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Computer Undergroud Digest Vol. 05 Issue 83
Computer underground Digest Sun Oct 24 1993 Volume 5 : Issue 83
ISSN 1004-042X
Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET)
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Ian Dickinson
Copy Erattaer: Etaoin Shrdlu, III
CONTENTS, #5.83 (Oct 24 1993)
File 1--CuD is taking TWO WEEKS OFF (Returning 7 November)
File 2--Elansky Accepts Plea Agreement (Hartford BBS update)
File 3--A Foreign Embassy Information Infrastructure
File 4--DES Broken?
File 5--Computers & Sustainable Society
File 6--Students Suspended For Electronic Documents
File 7--NOMA (Nat'l Online Media Association) BBS Org. Formed
File 8--A Reporter meets "cyberpunks" (news item)
File 9--"Cyber Comics" (Monterey Cty Coast Weekly Summary)
File 10--Belated response to F. Cohen (CuD 5.80)
Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
available at no cost electronically from tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu. The
editors may be contacted by voice (815-753-0303), fax (815-753-6302)
or U.S. mail at: Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL
60115.
Issues of CuD can also be found in the Usenet comp.society.cu-digest
news group; on CompuServe in DL0 and DL4 of the IBMBBS SIG, DL1 of
LAWSIG, and DL1 of TELECOM; on GEnie in the PF*NPC RT
libraries and in the VIRUS/SECURITY library; from America Online in
the PC Telecom forum under "computing newsletters;"
On Delphi in the General Discussion database of the Internet SIG;
on the PC-EXEC BBS at (414) 789-4210; and on: Rune Stone BBS (IIRG
WHQ) (203) 832-8441 NUP:Conspiracy; RIPCO BBS (312) 528-5020
CuD is also available via Fidonet File Request from 1:11/70; unlisted
nodes and points welcome.
EUROPE: from the ComNet in LUXEMBOURG BBS (++352) 466893;
In ITALY: Bits against the Empire BBS: +39-461-980493
ANONYMOUS FTP SITES:
AUSTRALIA: ftp.ee.mu.oz.au (128.250.77.2) in /pub/text/CuD.
EUROPE: nic.funet.fi in pub/doc/cud. (Finland)
UNITED STATES:
aql.gatech.edu (128.61.10.53) in /pub/eff/cud
etext.archive.umich.edu (141.211.164.18) in /pub/CuD/cud
ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4) in /pub/cud
halcyon.com( 202.135.191.2) in /pub/mirror/cud
ftp.warwick.ac.uk in pub/cud (United Kingdom)
COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of
diverse views. CuD material may be reprinted for non-profit as long
as the source is cited. Authors hold a presumptive copyright, and
they should be contacted for reprint permission. It is assumed that
non-personal mail to the moderators may be reprinted unless otherwise
specified. Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles
relating to computer culture and communication. Articles are
preferred to short responses. Please avoid quoting previous posts
unless absolutely necessary.
DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent
the views of the moderators. Digest contributors assume all
responsibility for ensuring that articles submitted do not
violate copyright protections.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun 24 Oct 1993 15:19:41 CDT
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@mindvox.phantom.com>
Subject: File 1--CuD is taking TWO WEEKS OFF (Returning 7 November)
CuD will be taking two weeks off, beginning after this issue (5.83).
Conference and other travel from Oct 27 thru Nov 3, and "cold-turkey"
withdrawal from all computer activity during that week means that
we won't be answering mail for that eight day period. But, send in
the articles and we'll deal with them on return.
The next CuD (#5.84) will come out Sunday, 7 November.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, Sep 23 1993 11:22:18 CDT
From: CuD Moderators (tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu)
Subject: File 2--Elansky Accepts Plea Agreement (Hartford BBS update)
((MODERATORS' NOTE: The case of Michael Elansky (Ionizer), sysop of
the former Ware House BBS in West Hartford, Ct., is drawing to a
close. Elansky was arrested in August for making "anarchy files," both
written by a 15 year old four years ago, available on his BBS.
Although the case was compounded by Elansky's previous legal problems,
the arrest specifically for possession of Constitutionally protected
literature was seen by CuD editors and many others as a potential
threat to freedom of expression in cyberspace (see CuD 5.69, 5.71,
5.72, 5.78).
While not formally dropping the charges for the literature, a failure
that we find troubling, the charges will not be pursued. As Richard
Brown, Elansky's attorney, observes, the prosecutor appears to have
violated the Constitution. If so, it would be refreshing to the
prosecutor held to the same standards of criminal liability to which
Elansky and others are held.
We are indebted to the anonymous reader who provided the information
from the Hartford Courant, edited to conform to "fair use"
guidelines)).
++++++++
"WEST HARTFORD MAN MAY GET 3-YEAR TERM IN BOMB RECIPE CASE"
By Matthew Kauffman, The Hartford Courant, Oct. 23, 1993
A 21-year-old West Hartford man will not be prosecuted
for running a computer bulletin board that told how to make
bombs and kill law-enforcement agents, but faces as many as
three years in prison on other charges.
((The article explains that Elansky has been held in jail since August
on $500,000 bond. As part of a plea agreement on Friday, Elansky
admitted to two violations of probation that could include up to three
years in state prison)).
But Elansky's attorney asked Superior Court Judge Thomas
P. Miano to impose no additional prison time. After an hour,
Miano halted the Friday sentencing hearing without deciding
whether Elansky belongs behind bars.
((The judge indicated that he simply didn't know enough Elansky to
make a decision, and required additional time)).
Authorities have portrayed Elansky as a dangerous young
man, obsessed with explosives and antagonistic toward
police. When officials gained access to the bulletin board,
they found a file replete with bomb recipes and techniques
for "maiming or mortally wounding" law enforcement agents. A
Massachusetts man has since acknowledged writing the file.
................
Elansky was given a suspended sentence in 1988 after
police found two pipe bombs and gunpowder in a basement
workroom of his home. Elansky's father, David Elansky, said
Friday that the devices were small incendiaries Elansky had
constructed as part of a pyrotechnic display sanctioned by
Hall High School, where Elansky was a student.
He was arrested again last fall and charged with
participating in a burglary at Hall High School in which
several bottles of volatile chemicals were stolen. In his
basement, police found homemade explosives _ which David
Elansky said were part of a high school graduation show. A
door in the basement, authorities said, had been rigged with
a device that would propel a glass bottle at intruders.
That charge also would not be prosecuted as part of Friday's
plea bargain.
.................
In Superior Court in Hartford Friday, Brown harshly
criticized the August arrest, saying the information on the
computer was protected by the First Amendment.
"It's my very strong feeling that the state of
Connecticut, in its zeal to get something on this defendant,
violated the constitution of the United States, the
constitution of the state of Connecticut and perhaps certain
laws," Brown said.
((Elansky's attorney held up a copy of the Anarchist's Cook, purchased
at Barnes and Noble, for $20, according to the story. As indicated in
CuD 5.78, the volume, along with numerous other over-the-counter
publications available to anyone with purchase price, contains
explicit instructions for pyrotechnic and other forms of destruction.
Such volumes are protected under the First Amendment)).
............
Brown said Elansky may not have taken the criminal
justice system or his probation seriously, but said that
changed the day in August he was put in jail. Since then,
Brown said, Elansky has been assaulted twice, has witnessed
a hanging and has had to bribe other inmates daily to ensure
his safety.
------------------------------
Date: Sat 23 Oct 1993 2:21:17 CDT
From: CuD Moderators <tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu>
Subject: File 3-- A Foreign Embassy Information Infrastructure
((MODERATORS' NOTE: The following, reprinted from The Well's EFF
conference, describes another proposal for connecting the world in
cyberspace. Reprinted with the permission of the author
(amicus@well.sf.ca.us)
Author: Ross Stapleton, Intelligence Community Management Staff
The US Government should organize and subsidize the creation of an
Internet-based information infrastructure for the foreign embassies
sited in Washington DC, in order to encourage those embassies to host
information of interest to US audiences, to facilitate delivery of US
government information to those embassies (and through them, to the
sponsoring countries' governments and populace), and to establish a
better means for US citizens to correspond with foreign governments.
The Washington DC-based diplomatic community is a convenient scope for
such a program: having the prospective users local to Washington would
make them easier to train and support through the start-up phase; the
existing US information infrastructure is much better than many parts
of the international and foreign infrastructure; and many or most of
the embassies are already repositories for information (albeit largely
in nonelectronic form today) that they could be encouraged to provide
to a US audience.
There are a total of XX embassies in the Washington DC area, along
with YY foreign and international government missions.
The program would have three major goals:
1. Provide a means for foreign governments, initially through their
embassies, to provide a broad range of information of interest to US
citizens through the developing US information infrastructure;
2. Provide the US government a faster, more efficient, and more direct
means of providing a broad range of information of interest to foreign
governments, initially through their embassies (in both the first two
goals, it could be expected that embassies would also develop better
means to exchange information with their sponsoring governments--very
likely through the Internet--and to lessen their obligation to serve
as intermediaries);
3. Provide a focus for US citizen interest in foreign countries, for
correspondence with foreign officials and governments.
As one possible implementation strategy, the US State Department could
commission the creation of an Internet site (e.g., a domain of
"embassies.int") and provide funding for service, support and
training, as well as for some amount of communications equipment to be
provided to participating embassies (the last might be unnecessary
where participating embassies could provide their own resources, or
where corporate or other sponsors might be found to contribute
resources). At a minimum, each participating embassy would have at
least one Internet account (e.g., "ecuador@embassies.int") for
electronic mail purposes. Each embassy that chose to expand its
investment in the facility could be provided with its own subdomain
(e.g., "france.embassies.int") for the provision of additional
services.
Each participating embassy should agree at a minimum to provide (1)
simple correspondence, which need be nothing more than an
auto-response message instructing on how to reach the embassy via
traditional means (telephone, fax or letter), (2) basic information on
embassy services (e.g., how to receive and file forms for visas), and
(3) additional information (economic, cultural, etc.) likely to be of
interest to a US audience, in order to build up the program's general
information resources, to be made available to the public through
standard Internet research tools (e.g., WAIS, Gopher, etc.).
The US State Department, with other US foreign policy agencies, would
make use of the program for the dissemination, to the embassies, of
policy and other materials. This would provide the US government
with an efficient and timely means to disseminate information to the
whole of the participating embassy community (and this could be done
in a manner that would permit the embassies to "pull" information of
interest rather than have it "pushed" at them, allowing for a far
greater volume of information to be made available without
overburdening the recipients).
------------------------------
Date: Fri 22 Oct 92 23:41:43 CDT
From: jonpugh@NETCOM.COM(Jon Pugh)
Subject: File 4--DES Broken?
I recently read a report in a bit of email named the SURFPUNK
Technical Journal <surfpunk@versant.com> that a Canadian researcher
recently presented a paper describing a dedicated chip designed to
break DES. The article claimed that this chip could be manufactured
for $10.50 and that a machine with %30,000 of these could be built for
$1,000,000 which would have a 100% probability of breaking ANY DES
encryption in a maximum of 7 hours (3.5 hours on the average).
I was wondering if the CuD authors or readers had heard anything of
this and could verify or denounce its authenticity. This seems like
news that ought to be in CuD. As is usual with things of this nature,
I seem to have moved the file to some other disk and do not have it
accessible here to quote from, but if you are interested I may be able
to locate it and send it along later.
Perhaps the Surfpunks would care to comment?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1993 01:42:16 EDT
From: phyland@AOL.COM
Subject: File 5--Computers & Sustainable Society
NEWS RELEASE
Worldwatch Institute
1776 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
tel: (202)452-1999
fax: (202)296-7365
e-mail: worldwatch@igc.apc.org
HOLD FOR RELEASE
6 p.m. EDT
Saturday, September 25, 1993
COMPUTERS OFFER NEW TOOLS FOR SOLVING ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Faster, cheaper computers, better programs, and rapidly
expanding international computer networks are becoming extraordinary
tools for environmental protection and sustainable development,
according to Global Network: Computers in a Sustainable Society, a
new Worldwatch Institute study.
Computers have made it possible to model the effects of air
pollution on the global climate, as well as to track changes in global
temperature. Biologists now use computerized animal collars to study
endangered species, monitoring their every movement. Microchips
govern the functions of energy-efficient lights, advanced windmills
and solar power installations. And thousands of environmental
activists and organizations around the world are using computer
networks to exchange news and coordinate campaigns.
There are environmental costs to computerization, however.
"Swept up in our visions of the potential power of computers, we have
failed to come to grips with their impacts," said author John E.
Young. "Few people realize that Silicon Valley, birthplace of the
computer industry, is also home to the highest concentration of
hazardous-waste sites in the United States. Or that computers now use
about as much electricity each year as the entire country of Brazil."
In addition, for computers to realize their potential to promote
environmental sustainability, the report stresses, more attention
needs to be devoted ensuring public access to computerized
information.
Computer modeling now makes it possible to identify
environmental problems before they become overwhelming, by
manipulating thousands of variables. Scientists had theorized since
1896 that carbon dioxide emissions could warm the global atmosphere,
but it was not until the early 1980s--when sufficiently powerful
computers became available--that climate simulations were able to
project with confidence the effects of increased carbon dioxide on
climate.
In British Columbia, the Sierra Club of Western Canada is using
computers to create detailed maps of forest cover on Vancouver Island.
Their system has revealed that only 23 percent of the island's
original low-elevation, temperate rain forests--an increasingly
endangered ecosystem--remain uncut. Eighty-two percent of the
island's land is currently allocated to logging. This information has
proved vital in the fight to gain government protection for ancient
rainforests on the island.
Linked together by telecommunications networks, computers are
also rapidly becoming an important means of communication for
environmentalists and other researchers and activists. The largest
collection of computer networks--the Internet--already serves 11
million users; its transmissions are estimated to double every five
months.
The 11 interconnected networks of the Association for
Progressive Communications (APC) make up the world's largest assembly
of on-line environmental information and activists. The APC
networks--which include Econet/Peacenet in the United States--now link
more than 17,000 activists in 94 countries.
The APC's computer conferences convey information that is
detailed, global, and breathtakingly up-to-date. Recently, for
example, an APC posting on rainforests reported the murder of Yanomami
Indians in a remote corner of the Amazon Basin days before major
United States newspapers.
The Washington, D.C.-based Right-to-Know Computer Network (RTK
Net) offers free, online access to the U.S. government's Toxics
Release Inventory (TRI). The TRI database provides information on
industrial releases of toxic chemicals from some 24,000 U.S.
industrial facilities. Grassroots groups around the country have used
TRI information to produce dozens of reports on pollution, garnering
public attention and spurring industry cleanup efforts in a number of
states. Agenda 21, accepted by all United Nations members at the 1992
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, recommends that all nations move to
establish such pollution tracking systems.
While computer networks are most extensive in the United States,
Europe, and Japan, they also reach into many developing countries, as
well as the newly democratic states of Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union. Sophisticated communications programs that can run on
inexpensive computers are helping link users in remote areas with the
rest of the world--often overcoming inadequate telephone systems in
the process.
Yet Global Network emphasizes that the computer industry needs
to address its own contributions to environmental pollution. There
are now 23--and there have been as many as 29--federal Superfund
hazardous-waste cleanup sites in Silicon Valley, most of them
attributed to hazardous substances leaking from electronics facilities
into groundwater. Many of those substances--such as glycol ethers,
linked to high rates of miscarriages among electronics workers--can
cause serious human health problems.
The Worldwatch study recommends that governments and computer
manufacturers expand their efforts to redesign computers and
manufacturing processes to minimize environmental problems.One such
project--the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Energy Star
Computers program--already promises major benefits. It offers the use
of a special advertising logo to firms whose computers, monitors, or
printers meet power-saving standards. Nearly 150 makers of computers,
components, and software have signed up. EPA officials estimate that
if Energy Star products capture two-thirds of the market by the year
2000, their use could prevent carbon dioxide emissions equal to the
annual output of 5 million automobiles.
Global Network cautions that computers will not solve all the
world's problems, but argues that they can help people "think
globally," as Rene Dubos once recommended. If applied appropriately,
Young suggests, "Computers can give us global eyes and ears in an age
where our actions often have worldwide impacts."
"Made easy to use and accessible to all, computers and computer
networks could become a force for reducing the environmental impacts
of industrial civilization, ending poverty, and strengthening
participatory democracy," Young concludes."
- END -
John E. Young is a senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute, a
Washington, D.C.-based global environmental think tank.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 93 16:26:51 PDT
From: ug384@FREENET.VICTORIA.BC.CA(Jeff Kosiorek)
Subject: File 6--Students Suspended For Electronic Documents
Two Mount Olive (N.J.) High School freshmen have been given three days
of in school suspension for possession of documents protected under
the First Amendment. School administrators have decided that they
have the right to censor any document or material they feel is
inappropriate. Two students in the high school were caught in
possession of computer disks containing copies of the "Jolly Roger
Cookbook" which is widely available, and completely legal, on computer
bulletin boards everywhere. The disks were confiscated, parents were
notified, and police were involved in the investigation into materials
which are protected under the Constitution.
Where do school officials get the right to censor any type of
publication a student may have in his or her possession? Furthermore,
how can they punish these youths when even the investigating officer,
Detective Joseph Kluska said, "It's not illegal to know how to do
these things." The students were not in anyway using the information
found in the cookbook for illegal activities yet they are being
punished only because the vice principal, John DiColo, deems them
"inappropriate".
In a school where they profess the merits of the American Constitution
and the rights protected therein, the hypocrisy is absurd.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I just thought everyone might like to know what was going on in my
neck of the woods. I find it absolutely ridiculous that these students
are being punished for something that is completely legal. I feel the
only reason it is made an issue is because of the fact it was found on
computer disks. Who would have stood for the seizing of a paperback
book and punishment of the student who possessed it? It would be
really nice if the EFF could pick up on this and put some pressure on
the school to exonerate these students. Any individual interested in
making their opinion heard, please write to the school at: Mount Olive
HS
Flanders, NJ 07836
USA
The telephone number for the school is: (201) 927-2200.
The local paper that first carried an article on the topic was:
The Mount Olive Chronicle
336 Route 46
PO Box 174
Budd Lake, NJ 07828
Feel free to copy and distribute this article.
--
Jeff Kosiorek
ug384@freenet.victoria.bc.ca
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1993 16:12:10 CDT
From: Lance Rose <elrose@echonyc.com>
Subject: File 7--NOMA (Nat'l Online Media Association) BBS Org. Formed
NOMA
National Online Media Association
Contacts: Phill Liggett
LIGGETT@delphi.com
(203)233-3163
Lance Rose
elrose@echonyc.com
(201)509-1700
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A new trade association, the National Online Media Association
(NOMA), was formed at ONE BBSCON '93 in Colorado Springs on August
27th, 1993. NOMA comprises BBS operators, Internet service
providers, and other online media and services.
NOMA's mission is to act for the BBS and online service industry
on matters of national importance by creating an industry presence
in Washington, D.C. and other means; assist its members at the
state and local levels; educate the public on the unique social,
business and legal roles of BBS's and other online services;
establish appropriate industry standards and guidelines;
promote business development in the industry; and maintain and
provide access to resources and industry information for use by the
public and the industry.
An 11 person Organizing Committee was elected to develop a proposal
for NOMA's charter, bylaws, membership requirements, structure, and
form of leadership. The proposal is to be completed and
distributed within the BBS and online services industry by November
30th, 1993.
Discussion areas are being set up immediately for those interested
in participating in NOMA's early development. An Internet mailing
list is available to all those interested at natbbs@echonyc.com
(subscribe to natbbs-request@echonyc.com). A conference area is
also being made available on the Delphi national information
service.
The members of NOMA's Organizing Committee are:
Phill Liggett - Chairperson
LIGGETT@delphi.com
Joe Balshone
BALSHONE@delphi.com
Celeste Clark
BBS #: (805)520-2300
Pat Clawson
76357.3572@compuserve.com
P. Victor Grambsch - Secretary
PVICTOR@delphi.com
Tony McClenny
BBS#: (703)648-1841
Robert Pataki
PUGDOG@delphi.com
W. Mark Richmond
BBS#: (209)685-8487
Steve Sprague
steve.sprague@uboa.org
Jim Taylor
jim.taylor@F5.N310.Z1.FIDONET.ORG
Bill Wilt
wilt@aol.com
In addition, three advisors agreed to assist NOMA's Organizing
Committee:
Mike Godwin, Esq.
mnemonic@eff.org
David Johnson, Esq.
djohns06@reach.com
Lance Rose, Esq.
elrose@echonyc.com
For further information, please contact Phill Liggett, (203)233-
3163 or Lance Rose, Esq., (201)509-1700
Mailing Address: NOMA
c/o Phill Liggett
Solutions, Inc.
89 Seymour Avenue,
West Hartford, CT 06119
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 93 21:35:31 -0700
From: haynes@CATS.UCSC.EDU(Jim Haynes)
Subject: File 8--A Reporter meets "cyberpunks" (news item)
This week's (October 21) "Coast Weekly", a Monterey County free
entertainment (mostly) paper has an article on "hacking" by staff
writer Nicole Volpe. I'll quote part of an introduction from the
editorial page.
"While interviewing computer hackers for this issue, it
occurred to me that there are a lot of similarities between
reporters and cyberpunks - We share a belief in freedom of
information, a general suspicion of those in power who
operate secretly, and an unfortunate tendency to invade
privacy.
This reporter got a taste of what it's like to be on the
receiving end of privacy invasion when a hacker I was
interviewing handed me a printout of personal information
about me that he had retrieved, using nothing more than my
home phone number. His reasons were valid enough - he
wanted to be sure I was who I said I was. As a reporter I
was impressed with the investigation, but on a personal
level, it gave me the creeps. It was a lesson they don't
teach you in J-school..."
The main article covers the exploits of some crackers in the Monterey
area, their concern about the Clipper proposal, some stuff about
arrests of crackers in other parts of the country, and an interview
with a security man from Metromedia's long distance business. The
latter says, "If you picked up the phone a year ago, dialed one digit,
and then hung up, I could go back and find out what that one digit
was. All the records are stored on magnetic tape." He goes on to say
about the prospect of seizing and confiscating valuable equipment, "The
cops are a little more aggressive in going after these kinds of crimes
when they learn about that aspect of it."
A companion article by Hannah Nordhaus, a San Francisco freelance
writer, tells about the use of networking and BBSes by all kinds of
groups, from white-supremacisist to leftists, and everything in
between.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 93 22:13:17 -0700
From: haynes@CATS.UCSC.EDU(Jim Haynes)
Subject: File 9--"Cyber Comics" (Monterey Cty Coast Weekly Summary)
"Cyber Comics" by Matt Ashare (in Coast Weekly for October 21, 1993 -
says it originally appeared in Boston Phoenix, doesn't say when.)
"Comic books are a longtime fixture in America's
traditional love of escapism. primarily they've been a
forum for exploring the realm of fantasy and science
fiction...
The most popular comics have also touched on the themes
of the day. Superman of the '50s was a clean cut
crusader for Truth, Justice, and the American Way;... The
genetically mutated X-Men came of age as the effects of
radiation and other biological toxins were becoming an
issue in the '60s; to the extent that they were shunned
by 'normal' society, they personified the tensions in an
increasingly diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural
landscape.
The scientific frontier that offers the most
possibilities these days is the computer, and sure
enough, computer-based themes like virtual reality,
artificial intelligence AIl, and hacking are rapidly
finding their way into the pages of comic books. At the
same time the comic-book vision of reality and the future
has darkened to accommodate the contemporary perception
that the world isn't the friendly place it was when Clark
Kent was growing up in Smallville....
The first comic-book experiments with cyberpunk began a
decade ago, with more sophisticated precursors to the
graphic novel like Frank Miller's "Ronin"...issued by DC
Comics in 1983...[Ronin's] most telling enemy is a
thoroughly hostile, violent, and lawless urban reality
where one of his few allies is the computer.
Merging form and content, First Comics published
"Shatter", the first fully computer generated comic, in
1985....a loose affiliation of renegade, non-superhero
protagonists has to confront another common cyberpunk
enemy - a government controlled by a powerful,
exploitative, multinational corporation. The kind of
government that cyberpunk fiction seems made of.
[for?]...
...DCs computer-generated "Digital Justice" graphic
novel, a Batman program is booted up to counter the
Joker's computer virus. Hey, even the Punisher's arch
enemy, the Kingpin, gets a little assistance from a
skateboarding hacker kid these days.
More recently, both DC and Marvel have introduced new
series that deal almost exclusively with cyberpunk
themes. "The Hacker Files" which ended its 12-issue run
this summer, is part of the same DC universe that's home
to traditional heroes in tights like Green Lantern, but
the protagonist is a scruffy thirtysomething hacker who
uses computers instead of superpowers to fight his
battles.
...Lewis Shiner, a writer whose 1984 novel Frontera(Bane)
was part of the first cyberpunk wave, at the creative
helm of "The Hacker Files"... 'Right after that computer
virus at the Pentagon,' recalls Shiner, 'Bob Greenberger
[a DC editor] calmed me and asked, "Why don't you do a
comic about that and we'll get all these kid hackers
started reading comics."...'
As Shiner sees it, 'the idea of empowerment is what's
behind a lot of superheroes, and the computer represents
a source of empowerment to kids these days, so it's only
natural...'
"Wild Thing", Marvel Comics described...
Beyond providing some colorful, escapist thrills, comic
books like "Wild Thing" present a bleak, paranoid view of
the future. Multinationals rule the world, violence and
betrayal are commonplace, virtual reality is a new kind of
drug, and computers are the heroes' only real friends."
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1993 10:07:48 -0700
From: bjones@WEBER.UCSD.EDU(Bruce Jones)
Subject: File 10--Belated response to F. Cohen (CuD 5.80)
To recap the argument to date, Fredrick B. Cohen (fc@jupiter.saic.com)
notes (CuD 5.78) that he once applied for permission to export
crypto technology and was granted permission to do so. Finding it
relatively easy to obtain permission, he fails to see what the fuss
is about. I counter (CuD 5.79) that I see no reason why anyone
should have to apply for permission in the first place. He responds
(CuD. 5.80) with:
>... why should I need any permission from the government for
>anything? Perhaps I shouldn't, but the fact is, [the gov't has]
>the power, and if you work within the structure, you may find that
>it is not as oppressive as you thought.
"Not as oppressive as [I you we] thought" implies some oppression.
Now, perhaps I am again mis-reading you and all you are really
saying is that, if the government imposes restrictions on specific
activities and then allows permission, upon application, for citizens
to engage in those activities, there is little or no problem. I
disagree. It is important for a people who would be free to stay
alive to the dangers inherent in all forms of power -- especially
those that take away rights and then hand them back under license
as privileges.
As I noted at the end of my first response, one of the founding
ideas of the United States of America is that the government
of the US is ideologically and legally constrained by the powers
granted it under law, and all other rights and privileges belong,
by default, to the people. Mr. Cohen asks:
>Where does the constitution say this? I agree that I would prefer
>it that way, but I don't think there is any basis in law for your
>statement.
These ideals and ideas are part of two important documents, founding
our country. The idea arises first, early in:
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:
In Congress, July 4, 1776,
THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
[Paragraph 3]
That to secure these rights [life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness], Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed.
And is instantiated in Law in:
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Amendment IX (1791)
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X (1791)
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states
respectively, or to the people.
The government doesn't have rights. Amendment IX above says, quite
clearly, that the people have rights, some enumerated under the
Constitution, and others not enumerated but extant nevertheless.
The government, under Amendment X requires permission from the
people to engage in specified acts.
Many agencies of our government seem to have forgotten these passages
and they act as though their agencies and agents have the moral, legal,
and ethical right to hand down decisions on how we may live. Just
because they get away with such high-handed behavior most of the time
doesn't make the agencies, the agents, or their decisions just. Nor
as they discovered in the Steve Jackson Games case, and may again
discover with PGP, does it make their actions legally justifiable.
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End of Computer Underground Digest #583
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