A couple years ago in 1989 when life was simple and I was just a "c0dez
d00d", I chanced upon calling a BBS called Third Planet in 516, the official
Star League headquarters. It must have been around 2:00 AM my time (West
Coast) when I was logging in new and the sysop broke in to chat. Being a
typical c0dez d00d, I immediately dropped carrier...no actually I thought I'd
humor the sysop and see what the hell he was doing up at 5:00 AM his time. He
told me he had been working on the system and must have fell asleep in his
chair (comfortable chair). Curious about this entire Star League concept that
I had come into limited contact with from time to time and wanting to know
more, I began asking the sysop questions about it. He proceeded to tell me, as
best as my recollection allows, the following, (which is my summary of what I
remember him telling me):
The Star League concept was born out of the frustration of
calling different BBS' across the country only to encounter endless
rag wars and egotistical competition amongst pirates. The pirate
world was supposed to be a united community, dedicated to getting
new wares out to everyone instead of embroiling the release of
them into a overly-competitive rat race where every group was trying
to undermine and out-do the other. The idea behind the League was
to promote cooperation between different pirates and groups and to
provide a haven for those people who were alienated by all the
hostility they encountered. Those pirates and groups allied under
the Star League banner would cooperate in cracking and distributing
wares rather than compete for all the glory. After all, the pirate
world was founded on the concept of hackers cooperating to achieve
a common goal, and it was supposed to be fun.
The Star League member structure was based upon a hierarchy.
There were different levels and ranks assigned to persons based on
their accomplishments and contributions to the pirate community at
large. Methods of increasing your ranking within the hierarchy
included cracking wares, distributing wares, or being an outstanding
contributor to different Star League bases in the way of uploading
and posting messages. Those aligned with the Star League called
themselves "*-fyters" and usually accompanied their handles with
this label.
Rylos, the sysop of Third Planet and founder of the Star League, was a
school teacher (of what grade level, either he didn't tell me or I forgot).
Keeping this in mind, when one ponders it, everything about the Star League was
like being in grade school; you were always taught to be kind and sharing to
your fellow students...the same principals that Rylos adopted and applied to
the Apple pirate world as the basis for the Star League. He wanted to promote
sharing and kindness amongst pirates to try and bring order to the chaos of the
Apple pirate world, but he didn't totally succeed.
There are several reasons why the Star League concept never became as
widespread and successful as Rylos would have desired. First of all, it was a
utopian idea, and utopias don't always work the way you expect them to.
Secondly, a lot of the members of the Star League were, plain and simple,
geeks. They were mostly those dreadful Christmas modemers. You know, those 14
year olds that get a Volksmodem from Mom and Pop on the 25th of December (or
The Chanukah Modemers for the Jewish amongst you). Lastly, and most important
of all, the Apple pirate community was an anarchy, and it was therefore a
paradox and an impossibility to try and govern it. Most everyone involved was
in it for THEIR own reasons, whether to get wares, to show off ones talent in
cracking wares, to simply rag on others because of inferiority complexes in
real life, or whatever. To survive you had to be able to hold your own. Those
who couldn't joined the Star League. In all fairness, the Star League
federation never had the talent it needed to advance its ideals. Who would
want to be governed by an organization that encouraged "niceness" when you
could start your own group and dominate the Apple ][ pirate world with a
cracking empire? Simply the fact that it is a given that most people who
became heavily involved in the pirate community had large egos, its not very
likely that any one person would be able to get everyone to submit to one
solitary confederacy.
Although I never read the book, I do know enough about the story to say
that Rylos had a "Catch 22" idea in mind. He wanted to see if he could
successfully create a federation of persons dedicated to the ideals that he
laid out for them, that of cooperating to achieve a common goal, the common
goal being the cracking and distribution of wares. Based upon the fact that
the only contribution from the Star League that I am aware of is an Edu-ware
called Planetary Construction Set, I wouldn't call Rylos' experiment a very
successful one, although I can see how an older person, especially a school
teacher, would be fascinated with the experience. But because of the reasons I
have pointed out above, the idea was doomed from the start. I personally don't
believe the idea could have ever worked.
I don't know if the Star League still exists. The Byte Bastards used
to be aligned with them, but quit soon after I joined the group, and that's the
last major contact I came into with the Star League. If you think you'd still
like to try calling a Star League BBS, here's the number for Third Planet:
(516) 361-6744. I don't know if it is up any longer so call at your own
discretion.
Thanks to Guns-N-Roses and The Moody Blues for kindly playing on my
dilapidated Sears stereo while I typed this file (even though I wasn't a fan, I
bought Use Your Illusion I & II anyway and found them to be pretty good
listening). Thanks also go out to my Penis for being there when I needed it.
Ok, on to...
You'd think the American Government would get a clue from the events
going on in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and leave our rights alone.
But they're fucked in the head and think they have the right to control us.
Well, they'll soon discover that they can't take away rights they never owned
in the first place.
