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Cyber Rights Now 5
CYBER RIGHTS NOW!
NEWSLETTER
Issue .05
!!!!!!!!!!!!PLEASE DISTRIBUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I. Greeting
II. What this group/newsletter is for
III. Why this group/newsletter was formed
IV. People to contact
V. Comments so far
VI. Other things I need
VII. Joining the group
*****************************************
GREETING
Hello all.
This is Sloan Seaman (a.k.a. Bone) typing to you. I'm not the greatest with
words (you get that way after writing help documentation for programs) so
don't expect a ton of words in this first little issue.
This little greeting is to tell you about the guy who is creating this group.
I'll get to the why's and such later. I'm doing this so you don't think some
little stupid hacker wannabe put up a homepage and got stung and is just
complaining to the world.
I've been using a computer since the TRS Model 80 one. That's the first home
PC ever. I began programming on it about 1 year after we got it. I was 9
at the time. I'm now 22. I know almost every major programming language
except ASM and admittedly my C++ can use a little more work.
Yes I was a hacker. Actually I specialized in Phreaking, which is the art of
hacking phone systems via social engineering, computer hacking, tone
generation, trashing, etc. As you can see I said I WAS a phreaker. I no
longer totally participate in hacking/phreaking but I do still retain all
my knowledge and try to keep in touch. I was in a few "underground" groups.
Most notably would probably be ABuSe. We were hired by other groups to get
"things". I was the phone specialist. I also ran an underground BBS until
Operation Sundevil.
This lasted until about my third year in college. (To be honest I got popped
for hacking a PBX and running an alliance). I worked on campus running the
computer systems at the library (mainly system security). I'm currently at
Westinghouse on my internship doing application development. Yes, my major
is computer science.
Ok, that was to just kinda tell you that I'm not a newbe to computers or the
i-net.
Since I'm in college I've had to deal with red tape all the time and I've
found that you can't just sit back and take crap. You have to not only grab
the bull by the horns, but get to him before he even hits the stadium. And
that is what this is for. It's not a rant or a rave. We have to get this
going before there is no freedom left in the net.
I can't do this by myself. So I am asking for help.
I'm looking for someone dedicated to help me run this group.
I need a name for the group.
I will accept any articles, be they stories of how you got jerked around,
how you fought something, or just anything dealing with the
rights on the i-net.
I'll take any names of people in corps who you believe are against cyber
rights.
A lawyer would be nice to. :)
Lastly (about time eh?) I'll be changing around my homepage a bit to accommodate this new group. It's location is :
http://www.lib.iup.edu/~seaman/index.html
Keep you rights alive,
Sloan Seaman (a.k.a. Bone) E-Mail: seaman@phobos.lib.iup.edu
*****************************************
WHAT THIS GROUP/NEWSLETTER IS FOR:
This newsletter was created to fight for rights on the Internet (cyberspace).
These rights can be roughly defined. Some would include:
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of file transfers (not copyrighted)
Freedom of file storage (not copyrighted)
Right to privacy be it e-mail or otherwise
Freedom of access (the Internet is for everybody)
and many more.
This group/newsletter is also against corporate control over the Internet.
The Internet was originally designed by the Department of Defense for
universities and researchers to communicate. It was later turned over to the
Internet Society. The Internet Society later allowed corporations onto the
Internet. This was good because it allowed the expansion of the Internet to
grow along with it's topic base.
Here's the problem:
The corporations are now trying to control the Internet. They are trying to
buy it or regulate it. That was NEVER the idea behind the Internet. The
Internet was designed information to everyone for almost no cost. This
information should be (to a degree) totally free of regulation. Granted,
some things should not be allowed. These include : Copyrighted software and
Pornography (to those under 16).
If corporations get a stranglehold on the Internet expect the worst. Prices
will rise, quality of information will be regulated, the whole principle will
be lost.
Sites will not be the one's being regulated, people will. You will be told
what you can and cannot do, and you will be watched. It's a dark future to
say the least. The Internet is a free junkyard of information, and it should
stay that way.
*****************************************
WHY THIS GROUP/NEWSLETTER WAS FORMED:
This group/newsletter was formed because of the reasons above. To protect the
rights of users on the Internet. But there is also a personal reason.
On Thursday August 24th I received a piece of e-mail from the System
Administrator of the machine I mainly reside on (along with my homepage)
informing me that America OnLine had called the Provost of my university
(Indiana University of Pennsylvania) and told them to remove the file AOHELL
from my homepage. The Provost contacted the Sys Admin and he removed my
entire homepage (but did not delete it) until I removed the file. I complied
but complained that the file was in fact freeware and should not be
regulated. The Sys Admin agreed but what could he do? He had to watch his
own butt.
I guess I should mention what the file did. AOHELL was a program that would
call up America OnLine and create new accounts with falsely generated credit
card numbers.
Now, the file was not that nice, but it was still legal. You could look at
it like SATAN, which is a program that will travel the net looking for
security holes so that the Sys Admins can patch them. AOHELL was showing AOL
they had a MAJOR security flaw. Instead of just fixing the flaw and thereby
killing the use of AOHELL, they went after the individual who was distributing
the file. AOL did not complain about the over 500 virii I have on my page, or
various other files. Only that which effected them.
The Provost of IUP readily complied. He did not put up a fight or even allow
an explanation for me. It was done like a dictator would do things. Kill it.
End of story.
Not on your life. I have a right to have that file, or any non copyrighted
file on the net. The school may own the computer, but it's my account and I
pay the school to attend and get that account.
So why create a group/newsletter over this isolated incident? Because it's
not isolated at all. It's happening all the time. People are regulated like
farm animals (note the reference to Animal Farm). The current groups who
supposedly support cyber rights are so out of it it's not even funny.
Granted this group/newsletter may be small. But that is how everything starts
out. But it won't get anywhere without your help.
You have to write these people.
You have to call these people.
You have to say "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!".
And I'm going to help you do it.
*****************************************
PEOPLE TO CONTACT:
Dealing with the problems I had above. Here are some people to contact:
Provost of IUP:
Dr. Mark J. Staszkiewicz
Provost Office
205 John Sutton Hall
412-357-2219
e-mail : mjstat@oak.grove.iup.edu
America OnLine
e-mail : postmaster@aol.com
the guy who called/e-mailed the school:
James Canfield
Terms of Service Staff
America Online, Inc.
703.448.8700 X3909
NOTE: PLEASE do not use vulgarity. Keep it kinda nice.
Form Letter:
------------------------------------------cut here-----------------------------------------
Dr. Mark J. Staszkiewicz:
I am writing you to protest the removal of the file AOHELL from
Sloan Seaman's homepage (http://www.lib.iup.edu/~seaman/hack/bone.html).
Mr. Seaman has every right to own and distribute the file. It is not a
copyrighted software. It is freeware.
The nature of the program is not the issue. The issue is the right of an
individual to own and store a file freely and legally. And that is what Mr.
Seaman was doing.
Corporations do not own the Internet. It is governed by the Internet Society.
The Internet Society allows storage and distribution of any non copyrighted
software over the Internet. Corporations such as America OnLine have no say
in what occurs on the Internet.
Please consider this when a students cyber rights are at stake.
Your,
----------------------------------cut here--------------------------------------
As to James Canfield.....Write your own. The above is to just give you an idea.
*****************************************
COMMENTS SO FAR:
After I posted the message about my little ordeal on my homepage I received
more responses than I though. Here are some of the things I received:
"I strongly agree with you about the diminishing security of our cyberworld.
please keep my address and keep me informed on any further developments."
" Hi, I recently saw your web page and read about the misfortune you had to
go though. This act of AOL really angers me and it once again PROVES that
Cyberspace is not the place of Freedom that I thought it was. I myself have
been writing to as many officials as I can, and am glad to see that there
ARE others who care. I was interested in forming a group myself and its cool
to see your going to. Anyway, I am interested in helping you with your cause
so please drop me a line when you get the chance."
" What can I do? Do they have the right to influence the removal of a
program on a private system? Hell no!"
" A voice is heard!!!. Glad to hear someone else is on my side too. Email me
man, I like the way you think."
" I do think you're right, everything you posted on your home page is perfectly
legal. What they are doing is like this:
example: Bob wants to kill his brother. He purchases a knife for the kill,
tells his friends about it and everything, so the government arrests him even
though they can't.
What they are doing to you is saying you can't post this uncopywrited file
because it poses a threat to somebodies business. Yes, it does pose a threat.
But unless they can figure out that somebody got AOHell from your web page
and used it to hack AOL, then they have no right to do anything about. I am
100% for your cause!"
" Bone -- What in f*ckin' hell does America OnLine have against you or
AOHell that would stand five seconds in court? Whatre they doing,
shutting down home pages just because they dont like them? If they
can do that,(which they cant, but apparently do anyway, despite our
Cyber Rights), why cant we shut down their lamest of lame on line
service because we dont like it? Why? Is there not freedom, if so,
why is there a retarded company that goes around screwing with other
peoples stuff even though they have NO RIGHT to, but which you have a
right to? You have freedom with you, they have it against them. What
do they think when they f*ck with uncropywrited software, OUR
UNCOPYWRITED SOFTWARE????? There is no justice. If they do not
understand this, they can learn to understand it (the EASY way or the
HARD way). For now, a nice message for everyone who reads this to
send postmaster@aol.com would be "GO TO HELL!" and send it in the
name of...well, i dont know a name, but you get the point."
I can see I'm not alone in my feelings.
*****************************************
OTHER THINGS I NEED
Some of the things I need for anyone basically are:
Addresses (e-mail and otherwise) of major corporations.
PR/Sys Admins would be the best probably
People to write articles/form letters.
If you get a response from someone you e-mailed, send it to me so I can include
it in the newsletter.
Anything else you can thing of.
Send it to:
seaman@phobos.lib.iup.edu
*****************************************
JOINING THE CRN GROUP/NEWSLETTER
Note: Only you e-mail address is really required.
-------------------------------------cut here---------------------------------
Real Name :
Handle/Nickname :
E-mail Address (REQUIRED) :
Home City/State :
Age :
Job (Student/Bum/Etc..) :
Computer Experience (Beginner/Expert/Etc..) :
Have your cyber rights ever been ignored? (Y/N) :
Do you want to keep your membership private? (Y/N) :
(You will not appear on the public memberlist)
Comments :
--------------------------------------cut here---------------------------------
Fill out the thing above and send it to:
seaman@phobos.lib.iup.edu
with the subject being : MEMBERSHIP
----End of Issue .05
