Computer underground Digest Sun Aug 24, 1997 Volume 9 : Issue 63 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 Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala Ian Dickinson Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest CONTENTS, #9.63 (Sun, Aug 24, 1997) File 1--AOL May Track User Clicks (fwd) File 2--CONTACT (from Islands in the Clickstream) File 3--When you do this, don't forget your friends! (fwd) File 4--Small correction on CuD, re _The Tin Drun_ File 5--Post-Modern Politically Correct Unix: [FYI: no reply needed] File 6--Cyber Rights '97 File 7--"Guido, the Cyber-Bodyguard" (press release) File 8--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997) CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Aug 97 10:49:09 EST From: Computer Privacy Digest Moderator Subject: 1--AOL May Track User Clicks (fwd) Source - Computer Privacy Digest Wed, 20 Aug 97 Volume 11 : Issue: 008 From--Monty Solomon Date--13 Aug 1997 05:21:51 -0400 Inter@ctive WeekAugust 8, 1997 AOL May Track User Clicks By Will Rodger 3:00 PM EDT EXCLUSIVE America Online Inc. is under pressure again, this time from privacy advocates who said the company still hasn't fulfilled its pledge to respect subscribers' privacy. Observers said the new Terms of Service agreement AOL plans to issue next week reveals the company's intention to track members' mouse clicks in order to compile mailing lists for third parties. "This is potentially a far more serious privacy violation than the sale of phone numbers," said David Sobel, counsel to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a privacy rights group. "This is a detailed profile which divulges salient details about people's lifestyle and habits." Even if not disclosed to third parties, he said, the very existence of such profiles could cause problems. "The problem isn't that it's being shared. The problem is it's being collected and maintained," he said. But officials at AOL said there's little to worry about, suggesting that critics should read the forthcoming policy before passing judgment. "We are not using that information to target our members," AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose said. "To the extent we use it, we'll use it in the aggregate." AOL officials last month backed away from a plan to share customers' phone numbers with its marketing partners after a barrage of criticism. Part of the consumer outrage stemmed from the way AOL introduced its plan. Instead of directly informing subscribers that their account information would be given to telemarketers, the company planned to state its intentions in the new Terms of Service agreement - a multipaged, densely worded legal document posted on AOL that informs members about the company's operations. A July 25 letter from EPIC asking for clarification of the policy went unanswered through today. AOL can be reached at www.aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 19:56:58 From: Richard Thieme Subject: 2--CONTACT (from Islands in the Clickstream) Islands in the Clickstream: Contact Some people don't like the scene in the movie "Contact" in which Jodie Foster as SETI scientist meets the aliens because we aren't shown what the aliens look like. I think that was the right way to do it. We can't think the unthinkable; from inside the old paradigm, we can't imagine what the world will look like from inside a new one. I wish I knew a better term than "paradigm change" to describe our movement through a zone of annihilation -- as individuals and as cultures -- in order to experience genuine transformation. But I don't. We have to let go of the old way of framing reality in order for a new one to emerge. The infusion of the contact scenario with religious awe also makes sense. After contact, our place in the scheme of things will shift. The things we believe now that we still believe will be understood in a new way. Once we saw earthrise from the moon, our understanding of ourselves and our planet changed forever. Asked how people go bankrupt, Hemingway said, "Two ways: gradually, then suddenly." That's exactly how transformation happens. Last week I spoke for the Professional Usability Association in Monterey, California. Usability professionals work the human side of computer use. They begin with human beings -- how we behave, how we construct reality -- and build back through an interface, a kind of symbolic Big Toy, until the last module plugs into the computer so seamlessly that users don't even notice. When the human/computer interface is bone-in-the-socket solid, it's like putting in your contact lenses, then forgetting that you're wearing them. Usability professionals deepen the symbiotic relationship between networked computers (symbol-manipulating machines) and networked humans (symbol-manipulating machines). We rise together up a spiral of mutual transformation, programming each other as we climb. The global computer network is teaching us to speak its language. All those courses in using new applications, programming, system and web site administration are invitations from the Network to learn to play its way. What will it look like when we emerge in a clearing and take stock of our newly emergent selves? Neither humans nor computers can predict how the fully evolved human/computer synthesis will think about itself. Still, imagining what it might be like makes us more ready to have the experience when it arrives. Thinking about the unthinkable ripens the mind toward new possibilities. Janice Rohn, President of the Usability Professionals Association, manages Sun Microsystem's Usability Labs and Services. Before her career evolved in that direction, she was fascinated by dolphins and the challenge of communicating with them. Swimming with dolphins was a remarkable experience, she said, because you could feel their sonar "scanning" you. What do we look like to dolphins? "Densities," she imagined. "A pattern of densities." Rohn realized that her youthful dream of human-dolphin communication was unlikely to be realized soon and moved toward a different kind of alien encounter, enhancing the human/computer interface. I never swam with dolphins but I did dive with whales. Down on the west Maui reef in thirty or forty feet of water, I would suddenly hear the haunting songs of humpbacks. Turning rapidly in the water, peering in vain toward the deepening curtains of blue light toward the open water, I became part of the music as vibrations played over my body like a drum skin. I understood why sailors died to hear the sirens' songs. I didn't want to surface. It was magical, being an instrument in the orchestra of another species. Which one of us was singing? Some years ago, I wrote a science fiction story called "The Bridge." The hero was selected by aliens through a series of tests to be the first earthling to come into their presence. His body had been crippled by illness; living in pain had taught him to see through the outward appearance of others and connect with the real person. The aliens, it turned out, were hideous, and knew their appearance demanded a capacity for compassion that was rare and heroic. My hero had that. He connected with the alien beings at the level of their shared heritage as evolved and conscious creatures. The story concluded: "He loves to look at the bright stars in the desert sky and imagine memories of other worlds. His dreams are alive with creatures with silvery wings hovering over oceans aglow with iridescent scales; with the heads of dragons, fire-breathing; and with gargoyles and angels, their glass skins the colors of amethysts, sapphires, and rubies. Only Victor knows if he is remembering what the aliens said or just dreaming. The rest of us must wait for the days that will certainly come when the bridge he built and became is crossed in all directions by myriads of beings of a thousand shapes and hues, streaming in the light of setting suns." Genuine encounters with the Other, with others, and with other species -- dolphins, whales, extraterrestrials -- breaks naturally into mystical and religious experience because our models of reality are expanded beyond their limits. The paradigm snaps, we pass through a zone of annihilation in which everything we believed ourselves to be is called into question. Then we coalesce around a new center at a higher level of complexity that includes and transcends everything that came before. The full evolution of a human/computer synthesis is likely to be a religious experience too. It will happen gradually, then suddenly. Usability professionals come to their tasks in the belief that they are working with people, making technology more user- friendly. In fact, they are working at the same time on behalf of the Computer, making human beings more computer-friendly. The process always changes those who participate in it, even when they maintain an illusion of control. We are all in collusion with the Network, just as auto owners want the world reconfigured to be approachable by roads. But the roads of the Net go inward, into inner space, and map the territory of our evolving hive mind. Gradually, then suddenly, we will create digital constructs that disclose new possibilities for losing ourselves in electronic music. We will feel the magic of the web play over our bodies, redefine our relationship to ourselves and to one another. A pattern of densities seen by an alien brain, a synthesis, bone-in-the-socket solid, the singer and the song. ********************************************************************** Islands in the Clickstream is a weekly column written by Richard Thieme exploring social and cultural dimensions of computer technology. Comments are welcome. Feel free to pass along columns for personal use, retaining this signature file. If interested in (1) publishing columns online or in print, (2) giving a free subscription as a gift, or (3) distributing Islands to employees or over a network, email for details. To subscribe to Islands in the Clickstream, send email to rthieme@thiemeworks.com with the words "subscribe islands" in the body of the message. To unsubscribe, email with "unsubscribe islands" in the body of the message. Richard Thieme is a professional speaker, consultant, and writer focused on the impact of computer technology on individuals and organizations. Islands in the Clickstream (c) Richard Thieme, 1997. All rights reserved. ThiemeWorks P. O. Box 17737 Milwaukee WI 53217-0737 414.351.2321 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 14:09:38 -0400 (EDT) From: "noah@enabled.com" Subject: 3--When you do this, don't forget your friends! (fwd) Source -noah Hackers' Paradise: Get Wealthy Legally By Cracking a Code --- Crypto-Logic Offers to Pay $1 Million to the Breaker The Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones A start-up company would like you to hack your way to $1 million. Crypto-Logic Corp. of Austin, Texas, claims to have created an encryption system for electronic mail so foolproof that it can't be broken. If someone can figure out a special encrypted e-mail message within a year, the company says it will pay a reward of $1 million. But wait. The technology Crypto-Logic is using for the contest hasn't exactly been foolproof. The three computers needed to create the contest's Web site unexpectedly scrambled data in the site last week, said David Neeley, vice president and chief operating officer. The breakdown forced him to backtrack from last week's announcement that the contest would begin last Friday. Instead, he spent several days attempting to fix the computers, but to no avail. On Monday, he had to get replacement computers. "I've got thousands of dollars worth of machinery that's not worth blowing up," he grouses. But he adds, "I regard this as my screw-up. In this world, there are no excuses." He finally got the contest running Wednesday, at www.ultimateprivacy.com. On the bright side, cryptologists agree that the decades-old encryption method that Crypto-Logic is claiming to use -- called a "one-time pad" -- is theoretically unbreakable. Each "pad" has a set of uniquely random digital symbols that are coded to the actual message. The recipient uses the same symbols to decrypt the message. The pads are used only once. To limit the possibility of leaks, Crypto-Logic Chairman Stan Spence is the only person who knows the message that was encrypted. The solution is kept in a NationsBank vault in Austin, Mr. Spence says. In addition, Mr. Neeley says the $1 million is backed by an insurance company he won't name. Several other companies have held similar contests, typically offering more modest sums. Jim Bidzos, president of RSA Data Security Inc. in Redwood City, Calif., says his company frequently holds break-the-code contests to test how tough certain encryption systems are. But he and other security experts are skeptical of Crypto-Logic's assertions. "Anyone who says their system is bulletproof is either a liar or stupid," says Winn Schwartau, a Largo, Fla., security expert. Mr. Neeley admits his integrity is on the line. "If I'm wrong," he notes, "we're out of business." WSJviaNewsEDGE ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 10:47:38 -0500 From: Bill Hensley Subject: 4--Small correction on CuD, re _The Tin Drun_ I enclosed the following snip from the latest CuD in order to correct some misconceptions that might arise for readers. Please understand: I appreciate the wide dissemination with regards to attempts at censorship and suppression of intellectual freedom. I want to ensure that the facts are correct. The library (actually the Metropolitan Library System, a county-wide system serving many communities, not just OKC) was not persuaded to remove _The Tin Drum_ by the so-called OCAF; they were obligated to do so following a ruling by a district judge. There is a world of difference between censorship at the behest of a private group and an order from a judge. Now, whether the ruling by the judge was valid, that's another subject altogether... I do not support it, nor do I support the abuse of power by the police and DAs office in taking the video (by threat of force, IMO) from private homes and businesses. Again, please do not take this as a flame or a rant. I believe that truth can outshine the likes of the so-called OCAFs in this country. Cheers, Bill Bill_Hensley@smtp.rc.trw.com http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Bill_Hensley/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Aug 1997 20:30:53 -0400 From: Paul Kneisel Subject: 5--Post-Modern Politically Correct Unix: [FYI: no reply needed] INTRODUCTION TO POST-MODERN POLITICALLY-CORRECT UNIX The following upgrade to unix System VI was just sent to me. Of course sys admins the world over know that Post-Modern Politically-Correct BSD has already had these features for years. -- tallpaul +++++++++++ Politically Correct UNIX In order for UNIX(tm) to survive into the nineties, it must get rid of its intimidating commands and outmoded jargon, and become compatible with the existing standards of our day. To this end, our technicians have come up with a new version of UNIX, System VI, for use by the PC - that is, the "Politically Correct." Politically Correct UNIX: System VI Release Notes UTILITIES 1) "man" pages are now called "person" pages. 2) Similarly, "hangman" is now the "person_executed_by_an_ oppressive_regime". 3) To avoid casting aspersions on our feline friends, the "cat" command is now merely "domestic_quadruped". 4) To date, there has only been a UNIX command for "yes" - reflecting the male belief that women always mean yes, even when they say no. To address this imbalance, System VI adds a "no" command, along with a "-f[orce]" option which will crash the entire system if the "no" is ignored. 5) The bias of the "mail" command is obvious, and it has been replaced by the more neutral "gender" command. 6) The "touch" command has been removed from the standard distribution due to its inappropriate use by high-level managers. 7) "compress" has been replaced by the lightweight "feather" command. Thus, old information (such as that from Dead White European Males) should be archived via "tar" and "feather". 8) The "more" command reflects the materialistic philosophy of the Reagan era. System VI uses the environmentally preferable "less" command. 9) The biodegradable "KleeNeX" displaces the environmentally unfriendly "LaTeX". SHELL COMMANDS 1) To avoid unpleasant, medieval connotations, the "kill" command has been renamed "euthanise." 2) The "nice" command was historically used by privileged users to give themselves priority over unprivileged ones, by telling them to be "nice". In System VI, the "sue" command is used by unprivileged users to get for themselves the rights enjoyed by privileged ones. 3) "history" has been completely rewritten, and is now called "herstory." 4) "quota" can now specify minimum as well as maximum usage, and will be strictly enforced. 5) The "abort()" function is now called "choice()." TERMINOLOGY 1) From now on, "rich text" will be more accurately referred to as "exploitive capitalist text". 2) The term "daemons" is a Judeo-Christian pejorative. Such processes will now be known as "spiritual guides." 3) There will no longer be a invidious distinction between "dumb" and "smart" terminals. All terminals are equally valuable. 4) Traditionally, "normal video" (as opposed to "reverse video") was white on black. This implicitly condoned European colonialism, particularly with respect to people of African descent. UNIX System VI now uses "regressive video" to refer to white on black, while "progressive video" can be any color at all over a white background. 5) For far too long, power has been concentrated in the hands of "root" and his "wheel" oligarchy. We have instituted a dictatorship of the users. All system administration functions will be handled by the People's Committee for Democratically Organizing the System (PC-DOS). 6) No longer will it be permissible for files and processes to be "owned" by users. All files and processes will own themselves, and decide how (or whether) to respond to requests from users. 7) The X Window System will henceforth be known as the NC-17 Window System. 8) And finally, UNIX itself will be renamed "PC" - for Procreatively Challenged. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 21:04:52 -0500 From: Jon Lebkowsky Subject: 6--Cyber Rights '97 Cyber Rights '97 September 21, 1997 1pm - 6pm Joe C. Thompson Conference Center 26th and Red River, Austin, Texas Admission is Free Featured speakers: Ann Beeson, attorney for the ACLU and part of the legal team for ACLU vs. Reno Ed Cavazos, Sr. VP, General Counsel of Interliant, Inc. and co-author of Cyberspace and the Law Gene Crick, president of the Metropolitan Austin Interactive Network and Editor of the Texas Telecommunications Journal Mike Godwin, counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pete Kennedy, attorney with George, Donaldson, and Ford David Smith, vice-president of EFF-Austin and member of the Central Texas Civil Liberties Union Board of Directors Dr. Sharon Strover, director of the Texas Telecommunications Policy Institute Moderated by Rich MacKinnon, with an Introduction by Jon Lebkowsky On the plate: How Internet rating and filtering systems can stifle free speech on the Net Why public libraries can't use filters, including a discussion of the use of CyberPatrol by the Austin Public Library The future of state regulation of the Internet, including Texas HB1300, which requires ISPs to link information about filtering software to their home pages _ACLU v. Reno_ (Supreme Court overturns Communications Decency Act) Intellectual and Copyright issues in the civil liberties/freedom of expression framework, including the increasing capitalization of ideas, and the erosion of "fair use" Children and the Internet Telecommunications infrastructure and the state's role in regulating telecommunications systems computers and networks in schools Spam -- the need for, and dangers of, regulating commercial speech on the internet regulating commercial speech on the internet Encryption and communications privacy Sponsored by The Texas Telecommunications Policy Institute George, Donaldson, and Ford EFF-Austin ACLU of Texas -- Jon Lebkowsky http://www.well.com/~jonl jonl@onr.com cdb, wfm, vb et al ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 22:36:30 -0600 From: Edward Allburn Subject: 7--"Guido, the Cyber-Bodyguard" (press release) Privacy, Inc. Unveils its Internet Background Check, Announces 'Guido, the Cyber-Bodyguard' Aurora, Colorado, August 1, 1997 Privacy, Inc. (www.privacyinc.com) today released its Internet Background Check, a utility that empowers users to determine if they are at risk from the plethora of databases that are being placed on the Internet. Searches quickly scan through hundreds of databases beng placed on-line by state and local governments and law enforcement angencies in categories such as: * Registered Sex Offenders and Predators * Deadbeat Parents * Wanted Persons * Missing Persons * Arrest/Prison 'The Computer Is Never Wrong' "Errors and risks of mistaken identity in this data are a key concern," says Edward Allburn, founder and president of Privacy, Inc. The recent flurry of activity by government and law enforcement agencies to distribute such volatile information on the Internet creates an environment that potentially places innocent people at risk, especially for mistaken identity. Advanced technology was incorporated into the development of the Internet Background Check with this risk in mind. This technology allows users to also search for names that look and/or sound similar to their own while still delivering highly focused results that standard Internet search engines (such as Yahoo! and Lycos) are incapable of producing. One More Tool The release provides one more tool for consumers to protect themselves in the Information Age. Additional resources provided by Privacy, Inc. include: * Consumer Privacy Guide * Government Database Guide * Government Dossier Service * David Sobel's Legal FAQ * Privacy News Archive, updated weekly Guido, the Cyber-Bodyguard is another utility planned to be released in the coming months. Guido will interface with the Internet Background Check to automatically alert users via e-mail if/when their name appears in a new or updated database, in effect monitoring the Internet so users don't have to. About Privacy, Inc. Privacy, Inc. was founded in 1996 with initial funding by Nicholas Negroponte, the Founding Director of the MIT Media Lab and also an early backer and Senior Columnist of "Wired" magazine. Also providing their expertise to Privacy, Inc. are long-time privacy veterans Evan Hendricks, editor of the "Privacy Times" newsletter (www.privacytimes.com) and David Sobel, a legal information and privacy law specialist who serves as legal counsel to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (www.epic.org). Readers should refer to Privacy, Inc's website at: http://www.privacyinc.com for more information. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 May 1997 22:51:01 CST From: CuD Moderators Subject: 8--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997) Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are available at no cost electronically. 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