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- ****************************************************************************
- >C O M P U T E R U N D E R G R O U N D<
- >D I G E S T<
- *** Volume 3, Issue #3.24 (July 3, 1991) **
- ****************************************************************************
-
- MODERATORS: Jim Thomas / Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.bitnet)
- PHILEMEISTER: Bob Krause // VACATIONMEISTER: Bob Kusumoto
- MEISTERMEISTER: Brendan Kehoe
-
- +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++
-
- CONTENTS THIS ISSUE:
- File 1: From the Mailbag (Response to "Cyberpunk" definition)
- File 2: Bill Vajk, Len Rose, Gene Spafford
- File 3: Comsec Security Press Release
- File 4: Comments on ComSec Data Security
- File 5: Police Confiscations and Police Profit
- File 6: House Crime Bill (1400) and its Threat to Modemers
- File 7: Law Panel Recommends Computer Search Procedures
- File 8: The CU in the News (data erasing; cellular fraud)
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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- through subscription or single issue requests for the costs of reproduction
- and mailing.
-
- USENET readers can currently receive CuD as alt.society.cu-digest.
- Back issues of Computer Underground Digest on CompuServe can be found
- in these forums:
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- LAWSIG, DL1 (Computer Law)
- TELECOM, DL0 (New Uploads) and DL12 (Electronic Frontier)
- Back issues are also available from:
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- Anonymous ftp sites: (1) ftp.cs.widener.edu (192.55.239.132);
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- (3) dagon.acc.stolaf.edu (130.71.192.18).
- E-mail server: archive-server@chsun1.uchicago.edu.
-
- COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
- information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of
- diverse views. CuD material may be reprinted as long as the source is
- cited. Some authors, however, do copyright their material, and those
- authors should be contacted for reprint permission. It is assumed
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- otherwise specified. Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned
- articles relating to the Computer Underground. Articles are preferred
- to short responses. Please avoid quoting previous posts unless
- absolutely necessary.
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent
- the views of the moderators. Contributors assume all
- responsibility for assuring that articles submitted do not
- violate copyright protections.
-
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- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: July 3, 1991
- From: Various
- Subject: From the Mailbag (Response to "Cyberpunk" definition)
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.24: File 1 of 8: From the Mailbag ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 12:44:22 cdt
- From: <accidentally garbled by editors>
- Subject: Brad Hicks and Cyber Definitions
-
- I commend Brad Hicks for his generally concise set of definitions of
- definitions of computer underground types which make it clear that
- there are many different motivations and categories. However, I would
- modify his following definition:
-
- > CYBERPUNK: (n) A cyberpunk is to hackers/phreaks/crackers/crashers
- > what a terrorist is to a serial killer; someone who insists that their
- > crimes are in the public interest and for the common good, a
- > computerized "freedom fighter" if you will.
-
- In the works of Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, and others, cyberpunks
- are not terrorists in the conventional sense of the term, and the
- analogy to serial killers strikes me as a bit extreme. Cyberpunks are
- characterized by their resistance to oppressive authority (which makes
- them a form of freedom fighter), but the resistance tends to be highly
- individualistic. I wonder if cyberpunks might be based on the
- anti-hero model of westerns (Shane) or earlier science fiction in
- which the marginal but basically decent outsider steps in to use
- marginal skills to save the town, country, or civilization?
-
- I hope Mr. Hicks' comments generate some needed discussion along these
- lines.
-
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
- Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 14:34:38 edt
- From: wex@PWS.BULL.COM
- Subject: Cyberpunks (response to Brad Hicks in Cu Digest, #3.23)
-
- Hicks' gratuitous slap at cyberpunks tacked on to the end of his
- definitions of hackers, crackers and phreaks should not be allowed to
- pass.
-
- He refers to cyberpunks as being more extreme forms of the above, with
- an added dash of morality. I'd love to know where he got this idea.
-
- The cyberpunks I know are those who, as the word implies, have taken
- the punk ethic of disrespect for authority (and often for self, even
- to the point of nihilism) and applied it to the cyber world.
- Cyberpunks are those who think that the street has its own uses for
- technology (they're out there decoding the signals from Mattel
- Powergloves). They think that corporations are often a bigger threat
- than governments, though they dis both - sometimes to the point of
- breaking laws.
-
- The only freedom these people are interested in is the freedom to be
- left alone, both physically and, in the data world, to be left out of
- the ubiquitous info files being accumulated on us all.
-
- This combination often leads to a "fuck you, jack" attitude, not the
- platitudinous ``freedom fighter'' ethos Hicks talks about.
-
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