house.
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-Tim May
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--
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..........................................................................
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Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
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408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
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W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments.
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Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
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Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it.
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________________________________________________________________________
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Date: Tue, 6 Jul 93 12:04:34 -0700
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Message-Id: <9307061904.AA12415@netcom.netcom.com>
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To: cypherpunks@toad.com
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From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
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Subject: We are Becoming Politically Correct Sheep
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Perry Metzger writes, about the reaction to the "junk bits" file I posted
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in a controversial new group, "alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children":
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>Michael Ross says:
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>> Tim,
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>>
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>> That was very manipulative, and did not achieve much.
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>
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>I wholely disagree. Tim's post to alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children
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>was a valuable exercise even given its limitations.
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>
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Of course I agree with Perry, though I also respect the others who have
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posted disagreements (sometimes strong!) here on this List or in the
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various newsgroups...that's what free speech is all about.
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Bear in mind that most of the "Cypherpunks agenda," to the extent we can
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identify it, is likely to provoke ordinary citizens into _outrage_. Talk of
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anonymous mail, digital money, money laundering, information markets, data
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havens, undermining authority, transnationalism, and all the rest (insert
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your favorite idea) is not exactly mainstream.
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While I don't personally care for the "kiddie porn" I've seen (the David
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Hamilton photos of young girls and the occasional Mapplethorpe photos in
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news reports), the issues raised in this area are of great importance. (I
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don't plan to argue for or against these images in this forum, though.)
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If we back down every time a censor screams "Illegal!," then very few of
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our agenda items will ever see the light of day.
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So long as physical violence or coercion is not involved, I see no reason
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to restrict the activities of others. I completely reject the concept of
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"class-based crimes," such as:
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- conventional erotica and pornography should be banned because it is
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degrading to women, objectifies them, etc. (ironically, unless of course it
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is "made by and for wimmin," a loophole added by Andrea Dworkin and her
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supporters after they discovered their anti-porn crusade in Canada and
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elsewhere would put an end to Lesbian porn mags like "Yellow Silk"!).
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- I put "child porn" in this category because only the actual coercion of
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children--if it is happening--should be stopped. (And even this is
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confusing, as coercion of children happens all the time--we call it
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"parenting.")
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A mere image carries no proof that this coercion has happened, for the many
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reasons I have cited and others have cited (e.g., the child may have
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willingly participated, the "child" may be 18 and merely look 15, the
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images may have come from other countries where the customs and laws are
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different, the image may have been computer-generated or morphed, and so
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on).
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- "racist jokes" are being targeted for elimination in many of the Usenet
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groups, by halting the carrying of "offensive" newsgroups. Legal purists
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will of course note that this is not "censorship" in the legal/government
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sense. IMHO, the English language needs a new term for something between
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the one extreme of government censorship and the other extreme of personal
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choice, perhaps something like "institutional censorship." Being a free
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market sort of person, I have no problems with, say, Apple Computer
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deciding not to carry "alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children" or
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"rec.humor.funny.cripples," but it still a _form_ of "institutional
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censorship." [especially when they are acting so as to head off legal
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action, as I describe below]
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- read the "academic freedom" group (I forget the exact title...search for
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"acad-free" in your newsreader) and you'll see that more and more
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universities are using the "sexual harassment" laws/codes to stop certain
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newsgroups, to halt the distribution of sexually oriented images, and to
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take disciplinary action against students (mostly male) who have put GIFs
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on their computers or workstations (apparently female students who walk
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past an office in which female models are used as startup screens have
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decided they are being "sexually assaulted" or "harassed").
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[An important point to make here is that many of these institutions are
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taking actions largely because they fear that if they don't, the plaintiffs
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will take their case to the _government_ legal system, perhaps by suing the
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university for "condoning an atmosphere hostile to womym and other people
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of color." <insert smileys here, lest I be sued for insulting colored
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people> If there was no threat of ultimate legal action, much of this
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"institutional censorship" would vanish, and people could just concentrate
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on doing their jobs, with or without calendars of "Miss Usenet" gracing
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their walls.]
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- discussion of ways to undermine the State, via crypto anarchy and strong
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crypography, are likely to be targets of future crackdowns. Sedition laws,
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conspiracy laws, RICO, etc. How long before speaking on these matters earns
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a warning letter from your university or your company? [Again, I think it's
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the "big stick" of ultimate government action that spurs these univeristy
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and company policies. Apple fears being shut down for having "involvement"
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with a terrorist plot, Emory University fears being sued for millions of
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dollars for "conspiring" to degrade wimmin of color, etc.)
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- how long before "rec.guns" is no longer carried at many sites, as they
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fear having their universities or companies linked to discussions of
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"assault weapons" and "cop-killer bullets"?
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[Prediction: Many companies and universities, under pressure from the Feds,
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will block groups in which encrypted files are posted. After all, if one
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encrypts, one must have something to hide, and that could expose the
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university to legal action from some group that feels aggrieved.]
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So, free speech is under assault across the country. The tort system is
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being abused to stifle dissentinting views (and lest you think I am only a
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capitalist, only a free marketeer, the use of "SLAPP suits"--"Strategic
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Lawsuits Against Public Participation"--by corporations or real estate
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developers to threaten those who dare to publicly speak against their
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projects is a travesty, a travesty that the courts have only recently begun
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to correct).
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We are becoming a nation of sheep, fearing the midnight raid, the knock on
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the door. We fear that if we tell a joke, someone will glare at us and
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threaten to sue us _and_ our company! And so companies are adopting "speech
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codes" and other such baggage of the Orwell's totalitarian state. Political
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correctness is extending its tendrils into nearly every aspect of life in
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America.
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Time to fight back.
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-Tim May
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--
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Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
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|
408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
|
|
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments.
|
|
Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: by arrangement
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|
Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it.
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________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
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The SURFPUNK Technical Journal is a dangerous multinational hacker zine
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originating near BARRNET in the fashionable western arm of the northern
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California matrix. Quantum Californians appear in one of two states,
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spin surf or spin punk. Undetected, we are both, or might be neither.
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________________________________________________________________________
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Send postings to <surfpunk@osc.versant.com>, subscription requests
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to <surfpunk-request@osc.versant.com>. This looks like a sting.
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________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
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UthisItDFgL
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8Ywlooksvimz
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rxDvlikeJ4SX
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Mxa0u7vR
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YSstingjDJT
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