362 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
362 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
==Phrack Inc.==
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Volume Three, Issue Thirty-Four, File #3 of 11
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-*[ P H R A C K XXXIV P R O P H I L E ]*-
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-=>[ Presented by Dispater ]<=-
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The Disk Jockey
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Handle: The Disk Jockey (over 10 years now...)
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Call him: Doug
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Reach him: douglas@netcom.com
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Past handles: None
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Handle origin: Selected it way back in the Apple days, when
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it was hip to have a hardware-related name.
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Date of Birth: 12/29/67
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Age at current date: 23
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Approximate Location: Silicon Valley
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Height: 6'1"
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Weight: 220 lbs.
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Eye color: Green
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Hair Color: Blond/brown
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Education: Cornell, Univ of Michigan, Stanford, and a
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slew of others schools that I had the
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opportunity to attend. What started out as
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a strong belief in law became so jaded that
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I fell back on Comp Sci. Still wake up in
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the middle of the night yelling "NO!, NO!"
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Also have a wallpaper degree in Psychology.
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Computers: First: Apple //. Presently: several. Mac
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IIfx, 386/33, and several others that I can't
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seem to get rid of...
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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The Story of my Hacking Career
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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I was lucky enough to be able to get my hands on computers early, back in
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the days of the PET and the TRS-80. Although we poke fun at a Trash-80 now, at
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the time I was completely fascinated by it. Remember Newdos/80, LDOS, and
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utilities like SuperZap?
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Things started really rolling after a friend introduced me to the Apple.
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Although I never fell into the stereotype of being a computer "nerd" (don't we
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all like to think that?), compared to the redundancy of normal schoolwork,
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learning about the Apple was a new and unexplored world. Unlike most of the
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other computer "types", I didn't read science fiction, didn't have any social
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problems, and thought looking at girls was more enjoyable than talking about
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hardware. Well, depending on the hardware. (ha-ha!)
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"Cracking" Apple software was of course the next logical step. The 6502
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was a wonderful chip, and easy to learn. Copy-cards and other "hacked"
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hardware was becoming findable and it was getting to the point that the
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only goal was to get your hands on pre-release software. Before I had entered
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the "modem" world, friends had a network of other people across the country and
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traded things by mail.
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Of course the whole world changed when I picked up a 300 baud modem.
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Suddenly there was the communication and knowledge that I had been hungry for.
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People wrote text files on just about everything imaginable. What is the
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president's phone number? How can I call the pope? How can I make lowercase
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on my Apple II? What are the routing numbers for boxing to the Eastern Bloc
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countries?
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Codes were never much of an interest. The systems that ran them, however,
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were quite interesting. As technology advanced, SCCs started using
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sophisticated AI techniques to detect any kind of abnormal usage instantly.
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Codes used to last several months, now they only lasted a few hours. Boxing,
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however, was a little more elegant and was the flashy way to call your friends.
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Even before I had ever heard of boxing or phreaking, I enjoyed the
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benefits of what we now know as a "red box". While in boarding school, I
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noticed that a somewhat broken phone emitted obscenely loud "beeps" when you
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dropped in a quarter. I took a little micro-recorder and recorded myself
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dropping about $5.00 into the phone. When I played this back into the
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telephone, the telco thought I was actually dropping change in the machine! I
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was able to call my girlfriend or whomever and speak for hours. Now most
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payphones mute those tones so they are barely audible, if at all.
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Local user groups were a good place to pick up software, legal and
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otherwise. Remember those damn "CLOAD" magazine tapes for the TRS-80? 80-Micro
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magazine? The early 80's was the time of the hardware hacker - anything
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bizarre you wanted you had to make yourself, since it wasn't available
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otherwise. Now you can call any of a slew of 800 numbers, give them your
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credit card number (!) and have it on your doorstep the next day.
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I think part of the problem of the "new generation" of hackers, phreakers,
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warez kids, etc, is that they never had the experience with low-level stuff and
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actually having to into the hardware to get what they wanted. Their only
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programming experience is coming from school, which gives a shallow and usually
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totally impractical background for the "real world".
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My eventual disgust with the pirate world came when products such as
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"Pirate's Friend" came out, allowing people to sector edit out my name and
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insert theirs. I had spent quite a lot of time trying to find new software,
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and enjoyed the ego stroke of having my name passed around. I had a lot of
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respect for book authors that were plagiarized after that...
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About the industry
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The computer industry in general is interesting. Working in it, I hope
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I'm justified to speak about it. Getting a job is quite easy, since the
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technology is changing so much, unless it is in something that will be around
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for some time, you can usually pick up a job by just knowing the latest
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developments, the buzzwords, and having good "chemistry". In the valley many
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firms realize that colleges don't really teach you much in the way of practical
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knowledge. At best, they give you the opportunity to try different types of
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machines. It amazes me that HR departments in companies across the country
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won't even look at a resume unless the applicant has a college degree.
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Advanced degrees are a different matter and are usually quite applicable
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towards research, but your usual BA/BS variety? Nah. If you want to make a
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lot of money in this industry, all you need to do is get the reputation as a
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person who "gets things done" and have superior communication skills. You can
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write your ticket after that.
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About legal issues
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Anyone who has ever read some of my later text files (1986, 1987) knows
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that I had no qualms about the legalities of beating an establishment.
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Although my line of morals was probably beyond where others placed theirs, I
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could always justify to myself damage or loss to an establishment, "beating the
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system", rather than hurting the individual. Although I am pretty right-winged
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in beliefs, I have a great distrust for the policing agencies.
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Various memories
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Getting a call from my father while at school and being told that Control
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C had called him and relayed the message "Tell Doug the FBI are after The Disk
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Jockey. Get rid of everything and hide." To say I "cleaned house" would have
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been a gross understatement. I knew this was true, I, like many others, had
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just ridden on the false pretense that they would have better things to do then
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come after me. I later saw intelligence reports showing that I had been kept
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track of for some time. I was described as:
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"Involved in some type of student-loan scam through creating fictitious college
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applicants at his school. Very violent temper, ruthless attitude. Breaks
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people's legs for money (TX). Owns a motorcycle and a european sedan. Nasty
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hacker."
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Only a handful of people would know that I had a motorcycle, so it was
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somewhat upsetting that they had this kind of information on me. I later saw
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some of this same information in Michigan Bell Security's records. They also
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had the correct phone number for my place at Cornell, my parents number, and
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even the number of some of my personal non-computer related friends.
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SummerCon in 1987 was a fun experience. I had the opportunity to meet
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many of the people that I communicated with regularly, as well as wonder why
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people thought St. Louis was such a wonderful place. While there were a few
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socially "on-the-fringe" types, I was amazed that most of the other "hackers"
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didn't fit the usual stereotypes. They were just regular guys that had a some
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above average cleverness that allowed them to see the things that others
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couldn't.
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By the time I was 20 years old, I had about $40,000 worth of credit on
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plastic, as well as a $10,000 line of credit for "signature loans" at a local
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bank. The credit system was something that seemed fun to exploit, and it
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doesn't take long to figure out how the "system" works. With that kind of cash
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Aavailable, however, it's tempting to go and buy something outrageous and do
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things that you wouldn't normally do if you had the cash. This country is
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really starting to revolve around credit, and it will be very hard to survive
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if you don't have some form of it. If more people were aware of how the credit
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systems worked, they might be able to present themselves in a better light to
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future creditors. I don't think that credit is a difficult thing to
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understand, I just had an unusual interest in understanding and defeating it.
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Perhaps this is something that my future text files should be about.
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Getting busted
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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On June 27, 1988 at 1:47am, I had just parked my car outside my apartment
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and was walking up to the door when I heard someone say "Doug?" I knew that no
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friend of mine would be visiting at that hour, so I knew my fate before I
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turned around. An FBI agent, State police detective and a local detective were
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walking up to me. "We have a warrant for your arrest." Interestingly, they had
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actually several warrants, since they weren't sure what my name was. I was
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being arrested for 6 counts of "conspiracy to commit fraud". After being
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searched to make sure I wasn't carrying a gun, they asked if they could "go
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into my apartment and talk about things". Although I had completely "cleaned
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house" and had nothing to hide in there, I wasn't about to help out an
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investigation on me. "Ah, I think I had better contact an attorney first."
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"Is there one you can call right now?" "Are you kidding? It's 2:00am!"
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I was handcuffed and had my legs strapped together with a belt and was
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thrown in the back of a car. This was one of those usual government cars that
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you see in the movies with the blackwalls and usual hubcaps. Interestingly
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enough, the armrest of the car hid quite an array of radio equipment. Although
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pretty freaked out, I figured the best thing to do at that point was try to get
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some sleep and call the best attorney money could by in the morning.
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Little did I know where I was being brought. I was driven all the way to
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a small Indiana town (population 5,000) where a 16 year-old Wheatfield Indiana
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boy had made the statement that he and I "agreed to devise a scam". Although
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nothing was ever done, merely planning it created the conspiracy charge.
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I figured that after my arraignment I could post bail and find an
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attorney. I had almost $10k in the bank and could probably find more if I
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needed it. I was sadly mistaken. The next day at my arraignment the charges
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were read and bail was set -- $150,000.00, cash only!
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In a strange turn of events, the FBI decided to totally drop the case
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against me. The federal prosecutor figured it wasn't worth wasting his time
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and they jumped out. However, the Indiana state police were involved in my
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arrest and were angry that the FBI was dropping the case after they had
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invested so much time and money in the case, so they decided to pursue the case
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themselves. There is so much friction between the FBI and state police, that
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the FBI didn't even answer their letters when they tried to request information
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and data files on me.
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Funny. I spent 6 months in a tiny county jail, missing the start and
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first semester of school. I was interrogated constantly. I never told on a
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sole and never made a statement about myself. I sat in jail daily, reading
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books and waiting for my court dates. Although I never expected it, nobody
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ever thanks you when you keep your mouth shut. I can't imagine that many
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people would sit in jail for a long time in order to save their friends.
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Perhaps it's a personal thing, but I always thought that although I doubt
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someone else would do it for me, I would never, ever tell anything on anyone
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else. I would never be responsible for someone else's demise. It took a lot
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of money, and a lot of friday nights of frustration, but I walked away from
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that incident without ever making a statement. It was at a time when my
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"roots" were deepest and I probably could have really turned in a lot of other
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people for my benefit, but it was at a time in my life where I could afford to
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miss some school and the integrity was more important to me. There were a lot
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of decisions that had to be made, and spending time in jail is nothing to be
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proud of, but I never backed down or gave in. It did provide the time for me
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to really re-evaluate who and what I was, and where I was going.
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People I've known
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Compaq Personal friend for some time now.
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Control C Mostly likely the craziest guy I've ever met.
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Really nice guy.
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Knight Lightning Would call me up in the middle of the night and
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want to discuss philosophical and social issues.
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Kind of guy I would probably get along with outside
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of computers as well.
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Loki Friend since high school. Made a big splash in the
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h/p world, then disappeared from it. He and I (and
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Control C) drove to SummerCon together.
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Shooting Shark Great guy who used to be into calling bridges
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and would yell "Hey, I'm paying for this!" Truly
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one of the only people that I ever knew that didn't
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do anything blatantly illegal. Most of our email
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was over the optimization of crypt. The Mad Alchemist
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Sysop of Lunatic Labs, one of the only boards that
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I feel is worth the telephone call anymore.
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He has given me a lot of slack and runs
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a BBS that picks up some of the most obscure
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information. A sysop that others should be judged
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by.
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Tom Brokaw Personal friend since childhood that stood by me
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through thick and thin, bailing me out of trouble
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time and time again. I can never thank him enough
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for being a true friend.
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BBSs
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~~~
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More than I could mention here. A few more recent notables --
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Atlantis Although run on an Apple, the Lineman had this
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system so slick and customized that it became the
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standard that a lot of the PC based boards were
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created with. It was the first real
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"clearinghouse" for text files.
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Free World II Run by Major Havoc and myself, this was an
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incredibly robust system, and was one of the first
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to be run on a US Robotics HST. Although it was
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primarily a discussion board, the file areas
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offered some of the best files -- virtually no
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games, but about every real utility and the like.
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Metal AE 201-879-6668 - this was a true blue AE line that
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was around for like 5 or 6 years and was ALWAYS busy.
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Had all of the original cDc and other bizarre text
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files, occasionally some new Apple warez.
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Lunatic Labs Still up and still great.
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Metal Shop Private Perhaps one of the best boards of all time.
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Run by Taran King and had a healthy, yet
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secure userlog. It was a closed system, the
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only way to get on was to know somebody.
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Everyone on the system knew each other in
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some sense.
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World of Cryton One of the first boards to have a "philter" and to
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really push the messages as far as codes, accounts,
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card numbers, etc. This was also the demise, along
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with many of the 414 hackers.
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Misc
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~~~
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2600 Magazine How could I not like a magazine that published
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articles I wrote? This really is a great magazine
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and anyone who is interested in computers, privacy,
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or cyber-issues in general should subscribe.
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Fame...? Was in the movie "Hoosiers" (thanks for bringing
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that up, Shark!), even though I'm not a basketball
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fan. Met Dennis Hopper, etc. Went to school with
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a lot of famous people's kids. Most have some
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pretty serious problems. Be glad you are who you
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are.
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Marriage...? I'm single and will do everything I can to stay
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that way. When people ask me about getting married
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I tell them that the idea of car payments scare me.
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I enjoy having girlfriends, but I've become too
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independent. I still run around at bars until
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sometimes 3:00am or so, but still manage to spend
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about 50 or 60 hours a week at work. Even if I cut
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out the bar scene, I wouldn't have much time to
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spend with someone else on a daily basis.
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Advice If you ever get into doing illegal things, make
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sure you do them by yourself. Your chances of
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getting caught when you do things solo and resist
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the temptation to "brag" about them is minimal.
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When someone else knows about what you have done,
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it doesn't matter how good of a friend they are.
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If they get into trouble, you are going to the
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sacrificial lamb when it comes to negotiating their
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freedom. Even the strongest willed individuals
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seem to crumble when questioned by police.
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Groups are bad news. There are very little
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advantages to being in a group and all it does is
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increase your personal risk by multitudes.
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Cracking groups aren't nearly as dangerous, but
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they DO bring boards down. Look to the fate of
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groups such as LOD for examples of group fate. Lex
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Luthor, perhaps one of the most elusive and private
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hackers of all time was the one to bring down the
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rest of the group. This was tough for me, as many
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of the members were people I talked with and could
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really feel for.
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Don't get discouraged in life if you feel that you
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are behind the rest because you don't come from a
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rich family or have the best equipment. I left
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home when I was 17 years old, keeping only minimal
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contact with my parents since then and lived life
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pretty well, using my abilities to "smooth talk"
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and pure enthusiasm to walk into about any job.
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Don't put people down -- everyone has something to
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teach you, even the bum on the street might be able
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to tell you how to make some free phone calls!
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There is a wealth of information to be found via
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Usenet, text files, or even your school or public
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library. Stay informed and well read.
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Email I always enjoy hearing from people. Reach me via
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the Internet at douglas@netcom.com, or on Lunatic
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Labs BBS.
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________________________________________________________________________________
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