> DENNY HAYES STR FOCUS? * EXCLUSIVE! * "..if I single someone out.."
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THE PRICE OF COPYRIGHT VIOLATION
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STReport has obtained directly from DENNIS HAYES his very own
statements concerning his arrest and ultimate conviction for copyright
violation. Names of individuals and companys mentioned have been
removed or blocked out.
by Dennis Hayes aka "Denny" Hayes
Part I
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This is the statement I prepared to read at my sentencing, but was
advised not to read, because the judicial system doesn't like you saying
bad things about them. I've also added a comment at the end. I've tried
to make sure it's as truthful as I can. If there are any mistakes, it
wasn't intentional. Of course everything is from my point of view. I
can't pretend to be someone else, and think like them. Many are going to
read this, and say I got what I deserved. Ignorance is bliss. To affect
what happens to me has nothing to do with me writing this. My sentencing
is over, and what I say here makes little difference with respect to me.
But if anything, I say here, can help keep anyone else from going through
this, it was worth it, and will make me feel what I have gone through had
some purpose.
S T A T E M E N T
Your honor,
I've been informed that I should make a statement in my behalf. I've
had a long time trying to decide what to say, but it's hard to decide what
to say. I'm not an attorney, and don't know what will help me or hurt me,
and I doubt that it makes any difference what I say. If I say something
good about myself it comes out that I'm trying to pretend to be an in-
nocent bystander. If I comment on the many problems I've had to date, I'm
looked at as a complainer, and most of us have problems in life. If I say
nothing, my family has to suffer. If I comment on the questionable tac-
tics used to prosecute me, I'm passing the buck, and not accepting blame
for my actions. And in reality most of the agents I've met are surpris-
ingly intelligent, and fair. I even thought of mentioning one who has
tried his best to be fair, but I'm afraid if I single someone out it might
put him in bad light. Anyway, he knows who he is, and he has my thanks.
Since I'm not sure what is best said, I'm just going to say what I
feel, trying not to hurt anyone, and let it fall where it may. And since
the pre-sentencing investigation report started when I was in grade sch-
ool, so will I.
I'm a technically oriented person who started school, and really en-
joyed learning new things. When the rest of my peers were playing base-
ball, I was studying. And for this effort I had the words honor pupil
written on the side of my report card every year. The problem was, and
is, there is no reward for this effort. The kid who can knock a home run,
and lean against the wall looking cool, without saying a thing gets all
the attention. In reality he probably says nothing because he can't put
two syllables together to form a word.
There are many other advantages to not appearing smarter than anyone.
When my oldest daughter was in the first grade, she could already read,
because I had spent the time to teach her. Her teacher complained to me
that I should stop teaching things to her ahead of time, because it made
it hard for the teacher to teach her, when she already knows, the things
she is trying to teach to her. I guess they want everyone at the same
level now. Just a couple weeks ago she came home, and said she had to
redo a report she had turned in, because she had done it on a computer,
and was told it wasn't fair to the kids that didn't have one. I guess she
also shouldn't use her brain, if the rest of the class doesn't have one as
good either.
So around the sixth grade I decided that if I didn't appear too
smart I might be accepted a little more. That was easy, just fail a few
tests on purpose. The problem was it didn't work. I just didn't think
like most people, and I didn't like baseball, or football. Also, in most
other areas I didn't think the same. And I didn't take what was told to
me by others without trying to find out what was really true. Which is
probably a large factor that brought me here.
I joined the navy after graduating from high school, and entered
electronics school. I graduated in the top 10% of my class, and was
jumped to the next rank.
In college I didn't understand the importance of a degree. I just
loved electronics, and wanted to learn everything about it that I could
without wasting time on subjects like English, and Psychology. Or maybe I
was just impatient. So even though I've had many hours, I never matric-
ulated, and therefore never received a degree.
After school I started working for a company as a non degreed engi-
neer, at $3.10 per hour. Very quickly I was considered the oddball elect-
ronics wizard of the company. This upset the former wizards, who tried to
make it as hard as they could for me. After three, and a half years, I
had all the political beating I could take, so I quit, and took a job as
assistant chief engineer with a new company, which was, four years later,
bought out by the same guy that started Days Inn Motel chain. During the
transfer they had a flood which put them out of business. So I was left
without a job.
I then started working for consulting engineering firms on assignment
to large companies like Procter & Gamble, Monsanto, AM Kinny, etc.
As I started having a family, I wanted to make a better living for
them, and myself. Large Fortune 500 companies required a degree, and you
really didn't need to know much. And smaller companies didn't pay much.
They liked being able to hire someone who is good, and who they didn't
have to pay much. It's a shame that you get paid for the piece of paper
rather that what you know, and can do. Prior to having a family, I really
didn't care though, I loved what I was doing, and the money didn't matter.
So I decided to start a company with a friend of mine. The problem was, I
didn't realize how lazy he was, and after some customers cancelled their
orders, because he didn't finish his part, I started my own company,
designing, and building robotics, and test equipment for large corpora-
tions.
That was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made. I worked over 100
hours a week, and made little money. Large corporations seem to get where
they are by walking on small companies, and throwing them away when they
ask a fair shake. I had a meeting on the eleventh floor of a local chemi-
cal corporation tower, where they admitted they owed me thousands of
dollars, but were not going to pay, because they had hired some new young
hot shots who wanted to do the job by themselves. The former head of the
department had been forced into an early retirement at the age of 59,
which later caused him a heart attack. When I mentioned that I would have
to take them to court, I was informed that since all the orders, they had
given me, were rush orders, they hadn't sent me any paper work. In fact I
don't ever remember getting paper work on any jobs I ever did for them.
Every job was a rush job, and if you wanted any future orders from them
you did what they ask. Of course I consulted an attorney, and of course
he told me that I would be a fool to take on a company of that size. I
made the mistake one time to take a company to court, who owed me a large
amount of money, and I saw what happens. I won't go into detail of what
the job was, if you are like most attorneys, high tech stuff is out of
your realm, and it would take too long to explain. But to make it simple,
it was an assembly job, something any low tech person could do. I did
this job, on 30 day open account payment, which is quite usual in the
electronic world. I sent the first half open account. But before the
second half of the order was completed, I was informed by another company,
that they had a bad reputation for not paying their debts. So I made the
second half COD. True to form they didn't pay for the first half.
After months of run around phone calls about the person being respon-
sible for payment being out of town, etc, I decided to take them to court.
They counter-sued, saying the units I'd done were defective. And without
notifying me, or giving me the opportunity to repair any supposed defect,
they said, they had repaired them at a cost of twice what I charged them
for the whole order. My attorney felt since they were caught in many lies
in court, and they admitted they never contacted me about any defects, we
would win. Two weeks later the decision came down that I owed them all
they asked for, and I got nothing. What happened, who knows. Since
Cincinnati is not a very good place for a high tech business, and I'd had
quite a few other bad debts, I was forced into bankruptcy.
But not being the kind of person who gives up, I started again with a
business manufacturing printed circuit boards, and consumer products. I
guess this was like jumping from the frying pan to the fire. At one time
Cincinnati had about a dozen specialty electronic design companies in
town. Now there is only one I know of. They have all realized there is
no money in it. So I'm sure it's not just my ability to run a business.
People save up a little money and get the idea to sell some widget or
something. They hire someone like me to design it for them, not knowing
that the product has little importance. And after the reality hits they
drop the project like a hot potato owing me a large amount of money. I
tried getting money up front, but they use it up then they have me bill
them for the rest at 30 days, which stretches to 90 days, or more before I
realize they have run out of money. At that time I've worked over three
months for nothing.
It's a shame but most people don't know quality. They buy advert-
ising, name, and flair. I have a friend who is the head of the design
department of the largest local toy company, who tells me the product is
7th on the list of importance with his company. Marketing of course is
first, and the list goes down from there. You can quickly see you don't
need a good product. If you have a good marketing program you can sell
manure for $5.00 a gallon as fertilizer, face cream, or whatever. It's a
shame, but I now find my skills aren't really needed.
After a few years of this, I see I'm heading for another bankruptcy, I
feel I'm getting old, I then lost someone I cared a lot about, and I find
myself wandering around Drug Palace trying to find something I can kill
myself with, with assurance that it will work. Fortunately the medicines
that work for sure are prescription only. Also, I began to realize that
it would put a big strain on my family, and I didn't want to do to them
what my mom did to me, so I called University Hospital and told them
something was wrong with my head. They put me on a new anti-depressant
drug test program, which turned me into a zombie. Our living conditions
were really bad. My furnace went out, and I couldn't afford to replace
it. So for three winters I asphyxiated my family and myself with kerosene
heaters, which didn't even do much, except make us all cough a lot from
the fumes, when it was really cold. So we often wore coats to help keep
us warm. They started foreclosure on our home three times, but somehow we
ended up coming up with enough money to stop it. I later finally lost it.
At one point they turned our electricity off. The kids were sitting in
the tub using the hot water left in the hot water tank to warm them up,
until it ran out. I had no money but I was expecting a check for a little
job I'd done, so I turned the electricity back on again myself. A few
days later I received the check, and paid the electric bill. Then many
months later, a representative of CG&E and a county sheriff came to my
house with a warrant for my arrest for theft of utilities, even though my
electricity was paid up to date. After talking to my attorney they agreed
to drop the charges, if I would pay around $500.00 for a crack in the
meter that I'm not sure I even caused. I paid it, and a few weeks later
CG&E re-instituted the charges, saying the person who agreed to drop them
didn't have the authority.
Since the utility companies have recently pushed through a law (which
I doubt that many know about) that makes it a felony to do anything aga-
inst them, I was charged with a felony. I was encouraged to plead guilty
to a lesser charge, and was put on one year probation. And then my wife
left me, stating that she had enough of being poor, and later divorced me.
Maybe she is better off. Life like this is tough.
So after a few months I had enough of the pills I was taking, and
threw them in the garbage. I now partially understand how my mother,
after graduating with honors at the top of her class took 30 sleeping
pills and killed herself. When I was younger, I would never have believed
it could get this bad. As I think about it though, I guess it makes
sense. If you don't have the burning desire to accomplish much, you face
very little disappointment.
For the next two or three years I could not function. I'd sit on the
couch crying sometime, in a daze sometime, thinking a lot, and trying to
function off, and on. And I wasn't a very good provider for my family.
We would be on welfare, then I would do a little job, then we were back on
welfare, etc. Somewhere in there I bough a small game computer, and
learned how to push it beyond its limits. I thought games were a waste of
time, so when I heard a company was coming out with a device that plugs
into the slot on the computer meant for game, but would allow me to run
word processors, spreadsheets, etc I checked into it. I found the device
needed a set of two computer chips from a MacIntosh computer, so I called
around, and ended up borrowing some money, and buying about a dozen from
different places. I figured since the supply seemed low, I could sell the
remainder at a little markup. Later I ran an ad on a computer bulletin
board, that I had some chips for sale, and if anyone was interested they
could leave me a message. I received over 300 requests for the chips.
Then I started thinking. I knew I could copy the chips for my fri-
ends, and myself. That way I could sell the rest of the chips I had and
make a few dollars. So I bought some blank chips, copied the chips, and
sold the ones I'd bought. After a while everyone, I hadn't shipped to,
was calling to find out why I didn't ship them any. I told them that I
only had purchased a dozen sets, and they were all gone. So I decided to
order some more chips, copy them, and send everyone a set.
This continued until I had orders coming in faster than I could make
them. At this point I started wondering about the legal problems I might
get myself into, so I contacted from 5 to 10 attorneys (including my
present attorney) to find out what could happen. Some said they didn't
know for sure, and others said I could be sued by Apple for copyright
infringement. Not one ever mentioned anything about criminal prosecution,
even though I told them exactly what I was doing. One of the investi-
gators recently told me, I should have known it was a criminal violation
to do what I was doing, because there are many indications in life that it
is a criminal offence, like the notice on video tapes. I told him that
there is so much false propaganda in society that I felt the only way to
find out for sure was to check with the people who should know. I guess I
learned something there.
A year and a half ago, I was asked by the company who made the device,
which my chips plugged into, to show people how it worked at a computer
show in Chicago. At that show, about five business men came up to me and
asked me where you get the chips to make the device work. I told them
that they could order them from me. At that point they informed me that
two of them were attorneys, and the other three were from Apple Computer.
Since they didn't seem upset, and seemed only curious how a cheap game
computer could run software created to run on a MacIntosh, I assumed they
didn't really object. If they had ever even implied that they wanted me
to quit, I would have done so. I had already made more money than I ever
expected too. It also seemed in line with Apples normal policy. They
encouraged schools to use MacIntosh software by selling MacIntosh com-
puters to the schools at almost cost. They have many times published that
students would get used to using Mac software, and then recommend MacIn-
tosh computers when they got into the business force. Allowing kids to
use game computers accomplishes the same. It's curious that when everyone
is questioned about a victim of my crime, they really can't find one, so
they dance around the question. In reality I doubt that there is a vic-
tim. The users are happy they have access to information they wouldn't be
able to afford. And in more ways than one it is boosting Mac sales.
In fact I had a policeman from New York who bought a set of ROMs from
me to use in his sons computer, and later showed it to his department who
ended up buying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of MacIntosh com-
puters for their department. I had another person buy a set for one of
his children's computer. He kept them for four months, and called me one
day to ask if he could return them and get some money back. When I asked
him why, he informed me he was a doctor, and had went out and spent over
$10,000.00 on a top of the line Mac IIci. I told him to send his ROM
chips back, and I would give him all his money back. And these are only a
few that I know of. Until I was charged, I had sold over 5,000.00 sets of
ROMs to every kind of person from the US Treasury Dept, and the Veterans
Administration to school kids who were using their game computer to do
their homework. But I doubt that many people who can really afford to buy
a MacIntosh computer are going to buy a game computer with all of its
problems.
It was funny though, when I was asked what the US government could
possibly be using the ROMs for, as if they never would skirt around the
law. I don't mean to pick on government workers, but even though they
may not want to admit it they are just like the rest of us. Getting what
they can for as little as they can, and trying to do the best they can in
a situation where the cards are stacked against them. I know they have
been cutting the budget, but I believe the government can afford something
besides a $300.00 game computer. It won't ever be public, but I think I
know what really happened. Some people working for the government wanted
to play with one, and just got the government to pay for it, and since the
FBI knows about it, he probably is already in trouble. See they are as
bad, and sometimes worse than the rest of us. It makes you wonder how
many other personal toys, the public is paying for. Mentioning this is
not an attempt to point the finger, and say they do it too......... Well
on second thought maybe it was, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it.
But, I am still guilty of making them. Without me they would have probab-
ly had a friend copy the program into an EPROM or something. In fact from
what I have counted, only about a forth of the people have been buying
ROMs like the ones I made. Most people in the computer world probably
either make them themselves, since it is so simple, or get a copy of the
program on a computer disc, which is even easier.
All this may sound like Greek to a person who doesn't spend much time
with computers, but swapping computer programs, is the norm in the com-
puter world. To date, I've never met a person who wouldn't ask for a copy
of a program I had, or more often agree to swap a copy of a program he had
for one I had. There are many hundreds of computer boards around the US,
and other countries, who offer a 5 or 8 to one exchange. Of course they
are all copyrighted, and anytime you copy one you are breaking the law,
but given the option to do without or pay the $200 to $20,000.00 or more
for a program they aren't really going to use in business, they would
probably do without. For most it's really more like collecting baseball
cards, since very few, I talk to, ever seem to know much about the
programs they already have. It takes much effort, and most people are
lazy when it comes to using their brains to learn something new, or just
don't have the time. It's the few that do, that go on to become the whiz
kids of the future. If they don't have access to the information, this
country is doomed.
Try to compare it to going to the public library in which almost all
books are copyrighted. Now try to find a floor of the library without a
copier. What's that copier for. Now, and in the future more and more
data is being put on computer discs. In the distant future the library as
it is today will probably disappear. Can you imagine what it would be
like if you as an attorney, or a student had to buy every book you used at
the library. I understand that there is a law that says you can now copy
part of a book but not the whole book, but there is no way you can copy
part of a computer disc, and be able to use it. Or to really compare
apples and apples, attorneys and many other professionals are using what
they copy to make money, so you could say they should have to buy the
book. Well, in reality if they find they use it a lot, they usually do.
And in the computer world, if they use a program a lot, they also usually
do. It's so much nicer to have the support of the author of the program,
and be able to call them and get help by giving them your buyers' author-
ization number off the box, when you need help.
And if you know very little about computers, what I did was sort of
like providing the viewer to look at these programs. And if you have the
viewer, you look at MacIntosh programs, and if you find a use for them you
buy them, and Apple, and their developers therefore make money. And if
they have a real use for the programs, they usually get discouraged by the
problems of the game computer, and you go out and buy a real MacIntosh,
which makes Apple even more money.
I still can't understand why, if it is now the business of the FBI,
to stop the pirating of software, why do they know about these pirate
boards, and not stop them. And I can guarantee they know about many of
them. From watching, and talking to them it seems it's only against the
law if you make money doing it. That's cute, you can supposedly cheat a
company out of all the money you want, but if you make too much money
doing it, the FBI is going to take it away, put you in jail, and not give
a cent to the people who have been ripped off. There are some other
things they have done, in my case, which I wont mention because it might
hurt people needlessly, which also let me know this is true. Also, in my
case they say they are not even sure Apple lost any money. I think I may
have figured out the amount too. I watched an agent get chewed out in
front of me for telling his boss that I had a million dollars, when I only
had less than a $400,000.00. It seemed he was irritated that they came
after me before I made enough money for them. Which was also in bad
taste. He could have waited until I wasn't around. I actually felt sorry
for the guy.
Contrary to what Apple might try to say, real businesses aren't going
to buy game computers to use, and the game computer doesn't run all the
software, or have color, anyway. I also doubt that many of these mostly
kids who are using game computers could afford the over $3000.00 price for
a Mac. And the idea as was mentioned by Apple's attorneys that they would
worry about repair of the bad chips they might get back, is also ridicu-
lous since they admitted the part only cost them $1.00, and if every chip
I ever sold failed they could replace them all for less than $5,000.00.
To date I've only had about a dozen people call and say their chips didn't
work, and I just sent them a new one. In reality, when I checked them
most of them weren't really bad at all. They must have been plugging them
in wrong or something. It's very rare for a chip that has no moving parts
to ever go bad.
I admire IBM who when Compact Computer Company did exactly what I did,
by copying the chips from IBM's MS DOS PC computer, told Compact Computer
they didn't care, and that they felt it would help MS DOS computer sales.
And I guess it worked. Today MS DOS computer sales count for over 60% of
all 'S computer sales. I'm curious what would have happened if IBM had
taken the position of Apple computer. I wonder if they would have charged
the owners of that large corporation with something, and then tack on
charges that carries 26 years in jail. I doubt it.
Another interesting thing is that the copyright, that I'm accused of
violating, is presently in litigation in California. And the ROM chips I
was selling aren't even for sale anymore, by Apple. If you own a MacIn-
tosh computer, and have a chip go bad, tough luck, it's out of warranty,
and you go out and plunk down another $3000.00 for another one. They
probably won't admit this, but I've sold quite a few hundred sets to
repair centers for Apple, who say they can't get them from Apple anymore
at any cost. As for the litigation I mentioned, it seems everyone is in
litigation. IBM has encouraged Microsoft Corporation and Hewlet Packard
Corporation to make a program that works like the MacIntosh ROMs to be
used in the IBM MS DOS computer, so Apple is suing them. This upset many
people, including Apple Records who is now suing Apple Computer for using
their name and going into the music business without their permission.
And Zerox is suing Apple Computer for copying part of the same program
which is in the ROMs that I'm accused of copying. They say they created
it to be used in a computer that they later decided not to produce, and
Apple has copied it without their permission. Also there is a group of
engineers within Apple who calls themselves the New Promethius League who
are dissatisfied with the bully tactics used by Apple, and are giving away
the program I was selling to anyone who asks for it at no charge.
Apple appears to be trying to monopolize a computer that they didn't
really totally create themselves, and is making many people in the com-
puter world very unhappy. They drastically over charge for it, and sue
anyone who is possibly a threat. Now they have the FBI doing their work
for them, so they don't look worse than they already do. You can buy an
IBM with the same power for less than a third of the cost. It's very
interesting that you can run most of their software on a game computer
that sells for a little over $300.00 and until recently they sold the
lowest cost Mac for over $3000.00. Fortunately computer publications
aren't so sympathetic, and are informing people of what is going on.
Also, fortunately for the consumer, so many people are angry that I doubt
that Apple will be able to hold out in the long run. In a way I hate to
see it. The Mac is a really nice computer and I'm going to hate to see
developers steer away from it. But maybe it will make them clean up their
act. In reality, I doubt it.
I've been asked many times by companies wanting to create a clone of
the Mac if I could sell them 256K ROMs from the top of the line Mac II
family. It's actually as easy to copy as the ones I sold, and I could get
twice the money, but I like the Mac computer, and don't want to do any-
thing that would harm Apple. Not for Apple themselves, but the consumer
like myself would be harmed. My interest in playing with Mac software is
what has helped bring me out of the deep depression I was in. I have also
met a friend who lives in Pasadena, CA who is in the same boat. His wife
died, and at the age of 60 sitting around waiting to die he developed an
interest in Mac software, and now lives in his computer as I do. That was
until the FBI took his ROM set away from him. He could never have done it
without the emulator by Gadgets Inc, and the ROMs I sold him. The
computer would have cost more than his car.
This same Apple Inc. has now contacted the FBI to use them to stop me,
when all they would have had to do is ask me to stop. And all the reports
show that the FBI has really done everything by themselves, so as to not
involve Apple. I even believed it for a while. In order to not hurt the
persons who finally let me know what really happened, I won't mention how
I found out to the contrary. Now I'm forced to plead guilty to char-
ges, or I will be charged with multiples of the same charges for each
transaction, and other charges, which carry more time than me and my great
grandchildren have to live. But the real reason I plead guilty was that
I didn't want anymore local publicity than has already been published, and
I've been told you can't beat the IRS or the FBI, anyway. So far it has
appeared in only one local paper, and the way it was worded, mentioning
guns without saying that they were legally registered, and using words
like money laundering which most people believe has something to do with
drugs, has caused many people to believe I must be involved with the
Mafia. My oldest daughter cried herself to sleep one night, when her best
friend's father told his daughter that she wasn't allowed to talk to her
or come to our home anymore, because my criminal gangster friends might
come after me sometime and hurt his daughter. And her dad is supposed to
be an intelligent engineer at General Electric Company. I wonder what the
not too intelligent people are thinking. But since writing this, and
receiving my sentence I have decide that, hiding things lets them hurt you
more.
It does seem a little out of proportion to tack on laws that carry a
25 year sentence to a charge that carries a maximum sentence of one year.
And even though I understand that ignorance is no excuse, it's interesting
that when I went to question people to find out who created all the lies
on the search and seizure warrant, I questioned my bank manager who along
with denying that he said what was stated on the report, went on to tell
me that he was asked why he didn't report me when I was making so many
transactions under $10,000.00. He told me that, he told them, he knew the
form had to filled out for transactions over $10,000.00 but he didn't know
it was against the law to do anything under that amount. One of my attor-
neys, after reading the law, said heck the way the law is written, I might
have been guilty of violating it, in the past. I told him to lower his
voice, or he might be charged next. I don't know how they can expect
people to follow the rules, if no one seems to know the rules.
It has been implied though not stated that I was going to hide my
income from IRS. This is total bunk. In the search warrant it was repor-
ted that I told bank managers, and other people, on many different oc-
casions, that I was trying to cheat on my taxes. I talk a lot, but I
don't think I would be that crazy, even if I really had the intent. And
all of them denied it, when I later asked them. Since I'm hoping the
prosecution hasn't gone as far as to make things up, it's either that
someone tried to score some points while talking to an agent, or they
misread my attempts to hide my actions, and told themselves, that was what
I was doing. There probably is no way to ever find out. At another bank
where it was stated that, I said the same thing, I have only talked to the
young teller, and I really believed her when she said no one ever talked
to her. I'd guess the information was third hand from her boss, who I
have never talked, too. So many people have supposedly said it, that it
appears as if it's coming from a script. I could go on and on about this,
which serves no purpose.
I guess it's is just that when you do unusual or questionable things
people read into it what they want, too. I even had the probation officer
who came to make a pre-sentence investigation report on me write in his
report that I told him I was going to cheat on my taxes. Now this is
really nuts. I had told him when he was here that I had no intention of
cheating on my taxes. After he left, I called him to tell him something I
had forgotten, and ended up telling him again, just to make sure he un-
derstood, that I had no intention of cheating on my taxes. When a copy of
his report came to me a few weeks later, it said I told him I was going to
cheat on my taxes. Since I had the right to object, I called my attorney
and had him get it removed. That is, I hope, I never saw the final editi-
on. It's as if this fixation is in everyone's head. In all honesty, the
investigator I talked too, was very fair in his report. He probably was
obligated to say this or something. I really don't know. All I know for
sure is that I doubt that I would have the nerve to falsify my income tax,
knowing I would probably be audited, and I would have had no way of kno-
wing how much information they would have known. I told an FBI agent
recently, that knowing my personality, it's possible that I would have
pushed the limits a little, but didn't even get to find out, and really
even doubt that. At one time I had thought of giving them an extra $50,0-
00.00 beyond what I owed them, just to insure they wouldn't come after me.
But, as my dad, who was head of a local branch of the Ohio State tax
bureau for many years told me, with the IRS rules the way they are, I
probable would still have been charged with something.
I had more money than I needed, and was trying to straighten things
out. I did many stupid things that may have indicated I might try to
cheat. But everyone knows, it is serious stuff to make a lot of money,
and not pay income taxes. If I had to guess what I would have done, from
past filing experience, I probably would have done, what I did in previous
years. Take the book you get from IRS, go down page by page, looking for
the category things I had bought, fell under, and if it looked as if I
could deduct it, I would. Because every thing written can be interpreted
may different ways, I probably would have deducted too little or too much.
I wonder if anyone even believes me, even my attorney may not, though he
probably really doesn't care, he's just doing his job the best he can. In
fact that seems what everyone is doing, while covering their tail at the
same time. It's real frustrating when you know your own thoughts, but
can't find a way to explain them to others, without them reading in their
own thoughts. And even if you could, the system is set up so, that most
of them can't even do anything about the chain of events anyway. Here I
am not being charged with trying to rip off IRS, but yet since the pros-
ecutors feel that was what I was going to do, they have used other charges
which can convict me without actually having to charge me with what they
think I was going to do. Something is definitely wrong with this system.
As my secretary, my friends, my family, and myself have many times
told the FBI, and if anyone is really interested, I felt that some day I
might be sued by Apple as attorneys have told me, so if it happened I
didn't want them to be able to find my money. In fact most of my money
came from out of this country via bank transfers, which appear on my bank
statements which would be available at any audit. I admit I wrote checks
to myself to remove the money from the bank, but I don't believe this is
against the law, and I also cashed most of the US checks written to my
name, which is also not against the law, or the bank wouldn't have let me
do it. During two bankruptcies I've had creditors go into my account and
take all they could find. At one time I had no money for groceries, so I
borrowed some money from my brother, and like an idiot put it in my check-
ing account. The next day one of my creditors took every penny. I ended
up going to welfare to get an emergency food voucher.
I admit I didn't file income tax for a few years. I wasn't making any
money, and in my depressed state, not really wanting to live anymore,
filing income tax was low in priority. I'd also asked what the penalty
for not filing was. and I was told that I would have to pay an additional
penalty based on what I owed them, which in my case was nothing. I un-
derstand, unless you make a certain amount, which I'm sure I didn't, you
aren't required to even file. But I bet, if you asked 10 attorneys, you
would get either an I don't really know for sure, or 10 different stories.
They don't even know all the laws. I understand, however, as consistency
follows through, there is a law that says you must file, and another one
that says you don't need to. And you have to guess which one to use.
The biggest mistake I made appears to be that I took cash from my
checking account then purchased cashier's checks for an amount under
$10,000.00 to buy things. It seems there is a law which says it is il-
legal to try to avoid the $10,000.00 reporting amount. I even admitted to
the FBI and IRS that I was trying to avoid it so it would be hard for
Apple to find my money if they ever came after me, and no one ever told me
this was illegal.
Near the end of the year in which I started making money, I hired a
secretary to type into my computer all the receipts and information I had
accumulated in the past few years. After a few months I found she had
written a check to her self for $800.00 and had forged my name, so I asked
her to leave. I later looked at what she had been typing into the com-
puter and found it was mostly garbage. She was in pre-law at the Univer-
sity of Cincinnati and even though she took the job, she didn't like being
a lowly secretary. Since I had to start over and it would be too late to
file income tax for that year, I decided to put it off until the next
year. Around the middle of the next year I hired another secretary to
retype the information into the computer. She was running a little late
so I filed for an extension on my taxes. Before the extension was up I
was raided by the FBI and the IRS, who didn't know I'd filed an extension.
After they looked it up they told my attorney that the $1000.00 I had put
on the extension form, indicated that I was planning on paying only $1000-
.00 in taxes. This is ridiculous. I hadn't filed income tax for quite a
few years, and had no idea of what I was going to have to pay. You just
have to put something down anyway.
I had hundreds of thousands of dollars going through my checking ac-
count, and I'm going to try to claim I'm only going to owe $1000.00. As
the joke goes I may be stupid, but I'm not crazy, or am I. If I was ever
audited, which I sure would have been, after not having filed for so many
years, they would surely ask for my bank statements, which would show
this. And I don't really believe any rational person could believe this.
But again they didn't charge me with income evasion. And too many people,
whom the IRS talked too, also knew I was trying to bring my taxes up to
date. (E.g., My ex-wife, my secretary, my daughters, my father, etc.) Why
don't they just come out and say that everything you do with money, has to
be reported to the Federal Government, whether you pay taxes on it or not.
And let everyone know it. What happened to the constitution, and things
like right to privacy etc. They can now stop cars, and search them wit-
hout reason or suspicion. I guess the homes are next. And with what they
did with the CNN tapes, it looks like it's not far off. Of course in that
case they had to give the tapes back because they created too much of a
ruckus doing it, and CNN is pretty big and powerful also.
In reality I had more money than I knew what to do with. I was giving
it away by the handfuls. While I was in Tijuana, Mexico, across the
border from San Diego, I gave away over $10,000.00 to skinny poor people
on the street. At my bank I overheard the teller ask an old man if he was
sure he could live for the next week on the $7.25 he had left. And here I
was cashing a check for over $7,000.00. So on the way out I took a hand-
ful of $100.00 bills and stuffed them into his shirt pocket, and said
Merry Christmas, even though it was in the middle of the Summer. I didn't
know what else to say. I gave away so much I really can't remember where
it all went. I bought all my kids new bedroom sets, while I slept on a
stack of old mattresses, using an old busted dresser, I've since thrown
away. And the FBI knows all this to be true. Even with all the money I
was mostly depressed, and really didn't want much except a better computer
which I bought. If I tried to do some electronic design it seemed to
bring to mind my past failures, and I got really nervous and shaky for
some reason, and couldn't wait to quit. I tried learning to fly, and
bought an old plane because I was told that most small plane manufacturers
were going out of the business, which would make small planes more valua-
ble. But I soon got bored with flying and didn't even finish my license.
It was funny when my ex-wife told me that the FBI had asked her if I took
trips out of the country with my plane. I guess in their eyes, everyone
who breaks the law is into drugs. Even in my home they thought a bag of
plaster of Paris from one of my kid's hobby sets was some kind of drug.
In reality I was afraid to fly my plane without an instructor. After over
50 hours, I could take off and fly it but I don't land too well. I guess
I'll never be a pilot.
The guns I bought turned out to be a bad idea because of the stigma
surrounding any type of weapon. I didn't know anything about guns. But
when I saw on the news that they had put a ban on any more imports of
certain kinds of guns, and later my brother talked me into going to a Bill
Goodman gun and knife show, I realized that they were sure to go up in
value. And it turned out as I expected. The guns I bought are now worth
over three times what I paid for them. And they were all legally regi-
stered, with $200.00 sent to the US government for each, with all the fin-
gerprints, wavers signed by the local sheriff and 90 day investigation
done properly. But they didn't charge me with illegal guns. They just
took them because I bought them with illegally gained money. And every
report has mention of them. I also had a VCR, and a TV, but no one men-
tioned them. If they mention you have things as money, guns, or airplanes
it helps them make you look more like a gangster or something else bad.
In advertising it's called sensationalism. It's using anything that gets
a reaction from Joe public to achieve your goal.
Most of my days were spent on the phone helping people learn to use
Apple software, since that was the only thing I still seemed to enjoy. I
guess the feeling that you get when you help someone learn something is
the only enjoyment I could still get. I spent my days helping the people
Apple should have been helping, and they put me in jail. Boy, that's a
kick in the teeth. I've tried to get help from Apple myself. If the
phones not busy, and you get through to someone, they assume you are an
idiot, and rush you off the phone as fast as they can. In my case, I find
I know more than most of the people I talk too.
Today no one knows the rules, and everyone is afraid to say anything.
I asked an attorney recently if the way I was selling a computer scanner
could be against the law, and he told me that if I thought it might be
against the law he didn't want to know about it. I had a meeting with the
FBI, where I was questioned about consulting with many attorneys
concerning any trouble I could get into for violating Apples copyright.
When the question came up, my attorney quickly announced that he had told
me he didn't know the law concerning copyright violations, as if he was
defending himself. I talked with three attorneys to find out if they
could help me with this case, and was told the FBI and the IRS are so
powerful that unless I still have lots of money, or am squeaky clean I
couldn't win. One of the FBI or IRS agents told me they have a 97.8
percent conviction rate, which I guess means I'm to assume is because the
are proficient in getting the real facts and evidence. From all the inac-
curate information I've seen them using, I find this hard to accept.
When they came to search my home, they ran me off the road in a junk car
that looked as if it had a bunch of gangsters in it. Then yanked my 11
year old daughter out of the car hurting her arm. Not seriously, however.
They appeared to be excited because their plans of catching me at home
were foiled by me taking my daughter to her ice skating class. I guess
they have procedures, and were only doing their job the way they were
trained. I can't fault them with that. I'm sure they didn't know what to
expect. I own guns, so I guess I could have been a crazy. Actually I've
only shot one of them once, on a farm. They make too much noise, and you
can't hit what you are aiming at. The other ones I had reconditioned, so
they would be attractive to, collectors, and dealers. And I don't mean
drug dealers.
They served me with a search and seizure warrant filled with manufac-
tured evidence. By whom I'm not sure. Most paragraphs ended with a
statement that quote "The information provided has been proved to be
accurate and reliable by independent investigation." And since most, were
statements that I supposedly had made, how do you prove them reliable
unless someone else was standing there at the time, which they weren't.
Also for me to have supposedly walked up to a bank manager and say I want
to structure my transactions to avoid paying income tax would really be
insane. And, as I mentioned they denied it. There are also many things
which have been done, which are obviously illegal, but to mention them
would put individuals within the system in bad light, which is not what
I'm trying to do here.
I'm sorry if it appears that I'm trying to excuse my actions by at-
tacking the system which is charged to uphold the law. But they have
exaggerated, maybe even fabricated, and used whatever necessary to prosec-
ute me, for laws that most people don't know exist, and probably couldn't
understand if they read them, so I feel I have the right to bring it all
out. Obviously I can't blame anyone for what I did. No one twisted my
arm. It's just that they have a law for almost everything you do, and
everyone is afraid to stand up against the system. Even the people within
the system. They tried it in the 60s, and lost. And they keep passing
more laws. I'm waiting for them to attach at 25 year law to jaywalking.
The way the laws are worded I bet, if you made any money doing it, they
could find a way. And the law they used was obviously passed to be used
against drug dealers. Every other paragraph says something about drugs.
The only thing I know about drugs is what I see on television. I
tried marijuana once in the early 60s but I don't like the feeling of
losing control of my faculties. I won't even have more than one drink
when I eat out. And lately with the laws the way they are, I'm afraid to
have even the one. It really upsets me to think that, so many people, are
so dissatisfied with their life that they need to use substances to escape
from the realities. With all the pressures I've been under lately it
would be so tempting to want to escape. I realize it may help me escape,
but it makes life harder on those around me who are trying to deal the
best they can with life which is tough enough.
Now I'm being forced to help go after and prosecute other people who
don't even know they are breaking the law, and are also not really hurting
anyone. I'm being asked to help convict xxxxxx. Heck, I hear Apple
didn't even know they weren't real until they busted one open xxxxxxxx
and I never talked about it. I'm not saying this to help xxxxx. It's a
shame, but he doesn't realize that, if you get their attention, they're
going to get you. They decide if you broke the law or not. The FBI is
getting everyone these days. I saw the other day on the news, where they
walked into a hotel room and took tapes from CNN, without even a search
warrant. No wonder we get along with the USSR so well these days. There
doesn't appear to be much difference between the FBI and the KGB, except
that I don't believe the FBI beats people. Of course I'm not sure the KGB
does anymore either. But it's possible that I'm wrong on both counts.
This I find very distasteful, but if I don't help them I'll get more
charges, which affects my family.
We seem to be trying to clear up all the crime in the world, with a
big fervor. What will we have, if we ever accomplish it. For one thing
many unemployed attorneys, agents, and judges. We'll all drive the same
kind of car, because to think or be different from the next guy will be a
crime. As people begin obeying most of the heavy laws, we will start
charging people with looking funny, so the attorneys, and law enforcers
can hold on to their jobs. First we will build more jails to hold all the
violators, until half the population is in jail. Then as they start to
obey all rules we will make up things that people are doing wrong. Even-
tually we will be the robots that the futuristic movies talk about.
Sounds ridiculous doesn't it. The Germans were almost able to do it with
the Jews, but if history tells us anything, eventually the people are
going to be upset.
I made some mistakes, and I'm not really blaming anyone. I didn't know
copyright violation was so serious, and the rest are just laws created for
one thing then used for another, because they feel I was probably going to
cheat on my taxes. But that is the way the chips fell, and I'll take my
punishment, and try again for the forth time. I often wonder if I'm not
really crazy, to keep trying when the obstacles are stacked so high. They
say a new business has a one in 3000 chance of making it. And their
definition of making it is that they just continue to stay in business. I
bet the odds against making a profit are even higher. For me, now it will
be even harder. I have a credit record that looks as if a bomb dropped on
it, and now I'm a felon. Well, only about 20 years left and I'll be too
old to try. But again my grandfather was a millionaire, lost it all
betting on the ponies, as he called it, and at 98 he was still trying to
get back to where he was. I don't know if I can take another 40 years of
this.
E N D O F S T A T E M E N T
The above was a statement prepared by D. Hayes to be read to the Judge at
the conclusion of Hayes' trial and sentencing.
Part II of this article will appear next week, in it, the actual
charges levied against D. Hayes are detailed and explained.
_________________________________________________________
> DENNY HAYES STR FOCUS? * EXCLUSIVE! * "..if I single someone out.."
=====================
THE PRICE OF COPYRIGHT VIOLATION
================================
STReport has obtained directly from DENNIS HAYES his very own
statements concerning his arrest and ultimate conviction for copyright
violation.
by Dennis "Denny" Hayes
Part II
=======
Well, as I stated, that's the statement I wrote, but was later advised
not to read, because the government doesn't like you to say bad things
about them. I was charged with copyright violation which carries a maxi-
mum of one year in jail. A charge of, what is called, structuring which
carries 5 years max was added, which says any money transactions you do,
can't look as if you intend to not pay taxes, whether you intend to or
not. And a final charge of money laundering which carries 20 years in
prison max, because I bought things with my money, even though most of it
came from my checking account, and into my checking account legally, and
was on bank records. For you intellectuals interested in the law, here
are the charges, and the laws supporting them:
* * * * * *
THE CHARGES LEVIED
------------------
COUNT 1 - Money Laundering of Monetary Instruments:
That from on or about October 1988, up to and including July 17, 1990,
in the Southern District of Ohio, Dennis W Hayes, did knowingly, willfully
and with intent to engage in conduct constituting an attempt to or evade
or defeat payment of income tax (Ref 7201), conduct and cause to be con-
ducted, financial transactions affecting interstate commerce, knowing said
financial transactions were conducted with property, to wit: United States
currency, and checks that were the proceeds of specific unlawful activity,
that being the infringement of a copyright. This is a violation of USC
1956(a)(1)(A). Ref: 7201 Attempt to evade or defeat tax (I wasn't charg-
ed with this).
Any person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any
tax imposed by this title or the payment thereof shall, in addition to
other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a felony and, upon convic-
tion thereof, shall be fined not more than $100,000.00, or imprisoned not
more than 5 years, or both, together with court costs of prosecution.
Ref: 18 USC 1956(a)(1)(A) Laundering of monetary instruments.
Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction
represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or
attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves
the proceeds of specified activity with the intent to promote the carrying
on of specified unlawful activity, or with intent to engage in conduct
constituting an attempt to evade or defeat payment of income tax, shall be
sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000.00 or twice the value of the
property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, or imprisoned
for not more than twenty years, or both.
Comment:
This is one of the laws pushed through under the excuse that we need
to stop the drug dealing gangsters. It's even under the controlled
substance act. But we see where they use it.
In other words if you make illegal money, it's one violation, and if
you do anything with the money you make, it's a greater violation.
It's interesting that an attempt to evade or defeat the tax carries
only 5 years, but looking as if you might not pay your taxes carries
20 years. Actually I've found that actually not paying it (IRS Code
7202) also only carries a 5 year sentence.
* * * * * *
COUNT 2 - Copyright Infringement:
From on or about October 1988, up to and including July 17, 1990, in
the southern district of Ohio, the defendant, Dennis W. Hayes, did will-
fully and for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial
gain infringe the copyright of Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Califor-
nia #TX1640052 protecting the computer program stored on a 128K ROM com-
puter chip, in that the defendant, Dennis W. Hayes, did cause the pro-
tected computer program to be copied onto blank computer chips, without
authorization of the copyright holder, in violation of Title 17 USC 506(a)
and Title 18 USC 2319(b)(3) Ref: Title 17 USC 506(a) Copyright infrin-
gement.
Any person who infringes a copyright willfully and for purpose of
commercial advantage or private financial gain shall be fined not more
than $10,000.00 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
Comment:
This one I'm obviously both morally, and legally guilty of, even
though I was told I could only be sued by Apple.
* * * * * *
COUNT 3 - Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements:
On and between June 8 and June 29, 1990, in the Southern District of
Ohio, the defendant, Dennis W Hayes, for the purpose of evading the repor-
ting requirements of USC 5313(a) requiring domestic financial institutions
to report currency transactions of $10,000.00 or more to the United States
Department of Treasury, did knowingly, willfully and intentionally struc-
ture and assist in structuring a transaction with one or more domestic
financial institutions in that the defendant, Dennis W. Hayes, purchased
and caused to be purchased with United States Currency, four cashier's
checks in the amount of $9,000.00 each, payable to the Union Bank of
Switzerland, in violation of 31 USC 5324, and 5322(a). Ref: 31 USC 5324
Structuring transactions to evade reporting requirement.
No person shall for the purpose of evading the reporting requirements
of section 5313(a) with respect to such transaction structure or assist in
structuring, or attempt to structure or assist in structuring, any tran-
saction with one or more domestic financial institutions.
Ref: 31 USC 5322(a) Criminal penalties;
A person willfully violating this subchapter or a regulation prescribed
under this subchapter shall be fined not more than $250,000.00, imprisoned
for not more than one year, or both.
Comment:
To make a law that you have to tell the government about all your
financial transactions whether you pay your taxes or not, sure seems
like a violation of the Constitutional right to privacy. But from a
moral point of view it's not a bad law, as long as the information is
used fairly and evenly, but if past history is any indication, and as
in this case, it will be used as a means to increase the sentence for
a crime above what the creators of the primary violated law intended
when they laid down the sentence for the violation, and any other
purpose which suits the governments needs.
* * * * * *
The following is the statement of damages from the Pre-Sentence Investiga-
tion report:
The primary victim in this case is the Apple Computer Company. How-
ever, the impact on Apple is unknown and may never be quantified. Accor-
ding to a representative from Apple's legal department, the defendant's
behavior is not widespread. Nevertheless, Mr. Mark Aaker, attorney for
Apple, suggested for each counterfeit part that Hayes sold, potentially
represents one MacIntosh computer not sold by Apple. The attorney was
quick to point out, However, that he was unable to produce the percentage
of those individuals who would have spent over $2000.00 for a MacIntosh
computer had they not had the opportunity to buy the defendant's relative-
ly cheap set of computer chips that would "convert the purchaser's inex-
pensive computer" into one as powerful as the MacIntosh.
A second victim impact expressed by the attorney for Apple concerned
the fact that Hayes has virtually flooded the market with his fake com-
puter chips. As a result, this may cause Apple a severe service problem
in the future when individuals, thinking they have actual Apple computer
chips, begin to send the faulty ones in to Apple for warranty work. Mr.
Aaker indicated that at present such losses cannot be estimated.
Finally, Mr. Aaker related that the primary harm caused by Hayes was
that he provided an opportunity for others to do the same thing, and
therefore, advanced "the bad intent of others and facilitated additional
fraud." The US Government was a secondary victim because of lost tax
revenue due to the income generated by Hayes. The government, however,
has not charged Hayes with any tax violations.
Comment:
They admit they don't know if there were any damages to Apple except
that if I get away with what I did someone else might do the same, or
that Apple might worry about repairing a part that only cost them one
dollar. And I really don't understand how the government was damaged,
since they didn't wait to see if I was going to pay my taxes or not,
and they took over $300,000.00 from me, which left me broke. I'd say
they were the winners.
* * * * * *
Hayes Summation
===============
In the past few months, I've seen so many laws like these, which the
average person doesn't know about, that when I now hear a person say, I'm
doing nothing wrong, they can't get me for anything, I start to feel sick.
To summarize, the lawmakers of this country are passing laws, under
false pretenses, in an attempt to drastically increase the penalties.
Thereby circumventing the penalties written into the original laws, for
violations of these original laws.
Then in an attempt to make the application of these laws fair, they are
then structuring the application, to suppress the normal human moral
opinions of both the law enforcers, and defendants, while at the same
time, using these same opinions to pass and enforce these very same laws.
Your guilt and sentence is now decided by the prosecution, who decides
what you are charged with, with a little adjustment for your past history,
and how much you are willing to help them nail (accuse & convict) others.
And with a big adjustment for your wealth and popularity. And the democr-
atic controls of appeal are by-passed, by their unaccountability. The
only hope you have is to get your attorney to attempt to negotiate the
sentence down from the 1000 year sentence you start with. And you are
supposed to feel satisfied with a big reduction to 26 years max on a
charge that should have had a max of 1 to 5 years to start with.
The investigators are just doing their job, and the judge then has to
follow guidelines he may not even agree with. Give it a few more years,
and we can replace the judge with a computer. You will never be able to
replace the system with a computer however. If you did, it would charge
everyone with every law they violated, and over 75% of the population
would be sentenced to over 1000 years in jail, and the average life span
isn't up to that point yet.
They look around, and say, but we are making life better for everyone.
No, they are making life better for the people who can hire a team of
attorneys to guide them through the obstacles, and at the same time dest-
roying the incentive for anyone below them to be creative, take risks, and
thereby improve society. If they are really doing what they say, then why
are recent reports saying the gap between the rich and the poor has tri-
pled in the past two years. And, they can't seem to understand why people
take drugs to escape, or why the teenage suicide rate is up. They can't
understand why there is so much apathy in college today, yet they can see
what it has done to Russia.
The students themselves in a two hour special on TV said why try, they
tried to improve things in the 60's and they wasted their time. And any
gains they may have made have since been taken away. Look, I know the
drive for one person to impose his wills on another, has always been here,
and I doubt that it will ever change. We don't understand, therefore
like, anyone who is different than us, which causes us to want to knock
them down. Why can't we let people alone unless they are hurting someone.
And if they are really hurting someone, make them show it, or at least
file a complaint. Not just prosecute someone for breaking laws because it
sounds like something to do, or that someone is making more money than
another.
If the law is intended to protect the people, why do the charges, and
the sentences depend so heavily on how much profit the individual makes,
as if the real crime is making more money than the next guy, rather than
on the damages caused. Or is the system too inept to find the damages
caused. Under this system, I understand I received an additional year
because I made over $300,000.00. If it is your idea, of an attempt to
make things fair, boy are you missing the boat.
They get away with it because, no one really cares enough, or is too
scared to say anything until it affects them directy. Well, give it time,
and it will. And you can take that to the bank.
To make matters worse, my charge didn't even fit into the system. When
I was officially arrested, they tried to enter me into the crime computer,
and there wasn't even a category for me. So they put me under miscellan-
eous something. The people charging, and defending me don't even unders-
tand the computer world. Other than the word processors their secretaries
use, they do everything with paper, pencils, and voice recorders. They
couldn't make a rational judgement on anything having to do with comput-
ers, if their life depended on it.
In my case, they had to hire outside help to try to explain to them
what I was doing. And I know for sure they still don't really understand.
They use terms like rails for the plastic tubes which computer chips come
in. They talk about the cost of repairing a computer chip as if it were a
machine you could take apart, and fix. They took all the logic chips I
used in designing products, while I was in the design business, since they
didn't understand the difference, and because they looked like the other
ones I had. I even had a box of Atari floppy drives, and it seems their
expert didn't know what they were, because they had to ask me what they
were. This I really can't believe, however. It sounds more like a com-
munication problem to me. And my attorney told me they didn't have a
precedent on my crime to base anything on. By the sentence, it appears I
fit in with murderers, and drug dealers, somewhere.
Let's see, I violated a copyright, and I did things that made it look
as if I might be able to try to cheat on my income tax which everyone
knows was an attempt to hide my finances from Apple. And I actually
didn't file for a few years prior, although I made no money.
The maximum sentence for copyright violation is one year. The maximum
sentence for actually lying, not paying, and cheating on your taxes is
five years. And somehow I ended up with a twenty-six years charge, while
Pete Rose, who actually cheated, and admitted it got 5 months. Hmmm..
Must be some new kind of math. But I guess I'm not quite as bad as Al
Capone, however. He received 11 years.
Now I've been sentenced to five years in prison, after which I have to
spend two years on probation, and I must see a psychiatrist for ten months
of the two years. What this is for I'm not sure. I'm guessing it's
because I thought about killing myself a few years ago. But if that is
what they are worrying about, why do they want to wait five years to see
if I'm this nuts. It makes me wonder who is really nuts. Well I hate to
bust their bubble, but I've been knocked down, kicked, stomped on, and
rolled over so much, I don't believe anything they could do would ever
again make me want to do that. I have my moments when I really get upset,
and now I've got ulcers, but the more they stomp, the more determined I
get to fight back.
I was told, by my attorney, that I received an additional two to four
of the years for deciding not to help them ruin other people's lives who
were helping many and hurting no one. In fact I called xxxx secretary,
and told her to tell xxxxxxx to watch what was said because the FBI was
probably investigating..., they told me they could bring additional char-
ges against me for obstruction of justice. I wonder what Daniel Webster
would say about this use of the word justice. xxxxxx, being the xxxxx he
is, called the FBI, and told them I had called, to make himself look good.
The only thing I have left is my own self respect. They have taken every-
thing I own, my money, my house, my car, and now the best part of my life
(my daughters). They will grow through the most important part of their
life without me. I may have made some mistakes, but I hurt no one, and
helped thousands, and for that they want to destroy me, and my family.
But I am not going to help them, in any way, do the same to anyone else
who is not hurting anyone, even people like xxxxxx. If you think this is
really a free country, you need mental help. You are free, as long as you
are a puppet, and don't upset any of the big boys.
Folks we may as well bend over when the big corporations tell us too,
then spread when they tell us too. If you try to fight the system, you
lose. I wonder if I had a copyright, and Apple violated it, if Apple
would go to jail. But, I did have an emotional collapse a few years ago,
and set myself up for it. Though the fact that they could have done what
they did anyway, scares the hell out of me.
I have three wonderful daughters. Summer (13) who through my encou-
ragement, has pursued her dream of becoming a gymnast, since she was 6,
and is now a level seven on a 1 to 10 scale where a level 10 is preparing
for the Olympics. She will now have to quit, because my ex-wife will not
be able to afford it on her income without me. She also runs straight A's
in school even though she has only an average IQ, because I spend the time
to help her. My ex-wife isn't too sharp in math, science, etc, so I'm
sure these grades will drop. She is also the most emotional, and I really
don't know what missing me will do to her.
The next oldest is Shanna (11). She also gets mostly A's in school,
but where Summer has to work hard in gymnastics, Shanna is a natural
athlete, and has been taking skating since she was 2. I watched her do a
Christmas ice skating show for the public downtown on Fountain Square
yesterday, and she was so good I had a hard time holding back the tears,
knowing she will now probably have to quit.
Now there's Maegan (8). She's the artist. She doesn't seem to like
Athletics much, but give her a piano or keyboard, and she'll really surpr-
ise you. Fortunately, I don't think she will need to stop. Piano lessons
aren't that expensive.
I have to grit my teeth to say it, but, "Merry Christmas, Merry Christ-
mas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, and Merry Christmas." That is one
for each year I must spend in prison. And don't let anyone fool you by
thinking I'll only get a year or two. There is no parole in federal
prison anymore. You get a few months off for good behavior, but that's
it. And I'm told, if I agree to help them destroy the lives of others, I
might get a little more time off. I have to report to the prison on
1/8/91 for five years. But, I'm told, the least I could get is 2 1/2
years, and just to save my butt a little I'm not going to do this to
other people's kids. I'm sorry if this makes me appear unpatriotic, but I
don't feel too patriotic at the moment.
Merry Christmas again, and see ya in a few years. I wonder what com-
puter systems will be like in five years. The way I feel now, I'm not
sure I ever want to see one again.
Dennis W Hayes
7048-47 Waterview Way
Cincinnati, OH 45241
Phone 513-779-7998