F I D O N E W S -- Vol.10 No.24 (14-Jun-1993)
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| A newsletter of the | |
| FidoNet BBS community | Published by: |
| _ | |
| / \ | "FidoNews" BBS |
| /|oo \ | +1-519-570-4176 1:1/23 |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | Editors: |
| | | \ \\ | Sylvia Maxwell 1:221/194 |
| | (*) | \ )) | Donald Tees 1:221/192 |
| |__U__| / \// | Tim Pozar 1:125/555 |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Submission address: editors 1:1/23 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Internet addresses: |
| |
| Sylvia --
[email protected] |
| Donald --
[email protected] |
| Tim --
[email protected] |
| Both Don & Sylvia (submission address) |
|
[email protected] |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies and other boring but important details, |
| please refer to the end of this file. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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Table of Contents
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1. Editorial..................................................... 1
2. Articles...................................................... 2
The Cynic's Sandbox, v2.777................................. 2
WAY TO GO, JOAO !!!......................................... 3
No Privacy Or Safety For Sysops............................. 4
Start Writing!.............................................. 7
Announcing yet two more echos............................... 8
Dear Editors,............................................... 9
3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 9
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Editorial
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FidoNews 10-24 Page: 2 14 Jun 1993
We're running a bit late today, having just visited my
grandmother who is in hospital until her leg heals. She's 88,
sharp as a tack, and in love with living. But the confinement
and sameness of institutional propriety are getting her down.
Tomorrow we will escape with her in a wheelchair, for a while.
Maybe we could get her a modem, so she would not be so limited
by her body. It seems like FidoNet could be very useful for
"shut-ins".
We received a letter suggesting that some people might like
to submit articles by net mail, rather than directly calling.
Actually, we have already received submissions through net mail,
and have published them. We do not mind getting net mail
submissions, but it would be helpful if writers would include
----cut---- lines atop articles, to clarify exactly which part of
their messages' body is intended for publication. Perhaps
we will get more articles from very-long-distance nodes this way
<chuckle/snarl>?
If Emma had a BBS and lived to be eighty-eight ...
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Articles
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The Cynic's Sandbox, v2.777
R. Cynic
Dark Glasses, Dumb Ideas: The "cyberpunk" movement.
Ahh, that blissful moment when a subculture becomes a media
darling. That moment when, amazingly, people you never even
knew liked computers decide that they're cyberpunks.
Billy Idol, for example. Last I heard, he was wailing about
white weddings. Now, he's releasing an album to celebrate his
cyberpunkishness. Due the middle of June. Comes with a floppy
disk. Should be on K-mart's top ten music list for a few weeks
at 14 bucks.
Then, there's the Legion Of Doom. No, not the old hacker group
that disbanded around the time of Operation Sundevil. The new
group of wanna-bes that has decided to carry on under that, ah,
proud name. They're cyberpunks, too. At least THEY say so.
Time Magazine is making a few extra bucks off the cyberpunk
"movement", too. Computer covers and fancy new-age stuff all
over da place.
What's dis gotta do with Fight-O-Net?
Simple! Da "cyberpunk movement" is obviously the latest way to
make moola, and Fight-O-Netters ALWAYS need more dough.
Just think about it... Cyberpunk T-shirts, cyberpunk "True-
Crime" books, cyberpunk baseball caps and beer mugs, cyberpunk
underwear, "I crashed a small tax-accouting firm's database, and
FidoNews 10-24 Page: 3 14 Jun 1993
all I got was this lousy T-shirt" novelty items... The list
goes on and on. If you play this right, you might even manage
cyberpunk ACTION FIGURES (inaction figures?) to go onto the
racks right next to the new Jurassic Park toys.
Speaking of Jurassic Park, I'd almost say that the little girl
is a cyberpunk in training. Almost - she's a bit more mature
than most, unfortunately.
Ahh, the sounds of thousands of 14-year old 'cyberpunks'
screaming at me. Gotta love it.
Next week:
"Why Zone One sucks - Letters from Europe"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Dieter Visser
2:512/54.9
WAY TO GO, JOAO !!!
For some time now I have been trying to explain to some American
friends what I think is going on in former Jugoslavia. Reading the
article by Joao Ledo in Fidonews # 10 I think I got it: Portugal
is interesting, not all of Portugal of course, just the bit
around Joao. The rest of the world is pretty boring, to put it
mildly, especially ...... (fill in your favourite).
I think Joao lives in a pretty far off corner of his little
country. Otherwise he could have noticed that most parts of
Portugal are quite modern and the people there live in almost
the same universe as the rest of what we call western
civilisation.
I think it is a frightening thing you can see anywhere. Here in
Holland, which is about the same size as Portugal, we have about
a zillion different net-works. Every crackpot who doesn't like
the shoes of his NC starts his own net. There is a constant
quarrel about sharing cost of E-mail, about exchanging areas,
about anything you can imagine.
And the worst thing: it is not an exclusive European problem. We
have a world-wide thing here. All these policy-proposals with a
million new rules just make the big movement that FIDO is, fall
apart. The only rules we really need are rules about the
technical whats-ye-call-its of E-mail, anything else is
extremely annoying behaviour in my opinion.
I agree with Joao that I would like to read some more European
stories in what is also "our" snooze. Which of course is not the
editors' problem but ours. We Europeans should do something about
it. Joao somehow started something, this is my answer, who's
FidoNews 10-24 Page: 4 14 Jun 1993
next?
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No Privacy Or Safety For Sysops
Joe Sysop @ 1:something/something
I received the call at my second job..."This is Detective X of the
Sheriff's Office...we need you to come home. We're serving you with
a search warrant."
I had been arrested several days earlier, as a piece of computer
equipment that I had thought salvage was found to be stolen. With
the property now retrieved, I thought that was the end of it, I would
go to court, and once I told my side of it, it would all be over.
Not so...despite the thoughts of how easy it would be, I soon found
out some harsh details, and in writing this, warn you, sysops and
users alike, that more may happen than you think. The criminal
element of this matter is not the important part; it is what has
happened after that which is of concern to all.
I came home to discover several police vehicles, marked and unmarked,
in front of my home, and every piece of electronic equipment I had,
computer and not, strewn across the house. I was taken into my own
room to identify my own computer, and found a police officer, not a
sheriff, downloading my hard drive into a Bernoulli box. I was
interrogated more about the initial arrest, and responded...but then,
the questions took another turn.
"Who is your overseas connection?" "Who is it in Washington State
that is your contact?" "We found a 'hacking' program on your hard
drive...want to tell us about it?" "What do you charge people to use
your system?" "What kind of pornography do you have for download?
"Do you make it available for children?" "Do you have any porno of
kids?"
I've run a BBS for two years, and other than the typical shareware
violation which comes about from not having the money immediately,
there was nothing illegal being run on my system. If anything
questionable was done, it was on one of the two other non-BBS
systems...but illegal activity on-line is not something I engage in.
While I was being questioned, I saw all my computer systems being
carried out the door, including the BBS. I was now under
investigation, I was told, but no one would tell me what my BBS had
to do with that investigation.
Later, a friend called to let me know that his phone records had been
pulled up for the last six months...he had been notified by a law
enforcement source of someone investigating him. The connection
between us was that of a daily poll to his BBS...and, having once
worked extensively with phone systems, I notice some tell-tale noises
on my voice-line.
FidoNews 10-24 Page: 5 14 Jun 1993
To date, I am only charged with the initial crime...nothing has come
out of the confiscation of my BBS, or the software on board. Yet
still, my BBS is in police custody, for a matter being investigated
by the Sheriff's Office. Unlike some places, the Police and Sheriff's
here are not a joint police force...so what crime is the Police
investigating me for? In the court records, where the investigation
report is in public view, no mention is made of the police officer
assisting the Sheriff.
Am I a victim of Operation Sundevil? Is it an overactive and overly
zealous local cop, thinking he can make it big by 'breaking' this
bizarre 'international modem conspiracy' that's been concocted? And
now...?
The search warrant itself is interesting; fourteen specific items are
being sought, none of which were located at home or in storage---yet
there are eight 'general' listings which served to give enough
latitude for everything else.
"Any and all telephones with memory devices or speed dialers..."
"Computers, CPUs, etc, together with peripheral equipment, such as
keyboards..."
"Any and all computer or data processing software..."
"Records or documents in any format relating to theft of telephone or
communications services, or unauthorized access to computer,
electronic or voice mail systems..."
"Any computer or data processing literature..."
"Proof of occupancy..."
"Any confirmation or purchase order numbers reflecting use of credit
cards or credit services..."
"Neutralize and seize any degaussing equipment..."
Suffice to say, this is a massive fishing expedition. There has been
some bad blood between the particular police officer and myself;
indeed, most of the network locally, when he refused to investigate a
hacker locally, and said that our evidence was insufficient...even
after he had spoken to the hacker and was _told_ an admission of
guilt by the person!
The word is out locally, however, it needs to go out everywhere...
Judges and magistrates who issue search warrants are gullible for the
type of technobabble that anyone can spring on them. Warrants are
issued because the judges do not know any better, and because the
officer can buffalo the judge into including things not even
marginally related.
The entirety and enormity of the Steve Jackson Games raid hit home
to me...
NO ONE IS SAFE. Even if you are completely and totally innocent,
even if you have never even had so much as a parking ticket, your
entire computer system can be confiscated as 'evidence' SIMPLY
BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE.
FidoNews 10-24 Page: 6 14 Jun 1993
On the side, I've begun investigating...interestingly, when a
computer has been located at the site of an arrest, the local
authorities seem to confiscate them as evidence. It is of no concern
that the crime is outstanding traffic tickets or Murder One...the
fact that a suspect has a computer gives the police the opportunity
to search it for 'evidence' of more crimes.
If you have a computer, the assumption is that it is used for some
form of criminal activity. That's it...that's the story. Your
system will be downloaded and searched by the police. Your private
mail will be read; your programs will be searched; any writing you
do will be held against you.
In my own case, my brother sent me the formula for black powder
(gunpowder) through the Internet several years ago, and it sits in
archived old mail on my drive...I'm waiting to see what I get charged
with now...
What can be done? I'm posting this to the community at large...first
to see that everyone protects themselves; second to see if anyone can
assist. I have been in contact with the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, and my criminal attorney is to be in touch with them.
No, by assistance, I mean to ask for advice to others as well...to
protect the privacy of electronic mail, to frustrate attempts to
breach that privacy, and get rid of the secret-police tactics of the
'fishing expedition' method of police investigations.
The future is now, people...even the innocent are no longer safe from
the police. The next step is to assume that if a modem tone is heard
on the phone that is an indication of illegal activity...and into
your home they will go.
In the meantime, I sit at home, waiting under house arrest...no one
calls because the phone is tapped, and messages go out from this
cobbled-together backup computer only in compressed bundles to
frustrate them even more. The case drags on through the courts, and
as much as a year will go by before I can get my computer systems
back from the 'evidence' locker...'evidence' which has _nothing_ to
do with the actual charges against me.
And, at anytime, I could be you. Think about it.
FidoNews 10-24 Page: 7 14 Jun 1993
Start Writing!
A Rebuttal to Joao Ledo
by Richard Bash - Combat Arms BBS SysOp (1:105/68)
Regarding the article (FidoNews? What's it?) in the 31 May
1993 issue of FidoNews, Joao Ledo (2:361/10) wrote complaining
about the dearth of articles from nodes outside the United
States:
JL> We have our own problems, not yours. Why are we forced to
JL> read all this junk? I will never read it again! At least
JL> untill you publish articles on Fidonet, not on America.
JL> Please put this into your heads: Fidonet is all around the
JL> world, not only in America.
I think Mr. Ledo is completely overlooking something here.
His article w=a=s published. Why are other articles from outside
the United States not published? Because people do n=o=t write
them. Consequently, there is no discrimination against non-United
States nodes submitting articles. The answer, instead of berating
the United States, seems to lie in one of two choices:
1. Start a non-United States version of FidoNews. Personally I
think this is the best solution and rather long overdue.
Then people who are frustrated, such as Mr. Ledo, will not
have to read articles relating to the United States
2. Get Mr. Ledo's non-United States colleagues who are Fido
nodes to start writing and submitting articles.
This is a non-problem, in my view. There are few non-United
States articles published simply because there are few non-United
States nodes writing articles. The attack on the United States is
(a) tiresome and (b) totally incorrect. The editor of FidoNews
(which Mr. Ledo should know if he has been reading as much as he
claimed) is no longer a United States node but Canadian! If there
is a problem, then it is that the international language of
FidoNet is English. There must be some semblance of standards and
during this period of history, English is t=h=e standard in
FidoNet, international aviation communications, most scientific
publications, etc. It is merely a way to communicate with the
largest possible audience.
Any node recognizes that the United States is not the
entirety of FidoNet. According to NODELIST.155, the following is
true (provided by NLSTAT.EXE):
Statistics for: NODELIST.155
Sun Jun 06 09:23:23 1993
Total nodes listed: 24677
Total size in bytes: 2019570
FidoNews 10-24 Page: 8 14 Jun 1993
- Zone Node Usage Summary -
1: 14333 (58.08 %) 2: 7674 (31.10 %) 3: 1067 ( 4.32 %)
4: 394 ( 1.60 %) 5: 127 ( 0.51 %) 6: 1082 ( 4.38 %)
Thus there are 10,344 nodes (7674+1067+394+127+1082=10344)
outside Zone 1 (and remember that Zone 1 includes Canada). The
solution is, accordingly, to get these 10,3344 nodes to submit
articles. Such articles are ideally technical in nature.
I submit that people (being "people") are simply lazy. They
do not submit articles. There are few of the 14,333 Zone 1 nodes
who submit articles. When was the last time you e=v=e=r saw an
article from an Austrian node (Zone 2)? From a node in Singapore
(Zone 6), From a node in Zambia (Zone 5)? From a node in Panama
(Zone 4)? From a node in New Zealand (Zone 3)? Never (or
definitely not in recent memory)! So, Mr. Ledo is incorrect in
his complaint. There is no known effort to restrict the
publication of articles from such nodes. They simply do not
submit articles for publication!
I have long thought that the interests of those outside the
United States would be best served if they would band together
and issue their own FidoNews for their particular Zone. That
would enable, for example, European nodes to discuss problems of
common interest to them. No, Mr. Ledo, the problem here is not
the United States. The problem is simply p=e=o=p=l=e and getting
"people" (in the United States and elsewhere) to submit articles.
I would recommend that Mr. Ledo and others who share his
feeling change things. Let them start sending notices to the NC's
of Zone 2 (and other zones) and tell them to get people to start
submitting technical articles of interest to a=l=l FidoNet
members. Consider starting a Zone 2, Zone 3, or Zone "x"
FidoNews. Otherwise, Mr. Ledo's complaints have no merit, are
provincial and serve no practical purpose. Mr. Ledo has my
sympathy but that is all. The United States is not the problem
here. The problem is getting nodes from other zones to start
writing. For that, the United States cannot and should not be the
solution. The solution is up to Mr. Ledo and his non-United
States colleagues. They should not complain. Instead, they would
be well advised to start writing articles and submit them. Their
articles w=i=l=l be published.
Sincerely yours,
Richard Bash, BS, MPA
SysOp - Combat Arms BBS
Portland, Oregon [USA]
1:105/68
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Announcing yet two more echos
FidoNews 10-24 Page: 9 14 Jun 1993
By: Coridon Henshaw of 1:250/820
I am pleased to announce the existance of yet two more echos,
GRAPHICS_PROG and SOUNDCARD_PROG. These echos are for decimenating
information on programming two of the least understood types of devices
that quite a few people have attached to their PCs, graphics cards and
soundcards.
I decided to attempt to create these echos for two reasons:
1: Programming information for these devices doesn't get around that
well....
2: What information that DOES get around stays inside language-specific
programming echos.
Both of these echos are for concepts and examples only, in any
programming language. I may ask people to use some kind of
esudeo-code at some point for ease of understanding, but right now,
that is not requried.
Companion FILE ECHOs are avalible for the transmition of large amounts
of source code.
Anyone interested in linking into this conference should contact me
via routed or direct (DURING Z1MH) netmail.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Area Netmail, Msg#58, Jun-02-93 17:17:36
From: Juan Farre (2:343/105.29)
To: Donald Tees (1:221/192)
Subject: LETTER TO THE EDITORS
Dear Editors,
I've been reading the last issue of *FidoNews* and my surprise is that you
are demanding articles from the members of *FidoNet*: points, nodes, etc.
and, at the same time, you make your comments on what the people of *FidoNet*
say. I think that a section in FidoNews devoted to *Letters to the Editors*
should be the natural way to publish all those ideas, comments and flashes
about any question referred to the Net, its members, or to *FidoNews*, that
are not suitable for an article.
This could be the first letter to be published, if you agree.
Regards!
Juan Farre
----------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Fidonews Information
========================================================================
FidoNews 10-24 Page: 10 14 Jun 1993
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
Editors: Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees, Tim Pozar
Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello,
Tom Jennings
IMPORTANT NOTE: The FidoNet address of the FidoNews BBS has been
changed!!! Please make a note of this.
"FidoNews" BBS
FidoNet 1:1/23
BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14200/V.32bis/HST(DS)
Internet addresses:
Don & Sylvia (submission address)
[email protected]
Sylvia --
[email protected]
Donald --
[email protected]
Tim --
[email protected]
(Postal Service mailing address) (have extreme patience)
FidoNews
172 Duke St. E.
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
N2H 1A7
Published weekly by and for the members of the FidoNet international
amateur electronic mail system. It is a compilation of individual
articles contributed by their authors or their authorized agents. The
contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the
rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in these articles are those
of the authors and not necessarily those of FidoNews.
Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
copyright 1993 Sylvia Maxwell. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or
distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in
other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or FidoNews
(we're easy).
OBTAINING COPIES: The-most-recent-issue-ONLY of FidoNews in electronic
form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or
Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained from Fido Software for $10.00US each
PostPaid First Class within North America, or $13.00US elsewhere,
mailed Air Mail. (US funds drawn upon a US bank only.)
BACK ISSUES: Available from FidoNet nodes 1:102/138, 1:216/21,
1:125/1212, (and probably others), via filerequest or download
(consult a recent nodelist for phone numbers).
A very nice index to the Tables of Contents to all FidoNews volumes
can be filerequested from 1:396/1 or 1:216/21. The name(s) to request
FidoNews 10-24 Page: 11 14 Jun 1993
are FNEWSxTC.ZIP, where 'x' is the volume number; 1=1984, 2=1985...
through 8=1991.
INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.ieee.org, in
directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews. If you have questions regarding
FidoNet, please direct them to
[email protected], not the
FidoNews BBS. (Be kind and patient; David Deitch is generously
volunteering to handle FidoNet/Internet questions.)
SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable
from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it.
"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission.
Asked what he thought of Western civilization,
M.K. Gandhi said, "I think it would be an excellent idea".
-- END
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