----------------------------[ Beginning of file ]----------------------------- __________ ____________________ (__ .__)(__ ___ __ __ __ __) ___)(__)|__)___) | (--)| )(__ __) Issue 001 - 14. Nov 1993 "Reality is for people who can't face science fiction." Disclaimer: This text is written for informational purposes only. Neither the Substance Crew, nor the people who distribute this file are liable for any damage, legal action, or other consequences of use or misuse of this file. We will not invite anyone to perform the activities described, as they may be considered illegal, depending on your place of residence. On the contrary, dissuasion is not our policy. If you find the contents of this file offensive, please feel free to do so; we don't care. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTRODUCTION ------------ by Winnie the PooH If that disclaimer didn't encourage you to read further, you probably didn't understand it, or perhaps even read it. Obviously you did though, so let us introduce to you this new creation that we hope will shake all computer freaks awake, perhaps especially the Norwegian ones. As you probably read, but don't remember by now, this file, or rather series of files, are called "Substance". We wouldn't advice you to speculate too much on the reason for this choice of name though, unless you want to end up like us, that is with no rational explanations at all. If you think you could enlighten us as to the meaning of this name, we would be extremely grateful, so do contact us at once. What is this? The question now troubling your brain is of course: What is this thing? If you did read the disclaimer, it might have given you a clue, but still you've probably not quite figured out the main idea yet. What I'm sure you have understood though, is that these series might be slightly more interesting than anything you can buy at a bookstore or at your local kiosk. Actually, the information that is to be discussed in these files might even concern illegal activities that will put you away for some time if you manage to make a fool of yourself while performing them. What will the files contain? I guess it's time to move from the dim explanations to the exact definition of the Substance-series. To put it short, these files will contain information about hacking, phreaking, anarchy, and subjects related to these, as well as all kinds of scams and exploitation of our society system. This is information that everyone wants, but isn't able to get. This is information that a lot of people have actually got, but won't share. We will. What makes Substance so special? Many of you have probably read famous magazines like Phrack, CUD and such, and that is partly where we've found our inspiration. There are a few differences though, of which two of them probably are the most important ones. The first fact, is that the famous magazines mentioned earlier, as well as others like them, are almost without exceptions from the United States and therefore deal with American circumstances. Although still interesting to study, this of course makes a lot of the information useless to us from a more northern part of the globe. Knowing more about Norway than any other country in the world, many of our articles will deal with our own country, making these articles much more useful to Norwegian readers than all other likes available. We will of course also discuss international subjects like x25 and Internet, and often knowing the situation in the rest of the world is necessary to get the big picture. And of course - if we do get a tip on how to call for free from Hungary, we will include that piece of information in one of our issues. The second inevitable truth is that as a beginner in this field, which we have all been, it is extremely boring to read a great article about a really exciting subject, only to find a "and the rest you should already know" at the end. We'll do our best to tell you what it is, how it can be done, where it can be done, and why it should or should not be done. Why do we do this? You might wonder why we are doing all this work just to reveal our secrets, as this surely isn't a normal thing to do. Secrets will obviously no longer be secrets when everyone knows about them, they will instead become general knowledge. And when everything we know has become general knowledge, we will of course seek new secrets, and the circle just keeps repeating itself. The fact is that when looking at the definition for cyberpunks, "A cyberpunk is a person that uses electronic equipment [i.e. computers etc.] to reach his own, personal goals, and gain personal benefit", it is clear that we actually are cyberpunks. And as cyberpunks, our main, and perhaps only rule, says that "Information wants to be free". As we couldn't agree more, what we do is simply turning this basic rule into practice. We figure it's time for hackers, phreakers and all other kinds of exploiters to stay together, sharing our knowledge with eachother. Can we solve any problems? During the period from the fall of 1992 until today, several people in Norway have been arrested both for pirating software and committing telephone fraud, and these happenings have left the entire computer underground in Norway confused and unable to act. If the events had been correctly referred as they really happened, this could have been avoided and we wouldn't have had to deal with all the mistrust and suspicion that is an inevitable fact today. We will therefore try to cover all happenings and comment them as they happen, and also tell the stories behind the news. It seems to be a rule that the stories told by media about hacking and phreaking is either several months old, or even completely misinforming. Who are we? Despite the fact that we may be called hackers, phreakers or even cyberpunks, we are really just normal people living normal lives. We don't wear leather jackets with "Information wants to be free" at the back, shave our heads and listen to Front 242, and we aren't small sissys with extremely strong glasses, pornografic magazines under our pillows, and an extreme fear of going out when it's dark. The only thing that makes us different from everyone else, is probably our big interest in computers and electronics, and how to use them to achieve certain goals, which may be everything from hacking into a system to calling on our neighbour's phoneline. We need help! If this introduction to Substance has convinced you that we are prototypes of the perfect hacker with enormous knowledge, you might just be right, but probably not. We don't know it all, but we do want to know more. That is why we need you to either write something that you would like to publish through Substance, or give us ideas of subjects you would like to know more about, and we will try to dig up the information you requested. Also, it is of everyone's interest that these files are spread as widely as possible. Therefore we urge you to spread this introduction file to everyone you know, so they will know what this is all about. If you are a sysop, then we hope you will put the Substance texts on your board, and do remember that we've already removed all your responsibility in the disclaimer. I'm not convinced that it will be approved of in court, but it's worth a try. We haven't yet considered establishing official Substance support-boards, but if any sysops find this thought interesting, please feel free to contact us. Insiders wanted To get the information we need, talking to people is often the solution. We have already got a small network of people in positions making them able to obtain information and news, but more are needed! This is perhaps the most important part of our work, spreading the latest news of what is happening all around the country, or even all around the world, giving everyone the possibility of relating to this in their own way. If your work includes access to information about telecommunications, computers, economics, or other related subjects that might be of use to the public, contact us at once! We ensure complete privacy, as well as certain advantages, to the ones participating in making Substance an interesting magazine. You may also be included in the inner circle of Substance writers, consisting of about 10-15 people meeting regularly to discuss the next Substance issues. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Substance Crew: Inner Self (IS!) Apollon Plastic Winnie the PooH Comments, contributions, ideas, questions and such would be appreciated, and may be e-mailed to sbstance@oslohd.no. If you haven't got that possibility, please try locating us at some board. Your chances of reaching us that way will probably increase significantly by first checking the boards allowing aliases, but if you aren't able to reach any of those, try looking for "Robert Levin". Sensitive information of any kind, or information you want to keep private, should be encrypted using PGP with the -a option. Our Public Key may be found below. If a sysop doesn't allow encrypted messages, please find another board if you consider encryption to be necessary. UNIX programs may be sent as UUCP code. -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.3a mQCNAizhvskAAAEEAKHitHjoJhc+5d5yiVyBtBTJa3Sp/PoPsW6jjoRHGSm3ISK1 /rop/R53Og970TWI9/gcK80a6QRGo4RZVrYFfQfS02SD+ra7bHUoqurhhdLczgTC CvKxIgeoPEHhM3zRiFY0yZoCFRXaWJfTOu8L5sti91+lbGqt8IpQ7eBFWsnNAAUR tA9TdWJzdGFuY2UtS2V5LTE= =nkoH -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- -------------------------------[ End of file ]--------------------------------