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- Computer underground Digest Tue Jan 11 1994 Volume 6 : Issue 05
- ISSN 1004-042X
-
- Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET)
- Archivist: Brendan Kehoe (BEST WISHES, BK)
- Acting Archivist: Stanton McCandlish
- Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
- Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
- Ian Dickinson
- Copy Edifier: Etalon Shrdlu
-
- CONTENTS, #6.05 (Jan 11 1994)
- File 1--No Time For Goodbyes - Phiber Optik's Journey to Prison
- File 2--Federal Prison Regs on Computer Classes/Books
- File 3--How to Contact Phiber Optik
- File 4--EFF Helps Eliminate Outrageous Sentences for Computer Crimes
- File 5--Brendan Kehoe, the accident and me ((The Passenger))
- File 6--Current News (11 Jan '94) of Brendan Kehoe's Recovery
- File 7--Technology & Employment Conf, 1/21-22, Cambridge, MA
-
- Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
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- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 10 Jan 1994 21:51:15 -0800
- From: Emmanuel Goldstein <emmanuel@WELL.SF.CA.US>
- Subject: File 1--No Time For Goodbyes - Phiber Optik's Journey to Prison
-
- No Time For Goodbyes
- Phiber Optik's Journey to Prison
- by Emmanuel Goldstein
-
- It was almost like looking forward to something. That's the feeling
- we all had as we started out on Thursday evening, January 6th - one
- day before Phiber Optik (hereafter called Mark) was to report to
- federal prison in Schuylkill, Pennsylvania for his undefined part
- in an undefined conspiracy. We were all hackers of one sort or
- another and this trip to a prison was actually a sort of adventure
- for us. We knew Mark's curiosity had been piqued as well, though not
- to the point of outweighing the dread of the unknown and the emotional
- drain of losing a year of life with friends, family, and technology.
-
- There were five of us who would take the trip down to Philadelphia in
- a car meant for four - myself, Mark, Walter, Roman, and Rob. The plan
- was to meet up with 2600 people in Philadelphia on Thursday, drive out
- to Schuylkill and drop Mark off on Friday, drive back and go to the
- Philadelphia 2600 meeting, and return later that evening. It sure
- sounded better than sending him away on a prison bus.
-
- Knocking on the door of his family's house in Queens that frigid
- night, a very weird feeling came over me. How many times had I stood
- there before to take Mark to a conference, a hacker meeting, a radio
- show, whatever. Today I was there to separate him from everything he
- knew. I felt like I had somehow become part of the process, that I was
- an agent of the government sent there to finish the dirty work that
- they had begun. It doesn't take a whole lot to join the gestapo, I
- realized.
-
- I talked to Mark's father for the very first time that night. I had
- chatted with his mother on a number of occasions but never his father
- before then. He was putting on as brave a front as he could, looking
- at any glimmer of optimism as the shape reality would take. The
- prison wouldn't be that bad, he would be treated like a human being,
- they'd try to visit on the weekends, and anything else that could help
- make this seem like an extended vacation. As long as he learns to keep
- his mouth shut and not annoy anyone, he'll be all right. Of course, we
- both knew full well that Mark's forthright approach *always* managed
- to annoy somebody, albeit usually only until they got to know him a
- little. Imagining Mark fading into the background just wasn't
- something we could do.
-
- Everything in Mark's room was neatly arranged and ready to greet him
- upon his return - his computer, manuals, a videotape of "Monty Python
- and the Holy Grail" with extra footage that a friend had sent him (I
- convinced him to let me borrow it), a first edition of "Hackers" that
- Steven Levy had just given him, and tons of other items that could
- keep anyone occupied for hours. In fact, he was occupied when I got
- there - he and Walter were trying to solve a terminal emulation
- problem. My gestapo duties forced me to get him going. It was getting
- late and we had to be in Philadelphia at a reasonable time, especially
- since it was supposed to start snowing at any moment. And so, the
- final goodbyes were said - Mark's mother was especially worried that
- he might forget part of his medication or that they'd have difficulty
- getting him refills. (In fact, everyone involved in his case couldn't
- understand why Mark's serious health problems had never been mentioned
- during the whole ordeal or considered during sentencing.) The rest of
- us waited in the car so he could have some final moments of privacy -
- and also so we wouldn't have to pretend to smile while watching a
- family being pulled apart in front of us, all in the name of sending a
- message to other hackers.
-
- Our drive was like almost any other. We talked about the previous
- night's radio show, argued about software, discussed nuances of Star
- Trek, and managed to get lost before we even left New York. (Somehow
- we couldn't figure out how the BQE southbound connected with the
- Verrazano Bridge which led to an extended stay in Brooklyn.) We talked
- about ECHO, the system that Mark has been working on over the past
- year and how, since Wednesday, a couple of dozen users had changed
- their last names to Optik as a tribute. It meant a lot to him.
-
- When you're in a car with five hackers, there's rarely any quiet
- moments and the time goes by pretty quickly. So we arrived in
- Philadelphia and (after getting lost again) found our way to South
- Street and Jim's Cheesesteaks, a place I had always wanted to take
- Mark to, since he has such an affinity to red meat. Jim's is one of my
- favorite places in the world and we soon became very comfortable
- there. We met up with Bernie S. and some of the other Philadelphia
- hackers and had a great time playing with laptops and scanners while
- eating cheesesteaks. The people at Jim's were fascinated by us and
- asked all kinds of questions about computers and things. We've had so
- many gatherings like this in the past, but it was pretty cool to just
- pull into a strange city and have it happen again. The karma was good.
-
- We wound up back at Bernie S.'s house where we exchanged theories and
- experiences of our various cable and phone companies, played around
- with scanners, and just tried to act like everything was as normal as
- ever. We also went to an all-night supermarket to find Pennsylvania
- things: TastyKakes, Pennsylvania Dutch pretzels, and pickles that we
- found out were really from Brooklyn. We managed to confuse the hell
- out of the bar code reader by passing a copy of 2600 over it - the
- system hung for at least a minute!
-
- It was around five in the morning when one of us finally asked the
- question: "Just when exactly does Mark have to be at this prison?" We
- decided to call them right then and there to find out. The person
- answering the phone was nice enough - she said he had until 11:59 pm
- before he was considered a fugitive. This was very good news - it
- meant a few more hours of freedom and Mark was happy that he'd get to
- go to the Philadelphia meeting after all. As we drifted off to sleep
- with the sun rising, we tried to outdo each other with trivial
- information about foreign countries. Mark was particularly good with
- obscure African nations of years past while I was the only one who
- knew what had become of Burma. All told, not a bad last day.
-
- Prison Day arrived and we all got up at the same moment (2:03 pm)
- because Bernie S. sounded an airhorn in the living room. Crude, but
- effective.
-
- As we recharged ourselves, it quickly became apparent that this was a
- very bizarre day. During the overnight, the entire region had been
- paralyzed by a freak ice storm - something I hadn't seen in 16 years
- and most of the rest of us had never experienced. We turned on the TV
- - interstates were closed, power was failing, cars were moving
- sideways, people were falling down.... This was definitely cool. But
- what about Mark? How could we get him to prison with roads closed and
- treacherous conditions everywhere? His prison was about two hours away
- in the direction of wilderness and mining towns. If the city was
- paralyzed, the sticks must be amputated entirely!
-
- So we called the prison again. Bernie S. did the talking, as he had
- done the night before. This time, he wound up getting transferred a
- couple of times. They weren't able to find Mark's name anywhere. But
- that good fortune didn't last - "Oh yeah, I know who you're talking
- about," the person on the phone said. Bernie explained the situation
- to them and said that the State Troopers were telling people not to
- travel. So what were we to do? "Well," the friendly-sounding voice on
- the other end said, "just get here when you can get here." We were
- overjoyed. Yet more freedom for Mark all because of a freak of nature!
- I told Bernie that he had already been more successful than Mark's
- lawyer in keeping him out of prison.
-
- We spent the afternoon getting ready for the meeting, watching The
- Weather Channel, and consuming tea and TastyKakes in front of a
- roaring fire. At one point we turned to a channel that was hawking
- computer education videos for kids. "These children," the fake
- schoolteacher was saying with equally fake enthusiasm, "are going to
- be at such an advantage because they're taking an early interest in
- computers." "Yeah," we heard Mark say with feigned glee from another
- room, "they may get to experience *prison* for a year!"
-
- It took about 45 minutes to get all of the ice off our cars.
- Negotiating hills and corners became a matter of great concern. But we
- made it to the meeting, which took place in the middle of 30th Street
- Station, where all of the Amtrak trains were two and a half hours
- late. Because of the weather, attendance was less than usual but the
- people that showed up were enthusiastic and glad to meet Phiber Optik
- as he passed by on his way up the river.
-
- After the meeting we found a huge tunnel system to explore, complete
- with steampipes and "Poseidon Adventure" rooms. Everywhere we went,
- there were corridors leading to new mysteries and strange sights. It
- was amazing to think that the moment when everybody figured Mark would
- be in prison, here he was with us wandering around in the bowels of a
- strange city. The karma was great.
-
- But then the real fun began. We decided to head back to South Street
- to find slow food - in fact, what would probably be Mark's last
- genuine meal. But Philadelphia was not like New York. When the city is
- paralyzed, it really is paralyzed. Stores close and people stay home,
- even on a Friday night. We wanted to take him to a Thai place but both
- of the ones we knew of were closed. We embarked on a lengthy search by
- foot for an open food place. The sidewalks and the streets were
- completely encased in ice. Like drunken sailors in slow motion, we all
- staggered down the narrow streets, no longer so much concerned with
- food, but just content to remain upright. People, even dogs, were
- slipping and falling all around us. We did our best to maintain
- dignity but hysterical laughter soon took over because the situation
- was too absurd to believe. Here we were in a strange city, unable to
- stand upright in a veritable ice palace, trying to figure out a way to
- get one of our own into a prison. I knew it was going to be a strange
- trip but this could easily beat any drug.
-
- We ate like kings in a Greek place somewhere for a couple of hours,
- then walked and crawled back to the cars. The plan now was to take
- Mark to prison on Saturday when hopefully the roads would be passable.
- Actually, we were all hoping this would go on for a while longer but
- we knew it had to end at some point. So, after a stop at an all-night
- supermarket that had no power and was forced to ring up everything by
- hand, we made it back to Bernie's for what would really be Mark's last
- free night. It was well after midnight and Mark was now officially
- late for prison. (Mark has a reputation for being late to things but
- at least this time the elements could take the blame.) We wound up
- watching the "Holy Grail" videotape until it was practically light
- again. One of the last things I remember was hearing Mark say how he
- wanted to sleep as little as possible so he could be awake and free
- longer.
-
- We left Bernie's late Saturday afternoon. It was sad because the aura
- had been so positive and now it was definitely ending. We were leaving
- the warmth of a house with a fireplace and a conversation pit,
- journeying into the wild and the darkness with wind chill factors well
- below zero. And this time, we weren't coming back.
-
- We took two cars - Bernie and Rob in one; me, Mark, Walter, and Roman
- in the other. We kept in touch with two way radios which was a very
- good idea considering the number of wrong turns we always manage to
- make. We passed through darkened towns and alien landscapes, keeping
- track of the number of places left to go through. We found a
- convenience store that had six foot tall beef jerky and Camel Light
- Wides. Since Mark smokes Camel Lights (he had managed to quit but all
- of the stress of the past year has gotten him right back into it), and
- since he had never heard of the wide version, I figured he'd like to
- compare the two, so I bought him a pack. I never buy cigarettes for
- anyone because I can't stand them and I think they're death sticks but
- in this case I knew they'd be therapeutic. As we stood out there in
- the single digits - him with his Wides, me with my iced tea - he said
- he could definitely feel more smoke per inch. And, for some reason, I
- was glad to hear it.
-
- Minersville was our final destination but we had one more town to pass
- through - Frackville. Yeah, no shit. It was the final dose of that
- magical karma we needed. As we looked down the streets of this tiny
- town, we tried to find a sign that maybe we could take a picture of,
- since nobody would ever believe us. We pulled up to a convenience
- store as two cops were going in. And that's when we realized what we
- had been sent there to do.
-
- Bernie S. went in to talk to the cops and when he came out, he had
- convinced them to pose with Mark in front of their squad car. (It
- didn't really take much convincing - they were amazed that anyone
- would care.) So, if the pictures come out, you can expect to see a
- shot of Phiber Optik being "arrested" by the Frackville police, all
- with big smiles on their faces. Frackville, incidentally, has a
- population of about 5,000 which I'm told is about the distribution of
- Phrack Magazine. Kinda cosmic.
-
- So now there was nothing left to do. We couldn't even get lost - the
- prison was straight ahead of us. Our long journey was about to come to
- a close. But it had been incredible from the start; there was no
- reason to believe the magic would end here. The prison people would be
- friendly, maybe we'd chat with them for a while. They'd make hot
- chocolate. All right, maybe not. But everybody would part on good
- terms. We'd all give Mark a hug. Our sadness would be countered by
- hope.
-
- The compound was huge and brightly lit. We drove through it for miles
- before reaching the administration building. We assumed this was where
- Mark should check in so we parked the cars there and took a couple of
- final videos from our camcorder. Mark was nervous but he was still
- Mark. "I think the message is 'come here in the summer,'" he said to
- the camera as we shivered uncontrollably in the biting freeze.
-
- As we got to the door of the administration building, we found it to
- be locked. We started looking for side doors or any other way to get
- in. "There's not a record of people breaking *into* prison," Bernie
- wondered out loud. It was still more craziness. Could they actually be
- closed?
-
- I drove down the road to another building and a dead end. Bernie
- called the prison from his cellular phone. He told them he was in
- front of the administration building and he wanted to check somebody
- in. They were very confused and said there was no way he could be
- there. He insisted he was and told them he was in his car. "You have
- a *car* phone?" they asked in amazement. When the dust settled, they
- said to come down to the building at the end of the road where I was
- already parked. We waited around for a couple of minutes until we saw
- some movement inside. Then we all got out and started the final steps
- of our trip.
-
- I was the first one to get to the door. A middle-aged bespectacled guy
- was there. I said hi to him but he said nothing and fixed his gaze on
- the five other people behind me.
-
- "All right, who's from the immediate family?"
-
- "None of us are immediate family. We're just--"
-
- "Who's the individual reporting in?"
-
- "I'm the individual reporting in," Mark said quietly.
-
- "The only one I need is just him."
-
- The guard asked Mark if he had anything on him worth more than $100.
- Mark said he didn't. The guard turned to us.
-
- "All right, gentlemen. He's ours. Y'all can depart."
-
- They pulled him inside and he was gone. No time for goodbyes from any
- of us - it happened that fast. It wasn't supposed to have been like
- this; there was so much to convey in those final moments. Mark, we're
- with you... Hang in there... We'll come and visit.... Just a fucking
- goodbye for God's sake.
-
- It caught us all totally off guard. They were treating him like a
- maximum security inmate. And they treated us like we were nothing,
- like we hadn't been through this whole thing together, like we hadn't
- just embarked on this crazy adventure for the last few days. The
- karma was gone.
-
- >From behind the door, a hooded figure appeared holding handcuffs. He
- looked through the glass at us as we were turning to leave. Suddenly,
- he opened the outer door and pointed to our camera. "You can't be
- videotaping the prison here," he said. "All right," I replied, being
- the closest one to him and the last to start back to the cars. As I
- turned away, he came forward and said, "We gotta have that film." "But
- we didn't take any pictures of the prison!" I objected. "We gotta take
- it anyway," he insisted.
-
- We all knew what to do. Giving up the tape would mean losing all
- recordings of Mark's last days of freedom. The meeting in
- Philadelphia, slipping down the icy streets, hanging out in Bernie's
- house, Frackville.... No way. No fucking way.
-
- Roman, who had been our cameraman throughout, carefully passed off the
- camera to Bernie, who quickly got to the front of the group. I stayed
- behind to continue insisting that we hadn't filmed any part of their
- precious prison. I didn't even get into the fact that there are no
- signs up anywhere saying this and that it appeared to me that he was
- imposing this rule just to be a prick. Not that I would have, since
- Mark was somewhere inside that building and anything we did could have
- repercussions for him. Fortunately, the hooded guard appeared to
- conclude that even if he was able to grab our camera, he'd probably
- never find the tape. And he never would have.
-
- The hooded guard stepped back inside and we went on our way. If it had
- been dark and cold before, now it was especially so. And we all felt
- the emptiness that had replaced Mark, who had been an active part of
- our conversations only a couple of minutes earlier. We fully expected
- to be stopped or chased at any moment for the "trouble" we had caused.
- It was a long ride out of the compound.
-
- We headed for the nearest major town: Pottsville. There, we went to
- the only 24 hour anything in miles, a breakfast/burger joint called
- Coney Island of all things. We just kind of sat there for awhile, not
- really knowing what to say and feeling like real solid shit. Roman
- took out the camcorder and started looking through the view screen.
- "We got it," he said. "We got it all."
-
- Looking at the tape, the things that really hit me hard are the happy
- things. Seeing the cops of Frackville posing and laughing with Mark,
- only a few minutes before that ugly episode, puts a feeling of lead in
- my stomach. I'm just glad we gave him a hell of a sendoff; memories of
- it will give him strength to get through this.
-
- What sticks with me the most is the way Mark never changed, right up
- to the end. He kept his incredible sense of humor, his caustic wit,
- his curiosity and sense of adventure. And he never stopped being a
- hacker in the true sense. What would a year of this environment do to
- such a person?
-
- Our long ride back to New York was pretty quiet for the most part.
- Occasionally we'd talk about what happened and then we'd be alone with
- our thoughts. My thoughts are disturbing. I know what I saw was wrong.
- I know one day we'll realize this was a horrible thing to do to
- somebody in the prime of life. I don't doubt any of that. What I
- worry about is what the cost will be. What will happen to these
- bright, enthusiastic, and courageous people I've come to know and
- love? How many of us will give up and become embittered shells of the
- full individuals we started out as? Already, I've caught myself
- muttering aloud several times, something new for me.
-
- Mark was not the only one, not by far. But he was a symbol - even the
- judge told him that at the sentencing. And a message was sent, as our
- system of justice is so fond of doing. But this time another message
- was sent - this one from Mark, his friends, and the scores of other
- hackers who spoke up. Everybody knew this wasn't right. All through
- this emotional sinkhole, our tears come from sadness and from anger.
- And, to quote the Clash, "Anger can be power." Now we just have to
- learn to use it.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1993 10:58:52 -0800
- From: fen@IMAGINE.COMEDIA.COM(Fen Labalme)
- Subject: File 2--Federal Prison Regs on Computer Classes/Books
-
- ((MODERATORS' NOTE: Fen Labalme heard a rumor that "computer books"
- could not be sent to federal prisoners. So, he tracked down the
- information. Here's what he found)).
-
- Well, after quite a few calls and re-directions, I finally got through
- to one Tom Metzker at the federal bureau of prisons public affairs
- office (202/307-3198). He was quite helpful, if a little "tentative"
- as we talked.
-
- He told me of a new (June 1993) prison policy that states that "no
- computer training" will be done in federal prisons. This includes
- (but is not limited to!) "programming techniques, computer languages,
- and computer repairs". He went on to say that programming includes
- "macros; for example, no DBase commands may be taught".
-
- Tom informed me that many prisons now have computers for use by the
- inmates, but that "people who exhibit a propensity towards computers
- may be denied access to them".
-
- I asked "what is the harm of learning a trade, such a C programming,
- that could be useful when the prisoner leaves?" He said that the rule
- was worded (as, he allowed, most such rules were) in a vague way that
- ultimately left it up to the warden as to what would or would not be
- allowable, and that special exceptions could be made by the warden in
- any case.
-
- Anyway, this all sounds pretty unfair to me. I could understand,
- perhaps, if a person's crime was committed on computers that part of
- the punishment may be denial of access to a computer. But my friend
- was growing pot (a terrible crime -- aren't you glad that his
- punishment is greater, thanks to those wonderful mandatory minimum
- sentences, than if he had committed rape?) and now wants to learn
- about computers as a legitimate way to make money in today's
- information-centric world.
-
- I think the prison system is failing us, the American society, if we
- don't allow inmates to learn valuable, socially beneficial skills
- while incarcerated. What can be done?
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Tue, 11 Jan 1993 14:21:18 EST
- From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@mindvox.phantom.com>
- Subject: File 3--How to Contact Phiber Optik
-
- Emmanuel Goldstein's sensitive description of Phiber Optik's last day
- of freedom underscores the need to rethink contemporary prison
- philosophy: The punitive ethos emphasizing the "lock-'em-up" agenda
- has failed. One of its nasty consequences includes incarcerating
- those for whom prison time serves little purpose, costs the taxpayers
- unnecessary money, and has no significant impact on crime rates.
-
- Phiber will likely spend less than 10 months in prison, much less if
- placed in an alternative program such as community corrections.
- However, prison time--especially short time--is unpleasant. The daily
- monotony, boredom, restrictions on freedom, and deprivation of even
- the most common things that most of us take for granted, erode one's
- psyche.
-
- Schuylkill (pronounced "school-kill") FCI is in Minersville, PA in a
- mountainous, rural-agricultural area. The central prison is fairly
- large, about 1,000. There is also a Level One (minimum security)
- satellite camp of about 290 residents where Mark will do his time.
-
- According to a prison spokesperson, Mark will live in a two-person
- cubicle. The prisoners in the camp were categorized as "non-violent,
- first-term offenders," and instances of violence, assaults, and
- attacks were described as "extremely rare." The spokesperson said that
- all camp prisoners were assigned a prison job.
-
- Those wishing to correspond with Mark or to send him packages should
- note the following:
-
- 1) He may, in general, receive PAPERBACK BOOKS, soft-cover magazines,
- newspapers, and conventional letters.
-
- 2) HARDCOVER BOOKS must be sent DIRECTLY from the publisher.
-
- 3) He MAY NOT receive in the mail clothes, food, money, stamps, or
- anything else. No exceptions.
-
- 4) There are no explicit restrictions on the types of books or
- periodicals he may receive. These are done on a case-by-case basis.
- With the exception of legal correspondence, all incoming mail is
- subject to screening by prison staff.
-
- The prison spokesperson indicated that there is no set limit on the
- number of books that Mark may receive, but emphasized that people
- should use common sense. A prisoner's personal area, he said, is
- rather small. Sending more than one or two books at a time could
- quickly become a storage problem.
-
- Emmanuel Goldstein of 2600 Magazine will be coordinating Mark's needs.
- Those who wish to send books should contact Emmanuel at
- emmanuel@well.sf.ca.us and see what kinds of books or papers should be
- sent.
-
- Mark's address:
-
- Mark Abene (32109-054)
- Schuylkill FCI
- Minersville, PA 17954
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 07 Jan 94 18:21:29 EST
- From: EFF <editors@eff.org>
- Subject: File 4--EFF Helps Eliminate Outrageous Sentences for Computer Crimes
-
- Source: EFFector Online Volume 7 No. 1 01/07/1994
-
- Comments opposing the United States Sentencing Commission's proposed
- guideline for the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act submitted by EFF, SEA
- (the Society for Electronic Access), CPSR and others have been taken
- to heart. The U.S.S.C. recently announced a *new* proposal for
- Computer Fraud and Abuse sentencings. Instead of the single guideline
- for all computer crimes proposed by the Department of Justice last
- year, the new guideline takes into account the intention of the
- defendant by directing the sentencing court to the most appropriate
- existing guideline.
-
- For example, under the old proposed guideline, a first time offender
- who accessed a computer without authority, copied a non-protected
- file, and posted that file to a BBS would get 10 to 16 months in
- prison with no parole -- the judge would have been directed to the
- Fraud guideline and would have had no discretion to craft another
- sentence. Under the new guideline, if that intrusion was not done for
- pecuniary or malicious purposes, the crime will be treated as a
- misdemeanor, and the sentencing range would be 0 to 6 months. Real
- wire fraud done with the intent to reap financial gain or to cause
- harm to the system would result in the minimum 10 to 16 month
- sentence.
-
- EFF is proud to have played a role in encouraging the Sentencing
- Commission to craft the new guideline. New communications
- technologies, in their earliest infancy, are becoming the subject of
- precedent-setting litigation. Overly strict sentences imposed for
- computer-related fraud and abuse may have the effect of chilling these
- technologies even as they develop. Until there are more cases on
- which to base a guideline, individual sentencing decisions are best
- left to the discretion of the sentencing judge, who presumably is most
- familiar with the facts unique to each case. Legal precedents,
- particularly the application of a sentencing guideline to violations
- of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, can radically affect the course
- of computer technology's future, and with it the fate of an important
- tool for the exchange of ideas in a democratic society.
-
- The Sentencing Commission is asking for comments by March 18, 1994.
- It's important that we all tell the U.S.S.C. that we're happy with the
- new proposed guideline for the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In the
- very near future, EFF will be setting up an electronic mailbox to
- receive electronic comments. In the meantime, written comments can be
- sent to:
-
- United States Sentencing Commission
- One Columbus Circle, N.E.
- Suite 2-500, South Lobby
- Washington, DC 20002-8002
- Attention: Public Information
-
- A copy of the proposed guidelines is located at 58 Fed. Reg. 67522 or on
- ftp.eff.org as pub/EFF/Issues/Legal/sentencing.amendment
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 10 Jan 94 11:31:11 -0800
- From: sven@BRADBURY.NRL.NAVY.MIL(Sven Heinicke)
- Subject: File 5--Brendan Kehoe, the accident and me ((The Passenger))
-
- Hello, I just caught up with all my CuD's after being away for a bit.
- In case your wondering who I am, well, I am the person who was riding
- in the car with Brendan Kehoe when the accident happened. In the past
- I have always hopped that I would be able to contribute something to
- CuD and was never in the right place to do so, I was in the correct
- place this time and I wish I was not. Here is what happened as I
- remember it though I am leaving out some details, I'm not sure what
- his family would want to get out. Put it in Cud if you wish, even if
- you don't put it in, it still felt good to write it. I'm not sure
- what the From line to this message will say it is from (as my
- computers where half configured before the accident and are still half
- configured) but mail to me should go to sven@wells.nrl.navy.mil.
-
-
- Brendan Kehoe flew into Philadelphia on the 30th, as far as I know, it
- was strictly a social calling as he went to school at Widener
- University just outside of Philadelphia (Where I met him). I had
- taken the train up from my job in D.C. on the same day to visit my
- parents, my girlfriend, and I also knew the Brendan would be in town.
- He had living accommodations with a friend but for some reason that
- fell through, he called up my parents and asked if he could crash
- there, my parents said fine. He arrived late in the night and we
- talked for a few hours and want to bed. The next day we both realized
- that we had nothing to do for New Years Eve, I was not going to see my
- girlfriend until New Years day and he had no plans with other people
- that day too. So we choose to rent a movie. We never made it to the
- movie rental store. We would of probably rented a musical anyway :-).
-
- It all happened about one mile away from my parents house. We where
- talking in the car and I don't remember the talking ever stopping.
- Things faded in on a broken windshield against the house, the front
- end of the car was about half a meter into the house. I unbuckled my
- seatbelt and got out of the car, after a few moments of disbelief I
- figured out what happened. There was a lady there with a portable
- phone whom told me she had already called the police. I asked her how
- long I've had been out, she said about 10 minutes. She asked if I
- knew somebody to call, I gave her my parents phone number and want
- back in the car to check on Brendan. There was blood coming out of
- his ears; as I moved my hand up to wipe one of his ears I noticed that
- there was blood on my hand. Following where the blood was coming
- from I found a large hole above my left eye. I tried to talk to
- Brendan but got no reply. I started feeling dizzy, got out of the car
- and sat down on the snow. The flashing lights started arriving at
- that time and I started seeing double. My father showed up as the
- Newtown Ambulance Squad arrived. They put me on the board and took me
- to a local hospital, St. Mary's.
-
- In the Ambulance I could hear the radio, they had called a helicopter
- to take Brendan to the UPenn hospital. I got a broken collar bone,
- got a good size hole in my head (though my skull is fine), parts of my
- scalp are numb and I got this bothering pain in my side. Though my
- typing is a little slower and I get dizzy from time to time (I have
- talked to my doctor about that) I'm back at work. Brendan was/is
- worse, though he is making a recovery faster then the doctors thought
- he would. I saw him last Saturday, Jan 8th, he was recognizing
- people, able to hold some conversations, and is very restless. Guess
- his Irish blood does not want to keep still.
-
- The local weekly paper _The Advance of Bucks County_ said that he ran
- a stop sign. Somebody in a four wheel drive then hit Brendans rented
- car on the side. It happened around noon and I hear the person in the
- other car is no worse off then me. My father waited at the accident
- until Brendan was out of the car and the helicopter was away. To get
- him out of the car they had to remove the the roof. Across from the
- street from where the car was there is a corn field which, due to the
- time of year, was barren. So the helicopter was able to land in this
- corn field, close to the accident. Father told me that he would of
- not been surprised to hear that he died before he made it to the
- hospital.
-
- Some final notes, we where both wearing seatbelts (like that helped a
- lot) and nobody involved was drinking.
-
- Sven Heinicke
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Tue, 11 Jan 94 07:17:05 PST
- From: brendan-news@cygnus.com
- Subject: File 6--Current News (11 Jan '94) of Brendan Kehoe's Recovery
-
- ((MODERATORS' NOTE: Brendan Kehoe, author of ZEN AND THE ART OF THE
- INTERNET, and a Cygnus Support engineer, was critically injured in
- an automobile accident in Pennsylvania on Friday, 31 December, 1993.
- Doctors expect a full physical recovery, but the extent of the
- mental recovery remains uncertain. Brendan's progress suggests a
- cautiously optimistic prognosis. The follow excerpts are taken from
- the "brendan news" hotline (brendan-news@cygnus.com). They were
- written by Jeff Osier, Brendan's housemate and co-worker.))
-
- ++++++++++++++
-
- Brendan may not need reconstructive surgery on his face at all, as the
- bones were broken but not really moved from where they're supposed to
- be, and they kind of set themselves while he was comatose. The
- swelling in his head has gone down tremendously, and he does look much
- better than he did before. The doctor expects a full physical
- recovery. Brendan will need a long time in therapy before he's fully
- recovered mentally, and may never be the same old Brendan, but things
- are looking brighter every day.
-
- Before I forget, Brendan's mom sends an Irish blessing to all of you,
- and thanks you for your concern and good wishes. The same thanks come
- from me.
-
- +++++++++++++++++++
-
- We're going to try to get Brendan into a rehab center sometime toward
- the end of this week. We're still deciding on a geographical location
- (probably Boston, possibly Philly; Portland, Maine, would be great,
- though we don't know the level of care he would get there) and need to
- discuss with the insurance folks (who have been fabulous, by the way)
- a mode of transportation. Lotsa details. Still dealing with other
- insurances, rental car companies, the police (who have also been very
- helpful and patient), etc. etc. etc...
-
- Brendan is showing remarkable if not incredible progress. We can only
- hope upon hope that this is a sign that his intellectual capacity will
- bounce back as strong as it always was. There's a warning, though.
- Brendan won't be the "old Brendan" again. A major head trauma affects
- different people in different ways, but it is always a major
- affectation. Of course, how could it not be?
-
- The CuD folks are collating email messages for Brendan: instructions are:
- We urge readers to send him a card. We will be collecting the notes
- that come in wishing him well via e-mail, and send them to him in
- about two weeks. So, if you want to send him an E-note, send it to us
- (tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu) with the subject header: TO BRENDAN
-
- NOTE: As of 1/7/94, all mail to brendan-news (besides getting an
- auto-reply) will be forwarded to tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu, to be
- included in the e-mail get-well wishes to be printed and given to
- Brendan.
-
- A fund to help with the expected medical expenses has been
- established. Donations can be sent to:
-
- Brendan's Friends
- c/o Cygnus Support
- One Kendall Square
- Cambridge, MA 02139
-
- Many, many thanks in advance. All cards and correspondence can be
- forwarded to this address as well. It'll be best not to send anything
- to the hospital, since Brendan will be moving soon, nor to the hotel,
- since the family will be moving with him.
-
- Again, questions can come to jeffrey@cygnus.com; no promises on a
- turnaround time for answers, though. :)
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 09:35:56 -0800
- From: "James I. Davis" <jdav@WELL.SF.CA.US>
- Subject: File 7--Technology & Employment Conf, 1/21-22, Cambridge, MA
-
- ******************************************************************
-
- WHERE HAVE THE JOBS GONE? WHERE WILL THEY BE?
-
- AN MIT CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGY AND EMPLOYMENT
-
- Sponsored by the Technology and Culture Seminar of the MIT
- Community Fellows Program
-
-
- Friday, January 21 and Saturday, January 22
- 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
- Building 6, MIT, Cambridge, MA
-
-
- New England is a world center of the current technological
- transformation, in which computers, electronics and genetics are
- opening new modes of production and communication. In the midst of
- this technological revolution, tens of thousands of people have
- been laid off from high tech industries. These newly
- unemployed include both highly-trained workers and new entrants
- into the workforce. This conference will examine the factors
- underlying this disturbing trend, and identify directions needed
- to insure that increases in productivity raise the standard of
- living of all members of society.
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- PLENARY SESSIONS:
-
- THE IMPACT OF THE HIGH TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION ON PRODUCTIVITY
- Friday, 9:00 am
-
- Ken Reeves, Mayor, City of Cambridge
- Prof. Jon King, MIT
- Prof. Tom Kochan, MIT Sloan School
- Prof. Helen Shapiro, Harvard Business School
- David Arian, President, International Longshoremen and
- Warehouseman's Union
-
-
- THE IMPACT OF THE HIGH TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION ON JOBS
- Friday, 4:00 pm
-
- Juliet Schor, Director, Women's Studies Program, Harvard
- Richard Barnet, Institute of Policy Studies
- General Baker, National Organizing Committee of the Unemployed,
- Detroit
-
-
- HOW TO INSURE THAT THE NEW TECHNOLOGY RAISES THE GENERAL STANDARD
- OF LIVING
- Saturday, 9:00 am
-
- Prof. Sarah Kuhn, Policy and Planning, UMASS-Lowell
- Prof. Abdul Alkalimat, African-American Studies, Northeastern
- University
- Prof. Noam Chomsky, MIT
- David Feickert, European Trade Union Conference
-
-
- WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE: JOB CREATION
- Saturday, 1:30 pm
-
- Prof. Mel King, Director, Community Fellows Program, MIT
- Prof. Elaine Bernard, Director, Trade Union Program, Harvard
- John LaRose, Oilfield Workers' Union, Trinidad
-
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- WORKSHOPS
-
- FRIDAY 11:00 AM
-
- Changing Production technologies
- The Engineer's Role
- The Impact of Information on Industrial Production
- Cleaner and Safer Production Technologies
- Shop Floor Initiatives
-
- The Internationalization of Production: NAFTA
- Moving Plants Abroad
- Corporate Strategies
- NAFTA and the Trade Unions
- The European Situation
-
- The Telecommunications Revolution
- The National Information Infrastructure
- Insuring Public Access
- Employment Impacts
-
- The Biotechnology Industry
- Projected Growth
- Impact on Pharmaceuticals
- Unfulfilled Promises
-
-
- FRIDAY 2:00 PM
-
- Entering the High Tech Job Market
- The High-Tech Job Market
- A Students View
- High Tech Skills for the Disenfranchised
-
- The Electronic Office
- The Automated Office
- Undervalued Technical Work
- Electronic Surveillance
-
- The Changing Reality of Computer Industry Jobs
- Part-time Work
- Closing Doors to Minority Youth
- Coping with Layoffs
- High Tech Peace Corps?
-
- Converting from Military to Civilian Research and Development
- Civilian R&D in the Post Cold War Period
- Prospects at Lincoln Lab
- Physics After the Code War
- Campus-Based Efforts
-
- Sociobiological Justifications of Social Inequality
- Brain and Behavior
- Exploding the Gene Myth
- The Myth of the Underclass
- Medicalization of Social Problems
-
-
- SATURDAY 11:00 AM
-
- The Impact of Unemployment on Education
- The Struggle for Public Education
- The New Technology and New Illiteracy: Black Community's
- Survival Crisis
- Education for Unemployment
-
- Alternatives to Plant Closings
- The National Pattern of Layoffs
- The Employee Buy-out of Market Forge
- State Intervention
- Restructuring Labor/Management Relations?
-
- Converting from Military to Civilian Production
- Historical Precedents
- The Machinists Role
- Federal Financing
- Conversion Efforts in Massachusetts
-
- Struggles in the Shadow of the High Tech Industry
- Building a Youth Center in the High Tech Shadow
- Child Care in the High Tech Shadow
- The Carpenter's Union Experience
-
- The Politics of Agriculture and Food Production
- The Hybrid Corn Experience
- Mechanization of Agriculture
- Regulation of Genetically Engineered Foods
- Agribusiness and Ecology
-
-
- To reserve program documents and register, send $5 to Patricia
- Weinmann, 312 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02139. Make checks
- payable to "The Technology and Culture Seminar."
-
- For more information, contact Patricia Weinmann, (617) 253-0108,
- or email paradise@mit.edu.
-
- PLEASE RE-POST!
- ******************************************************************
-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of Computer Underground Digest #6.05
- ************************************
-