rhorn@infinet.UUCP (Rob Horn) (11/10/87)
This is a sketch of the article, ``Of Systems, Solidarity, and Struggle'' in Datamation, 1 November 1987. ``You know why there are so few sophisticated computer terrorists in the United States? Because your hackers have so much mobility into the establishment. Here, there is no such mobility. If you have the slightest bit of intellectual integrity you cannot support the government.... That's why the best computer minds belong to the opposition.'' - Anonymous This opens a good article on how computers are being used by the opposition in Poland. Go find a copy of Datamation and read it. Solidarity is now becoming computerized. Computers are used to write articles, track election fraud, maintain organizations, and maintain communications. Using computers for such illegal purposes is not without penalties. Typical sentences for opposition activities are 1-2 years when the crimes are non-violent. The government has focused its efforts on severing the communications that make opposition efforts effective. When they initially severed the public telephone system, computer operators used internal private line systems to maintain communications. With martial law, these too were shut down. Now the primary modes of communication are either by mail or by courier. A floppy disk is easy to hide in a package or carry unobtrusively. Personal computers are now widespread in Poland, acquired both legally and by smuggling. There are an estimated 500,000 personal computers in Poland, with Sinclair and Amstrad being the most popular. There are an estimated 700 illegal publications being generated by everything from matrix printers to laserwriters. Nearly two thirds of the non-violent crime in Poland is associated with illegal press and opposition activities. The government has had to choose between the serious economic damage that would result from eliminating computers and their elimination as an opposition tool. So far, they have been forced to allow the continued use of computers. The security capabilities of computers are also important to Solidarity. Telephone calls can be traced and monitored; floppy disks are easy to smuggle around. Paper is very bulky, hard to conceal, and hard to destroy. Floppies are very compact, easy to hide, easy to encrypt, and easy to destroy. ``Every Solidarity center had piles and piles of paper .... everyone was eating paper and a policeman was at the door. Now all you have to do is bend a disk.'' Rob Horn