[comp.sys.amiga] Crunch, EGAD, and such

crunch@well.UUCP (05/12/87)

HI,
   John D. here... I just wanted to say that I still haven't gotten my 
equipment back,  and it looks like a LONG time before I get my Amiga
back.   It appears that the local "officials" are basically over-whelmed
with such a volume of information,  that they are calling in all sorts of
"witnesses" to go over each and every program I have on about 400 disks.

  I'm sure thay will dis-assemble ALL programs in an attempt to prove that
one (or more) of them might have been used for doing an un-lawful deed.

  So,  it looks like my equipment will be going on the "rounds" again by
being sent to the five "agencys" and to Sacramento (Possible Wash DC)
because they probably couldn't find anything "incriminating".

  So,  for all you folks that got stuch with EGAD,  I apologize,  but nothing
will make me happier if someone ELSE were to take up the slack and hack it
up into something NICE.

  Also,  my local connection to the WELL which was gratiously provided by
Jeff Braun (well!arcade),  has been cut off,   so I cannot afford the $250
monthly phone bill,  so I'm not able to check "comp.sys.amiga" anymore.

  For those on the WELL,  check out the topic 106 in the Amiga conference,
and for Usenet,  I'll try and post SOME important postings here,  but I'll
have to be selective.

nick@hp-sdd.UUCP (05/13/87)

In article <3042@well.UUCP> crunch@well.UUCP (John Draper) writes:
>
>back.   It appears that the local "officials" are basically over-whelmed
>with such a volume of information,  that they are calling in all sorts of
>"witnesses" to go over each and every program I have on about 400 disks.


I give up.  What did this guy do to have the feds interested in him?



Nick
-- 
+ Disclaimer: The above opinions are my own, not necessarily my employers'.
/ Nick V. Flor / ..hplabs!hp-sdd!nick / Hewlett Packard, San Diego Division
* "What's going down in this world, you got no idea.  Believe me."-The Comedian
- "Less Thunder with the Mouth, More Lightning with the Fists."

akw@osupyr.UUCP (Andrew Weaver) (05/14/87)

Not to be insensitive and/or naive (definitely the latter here) but what
exactly transpired that John Draper would have his hardware confiscated by
what sounds like the Federal Gov't?

Interested and confused,

Andy Weaver
ihnp4|cbatt|osupyr|akw

elg@killer.UUCP (Eric Green) (05/16/87)

in article <302@osupyr.UUCP>, akw@osupyr.UUCP (Andrew Weaver) says:
> 
> Not to be insensitive and/or naive (definitely the latter here) but what
> exactly transpired that John Draper would have his hardware confiscated by
> what sounds like the Federal Gov't?

Well, see, back in the '70s he got thrown in jail a couple of times for phone
fraud (phreaking). So nowadays, whenever something goes wrong, they go up to
Cap'n Crunch's door and arrest him automatically :-).

If I recall right, the current situation started with Crunch being accused of
forging BART (Bay Area Rapit Transid, SF & environs) tickets. What that has to
do with Crunch's computer getting expert-witnessed to death is anybody's
guess, I suppose they think he wrote software that when you run it would spit
a BART ticket out the disk drive door?! More likely, they said "hmm, we can't
get him on the BART rap, but this dude has been in jail twice and is guilty of
SOMETHING, maybe computer junk since he has one, so we'll just empound his
computer and take our time and make things as hard on the slimeball as
possible". 

Sheesh.

DISCLAIMER: I don't know anything about the situation besides what I've heard
thru the net, and what a friend who talked to Crunch, before the situation
broke out, said (basically, "Poor Crunch has trouble getting a job because
despite being a good programmer, nobody wants to hire someone with that kind
of reputation, for some reason"). By which I can just imagine the reaction of
the typical suit-and-tie IBM-forever business ghoul when presented with
Crunch... 

--
Eric Green   elg%usl.CSNET     CS student, University of SW Louisiana
{cbosgd,ihnp4}!killer!elg      Apprentice Haquer, Bayou Telecommunications
Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191      BBS phone #: 318-984-3854  300/1200 baud
Lafayette, LA 70509            I disclaim my existence, and yours, too.