ftp.wwiv.com/ftp.wwiv.com.zip/ftp.wwiv.com/pub/HATCH/WWIVNEWS.ZIP/9306_1.NWS

Text File | 1993-06-06 | 28KB | 484 lines

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  ║  Volume 4  ││││││││││││  ││  └┼┐┌┼┘│  └┘││└───┐│││││││└───┐ April/May  ║
  ║   Issue 1  ││││││││││││  ││   ││││ │┌┐  ││┌───┘││││││└───┐│    1993    ║
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               └────┘└────┘└────┘  └┘  └┘ └─┘└────┘└────┘└────┘
                          ┌─────────────────────┐
                          │This Month's Features│
┌─────────────────────────┴─────────────────────┴───────────────────────────┐
│ Random Factors...................................Wayne Bell (1@1)         │
│                                                                           │
│ WWIV in the Courtroom............................Polekat (1@5285)         │
│                                                                           │
│ TechnOTES........................................WWIVnews Staff           │
│                                                                           │
│ Playing Ping-Pong with 1@1.......................Star Gazer (1@3101)      │
│                                                                           │
│ Filo's Mod of the Month..........................Filo (1@2050)            │
│                                                                           │
│ WWIV on Internet and Usenet......................Jay Walker (1@7659)      │
│                                                                           │
│ Type 0 Forum.....................................Omega Man (1@5282)       │
│                                                                           │
│ @506 Usenet Gateway Policy Changes...............Zaphod Beeblebrox (1@506)│
│                                                                           │
│ WWIV-Compatible Networks List....................Red Dwarf (1@6264)       │
│                                                                           │
│ Dateline: @#$*()#!...............................Omega Man (1@5282)       │
└──────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────┘
               └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────
               │               Random Factors                │
               │   Creative Commentary by Wayne Bell (1@1)   │
               └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

v4.22 QSCAN POINTER PROBLEMS:

If your Quickscan is not working correctly, install that, compile & run, and
do a //RESETQSCAN from the main menu. It will reset all quickscan and newscan
info for every user.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

In BBS.C, function mainmenu():

    /* existing code */
    if (strcmp(s, "CHAT")==0) {
      nl();
      pl(((*(char far *)0x00000417L ^= 0x10) & 0x10) ?
                       get_string(21) :
                       get_string(22));
      sysoplog(get_stringx(1,9));
      topscreen();
    }
    /* new code starts here */
    if (strcmp(s, "RESETQSCAN")==0) {
      memset(qsc, 0, syscfg.qscn_len);
      *qsc=999;
      memset(qsc_n,0xff,((max_dirs+31)/32)*4);
      memset(qsc_q,0xff,((max_subs+31)/32)*4);
      close_qscn();
      sprintf(s1,"%sUSER.QSC", syscfg.datadir);
      unlink(s1);
      for (i=0; i<=number_userrecs(); i++) {
        write_qscn(i, qsc, 1);
      }
      close_qscn();
      close_user();
    }

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

This recently-posted qscan fix is for people who have qscan pointers really
screwed up (you'll know it if you do). The routine, most of which was stolen
out of the newuser qscan initialization, goes through and resets the entire
user.qsc file to look as if every user had just logged on as new (from the
nscan/qscan perspective).

NET33:

NET33 will be released on June 5th, 1993. It will be available on most SDS's at
that time, as well as on my system, Amber. It will NOT support multiple nets
per xfer. It will have the subs.lst description-length bug fixed, in addition
to supporting network2 preprocessors, a new type of external net messages, and
re-written docs, with the sections covering WWIVNet software separated from
those covering WWIVNet Network Policy.


SUBS.LST:

A CATEG.NET file was been sent out along with the last mail_to_all_sysops. If
you're using WWIV v4.22 and net32 (or later), you can now select a category for
your sub to be listed under, in the SUBS.LST file. To pick a category, do
the following:

1) Go into //BOARDEDIT,

2) For each sub you host (on WWIVNet), select option J (Net info)

3) M)odify the line for the sub you host, and re-enter the information.

4) When you get to the "Allow auto sub info?" question, select Y)es. You will
   be presented with the list of categories. Select the correct category (or
   the closest to it). The next SUBS.LST update will then list your sub in the
   correct category.

Finally, if you're short on memory for DSZ or HSLINK, you'll have about 90k
more free to run those using net33.

NET34:

No, I haven't started on it yet, but I am hoping for multi-nets-per-call in
net34. Wanted to get out net33 with the subs.lst description length fix before
I started on the MNPC stuff.


WWIV 4.23:

The multi-language extensions seem to be working smoothly, and I've added many
other minor enhancements - and yes, bug fixes - to the stock version.
Currently, Tolkien (1@3456) is helping with the implementation of a few other
new features for v4.23, so I think you'll see a wider selection of upgrades
with this version. More on this in the future, as things develop.


WWIV/FIDONET:

Yes, we are looking to have FidoNet support in v4.23, most of which will not be
written by me. It is still in the design phase for the time being.


NET UPDATES:

The schedule for sending net updates has changed. Updates will now go out on
Wednesday and Saturday evenings (instead of Thursday and Sunday, as done
previously). The current update schedule looks like this:

Jun 2 (time of this writing)
Jun 5
Jun 9
Jun 12
...


.UUE FILES:

UUEncoded files should not be sent over WWIVNet, other than between directly
connected systems. You may send small (<4k) UUE's sometimes (once a week or
so) if it is necessary, but do not send large files, or send them too often.
Sending files costs people LD charges, and ties up BBS's and net servers.

If you do send UUE files, you may find that they are blocked by a server. You
may also find yourself removed from the network.

In the somewhat near future, there will be a utility available to send files
between BBS's. This will go directly between BBS's, not through the net, and
will hence not cost anyone else any money. We are working on a program to be
called WW4-FREQ which will enable a sysop to request files from or send files
to another WWIV BBS.

The program will work similar to WWIVNet in some ways; that is, you can specify
the time parameters that you wish for your board to use in calling the other
board and you can use macros if you wish. If the other sysop has setup the
program on his end, you will be able to request files from those directories
that he has specified as permitting file requests. Once the program is
developed and working well, we will address methods of identifying boards that
utilize this feature.

Again, this program is only in the development stage right now. For the time
being, any specific questions regarding WW4-FREQ should be forwarded to Filo
(1@2050). In the meantime, please follow the above guidelines regarding the
transmission of .UUE'd files across WWIVNet.

───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────
               │           WWIV in the Courtroom:            │
               │  How Wayne Bell & WWIV Helped Steve Jackson │
               │         Beat the US Secret Service          │
               │             by Polekat (1@5285)             │
               └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Editor's Note: While every sysop in the country is familiar with the case of
Steve Jackson vs The United States Secret Service, and is now well aware of the
outcome, not everyone is aware of a major role Wayne Bell played in the
decision. Wayne, as you'll see, was very instrumental in proving that Secret
Service agents did in fact read private E-Mail prior to deleting it, which in
turn helped to render a decision in favor of Steve Jackson and the EFF.

The following article by 1@5285, printed here for the first time in WWIVNews
with the author's permission, gives the most complete overview of the events
leading up to the Secret Service raid on the Illuminati BBS in March 1990, and
the consequences of these actions. It should be noted that the article is
copyrighted (C)1993 Ed Cavazos, and should not be reprinted without his express
permission. Otherwise his publisher will have a hissy-fit and Ed'll send me
lots of nasty E-Mail :-)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

In March of 1990, the United States Secret Service raided an Austin, Texas
company called Steve Jackson Games (SJG). The raid was the culmination of a
complex series of events involving a government investigation into a computer
hacking group known as The Legion of Doom, and an allegedly valuable text file
detailing some obscure facts about the Emergency 911 system, which members of
the group copied from a phone company computer. Like they had done countless
times before with other targets, the Secret Service busted into the offices of
the Austin roleplaying games publisher and seized several computers and
hundreds of floppy disks. Without any explanation of the charges involved,
or any indication as to whether the company itself was somehow suspected of
wrongdoing, the government carried off the hardware, leaving Jackson's company
crippled.

Unlike those before it, this raid would prove to cause quite a stir and have
long lasting ramifications for the computer and law enforcement communities.
What started out as just another chapter in the continuing saga of law
enforcement's bumbling effort to battle computer crime ended up helping to
establish the rights of sysops and users everywhere, and it did so with the
help of the WWIV software and its author Wayne Bell.

The SS Comes To Austin

One of Jackson's employees, Loyd Blankenship (aka "The Mentor") had long been
involved in the computer underground as a member of the notorious Legion of
Doom (LoD). Blankenship was writing a game called GURPS Cyberpunk for SJG.
Cyberpunk was set in the classic Gibsonian setting of a future world dominated
by computer networks and hackers swiping data for the large corporations who
ruled the planet. In his spare time, Blankenship and another LoD member Chris
Goggans (aka "Erik Bloodaxe") ran an "elite" board from home. The board ("The
Phoenix Project") catered to hackers and others interested in computer
security. It had an active user base of well known underground celebrities,
and offered a decent collection of text files and 'zines dealing with hack/
phreak issues.

The Secret Service took an interest in the activities of the Legion of Doom
after it was alerted to the existence of a document which had been pilfered
from a telephone company computer by some of its Atlanta members ("Prophet"
"Urvile" and "Leftist"). The text file which dealt with the E911 system, was
being edited for inclusion in a popular 'zine called PHRACK, published by
Craig Neidorf (aka "Knight Lightning"). PHRACK had a fairly large subscription
list, and was archived on hundreds of BBS' all over the country.

Unfortunately for him, Blankenship was on that list. He received an advance
copy of PHRACK Issue #24's table of contents through an Austin Internet
address. This led the law to Austin in late February and early March of 1990,
hot on the trail of the evil document and anyone even remotely associated
with it.

The Secret Service, under the leadership of Agent Tim Foley and Assistant
US Attorney William Cook, acquired a search warrant to search the homes of
Blankenship and Goggans. In what has since been revealed as a hasty last minute
decision, they also convinced a US Magistrate to allow them to search the
premises of Steve Jackson Games. On the morning of the search, they
simultaneously raided the three locations, and carted off vans full of computer
equipment.

Jackson was shocked. He had no idea why his company was the target of any kind
of investigation, and the Secret Service weren't talking. The warrant was
"sealed," they told him, and he would just have to wait until they were done
with their investigation before he could find out any more, much less have his
company's computers returned. The government had seized all of the existing
copies of the almost completed GURPS Cyberpunk as well as countless other
files. Without computers, many of Jackson's employees couldn't work.
Publication dates were immediately pushed back for some products and canceled
for others. In desperation, Jackson was forced to lay off a large percentage
of his employees.

News of the Jackson raid began to spread through the BBS and network community.
It eventually got to Mitch Kapor and John Perry Barlowe. Kapor was the
co-author of Lotus 1-2-3 and the founder of Lotus Development. Barlowe was a
renegade net personality who wrote lyrics for the Grateful Dead. Jackson's
story struck a chord with the duo, who had been following the law enforcement
assault on computer users. Together, they formed a non-profit group called the
Electronic Frontier Foundation and as one of the group's first official acts
supported Jackson in a suit against the US government for damages resulting
from the March 1 search and seizure.

Enter WWIV and Wayne Bell

As interesting as this story is, it soon took an even more interesting turn for
the WWIVNet community. It turns out that one of the computers seized by the
government from SJG was a BBS running a registered version of WWIV. The board,
called "The Illuminati" was used by fans of Jackson's games as well as writers
and editors. It had several active subs devoted to various SJG products, a
transfer section which offered playtest version of yet to be released games and
a Gfiles section with articles about the company, how to submit freelance
materials and other related matters. Although it was not a part of WWIVNet,
Jackson was pleased with WWIV's performance and had happily sent in his
registration to Wayne Bell.

Jackson and his attorneys realized that the seizure of the BBS was a crucial
part of their claim. Three of the boards users joined in the lawsuit claiming
that the interception of their personal e-mail by the government violated a
federal statute called the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The ECPA was
designed to keep law enforcement types from getting carried away with wiretaps
and other types of electronic surveillance, but had yet to be applied to
e-mail. Jackson also contended that running the BBS qualified his company as a
publisher under another law called the Privacy Protection Act. The PPA set
strict rules for searching people in the business of disseminating information
to the public, but it too had never been applied to a BBS. Both claims were
bold attempts to establish protections for a hobby which had been largely
ignored by the law up to then.

Early on, Jackson contacted Bell concerning the raid. The government had
returned some partial back-ups of the BBS hard drive, and Bell agreed to
examine them from an expert perspective. His examination turned up a startling
fact: not only had their been e-mail on the system at the time of the raid, but
the government had systematically read and deleted it in its search for any
incriminating evidence. Armed with this knowledge, Jackson's lawyers asked
Wayne to testify as to how he deduced this and as a general expert on BBS's
and WWIV in particular.

This is where I became involved in the story. In the summer of 1992, I was
about to enter my last year of law school at the University of Texas in
Austin. I had been running a WWIV BBS since the days when the source was
written in Turbo Pascal and was (and am) a member of WWIVNet (1@5285 - "The
Bamboo Gardens North"). My study of the law made me begin to wonder about the
legal issues related to running and using a BBS. I even started a network sub
on the subject ("The Modem/BBS Lawnet" subtype 25285, AutoReq). I had been
following the Jackson story with great interest, and the Mentor had been a
user on my board several years before all of this. In 1991, I became involved
in the Austin chapter of the EFF, which had been founded by Jackson and other
net personalities. One of the more active members of the group, science fiction
author Bruce Sterling was even writing a book about the whole ordeal. The
book, entitled "The Hacker Crackdown" presents the complicated story of the
raid and the preceding events in detail, and is the best source for a complete
and accurate description of what really happened leading up to the trial.

I received an offer to work as a summer intern at a large Austin lawfirm which
handled, among other things, media law cases. I was excited to later learn that
the firm was chosen by the EFF to handle the litigation in the SJG v. US Secret
Service case. Because of my familiarity with WWIV and with modeming in general,
I was asked by Pete Kennedy, an associate at the firm to help him and other
attorneys working on the case to piece together what happened on the technical
side of things. One of my tasks was to deal directly with Wayne and help him
prepare for testimony. I was also in charge of setting up a working model of
the Illuminati BBS for use in the courtroom during trial.

Although I had never directly corresponded with Wayne before (except by sending
in my registration check in 1987), I was, like most WWIV sysops are, a big fan
of his. I felt that WWIV was the best BBS software package available for a
single line board, and still do. I was pleased to learn that Wayne was a
friendly and helpful person who was more than willing to lend a hand when I had
a question about something. He was also patient with my lack of programming
knowledge (I have only dabbled with the source, and have always run a stock
version of WWIV).

In several telephone discussions Wayne explained to me how he had come to the
conclusions about the Secret Service reading the e-mail. It turns out that due
to a quirk in the mail routines, they left irrefutable evidence of what they
had done.

WWIV e-mail information was stored in two files with identical names
(EMAIL.DAT). One of them, found in the \DATA directory, contains pointers and
header information. The other, found in the \MSGS directory, contains the
text of the letter and some other info.

Granted, this is a simplification, but for our purposes, it was accurate and as
complicated as we could get with any hope of not losing the judge at trial.
When a piece of e-mail is deleted by a user after he or she reads it, WWIV
places a "0" in the to: field in /data/email.dat (there is no user #0, so this
serves as a flag that the entry is no longer viable). As part of the log-off
procedure, all entries with a "0" in the to: field are deleted, and the process
is complete. If a sysop deletes user e-mail from the Waiting For Caller screen,
however, the "0" is placed in the to: field, but since there is no log-off
after this procedure, the system waits for a normal log-on and log-off before
it deletes all of the zeroed out entries from email.dat. The files, as they
were returned form the Secret Service showed that every entry in the email.dat
was mailed to user 0. Coupled with the file dates (verified from printouts
turned over from the Secret Service investigation), it became evident that
someone at the Secret Service sat at WFC, hit "M" to read all the mail, and
then systematically deleted every piece after reading it.

Wayne flew into Austin the day before the trial and - after chicken fried steak
and a couple of beers - we worked on how his testimony would best be presented.
I had been over this with Pete Kennedy (Jackson's attorney) several times
without Wayne, and Pete spent time with Wayne on the phone, so Wayne turned out
to be a very able witness. His testimony would also established that WWIV was
not, as the government claimed, full of security holes. Hank Kluepfel, a
government witness who was the Director of Network Security at Belcore, had
claimed that WWIV e-mail shouldn't be considered private because WWIV had a
reputation of being lax on security.

At trial, Wayne's testimony was very effective. He really was not challenged by
the government attorneys, and his conclusions were well established as far as
the court was concerned. Steve Jackson was able to sit down at a working model
of the Illuminati BBS during the trial and show the judge exactly what WWIV
looked and felt like. It was also shown at the trial that there was nothing
illegal anywhere on the Illuminati BBS. Every piece of software (including
utilities) was accompanied by a valid ownership. That, and other damaging
testimony from the Secret Service Agents themselves, along with testimony from
the other plaintiffs, led US District Judge Sam Sparks to hand down an opinion
on March 12, 1993 (just over three years after the raid) which held that the
government violated the statutes in question and awarding Steve and the three
users of his board damages.The decision was reported in The Wall Street Journal
and in UPI stories all across the country,


The Aftermath

As positive as it initially appears, the legal significance of the decision is
still being debated by legal analysts. First, it should be noted that the
opinion, while clearly important, is of limited precedent because of the way
our legal system works. It is only the law in the Southern District of Texas.
In theory, other courts might be persuaded by it, but are not bound by its
holding. An appeal from the government (there has been no indication thus far
that they are planning one) would allow the more influential 5th Circuit Court
of Appeals to examine the legal ramifications of the case, but at that point,
things are up in the air again as far as the issues are concerned. There are
some things, however, which are irrefutable from the opinion.

First, it is clear that, at least in a limited jurisdiction, the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act applies to electronic e-mail which is stored on a
BBS. Judge Sparks ruled that each of the three users who had e-mail read by the
government, yet were not under investigation, were entitled to $1000. While
this does not seem like a huge amount, it should be remembered that on a large
board, paying $1000 to every user could be a big deterrent standing in the way
of the government aimlessly reading e-mail where it has no business doing so.

Second, the court held that the government violated the Privacy Protection Act.
The PPA part of the opinion, does not goes as far as sysops might hope,
however, as the judge seemed to base his decision that Jackson qualified as a
publisher on the nature of his company's games and books and not solely on the
fact that he ran a BBS. Although it will be helpful for a future plaintiff
sysop to rely on the SJG decision when trying to establish that the PPA
prevents government seizure of a BBS, it will not be dispositive. Under this
claim, Jackson won over fifty thousand dollars.

I haven't had a chance to talk with Wayne since working with him at the trial.
I am sure he is as pleased as others about the decision, and he should be since
he was an important part of the victory. In their own way, he and his program
have a special place in BBS legal history now.

Sysops should be aware that we are all still on thin ice when trying to get the
legal system to understand our hobby. Although we have been lucky in the past
(the SJG decision, and other important cases like Cubby v. Compuserve), there
need to be more judges who are sensitive to the constitutional protections
which BBS's deserve. Thanks to the determination of Steve Jackson, his
attorneys and people like Wayne Bell who were willing to help, this particular
story had a happy ending. Not all of them do. Blankenship and Goggans have yet
to have any of their equipment returned to them, even though no charges have
ever been brought. They are not alone. Since I have become involved in these
issues, I have been contacted by several sysops who were raided at one time,
had their computers seized and were never charged with a crime. Hopefully, in
the future, law enforcement agents will think twice about such shameless
activities. Until then, the best that sysops can do is to become aware of the
issues, and become active with groups like the EFF that fight to establish
sysop and user rights.


Further Sources:

If you want more information about the facts leading up to the raid on SJG, the
best source is Sterling's book _The Hacker Crackdown_ ($23.00, Bantam - 1992).
Boardwatch magazine has provided very good coverage of the more recent
developments.

In April,a detailed account of the trial was reported. In May, noted cyber-
lawyer Lance Rose analyzes the court's opinion in detail and spells out what he
feels the ramifications are. Rose has also written a book called _SYSLAW_
($34.95, PC Info Group - 1992 [orders 800-321-8285]) which is a great guide to
the legal issues involved in running a BBS.

Pete Kennedy of George, Donaldson & Ford, Jackson's law firm, is working on an
article for an upcoming issue of Boardwatch, as well. The latest issue of
_2600: The Hacker's Quarterly_ has the hacker perspective of the trial reported
by Paco Xander Nathan, who was present throughout the proceedings.

Finally, I am writing a book for MIT press called "The Law of Cyberspace: Your
Rights and Duties in the On-Line World" which should be on the shelves in
January 1994. I'll be happy to respond to e-mail (1@5285) but please refer
legal questions/comments to my WWIVNet sub, The Modem/BBS Lawnet so that
others can benefit from the discussion.

The EFF can be contacted by US Mail by writing 666 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite
303, Wash. DC 20003. Their phone number is [phone], and their e-mail
address is [e-mail] which can be reached from WWIVNet via one of the
Internet gateways.

The EFF sponsors a USENET newsgroup comp.org.eff.talk which has, in the past,
been gated to WWIVNet, although I am not sure if it being done presently.
EFF-Austin, an independent non-profit group, can be reached by mailing me at my
WWIVNet address, by mailing [e-mail], or by reading their
USENET newsgroup austin.eff. Both groups are prepared to help sysops and users
with legal problems in Cyberspace.