4 Apr
2001
4 Apr
'01
11:58 p.m.
It was thus said that the Great Sellam Ismail once stated:
On Wed, 4 Apr 2001, Ross Archer wrote:
I think it does (if I recall; the book is home, I'm not). Also, Operation
Sundevil was responsible for the formation of the EFF [1].
-spc (I think it's not quite as bad as it used to be ... )
[1] John Perry Barlow, Grateful Dead lyricist, was visited by the FBI
around the time of Operation Sundevil [2] and he found the FBI agent
nice, but completely overwhelmed by technology. After the visit he
wrote "Crime and Puzzlement" (do a Google search to find it) about
the visit, and shortly after it was published, he got together with
Mitch Kapor and formed the EFF to keep law enforcement from
trampling our rights in the electronic sphere.
[2] It was also during this time that Erik Bloodaxe, editor of
"Phrack," was indicted, along with three other hackers, for
the publication of an AT&T document about 911. AT&T claimed
the document was worth over $79,000 (US, 1990) and would do
irrepreble damage to the phone system, but the defense was
able to show that the document in question was available to
*anyone* for about $15 (US, 1990). AT&T quietly dropped the
case.
There's an excellent book (available for free
reading on-line) called
the "Hacker Crackdown" which I'm just finishing. If it is to be
believed, when they do a computer crime raid, they seize EVERYTHING
that's even remotely computer-like, including mousepads, calculators,
tape players, music CDs and vinyl records (maybe they're data media
cleverly disguised as music or cassettes!), and probably that box of
cookies with a picture of a computer on the side too. I heard one raid
was particularly hard on Jelly Bellies...
Oh yes, it is to be believed.
These sorts of raids and confiscations were routine during the 80s and
early 90s. Ever heard of "Operation Sundevil"? That was the last major
nationwide "hacker"ocrackdown" in the 90s. I read "Hacker
Crackdown"
years ago and can't remember if it describes those particular raids.