Inspiration (Winter, 1994-1995)
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The hacker world is constantly weaving from one extreme to the next; one day
you may witness something that will be awe-inspiring and filled with a purpose,
and the next you might see utter stupidity of one sort or another that shouldn't
even be dignified with an acknowledgment. Elite versus lame.

It's all part of the beauty of our strange community where we can stay
anonymous or shout our existence out to anyone who's listening sometimes even
to those who don't want to listen. We are a microcosm of democracy and we have
to constantly fight with those who want to control the freedom we've built. At
the same time, we have to be on the alert for destructiveness from within that
could unravel our accomplishments with far more effectiveness than any outside
enemy.

In early October, 1994, hackers of Argentina held their very first
international conference. While communication between North American and
European hackers has been growing steadily, not many of us had ever seen the
hacker world of South America. Just as we were pleasantly surprised by what we
found in Holland in 1989, we see tremendous promise and inspiration in Buenos
Aires.

The hackers there are very hungry for information of any sort - cellular
technology, international phreaking, access to the Internet - the list goes on
and on. The eagerness with which any new idea or theory is embraced really puts
a lot of what we do into perspective. Just being able to experiment and come up
with new ways of doing things, new toys to play with, methods of linking the
world together, that s where the real driving force of hacking is. It jumps all
language and cultural barriers. And it's this that we really need to embrace.

For the people of Argentina, freedom is something that is not taken lightly. It
wasn't long ago when young people who spoke up against the government or who
did something deemed unacceptable by the junta would simply disappear and never
be heard from again. People who understand technology and are willing to shape
it to further individual liberty will always be near the top of the enemy list
of a repressive regime. We can never close our eyes to this fact and we can
never fool ourselves into thinking that we are safe from those malignant
forces.

One of the most important goals for the hackers of Argentina is to get
connected to the Internet. This remarkable crossroad will enable all of us to
share their experiences and trade information of all sorts. We've almost become
used to it here. But Net access is not a given in much of the world; in fact,
quite a few people in power are nervous about the effect such access will have
on the masses. It's rather difficult to keep people in check when they can
easily assemble electronically or instantly communicate with people on the
other side of the globe. And perhaps that's the whole point: Net access may be
the tool that society has built in order to keep governments in check.

The bottom line is simply that once people get access to something as open and
democratic as the Net, they won t be willing to let it go. That's why it's up
to all of us who have the power to bring as many others into it as we can at
home and abroad.

As the world becomes more electronically integrated, it's up to those of us
with the ability to constantly test and question. An excellent example of the
importance of this came out of the United Kingdom over the summer when a
Scottish hacker managed to get into British Telecom databases. By so doing, he
gained access to thousands of pages of highly confidential records - the details
of which were subsequently splattered across the pages of all of London's
newspapers. Unlisted phone numbers for the Prime Minister and the Royal Family,
secret Ministry of Defence installations, home addresses of senior military
personnel, information on nuclear war bunkers, even the location of undercover
intelligence service buildings in London.

The terrorist implications of such information should be obvious. If this
information was so easy for one person to get, it should pose no problem for an
organization. In this particular case, the hacker managed to infiltrate the
system by getting a temporary job with British Telecom. No special screening
was done and it was fantastically easy to get full access. This knowledge,
coupled with the number of people who work for the phone company, made the
course of action quite obvious: a full disclosure of all the data.

This caused a scandal of unimagined proportions. No computer intrusion had ever
resulted in this many secrets getting out. But what choice was there? To remain
silent and hope that nobody else would discover the gaping hole? To tell the
authorities and hope that nobody else had already discovered the gaping hole
and also hope that the authorities didn't immediately have you killed?
Sometimes the only way to make a system secure is to call the vulnerabilities
to everybody's attention. This is what the hacker did and now everybody has a
pretty good idea of how secure British Telecom computers are as well as how
much secret information is kept on them. We don't expect British Telecom to be
happy but they have no one to blame but themselves.

An interesting sidenote to this is the computer system itself (the Customer
Services System) was designed by Cincinnati Bell. Another interesting sidenote
is the fact that this significant event has gone virtually unmentioned in
American media.

So with all of this positive, inspirational stuff going on, what is it that we
have to be on the lookout for? As we said, there are always forces that want to
control freedom and, oftentimes, reverse it. And there are those within our own
community who will, through carelessness, boredom, or even self-destructiveness
give those outside forces exactly what they want.

Now would seem a perfect time for an activist group to sprout in order to keep
the Net from becoming subverted by commercialization and overregulation. The
manifesto of a group called the Internet Liberation Front gives the impression
of pointed, and arrogant, idealism. Which is exactly what we needed. However,
instead of attacking the real enemy of independent thought, this anonymous
group chose to go after the author of a book! Josh Quittner, whose book on
hackers, Masters of Deception, is due out in January, had his Internet mailbox
flooded with ILF manifestoes. In addition, his phone line was forwarded to an
obscene message. Typical hacker pranks, which probably never would have been
taken seriously, except that this time it was done by a group with a manifesto.
That's really all it takes to make headlines these days.

We hope to see a group come along one of these days that recognizes the
importance of free speech and individual power. A group that isn't funded by
phone companies like certain "civil liberties" organizations a group that
doesn't see the work of one author as a threat to the community. Ideas, even 
when they are dead wrong, are a doorway to discussion. Actions, however, carry
the real threat.

Something we should all be aware of is the recent conviction of BBS operators
Robert and Carleen Thomas in Memphis, Tennessee. The Amateur Action BBS was an
adult-oriented board located in San Jose, California. One part of the board
contained pictures similar to those found in x-rated magazines. A law
enforcement official in Memphis called the board, downloaded some pictures, and
actually managed to have the couple brought to Tennessee to face charges of
distributing pornographic images via computer. Even though the board was in
California, they were charged under the community standards of Tennessee which
are significantly more conservative. A jury found them guilty and the couple
was sentenced to approximately three years in prison with no hope of early
release.

This happened right here in the United States in 1994, yet there was little
press coverage and, consequently, little public outcry.

Obviously, these people must be freed and soon. That trial should never have
even happened; if the moral standards of Tennessee are imposed upon the rest of
the nation, rapidly spiraling de-evolution will become a fact of life for us
all. And there will be virtually no limit on future targets. Apart from raising
consciousness and spreading the word, those of us concerned with freedom of
speech in the digital age should actively fight back against such atrocities. A
good step would be to open a dozen boards to replace the one they shut down.
Perhaps that will get the message across that electronic freedom is not to be
trifled with. The Net and the digital age won't come anywhere near their
potential unless courage is the key operating component.