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- Computer underground Digest Sun Nov 14 1993 Volume 5 : Issue 86
- ISSN 1004-042X
-
- Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET)
- Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
- Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
- Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
- Ian Dickinson
- Copy Eatitor: Etaoin Shrdlu, III
-
- CONTENTS, #5.86 (Nov 14 1993)
- File 1--Details on Phiber Optik Sentencing (Newsbytes Reprint)
- File 2--Sentencing in Elansky Case set for Nov. 19
- File 3--BCS Community Technology Publication Available
- File 4--NII Call for Action
- File 5--On-Line Access to Gov't Info in Texas
- File 6--CPSR NII Call for Action
- File 7--DOS 6.2 BUG!!!
-
- Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
- available at no cost electronically from tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu. The
- editors may be contacted by voice (815-753-0303), fax (815-753-6302)
- or U.S. mail at: Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL
- 60115.
-
- Issues of CuD can also be found in the Usenet comp.society.cu-digest
- news group; on CompuServe in DL0 and DL4 of the IBMBBS SIG, DL1 of
- LAWSIG, and DL1 of TELECOM; on GEnie in the PF*NPC RT
- libraries and in the VIRUS/SECURITY library; from America Online in
- the PC Telecom forum under "computing newsletters;"
- On Delphi in the General Discussion database of the Internet SIG;
- on the PC-EXEC BBS at (414) 789-4210; and on: Rune Stone BBS (IIRG
- WHQ) (203) 832-8441 NUP:Conspiracy; RIPCO BBS (312) 528-5020
- CuD is also available via Fidonet File Request from 1:11/70; unlisted
- nodes and points welcome.
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-
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-
- COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
- information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of
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- specified. Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles
- relating to computer culture and communication. 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. Digest contributors assume all
- responsibility for ensuring that articles submitted do not
- violate copyright protections.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 19:33:37 EST
- From: mcmullen@MINDVOX.PHANTOM.COM(John F. McMullen)
- Subject: File 1--Details on Phiber Optik Sentencing (Newsbytes Reprint)
-
- ** This article appeared on Newsbytes, an international commercial
- service. It is copyright and is re-printed here with the express
- permission of the authors. **
-
- Phiber Optik Sentenced To Prison - 11/08/93
- NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A..(NB) 110893 -- Mark Abene, known
- also by the hacker handle "Phiber Optik" has been sentenced in federal
- court to one year and one day in federal prison for activities related to
- computer intrusion. Abene will surrender himself on Friday, January 7,
- 1994 to authorities to begin his sentence.
-
- Abene pled guilty on July 2, 1993 to two counts of computer related crime.
- Count One involved conspiracy with 4 other individuals to commit computer
- crime while Count Two involved breaking into a computer belonging to
- Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. The four other persons named on the
- conspiracy indictment, Elias Ladopoulous ("Acid Phreak"), Paul Stira
- ("Scorpion"), Julio Fernandez ("Outlaw"), and John Lee "("Corrupt") , had
- pled guilty prior to Abene and, with the exception of Fernandez, are all
- currently serving sentence. A federal prosecutor told Newsbytes that date
- will be set shortly for Fernandez's sentencing..
-
- Justice Louis Stanton, presiding over Abene's case, began the proceeding
- by asking whether there were any objections to the report prepared by the
- probation department concerning Abene. Paul Ruskin, attorney for Abene,
- stated that he believed that the report seems "unreasonably harsh".
- Stanton replied that, while that may be the case, it was just one of the
- items that he would consider in determining sentence. He added that he had
- received more correspondence concerning this case than for "any that he
- could remember".
-
- Stanton then said that the parties should understand that he was not
- considering in his decision an incident involving New York City television
- station WNET where computer intruders interrupted the use of a computer
- system - Abene had denied involvement and The U.S Attorney's letter of
- October 29th to Judge Stanton concerning Abene's sentencing said "The
- Government does not have any information that Mr. Abene was actually
- responsible for the destruction of WNET's information. It is clear that
- Mr. Abene's co-conspirators were responsible."
-
- The judge then asked for statements from the attorneys and Abene. Paul
- Ruskin, representing Abene, said the teenager that committed the acts to
- which Abene pled guilty to is not the person sitting in court and that
- Abene hopes to use his computer skills for the benefit of society to atone
- for his actions. Ruskin mentioned a letter sent to Judge Stanton by
- ex-military intelligence officer Robert Steele, offering to secure Abene a
- position with a government agency to fulfill community service. Ruskin
- asked that the judge consider that as an alternative to incarceration.
-
- Abene then spoke, saying that he apologized for his actions and was "sorry
- that they were misconstrued malicious."
-
- Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said that he found it difficult to
- believe that Abene's actions disconnecting the phone service of rival
- hackers was not malicious. He also said that Abene "does not show
- contrition even today for his actions."
-
- He also said "Hacking crimes constitute a real threat to the expanding
- information highway. A message must be sent that breaking into other
- people's computers is a serious crime and will be treated as serious"
-
- Stanton then began his sentencing by reviewing some of the issues, saying,
- in part, "One argument concerning the defendant's actions is that they
- took place when he was young, from seventeen to twenty. At that age,
- people excited by things may do reckless things. .... The objectives of
- punishment are both to change the behavior of the person (sentenced) and
- to deter others from similar actions. .. Invasion of computers is
- seductive to the young both because of the intellectual challenge and the
- risk. A message must be sent that it is serious. .. The defendant stands
- as a symbol because of his own efforts; therefore, he stands as a symbol
- here today."
-
- Stanton then imposed the sentence.
- - 12 months and 1 day of incarceration in federal prison
- - 600 of community service with the hope that it will involve the use of
- Abene's computer skills
- - 3 years supervised probation
- - $100 special assessment.
-
- Stanton said that he was imposing no fine, other than the required special
- assessment, because it was clear that Abene has no real assets. He said
- that he was imposing no restitution to the victims of Abene's actions
- because it was not evident what expenditures could be traced directly to
- his actions rather than to needed security improvements and because the
- victims had not been able to clearly show what services of theirs that
- Abene had used and to what extent. He added that he had been tempted to
- impose a longer sentence but decided that this was sufficient.
-
- Berman told Newsbytes "the government feels that the sentence was
- appropriate. Judge Stanton clearly understands the issues and his use of
- this knowledge in determining the sentence was extremely important."
-
- Berman added "Abene was the most culpable of MOD (ed. the hacker group
- named in the indictment). He was the only member of the conspiracy active
- for the entire life of the conspiracy. Agents seized highly incriminating
- documents from him in 1990. His response was not to walk the straight and
- narrow; it was rather to continue his illegal actions. He has shown no
- contrition for his acts and has continually portrayed himself as one of
- the top computer hackers in the country. The sentence is important because
- it sends a message that it is a crime to intrude in public data networks.
- MOD was one of the biggest hacking organizations in the country. The case
- was very significant."
-
- Abene's attorneys. Lawrence Schoenbach and Paul Ruskin also spoke to
- Newsbytes after the verdict. Schoenbach said "While I'm disappointed that
- Mark is going to jail, I recognize the judge's concern for deterring this
- type of crime -- this is the crime of the "next century". Mark has always
- been the message bearer for computer hacking. When it was for hacking,
- he was the leader; now he is the in the punishment -- The Leona Helmsley
- of computer hacking."
-
- Paul Ruskin said "The government and the court is taking the position that
- it is better to deter in this area by punishment rather than deterring
- through effective use of technology."
-
- Mike Godwin, staff counsel for the Electronic Foundation, commented on
- the sentence to Newsbytes, saying "The sentence is harsher than I had
- hoped for bit I'm pleased that the judge gave a lot of attention to the
- underlying issues involved in such a case"
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 08:28:32 EST
- From: IIRG <rune@world.std.com>
- Subject: File 2--Sentencing in Elansky Case set for Nov. 19
-
- ((MODERATORS' NOTE: The following edited summary was provided by
- Mercenary of the IIRG in Briston, Conn.)).
-
- SENTENCING IN COMPUTER CASE NOV. 19 (From The
- Hartford Courant, Nov 11, 1993)
- By John M. Moran
-
- A West Hartford man, jailed after police found bombmaking recipes
- on his computer bulletin board, will spend at least another nine
- days behind bars--and possibly much longer.
-
- In Hartford, Superior Court Judge Thomas Miano, who is about to
- sentence Michael Elansky, said at a pre-sentencing hearing
- Wednesday ((Nov. 10)) that he is not convinced the 21-year old
- fully realizes his mistakes.
-
- (The article describes the judge's comments to Elansky, in which he
- felt that Elansky should "wake up" and fully admit "wrong-doing" as a
- step toward "rehabilitation.")
-
- Elansky has been held at the Hartford Correctional Center since
- his arrest in August on charges of illegally keeping bomb-making
- instructions on his computer bulletin board.
-
- At the time, Elansky was on probation for previous charges
- involving explosives and illegal credit card use. He was also
- facing an unrelated count of conspiring to burglarize Hall High
- School in West Hartford.
-
- (The article notes that Elansky has pleaded guilty for violating
- probation and that the prosecution will not press charges relating to
- the high school burglary charges or the bomb recipes. The Prosecutor,
- Ass't State's Attorney Joan Alexander, argued for a prison sentence
- because she felt Elansky "refuses to accept responsibility" for his
- actions." Elansky's attorney, Richard Brown, disagreed. He claimed
- that Elansky has learned his lesson from 90 days in jail and more
- jail/prison time would be "counterproductive").
-
- Elansky, himself, made a tearful plea for mercy, saying he just
- wants to go back to his family and his job.
-
- "This place is truly hell for me, your honor," he told Miano.
- "I've had to do a lot of growing up while I've been in jail. I've
- gotten the message that only jail can deliver."
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 1 Nov 93 23:30:14 PST
- From: Peter Miller <bcsnpap@IGC.APC.ORG>
- Subject: File 3--BCS Community Technology Publication Available
-
- Boston Computer Society Social Impact/Public Service Publication
- Available
- -- ------- ------ ------------- ------- ----------- ---------
-
- The 44-page November 1993 issue of IMPACT, the Boston Computer
- Society's social impact, nonprofit assistance, and public service
- publication, contains lots of community telecommunications material,
- both about what's happening and from online mailings and conferences:
-
- * Michael Stein on "Aether Madness: Nonprofits Enter Cyberspace"
-
- * The statement of seven democratic public interest telecommunications
- principles generated by Telecommunications Policy Roundtable and the
- Center for Media Education (CME), an introduction to the principles,
- info about CME and the 66 organizations who signed on for the
- October 26th press conference.
-
- * The Center for Civic Networking's National Vision and Strategy
-
- * Dilbert in cyberspace, and and other print and online resources
- including a number of the EduNets.
-
- * On IGC/PeaceNet/EcoNet winning this year's CPSR Award, and more info
- about CPSR.
-
- Other feature articles include:
-
- * The lead article on "TecsChange and the Caravan to El Salvador" by
- Aram Falsafi, a journey last March which saw the welcoming party for
- the materials and technology delivery turn into a nonviolent
- demonstration which closed down the National Assembly.
-
- * "Technology and Community," Gary Chapman's keynote panel address at
- the 3rd New England Computers and Social Change Conference, an
- update of the conference, the BCS Social Impact Group monthly
- program, and the January '94 Conference at MIT on Unemployment and
- the High Tech Revolution.
-
- * A special center insert on "Community Computing Center News and
- Notes," with information about the Playing to Win network of
- community computing centers, an edited selection from the Handbook
- for Future Center, the Community Technology Lab at Capital
- Children's Museum in Washington DC, and articles about computer
- programs and resources for the homeless in Boston.
-
- * A summary report on projects in San Antonio, Dallas, Baltimore,
- Oakland, and Boston which won the five REACH Awards, the computer
- industry's first year acknowledgement of community technology
- programs, organized by Ziff-Davis and the Association of Personal
- Computer User Groups (APCUG), at this year's spring Comdex in
- Atlanta.
-
- * An overview of ITRC/CompuMentor in Chicago, news from
- CompuMentor/SF, a listing of members of the Technology Resource
- Consortium, and an update on the BCS Nonprofit Assistance Program
- and other public service news.
-
- * * * * * * * * * *
-
- A large number of subsidized subscriptions are already supported, and
- there are a limited number of additional copies available for $5 which
- will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Send check
- made out to BCS to:
-
- Marlene Archer
- Public Service Coordinator
- Boston Computer Society
- 1 Kendall Square
- Cambridge, MA 02139
- 617/252-0600 x3312
- msa@world.std.com
-
- ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
- Please repost.
-
- ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1993 12:55:44 -0800
- From: Al Whaley <Al.Whaley@SNYSIDE.SUNNYSIDE.COM>
- Subject: File 4--NII Call for Action
-
- Date--Mon, 1 Nov 93 14:46:22 PST
- From--Doug Schuler <schuler@cpsr.org>
-
- +-------------------------------------------------------------
- Please distribute widely to interested colleagues and friends.
- +-------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
-
- NII Call for Action
-
- Autumn, 1993
-
- Introduction
-
- The Clinton administration has recently developed an "Agenda for
- Action" to develop a National Information Infrastructure (NII), a very
- high capacity network for communication of digital information in the
- United States. While Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
- (CPSR) applauds much of this effort, we feel that there are serious
- concerns that must be addressed if this technology is to meet our
- country's needs and our citizen's expectations into the 21st Century.
-
- This is a critical technology that transcends entertainment,
- convenience shopping, and instant polling. Communication and
- information are at the core of a democratic and equitable society. We
- believe that the development of this technology has the potential to
- fundamentally change the nature of community and democratic discourse
- and, hence, is one of the most critical issues facing us. We feel
- that this issue deserves serious and comprehensive public
- participation.
-
- Important decisions may be made in the near future with inadequate
- public participation. This document is designed to help spur that
- participation. We urge you to contact us with your ideas for what
- needs to be done, and your feedback on this call for action.
-
- Motivation
-
- The United States is faced with profound challenges as it prepares to
- enter the 21st century. These include wide disparities in income and
- economic opportunity as well as a declining sense of community
- involvement. Many of today's children are growing up in an unsafe
- environment with little hope for the future. These problems may well
- be exacerbated by a lack of access to communication and information
- technology. We believe that ensuring affordable access could help
- increase political participation, improve economic opportunities,
- reinvigorate community, and promote opportunities for lifelong
- learning. While not a panacea, technology may be useful in
- this area if it is developed with full democratic participation and if
- genuine human needs are addressed.
-
- Why a Call for Action?
-
- CPSR has written a policy statement with recommendations for those who will
- be building the NII. This statement was released in conjunction with a
- press conference by the Telecommunications Policy Roundtable (TPR), a
- coalition group of some 60 public interest organizations. CPSR's policy
- document, entitled "Serving the Community: A Public-Interest Vision of the
- National Information Infrastructure", is largely addressed to policy makers.
- At the same time, we realize that top-down action from government policy
- makers is only one piece of the puzzle. Action at all levels is required if
- the NII is to become a shared national (and ultimately international)
- resource. This call for action is being released simultaneously with the
- policy statement.
-
- TPR Principles
-
- The TPR principles represent a consensus view of a variety of public-
- interest organizations. These principles represent as shared desire for an
- equitable public space that we can hold in common as a society. We urge you
- to adopt them in any future discussions, proposals, or pilot projects.
-
- (1) Universal access. All people should have affordable access to the
- information infrastructure.
-
- (2) Freedom to communicate. The information infrastructure should
- enable all people to effectively exercise their fundamental right to
- communicate.
-
- (3) Vital civic sector. The information infrastructure must have a
- vital civic sector at its core.
-
- (4) Diverse and competitive marketplace. The information infrastructure
- should ensure competition among ideas and information providers.
-
- (5) Equitable workplace. New technologies should be used to enhance the
- quality of work and to promote equity in the workplace.
-
- (6) Privacy. Privacy should be carefully protected and extended.
-
- (7) Democratic policy-making. The public should be fully involved in
- policy-making for the information infrastructure.
-
- Based on our experience as both users and designers of networking systems
- we have formulated an additional principle:
-
- (8) Functional integrity. The NII must be engineered to high
- standards of reliability, robustness, and extensibility.
-
- Opportunities for Action
-
- We believe that substantial effort will be required if the NII is to
- live up to the principles outlined above. Some of this work can be
- initiated by individuals and some by organizations at the community,
- regional, and national levels. CPSR at both the national and the
- chapter level intends to be a strong player in this effort. These
- objectives will not be realized without a strong diversified and
- distributed effort and we hope that you will become involved in this
- effort. We've included a list of possible opportunities actions - there
- are lots of others!
-
- Education and Public Meetings
-
- + Organize and attend public meetings on the NII
- + Organize and attend study groups on NII issues
- + Write articles and editorial pieces for publication emphasizing the
- eight public-interest principles and their application to specific
- NII proposals and plans.
-
- Work with Community
-
- + Help assess community information and services needs
- + Develop criteria for NII related projects and services to evaluate
- whether they support the public-interest principles and address
- community needs
- + Work with local organizations, projects, and networks to develop
- models of how the NII can promote the public good and to ensure that
- the principles are followed
- + Co-design local service and information related pilot projects that
- can be used by others as models
-
- Work with Government
-
- + Contact government officials to sponsor hearings and consider NII
- issues
- + Identify government information and services for inclusion on NII.
- + Attend and offer testimony at public hearings
- + Help to develop equitable regulatory approaches to NII
- implementation
-
- Work with Organizations
-
- + Work with local cultural, civic, social service, educational, and
- library organizations to develop NII policies, pilot projects, and
- proposals.
- + Work with organizations that are actively working in this area
- + Work with organizations to educate them as to the importance of
- these issues
- + Form coalitions with organizations in this area
-
- Work with Business
-
- + Work with businesses to encourage them to acknowledge and support
- public access to the NII
- + Work with businesses to ensure that affordable public access
- systems and concerns are included in technological and regulatory
- development
-
- Develop and Build Models
-
- + Develop Community Networks, Free-Nets, Civic Networks, information
- and services cooperative and organizations and conduct other
- experiments in local telecommunications.
- + Communicate goals, concerns, and findings to the rest of the
- community
-
- About CPSR
-
- Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility stands alone as the
- only national, non-partisan, public-interest organization dedicated to
- understanding and directing the impact of computers on society.
- Decisions regarding the use of this technology have far-reaching
- consequences that necessarily reflect the basic values and priorities of
- the people who govern their use. We will continue our work on Calling
- Number ID, workplace issues, participatory design, privacy, freedom of
- information, redirection of national technology policy for non-military
- purposes and other issues in addition to our recent NII initiatives.
-
- Founded in 1981, CPSR has 2000 members from all over the world and 22
- chapters across the country. Each of our members is an important
- participant in the dialogue that is helping to shape the future use of
- computers in the United States. Our National Advisory Board includes
- one Nobel laureate and three winners of the Turing Award, the highest
- honor in computer science.
-
- We believe that as the influence of computers continues to permeate
- every aspect of our society, it is important that professionals become
- active participants in formulating the policy that governs computer
- use and access. CPSR welcomes any and all who share our convictions.
-
- To obtain copies of the CPSR NII Policy Document or to obtain
- additional information about CPSR, contact us at cpsr@cpsr.org or
- CPSR, P.O. Box 717, Palo Alto, CA, 94302.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 11:19:22 CDT
- From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@mindvox.phantom.com>
- Subject: File 5--On-Line Access to Gov't Info in Texas
-
- ((MODERATORS' NOTE: The original header from the following post
- was garbled, but thanks to the poster nonetheless)).
-
- Window on State Government Electronic Bulletin Board
- 1-800-227-8392 (1-800-BBS-TEXA)
-
-
- This is a free service of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
- for callers in Texas.
-
- This board contains a wide variety of economic and tax information,
- state spending by category and year, state revenue by source and
- year, news releases, Comptroller job postings, and a mailbox for
- comments, suggestions and questions.
-
- It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
-
- TO SET UP AN ACCOUNT: Call and follow the instructions. The BBS
- provides menus and prompts to guide you along.
- COMMUNICATION SETTINGS: NO parity, 8 databits, 1 stopbit, FULL
- duplex (N,8,1,F). Twelve lines with 4 14,400 baud modems and eight
- 9600.
- MODEM NUMBER: 1-800-227-8392 (475-1051 in Austin)
- VOICE LINE: 1-800-531-5441, ext. 5-0996 (475-0996 in Austin)
- CONTACT PERSONS: Drew Scherz, Gabriel Zavala, Robert Cavazos
-
- Current tax rules are online. They are listed under Taxability
- Information (Main Menu Option 5 and Taxability Information Menu
- Option 4).
-
- Main Menu Option 2 is Comptroller News & Information. From the
- Comptroller News & Information menu you can access Comptroller
- Job Postings, News Releases, the federal National Performance
- Review and the federal Proposed National Health Plan and
- President's Speech to Congress.
-
- Also under Comptroller News & Information Option 9 (File Library),
- there are a number of files that you can read onscreen or download.
- Among these files are lists of Texas House and Senate members and
- the 1987 SIC Codes.
-
- In addition to news and information from the Texas Comptroller of
- Public Accounts, there is access to information from other sources.
- >From the BBS News menu (Main Menu Option 6), you will find a list
- of Texas public information bulletin boards and can connect to
- some Texas bulletin boards such as the State Technology Assessment
- Center BBS, Texas Ethics Commission BBS, Texas State Library, and
- Texas Employment Commission BBS.
-
-
- Mary Shearer
- Government Documents Librarian
- University of Houston Law Library
- Shearer@uh.edu
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 11:54:40 CST
- From: Nikki Draper <draper@EUPHRATES.STANFORD.EDU>
- Subject: File 6--CPSR NII Call for Action
-
- +-------------------------------------------------------------
- Please distribute widely to interested colleagues and friends.
- +-------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
-
- NII Call for Action
-
- Autumn, 1993
-
- Introduction
-
- The Clinton administration has recently developed an "Agenda for
- Action" to develop a National Information Infrastructure (NII), a very
- high capacity network for communication of digital information in the
- United States. While Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
- (CPSR) applauds much of this effort, we feel that there are serious
- concerns that must be addressed if this technology is to meet our
- country's needs and our citizen's expectations into the 21st Century.
-
- This is a critical technology that transcends entertainment,
- convenience shopping, and instant polling. Communication and
- information are at the core of a democratic and equitable society. We
- believe that the development of this technology has the potential to
- fundamentally change the nature of community and democratic discourse
- and, hence, is one of the most critical issues facing us. We feel
- that this issue deserves serious and comprehensive public
- participation.
-
- Important decisions may be made in the near future with inadequate
- public participation. This document is designed to help spur that
- participation. We urge you to contact us with your ideas for what
- needs to be done, and your feedback on this call for action.
-
- Motivation
-
- The United States is faced with profound challenges as it prepares to
- enter the 21st century. These include wide disparities in income and
- economic opportunity as well as a declining sense of community
- involvement. Many of today's children are growing up in an unsafe
- environment with little hope for the future. These problems may well
- be exacerbated by a lack of access to communication and information
- technology. We believe that ensuring affordable access could help
- increase political participation, improve economic opportunities,
- reinvigorate community, and promote opportunities for lifelong
- learning. While not a panacea, technology may be useful in this area
- if it is developed with full democratic participation and if genuine
- human needs are addressed.
-
- Why a Call for Action?
-
- CPSR has written a policy statement with recommendations for those who
- will be building the NII. This statement was released in conjunction
- with a press conference by the Telecommunications Policy Roundtable
- (TPR), a coalition group of some 60 public interest organizations.
- CPSR's policy document, entitled "Serving the Community: A
- Public-Interest Vision of the National Information Infrastructure", is
- largely addressed to policy makers. At the same time, we realize that
- top-down action from government policy makers is only one piece of the
- puzzle. Action at all levels is required if the NII is to become a
- shared national (and ultimately international) resource. This call
- for action is being released simultaneously with the policy statement.
-
- TPR Principles
-
- The TPR principles represent a consensus view of a variety of
- public-interest organizations. These principles represent as shared
- desire for an equitable public space that we can hold in common as a
- society. We urge you to adopt them in any future discussions,
- proposals, or pilot projects.
-
- (1) Universal access. All people should have affordable access to
- the information infrastructure.
-
- (2) Freedom to communicate. The information infrastructure should
- enable all people to effectively exercise their fundamental
- right to communicate.
-
- (3) Vital civic sector. The information infrastructure must have a
- vital civic sector at its core.
-
- (4) Diverse and competitive marketplace. The information
- infrastructure should ensure competition among ideas and
- information providers.
-
- (5) Equitable workplace. New technologies should be used to enhance
- the quality of work and to promote equity in the workplace.
-
- (6) Privacy. Privacy should be carefully protected and extended.
-
- (7) Democratic policy-making. The public should be fully involved
- in policy-making for the information infrastructure.
-
- Based on our experience as both users and designers of networking
- systems we have formulated an additional principle:
-
- (8) Functional integrity. The NII must be engineered to high
- standards of reliability, robustness, and extensibility.
-
- Opportunities for Action
-
- We believe that substantial effort will be required if the NII is to
- live up to the principles outlined above. Some of this work can be
- initiated by individuals and some by organizations at the community,
- regional, and national levels. CPSR at both the national and the
- chapter level intends to be a strong player in this effort. These
- objectives will not be realized without a strong diversified and
- distributed effort and we hope that you will become involved in this
- effort. We've included a list of possible opportunities actions - there
- are lots of others!
-
- Education and Public Meetings
-
- + Organize and attend public meetings on the NII
- + Organize and attend study groups on NII issues
- + Write articles and editorial pieces for publication emphasizing the
- eight public-interest principles and their application to specific
- NII proposals and plans.
-
- Work with Community
-
- + Help assess community information and services needs
- + Develop criteria for NII related projects and services to evaluate
- whether they support the public-interest principles and address
- community needs
- + Work with local organizations, projects, and networks to develop
- models of how the NII can promote the public good and to ensure that
- the principles are followed
- + Co-design local service and information related pilot projects that
- can be used by others as models
-
- Work with Government
-
- + Contact government officials to sponsor hearings and consider NII
- issues
- + Identify government information and services for inclusion on NII.
- + Attend and offer testimony at public hearings
- + Help to develop equitable regulatory approaches to NII
- implementation
-
- Work with Organizations
-
- + Work with local cultural, civic, social service, educational, and
- library organizations to develop NII policies, pilot projects, and
- proposals.
- + Work with organizations that are actively working in this area
- + Work with organizations to educate them as to the importance of
- these issues
- + Form coalitions with organizations in this area
-
- Work with Business
-
- + Work with businesses to encourage them to acknowledge and support
- public access to the NII
- + Work with businesses to ensure that affordable public access
- systems and concerns are included in technological and regulatory
- development
-
- Develop and Build Models
-
- + Develop Community Networks, Free-Nets, Civic Networks, information
- and services cooperative and organizations and conduct other
- experiments in local telecommunications.
- + Communicate goals, concerns, and findings to the rest of the
- community
-
- About CPSR
-
- Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility stands alone as the
- only national, non-partisan, public-interest organization dedicated to
- understanding and directing the impact of computers on society.
- Decisions regarding the use of this technology have far-reaching
- consequences that necessarily reflect the basic values and priorities of
- the people who govern their use. We will continue our work on Calling
- Number ID, workplace issues, participatory design, privacy, freedom of
- information, redirection of national technology policy for non-military
- purposes and other issues in addition to our recent NII initiatives.
-
- Founded in 1981, CPSR has 2000 members from all over the world and 22
- chapters across the country. Each of our members is an important
- participant in the dialogue that is helping to shape the future use of
- computers in the United States. Our National Advisory Board includes
- one Nobel laureate and three winners of the Turing Award, the highest
- honor in computer science.
-
- We believe that as the influence of computers continues to permeate
- every aspect of our society, it is important that professionals become
- active participants in formulating the policy that governs computer use
- and access. CPSR welcomes any and all who share our convictions.
-
- To obtain copies of the CPSR NII Policy Document or to obtain additional
- information about CPSR, contact us at cpsr@cpsr.org or CPSR, P.O. Box
- 717, Palo Alto, CA, 94301.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 04:26:54 GMT
- From: kyber <kyber@MIXCOM.MIXCOM.COM>
- Subject: File 7--DOS 6.2 BUG!!!
-
- There is a serious bug in MS-DOS 6.2 (the "step-up" from DOS 6.0):
-
- A conflict occurs between VSafe, DOS, and Windows that makes it
- impossible to open Windows. This may be avoided by unloading VSafe
- before installing 6.2 (actually, it's generally a good idea to
- dismantle your virus shield before installing programs, after you
- check that the program is virus-free, of course). If that doesn't
- work, then delete the "chkdsk.ms" files in the DOS, Windows, and
- Windows/System directories and reboot. Ignore the Window's messages
- that it is missing a driver or that it needs to be reinstalled.
- Microsoft has been getting a lot of calls on this one.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of Computer Underground Digest #5.86
- ************************************
-