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THROUGH THE WIRE
Commentary and News Concerning the Other World
by Michael A. Banks
Copyright (c), 1990, 1991, Michael A. Banks
Well, I was going to talk about the United States Government
and telecomputing this time out, but I've decided to cut that in
favor of expanding info and commentary on international
telecomputing. (There's not much happening in that area at the
moment; you've read everything there is to know in the news
magazines, or caught it on TV or radio news.) I'll still cover
online elitism, and give you the reading list--all as promised.
And I'll give you something to think about regarding online
security.
First, let's take a look at what's happening with
international telecomputing, on two levels.
International Telecomputing, Level One: "The Walls Come Tumbling
Down"
If you're over 35 or so, you probably felt the same awe and
sense of history as I did when you saw the Berlin Wall and all it
symbolized come crashing down earlier this year. After all, we
grew up with that symbol of what was known as the Communist
menace and--far, far worse--of the sad legacy handed Eastern
Europe in the wake of World War II. (My God--remember when those
emergency broadcasting system tests used to be followed by "Had
this been an attack ... "?)
(In footnote to "the Communist menace," you may assume that
I concur with Dr. Jerry Pournelle's statement on returning from
Russia in April: "I have seen the fourth world, and it doesn't
work.")
Now, in less than a year, we've seen four decades of
oppression slough away like the rotting husk of a fallen fruit,
revealing the seeds of a new world. Even Mother Russia is
loosening her hold (though not too much) on satellite nations,
and there are echoes of freedom in South and Central America.
What does this have to do with being online? Well, I've
stated often enough that the online world tends to mirror the
"real" world. This is no less than true where the growing
freedom of long-oppressed (politically or otherwise) nations are
concerned. Now that the political walls blocking free trade and
communication in many parts of the world are coming down, so are
the barriers to telecomputing.
For example, U.S. Sprint has commenced setting up a quality
data communications service for the U.S.S.R. The Moscow-based
service, which should be up and running by the end of the year,
will see the installation of state-of-the-art data communications
switching equipment, making it easier for Soviet citizens to
telecommunicate with the rest of the world. The service will be
a joint venture with Russia, called "Telenet USSR" (although the
name could change, since Telenet has been renamed "SprintNet"
here in the U.S., in the wake of its acquisition by U.S. Sprint).
But in this instance, the online world has been and is
anticipating as well as mirroring real-world events. Telenet
USSR is not the first Soviet data link with the Western world.
The famed Washington/Moscow "Hot Line" has been a data link for
quite a few years. Nor is it the first commercial link: an
existing data communications center in Moscow routes commercial
telecomputing traffic via SprintNet/Telenet through Vienna,
Austria (a similar link can be made via Helsinki, Finland, though
that route cannot handle heavy traffic). Other links with Russia
are made circuitously via Tymnet and, it has been rumored, over
Internet. Still another link, the cleverly titled San
Francisco/Moscow Teleport (SFMT), leases time on a comsat to link
Moscow to packet-switching networks in the U.S. via San
Francisco. (And now, users on the majority of American online
services can, for a fee of perhaps five bucks for 150 words, send
E-mail to Russia via SFMT, courtesy of DASnet, an inter-service
E-mail carrier. DASnet ties in to almost all major online
services. For more info phone 415-559-7434 voice and speak with
Anna Lange.)
Those links will be much in the public eye over the next 12
to 18 months, but they are only half the story where the
"opening" of Communist and Third-World nations are concerned. A
public, international BBS opened in Estonia (one of the Soviet
Baltic states) in mid-1989, and DELPHI and CompuServe have forged
data links with South and Central American countries. (Text from
sessions on some of DELPHI's links--actually, local versions of
the DELPHI online service--are shown on these pages. If you read
Spanish, enjoy!)
In these developments, the online world anticipated
developments in the real world, as stated a few paragraphs back.
And, there are some developments online that are unique to the
online world. For example, on ConnectEd (an online university
operated in conjunction with New York's New School for Social
Research), you'll find a service that provides essays from Soviet
writers and commentators on all manner of topics. (Freely
written, I might add, and with a surprising undercurrent of
Russian patriotism.) (For information about ConnectEd, telephone
212-548-0435 voice and ask for Paul Levinson.)
International Telecomputing, Level Two: Commercial Expansion
On a less sensationalistic plane, the three largest
commercial online services in the U.S. are expanding into Europe
and Japan in a big way--shrinking the global tent city (a term I
prefer to "global village," because we all go home after those
international interactions ... ) still more. Here's a summary:
CompuServe in Europe. CompuServe is offering limited (and
expensive) service in Europe via the CompuServe Forum. (The
service is lower in cost than previous means of accessing
CompuServe via Europe, however.) A special TOP menu has been
created for European subscribers, and there are plans for various
CompuServe computer forums to add sections for European users.
Additional plans call for "CompuServe software" (whether this is
front-end software or the service itself is not known) to be
offered in several European languages.
CompuServe already has access from Japan via a joint venture
that offers CompuServe access or a mirror of same, called "Nifty-
SERVE."
DELPHI Introduced in Japan. General Videotex Corporation
(GVC), parent company of DELPHI, has created a partnership with
Japan's ASCII Corporation to distribute DELPHI services in Japan.
ASCII Corp., which operates one of the three largest online
services in Japan and publishes books and magazines on computing,
among other topics, is creating a "regional" version of DELPHI
called ASCII NET in Japan. According to GVC, the ASCII NET Japan
will "supplement DELPHI's current regional partners in Buenos
Aires, Argentina; Miami, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; and
Boston, Massachusetts."
GVC and ASCII Corp. expect to sign up more than 5,000
members during the first year of distribution. Presumably, there
will be an extra-charge gateway service between ASCII NET and
DELPHI, as is the case with DELPHI in the U.S. and
DELPHI/Argentina. There is talk of sub-licenses to Singapore
and/or Taiwan.
GEnie in Europe. GEnie is now officially online in Europe.
The service can be dialed up directly in Austria, Germany, and
Switzerland via networks operated by distributors of General
Electric Information Services (GEIS), GEnie's parent company.
Unlike CompuServe's European service, GEnie is making almost all
the features that are available to North American subscribers
available to European callers. This augments international
access from Japan, and will presumably be expanded to include
other European countries (including the U.K.) in the near future.
BIX Clones. In footnote, it's worth mentioning that clones
of BIX exist in Japan and the U.K. These are totally without
connection (data links or business connection) with BIX (which is
an online service sponsored by Byte Magazine). In Japan, the
service is called "Nikki-MIX" and runs the same basic UNIX
software as BIX, but with Kanji (written graphic character)
capability. In the U.K., the clone is called CIX; I don't know
whether it uses the same operating system, but the structure is
close enough.
(You'll find screens from some Japanese services on
accompanying pages.)
Online Elite?
Back on the topic of new-found telecom riches, it is worth
noting that not everyone in Russia or in Central or South America
has access to international telecom services--just as not
everyone in newly "free" nations has access to the tools of
capitalism (money and contacts.) For example, any Soviet citizen
can walk into the Moscow data communications center and dial up
Europe or America--in theory. In practice, however, access is
limited to those who have a need to telecompute (certain
scientists would constitute one such group), and perhaps to the
more privileged or those with the proper contacts. And in
countries with little "hard currency," there is a definite upper
limit to how much international telecomputing activity can go on
in any event. It's all on a "need to telecompute" basis.
But, before you jump to conclusions about totalitarian
telecomputing and elitism in Communist-controlled or third-world
nations, consider the fact that telecomputing is new in Russia,
and computer literacy is not widespread. The same is true in
Central and South American nations. And in most of the countries
to which I've alluded here, the economic situation is such that
only a minority of those who are computer literate have the
wherewithal to obtain the prerequisite hardware and software.
Then consider the fact that telecomputing in the U.S. (and
in Japan and the U.K.) is not something to which everyone has
access; though the cost of telecomputing in both money and
knowledge has dropped, the online world is still populated
largely by elitists--either the techno-elite or a subset of the
financially elite. Those who are online otherwise remain a
minority.
That's going to change, however, as telecomputing becomes
more and more a "legitimate" product/service. And telecomputing
will indeed become legitimate. The majority will adopt it over
the next decade, in the same manner as we adopted cable TV, VCRs,
FAX machines, and telephones. Why? Because, like those other
technologies, telecomputing is information exchange ... and with
information exchange comes freedom--not to mention the desire to
have access to everything. (For more on the online elite, see
the accompanying sidebar.)
All in all, it looks as if telecomputing outside the Western
world is merely a decade or so behind us--and catching up fast.
Things to Come
All this talk about what's happening with international
telecomputing has me thinking about what the future holds. So
I've put together some of my thoughts on what's likely to be
happening in the global online world (mainly involving its
interfaces with the real world) over the next few years.
Note that these are not straight predictions (that's a con
game), but extrapolations to which we can assign fairly high
probabilities. Too, I've deleted a couple of them since I began
writing this last month--because they came true, two or three
years before the time I'd assigned to them.
1990 - 1991
Soviet special-interest groups spring up on various online
services.
A few American BBS freaks dial into Eesti BBS #1 in Tallin,
Estonia and copy off message bases and files, which are then
uploaded to various online services and BBSs in the U.S. Similar
material snakes its way westward via Internet.
Eesti BBS #1 is joined by other non-commercial Baltic and
Eastern European BBSs.
1992 - 1993
CompuServe is the first computer network to offer TASS, the
official Soviet news service, online; the surcharged service is
provided to CompuServe on a one-year exclusive basis for an
undisclosed sum.
As topics covered by Russia's American-distributed Soviet
Life magazine continue to mirror those in various American
cultural and news magazines, the magazine runs a special feature
on Soviet hackers, focusing on underground BBSs in Baltic nations
and in Leningrad and Moscow. The tone is one of mild rebuke.
More and more Russian citizens sign on to American online
services under the auspices of various institutions like the
Soviet Academy of Sciences.
A few Eastern Europeans and residents of former Soviet
states begin showing up on American online services, some as
individual citizens but more under the auspices of governmental
agencies.
Russian and Eastern European hackers begin working the new
packet network and other links to the West, and show up on
Internet as well as various commercial online services and
private BBSs. They are particularly ingenious in their
techniques, which require that they use relatively ancient and
unprotected telephone technology to gateway into more
sophisticated systems in the Western world. They quickly
discover that they are easily tracked and nailed, and their
successors devise still more ingenious techniques to cover their
trails.
1993 - 1995
A cosortium consisting of General Electric, the now British-
owned BT Tymnet, and unnamed investors vies with the combined
forces of IBM and AT&T to win the right to provide commercial
data communications links with Leningrad and Moscow via X.400
communications links through Austria and Germany. (This will
offer links mainly with western Europe, with limited availability
to North America and Asia.)
GEnie, via its GEIS international X.25 service, offers
limited service to residents of Moscow and Leningrad, as well as
to various former Soviet states. The links are into Western
Europe, with packet-switching networks like U.S. Sprint and GE/BT
Tymnet as record carriers.
With the increasing availability of hard currency in Russia,
a relatively large number (scores) of individual Russian citizens
open accounts on American and British commercial online services.
These will be professionals, intent on establishing information
businesses and/or enhancing their own professional activities
with information from the West. (Behind the scenes, an arm of
the Russian internal security service--your guess--notices the
information interchange and begins monitoring it, with no
expressed or real intent.)
Online Security
Speaking of hackers (and I was, a few dozen lines back) I've
another bomb (well, a grenade in this case) to drop, along the
lines of the unknown threat Wall Street and the money-heads
mentioned in my first column. This time it has to with computer
data security.
You all know what hackers are, how they break into systems
and steal data for fun and/or profit, etc. This, thanks to the
mainstream news media, which portrays them in a somewhat
glamorous vein, like modern-day counterparts of corsairs in
historical novels. The threat to data posed by real hackers has
been missed, in large part, because the media prefers to focus on
hackers who get caught, and on soi-disant computer security
experts who emphasize the sensationalistic and speak knowingly of
viruses.
(Compare John xxxxx getting literally hours of air time and
gallons of ink in the national media with FLU_SHOT+ author Ross
Greenberg getting maybe ninety seconds on CNN. The disparity
comes from Ross' providing a level-headed, step-by-step approach
to virus protection. No blood-and-guts there ... but I digress--
as I shall whenever I can take a shot at media airheadedness.
After all, is not the implied purpose of the news media to inform
rather than entertain? Or am I inferring too much and is the
avowed purpose of the media to not only sway but dictate public
opinions, topple governments, and the like?)
That's not the only threat to data and privacy that's been
missed. An equally dangerous threat, that of accidental data
sharing or disclosure, has been mentioned not once in any book or
article on computer security.
And what constitutes accidental data sharing? Easy: Someone
mistakenly includes your E-mail address in a distribution list,
or sends E-mail intended for someone else to you because your
online ID is similar to that of the intended addressee. I've had
it happen several times on one system in particular. I've
received corporate-confidential information that conceivably
could have been sold to a certain mega-corporation's competitors
(something, I hasten to add, I didn't do; my ethics run counter
to accepted Yuppie and pirate practices. If they didn't, I
wouldn't be scrambling to make car payments.) I've received even
more sensitive information. All because someone didn't pay
attention to what he or she was typing. (Where this happened is
your guess; I'm now on 31 networks with 36 IDs.)
The hell of it is, it's something that's easily fixed. And,
no, I won't warn the service of it. Not at the moment, anyway.
Why? I mentioned ethics a few lines back; in addition to what I
said there, I have ethics that say "No" to professional rape. To
keep it short, I won't give away my knowledge and expertise to a
large corporation when said corporation is paying kilobucks to
employees and "consultants" who are supposed to catch this stuff.
But, be warned; a typo, a tired person sending E-mail, or
someone who's inattentive or untrained--any of these can result
in sensitive data being given to those who shouldn't have it.
(Hm ... there's a story in this, perhaps. Let's see ... Big
Bucks Corp. is losing big bucks because of a data leak. The data
leak is an accident, but it means Someone's job, so Someone
covers his ass by inventing a hacker. Hm ... could be
particularly interesting if it were a national security leak ...)
The Reading List (at last!)
Okay, here's the skinny: Whether you're new to this stuff or
not, buy and read any of the books on this list that you haven't
read (yes--even mine), with the exception of those branded as
technical if you're not of a technical bent. I've intentionally
left out some books that you've probably already read.
The bottom line: Each of these is worth ordering if you
can't find it in your favorite bookstore.
Communications and Networking for the IBM PC and
Compatibles, by Larry Jordan and Bruce Churchill (good if you
want to learn the tech-hardware end of things; Brady Books/Simon
& Schuster)
The Cuckoo's Egg, by Clifford Stoll (you know--the
bestseller; Bantam Books)
The Hacker, by Chet Day (interesting horror novel involving
hackers--ignore the reviews and judge for yourself; Pocket Books)
The Matrix, by John S. Quarterman (non-fiction, explains
computer networks around the world; Digital Press)
The Modem Reference, 2nd edition by Michael A. Banks (Brady
Books/Simon & Schuster; has everything you need to know about
buying and using a modem, getting online, what's online, etc.)
Synners, by Pat Cadigan (a novel, from Bantam/Spectra)
True Names, by Vernor Vinge (a collection of short stories
that also contains the novelette, "True Names," which is required
reading; currently in print in a Baen Books edition)
Understanding Data Communications (good reference for tech-
heads; pick it up at your local Radio Shack store)
That's a start. I'll add books to this list under an In
Print header next edition and each time thereafter.
#
That's it for now. Next edition: the much-overrated compu-
sex phenomenon, copyright theft (a bit of a scandal revealed),
more international stuff, and whatever looks interesting. In the
meantime, have fun!
#
SIDEBAR
The Online Elite Revisited
Some leftover comments on online elitism ... .
I spoke earlier in this issue (and in the previous issue)
about an "online elite." We networkers in the Western world are
an elite (which I'll attempt to prove by example in a couple
paragraphs). But we'll become less so over the next three years
as the cost of going online--in cash and knowledge--continue to
drop and modem communication becomes as "legitimate" in the
marketplace as VCRs and pizzas.
In the meantime, a lot of people are smearing us with the
same brush as the ubiquitous "rich man" and "Illuminati." The
"lot of people" are those who hear about what goes online but
aren't online. I've seen this happen time and again. Basically,
those who aren't online are afraid they're missing something
(they are), and that they're being barred from information and
contacts (they aren't).
I first grappled with this issue a couple of years ago, when
I was asked by some people in a national writers' organization of
which I'm a member (okay, it was the Science Fiction Writers of
America, aka SFWA) to try to quell a flap over someone not online
misunderstanding what "goes on" online. The best I could do (and
it was and is legitimate) was to explain that the public,
private, and semi-private exchange of information about which the
offline person was paranoid was in its net effect nothing more
than what went on via "street mail" letters, voice telephone
conversations, and in-person chats.
It wasn't accepted then, and it's not being accepted now.
In my capacity as Online Committee chairperson for SFWA, I set up
a panel at a recent SFWA event, at which one or two offline
people in the audience made accusations of conspiracies and
power-plays and information control on the part of those online.
If such exist (attempts at these things exist, anyway), it is no
more than goes on in the physical world, albeit faster at times.
But we'll never convince those offline of that. So the
offline "lots of people" brand those online as an elite group,
simply because they have access to communications channels
knowledge (and gossip) faster.
Interestingly enough, it has been my experience that those
offliners who cry "Elitists!" are those who are most able but
least likely gain access to online services. Which is to say,
they're the kind of people who either misunderstand things,
and/or like to have problems. (I'm not certain this is true in
the latter instance, but in general it is.)
On the other side of the coin, I should re-emphasize that
the people you and I meet online who are not in the U.S., where
telecom costs are low, are an elite group, indeed. For it costs
much in money and knowledge to get online if you're living in
Tokyo or Buenos Aires. It's not unlike (to haul out the realtime
metaphor again) foreigners visiting or moving to the U.S.--you
will rarely, if ever, meet someone from another country who was
without money or power or special knowledge or training, or some
special ability that enabled him or her to get here. Thus, we
don't really meet the "common man" via a virtual visit to other
countries--not yet, anyway.
But, what the heck--being part of an elite group isn't all
bad. (<SMIRK>, as we say online.)
#
Michael A. Banks is the author of 21 published non-fiction
books and science fiction novels (including the definitive work
on personal computer communications, The Modem Reference,
published by Brady Books/Simon & Schuster). He's also published
more than 1,000 magazine articles and short stories, lively
technical documents, and "... a few catchy slogans."
He can be found online "almost anywhere," but if you want to
reach him fast, try E-mail to KZIN on DELPHI, to MIKE.BANKS on
GEnie, to BANKS2 on AOL, or to mike_banks on BIX.
#
BOOKS BY MICHAEL A. BANKS
"If a technical thing is troubling you, just wait a bit.
Michael Banks is probably writing a book that will make it
clear." --The Associated Press
Do you use DeskMate 3? Are you getting the most out of the
program? To find out, get a copy of GETTING THE MOST OUT OF
DESKMATE 3, by Michael A. Banks, published by
Brady Books/Simon & Schuster, and available in your local
Tandy/Radio Shack or Waldenbooks store now. Or, phone 800-624-
0023 to order direct. (The all-new 2nd edition is now
available!)
"GETTING THE MOST OUT OF DESKMATE 3 is more than a guide to
DeskMate; it's an enhancement..."--Waldenbooks Computer
NewsLink
Interested in modem communications? Check out THE MODEM
REFERENCE, also by Michael A. Banks and published by Brady
Books/Simon & Schuster. Recommended by Jerry Pournelle in Byte,
The New York times, The Smithsonian Magazine, various computer
magazines, etc. (Excerpts from this book accompany this file.)
THE MODEM REFERENCE is available at your local B. Dalton's,
Waldenbooks, or other bookstore, either in stock or by order.
Or, phone 800-624-0023 to order direct. (1st edition currently
available; all-new 2nd edition available in January, 1991!)
"I definitely recommend it." --Jerry Pournelle, BYTE Magazine
Want the lowdown on getting more out of your word processor?
Read the only book on word processing written by writers, for
writers: WORD PROCESSING SECRETS FOR WRITERS, by Michael A. Banks
& Ansen Dibel (Writer's Digest Books). WORD PROCESSING SECRETS
FOR WRITERS is available at your local B. Dalton's, Waldenbooks,
or other bookstore, either in stock or by order. Or, phone 800-
543-4644 (800-551-0884 in Ohio) to order direct.
Other books by Michael A. Banks
UNDERSTANDING FAX & E-MAIL (Howard W. Sams & Co.)
THE ODYSSEUS SOLUTION (w/Dean Lambe; SF novel; Baen Books)
JOE MAUSER: MERCENARY FROM TOMORROW (w/Mack Reynolds; SF novel; Baen Books)
SWEET DREAMS, SWEET PRICES (w/Mack Reynolds; SF novel; Baen Books)
COUNTDOWN: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO MODEL ROCKETRY (TAB Books)
THE ROCKET BOOK (w/Robert Cannon; Prentice Hall Press)
SECOND STAGE: ADVANCED MODEL ROCKETRY (Kalmbach Books)
For more information, contact:
Michael A. Banks
P.O. Box 312
Milford, OH 45150