**************************************************************************** >C O M P U T E R U N D E R G R O U N D< >D I G E S T< *** Volume 3, Issue #3.24 (July 3, 1991) ** **************************************************************************** MODERATORS: Jim Thomas / Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.bitnet) PHILEMEISTER: Bob Krause // VACATIONMEISTER: Bob Kusumoto MEISTERMEISTER: Brendan Kehoe +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ CONTENTS THIS ISSUE: File 1: From the Mailbag (Response to "Cyberpunk" definition) File 2: Bill Vajk, Len Rose, Gene Spafford File 3: Comsec Security Press Release File 4: Comments on ComSec Data Security File 5: Police Confiscations and Police Profit File 6: House Crime Bill (1400) and its Threat to Modemers File 7: Law Panel Recommends Computer Search Procedures File 8: The CU in the News (data erasing; cellular fraud) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CuD is available via electronic mail at no cost. Hard copies are available through subscription or single issue requests for the costs of reproduction and mailing. USENET readers can currently receive CuD as alt.society.cu-digest. Back issues of Computer Underground Digest on CompuServe can be found in these forums: IBMBBS, DL0 (new uploads) and DL4 (BBS Management) LAWSIG, DL1 (Computer Law) TELECOM, DL0 (New Uploads) and DL12 (Electronic Frontier) Back issues are also available from: GEnie, PC-EXEC BBS (414-789-4210), and at 1:100/345 for those on FIDOnet. Anonymous ftp sites: (1) ftp.cs.widener.edu (192.55.239.132); (2) cudarch@chsun1.uchicago.edu; (3) dagon.acc.stolaf.edu (130.71.192.18). E-mail server: archive-server@chsun1.uchicago.edu. COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of diverse views. CuD material may be reprinted as long as the source is cited. Some authors, however, do copyright their material, and those authors should be contacted for reprint permission. It is assumed that non-personal mail to the moderators may be reprinted unless otherwise specified. Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles relating to the Computer Underground. Articles are preferred to short responses. Please avoid quoting previous posts unless absolutely necessary. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent the views of the moderators. Contributors assume all responsibility for assuring that articles submitted do not violate copyright protections. ******************************************************************** >> END OF THIS FILE << *************************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: July 3, 1991 From: Various Subject: From the Mailbag (Response to "Cyberpunk" definition) ******************************************************************** *** CuD #3.24: File 1 of 8: From the Mailbag *** ******************************************************************** Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 12:44:22 cdt From: Subject: Brad Hicks and Cyber Definitions I commend Brad Hicks for his generally concise set of definitions of definitions of computer underground types which make it clear that there are many different motivations and categories. However, I would modify his following definition: > CYBERPUNK: (n) A cyberpunk is to hackers/phreaks/crackers/crashers > what a terrorist is to a serial killer; someone who insists that their > crimes are in the public interest and for the common good, a > computerized "freedom fighter" if you will. In the works of Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, and others, cyberpunks are not terrorists in the conventional sense of the term, and the analogy to serial killers strikes me as a bit extreme. Cyberpunks are characterized by their resistance to oppressive authority (which makes them a form of freedom fighter), but the resistance tends to be highly individualistic. I wonder if cyberpunks might be based on the anti-hero model of westerns (Shane) or earlier science fiction in which the marginal but basically decent outsider steps in to use marginal skills to save the town, country, or civilization? I hope Mr. Hicks' comments generate some needed discussion along these lines. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 14:34:38 edt From: wex@PWS.BULL.COM Subject: Cyberpunks (response to Brad Hicks in Cu Digest, #3.23) Hicks' gratuitous slap at cyberpunks tacked on to the end of his definitions of hackers, crackers and phreaks should not be allowed to pass. He refers to cyberpunks as being more extreme forms of the above, with an added dash of morality. I'd love to know where he got this idea. The cyberpunks I know are those who, as the word implies, have taken the punk ethic of disrespect for authority (and often for self, even to the point of nihilism) and applied it to the cyber world. Cyberpunks are those who think that the street has its own uses for technology (they're out there decoding the signals from Mattel Powergloves). They think that corporations are often a bigger threat than governments, though they dis both - sometimes to the point of breaking laws. The only freedom these people are interested in is the freedom to be left alone, both physically and, in the data world, to be left out of the ubiquitous info files being accumulated on us all. This combination often leads to a "fuck you, jack" attitude, not the platitudinous ``freedom fighter'' ethos Hicks talks about. ******************************************************************** >> END OF THIS FILE << ***************************************************************************