SECTION 182 PRESENTS

ONE EIGHT TWO
Information for the Information Society


EDITOR IN CHIEF: Doktor Avalanche (avalanche@stratos.oet.uhf.com)
STAFF WRITER: Elliott Finesse (elfin@stratos.oet.uhf.com)




FROM THE FRINGE
=====================
 
Well, here's yet another installment of ONE EIGHT TWO.

To begin with, ONE EIGHT TWO has recently acquired a UNIX system
to better communicate with the rest of the world. Please send all your
articles via the Net to uunet!fiver!stratos!avalanche.

The War on Drugs is churning ahead full steam, and in a mad dash to
crack down on pushers and users, the Government of this country is
seeing fit to stomp on the rights of minorities, the powerless, and
the unpopular. The most to gain from such civil rights violations are
the police, who get to keep the profits seized from suspected drug 
dealers. 

In his first article, and subsequent more articles to come, Elliott Finesse
outlines in what could very well be a casual link to the War on Drugs
and the current crackdown on hackers. In it, he explains that "it's
not just for drugs anymore."
 
To say that we're all in this together is understating it politely.

-----------------------------------------

ONE EIGHT TWO also has the interview with John Draper, a.k.a Cap'n Crunch,
the legendary phone phreaker of the early pioneer days. 
 
And, of course, we've got the assorted news and blurbs. 

========================================================================



YOUR REALITY CHECK IS IN THE MAIL
Casual links between the War On Drugs and crackdown on hackers
paints a frightening picture for those who love freedom and 
believe in individual rights.
 
by Elliot Finesse (elfin@stratos.oet.uhf.com)
-------------------------------------------------------------------

When they came for the hackers, I couldn't believe it was really true
until I went out and verified it. This next article is certainly no
exception.

I present to you the newest writer for ONE EIGHT TWO magazine, 
Elliott Finesse - and what he's got to say about the War on Drugs
affects us all.

If you're black, hispanic, asian, or look like a hippy, you're more
than suspect for being a drug dealer. The government can, quite legally,
seize your house, car, money and other valueables if they THINK (no
proof required or needed) that they were acquired by drugs.

I wouldn't normally touch an article like this, but it's much too 
important to let go. I suggest you read very carefully the section
titled IT'S NOT JUST FOR DRUGS ANYMORE.

And, don't take our word for it. This is pretty incredible stuff. Go
out and verify what has been said.  


-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence - it is force! Like fire
it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should
it be left to irresponsible action"

							- George Washington



	We got trouble, friends, right here in River City. It is a dangerous
time to be engaging in "unacceptable" behavior. In fact, it's dangerous
even to look "like the type known to engage in..." unacceptable behavior.
This alone is sufficient to ruin your life. Big Brother is back, and boy
is he pissed off.
	
	I intend to show that there are people with power who will stop
at almost nothing to control what you say, believe, and do. The lengths
to which they are willing to go has no relationship to the danger posed
by those actions or thoughts.

	There is a dark side to this nation's "personality" that is virtually
unknown to the middle class and rarely mentioned in history books. It is
a side that is usually experienced first hand - if at all.

	Many in the middle class don't believe it exists or that it has been
exaggerated. When a member of the middle class does experience and comes
back to tell others about it, it's too late - you are suspect. You did
something to deserve it. Where there's smoke...It is easier and more 
comforting to believe the victim really isn't like us than to believe
we could be next.

	If I convince you of only one thing I hope it is this: If we don't
hang together, we will surely hang separately.

	Wait. Don't type-cast me as just another Armageddon monger - not
yet, anyway. I'm not inclined toward consparicy theories, Amway Pyramids,
or New Age power crystals. Nor am I of the "up against the wall" political
persuasion. What I say I don't say casually. My perspective, what I have
to compare this with, comes from the Sixties, from being on the wrong
side of Nixon over Viet Nam. It comes from memories of the Cuban missile
crisis. I KNOW how it feels to think the world is coming to an end - or
completely insane.

	Since you may see my column here from time to time, I should probably
state what my guidlines will be:

	- I will attempt to make clear distinctions between opinions and
	  facts. As you may have noticed, many people either don't know
	  or can't tell the difference.

	- I won't pretend to know something when I don't.

	- Finally, I won't expect you to take my word for anything. Faith
	  is for the gullible or the religious. Since you aren't stupid and
	  I ain't God, faith won't be necessary.


SURVIVAL TACTICS: EXERCISE #1
==============================

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to
the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the
State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privlidges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; not shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, and
property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within
it's jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

	- Amendment XIV, Section I of the Bill of Rights. 1790

"We (the feds) seize money, real estate, cars, etc. I have even seized the
cash value of life insurance policies. All that federal law requires is
that the property either be the proceeds of criminal activity or that it
have been used in to facilitate a criminal activity. Property is sold, cash
and the proceeds of sales we share with state and local law enforcement
agencies that assist in developing the criminal case..."

	- Amendment XIV, updated 1990. 
	   Text taken from a message posted on a BBS by an agent of the FBI.

	
	Step outside yourself and examine your activities as someone might
who doesn't like you. Look at your activities, habits, your style of life.
Try and give your activity the worst possible interpretation. Can you be
made to look bad from this perspective? Can you be made to look like
a criminal?
	
	I'm not trying to be funny here. History has shown that if they want
you, they're going to get you. Len Rose, and the victims of Operation
Sun Devil, got a rather unpleasant civics lesson on the true meaning and
the scope of the Bill of Rights. That lesson is: EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS
WRONG. You can't be made to testify against yourself. WRONG. You are
presumed innocent until proven guilty. WRONG. A right to a fair trial,
no punishment without due process, search warrants needed, probable cause,
privacy protection - WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, and WRONG.

	I realize these are radical statments. Even the most cynical would
probably find it hard to accept this as literal truth. I CERTAINLY HOPE
SO. I would have serious reservations about the mental abilities of 
anyone who would take my word for it.

	
"The sanctity of marriage and the family relation are the corner of our 
American society...which polygamy and Mormonism have imperiled."

	- Rutherford B. Hayes
	  State of The Union Address
	  Dec 6, 1880.

	
	The practice of polygamy by Mormons so incensed Congress, more than
a hundred years ago, they passed laws that allowed for the legal
confiscaction of their churches, temples, and even private homes - all 
without due process. Sound vaguely familar? Only the Church's absolute
disavowal of polygamy prevented the complete and utter destruction of
Mormonism in this country. Plural marriage wasn't an option for them,
or some kind of lecherous "quid pro quo" pay off for piety. It was
an unalterable and fundamental requirement in attaining the highest
glory. It was an imparitive that came directly from God.

	As you might expect, polygamy wasn't so easily eradicated. And 
although the church's official repudation of the practise halted the
wholesale seizures and imprisonment, polygamy continued underground. For
the next seventy years, the government, in what can only be described as
a vendetta, agressively pursued and prosecuted practitioners of a religious
belief that was, at worst, a victim-less "crime".

	The culmination came in the early 1950's when a remarkable historic
event occurred, almost completely forgotten about today. The entire town
of Shortcreek, Arizona - men, women, and children - were arrested. In what
was reminiscent of a cattle round-up, numbers were applied to women and
children, and photos taken of each little "herd" for evidence. The wives
were told they would never see their children again in an effort to force
them to testify against their husbands.

	This is not an isolated example, friends. Many skeletons exist,
hidden deep in the back of the national closet.
 

JUSTICE FOR ALL
=========================

"The state may not, consistently with the spirit of the First Amendment,
contract the spectrum of available knowledge. The right of freedom of
speech and press includes not only the right to utter or to print,
but the right to distribute, the right to recieve, the right to read...
and freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, and freedom to teach."

		- Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.


	Most people apparently think that our Constitutional protections
have existed from their inception pretty much as they do today; well,
not exactly. For instance, before the landmark decision on the First
Amendment, from which the above quotation is taken, government considered
shrinking "...the spectrum of available knowledge," and limiting the
free expression of ideas, a reasonable tactic. That this was an accepted
and quite legal government weapon, during the same decade that this 
country put men on the moon, may surprise some. It shouldn't.

	The intent of the First Amendment, most historians believe, was to
prevent the government from practicing "prior restraint" of the press,
except in the most extreme cases of national security. They believe this 
because the authors of the Constitution found the English system - which
required final approval of everything, by either church or state before it
went into press - so distasteful. Despite this unequivocal First Amendment
protection, government could - and did - legally restrain, prior to 
publication, whatever they deemed "dangerous". The rationaled was called
"killing the serpent in the egg." This rather elegant metaphor could
prevent publication of embryonic word serpents too "dangerous" for the
people to hear. But who decides what "dangerous" means?


SHOOT-OUT AT THE CREDIBILITY GAP
==================================

	There are things or situations than any sane person would call
dangerous. But there are other times when it becomes a judgement call. A 
shark is dangerous. A hand grenade is dangerous. A hacker is dangerous.
A hacker is dangerous? You don't have to prove that a shark is dangerous.
And if the right people say it often enough, you don't have to prove that
a hacker is dangerous either. That's what I call dangerous.

	When it gets right down to it, our Constitutional protections only
mean what the Supreme Court says they mean. Time and again government has
said to the people: The xyz problem is so important, so immediate, and so
very dangerous that "we all gotta give up some rights so we can deal
with it." Sooner or later another problem will arrive, or be fabricated,
and, "If we can suspend civil liberties in the first case, why can't we
do it here too?" That's a damn good question. In fact, I believe a
direct casual link between the "war on drugs" and the current crackdown
on hackers can be shown.

	The concept of "probable cause" was included in the Bill of Rights
to prevent the Government from going on "fishing expiditions" ie: searching
everybody in hopes of catching a few bad guys. Well, the Supreme Court
recently decided that probable cause wasn't necessary when it comes
to drunk driving. The majority opinion said, in effect, the infringement
on the rights of non-intoxicated drivers was acceptable when weighed 
against the danger posed by drunk driving. Lower courts said pretty
much the same thing about drug testing.

	How do you reply to someone who argues: "Hey, it's such a minor 
inconvienance, and if it helps catch drunk drivers or drug pushers,
why not?" If you're innocent, you shouldn't mind. "What have you 
got to hide?"
 
	If someone ever lays that shallow, self-righteous homily on you,
try this. First, congratulate him on his civic-mindedness. Now ask
HIM a few questions. A good topic is sex, but there are others. Start
slow and get progressively more personal. "Are you married? Do you
have sex with your wife? Extramarital sex?" Pretty soon he's going
to say something like: "that's personal" or "That's none of your 
business." Smile and say, "NOW you understand."
 
	Some real non-thinkers may respond, "But that isn't the same thing
at all!" Give him the other barrel, something like: "Don't you know we
have an INCREDIBLE sex crime problem in the country? Do you know how
may women and children are RAPED, beaten and KILLED every year?? You
shouldn't mind answering a few questions if you're innocent. After all,
WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO HIDE??"
 
	Congratulations, you may have just smartened up a chump (maybe).
There is a more important reason why I detailed this little idiot trap
of an argument. It was to demonstrate just how easy it is to justify
giving up almost any Constitutional protection.

	Although the privacy of phone conversations is protected from 
government surveillance, without court order, the CIA quite legally
maintains geo-synchronous satellites, at this minute, sitting 25,000
miles above our heads, that monitor phone conversations transmitted
by microwave - meaning just about everyone. They employ billions of
dollars in computing power listening for key words. Suspicious calls
are then monitored. Of course this is only to catch spies and the like.
But, as the Soviet Union self destructs, and the "dangers" of hacking
or of drugs become greater in the public mind, ask yourself how hard it
would be to turn this technology toward other ends.
 
	Ronald Reagan's legacy, if you can call it that, is a country that
has been financially and morally eviscerated. One aspect of this - one
that is becoming more obvious - was his "packing" of the Supreme Court.
By "packing" I don't mean putting Republicans on the bench. Earl Warren
was a Republican, but Reagan did his best to choose idealogues - knee
jerk reactionaries, if you will, who would never let pangs of fairness
cloud their politically based decisions. In his article in "The Nation",
Jamie Kelvin states, "Never before have the criteria selection been so
narrowly ideological. And never before have those criteria been applied
in so disciplined and unrelenting a fashion."
 
	For example, one of Reagan's nominees, Robert Bork, thinks that the
First Amendment's protection of free speech should apply only to speech
that "contributes" to the "political process!" In his own words Bork
has stated, "There is no basis for [the courts] to protect any other
form of free expression, be it scientific, literary, or that variety
of expression we call obscene or pornographic." And even in the category
of political speech, he would deny protection to anyone advocating the
violation of ANY LAW. Compare this to the words of Chief Justice William
O. Douglas. Do you feel a little safer, knowing that Congress rejected
Bork by the largest margin for the Supreme Court?


 
IT'S NOT JUST FOR DRUGS ANYMORE
==================================

"I smelt a rat"
 
	- Patrick Henry on why he did not attend the Constitutional convention

	Of all the thousands of words written about Operation Sun Devil, one
aspect was never explained. At least I never saw it mentioned. It seems
also to be the most puzzling aspect of the whole affair: how could the
Government confiscate computer systems and tens of thousands of disks,
and, as yet (to my knowledge) never charge the owners with any crime, and
never return the hardware or software to the owners? My curiosity lead
to a story that has relegated Operation Sun Devil to virtually microscopic
signifigance by comparison.

	The story was on the front page of the San Francisco Examiner for
four days, August 25-29th. Under the headling, "Seizure Laws: License
to Loot?" Are you sitting down? The first two sentences read:

	"Police in the U.S. can take your cash or your car or your home.
	 You don't have to be guilty of a crime or even charged with one."

	It goes on to state:

	"Eighty percent of the people who lost their propert WERE NEVER
	 CHARGED WITH CRIMES."
 
	Impossible you say? Unconstitutional? In fact, from the details
outlined in the article, seizure laws would appear to violate the 4th,
5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Before you
throw up your hands, thinking I don't have both chop sticks in the
chow mein, I'll quickly describe, in general, how it works:

	Constitutional protections apply only to CRIMINAL LAW, where life
or liberty is at stake. CIVIL LAW, the dominion of law suits, where 
"only" property is at stake, HAVE NO SUCH PROTECTIONS. Federal and
state seizure laws are ALL WRITTEN IN CIVIL LAW, NEATLY CIRCUMVENTING
CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGAURDS. These laws, originally designed to strip
drug barons of ill gotten loot, are snaring innocent people as well -
thousands of innocent people.

	During the mid-1980's, laws were passed allowing the government
to take the possessions of big drug dealers without convicting them of
a crime or even charging them. To get their property back, the suspected
drug dealer would have to prove his belongings weren't bought with drug
money. The local police got to keep up to 80% of the proceeds. The money
was supposed to go for "law enforcement purposes", but with no accounting
required, police departments used the money for just about anything -
uniforms, recreation equipment, air conditioners, fringe benifit pay,
are but a few.

	Maybe we should have seen it coming. I didn't, that's for sure.
Eliminating Constitutional restraints, coupled with a strong financial
incentive and no accountablility, transformed a well intended idea
into a frenzied nightmare of greed and misery.

	Why have 80% of the people who lost property to the government
NEVER BEEN CHARGED WITH ANYTHING? Think about that for a moment. I
believe this is the key issue.
 
	It's improbable, though possible, the entire 80% actually were
drug people. Maybe the police didn't have enough evidence to charge
them.  Maybe these were the people the seizure laws were designed to
catch. Maybe. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, they all were
somehow involved in drugs. That 80% represents an enormous number of
bad guys that were never even charged with a crime, let alone tried
and convicted.
 
	Another theory, one I find less improbable, is that the police,
impatient to reap the financial fall-out, ignore a suspect's civil
rights. The evidence might still hold up in court but it it didn't,
it was no big deal. Their goal was to grab his assests for themselves.
It might work like this: (This is a tentative hypothesis only) police
are tupped off to a big dealer. They had no probable cause for a search
warrant, but raided his house anyway. Since they had no search warrant
they couldn't use anything taken as evidence against him in a criminal
trial. But they could keep his house, car, cash, and anything of value
for themselves - legally. And the dealer gets to walk away (with
empty pockets). ****** Waiting to build a case would make it less
certain that the assests would still be available for seizure some months
in the future. Other departments would likely get involved, so assets
would have to be shared. Stake-outs are extremely expensive to maintain -
I mean, why wait? Look at it from their point of view: "We could lose him
and the assets too, and there's no guaruntee the scumbag will even do
time." A bird in hand, after all. The only differences between this 
scenario and the stereotypical New York narc of old, shaking down a 
street dealer, is that now the shakedowns are better organized - and
funded - and of course, completely legal.
 
	There is compelling evidence many of the 80% were completely 
innocent. Either way, there seems to be no good reason why 80% of those
who lost property were never charged with a crime. An inventory of items
seized also tends to support the theory that many were innocent.
 
	EVIDENCE: Only 17% of the goods seized were big ticket items like
boats, limos, jewelry or other drug baron's toys. Most of the things 
seized were homes, cars, and savings accounts - things more typical of
ordinary people.
 
	Arrest records seem to support this also.
 
	EVIDENCE: Narcotics arrests in California, after increasing every
10 years, have taken a sudden and unexpected down turn. In 1989, roughly
1 year after the implementation of the State seizure law, drug arrests
began to decline. ****This year are down an additional 18%. So 
signifigance is the decrease, the state will probably scrap their EIGHT
BILLION DOLLAR prison construction master plan. In the same period,
seizure money, going to local police is up by...20%
 
	Maybe you aren't worried because you can prove your house, car,
and other possessions weren't purchased with drug money. Even putting
aside the question of why you should have to prove anything, proof
may not help very much. PROOF DOESN'T STOP THEM INITIALLY SEIZING YOUR
HOUSE, YOUR CAR, BANK ACCOUNT OR ANYTHING ELSE!

	In fact, the only chance you have of getting your property back is
to show that the MAJORITY OF THE EVIDENCE PROVES YOUR PROPERTY IS NOT
RELATED TO DRUGS - not easy to do. According to the California Deputy
Attorney General, Gary Schons, it would require, "...voluminous financial
records." And without these records, innocent or not, you've lost your
property forever! You have also lost 10 to 20 thousand dollars in legal
fees.

	Ask Mrs. Juana Lopez who was stopped in a downtown bus station last
October 9th. Even though she had receipts for every cent of the 4750.00
she had, it was taken from her at the bus station and, so far anyway,
it hasn't been returned.
 
	Ask Grady McClendon, age 53. He, his wife, their two children, and
two grandchildren were returning from a family reunion in Georgia. When
he made a wrong turn down a one way street, he was stopped by local police
who asked to see his ID and permission to search his car. Within minutes
suitcases and purses were dumped out and searched. Shortly thereafter,
the police "started waiving a little stick they said was cocaine." He
and his family were hauled in to the station and held for six hours. 
Finally they were released. And though no charges were filed, the police
kept their car, $2500 in cash, their jewelry, and everything else they
had of value.
 
	Mr. McClendon hired an attorney who ended up battling the state for
11 months, just to get them to produce the lab test results on the
"cocaine". Although legal fees went well beyond the value of his 
posessions, McClendon continued in order to remove the cloud of suspicion
he felt hanging over him. Finally, after months of struggle his lawyer
forced the DA to provide a copy of the lab test. The "cocaine" turned
out to be bubble gum. After nearly a year a judge finally ordered his
possesions returned. 
 
	Consider yourself warned.
 
	More information will be forthcoming in future issues. Verify
what I've said. Verify Verify Verify!
 
 
CODA
==============
 
"There's the King's messanger, he's in prison now, being punished; and
the trial doesn't even begin till next Wednesday; and of course, the
crime comes last of all."
 
"Suppose he never commits the crime?", asked Alice.
 
"That would be all the better, wouldn't it?" the Queen responded...
 
Alice felt there was no denying that. "Of course it would be all the
better," she said; "but it wouldn't be all the better his being punished."
 
"You're wrong..." said the Queen. "Were you ever punished?"
 
"Only for faults," said Alice.
 
"And you were all the better for it, I know!" the Queen said triumphantly.
 
"Yes, but then I had done the things I was punished for," said Alice. 
"That makes all the difference."
 
"But if you hadn't done them," the Queen said, "that would have been
better still; better, and better, and better!" Her voice went higher
with each "better" till it got quiet to a squeak...
 
Alice thought, "There's a mistake here somewhere..."
 
			- Lewis Carroll




HOW'S YOUR PROFILE?
====================

	This assessment is primarily directed toward those who may be
innocently targeted by a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO). Those not
so innocent should be very worried: 1 or 2 cute little pot plants
in the back yard is enough for them to seize your house, and keep it.
If more than just a few of the following traits apply, consider 
re-examining your habits.
 

A) ASSETS: Do you have anything to lose? You can't lose what you don't
   have with one BIG exception. The property of friends, relatives, and
   others can be seized and must be considered a seizable asset in this
   discussion if near-at-hand or used by a Law Enforcement Target (LET).
 
	Property can be seized if:
 
		1) It has been used in a crime.
 
		2) Used to facilitate a crime.
 
		3) Purchased with the proceeds of a crime.
 
	CASH with detectable drug traces is seizable. Unfortunately, almost
all American money does have trace drug residue.
 
	You can expect the above factors, vague and open to interpretation
as they are, to cover almost anything as an aggressive LEO wants it to
cover. REMEMBER They don't have to PROVE ANYTHING. Just the appearance
of the suspicion above can be enough.
 
	DANGER SIGNALS: LEO look for:
 
	TRAVEL: If you frequent airports, train stations, bus depots, or
major highways between large cities. Your risk increases if you are
young, Mexican, Asian, Black, if you pay in cash, if you carry a lot of
cash while travelling.
 
	LIFESTYLE: Non establishment look or demeanor. Expensive jewelry,
cars, clothes, YOUNGER PEOPLE with these things, paying with or carrying
too much cash while traveling
 
	ETHNIC GROUPS: Mexican, Asian, and Black.
 
	APPEARANCE: young, Mexican, Asian, Black, long hair. Beepers, pagers,
Cel-phones, LOOKING OUT OF PLACE. 
 
	LOCATIONS: Almost anywhere.
 
	ATTITUDE: Nervousness, not making eye contact, walking too fast/
too slow.
 
 
	NEXT TIME: RECOGNIZING LEO IN HIS NATURAL ENVIRONMENT - Counter
subversion tactics in a subversive world.


APPRECIATION / THANKS
===========================

	To Doktor Avalanche, who extended the press deadline, allowing
this Cyber-gremmie to pull a continously evolving and disjointed 
confederation of ideas into something approaching "semblance"

	Andrew Schneider and Mary Pat Flaherty whose original, Pulitzer
quality investigative report - most of my Seizure law information
derives. First published in the Pittsburgh Press, the report is based
upon a 10 month nation wide investigation that includes the review
of over 25,000 seizure cases, 1600 interviews with state and federal
law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and judges, and the examination
of 510 court documents. I think we owe these folks a debt we will never
be able to repay.


THE CRUNCH COMETH
John Draper speaks to ONE EIGHT TWO
=====================================

I recently had the chance to speak with John Draper. Well, here's what he   
had to say.

When did it all begin?

"As far as when, I'm not sure exactly, but it was some time in the late 
sixties. I was working for an electronics company, minding my own business 
when I get this call from this whacko guy who's blind and had happened to 
dial my number at random. He mentioned that he knew a bunch of ways of making
free calls. At the time, I was sort of between jobs and was 
interested in knowing how to make a free call. So, he started to tell me about 
the existance of blue boxes and what they all do. He then turned me on to 
meeting this other blind friend with an organ who was able to 
emulate a blue box.
 
So the blue box technology wasn't exclusively your invention?
														   
"No, actually, but I was I was into hardware and had built one. 
At the time it really happened, and I didn't belive it was really possible. 
He demonstrated it to me and I was totally in disbelief that it was that 
easy to make a free call, that all it took were tones. 
So, I went home and within hours I had a working bluebox. 
 
You know, I was on the phone all the time, calling everyone I knew, 
just to test it out. I was looking for numbers to call after I had 
ran out of people to call. It was very quick. If you know how to make free 
phone calls, making a free call isn't such a novelty anymore. So, I 
started to play around with test numbers and that's how it all got started."

So  what went down with the blind kids?
 
"The blind kids were totally irresponsible, and naturally they bragged to 
all of their friends that I was able to do this, which was the final thing 
that got them [telco security and the law] to notice me. At the time, I don't 
know if there were any laws pertaining to that. They knew that I knew how 
to do it, but they didn't really try to stop me by giving me a warning or 
anything like that. They were, however, watching me and I knew that. 
I stopped doing it from home after a while."
 
What exactly did the blind kids do to draw so much attention to yourself?
 
"These kids were bragging around school that I knew how to do this stuff, 
and I started recieving calls from all these random kids, wanting to know 
how to build a blue box, because the blind kids told them that I was the 
only one who knew how to do it.  The only other way they could 
make a call with a blue box was for them to get operators to connect to 
places they couldn't connect to otherwise by Social Engineering, 
which was possible to do at the time. 

What happened next was one of the kids started talking to his activities 
director at high school, or something like that, and bragged about me and 
what I could do. I then decided that it was high time I distance myself from 
the kids by telling them, 'Look, I don't want to do this anymore. I could get 
in trouble..', especially when I was involving minors. "
 
How old were you then?
 
"I was in my late 20's. The kids were VERY irresponsible, and the only way 
they made a call was by using a tape recording of the organ tones, which 
only one kid knew how to do."
 
Did you build any boxes for anyone?
 
"No, in fact, one of them actually called a telephone secuity agent 
and filled him in on what I was doing, because I wouldn't build him a box. 
At that point, I knew they knew about me, and I didn't want to be involved 
anymore."
 
What did you do then?
 
"I moved away, and I didn't tell them my phone number. It didn't do 
any good, because they FOUND my phone number, and somehow where I lived. 
They seemed to know how to get unlisted numbers, and they seemed to know how 
to find out where I lived, amongst other things.  About a year or so later, 
the news came out that someone who was building blue boxes, or had someone 
built him a blue box and was busted for using it. He was the only one outside 
our circle who knew how to do it. The blind kids contacted him and told him 
how 'uncool' it was to be making and selling blue boxes."
 
When did this take place?
 
"This was about 1968-69, and I was into something different. I stopped 
playing with them for a while, and then when I moved again, I moved into 
an area where it was cool to do it, and it was it was sort of untraceable. 
The problem was that these blind kids kept following me around, and they 
would do this by finding a line location to my number. "
 
Tell me about the exploits with the blue box during this time.
 
"I was visiting a lot of conferences, especially this one in Vancouver that 
was very popular. It was at a time when the Vancouver phone company was 
switching to a new system, and when it went on-line, they had discovered 
that all these phreaks were using the conference. So, they started tracing 
the line, and since I was on it, they had traced me as well."
 
So, it was the installation of this new system that had led to a rather 
shocking discovery: phreakers using their conference lines?
 
"Right, and that's where they traced me."
 
In the early 70's, an article came out in Esquire magazine about phone 
phreakers, which pretty much threw cold water on the whole phreak scene.
How did you come across it?
 
"During that time, a reporter investigated someone who was making and selling 
blue boxes was given the number of the blind kids by this person, and in turn
this reporter contacted the blind kids. The kids talked about me, because I 
was this ideal martyr, or something like that.
 
At any rate, the blind kids had contacted Esqure magazine, and so a reporter 
from Esquire had contacted me. At the time, I had figured out how to call 
the UK for free, but my friends had already figured that one out. In fact, 
everyone wanted to talk to me when I was in the UK, because I was the only 
person they knew in a foreign country they could call. Of course, when they 
tried to call me in the UK, the English authorities were very puzzled as to 
why I kept getting all these calls from the States. For a while, I would 
sometimes place calls to the dead side of a loop, and the other guy would 
call the other side of a loop, and would make a collect call to a loop, 
and that's how they were able to do that. So, eventually what had happened 
was the English authorities had sort of caught wind of the whole thing, 
and they couldn't understand how I was able to keep the answer signal from 
getting back. I figured out that if you made a call to England, and if you 
blew the whistle at that right time, they guy who was calling me from 
England wouldn't get an answer signal, and could then talk without the 
call being charged. No answer signal, no charge."
 
I bet the British authorities were puzzled, indeed. What became of that? What
did the authorities do in the way of action?
 
"Nothing. They couldn't do anything."
 
They never understood what was going on.
 
"No, they never understood what was going on. So I went back to the States 
and cashed in on all the knowledge my phreak friends had learned in trying 
to get me, and about six months to a year later, after I had been in England, 
the guy from Esquire had contacted my blind friends, and they gave the 
reporter their number, and they also told me to contact the reporter 
from Esquire. I thought about it for a while, and then decided 
'Sure, why not?'. I wanted to try to discourage the reporter from doing the 
article because I didn't want it out. I was afraid that if everyone knew a
bout it, the phone company would take action and do something about it. 
I didn't know how possible it was at the time."
 
What was the conversation like between you and the reporter?
 
"When I talked to the guy, I tried to discourage him from doing it, 
and all my blind friends spoke on my behalf. It was kind of...well, I really 
didn't have much say in the matter. The reporter had already made up his 
mind to do the article, even after I had tried to discourage him from doing 
it. About six months later the article came out in 1971, and I remember very 
well reading it. I was totally aphalled. I thought, 'Oh, shit. This is gonna 
end hacking on the phone as we know it today', and three months after the 
article, the FBI and the Department Of Justice launched a large scale 
investigation. They had a grand jury in Los Angeles, Seattle, and around 
the Bay Area."
 
Were you indicted in this investigation?
 
"Yeah. What ended up happening was that I was on of the last few to be 
indicted. During the grand jury, they had subpoened all my friends, 
siezing all their notebooks, tape recorders and tapes, because they knew 
they had MF tones on them. They had also seized their phone directories, 
and in every one of the directories they'd seized, my name and number was in 
them. This was to be the common denominator of the whole investigation. 
The grand jury had reached the conclusion that I was the kingpin of them all, 
because of the fact that my name had appeared in all the seized directories. 
It had made me martyr in the sense that I was the 'fall guy' , the evil guy. 
They had made up their minds that I was to be the one responsible, and that I 
would take the rap for what everyone else had done. So, in May of 1972, I was 
picked up by the FBI. I hadn't been active for about eight months. I was 
going to college at the time, and they'd grabbed me as I was heading out to 
my car in the parking lot on campus. I had just gotten done with a class, 
and was getting ready to go to my P.E. class."
 
And were you in jail?
 
"Yes and no. I was put in jail for an evening, and was let out on O.R."
 
Let's jump from that tangent for a moment. I've been hearing stories and lore
about the famous tin whistle. When did you figure out that you could fake 
out the phone company with it?
 
"Years before. The Cap'n Crunch whistle was used primarily in...okay, 
in San Jose, the whistle was only useful for clearing you from a long 
distance trunk. All it could do. It wasn't until two years later that I had 
discovered that you could use the whistle to make calls by dialing an 800 
number in Little Rock, Arkansas. You could use the whistle that way. 
I was the one who figured that out. Anyway, I had noticed that for some 
strange reason, when I had picked up a new 800 number to try, it wouldn't 
work. I couldn't understand why. When I called,  I noticed it took an 
extremely long time for the call to go through. So, I deduced that the reason 
it took a long time for the call to go through was it wasn't sending tones, 
but pulses. I couldn't hear the pulses. It had alerted me to the fact to 
try pulses, and the pulsing seemed to work. That's when I discovered it."
 
Back to May of 72. You've been picked up by the FBI, and you spent the night 
in jail. What followed after that incident?

"I got out late that evening. I didn't stay there overnight. I got arraigned 
late that afternoon, and they let me go. They took everything of mine. Notes, 
notebooks, everything.  The resolution of that was that I would be put on
probation. "
 
What would you attribute to your busts?
 
"All the other times I've been busted was the result of acts from 
uncool and irresponsible people."
 
Including your being sent to jail for five years?
 
"Yeah. About four or fiver years later, in about 75-76, I was going to a 
computer club meeting in Menlo Park, and someone from the L.A. area
was there, and he knew me. He also knew about blue boxes, and also owned one. At the time, I didn't  one, and I wasn't really interested in it anymore.
What happened was that he called a mutual friend of ours, handed it to me, 
and when he used that phone, that phone had been tapped by the FBI. 
They had my voice on it, and was charged a second time. I was naive and 
didn't really understand what was going on. That's how I got trapped in it 
the second time."
 
You mean, there's more?
 
"Yeah. The third time I had a party and was living in Pennsylvania. I had 
invited some friends, and during that party I was upstairs. Downstairs, 
where most of the people were at, I had removed all the extensions and kept 
one extension upstairs so no one would play around with the phone at the 
party. Somehow, someone brought in a phone, and plugged it into the walljack, 
and was doing something illegal on it. The moral of the story is: if you have 
friends over for a party, watch what they do with your phone. These guys did 
something to my phone, and had been using blue boxes from a phone that was 
tapped. Obviously,my phone was being watched very closely. Within hours of 
the time these guys did this to my phone, I got picked up. They were just 
waiting for the chance.
 
I had warned everyone when they came to my place to not do anything with 
the phone, but you know what happens at a party. Half these people I didn't
even know, and so they had somehow plugged into my phone line and were using 
box tones, without my knowledge or consent. It didn't become apparent to me 
until I was picked up. That's sort of what happened.
 
Anyway, that got my probation violated the second time, so I had to go back 
to jail for that. What had happened was that I was supposed to do a year in 
jail, but since I had already done four months in Pennsylvania, they gave it 
to me as time served. Normally, if you do a year, you really only have to do 
eight months. Since I was sentenced to a year, and credited four months, I 
only had to do four months. I was put on a work furlough program, and it 
was during that time that I wrote the word processor for the Apple II; 
Easywriter, it was called, and it was a big success. I actually wrote that 
in jail. I had nothing else to do, and did it without the use of a computer. 
During the daytime, I went to work and had access to a computer there.
 
I had to fake the fact that I had a job. On a work furlough program, you 
have to work for a legitimate employer. I had a friend of mine be the 
so-called 'legitmate employer', and they actually let me do that. I was 
able to get out of jail during the day, but had to be back in by five. I 
also had to pay $150 out of my paycheck. I actually had my checks mailed 
to the furlough center, and they took the money, the $150 for my 'rent', 
and kept it in an account for me. When I was released, I was given all the 
money back. That terminated my probation, and that was the end of all my 
legal problems."
 
So you thought...
 
"So I thought. Until I had run across Bill Squire." (Ed.Note: Bill Squire 
is actually Billsf, the American phreaker living in Holland whom I spoke 
with in the first issue of ONE EIGHT TWO. Neat how this all ties in, huh?)
 
So how did that relationship start?
 
"That was about four years ago. Bill wanted to use my Macintosh to lay out a 
PC board. I didn't think it would be a problem, so he came by and the 
agreement was that he could use my Macintosh and he could use my table to
develop his PC board. He also wanted to know if he could use my place to build
the boards. I had asked him what the boards were for, and he told me that it 
was related to his work at a radio station in Santa Clara. I saw what he was 
doing and took an interest in it. I noticed he had this blue colored box that 
had two magnetic tape heads on top of it. I didn't ask what it was because I 
thought it was part of a tape recorder, either he had cannabilized it from a 
tape recorder or he had built it to look like that.
 
At the time, I had no reason to believe that it was illegal. Then, one evening,
he approached me and wanted to know if his friend could come over. His friend 
was Perry Forcier (Ed.Note: see issue #1). I didn't like Perry very much 
because I thought he was an irresponsible punk. That was my description of 
him. The guy was always hanging out, mooching out, things like that. 

My tolerance level of Perry wasn't that good. I told Bill, 'Sure, he can come 
over...but he can't stay long.' Bill then asked, 'Can I bring my friend from 
BART over?'. I said sure. Why not? 
 
They came by, and they brought Glenn Parker. Glenn was one of the guys from 
BART that Perry knew. And it turns out that Perry met this guy at a coffee and 
donut stand that BART has for people to come home sober. Perry met Glenn 
late at night, waiting for a BART train. He got to talking to him, and then 
bragged he knew me, and that he could use a red box - that he knew how to 
make a free phone call, and that I had told him how to use it and that I had 
given him the device. None of this was true."
 
So why did he do it?
 
"Perry did it to boost his own ego at my expense. Glenn, who worked for the 
BART police, thought this was a case worth pursuing. He bugged Perry to meet 
me. 
 
A situation arose when he and Perry came to meet me. At the time, Glenn 
worked for BART: big deal. It wasn't until Glenn pulled out a bunch of BART 
cards that I started to get suspicous. When I saw what that blue colored box
was for, I pulled Bill to the side and said, 'I don't who this guy is, get 
rid of him!'. Bill says that they were preparing to leave anyway, 
and did so after about half an hour. During that time, they were using this 
box to duplicate BART cards, after which they left.
 
The very next day, I got arrested. Agents from the BART Alameda, Oakland 
police, two security agents from the phone company, and BART detectives came 
by. They arraigned me, and that was the BART incident.
 
It was then it became evident that they didn't have much evidence on me, but
they had to charge me with something in order to do a plea bargain. In order 
to do a plea bargain, they couldn't drop the charges. It made them look bad. 

 
We finally agreed that I would be charged with a misdemeanor crime called
'Altering MUNI Tickets', or something like that. It wasn't computer related,
and I agreed to cop to that charge. My probation is up in September, and I 
go back to court to get my record cleared.
 
I was an innocent bystander in the sense that I had no knowledge of a crime 
had been committed in my apartment. Because it happened in my apartment,
I was allegedly part of the consparicy. The thing is, if a crime is committed 
in your place, YOU are going to be a party to the crime."
 
Of course.
 
"That's what happened to me. Just because I'm a nice guy, I have to deal 
with this. 
 
I could have let this gone to trial, and I would have totally been 
exhonerated of all charges had I been able to afford $750,000 necessary for 
me to have my legal defense to go to trial. I would have had to hire 5 or 10 
expert witnesses, had to pay them for their time, about $10 an hour, and 
paid them for their time to go over about 1000 diskettes. It would have 
ended up costing me about $100,000 just in that part of it alone.  They 
couldn't be people I knew, of course. They had to be unbaised, people picked 
by the court, and I would have had to pay them to go over my disks. We were 
getting ready to do all that when it became obvious that I couldn't afford 
all that shit.
 
In order to save a lot of money, I had to cop a plea. I was able to get them 
to not cop a plea that had anything to do at all with computers. It would 
have affected my work. Even though I know I'm innocent, I had to lie to say 
I was guilty just to avoid spending all that money. The puliminary trial 
would have cost $100k. The actual trial would have been $750k."
 
Tell me about your five years in the slammer. 
 
"The first place I went to was Lompoc. This was in 1976. It was easy time, 
because it was like a camp. You slept in barracks. 
 
During the day I would work on a pig farm, slopping hogs. I would mark on 
the hog with a pencil the name of my judge. It kept my morale up, seeing 
these hogs and thinking to myself, "Oh, there's my judge". In my mind, 
it made me feel better than I would have normally. I liked animals too, so 
it was good that I could work on the farm."
 
You told OMNI magazine that, under threat, you were forced to teach hardened 
criminals your craft...
 
"In the Pennsylvania conviction, what had happened was promised that I would 
not serve any jail time, but ended up doing so anyway. It was really a raw 
deal. It was during that time that I told everything about everything. 
There were a lot of people in there who were really sharp. They knew about 
electronics, and they knew about other technologies. But, they didn't know 
how to go about finding the information. And so, I had to tell them how to 
do that."
 
Under threat.
 
"Under threat. That's right. Nothing I could do about it."
 
So, you're teaching hardcore criminals things they shouldn't know in the 
first place.
 
"Yes, and that leads me up now to a very serious issue, and that is the 
stupidity of the authorities, of the fact that they incarcerate hackers, 
hackers who have information, and access to knowledge, that should be kept 
out of the criminal element. Look at what's happening now, with these 
hackers getting 18 months.
 
In jail, jails are basically Universities Of Crime. In there, I learned how 
to pick locks..."
 
...Boost cars...
 
"...boost cars, and I learned about other kinds of illegal activities that I 
didn't otherwise know or care about. In jail, I was exposed to that science 
of picking locks, and how to pick a serial number of a lock to get a 
combination. All the things they knew how to do. It turns out that in most 
jails this happens, and the authorities are so stupid to think that they can 
just lock up hackers and throw away the key. In essence, the authorities are 
shooting themselves in the foot by making the situation much worse by putting 
the knowledge hackers have in direct contact with career criminals, who can 
use this knowledge very effectively. And with the situation with the War On 
Drugs (Ed.Note: READ: WAR ON THE UNDERCLASS), the technology of drug dealers, 
with the money that they make, buy the same equipment that the DEA uses and 
descramble their codes. They hire the best people they can get, the best 
engineers they can get, to build de-scramblers and code generators to gain 
access to their computers and communications, and get all the information and 
goods on the DEA. 
 
One of the things I had to do while I was in jail was to tell all these 
criminals what to do to break into the DEA computer, what to expect when 
they got in, how to access files, and get access to their e-mail systems. 
It wasn't that hard to do, because they actually got in the DEA's Email 
system, and were able to get information they wanted. They were also able to 
monitor their radios, read email, and do all these things, which they 
wouldn't have been able to do if they hadn't been in contact with me.
 
I didn't give them any access codes. I didn't know any access codes, but I'm
gonna tell you how to find them, what to look for when you get it, and how 
to identify what you found. I taught them how to scan, and I taught them how 
to use an electronic scanning device using an Apple II, and as far as my 
knowledge, they went out and got Apple II's. They took the schematic for the 
phone board I gave them, built it, and used that phone board to scan all the 
numbers in the Washington D.C. Federal office buildings, and uncovered about 
30-40 computers with access numbers, one of which belonged to the DEA, which 
is what they wanted. With that, they repeatedly attempted entry into the DEA 
computer, a skill I had taught them with passwords and stuff."
 
Of course. If I was a dealer, I'd be very interested in what the DEA was 
doing.
 
"Yeah, yeah. They were using UNIX at the time. The DEA had a UNIX system. 
It was actually an Ultrix system. They were using IBM's and BITNET.
I told them what to expect, how to find what it was they're looking for, 
and where to find manuals on it, and these guys went out and used the 
information I gave them to order the manuals. The manuals were used, once 
they logged in, to navigate the computer and find what it was they were 
looking for."
 
That was helpful...
 
"Oh yeah."
 
So what are you doing now?
 
"I'm a software consultant."
 
Anything you're doing you can talk about?
 
"No, there's nothing I can really talk about, because if the information got 
out, then someone else would get the idea and undercut the company."
 
Ah...well, thanks for your time.
 
"You're welcome."
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

BACK IN THE USSR
Soviet hackers exchange mail during the coup.
Reprinted from New York Newsday by Joshua Quittner
_________________________________


It was the computer message seen 'round the world:

"Please stop flooding the only narrow channel with bogus messages [and] with
silly questions," Vadim Antonov [avg@hq.demos.hq] wrote to westerners
attempting to send electronic mail to Russia during the early hours of the
coup.

"Note that it's neither a toy nor a means to reach your relatives or friends.
We need the bandwidth to help organize the resistance. Please, do not (even
unintentionally) help those fascists!"

The message, sent from Antonov's computer in Moscow late on the night of Aug.
19, was copied and posted dozens of times across the United States and abroad,
on electronic bulletin boards, databses where users can log in and swap
messages publicly. Antonov, one of the builders of the Soviet Union's
two-year-old computer communications network, known as Relcom, knew its 
severe limitations---and its awesome potential to spread information---as 
well as anyone.

And no one cared more about keeping the system alive and well: The lanky,
long-haired programming wizard, described by friends as "the first among
equals" at a Moscow-based software cooperative aptly named DEMOS, and his
peers, were working to keep communications channels open to hundreds of
pro-democracy activists at 70 cities around the Soiet Union.

"At the beginning, we had no idea what was happening. We were preparing for
long-term underground activity," Antonov said by telephone from Moscow in 
his first interview yesterday. [+7 095 231 2129].

He said the network reached as high as Gen. Konstantin Kobets, head of 
Russian President Boris Yeltsin's defence committee, who was ready to rely 
on the network should the crisis worsen. An information bucket-brigade of 
sorts, it extended to personal computer users in remote republics, who would 
print out directives and news updates, posting them in public. And it 
included computer correspondents in the United States and Europe, who 
provided timely news feeds.

"Computer communications are more democrati by nature than mass media like TV
or newspapers, simply because they don't belong to a single entity. There's 
no central authority over the network," Antonov said. "We all realized it was
the only chance for us to survive."

[Pseudo-technical nonsense omitted :) ]

While television stations and major media were muzzled, and while radio
reception was jammed in some parts of the country, the computer network 
stayed intact, Antonov and others said. "Transcripts of Yeltsin's speeches 
were sent. News went back and forth," said Ray Davis, a programmer in 
Frankfurt, Germany, who corresponded with the DEMOS workers throughout the 
coup. "If the coup hadn't failed, they might all be in jail right now."

"I sat here sending them news from the U.S.," said Larry Press, a computer
scientist at California State University. "There were people around the world
sending them news."

The DEMOS group had its setbacks, however. One member attempted to bring a
laptop computer, outfitted with a high-speed modem and network-compatible
communications software, into the White House, as the bouilding that houses
Russian parliament is known, but coulnd't get through, Antonov said. The
machine would have made communcation easier for the correspondents inside.

And KGB agents undoubtedly knew about the underground network, Antonov said.

"During the last night of the coup we got a strane phone call to our
headquarters," he said. "The caller said, `We are your users. Please give us
your modem phone number.' "

This was an absurd statement, since anyone who knew about the network knew 
how to interconnect to it. The DEMOS people gave the caller different 
instructions: "We said to them rude words," he said.

		   
SOME NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND
================================

Here are some electronic messages sent from Soviet computer users who helped
mobilize resistance by sending out information. Most of these messages are 
from people in the United States and Europe. They were compiled by Larry 
Press, a California State University computer science professor. Senders 
sometimes used punctuation marks to create "sideways smiley faces," 
such as :-) to denote irony, sarcasm or happiness.

Monday Aug. 19

~From: Vadim Antonov, DEMOS Software Cooperative

 ...I've seen the tanks with my own eyes. I hope we'll be able to communicate
during the next few days. Communists cannot rape the Mother Russia once 
again!

~From: Polina Antonova, a DEMOS programmer

 ...Thanks Heaven, these cretins don't consider us mass media!

Tuesday, Aug. 20

~From: Polina Antonova

Hi! Don't worry, we're OK though frightened and angry. Moscow is full of 
tanks and military machines, I hate them. They try to close all mass media, 
they shutted up CNN an hour ago, Soviet TV transmits opera and old movies. 
But, thanks Heaven, they don't consider RELCOM mass media or they simply 
forgot about it. Now we transmit information enough to put us in prison for 
the rest of our life :-). Hope all will turn out well at long last. -Polina

~From: Anonymous

If these dogs win, for certain they'll throw us in prison---we distributed 
the proclamation from Yeltsin and the Moscow and Leningrad Soviets throughout the
entire Soviet Union, together with the forbidden communiques from Interfa 
[an independent News aganecy -DV]...

Greetings from the underground

~From: Enn Tyugu

Estonia has survived until this hour. The troops are neat Tallinn and more 
are coming, but they have not yet got to the TV and radio centers. latvia 
and Lithuanian mass media are already in the hands of the troops. many people are
around our vulnerable buildings protecting them and building barricades. 
Mostly heavy trucks are being used as barricades. -Thanks for your support.

~From: Anonymous

To all people of good will! We want you to know that the democracy of the 
USSR is in great danger... Right now the center of Moscow is surrounded by 
tanks and soldiers... We need your moral support! ... Down with the Communist 
tyranny!

Wednesday, Aug. 21

~From: Polina Antonova

Don't worry, the only danger for us is if they catch and arrest us, as we're
sitting at home...and distributing all inf. we have. I can only hear these
tanks, and, it seems, aircraft. But I have to know, what's happening near 
White house! ... -Polina

~From: Polina Antonova

Really good news. Right now we're listening to the Radio Russia (without any
jamming!) they told that the Eight left Moscow, no one knows where...Hard to
believe...May be, they really run away? Radio asks for information about 
their location.

~From: Polina Antonova

Thank you, Larry!

Now all information media are on, CNN transmits our ``Time'' TV program, and 
I can watch them both! [They've got a sat dish -DV]

I've heard (maybe it was CNN) that they withdraw armed forces from Baltic
cities. I'm not near the parliament, I'm still at the computer, but the
situation on the net became lighter now and I hope to sleep a little, it was 
my dream during last two days. :-) You can't even imagine, how grateful we 
are for your help and support in this terrible time! The best thing is to 
know, that we aren't alone. -Cheers, Polina

Thursday, Aug. 22

~From: George Tereshko

When the dark night fell upon Moscow, Relcom was one source of light for us.
Thanks to all these brave people we could get information and hope. I would
also like to thank the people running Soviet BBSs who provided another net 
for information flow.


------- end of original message ---

Ed. Note: And you wonder why the government is scared of computers?

EXTENSIONS OF TECHNOLOGY
Overseeing senile dementia from computer.
reprinted from comp.risks
-------------------------------------------------

 "Gunnar, it is night. Don't go out, go to bed!"
		"Gunnar, shut of the water tap."

These voice messages are controlled by a computer watching over Gunnar, 
aged 77 and suffering from senile dementia. They were taken from a Swedish 
radio program mainly dealing with how to take care of old people while 
preserving their integrity.

Gunnar doesn't want to stay in a home, so he has food delivered to his
apartment and help from time to time.

The computer is part of a highly modified burglar alarm system, which is still
in the trial stage. The designer thinks it is better than video surveillance,
since now Gunnar isn't watched over, but can get help when he needs it, for
example if he is lying on the floor. Or when he doesn't need it, if the new
help makes his bed so the sensor gets unplugged, which has happened.

Gunnar doesn't understand there is a computer, any positive reaction is
probably because he thinks he's got visitors. His life isn't risk free: He
smokes, but isn't very good at putting the cigarettes out, so one message is:

		"Gunnar, there is a fire! You must go out
		in the street immediately!!"

But he also runs the risk of being a VERY involuntary beta tester. It took a
long time before it was discovered what would have happened if there was a 
fire in the night.

		"Gunnar, it is night. Don't go out, go to bed!"

Urban Fredriksson, Stockholm, Sweden

(Ed.Note: Uh huh...and next it'll start scolding him for disobeying a direct 
order.)


NO LICENSE, NO JOB
New Jersey on the verge of a Software Developers Licensing Program
----------------------------------------------

Ed.Note: This has been kicked around for quite sometime. It seems the state 
of New Jersey is trying to get a licensing bill on the books that would 
require that all computer programmers be licensed before they can work. 
I've ignored this issue for some time...hmmm, guess I'm going to kick 
myself in the head now.

 New Jersey Assembly Bill #A4414, proposed by Assemblywoman Barbara Kalik, 
	purported to be a Consumer protection bill, would require that all
	software designers in New Jersey be licensed.  Included as designers
	are those who design, specify, implement, test, validate, OPERATE,
	maintain and manage software.  There are educational and experience
	criteria necessary to take the test that would lead to licensing.
	
	Without a license, renewable every two years for an unspecified
	fee, the software "designers" would have restrictions on their
	ability to work in New Jersey.  This bill has already passed
	in the Assembly and is currently in the Senate Labor, Industry and 
	Professions Committee chaired by Senator Raymond Lesniak(D), District
	20.
	
	
	Essentially, this means most, who do not have degrees, cannot even
	be eligible to take the licensing test (So much for Summer Interships)
	Keep this in mind, the designers of Lotus, Ms-Dos and Wordperfect
	could never meet the requirements to take the licensing test.  These
	people either did not have a degree in Computer Science or did not have
	a degree at all.  According to this bill, these people are deemed
	incompetent to program software.  Get the point? Scary!
	
	People who work out of State are affected as well.  According to A4414,
	a NY employee must be licensed in New Jersey in order to touch a NJ
	software package.  Yes, even out-of-towners are not exempt!
	
	At this point, many are thinking "Yeah right, this bill is so STUPID, 
	it could never pass!"  Well the simple fact is that it HAS already 
	passed the assembly, and is threatening to become LAW.  Can we, who are
	intending to make a living, afford to sit while are futures are being
	molded by five people on a Committee?  In America, does the minority
	speak for the majority?  I sincerely hope not, and it is my intention
	to inform and hopefully incite those who read this, to do something
	for your profession as well as your future.
	
		
	  We as the future creative minds of tomorrow cannot afford to have our
	futures destroyed today. 
	
	
	
	NY/NJ ICCA HOTLINE     (908)-615-0999.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VIRUS HALTS COMPUTERS IN SOUTH CHINA
Government on the offensive
========================================

   HONG KONG, Sept 16 (AFP) - A spate of computer virus attacks put computers
in more than 90 Chinese governmental departments out of order, prompting the
authorities to have all software checked by police, a semi-official Chinese
news agency reported here Monday.  More than 20 kinds of the rogue disruptive
programs hit more than 75 per cent of the offices' computers in southern
China's Guangdong province, the Hong Kong China News Service said.
Continue? 
   The provincial public security bureau had ordered all government units not
to use software from unknown origin or software which had not been inspected 
by the bureau.  In addition, units or individuals were banned from engaging 
in the study of computer viruses, or to hold training courses on them.  The 
new regulations also forbid the sale of software capable of neutralising the
viruses.
   The report said the public security bureau had set up a testing department
for all software against the computer viruses.


MASSIVE FAILURES AT AT&T
story by Peter G. Neumann
==================================

Operations at all three New York airports ground to a standstill from 5pm 
until 9pm yesterday [17Sep91] when an AT&T internal power failure at a 
Manhattan 4-ESS switching center knocked out long distance calls in and out 
of the city. Neighboring commercial power was unaffected.  The 4-ESS system 
is used to route calls between AT&T's long-distance network and the local 
companies.  The air traffic control centers use a network of radio towers 
linked by phone lines.

   Although the precise origin of Tuesday's problems remained unclear, the
   extent of the difficulties provided yet another example of how dependent
   today's telephone networks are on a few pieces of equipment.
   
   In recent years, AT&T and other companies have gone to great lengths to
   emphasize the back-up capacity and redundancy of their systems. Yet the
   long-distance carrier was unable to reroute all traffic to other gateways
   for several hours after the problems first became apparent.''

Calls were redirected to the two remaining gateways, but those could not 
handle that much increased traffic.  [Quotes above are by Ed Andrews, 
whose article ``AT&T Phone Failure'' appeared in the N.Y. Times, 18Sep91.]

I just spoke with Ed Andrews, who is working on a story for tomorrow's 
NYTimes. The current theory seems to be that AT&T was trying to be helpful 
to ConEd in NY by cutting its usage of commercial power on a hot day by 
running on internal power, but somehow did not realize that their backup 
power generator was not properly linked in, and that they were actually 
running on batteries for 6 hours until the batteries were drained!  As the 
details unfold, we may find out the extent to which the system diagnostics 
and alarms gave a true picture of what was really happening.  
(Shades of the Three Mile Island crew trying to figure out what was 
happening?)  So, check Ed's article tomorrow for further details.

Here we have another example of creative redundancy and supposedly 
conservative design (hardware reliability, fault tolerance, extra capacity, 
alternative routing, standby power, etc.) still not being good enough to 
prevent massive outages.  From the system level viewpoint, it seems that we 
should be learning something more from the repeated cases of telephone 
outages (AT&T and Sprint outages reported here in the past, due to software, 
cable cuts, etc.) and airport shutdowns resulting from extensive telephone 
outages -- e.g., last year's O`Hare disruptions due to the Chicago cable cut 
on 15Oct90 (R.I. Cook, RISKS-10.62, and ACM Software Engineering Notes 16 1, 
January 1991) and the three New York airport disruptions due to the 
fiber-optic cable cut in Newark NJ, also affecting various commodities 
exhanges and long-distance calling for 9 hours on 4Jan91 (RISKS-10.75 and 
ACM Software Engineering Notes 16 1, January 1991).  On one hand, RISKS 
readers know that no matter how carefully designed and operated a system is, 
it can still fail grotesquely.  On the other hand, we still have to try much 
harder to avoid those possibilities -- and indeed likelihoods.  You would 
like to think that airports and air traffic control could find ways of not 
being crunched by the outage of a single switch, but it keeps on happening!

I hope some of you will come to the ACM SIGSOFT '91 (Software for Critical
Systems) at the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans, 4-6 December 1991, where some 
of the underlying problems and potential solutions will be discussed.  In
particular, Michael Meyers of AT&T Bell Labs in Naperville will be giving an
invited talk on "Reliable Software for the 4 ESS Switch".  Henry Petroski's
talk on "Human Error in Design" is also relevant to this topic.  The
preliminary program and other information appeared in RISKS-12.10.  The
registration packet is contained in the September CACM (pp.112-113), and is
also available on-line from Judith Burgess (Burgess@csl.sri.com).  I think 
the program will be of great interest to the software oriented seriously 
minded risks-aware community.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


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