------------------------------ From: fitz@WANG.COM(Tom Fitzgerald) Subject: Logisticon vs. Revlon Date: Thu, 1 Nov 90 11:01:59 EST ******************************************************************** *** CuD #2.10: File 8 of 9: Logisticon vs. Revlon *** ******************************************************************** Hello, I got this forwarded to me from DEC's Vogon news service. If Logisticon gets away with this, it's going to put some real knots in any future anti-hacking statutes. <><><><><><><> T h e V O G O N N e w s S e r v i c e <><><><><><><> Edition : 2182 Friday 26-Oct-1990 Circulation : 8434 Logisticon - Repossesses some programs electronically over payment dispute {The Wall Street Journal, 25-Oct-90, p. A5} Logisticon, a tiny Silicon Valley software maker has lent new meaning to the term repossession, using phone lines to tap into Revlon Inc. computers and disable programs that the software company claims Revlon didn't properly [sic - pay (?) TT] for properly. Revlon sued Logisticon in a California state court Monday, charging that Revlon suffered financial loss when two warehouses couldn't ship products because of the disabled software. A Revlon spokesman said the company withheld payment from Logisticon because the software had bugs and didn't perform as promised. Logisticon president Don Gallagher calls his company's action "repossession." Revlon, in its suit, calls it "an extortion attempt." The software spat, first reported in the San Jose Mercury News, illustrates a new use of the controversial practice of "hacking," in which computer sleuths use phone lines to enter computers with the knowledge of the computers' owner. It also shows the lengths to which a software company may have to go to protect what it sees as its intellectual property rights. "Software companies have to protect themselves," said Mr. Gallagher. Logisticon sells inventory-management software around the world to such companies as Ford Motor Co., Federal Express and Abbott Laboratories. Mr. Gallagher said he received a letter Oct. 15 from Revlon saying that it wouldn't pay $180,000 remaining on a $1.2 million contract to supply warehouse-management software for Revlon warehouses in Phoenix, Ariz., and Edison, N.J.. Revlon also canceled a $500,000 second phase, he said. As a condition for payment of the $180,000, Revlon demanded that Logisticon give Revlon free access to the basic software called source code, Mr. Gallagher said. That would have allowed Revlon to freely duplicate Logisticon software that would normally sell for millions of dollars, he said. The bugs in the software were "minimal" and didn't hamper the operation of the system, he maintained. When Revlon refused to settle the issue, Mr. Gallagher said, he had employees use phone lines on Oct. 15 to disable Logisticon's software in the Revlon warehouses "in such a way to render the total system inoperable," without harming Revlon's data. "We determined we had no recourse remaining," he said. Logisticon switched the software back on three days later. Revlon, in its suit, charges that it wasn't able to ship products between Oct. 16 and Oct. 19 while the system was off. Logisticon, Revlon said, used its "familiarity with Revlon's system to commit ... extortionate acts." Logisticon planted viruses in the program that it later activated, the suit claims. > <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> > Please send subscription and back issue requests to CASEE::VNS > > Permission to copy material from this VNS is granted (per DIGITAL PP&P) > provided that the message header for the issue and credit lines for the > VNS correspondent and original source are retained in the copy. > > <><><><><><> VNS Edition : 2182 Friday 26-Oct-1990 <><><><><><><> ******************************************************************** >> END OF THIS FILE << *************************************************************************** Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253 12yrs+