The Threat to Us All (August, 1985) ----------------------------------- We're very used to reporting on this kind of a story. We've done it so many times in our pages that we're tempted to gloss over "raid" stories because they've become so commonplace. But we realize that we cannot ever ignore such events, because we all need to know what is happening out there. It's really not a pretty sight. Mention the word computer to someone and you'll see a variety of reactions. In our case it would be overwhelming enthusiasm, much like an explorer confronting a new adventure. But to many people, computers are evil and scary. This takes two forms: fear of the computers themselves, and complete ignorance as to what they and their operators are capable of doing. We saw plenty of the latter last month. We don't care if people refuse to understand computers and how they fit in. What we do object to, however, is when these same people insist on being the ones to pass laws and define abuses concerning computers. In every investigation we have seen, ignorance abounds. True, such ignorance can be amusing - we all got a good laugh when we heard the New Jersey authorities insisting that the hackers were moving satellites "through the blue heavens." But losing the Private Sector isn't at all funny, and whether you were a caller to that bulletin board or not, its loss is a very troubling sign. What was the Private Sector? Picture a sounding board of ideas, theories, and experiences and you'll have a good idea. The Private Sector was a place to ask questions, talk to experts, and learn a hell of a lot about high technology. It was never a place to trade illegal information, such as Sprint codes, credit card numbers, or computer passwords. The system operator took elaborate measures to ensure this, such as going through each and every message, public and private, on a daily basis to make sure nothing shady was transpiring. We don't believe he should have had to do even this. We can't condone censorship of any kind - our feelings were that if people wanted to do illegal things, then they would face the consequences, not the people who simply talked to them. But the Sysop had his own policy and he stuck by it and kept the board clean. He wanted two things: a good, interesting bulletin board and no trouble with authorities. At least he managed to obtain one of those goals. Again we see ignorance and a disregard toward the rights of all of us. They came and took our board, whose only "crime" was being mentioned on another board that had been raided the month before. The Private Sector was completely innocent of any wrongdoing. Yet it is being held at this moment, without bail. See the connection to free speech yet? Many people have trouble seeing this because of that word computer. Yet a computer bulletin board is probably the purest form of free speech that exists today. Anyone can call, anyone can speak. True identity is not required. Why should this be considered a threat in a democracy? We've been told there is legislation pending in the House of Representatives to "regulate" bulletin boards. What this would mean is a re-definition of BBS's into a sort of public utility. The system operator would have to take full responsibility for everything that was posted. (This means if he went away for a week and didn't censor messages, he could find himself facing charges when he came back!) The system operator would also be required to confirm the identities of all users and we wouldn't at all be surprised if part of this involves the paying of some sort of fee for a license. These sound very much like the kind of tactics used by repressive regimes to curb public assemblies and newspaper. Is this in fact what is happening? Aren't bulletin boards a form of public assembly, a kind of electronic publication? Before all of the computer hobbyists out there start hating the "hackers" for ruining the future of bulletin boards, we'd like for them to view this whole affair as an important and inevitable test. True, some boards today are being used for sleazy things and criminals are involved. One could say the same thing about telephones or even cars. (Think of how much illegal information must be passed within the confines of some people's cars.) The fact is we cannot sacrifice a freedom simply because some bad people are using it. We see this sort of test frequently. When police pull you over and ask all kinds of questions when you haven't done anything wrong, you probably wind up fairly annoyed. But when they say it's a way of catching drunk drivers well, now that's different. A little bit of freedom isn't all that important when the public welfare is at stake. What rubbish! And what a perfect way to start eroding our rights as individuals. We're glad that we were able to convince the American Civil Liberties Union to take the case, which is most likely their introduction to the issues that surround the use of computers. We've found good media like The New York Times that actually cares about what is said in their stories and attempts to find out what all the sides are. We've also seen sensationalism at its worst, such as WABC-TV, which took our comments out of context and made us seem like an anti-hacker establishment! Or The New York Daily News reporter who asked us after we said the system operator was "surprised" to see his computer taken, Was he shocked? Most of all, though, we re amazed at the response of hackers and non-hackers alike, who came to the defense of the Private Sector, offering services, equipment, advice. Our phones have been jammed we've never seen anything like this. Everyone who called the Private Sector knows it was devoid of all the things it's being accused of having. The most important thing anyone can do at this point is to make sure everyone knows. The concept of a bulletin board must be understood. The value of the Private Sector must be known. The connection to publications and freedom of speech has to be established so that people understand the threat to them whenever a bulletin board is shut down. When we do this, we'll be that much closer to getting the Private Sector back online and making a positive precedent.