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-
- Computer underground Digest Sun Aug 13, 1995 Volume 7 : Issue 67
- ISSN 1004-042X
-
- Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU
- Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
- Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
- Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
- Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
- Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
- Ian Dickinson
-
- CONTENTS, #7.67 (Sun, Aug 13, 1995)
-
- File 1--Who Else is Reading your Email?
- File 2--Fighting obscenity on the Net
- File 3--Communication*Human Rights*CfP (fwd)
- File 4--pro-exon transcript (fwd)
- File 5--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 19 Apr, 1995)
-
- CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
- THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 09 Aug 1995 19:25:49 -0400
- From: kkc@INTERLOG.COM(K.K. Campbell)
- Subject: File 1--Who Else is Reading your Email?
-
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- eye WEEKLY June 29 1995
- Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- eye.NET eye.NET
-
- WHO ELSE IS READING YOUR EMAIL?
- Part 1 of a 2-part series on PGP
-
- by
- K.K. CAMPBELL
-
- I recently conducted an overseas interview with a "computer security
- person at a highly sensitive facility." Mr. Security explained that the
- potential misuse of the computer resources of this site was a serious
- concern, a danger to thousands. This instilled in him a peppery dash of
- paranoia about who was using what machine for what purpose.
-
- In discussing this, the name of a certain, rather net.famous individual
- arose. I was surprised to learn this individual was well-known in
- international security circles. This individual is considered a "risk."
- I was informed that this person's email is "monitored."
-
- To spell it out: people were reading and collecting all the email the
- "risk" wrote. Without the target's knowledge. Without any form of
- warrant.
-
- Most netters think such intrusion involves someone "hacking a
- password." Wrong. When you hit the "send" command for email, your
- missive seems to (poof!) magically appear in the recipient's mailbox.
- Person to person. The ultimate intimacy. Wrong again. Email is actually
- passed through a number of computers. The operator of one of those
- machines can effortlessly read your email. Any one who "breaks into"
- such a machine can inspect your mail. Once in, they can tamper with
- files so that all your email is copied to another location, without you
- being aware of it.
-
- But not everyone wants to "break into" a computer. In the above case,
- email was copied "in transit." When email is transferred from machine
- to machine, it is made readable. So if you intercept a copy (through
- "sniffers"), you can read it. Everything this individual had written
- over the last couple of years has apparently been intercepted and read.
- His file is huge.
-
- With Canada news media in a tizzy about "regulating the net," how long
- before CSIS requests funds to start collecting posts with buzzwords in
- the network data flow?
-
- POSTCARDS
-
- It should be the first lesson every newbie learns: email ain't secure.
- An email is like a postcard: it travels through the many sets of hands
- in delivery and any set of hands can read it if so inclined. Most
- postal employees don't, for two reasons: there is so much mail they
- haven't the time, and most postcards are so boring, who the hell wants
- to?
-
- The same goes with the system administrators who oversee the shunting
- around of all your cyberscribbling. Most don't snoop, but some do. Need
- I remind you that, er, sysadmins are not a monolithically
- mature-and-well-adjusted breed imbued with highly developed moral
- principles...
-
- What can you, the lowly downtrodden, rights-less end-user, do? You have
- three strategies:
-
- -- no precautions: who cares if anyone reads what you write/receive;
- -- minimal coding, easy to crack, but enough to stop casual snoops --
- kind of like "virtual envelopes"; and
- -- PGP.
-
- PGP stands for Pretty Good Privacy -- a humble title to be sure,
- considering that the U.S. government/military wants to ban the thing.
- And why? Because PGP has the power to thwart their zillion-dollar spy
- efforts by imbuing everyday folk with the cryptographic might of the
- best "puzzle palaces" around the world.
-
- The elegantly powerful encryption device is the offspring of Colorado
- resident Phil Zimmermann (prz@acm.org). He basically took all the (very
- public) papers on cryptography, stirred it together and voila: instant
- "threat to democracy" -- if you buy the government/military propaganda.
- (More on Zimmermann and the cryptographic spook backlash next issue
- [below].)
-
- What PGP does is solve that decades old spy/cryptography dilemma: How
- can one send secure messages to absolute strangers over an insecure
- medium?
-
- PGP exploits two historical developments:
-
- -- home computers gave commoners the computational power to use the
- sophisticated cryptography algorithms; and
- -- the advent of public key encryption in the late '70s bade
- farewell to Ilya Kuryakin and Napoleon Solo.
-
- Computers were originally designed (back in World War II) to be
- sophisticated code breakers. Today, government/military bureaucracy
- (especially in the U.S.) still operate with that attitude: computer
- cryptography is a military weapon.
-
- In those Cold War days, the only way to send secure messages over
- insecure channels (telegraphs, phones, mail, etc.) was to first
- deliver a "cryptographic key" via secure channels. The key was
- something like a little code book; the secure delivery channel was
- usually a dour-faced courier with a black bag handcuffed to his wrist.
- "Deliver this or die doing so, 007..."
-
- BE AN INTERNATIONAL ARMS DEALER!
-
- Governments and mega-corps could afford to send satchel-toting couriers
- overseas, but us proles had little hope of doing that. So citizens were
- always vulnerable to mail-opening, phone-tapping spooks.
-
- PGP uses two keys -- a public key and a secret key. Anyone can use your
- public key to encrypt a message to you, and only you can then decrypt
- it with your secret key. As long as your secret key remains secret, no
- one can read that message -- not even the person who encrypted. The
- idea is to spread your public key around in Key Exchanges, like phone
- books.
-
- For details on this complex subject, try _PGP: Pretty Good Privacy_ by
- Simson Garfinkel (O'Reilly & Assoc., http://www.ora.com, $29.95 paper).
- Or _The Computer Privacy Handbook_ (Peachpit Press,
- http://www.peachpit.com/peachpit, $31.95 paper). Both go beyond
- technical details and delve into the sociopolitical issues around
- privacy.
-
- Where can you get PGP? All around the world. PGP is freeware -- you can
- use it endlessly without cost. But remember: The U.S. State Department
- export restrictions classify cryptographic materials to be munitions.
- Exporting it from the U.S. is a serious matter. For those uninterested
- in becoming international arms smugglers, do an Archie search for "PGP"
- or try Toronto's Interlog at ftp://ftp.interlog.com/pub/pgp . Read
- newsgroups alt.security.pgp and sci.crypt for discussions.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 7 Aug 1995 16:26:01 -0700
- From: Alexander Chislenko <sasha1@netcom.com>
- Subject: File 2--Fighting obscenity on the Net
-
- As a father of a 12yo child I was very happy to see the Exon bill
- pass. This finally prohibits indecent content and obscene words in
- any computer messages and documents accessible to minors.
-
- Being a good citizen I decided to be vigilant and assist the
- government in identifying the sources of obscene messages on the Net.
-
- The results of my research were horrifying!!!
- I found that many supposedly innocent messages posted to unsuspecting
- people contain VERY OBSCENE words.
-
- For example, one message on the PUBLIC newsgroup "alt.binaries.pictures"
- enticingly titled "Take a look at this one" contains the following line:
-
- MJ+5K!H+G7SHIT6[U75EFN=8N=3OM?T^\UZW$%QI^K>([B"WTIX/AF672?A;J
- ****
-
- As you can see, the obscene foul word that can inflict serious
- psychological damage upon innocent children and cause them to engage in
- untimely physical activities, is put into the VERY MIDDLE of this message
- and is even CAPITALIZED!!!
-
- To my complete horror, I found lots of obscene words in the messages of
- practically every "binaries" newsgroup. I also discovered them in many
- executable files, object libraries, and graphics and movie files ON EVERY
- COMPUTER I CHECKED!!!
-
- As a computer professional, I suggest that censoring output filters
- should be added to all existing compilers, graphic packages, encoding
- programs, and random number generators, that would remove obscene words
- from the output of these programs.
- I expect that this measure would be very good for the economy, as it
- should create thousands of new jobs in the computer industry.
-
- I am sure that the resulting little glitches in functioning of software
- are a small price to pay for the protection of the souls of our children.
-
-
- Yours in Child protection,
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 01:02:42 -0500 (CDT)
- From: David Smith <bladex@BGA.COM>
- Subject: File 3--Communication*Human Rights*CfP (fwd)
-
- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
-
- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
- CALL FOR PAPERS
- The Journal of International Communication [June 1998 issue]
- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
-
- Special Issue on Communication, Human Rights and Civil Society
-
- Issue editors: Howard H. Frederick and Naren Chitty
- DEADLINE: Ongoing through December 1, 1997
- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
-
- [KEYWORDS: Freedom of expression, opinion, press; Right to communi-
- cate; Local cable/TV/radio; Computer networks and new multimedia tech-
- nologies; Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Global Information
- Infrastructure; (tele)communication policy; Protection of human rights.]
-
- Proposals and articles accepted in French, German, Spanish!
-
- This special issue of the _Journal of International Communication_
- commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
- Human Rights with a discussion of the evolving right to communicate
- within the context of the emergence of global civil society. It is
- devoted to an exploration of real-world and theoretical constructs,
- policies, and practices. Articles that combine such kinds of
- analysis, and also provide comparative or "global" perspectives, are
- particularly welcome. Contributions are invited from across and among
- (and outside) academic disciplines and will be refereed by at least
- three referees.
-
- The human rights of communication are central to national and
- international law. Perhaps the oldest human right of all, FREEDOM OF
- OPINION was first guaranteed in Ancient Greece. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
- was enshrined only in 1689 in the English Bill of Rights. In 1789,
- the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution first guaranteed FREEDOM
- OF THE PRESS. Now, in the Information Age, one crucial component may
- be missing in the law: the RIGHT TO COMMUNICATE, or access to media
- distribution channels which are controlled by markets and governments.
-
- Possible foci include, but are not limited to, the following
- questions:
-
- ** What is the impact of global NGO/citizen/community communication
- networks via computer on the protection and evolution of human
- rights?
- ** What is the relation of civil society and human rights within the
- dominant marketplace and government systems?
- ** What is the right to communicate? What are the points of
- difference among theoretical standpoints?
- ** How do the human rights of communication help us interpret
- (demystify?) the new global communication order? Globalization
- process? New forms of social movements and global politics? Old
- forms of international relations?
- ** How does the concept of "global civil society" help us theorize
- about contemporary global flows of cultural products?
- ** How does NGO/citizen/community communication defend and protect
- other human rights? Contribute to global solidarities? Local
- politics? National identities?
- ** What are civil society's own forms of communication networking,
- and how effective are they?
- ** What role is communication and civil society in helping us to
- envision and construct global futures? In this respect, how does
- global civil society communication influence, modify existing
- actors or help create alternative actors, in global affairs, to
- states, international regimes and organizations, non-governmental
- organizations and transnational corporations?
-
- Howard Frederick, Emerson College, USA hfrederick@igc.apc.org
-
- Proposals and Abstracts may be sent to and "Notes for Contributors"
- requested from the Guest Editor at hfrederick@igc.apc.org (Emerson
- College, 100 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02116. Fax: +1-617-578-8804)
- Completed articles should be sent, in the form described in "Notes..."
- to the Managing Editor at the address provided below.
-
- The Journal of Communication is a refereed journal. The JIC Editorial
- Advisory Board currently includes: Hussein Amin (Egypt); Sarath
- Amunugama (Sri Lanka); Kwame Boafa (UNESCO); Ron Burnett (Canada);
- Kuan- Hsing Chen (Taiwan); Naren Chitty (Australia); Leonard Chu
- (Australia); Chua Siew Keng (Australia); Eddie C. Y. Kuo (Singapore);
- David Crookall (USA); Simon During (Australia); Howard Frederick
- (USA); George Gerbner (USA); Peter Golding (Britain); Shelton
- Gunaratne (USA); Cees Hamelink (Holland); Hyeon-Dew Kang (South
- Korea); Youicho Ito (Japan); Alex Ivaanikov (Russia); Karol Jacobowicz
- (Poland); Meheroo Jussawalla (USA); Michael Kunczik (Germany); Tuen-yu
- Lau (USA); Glen Lewis (Australia); P. Eric Louw (South Africa); Ernest
- Martin Jr. (Hong Kong); Armand Mattelart (France); Jose Marques de
- Melo (Brazil); Tom McPhail (USA); Bella Mody (USA); Frank Morgan
- (Australia); Hamid Mowlana (USA); P. Murari (India); Lalita
- Rajasingham (New Zealand); Colleen Roach (USA); Roland Robertson
- (USA); Everett Rogers (USA); Florangel Rosairo-Braid (Philippines);
- Brian Shoesmith (Australia); John Sinclair (Australia); Colin Sparks
- (Britain); Annabelle Sreberny-Mohammadi (Britain); P.Subramaniam
- (India); Gerald Sussman (USA); Majid Tehranian (USA); Luke Uche
- (Nigeria)
- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
- MANAGING EDITOR: Dr N. J. Chitty; ADDRESS: c/o International
- Communication Program, Media and Communication Department; Macquarie
- University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, AUSTRALIA; E-mail:
- nchitty@pip.engl.mq.edu.au Voice: 612-850-8725; Fax: 612-850-8240.
- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Tue, 4 Jul 1995 01:31:33 -0500 (CDT)
- From: David Smith <bladex@BGA.COM>
- Subject: File 4--pro-exon transcript (fwd)
-
-
- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
-
- Beverly LaHaye Live
- "A Ministry of Concerned Women for America"
- Monday, June 12, 1995
- As heard on KCIS AM-630
- Seattle, Washington
-
- BEVERLY LAHAYE: BL
- JIM WOODALL: JW
- PATRICK TRUMAN: PT
-
- BL: Pornography is an $8 billion a year industry with more outlets in America
- than there are McDonald's. But now they've gone high-tech in their attempts
- to reach a wider audience. Our guest today has valuable information on how
- you can protect your family. So stay with us.
-
- [Intro music]
-
- BL: And thanks to the Information Superhighway, pornography could be
- invading your home without you even knowing it. The challenge for parents
- today is finding ways to keep their children from being exposed to these
- vulgar influences.
-
- JW: Here today with us to give us some helpful advice is Patrick Truman,
- he's the director of government affairs for the American Family Association.
-
- BL: And welcome Patrick Truman to our program today.
-
- PT: Thank you, Beverly and Jim.
-
- BL: It's a delight to have you; I can't say it's a delight to discuss what
- we have to discuss, but we're happy to have you here to talk about it.
-
- PT: Thank you, and I think it's an issue that parents need to know about.
-
- BL: Absolutely. Any parent that hears about this - and many for the first
- time - are just appalled that this has been going on _in their homes_ and
- they've had no idea. Well, let's start at the beginning here; is
- computerized pornography really that big of a problem, and how widespread is
- it?
-
- PT: Well, it's a very big problem; I would say this. I spent seven years at
- the Justice Department in the office that prosecuted pornography. And
- earlier this year, we got lots of pornographers, the big names; Al Tumbarger
- in jail, Farris Alexander, Ruben Sturman, etc., many of them are still out
- there, a lot of work needs to be done; but a few months, Beverly, Senator
- Exon introduced a bill to control pornography on the Internet, and I didn't
- know anything about the Internet. So I took it upon myself to learn how you
- get this stuff, so that I could help craft the bill because I had met with
- him, and said I would. But, when I found out how easy available [sic] it is
- to anyone with a computer, even children, I realized that everybody we did
- for seven years at the Justice Department was for naught; the future of
- pornography isn't the seedy, smut-filled shops; it is your home computer.
-
- BL: And how many homes have computers, how many children today are computer
- smart?
-
- PT: Much better than their parents...
-
- BL: That's right! And they know how to get at that, and they teach one
- another. Well, we all hear about the development of an information
- superhighway, and do you expect that this will become a bigger issue in the
- days ahead?
-
- PT: Yes, and I think it's a much bigger issue than people are aware of
- today, I mean, the people who understand the computer are for the most part
- all on the Information Superhighway. If you have a rudimentary knowledge of
- computers, it's very easy to get on the Information Superhighway, and what
- is that? Well, it's a highway, literally, from your computer to _every other
- computer in the world_. A pedophile who would sexually molest a child, his
- computer is similarly equipped; a pornography shop in the Netherlands is
- similarly equipped; it's just a means of getting anywhere in the world, via
- computer, which is hooked to a phone line.
-
- BL: What kind of pornography is really available through the Internet?
-
- PT: Well, I was shocked. I've been in the worst pornography shops in
- Manhattan, downtown New York, on investigations, and anything I saw there
- was available on the Internet. And it's not only pictures, which come to
- your screen in television and movie quality - and of course if you have the
- right equipment, you can print it off on your color printer - but it is
- also videotapes, it is sexual sounds, it's hard to believe that people would
- record sexual acts and put them on the Internet, and you can download them,
- you can bring them to your computer if your computer has sounds, which most
- do; it is anything. Animal sex, group sex, Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler all
- have areas on the Internet where you can dial in and look at all their
- pornographic images.
-
- BL: You know we've just recently heard in the news some examples of what's
- happening to children as a result of this kind of porn on the computers.
-
- PT: Children are being solicited by computer, and the one way they do it,
- the pornography's available, the kids download or take from the Internet
- this computer pornography, and then they talk back and forth with the person
- who put it up there, and pretty soon the person says, "Hey, I've got a whole
- collection, would you like to come over to my house, and you can have
- whatever you want." The kid gets there, and he's molested.
-
- BL: You know, a real example, is just recently, Daniel Montgomery, a
- 15-year-old boy from Seattle, Washington believed he might be gay, and
- through America OnLine, an interactive Bulletin Board Service, he began
- chatting with a homosexual man in San Francisco. And when this man sent him
- a _bus ticket_, Daniel then ran away from home and was missing for _two
- weeks_, and was found by the police and returned to his parents, this last
- week; and this is because of the computer!
-
- PT: Yes. And this is just a reported case. How many go unreported?
-
- BL: Yes! Well, we've got another example, a 13-year-old little girl named
- Tara Noble is presently missing from Louisville, Kentucky and police believe
- she left to meet someone she was chatting with through America OnLine. This
- man left sexual [sic] explicit messages for Tara, inviting her to come and
- live with him.
-
- PT: See, you're identifying a problem that is very much related to
- pornography, it's these obscene conversations that you can have - worldwide
- conversations, you can talk to someone in Australia, in the Netherlands,
- wherever, and have a _terrible_ conversation. There are no age limits. And,
- uh, it's all...
-
- JW: Pat, address that person that's listening right now that says, well, I
- may have a home computer, but I don't have access to that, I don't have a
- modem, or, so, why, how's that going to affect my family. Why should I care?
-
- PT: Well, of course, even if your computer is not equipped, your neighbor's
- computer probably is, your school computer is, I had a high school librarian
- in Seattle, Washington call me the other day because she dialed in, to - you
- can get what's called the Internet Yellow Pages, you buy it, and it tells
- you how to get to all these locations, and if you dial in the location they
- tell you for US Government, Executive Branch, Clinton Cabinet, you dial that
- in you get obscene work, after obscene work, after obscene work. She said, I
- was getting this for the kids! It is so available, but, to address someone's
- home computer, uh, I used to say, just watch whatever your kids are looking
- at there, but now, after being aware of what's on the _Internet_ and how
- people will _solicit_, and try to _take_ your _kids_, put all this vile
- pornography on, _I_ tell parents, _don't_ have that computer located in a
- place in the house where you can't readily see it, and _don't_ have it near
- a phone line, because this is all transacted by plugging your computer into
- a phone line. And every computer is equipped with that. But don't have it
- near a place where you can plug it in unless you, as the parent, move it to
- that location. But if you have this in your kid's room, in your den, in the
- basement, and you're not there, your kids can likely get this material. And
- here's what's important; the pornographers and the people who talk this way,
- obscene ways on the computer, they want it that way. They _want your kid
- alone_.
-
- JW: And isn't that kind of normal? I mean, if you're going to use the
- computer to be isolated someplace, is that, is that normal?
-
- PT: Well, perhaps. People don't have it in their living rooms. I would
- suggest the kitchen's a fine place for it. Unfortunately, until we get this
- problem solved, and you're not allowed to _have_ this material...
-
- BL: But see now the parent who doesn't have a computer in their home still
- can't rest at ease, because, what about their child's friends?
-
- PT: That's right.
-
- BL: And they go over to Johnny's house to spend the afternoon, and Johnny's
- got a computer and knows how to enter all this, and here these two boys
- _play_ with this kind of _porn_!
-
- JW: That, and the fact they can print it out, and take it to school and
- distribute it to their [sic] kids!
-
- BL: Well, the porn industry says the first amendment guarantees their right
- to sell and distribute this kind of material; would you address that for a
- moment, please?
-
- PT: Well, when I was at the Department of Justice, I think we convicted, had
- 120 conventions, and they all said the same; I have a right to distribute
- this. And they can say that in jail today. But the fact is the Supreme Court
- has said that hard core pornography - that is, the material that is, uh,
- well, I don't want to be very explicit here, but hard-core showing sex acts,
- or lascivious exhibition of the private parts of an individual, that is not
- protected speech. That is not protected speech. It never has been, and I
- believe it never will be. Our constitution doesn't provide protection for
- that, and it doesn't provide protection for child pornography. But you know,
- it isn't just this hard-core material, or child pornography that is
- available on the Internet. Material that is soft-core is very attractive to
- children; Playboy magazine, they know that, Playboy knows that, and they put
- theirs for free to the kids on the Internet. Not just the kids, but to
- anyone, but they know it's the kids that are getting it.
-
- BL: It was Attorney General Janet Reno who tried to undermine the Federal
- law against child pornography; do you think we can expect to see the Clinton
- Administration's help on this issue?
-
- PT: Well, actually, on this issue of computer pornography, in the effort to
- draft a good law on Capital Hill, the Clinton administration has a correct
- position. And I attribute that to the staff of my old office, I don't take
- credit, but the staff lawyers there who have taken this issue on and forced
- this position in the Justice Department, and I credit all the people who
- blasted Janet Reno a year ago when she tried to undermine the child
- pornography - she's learned her lesson, Beverly, and your group is as much
- involved as anyone else.
-
- BL: Well, we did some programs on it here...
-
- JW: So you're saying that Janet Reno's position is solid on this.
-
- PT: Absolutely solid. Now they haven't done many cases, and I think they can
- be faulted for that, although I am assured they will do cases, but I'm
- really looking for getting the right law so that when the right people who
- are very aggressive on this issue get back to the Justice Department - I
- hate to say Republicans, since it isn't only Republicans - but if the [sic]
- Republican administration got in, I think you'd see that war on pornography
- start again. And this is the future of the pornography industry; it is the
- Internet.
-
- BL: Has anyone prosecuted a computer pornography case yet?
-
- PT: Yes, there is one case, that this Clinton administration under Janet
- Reno has prosecuted, down in Memphis, Tennessee. They used the current law,
- which doesn't specifically spell out the computer pornography is illegal, it
- just prohibits hard-core pornography, and the distribution of hard-core
- pornography, and that law was used, and in fact, just recently, the - it's a
- husband and wife team that were [sic] putting pornography on the Internet.
- The husband got three years, the wife got two years and three months. So
- it's serious business. But that's only one case; I'd like to see hundreds.
-
- BL: Now, I know our listeners are saying, well, if this is out there, can't
- we do something about it? Isn't there legislation that is going to protect
- our families? You mentioned Senator Exon has proposed a bill to regulate
- computer pornography, and you made a comment. Talk to us a little bit about
- the Senator's bill.
-
- PT: The Senator would, his bill would do two things, supposedly; it would
- eliminate hard-core pornography from the Internet altogether; and it would
- prohibit any pornography, hard or soft, from going to _children_. But the
- reason I criticized the Exon bill, and I've worked with his office since he
- first introduced it, is that he would give immunity from prosecution from
- the major pornography _profiteers_, and so - it's a little difficult to
- explain, but his bill - and I'll be happy to do it, should you want that -
- but his bill wouldn't get the job done, it would be useless, I think.
-
- BL: Then we want something that would get the job done. How about Senator
- Cote's bill, he's got a proposed bill, is that right?
-
- PT: That's right, Senator Dan Cotes, pro-family champion, his is the
- pro-family champion, and it is as worthless as Senator Exon's bill. I've
- analyzed it, the Justice Department has analyzed it, they've analyzed it
- correctly, he does the same thing, and you have to understand how the
- Internet works in order to understand why they're both bad bills.
-
- JW: Well, why don't you take a second, can you tell us how that works?
-
- BL: We don't want to leave our listeners right now in a state of
- confusion...
-
- PT: Well, the pornography that is available on the Internet is mostly free,
- in a manner of speaking. That is, someone with a computer scans into that
- computer - and that's a term many people don't understand, but if you have a
- scanning machine, looks like a Xerox machine - and you put on that Xerox
- machine, essentially, the pornographic image. And that will put it into your
- computer. And then from there they put it on the Internet. They send it from
- their computer onto a specific location in the Internet, the pornographic
- locations, and there's hundreds of them. So now it is on the Internet. Now,
- if I wanted to pull that off, I could do that. But to do that, I have to
- have access to the Internet. You buy access to the Internet, with companies
- like America OnLine, Prodigy, CompuServe, Netcom. Those are the four biggest
- companies out there. I have Netcom. So I subscribe to Netcom. Now they
- charge me a fee, based on the amount of time I use their service. And all
- their service does is provide access to the Internet. So if I want to get on
- my computer, and I click on Netcom, all of a sudden I'm on the Internet. And
- then I just merely go to one of the hundreds of locations where there's
- pornography, and I click on it, and it comes right to my computer screen.
- The person who put that on the Internet didn't charge for it. But _Netcom_,
- or America OnLine, or these others, _will_ charge you for the amount of time
- that you view it. Or, if you would like to keep that image, you can press a
- button and it comes directly into your computer, and then at any time in the
- future you can draw it back. But it takes several minutes...
-
- BL: So it stores it right there...
-
- PT: It stores it right there. But it takes several minutes to store it. So,
- I may pay in a month $50, $75 to Netcom, if I were interested in
- pornography, just to view it. Some people spend hundreds and hundreds of
- dollars viewing it, and some of those people are children.
-
- JW: And you're saying that the people that are making the biggest money off
- of this are the providers of the online services.
-
- PT: The access providers. Yes. And as I told someone recently in a letter,
- it used to be the names of the biggest pornographers in the world were like
- Ruben Sturman, who was identified by the Attorney General's commission as
- the top pornographer profiteer, the pornographer profiteers today are the
- people who give you access to the Internet, Internet [sic]. And they know
- that material's there, they know that's why thousands and thousands of
- people subscribe every month to their services, that is in order to get
- pornography. So the pornography profiteers today are the access providers,
- like Netcom, CompuServe, etc.
-
- BL: So you, ah, as I understand it, you would like to have legislation that
- really goes after _them_, who are providing it.
-
- PT: I would like legislation that merely says that those who provide the
- pornography, or facilitate that, are guilty. And so that would have to be
- not only the person who puts that pornography from his collection on the
- Internet, but the access provider who gives access to that material. They
- knowingly participate in this crime, and they should be prosecuted.
-
- JW: Are there technological ways for them to provide that service, in order,
- to, to keep that stuff from being on their network.
-
- PT: _Yes_, there is, and it's sad to see someone from the pro-family
- movement arguing the case that there isn't. [Typist's note; Orrin Hatch?]
- But for example, the University of Chicago, and their computers, which are
- used on the Internet for storage of material, they have found this kind of
- material, and they have blocked it up. They will not store any pornography.
- Prodigy has blocked out anti-Semitic comments in their chat lines. Well, if
- they can block out words that are offensive to words, they can block out
- obscene words as well.
-
- BL: Sure they could, yes...
-
- PT: And in any event, just recently, in the last month, there's a
- development - and people in these companies have made a big deal about it -
- that you can buy software as a parent that will block this material from
- coming to your personal computer. So these access providers now say, if you
- don't like it in your home, go buy something for 50 bucks that enables you
- to block it out. And my position is, if you don't, we don't like it. So
- _you_ provide the software that prevents it from coming into my home, or to
- _every other_ home, unless someone subscribes to it. And then if it's
- illegal material, you shouldn't get it.
-
- BL: You know, Mrs. LaHaye, this sounds very similar to, up in New York, um,
- if you order cable television, in your package are some of those pornography
- providers for your television. And there's legislature being discussed right
- now that would prevent them from doing that, because people don't want to
- have to just have it, their choice is, they have pornography or they don't
- have cable. And what some pro-family groups up there want to do is get that
- stuff off the basic package, so they don't have to deal with it, and I think
- that's a logical argument.
-
- PT: Exactly right. But now, what some are arguing, is that these access
- providers shouldn't be held liable, criminally liable, if they didn't create
- the material, or if they've failed to block it - where does this come from?
- I mean, if this is material that is harmful to our kids, where do they get
- the right to distribute it? The porn shop of old is going to disappear. The
- porn shop is now going to be the computer in your home. And we'd better make
- laws that prevent the access providers from profiting off of it. Give them
- incentive like we do in the current Federal child pornography law. In 1988,
- Ronald Reagan proposed a law to Congress that prohibited child pornography
- by computer. He didn't provide any defenses to these companies. And these
- same companies, like Netcom, or America OnLine, when they hear about child
- pornography that's available on their services, they block it, or they
- report it to authorities. And why do they do that? The deterrent effect of
- the law. They don't want to be held liable for distributing child
- pornography. So it's very difficult to find child pornography out there.
- Now, you can find it. But these access providers don't know about it. And
- why should we tell them with hard-core pornography or even soft-core
- pornography, well, we defend you, you don't have any liability.
-
- BL: Isn't it a shame - I mean, I guess I'm an idealist - that something so
- helpful and so new and high-tech as the computer and Internet, that is
- serving well many people for good, has now, pornography has found a way to
- use _it_, to bring in the evil and this deterioration of our society.
-
- PT: It is terrible, and I've heard these access providers and others who use
- the Internet say, well, if you tamper with it, by trying to restrict
- pornography, you'll harm the _freedom_ which is on the Internet. But what I
- think is a better response is that the more the Internet becomes a red light
- district, the more polluted it becomes, the less parents will want their
- kinds on it. I wouldn't want my child on it.
-
- BL: No, I wouldn't either... well, Patrick Truman, thanks for being with us
- today, to try to explain a very difficult situation and one that a lot of
- families don't understand just yet. So I trust that this few moments of
- describing it has been of great benefit to our listeners. Thanks for being
- with us.
-
- PT: That's for having me.
-
- BL: You know, Concerned Women for America, is really trying to fight against
- this kind of immorality, and we stand for decency for the family, and you
- know down on Florida, our grass-roots leaders for CWA formed a group called
- Citizens Opposing Pornography, so we are out there on the front lines.
-
- JW: Well, all over America, our volunteers have targeted bookstores, X-rated
- bookstores, topless bars, other adult-type business, and they've been
- involved in the front lines of fighting against this type of thing that
- invades communities.
-
- BL: And here in the national office, our legislative staff are up on Capital
- Hill encouraging Congress to pass legislation that will _really_ protect our
- families and our children.
-
- JW: And we put together an information packet that we're calling the [sic]
- Protecting Family Decency. And we'd like to share that with you today,
- absolutely free, all you have to do is call 1-800-527-9600.
-
- BL: You know, this packet will give you information that will help you
- protect your family from all types of pornography, and it will give you
- specific suggestions if you have a home computer and how to protect your
- kids. So the Protecting Family Decency packet gives vital facts on how the
- porn industry is taking advantage of computers right in your home to spread
- their evil message.
-
- JW: It also gives you action items and steps that you can take to make sure
- this kind of material doesn't come into your home. So call us right now at
- 1-800-527-9600 and ask for our free Protecting Family Decency packet.
- And now with today's commentary, here's Beverly LaHaye.
-
- [begin editorial music]
-
- BL: Modern ministers have developed a new theology. They say sin isn't
- wrong, it's simply genetic. Anglican Bishop Richard Halloway believes the
- Church should not condemn affairs; he claims that adultery is caused by our
- genetics. The Bishop's theology bears a striking resemblance to homosexual's
- [sic] search for a gay gene. And the Justice Department is studying the
- brains of prison inmates. They are trying to find a biological link to
- violent crime. Doug Walston, a genetic researcher, finds this trend very
- alarming, and claims that we should _stop_ this before it gets out of hand.
- But it's already out of hand! Genetics has become the modern-day scapegoat
- for sin! But God does not accept man's excuses for sin; theologians,
- psychologists, and activists try to hide sin behind a genetic code, but God
- still says, the wages of sin is death. But there is a way of escape. God
- loved us enough to offer his son in payment for our sin. He has offered us
- salvation and freedom from sin. All we have to do is repent and accept it.
- The world tries to justify sin through genetics, but God brings us his
- justification by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. This is Beverly
- LaHaye, in Washington.
-
- [end editorial music]
-
- JW: Thank you, Mrs. LaHaye. You know, despite what they say, pornography is
- _not_ a victimless crime. Families are being torn apart; the innocence of
- children is being violated; women are being raped; and this is because of
- pornography!
-
- BL: And that's why Concerned Women for America is working hard to stop these
- obscene influences. And when you receive your free Protecting Family Decency
- packet, you'll be able to speak out against pornography, even in your
- computers, along with us.
-
- JW: [pitch for donations, reiteration of packet offer]
-
- BL: Now let's face it Jim: pornography is destroying many, many young people
- in America today. And we want to fight against it. Well, our thanks to
- Patrick Truman for helping to draw attention to this very critical issue.
- Tomorrow, we'll talk about more ways to defend your family against this
- high-tech abuse of morality and decency. You won't want to miss it. From our
- nation's capital, I'm Beverly LaHaye.
-
- JW: And I'm Jim Woodall.
-
- BL: Thank you for joining us today.
-
- [End music and standard "out" talk by Janet Parchell - "Help make sure your
- Christian Values are represented here in our nation's capitol"]
-
- BL: Thanks to computers, pornography is more available now than ever before.
- Does your child have access to porn? Find out tomorrow.
-
- [End music climax and ends]
-
- BL: It's been said that anyone with a home computer and access to the
- Internet has a porn shop in their home. Tomorrow, on Beverly LaHaye Live,
- we'll show you how to protect your family from these immoral influences.
-
- [Out ad for Lifeline Long Distance, talking about how they do not promote
- "special rights for homosexuals" and so on. Standard ad.]
-
-
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1995 22:51:01 CDT
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- Subject: File 5--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 19 Apr, 1995)
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- End of Computer Underground Digest #7.67
- ************************************
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