Letters: LETTERS TO US
Dear 2600:
I think the question you referred to me last September from the Crystal Palace operator is one of the most widely asked questions these days in light of the LA case involving an operator. Mr. Tcimpidis. The answer is hard. The First Amendment protects most communications short of promoting the violation of laws by specific actions. Its application to bulletin boards is complicated by the uncertain nature of computer communication. Newspapers are more protected than radio stations because the traditional theory says that the government can regulate the airwaves since they are a limited resource and regulation is merely a side-effect of allocating the resource among competitive users. Will bulletin boards be treated like radio stations or newspapers? Only time will tell.
Let's try a different approach. Criminal law generally requires mens rae or guilty knowledge before someone can be convicted of a crime. The proprietor of a pornographic bookstore cannot be convicted of possessing obscene books just because they are in the store. There must be proof that he or she knew books were obscene. Likewise (?) an operator cannot be prosecuted for information on his/her board unless there is proof of knowledge of the contents of the message in question. More than knowledge is required. There usually must be intent to commit a crime. If a Metro code is on your bulletin board, and you do not know whether it is valid or not, it seems difficult to prove that you have the intent to commit a crime, or to aid and abet someone else to commit a crime. Lest the reader take this as a guarantee that there will be no prosecution, it is important to add that most of the elements of most crimes can be established by circumstantial evidence. This means, in short, that if a jury believes a prosecutor's argument that the smoke he/she demonstrated is sufficient to establish that the defendant causes the fire. If the contents of a bulletin board are clearly the efforts of people to steal money, computer time, telecommunication services, etc., it can be argued that the operator must have seen the messages, knew their intent, and willfully aided and abetted the perpetrators of at least criminal attempts, if not crimes.
If the last two paragraphs seem to contradict each other, the majesty of the law in its paradoxical confusion has been made manifest. As every lawyer always says in conclusion, the information herein offered is general, and worth about what the reader has paid for it. Specific questions are best discussed with a defense attorney. More general information will appear in the first issue of Conscience in Computing, which will contain a case study of the Tcimpidis case.
Jay BloomBeck, Esq.
Director, National Center for Computer Crime Data
Los Angeles
Dear 2600:
My favorite BBS is The Temple of RA at 907-248-6298. The sysop is Mad Jap and there are a number of boards, including paranormal, main board, phreakers, game board, and SLIME board. It runs an altered GBBS and it has a lot of quality users plus a great sysop. These people discuss a lot of interesting things.
The GCI Guy
Alaska
Dear 2600:
Is it something we did or didn't do that might be the reason you haven't used EasyLink lately? If so, please let me know.
Just contact me at 516-938-5600 (or drop a note in my EasyLink mailbox 62661080) and I will be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Sincerely,
John Sengelaub
Western UnionPlease leave us the hell alone. You people are fools.
Dear 2600:
In response to your article on fortress fones, I would like to add a piece of info. I have noticed a Bell repair lady opening up a fortress fone to take the change and bring it back to Ma. When she opened it, she took one key and stuck it on the right lower side of the fone and turned it twice clockwise, then inserted another key at the front, turned that counter-clockwise and pulled out, and voila! She got the box with change. I hope this can help you out.
Also, at one time, I dialed 0-959-1212 and I got a ringing. Where is that going??
Sector 17
If it's never answered at any hour of the day or night, then odds are it's some kind of a test number.
Dear 2600:
Have you ever wanted to know what city a phone number is located in? It's easy! All you need to know is the area code, the desired prefix, and how to push '0' on your Touch-Tone telephone. (You do have Touch-Tone, don't you?)
Suppose that we find 213-975-3617 written down in our notes but don't know where it's located. Put on your telco voice, turn down the Pink Floyd, and call your friendly local teaspoon (TSPS) operator. When (s)he answers, say "Name-place please, 213975." The op will 3-way to a Rate & Routing op in area code 213, who will cheerfully tell you the location in question. In this case, the telco clones will tell you "Los Angeles, California," which you probably suspected all along. They will even call you "sir!" Just think - you have tied up two telco clones and a landline to Smoggy Southern California. Isn't this phun?!
Another thing: some pholks think that loops exist only in the Untied States of Anemia. Au contraire, Pierre! Here are some loops in the Great White North, Montreal to he specific. The area code is 514 and the pattern is NXX-1194 and NXX-1195. Some prefixes known to be working are 324, 374, 656, 678, 731, 733, 738, 739, and 933. 374-1194 and 374-1195 is rumoured to be a phreak hangout.
A caveat, however, often you will get someone who speaks French. If you don't speak French, then... call another loop. Keep in mind that these loops are long-distance (unless you happen to live in Montreal), so don't run up your phone bill calling them. Don't run up someone else's phone bill, either (although everyone knows that moral, upstanding 2600 readers never break the law). These loops are often busy, so keep trying.
Bob Gamma
Dear 2600:
Are any of your readers familiar with the International Day of the Phreak? It's an annual event that's been going on for about three years now, with growing support each time. On the first Saturday after tax day (this year that would be Saturday, April 20), phone phreaks all over the world "get together" and do funny things to phone companies all over the world! Two years ago some pholks knocked out a Sprint satellite link by repeatedly calling the same access number with the same code from many different cities at once. It was great phun.
Perhaps your readers can suggest ideas for this year's "holiday." Also, does anyone know of a similar day for computer hackers? I think it takes place in the fall. (Phreaks can outdo hackers any day, by the way!)
Father
This is truly horrible. Do keep us informed, though.
Dear 2600:
I've been staying awake nights lately wondering why whenever someone gives out a nationwide toll-free number (in an advertisement or a radio show) they always give out two - one for callers outside their state, and one for callers within. Why can't the phone company give them one number for both? It might be cheaper the first way, considering that in-state calls are often discounted separately from cross-state calls, but even rich folks like IBM have a separate 800 number for the in-state calls. You'd think that they would rather pay more for one number and confuse their public less. Or would they?
Insomniac
It has to do with tariffs. In some states, things get so ridiculous that the United Parcel Service has to ship packages to another state in order for them to be delivered within the same state! Similar antics are the rule with phones, especially now after the breakup. Generally, if an 800 exchange ends in a 2 (i.e. 522, 932, etc.) it's likely the exchange only works within the state and not nationally. In other words, it's been the telcos that have been setting the rules of two numbers for the same thing. That's been changing, though. ESS allows practically any number to be used as an 800 number regard less of exchange. This allows for lots of letter-numbers (800-DIAL-ITT, 800-TELECUE, etc.) and also allows the same numbers to be used all over the country. So it should start looking less confusing. Now get some sleep.