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Computer underground Digest Sun Jan 19, 1997 Volume 9 : Issue 04
ISSN 1004-042X
Editor: Jim Thomas (cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu)
News Editor: Gordon Meyer (gmeyer@sun.soci.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
Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
CONTENTS, #9.04 (Sun, Jan 19, 1997)
File 1--Solid Oak Blocking Software & Ethical Spectacle
File 2--IP: going to InfoWar (fwd)
File 3--If Operating Systems Were Airlines (fwd)
File 4--Sidgmore/PC Week (on Growth of UUNET Backbone) (fwd)
File 5--Internet Forum In Italy Subjected To Censorship
File 6--GovAcc97.002: 7th Conference on Computers, Freedom & Privacy
File 7--ALA/ACLU file lawsuit challenging New York "CDA" law
File 8--Enough is Never Enough -- pro-CDA alliances, from TNNN
File 9--SUPREMES: Court Date Set, DoJ Brief Filed
File 10--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 13 Dec, 1996)
CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
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Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 14:36:55 -0800
From: Jonathan Wallace <jw@bway.net>
Subject: 1--Solid Oak Blocking Software & Ethical Spectacle
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jonathan Wallace
jw@bway.net
NEW YORK CITY, January 19, 1997--In an apparent act of
retaliation against a critic of the company, Solid Oak Sofware
has added The Ethical Spectacle (http://www.spectacle.org) to
the list of Web sites blocked by its Cybersitter software.
The Ethical Spectacle is a monthly Webzine examining
the intersection of ethics, law and politics
in our society, which recently urged its readers not to
buy Cybersitter because of Solid Oak's unethical behavior.
The Ethical Spectacle is edited by Jonathan Wallace, a New York-
based software executive and attorney who is the co-author,
with Mark Mangan, of Sex, Laws and Cyberspace (Henry Holt, 1996),
a book on Internet censorship.
"In the book," Wallace said, "we took the position--
naively, I now think--that use of blocking software by parents
was a less restrictive alternative to government censorship.
We never expected that publishers of blocking software would
block sites for their political content alone, as Solid Oak
has done."
Solid Oak describes its product as blocking sites
which contain obscene and indecent material, hate speech,
and advocacy of violence and illegal behavior. In late 1996,
computer journalists Declan McCullagh (declan@well.com)
and Brock Meeks (brock@well.com) broke the story that
Cybersitter blocked the National Organization for
Women site (http://www.now.org)
along with other political and feminist organizations.
In addition, the product blocked entire domains such as
well.com, maintained by the venerable Well online service.
McCullagh and Meeks implied that they had received an inner
look at the Cybersitter database of blocked sites from someone
who had reverse engineered the software. Shortly afterwards,
Solid Oak asked the FBI to begin a criminal investigation of
the two journalists and accused college student Bennett Haselton
(bennett@peacefire.org) of being their source.
Though McCullagh, Meeks and Haselton all
denied he was the source (or that anything illegal
had occurred), Solid Oak president Brian Milburn called
Haselton an "aspiring felon" and threatened to add
his Internet service provider to the blocked list if it did
not muzzle Haselton.
Haselton came to Milburn's attention by founding Peacefire,
a student organization opposing censorship. On his Web pages
(http://www.peacefire.org), Haselton posted an essay called
"Where Do We Not Want You to Go Today?" criticizing
Solid Oak. The company promptly added Peacefire to its
blocked list, claiming that Haselton had reverse
engineered its software, an allegation for which the
company has never produced any evidence.
"At that point," Wallace said, "I felt Milburn was
acting like the proverbial 800-pound gorilla. I added a
link to the Spectacle top page called 'Don't Buy Cybersitter'
(http://www.spectacle.org/alert/peace.html).
Anyone clicking on the link would see a copy of Bennett's
'Where Do We Not Want You to Go' page with some added
material, including my thoughts on the inappropriateness
of Solid Oak's behavior. I wrote the company, informing
them of my actions and telling them that they
misrepresent their product when they claim it blocks only
indecent material, hate speech and the like."
Solid Oak has now responded by blocking The
Ethical Spectacle. "I wrote to Milburn and to
Solid Oak technical support demanding an explanation,"
Wallace said. "I pointed out that The Spectacle does not fit
any of their published criteria for blocking a site.
I received mail in return demanding that I cease writing
to them and calling my mail 'harassment'--with a copy
to the postmaster at my ISP."
Wallace continued: "With other critics such as Declan,
Brock and Bennett, Solid Oak has claimed reverse
engineering of its software, in supposed violation
of its shrink-wrapped license. I have never downloaded,
purchased or used Cybersitter, nor had any access to
its database. I believe that Solid Oak's sole reason
for blocking my site is the 'Don't Buy Cybersitter'
page, criticizing the company's bullying behavior."
The Ethical Spectacle includes the internationally
respected An Auschwitz Alphabet
(http://www.spectacle.org/695/ausch.html), a compilation
of resources pertaining to the Holocaust. "Sixty
percent of the Spectacle's traffic consists of visitors to the
Holocaust materials," Wallace said. "Schoolteachers have
used it in their curricula, it was the subject of a lecture at
a museum in Poland some weeks ago, and every month, I get
letters from schoolchildren thanking me for placing it
online. Now, due to Solid Oak's actions, Cybersitter's
claimed 900,000 users will no longer have access to it."
Solid Oak can be contacted at blocking.problems@solidoak.com,
or care of its president, Brian Milburn (bmilburn@solidoak.com.)
-----------------------------------------------
Jonathan Wallace
The Ethical Spectacle http://www.spectacle.org
Co-author, Sex, Laws and Cyberspace http://www.spectacle.org/freespch/
"We must be the change we wish to see in the world."--Gandhi
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 13:06:00 -0800 (PST)
From: Stanton McCandlish <mech@EFF.ORG>
Subject: 2--IP: going to InfoWar (fwd)
These excerpts from Edupage, aside from warning of increasing US
executive branch policymaking involving the Internet, likely to
have some kind of negative fallout whatever good it may do, also
demonstrates an increasingly frequent rhetorical device and logic flaw:
The Administration's intelligence people say that the Net is the fastest
growing method of economic espionage, as if this were a meaningful
statement out of the context of the facts surrounding it. The Net is also
the fastest growing way to make new friends, to ask and answer questions
among colleagues, to play games, to get in arguments, to organize events,
to... I'm strongly reminded of the contorted reasoning of many
well-meaning organizations who are in a panic over online neo-nazis and
pornographers. *Of course* racists, porn merchants, and spies use the Net.
The also use telephones and microwave ovens just like anyone else. Why
the press even bothers to listen to claims like this, much less report them
as "news" is beyond me. It should be immediately apparent to any writer
following such a story that the Net, like any technology, will be used by
everyone with access to it, whether they be moms, rabbis, students or
scam artists.
It think it is sensible that NACIC is warning businesses of Net-related
security risks - there are many genuine ones. It even bolsters our
own position that such risks combined with the National Security Agency's
anti-encryption public policy stance is ironically harming the very national
security interests NSA is charged with protecting.
But it cannot be sensible for NACIC to make alarmist statements like
"All requests for information received via the Internet should be viewed
with suspicion". Are corporate webmasters supposed to call the CIA next
time someone asks them "what is your URL?" or "Where do I find more
information on your products or services?" Had Edupage simply been
summarizing I would not have worried much, but that "all requests" line
appears to be a direct quote from NACIC's report, the full text of which
I'll certainly be looking for.
Dave Farber typed:
> Date--Wed, 08 Jan 1997 11:17:48 -0500
> From--Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>
> Subject--IP--going to InfoWar
>
> >From Edunews:
>
> INTERNET IS NO.1 CHOICE FOR FOREIGN SNOOPERS
> A report released by the National Counterintelligence Center (NACIC)
> indicates that the Internet is the fastest growing method used by foreign
> entities to gather intelligence about U.S. companies. "All requests for
> information received via the Internet should be viewed with suspicion," says
> the report, which urges caution in replying to requests coming from foreign
> countries or foreign governments, particularly with regard to questions
> about defense-related technology. NACIC works in close coordination with
> the CIA, but is an autonomous agency reporting the National Security
> Council. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 6 Jan 97 A15)
>
> DOD URGES "INFORMATION CZAR" APPOINTMENT
> The U.S. Department of Defense has recommended establishing a new
> "information-warfare" czar in the Defense Department and an
> "information-warfare" center within U.S. intelligence agencies. A report
> released by a task force appointed by the Defense Science Board calls for
> spending $580 million in R&D over the coming years, mainly in the private
> sector, to develop new software and hardware to provide security, such as a
> system for automatically tracing cracker attacks back to their source. The
> task force also recommends changing the laws so that the Pentagon can
> legally pursue and repel those who attempt to hack into DoD computer
> systems, injecting their computers with "a polymorphic virus that wipes out
> the system, takes it down for weeks." A Defense Department spokesman notes
> that the Advanced Research Projects Agency is working on an "electronic
> immune system" that could detect invaders and mobilize against them. (Wall
> Street Journal 6 Jan 97 B2)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 21:49:53 -0600
From: Avi Bass <te0azb1@corn.cso.niu.edu>
Subject: 3--If Operating Systems Were Airlines (fwd)
((MODERATORS' NOTE: Fowarded from another list; Original author unknown))
If Operating Systems Were Airlines
DOS Air:
Passengers walk out onto the runway, grab hold of the plane, push t
until it gets in the air, hop on, then jump off when it hits the
ground. They grab the plane again, push it back into the air, hop
on, jump off....
Mac Airways:
The cashiers, flight attendants, and pilots all look the same, talk
the same, and act the same. When you ask them questions about the
flight,they reply that you don't want to know, don't need to know,
and would you please return to your seat and watch the movie.
Windows Airlines:
The terminal is net and clean, the attendants courteous, the pilots
capable The fleet of Lear jets the carrier operates takes off
without a hitch, pushes above the clouds and, at 20,000 feet,
explodes without warning.
OS/2 Skyways:
The terminal is almost empty - only a few prospective passengers
mill about. The announcer says that a flight has departed, although
no planes appear to be on the runway. Airline personnel apologize
profusely to customers in hushed voices pointing from time to time
to the sleek, powerful jets outside.
They tell each passenger how great the flight will be on these new
jets and how much safer it will be than Windows Airlines, but they
will have to wait a little longer for the technicians to finish the
flight systems.
Maybe until mid-1995. Maybe longer.
Fly Windows NT:
Passengers carry their seats out onto the tarmac and place them in
the outline of a plane. They sit down, flap their arms, and make
jet swooshing sounds as if they are flying.
Unix Express:
Passengers bring a piece of the airplane and a box of tools with
them to the airport. They gather on the tarmac, arguing about what
kind of plane they want to build. The passengers split into groups
and build several different aircraft but give them all the same
name. Only some passengers reach their destinations, but all of
them believe thay arrived.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 18:35:41 -0500 (EST)
From: "noah@enabled.com" <noah@enabled.com>
Subject: 4--Sidgmore/PC Week (on Growth of UUNET Backbone) (fwd)
Source -Noah
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date--Mon, 16 Dec 1996 16:26:23 -0500 (EST)
From--"Scott A. Davis" <sdavis@UU.NET>
To--dfoxlist@banzai-institute.org
You guys want to read some frightening statistics? UUNET's backbone in
three years, according to our CEO, will be 1000 times the size of today's
existing internet...
-------------------------------------------------------------
Great article in this weeks edition of PC Week from Johns keynote speech
last Thursday at Mecklermedia's Internet World Conference in New York. It
quotes most of the key elements from his speech and be found at
http://www.pcweek.com/news/1209/12muu.html
or is cut and pasted below.
__________________________________________________
December 12, 1996 12:00 PM ET
UUNet chief sees telecom/ISP mergers as
the wave of the future
By Margaret Kane
NEW YORK -- In a speech that was part pitch and part prognostication,
UUNet with communications services provider MFS Communications Co. Inc.
was the right move and where he thinks the telecommunications industry
will end up.
In the past six months, UUNet has not only merged with MFS but also has
announced a proposed merger with long-distance carrier WorldCom Inc. The
joining of two telecommunications companies with an Internet company is
the wave of the future, Sidgmore told an Internet World audience here this
morning in a keynote address.
ISPs (Internet service providers) that do not control their facilities
will not survive, he predicted.
Sidgmore based his pronouncement on the exploding demand for bandwidth,
which brings with it exploding costs for ISPs.
"UUNet alone will have an Internet [backbone] in three years that is 1,000
times the size of the whole Internet network today," he said. Because
bandwidth accounts for roughly 54 percent of an ISP's total cost, the only
companies that will survive will be those that are part of a core telco.
"We don't see how to escape from the arithmetic here," he said.
Sidgmore agreed with analysts' predictions that the number of ISPs will
drop sharply in the near future, predicting that companies would split
into two markets: ISPs that own their own networks, like UUNet, and ISPs
that provide value-added reselling of those network services.
But UUNet will not get out of the service business. Indeed, Sidgmore took
time to announce the introduction of a pair of "extranet" services that
will allow businesses to employ Internet protocols to share information
with associates and partners. ExtraLink is a VPN (virtual private network)
with full Internet connectivity based on UUNet's backbone and MFS' local
access. ExtraLink Remote will allow users with a VPN to permit secure,
remote dial-up access to mobile users or affinity groups. The services are
slated to be available commercially in February.
The demand for bandwidth will not just affect ISPs, Sidgmore continued.
Telcos also will be changed by the Internet, mainly because of how cheap
it is to send faxes over the Internet.
Sidgmore said faxes make up 50 percent of international telecommunications
traffic. That puts telcos in a vulnerable position, he said, citing the
cost of a 42-page fax sent from New York to Los Angeles. By fax, it's
about $10. By Internet, it's about 10 cents.
"The Internet is not about being 10 percent better or 10 percent cheaper,"
he said. "It's about being 10 times better and 10 times cheaper."
"Think about the vulnerability of the core telecom companies. What's at
stake is not the $20 billion voice market, it's the $900 billion market
worldwide," he said. "That's why all the telecom companies worldwide have
scrambled to derive Internet strategies."
Not surprisingly, Sidgmore said the one thing that could hurt the growth
of the Internet is the government.
"How can we screw it up? One way is to get them involved," he said, to
applause from the crowd. "You could argue that they had the chance. The
government had control of the Internet for 25 years, and nothing happened.
We think the government should declare success, and move on to health
care."
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 12:08:20 -0500 (EST)
From: Noah Robischon <noah@pathfinder.com>
Subject: 5--Internet Forum In Italy Subjected To Censorship
From: http://netday.iworld.com/business/NATW.html
In what is widely thought to be the first instance of Net
censorship in Italy, an e-mail forum called Lisa has been removed
from the computers of Bologna University. At issue were
defamatory messages that were circulated among members of the
list. The messages did not concern the themes of the list, but
were insults directed at the members of another online group
called Citt=E1 Invisible (Invisible City). "They were very
serious affirmations. In another context they would have led to
legal action," said Lucio Picci, president of Citt=E1 Invisible
and the object of many of the insulting messages. Laura Caponi,
the forum moderator, says she was not consulted before the
decision was taken, adding that "pressure" was exerted on the
university to close the list. The university stated that its
network belongs to the ministry of education and that it is
obliged to exercise some control over users' activities. (The
Guardian, Britain; November 28, 1996)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 17:19:02 -0800
From: jwarren@WELL.COM(Jim Warren)
Subject: 6--GovAcc97.002: 7th Conference on Computers, Freedom & Privacy
The Consitution "guarantee" NOTHING. It merely proposes. Diligent citizen
vigilence and personal activism provides the *only* guarantee -- and it's
only good for as long as *we* continuously invest *our* time, energy and
resources.
--preacher-jim
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
The Seventh Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy
March 11-14, 1997
San Francisco Airport Hyatt Regency; Burlingame, California
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 18:11:09 -0800 (PST)
From: Bruce R Koball <bkoball@well.com>
CFP'97 : Commerce & Community
CFP'97 will assemble experts, advocates, and interested people
from a broad spectrum of disciplines and backgrounds in a balanced
public forum to address the impact of new technologies on society.
This year's theme addresses two of the main drivers of social and
technological transformation. How is private enterprise changing
cyberspace? How are traditional and virtual communities reacting?
Topics in the wide-ranging main track program will include:
PERSPECTIVES ON CONTROVERSIAL SPEECH
THE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE NET
GOVERNMENTAL & SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF DIGITAL MONEY
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON CRYPTOGRAPHY
CYPHERPUNKS & CYBERCOPS
REGULATION OF ISPs
SPAMMING
INFOWAR
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INFO-PROPERTY
THE 1996 ELECTIONS: CREATING A NEW DEMOCRACY
THE COMING COLLAPSE OF THE NET
CFP'97 will feature parallel-track lunchtime workshops during the
main conference on topics including:
THE CASE AGAINST PRIVACY HOW A SKIPTRACER OPERATES
CYBERBANKING HOW THE ARCHITECTURE REGULATES
RIGHTS IN AVATAR CYBERSPACE NATIONAL I.D. CARDS
PUBLIC KEY INFRASTRUCTURES EUROPEAN IP LAW
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN CYBERSPACE VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
DOMAIN NAMES ARCHIVES, INDEXES & PRIVACY
GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF ECASH CRYPTO AND THE 1st AMENDMENT
The conference will also offer a number of in-depth tutorials on
subjects including:
* The Economics of the Internet
* Regulation of Internet Service Providers
* The Latest in Cryptography
* The Constitution in Cyberspace
* Info War: The Day After
* Personal Information and Advertising on the Net
* Transborder Data Flows and the Coming European Union
* Intellectual Property Rights on the Net: A Primer
INFORMATION
A complete conference brochure and registration information are
available on our web site at: http://www.cfp.org
For an ASCII version of the conference brochure and registration
information, send email to: cfpinfo@cfp.org
For additional information or questions, call: 415-548-2424
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
An old languange teachers' joke:
They call people who can speak three languages, "tri-lingual."
They call people who can speak two languages, "bi-lingual."
But the call people who can speak only one language, "American."
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 08:43:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject: 7--ALA/ACLU file lawsuit challenging New York "CDA" law
From - fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu
[Visit netlynews.com for the rest of the story. Another reason to follow
the New York case is that a successful challenge to its "harmful to
minors" ban could create a useful precedent in fighting a CDA 2.0, which
likely will have such language. --Declan]