geoff@sunfs3.camex.uucp (Geoffrey Knauth) (11/28/88)
I found two articles in the New York Times that are relevant to the current discussion on Soviet access to Usenet, and to John Draper's involvement in this discussion. ***** NYT 11-16-88 page 11 "Fortune in Toys Helps to Put Americans and Russians in Touch" by Kathleen Teltsch This article describes the efforts of Henry S. Dakin, Joel Schatz (San Francisco-Moscow Teleport), the Center for US/USSR Initiatives, and InterNews. The caption under a photograph of Dakin reads, "Mr. Dakin's five-building complex in San Francisco promotes free communication between the United States and the Soviet Union." ***** NYT 11-16-88 pages 1 and 28 "Cyberpunks Seek Thrills in Computer Vandalism" by John Markoff [excerpted from end of article without permission] QUOTE "They have this crazed need to find the answer," said Eric Corley, editor of 2600. Mr. Corley, whose personal hacking resulted in three brushes with the law before he started the publication in 1984, said: "They keep exploring where they know they shouldn't go. A true hacker won't stop just because he gets in trouble." Although computer experts believe the number of outlaw hackers is growing, the behavior they exhibit is not new to the high tech world. --Recalling 'Captain Crunch'--- For example, a computer programmer, John Draper, spent six months in jail in the 1970's for illegal use of the telephone network. Mr. Draper's nickname, "Captain Crunch," derived from his discovery that a whistle that came as a prize in a cereal box was tuned to the correct frequency to unlawfully manipulate telephone company switching gear. After getting out of jail Mr. Draper wrote Easy Writer, a popular word-processing program that was the first such package available for the I.B.M. PC. Despite the financial success of the program, he was charged last year with belonging to a group counterfeiting tickets of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. Mr. Draper pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and is on probation. Mr. Draper said that the underground computer culture had changed for the worse in recent years. "It's not elite any more," he said. "Computer hackers have proliferated because information is so much easier to obtain." UNQUOTE -- Geoffrey S. Knauth ARPA: geoff%lloyd@husc6.harvard.edu Camex, Inc. UUCP: geoff@lloyd.uucp or husc6!lloyd!geoff 75 Kneeland St., Boston, MA 02111 Tel: (617)426-3577 Fax: 426-9285 I do not speak for Camex.
geoff@lloyd.camex.uucp (Geoffrey Knauth) (12/01/88)
I found two articles in the New York Times that are relevant to the current discussion on Soviet access to Usenet, and to John Draper's suggestion that Americans set up joint US-Soviet software ventures. ***** NYT 11-16-88 page 11 "Fortune in Toys Helps to Put Americans and Russians in Touch" by Kathleen Teltsch This article describes the efforts of Henry S. Dakin, Joel Schatz (San Francisco-Moscow Teleport), the Center for US/USSR Initiatives, and InterNews. The caption under a photograph of Dakin reads, "Mr. Dakin's five-building complex in San Francisco promotes free communication between the United States and the Soviet Union." ***** NYT 11-16-88 pages 1 and 28 "Cyberpunks Seek Thrills in Computer Vandalism" by John Markoff [excerpted from end of article without permission] QUOTE "They have this crazed need to find the answer," said Eric Corley, editor of 2600. Mr. Corley, whose personal hacking resulted in three brushes with the law before he started the publication in 1984, said: "They keep exploring where they know they shouldn't go. A true hacker won't stop just because he gets in trouble." Although computer experts believe the number of outlaw hackers is growing, the behavior they exhibit is not new to the high tech world. --Recalling 'Captain Crunch'--- For example, a computer programmer, John Draper, spent six months in jail in the 1970's for illegal use of the telephone network. Mr. Draper's nickname, "Captain Crunch," derived from his discovery that a whistle that came as a prize in a cereal box was tuned to the correct frequency to unlawfully manipulate telephone company switching gear. After getting out of jail Mr. Draper wrote Easy Writer, a popular word-processing program that was the first such package available for the I.B.M. PC. Despite the financial success of the program, he was charged last year with belonging to a group counterfeiting tickets of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. Mr. Draper pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and is on probation. Mr. Draper said that the underground computer culture had changed for the worse in recent years. "It's not elite any more," he said. "Computer hackers have proliferated because information is so much easier to obtain." UNQUOTE -- Geoffrey S. Knauth ARPA: geoff%lloyd@husc6.harvard.edu Camex, Inc. UUCP: geoff@lloyd.uucp or husc6!lloyd!geoff 75 Kneeland St., Boston, MA 02111 Tel: (617)426-3577 Fax: 426-9285 I do not speak for Camex.