The Computel Scoop
While our investigation into Computel is far from over, we do have some bits and pieces which may prove interesting to those of you who may have been taken advantage of by them.
To recap, 2600 has received numerous complaints about Computel, a "hacker" magazine that takes out big advertisements in nationwide magazines and has a remarkable record of not delivering. For some reason, they've been doing this for years without getting in trouble. And no one seems to know where they all of their money.
Here's what we know so far:
In the seventies, a magazine was published out of California which catered to phone phreaks. It was called Telephone Electronics Line (TEL). Some people have told us much of the material was ripped off from TAP. Judging from the copies we've received, it was more of a professional operation.
The magazine professed upwards of 7,500 subscribers nationwide. This we seriously doubt, since not all that many people seem to remember it. It was run out of the Los Angeles area (Woodland Hills, to be exact). Telephone Electronics Line featured plans for various phone toys that you could purchase and had articles that dealt with telephone networks, techniques, and devices. On March 25, 1976, the magazine was shut down by the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company via a court order.
A person named Jack Kranyak was the Executive Publishing Director. John Reynolds was a circulation manager. Others who were mentioned were Donald Simmones, Bill Homuth, Robert Klein, David Rees, Melanie Howard, and Monti Rieman. The magazine was "published monthly by Teletronics Company of America." Their offices were at:
Teletronics Company of America 22035 Burbank Blvd. Woodland Hills, CA 91364 |
Now, for starters, the format of Telephone Electronics Line in many ways looks exactly like the introductory pamphlet that Computel sends out. This, and the fact that Computel is run by two names, John Reynolds and Jack Kranyak, leads us to believe that there is a very definite connection.
The address that Computel gives in their ads is:
Computel Publishing Society 6354 Van Nuys Blvd., #161-A Van Nuys, CA 91401-2696 |
Another address is:
Computel Publishing Society P.O. Box 7765 Van Nuys, CA 91409-7765 |
This box was taken out by:
Computel Publishing 29323 Three Hollow Glen Agoura, CA 91301 |
Their bulk permit was issued to:
Starburst Industries P.O. Box 7719 Van Nuys, CA |
This box was taken out by:
Starburst Industries 29323 Three Hollow Glen Agoura, CA 91301 |
It was opened in 1981 by Jack Kranyak. P.O. Box 7765 was opened later.
Phone numbers related to Computel are:
800-6CO-MPUT Their nationwide toll-free number, since turned off.
800-5CO-MPUT Their California toll-free number, since turned off.
2COMPUTEL Their SBS Skyline toll-free number, access 950-1088, then dial the number.
Answering machine during the day, John Reynolds ("Hello, can I help you?)
at night.
818-785-4881 Listed as Computel Publishing Society, Van Nuys, answered by John Reynolds.
818-994-5671 The number "Jack Kranyak" left when he opened his P.O. box, answered by John Reynolds.
|
There is also a Jonathan Reynolds and an Ed Kranyak in Van Nuys. However, we're not certain that they're related at this point, so we won't publish the numbers.
Their bank account number is 3228-848 at the Bank of A. Levy in Van Nuys. This account is run by Jack Kranyak under four different company names, including Computel and Starburst Industries. Neither of these names is registered as a corporation in California. This bank account, from what we could find out, is in no way large enough to buy full page ads in Family Computing.
Finally, Mr. Kranyak has been described by his neighbors as "nuttier than a bed bug."
So this is the data we have. We're sorry we don't have answers yet, but with a little luck we'll get to that point. We would like to say though, that if this is an FBI sting, they're making no attempt whatsoever to close up shop. This could be much bigger than we had originally supposed, either in terms of mail fraud or some kind of sting - we suspect they don't identify themselves when they answer the phone because they're not involved in just one operation.
In short, we feel Computel is either run by a group of aging hippies who don't know what they're doing or it's being run by some mysterious entity who knows precisely what they're doing. We hope eventually to get the answers.
We welcome your comments.
This historic document was kindly sent in by one of our readers. It shows the extreme measures that "justice" can take. It suggests that you destroy your issues of magazines like 2600, TAP, and, in this case, TEL and was sent to all thee readers of TEL.
