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- ------------------------------
-
- From: Moderators, J&B McMullen, and H. Silverglate and S. Beckman
- Subject: Business Week Article on The Dread Hacker Menace
- Date: April 15, 1991
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.12: File 3 of 4: Responses to Business Week Article ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- In the April 15, 1991, issue of BUSINESS WEEK (p. 31), Mark Lewyn and
- Evan I. Schwartz combined to write "Why 'the Legion of Doom' has
- Little Fear of the Feds." The article has been criticized by
- attorneys, journalists, and computer professionals for its flagrant
- inaccuracies, potentially libelous commentary, and distortion of facts
- and issues. A superficial reading of the article might lead others to
- agree with the criticisms we print below. We, however, rather like
- the article and find it a refreshing narrative. Clearly, as we read
- Lewyn and Schwartz, they were writing satire. The article is obviously
- an attempt at postmodernist fiction in which truth is inverted and
- juxtaposed in playful irony in an attempt to illustrate the failure of
- Operation Sun Devil. The clever use of fiction underscores the abuses
- of federal and other agents in pursuing DHs ("Dreaded Hackers") by
- reproducing the symbols of bad acts (as found in government press
- releases, indictments and search affidavits) *as if* they were real in
- a deconstructionist style in which the simulacra--the non-real--become
- the substance.
-
- Let's take a few examples:
-
- In a table listing the suspect, the alleged crime, and the outcome
- of five hackers to show the "latest in a a series of setbacks
- for the government's highly publicized drive against computer
- crime (table)," the table lists Robert Morris, Steve Jackson,
- Craig Neidorf, the Atlanta Three, and Len Rose. Steve Jackson
- was not charged with a crime, even though the table tells us the
- case was dismissed for lack of evidence. The article calls Craig
- Neidorf a hacker (he was never charged with, nor is there any
- indication whatsoever, that he ever engaged in hacking activity), and
- fails to mention that the case was dropped because there was, in fact,
- no case to prosecute. We interpret this as a subtle way of saying
- that all innocent computerists could be accused of a crime, even if
- there were no evidence to do so, and then be considered a computer
- criminal. This, and other factual errors of readily accessable and
- common public knowledge suggests to us that the table is a rhetorical
- ploy to show the dangerous procedures used by the Secret Service. Why
- else would the authors risk a libel suit?
-
- In another clever bit of satirical prose, the authors write:
-
- Jerome R. Dalton, American Telephone & Telegraph Co.'s corporate
- security manager, is convinced that the feds simply can't
- convict. He points to Leonard Rose Jr., a computer consultant
- who pleaded guilty on Mar. 22 to wire-fraud charges in Chicago and
- Baltimore. Prosecutors said he sent illegal copies of a $77,000
- AT&T computer-operating system known as Unix to hackers around
- the country after modifying it so it could be used to invade
- corporate and government systems.
-
- The article adds that Dalton
-
- contends that without AT&T's help, the government wouldn't have had a
- case. It was AT&T--not the feds--that verified that Rose wasn't a
- licensed Unix user and that the program had been modified to make
- breaking into computer systems easier."
-
- Now, this could be considered an innocuous statement, but the
- subtleness is obvious. To us, the authors are obviously saying that
- AT&T helped the feds by inflating the value of material available for
- about $13.95 to an astronomical value of $78,000 (later lowered to
- $23,000). And, why should the feds know who Unix is licensed to? Last
- we checked, AT&T, not the government, was responsible for keeping
- track of its business records, and AT&T was responsible for pursuing
- the charges. The Len Rose case was not a hacker case, the program was
- not sent to other "hackers," there was no evidence (or charges) that
- anybody had even tried to use the login.c program that allegedly was
- modified, and the case was not a hacker case at all, but rather a case
- about unlicensed software. So, it seems to us that the authors are
- trying to illustrate the arrogance of AT&T and the evidentiary
- aerobics used to try to secure indictments or convictions in cases
- that are more appropriately civil, rather than criminal matters.
-
- So, we say congrats to the authors for taking the risk to write news
- as fiction, and suggest that perhaps they should consider changing
- their career line.
-
- But, we recognize that others might interpret article as
- irresponsible, ignorant, and journalistically bankrupt. We reprint
- (with permission) two letters sent to Business Week in response to the
- article.
-
- Others wishing either to complain to BW or to commend their
- reporters on their fiction writing can fax letters to Business
- Week at (212) 512-4464.
-
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
- MCMULLEN & MCMULLEN, INC
-
-
- April 9, 1991
-
- Readers Report
- Business Week
- 1221 Avenue of the Americas
- New York, NY 10020
-
- Dear Madam or Sir,
-
- As a long time admirer of your coverage of technological issues, I was
- dismayed to find an appalling number of inaccuracies in "Why 'The
- Legion OF Doom' Has Little Fear Of The Feds" (BW, 04/15/91). The
- article, unfortunately, shows little attention to detail in its
- presentation of "facts" and winds up being unfair to those "accused"
- and law enforcement officials alike.
-
- The article states that Steve Jackson, "President of computer-game
- maker accused of publishing a 'handbook of computer crime' had his
- "case dismissed because of lack of evidence." In fact, Steve Jackson
- was never accused of anything (there was a remark made by a Secret
- Service Agent that the game about to be published read like a
- "handbook of computer crime" -- the game is a role playing game set in
- a future totalitarian society). Steve Jackson's computers, diskettes
- and printed records were seized pursuant to an investigation of one of
- his employees who was thought to be a recipient of information related
- to the investigation of Craig Neidorf's electronic publishing
- activities. Jackson's equipment has since been returned and law
- enforcement officials attending the recent "Computers, Freedom &
- Privacy" conference in San Francisco referred to the Jackson case as
- one that should not have happened (One of the authors of your piece,
- Evan Schwartz, was listed as an attendee at the conference. Copies of
- the search warrant used in obtaining Jackson's equipment were
- available to all attendees at the conference. The warrants clearly
- indicate that Jackson was not a subject of the investigation. It is my
- information that Jackson will shortly file suit against the government
- as a result of the damage that the "search and seizure" did to his
- business.
-
- I suggest that you, by your description, have made Jackson fit the
- public image of John Gotti -- a person "everyone knows is guilty" but
- for whom insufficient evidence exists to make him pay his just
- deserts. In Jackson's case, nothing could be further from the truth.
-
- The article states that Franklin Darden, Jr, Adam Grant and Robert
- Riggs were "each sentenced to one year split between a half-way house
- and probation." In fact, Riggs received 21 months in prison while
- Grant and Darden received 14 months with the stipulation that 7 may be
- served in a half-way house. Additionally, the three were ordered to
- jointly and/or separately make restitution to BellSouth for $233,000.
- After reading the article, I spoke to Kent Alexander, US Attorney
- responsible for the prosecution of Riggs, Darden and Grant to confirm
- the sentences. Alexander not only confirmed the sentences; he objected
- to the calling of the cases as other than a victory for the government
- (There are many in the computer community who feel that the sentence
- was, in fact, too harsh. None would consider it other than a
- government "victory".). Alexander also affirmed that each of the
- defendants is actually doing prison time, rather than the type of
- split sentence mentioned in the article. Alexander also told me, by
- the way, that he believes that he sent a copy of the sentencing
- memorandum to one of your reporters.
-
- The actual sentences imposed on Riggs, Darden and Grant also, of
- course, makes the article's statement that Rose's one-year sentence is
- "by far the stiffest to date" incorrect.
-
- The treatment of the Neidorf case, while perhaps not factually
- incorrect, was superficial to the point of dereliction. Neidorf, the
- publisher of an electronic newsletter, Phrack, was accused of
- publishing, as part of his newsletter, a document which later was
- proven to be unlawfully obtained by Riggs, Darden and Grant -- an
- activity that many saw as similar to the Pentagon Papers case. The
- case was, in fact, eventually dropped when it turned out that the
- document in question was publicly available for under $20. Many
- believe that the case should never have been brought to trian in the
- first place and it is to this kind of electronic publishing activity
- that Professor Tribe's constitutional amendment attempts to protect.
-
- It is a bit of a reach to call Neidorf a "hacker". He is a college
- senior with an interest in hacking who published a newsletter about
- the activities and interest of hackers. It is totally inaccurate to
- call Jackson a hacker, no matter what definition of that oft-misused
- terms is applied.
-
- The article further states that the target of the Sundevil
- investigation was the "Legion of Doom". According to Gail Thackeray,
- ex-Assistant Attorney General of the State of Arizona and one of the
- key players in the Sundevil investigation, and the aforementioned Kent
- Alexander (both in conversations with me and, in Thackeray's case, in
- published statements), this is untrue. The Legion of Doom was a
- loosely constructed network of persons who, it has been alleged and,
- in some cases, proven, illegally accessed computers to obtain
- information considered proprietary. The subjects of the Sundevil
- investigations were those suspected of credit card fraud and other
- crime for profit activities. On April 1st, commenting on the first
- major Sundevil indictment, Thackeray was quoted by the Newsbytes News
- Service as saying "The Sundevil project was started in response to a
- high level of complaint of communications crimes, credit card fraud
- and other incidents relating to large financial losses. These were not
- cases of persons accessing computers 'just to look around' or even
- cases like the Atlanta 'Legion of Doom' one in which the individuals
- admitted obtaining information through illegal access. They are rather
- cases in which the accused allegedly used computers to facilitate
- theft of substantial goods and services."
-
- The article further, by concentrating on a small number of cases,
- gives the reader the impression that so-called "hackers' are free to
- do whatever they like in the global network that connects businesses,
- government and educational institutions. There have been many arrests
- and convictions in recent months for computer crime. In New York State
- alone, there have been arrests for unlawful entries into PBX's,
- criminal vandalism, illegal access to computers, etc. Heightened law
- enforcement activity, greater corporate and government concern with
- security and a better understanding by "hackers" of acceptable limits
- are, if anything, making a safer climate for the global net while the
- concern of civil libertarians coupled with greater understanding by
- law enforcement officials seems to be reducing the possibility of
- frivolous arrests and overreaching. This improved climate, as
- evidenced by the recent conference on "Computers, Freedom and
- Privacy", is a far cry from the negative atmosphere evidenced in the
- conclusion of your article.
-
- I have spent the last few years discussing the issues of computer
- crime, access to information and reasonable law enforcement procedures
- with a wide range of individuals --police officers, prosecutors,
- defense attorneys, "hackers", civil libertarians, lawmakers, science
- fiction writers, etc. and have found that their opinions, while often
- quite different, warrant presentation to the general public.
- Unfortunately, your article with its factual errors and misleading
- conclusions takes away from this dialog rather than providing
- enlightenment; it is a great disappointment to one who has come to
- expect accuracy and insightful analysis from Business Week. I urge you
- to publish an article explaining these issues in full and correcting
- the many errors in the April 15th piece.
-
- Yours truly,
-
-
- John F. McMullen
- Executive Vice President
-
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- Response #2
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
-
- April 8, 1991
-
- Readers Report
- Business Week
- 1221 Avenue of the Americas
- New York, NY 10020
-
- Dear Editor,
-
- Mark Lewyn and Evan Schwartz are correct that the Secret Service's
- "Operation Sundevil" has been a disaster ("Why `The Legion of Doom'
- has little fear of the Feds", BW April 15th), but the rest of their
- article completely misses the point. The problem with the
- government's war on computers is not that "it's much harder to nail
- hackers for electronic mayhem than prosecutors ever imagined," but
- rather, that lack of computer sophistication has caused prosecutors
- and investigators to treat law-abiding citizens like criminals. Their
- reporting on Steve Jackson Games is particularly egregious. To call
- Steve Jackson a "suspect" in the "war on hackers" is to allege
- criminal conduct that even the government never alleged.
-
- Steve Jackson Games is a nationally known and respected, award-winning
- publisher of books, magazines, and adventure company was ever accused
- of any criminal activity. The government has verified that Jackson is
- not the target of any investigation, including "Operation Sundevil."
- There was no criminal case "dismissed because of lack of evidence"
- --there simply was no criminal case at all.
-
- Lewyn and Schwartz missed the real story here. Based on allegations
- by government agents and employees of Bellcore and AT&T, the
- government obtained a warrant to seize all of the company's computer
- hardware and software, and all documentation related to its computer
- system. Many of the allegations were false, but even if they had been
- true, they did not provide any basis for believing that evidence of
- criminal activity would be found at Steve Jackson Games.
-
- The Secret Service raid caused the company considerable harm. Some of
- the equipment and data seized was "lost" or damaged. One of the
- seized computers ran an electronic conferencing system used by
- individuals across the country to discuss adventure games and related
- literary genres. The company used the system to communicate with its
- customers and writers and to get feedback on new game ideas. The
- seizure shut the conferencing system down for over a month. Also
- seized were all of the current drafts of the company's
- about-to-be-released book, GURPS Cyberpunk. The resulting delay in
- the publication of the book caused the company considerable financial
- harm, forcing it to lay off half of its employees.
-
- Jackson has resuscitated his electronic conferencing system and his
- business. GURPS Cyberpunk was partially reconstructed from old drafts
- and eventually published. It has been nominated for a prestigious
- game industry award and is assigned reading in at least one college
- literature course.
-
- But what happened at Steve Jackson Games demonstrates the
- vulnerability of computer users -- whether corporate or individual --
- to government ineptitude and overreaching. What the Secret Service
- called a "handbook for computer crime" was really a fantasy
- role playing game book, something most twelve-year-olds would have
- recognized after reading the first page.
-
- Sincerely,
-
-
- Harvey A. Silverglate
- Sharon L. Beckman
- Silverglate & Good
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Counsel for Steve Jackson Games
-
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