x1@oxy.edu (Rodney J. Hoffman) (03/08/91)
In the January 1991 issue of 'Reason' magazine, Greg Costikyan has an
article mainly about Operation Sun Devil and its ramifications entitled
"Closing the Net".
Joseph Schwartz <xor@rpi.edu> has reproduced the article (with permission)
and posted it to comp.society. With headers, it's about 480 lines long.
The article does not present any dramatic new information, but it does
strongly state the case for open networks and freedom of electronic press.
If you're interested in press treatment of Operation Sun Devil, it's a good
piece, well-worth looking up in 'Reason' or from comp.society or from Schwartz.
Well, yes, I saved it from comp.society, so you could even ask me.
-- Rodney Hoffman
x1@oxy.edulearn@gargoyle.uchicago.edu (William Vajk ) (03/10/91)
In article <152404@tiger.oxy.edu> x1@oxy.edu (Rodney J. Hoffman) writes: >In the January 1991 issue of 'Reason' magazine, Greg Costikyan has an >article mainly about Operation Sun Devil and its ramifications entitled >"Closing the Net". >The article does not present any dramatic new information, but it does >strongly state the case for open networks and freedom of electronic press. Alas it is rife with misinformation and faulty conclusions in spite of the pleasant little piece it is. It is already in error in line 5 where it mentions a grand jury indictment in Lockport, IL (actually the indictment was handed down in Chicago.) I states Len Rose's search warrant was executed on May 8 (perhaps the author was confused and thought Len part of the Sun Devil grouping of cases.) Len's seizure happened on Feb 2, 1990. Also, the charges the author lists against Len are seriously incorrect. The author writes: >> If users of the net have to worry about police surveillance, if >> censorship is rife, if the state forbids mere discussion of certain >> topics -- then the liberty for which the Founders fought will have >> been destroyed, not by war or tyranny, but by technological change. I really don't mean to flame this guy. But come on now. Sounds to me like the classic case of people doing it to people once again, not the result of "technological change." Further along the author writes : >> The computer nets do need policing. Computer crooks can steal and >> have stolen millions of dollars. But a balance must be struck between >> civil liberties and the legitimate needs of law enforcement. The laws >> as currently constituted are inadequate from both perspectives, and >> the Secret Service seems determined to interpret them with a callous >> disregard for civil liberties. Hmmmm. Sounds as though the man is calling for policing of the networks to me. I for one would love to hear just what has been ripped off, worth millions of dollars, from the networks the author discussed, eg usenet, internet, milnet, Dow Jones News/Retrieval, Sportsnet, Compuserve, Genie, and Prodigy. There's no need to continue. Costikyan would do far better sticking with fiction. His "facts" leave me underwhelmed. And I've only scratched the surface. I repeat. It was a pleasant piece to read. Bill Vajk