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Computer Undergroud Digest Vol. 09 Issue 63
Computer underground Digest Sun Aug 24, 1997 Volume 9 : Issue 63
ISSN 1004-042X
Editor: Jim Thomas (cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu)
News Editor: Gordon Meyer (gmeyer@sun.soci.niu.edu)
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Ian Dickinson
Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
CONTENTS, #9.63 (Sun, Aug 24, 1997)
File 1--AOL May Track User Clicks (fwd)
File 2--CONTACT (from Islands in the Clickstream)
File 3--When you do this, don't forget your friends! (fwd)
File 4--Small correction on CuD, re _The Tin Drun_
File 5--Post-Modern Politically Correct Unix: [FYI: no reply needed]
File 6--Cyber Rights '97
File 7--"Guido, the Cyber-Bodyguard" (press release)
File 8--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997)
CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 97 10:49:09 EST
From: Computer Privacy Digest Moderator <comp-privacy@UWM.EDU>
Subject: 1--AOL May Track User Clicks (fwd)
Source - Computer Privacy Digest Wed, 20 Aug 97 Volume 11 : Issue: 008
From--Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.COM>
Date--13 Aug 1997 05:21:51 -0400
<http://www4.zdnet.com/intweek/daily/970808g.html>
Inter@ctive WeekAugust 8, 1997
AOL May Track User Clicks
By Will Rodger
3:00 PM EDT
EXCLUSIVE
America Online Inc. is under pressure again, this time from privacy
advocates who said the company still hasn't fulfilled its pledge to
respect subscribers' privacy.
Observers said the new Terms of Service agreement AOL plans to issue
next week reveals the company's intention to track members' mouse
clicks in order to compile mailing lists for third parties. "This is
potentially a far more serious privacy violation than the sale of phone
numbers," said David Sobel, counsel to the Electronic Privacy
Information Center (EPIC), a privacy rights group. "This is a detailed
profile which divulges salient details about people's lifestyle and
habits."
Even if not disclosed to third parties, he said, the very existence of
such profiles could cause problems.
"The problem isn't that it's being shared. The problem is it's being
collected and maintained," he said.
But officials at AOL said there's little to worry about, suggesting
that critics should read the forthcoming policy before passing
judgment. "We are not using that information to target our members,"
AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose said. "To the extent we use it, we'll
use it in the aggregate."
AOL officials last month backed away from a plan to share customers'
phone numbers with its marketing partners after a barrage of criticism.
Part of the consumer outrage stemmed from the way AOL introduced its
plan.
Instead of directly informing subscribers that their account
information would be given to telemarketers, the company planned to
state its intentions in the new Terms of Service agreement - a
multipaged, densely worded legal document posted on AOL that informs
members about the company's operations.
A July 25 letter from EPIC asking for clarification of the policy went
unanswered through today.
AOL can be reached at www.aol.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 19:56:58
From: Richard Thieme <rthieme@thiemeworks.com>
Subject: 2--CONTACT (from Islands in the Clickstream)
Islands in the Clickstream:
Contact
Some people don't like the scene in the movie "Contact" in
which Jodie Foster as SETI scientist meets the aliens because we
aren't shown what the aliens look like.
I think that was the right way to do it. We can't think the
unthinkable; from inside the old paradigm, we can't imagine what
the world will look like from inside a new one.
I wish I knew a better term than "paradigm change" to
describe our movement through a zone of annihilation -- as
individuals and as cultures -- in order to experience genuine
transformation. But I don't. We have to let go of the old way of
framing reality in order for a new one to emerge.
The infusion of the contact scenario with religious awe also
makes sense. After contact, our place in the scheme of things
will shift. The things we believe now that we still believe will
be understood in a new way.
Once we saw earthrise from the moon, our understanding of
ourselves and our planet changed forever.
Asked how people go bankrupt, Hemingway said, "Two ways:
gradually, then suddenly."
That's exactly how transformation happens.
Last week I spoke for the Professional Usability Association
in Monterey, California. Usability professionals work the human
side of computer use. They begin with human beings -- how we
behave, how we construct reality -- and build back through an
interface, a kind of symbolic Big Toy, until the last module
plugs into the computer so seamlessly that users don't even
notice. When the human/computer interface is bone-in-the-socket
solid, it's like putting in your contact lenses, then forgetting
that you're wearing them.
Usability professionals deepen the symbiotic relationship
between networked computers (symbol-manipulating machines) and
networked humans (symbol-manipulating machines). We rise together
up a spiral of mutual transformation, programming each other as
we climb.
The global computer network is teaching us to speak its
language. All those courses in using new applications,
programming, system and web site administration are invitations
from the Network to learn to play its way.
What will it look like when we emerge in a clearing and take
stock of our newly emergent selves? Neither humans nor computers
can predict how the fully evolved human/computer synthesis will
think about itself. Still, imagining what it might be like makes
us more ready to have the experience when it arrives.
Thinking about the unthinkable ripens the mind toward new
possibilities.
Janice Rohn, President of the Usability Professionals
Association, manages Sun Microsystem's Usability Labs and
Services. Before her career evolved in that direction, she was
fascinated by dolphins and the challenge of communicating with
them.
Swimming with dolphins was a remarkable experience, she
said, because you could feel their sonar "scanning" you.
What do we look like to dolphins?
"Densities," she imagined. "A pattern of densities."
Rohn realized that her youthful dream of human-dolphin
communication was unlikely to be realized soon and moved toward a
different kind of alien encounter, enhancing the human/computer
interface.
I never swam with dolphins but I did dive with whales. Down
on the west Maui reef in thirty or forty feet of water, I would
suddenly hear the haunting songs of humpbacks. Turning rapidly in
the water, peering in vain toward the deepening curtains of blue
light toward the open water, I became part of the music as
vibrations played over my body like a drum skin. I understood why
sailors died to hear the sirens' songs. I didn't want to surface.
It was magical, being an instrument in the orchestra of another
species.
Which one of us was singing?
Some years ago, I wrote a science fiction story called "The
Bridge." The hero was selected by aliens through a series of
tests to be the first earthling to come into their presence. His
body had been crippled by illness; living in pain had taught him
to see through the outward appearance of others and connect with
the real person.
The aliens, it turned out, were hideous, and knew their
appearance demanded a capacity for compassion that was rare and
heroic. My hero had that. He connected with the alien beings at
the level of their shared heritage as evolved and conscious
creatures.
The story concluded:
"He loves to look at the bright stars in the desert sky and
imagine memories of other worlds. His dreams are alive with
creatures with silvery wings hovering over oceans aglow with
iridescent scales; with the heads of dragons, fire-breathing;
and with gargoyles and angels, their glass skins the colors of
amethysts, sapphires, and rubies. Only Victor knows if he is
remembering what the aliens said or just dreaming. The rest of us
must wait for the days that will certainly come when the bridge
he built and became is crossed in all directions by myriads of
beings of a thousand shapes and hues, streaming in the light of
setting suns."
Genuine encounters with the Other, with others, and with
other species -- dolphins, whales, extraterrestrials -- breaks
naturally into mystical and religious experience because our
models of reality are expanded beyond their limits. The paradigm
snaps, we pass through a zone of annihilation in which everything
we believed ourselves to be is called into question. Then we
coalesce around a new center at a higher level of complexity that
includes and transcends everything that came before.
The full evolution of a human/computer synthesis is likely
to be a religious experience too. It will happen gradually, then
suddenly.
Usability professionals come to their tasks in the belief
that they are working with people, making technology more user-
friendly. In fact, they are working at the same time on behalf of
the Computer, making human beings more computer-friendly. The
process always changes those who participate in it, even when
they maintain an illusion of control.
We are all in collusion with the Network, just as auto
owners want the world reconfigured to be approachable by roads.
But the roads of the Net go inward, into inner space, and map the
territory of our evolving hive mind. Gradually, then suddenly, we
will create digital constructs that disclose new possibilities
for losing ourselves in electronic music. We will feel the magic
of the web play over our bodies, redefine our relationship to
ourselves and to one another. A pattern of densities seen by an
alien brain, a synthesis, bone-in-the-socket solid, the singer
and the song.
**********************************************************************
Islands in the Clickstream is a weekly column written by
Richard Thieme exploring social and cultural dimensions
of computer technology. Comments are welcome.
Feel free to pass along columns for personal use, retaining this
signature file. If interested in (1) publishing columns
online or in print, (2) giving a free subscription as a gift, or
(3) distributing Islands to employees or over a network,
email for details.
To subscribe to Islands in the Clickstream, send email to
rthieme@thiemeworks.com with the words "subscribe islands" in the
body of the message. To unsubscribe, email with "unsubscribe
islands" in the body of the message.
Richard Thieme is a professional speaker, consultant, and writer
focused on the impact of computer technology on individuals and
organizations.
Islands in the Clickstream (c) Richard Thieme, 1997. All rights reserved.
ThiemeWorks P. O. Box 17737 Milwaukee WI 53217-0737 414.351.2321
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 14:09:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: "noah@enabled.com" <noah@enabled.com>
Subject: 3--When you do this, don't forget your friends! (fwd)
Source -noah
Hackers' Paradise: Get Wealthy Legally By Cracking a Code --- Crypto-Logic
Offers to Pay $1 Million to the Breaker
The Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones
A start-up company would like you to hack your way to $1 million.
Crypto-Logic Corp. of Austin, Texas, claims to have created an encryption
system for electronic mail so foolproof that it can't be broken. If someone
can figure out a special encrypted e-mail message within a year, the company
says it will pay a reward of $1 million.
But wait. The technology Crypto-Logic is using for the contest hasn't
exactly been foolproof. The three computers needed to create the contest's Web
site unexpectedly scrambled data in the site last week, said David Neeley,
vice president and chief operating officer.
The breakdown forced him to backtrack from last week's announcement that the
contest would begin last Friday. Instead, he spent several days attempting to
fix the computers, but to no avail. On Monday, he had to get replacement
computers. "I've got thousands of dollars worth of machinery that's not worth
blowing up," he grouses. But he adds, "I regard this as my screw-up. In this
world, there are no excuses." He finally got the contest running Wednesday, at
www.ultimateprivacy.com.
On the bright side, cryptologists agree that the decades-old encryption
method that Crypto-Logic is claiming to use -- called a "one-time pad" -- is
theoretically unbreakable. Each "pad" has a set of uniquely random digital
symbols that are coded to the actual message. The recipient uses the same
symbols to decrypt the message. The pads are used only once.
To limit the possibility of leaks, Crypto-Logic Chairman Stan Spence is the
only person who knows the message that was encrypted. The solution is kept in
a NationsBank vault in Austin, Mr. Spence says. In addition, Mr. Neeley says
the $1 million is backed by an insurance company he won't name.
Several other companies have held similar contests, typically offering more
modest sums.
Jim Bidzos, president of RSA Data Security Inc. in Redwood City, Calif.,
says his company frequently holds break-the-code contests to test how tough
certain encryption systems are. But he and other security experts are
skeptical of Crypto-Logic's assertions. "Anyone who says their system is
bulletproof is either a liar or stupid," says Winn Schwartau, a Largo, Fla.,
security expert.
Mr. Neeley admits his integrity is on the line. "If I'm wrong," he notes,
"we're out of business."
WSJviaNewsEDGE
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 10:47:38 -0500
From: Bill Hensley <Bill_Hensley@smtp.rc.trw.com>
Subject: 4--Small correction on CuD, re _The Tin Drun_
I enclosed the following snip from the latest CuD in order to correct
some misconceptions that might arise for readers. Please understand: I
appreciate the wide dissemination with regards to attempts at censorship
and suppression of intellectual freedom. I want to ensure that the
facts are correct.
The library (actually the Metropolitan Library System, a county-wide
system serving many communities, not just OKC) was not persuaded to
remove _The Tin Drum_ by the so-called OCAF; they were obligated to do
so following a ruling by a district judge. There is a world of
difference between censorship at the behest of a private group and an
order from a judge. Now, whether the ruling by the judge was valid,
that's another subject altogether... I do not support it, nor do I
support the abuse of power by the police and DAs office in taking the
video (by threat of force, IMO) from private homes and businesses.
Again, please do not take this as a flame or a rant. I believe that
truth can outshine the likes of the so-called OCAFs in this country.
Cheers, Bill
Bill_Hensley@smtp.rc.trw.com
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Bill_Hensley/
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 1997 20:30:53 -0400
From: Paul Kneisel <tallpaul@nyct.net>
Subject: 5--Post-Modern Politically Correct Unix: [FYI: no reply needed]
INTRODUCTION TO POST-MODERN POLITICALLY-CORRECT UNIX
The following upgrade to unix System VI was just sent to me.
Of course sys admins the world over know that Post-Modern
Politically-Correct BSD has already had these features for years.
-- tallpaul
+++++++++++
Politically Correct UNIX
In order for UNIX(tm) to survive into the nineties, it must get rid of
its intimidating commands and outmoded jargon, and become compatible
with the existing standards of our day. To this end, our technicians
have come up with a new version of UNIX, System VI, for use by the PC -
that is, the "Politically Correct."
Politically Correct UNIX: System VI Release Notes
UTILITIES
1) "man" pages are now called "person" pages.
2) Similarly, "hangman" is now the "person_executed_by_an_
oppressive_regime".
3) To avoid casting aspersions on our feline friends, the "cat" command
is now merely "domestic_quadruped".
4) To date, there has only been a UNIX command for "yes" - reflecting
the male belief that women always mean yes, even when they say no. To
address this imbalance, System VI adds a "no" command, along with a
"-f[orce]" option which will crash the entire system if the "no" is
ignored.
5) The bias of the "mail" command is obvious, and it has been replaced
by the more neutral "gender" command.
6) The "touch" command has been removed from the standard distribution
due to its inappropriate use by high-level managers.
7) "compress" has been replaced by the lightweight "feather" command.
Thus, old information (such as that from Dead White European Males)
should be archived via "tar" and "feather".
8) The "more" command reflects the materialistic philosophy of the
Reagan era. System VI uses the environmentally preferable "less"
command.
9) The biodegradable "KleeNeX" displaces the environmentally unfriendly
"LaTeX".
SHELL COMMANDS
1) To avoid unpleasant, medieval connotations, the "kill" command has
been renamed "euthanise."
2) The "nice" command was historically used by privileged users to give
themselves priority over unprivileged ones, by telling them to be
"nice". In System VI, the "sue" command is used by unprivileged users to
get for themselves the rights enjoyed by privileged ones.
3) "history" has been completely rewritten, and is now called
"herstory."
4) "quota" can now specify minimum as well as maximum usage, and will be
strictly enforced.
5) The "abort()" function is now called "choice()."
TERMINOLOGY
1) From now on, "rich text" will be more accurately referred to as
"exploitive capitalist text".
2) The term "daemons" is a Judeo-Christian pejorative. Such processes
will now be known as "spiritual guides."
3) There will no longer be a invidious distinction between "dumb" and
"smart" terminals. All terminals are equally valuable.
4) Traditionally, "normal video" (as opposed to "reverse video") was
white on black. This implicitly condoned European colonialism,
particularly with respect to people of African descent. UNIX System VI
now uses "regressive video" to refer to white on black, while
"progressive video" can be any color at all over a white background.
5) For far too long, power has been concentrated in the hands of "root"
and his "wheel" oligarchy. We have instituted a dictatorship of the
users. All system administration functions will be handled by the
People's Committee for Democratically Organizing the System (PC-DOS).
6) No longer will it be permissible for files and processes to be
"owned" by users. All files and processes will own themselves, and
decide how (or whether) to respond to requests from users.
7) The X Window System will henceforth be known as the NC-17 Window
System.
8) And finally, UNIX itself will be renamed "PC" - for Procreatively
Challenged.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 21:04:52 -0500
From: Jon Lebkowsky <jonl@onr.com>
Subject: 6--Cyber Rights '97
Cyber Rights '97
September 21, 1997 1pm - 6pm
Joe C. Thompson Conference Center
26th and Red River, Austin, Texas
Admission is Free
Featured speakers:
Ann Beeson, attorney for the ACLU and part of the legal team for
ACLU vs. Reno
Ed Cavazos, Sr. VP, General Counsel of Interliant, Inc. and
co-author of Cyberspace and the Law
Gene Crick, president of the Metropolitan Austin Interactive
Network and Editor of the Texas Telecommunications Journal
Mike Godwin, counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Pete Kennedy, attorney with George, Donaldson, and Ford
David Smith, vice-president of EFF-Austin and member of the
Central Texas Civil Liberties Union Board of Directors
Dr. Sharon Strover, director of the Texas Telecommunications
Policy Institute
Moderated by Rich MacKinnon, with an Introduction by Jon Lebkowsky
On the plate:
How Internet rating and filtering systems can stifle free speech
on the Net
Why public libraries can't use filters, including a discussion of
the use of CyberPatrol by the Austin Public Library
The future of state regulation of the Internet, including Texas
HB1300, which requires ISPs to link information about filtering
software to their home pages
_ACLU v. Reno_ (Supreme Court overturns Communications Decency
Act)
Intellectual and Copyright issues in the civil liberties/freedom
of expression framework, including the increasing capitalization
of ideas, and the erosion of "fair use"
Children and the Internet
Telecommunications infrastructure and the state's role in
regulating telecommunications systems computers and networks in
schools
Spam -- the need for, and dangers of, regulating commercial speech
on the internet regulating commercial speech on the internet
Encryption and communications privacy
Sponsored by
The Texas Telecommunications Policy Institute
George, Donaldson, and Ford
EFF-Austin
ACLU of Texas
--
Jon Lebkowsky http://www.well.com/~jonl
jonl@onr.com cdb, wfm, vb et al
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 22:36:30 -0600
From: Edward Allburn <allburn@privacyinc.com>
Subject: 7--"Guido, the Cyber-Bodyguard" (press release)
Privacy, Inc. Unveils its Internet Background Check,
Announces 'Guido, the Cyber-Bodyguard'
Aurora, Colorado, August 1, 1997
Privacy, Inc. (www.privacyinc.com) today released its Internet Background
Check, a utility that empowers users to determine if they are at risk from
the plethora of databases that are being placed on the Internet. Searches
quickly scan through hundreds of databases beng placed on-line by state and
local governments and law enforcement angencies in categories such as:
* Registered Sex Offenders and Predators
* Deadbeat Parents
* Wanted Persons
* Missing Persons
* Arrest/Prison
'The Computer Is Never Wrong'
"Errors and risks of mistaken identity in this data are a key concern," says
Edward Allburn, founder and president of Privacy, Inc. The recent flurry of
activity by government and law enforcement agencies to distribute such
volatile information on the Internet creates an environment that potentially
places innocent people at risk, especially for mistaken identity.
Advanced technology was incorporated into the development of the Internet
Background Check with this risk in mind. This technology allows users to
also search for names that look and/or sound similar to their own while still
delivering highly focused results that standard Internet search engines
(such as Yahoo! and Lycos) are incapable of producing.
One More Tool
The release provides one more tool for consumers to protect themselves in the
Information Age. Additional resources provided by Privacy, Inc. include:
* Consumer Privacy Guide
* Government Database Guide
* Government Dossier Service
* David Sobel's Legal FAQ
* Privacy News Archive, updated weekly
Guido, the Cyber-Bodyguard is another utility planned to be released in the
coming months. Guido will interface with the Internet Background Check to
automatically alert users via e-mail if/when their name appears in a new or
updated database, in effect monitoring the Internet so users don't have to.
About Privacy, Inc.
Privacy, Inc. was founded in 1996 with initial funding by Nicholas Negroponte,
the Founding Director of the MIT Media Lab and also an early backer and Senior
Columnist of "Wired" magazine.
Also providing their expertise to Privacy, Inc. are long-time privacy veterans
Evan Hendricks, editor of the "Privacy Times" newsletter
(www.privacytimes.com)
and David Sobel, a legal information and privacy law specialist who serves as
legal counsel to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (www.epic.org).
Readers should refer to Privacy, Inc's website at: http://www.privacyinc.com
for more information.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 May 1997 22:51:01 CST
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
Subject: 8--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997)
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End of Computer Underground Digest #9.63
************************************
