146 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
146 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
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====================
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ISSUE #005
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-FEDWatch '92-
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It happens every year. Who starts it is unimportant.But the damage it does
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(or does not do) is amazing.I remember the first time I heard the rumor,back
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in 90...the FEDS are investigating all the local BBS's!
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The BBS world is a strange community.Strange,in that,unlike other groups of
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human beings,almost nobody "knows" anyone else.As a user of 3 years,I have
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seen countless other users come and go,without ever so much as talking to them.
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As a sysop,its even worse. If you run a board of any repute whatsoever, asking
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for any real info on your users is a major faux pas. So aside from having seen
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them someplace else,you are totally in the dark about who is who on the boards.
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This can make it fun to be a user,but tough to be a sysop,sometimes. Quite
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literally,the cops can be anyone. ANY and ALL new users are suspects. Some
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sysops combat this by insisting on voice validating each and every user.
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This practice,in my experiance,drives away the users you'd most want to have.
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Other sysops use a waiting period,or watch to see what other sysops do with
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regards to your access. Over the years,I have done all & none of the above.
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But the rumors,thats the crux of this file. Rumors are wonderous things.They
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can make or break reputations,lives,and careers. Panther Modernz (my previous
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textfile/hacking/etc. group) died because a whole bunch of people of whom we'd
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never heard of went around claiming to be in our group,and rumors grew out of
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the fact that because these people had no lives,that we must be similarly lame.
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Phoenix Modernz (which consists of myself and two others who have been in comas
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for the last 10 months) will never suffer a similar fate.
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But the rumors....I remember November of 89,when I first got hit with the
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FedWatch rumor. I bought into it,took down my BBS,got rid of a few items
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I was "holding" for a friend,and generally became unobtrusive. And I waited.
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And waited. And waited some more. Finally,I put my board back up (after
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changing its name & number) and went "underground". A few of my friends did so
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as well.Some put their boards back up eventually,some didn't. But the rumor
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did preciesely what I'm sure it was intended to do...it knocked everyone with
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something to hide into hiding. Probably revealing them for who they were.
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This years rumor mill worked much the same. When I got busted,I am told that
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all sorts of wild rumors were started to the effect that I was in jail, or
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worse.But this years rumors turned REAL interesting in ways even I was
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unaccustomed to...
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We'll start with what was,to my mind,the best coverup of the year for 1991.
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Understand that the user which I am about to describe is your prime rich-boy
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adolescent.His daddy has bought him everything he has ever owned,and if he
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should ever get into trouble,can afford lawyers enough to handle it.We'll call
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this user "Max",more to protect me from a libel suit than to protect him from
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the cops if they ever got wind of this story. Max is/was what you'd call a
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"popular" user. That is,he posted,he uploaded,and he was helpfull when someone
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needed something. He was a "parttime" sysop,running a bbs when it suited him,
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and serving as cosysop on at least 3/4 of the local boards.
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Well,Max was young,and from all accounts,quite popular with the ladies.His only
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problem in this regard was his fascination with a certain young lady too many
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years his junior. Max,was,you see,the tender age of 18.So just about anyone
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younger than him who was more than "just a friend" constituted statutory rape.
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Well,it came to the ears of one sysops wife one fine autumn afternoon that
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Max & his ladylove had "done it". This message was conveyed by a user who was
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(at least we are told) Max's best friend on and off the boards.She told this
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rumor to her husband,who told it to another sysop,and so the rumor spread...
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Now please note that I am not saying that anything happened.(Although,knowing
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Max,I PERSONALLY believe he was capable of it).But the rumor was started,and
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it spread,and eventually reached the ears of some people valiant enough to come
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to the young ladies defense.In fact,they came to her defense so well that
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everyone involved got fairly defensive and claimed it was all "just a joke".
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Some joke. If my best friend ever started a rumor that could have landed me
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behind bars,I'd have found a new friend.
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Now lets examine the series of events here. Max's friend starts rumor. Rumor
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spreads. People start threatening Max's life & limb.Friend then recants rumor
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and claims it was just a joke. The amazing and sad fact of the whole matter
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to me was that NOBODY thought for a moment to consider the fact that Max might
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NOT have done it. Even his friends took him to be guilty. The above series of
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events is what transpired publicly.Privately,I think what happened is this:
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Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl,girl likes boy,they flirt. Boy & girl flirt for
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months,both know its wrong,but it feels good so neither stop. Boy & girl go
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too far once. Both step back. Later,they come together again,and more happens.
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Things really get out of hand. Boy confides in "friend" what happened. Boy's
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friend has big mouth. Word spreads. Maybe it gets distorted,maybe not. Boy,
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fearing the future use of private parts,gets friend to take the heat as idiot
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who starts rumors. Boy & girl resume flirting.
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Now,at this juncture,I'd like to take a moment to consider one other option.
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You see,I have known quite a few younger women in my day (mostly when I was a
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younger man,thank whatever!) and I know full well the "status" that landing
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a boyfriend so much older than oneself can bring. But whichever way it all
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occured,it was wrong,and it jeprodized the lives of the both of them. I would
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like to take a moment to say that if the young lady in question should ever
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read this file, I do not think any less of you. You've held up rather well
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fire. The BBS world is not often kind to women,I have found. Don't let the
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opinions of others (even me!) sway you from what you feel is right.
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But we are not done with Max yet. You see,he stars in another of the featured
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rumors here. Around Christmas,one of our local sysops went on vacation.
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And as luck might have it (twice in a row now!) the day he left,his board
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crashed. When another user (and a suspicious seeming NEW user at that) told a
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tale of having spoken with a sherrif's deputy at the local software store
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about computer piracy & an upcoming ***FEDERAL INVESTIGATION*** of the same,
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Max linked the downing of that sysops board with his having been busted.
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The story,as it was told,was this: The Sherrifs department had called in some
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FBI agents to help weed out fraud and piracy on the local computer bulletin
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boards.When the sysop in question leaves without saying anything to Max,he
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assumes that this must mean he was busted.Max then compunds the problem by
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telling folks that not only did the guy get busted,but he's turning states
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evidence on everyone else to get himself off the hook.
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When folks who know the real story get wind of whats being said,they try to
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shut down the rumormill.But the shit REALLY hits the fan when the sysop gets
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back and learns what his "friend" has been saying about him in his absence.
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Meanwhile,the whole FBI Investigation rumor is gaining momentum,causing alot
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of boards to go down,or at least to change policies.
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The moral to all of this (if there is one) is that rumors don't just hurt
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the people that the rumors are about.They can often turn around and harm the
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starters of the rumors themselves.It gets even worse in a society where so few
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of us actually know each other.
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This file brought to you by Tal Meta (PM/TLS)
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<*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*>*<*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*>
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<*> The Lawless Society Inc. The Syndicate BBS:908/506-6651 <*>
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<*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*>*<*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*>
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*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
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*-* Phoenix Modernz Inc. TANSTAAFL BBS:908/830-TANJ *-*
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*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
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Note the new number for TANSTAAFL, eh? If you like this file,or just textfiles
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in general,give us a buzz. If you are interested in joining TLSNet, contact us
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on one of the following (and soon to be growing) list of TLSNet Nodes.
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1:908/506 - The Syndicate BBS -908/506-6651-
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1:908/830 - The TANSTAAFL BBS -908/830-TANJ-
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1:609/490 - The Golden Road BBS -609/490-1012-
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