From: Shawn McMahon Area: Public Key Encryption To: Tim Devore 18 Aug 94 09:39:32 Subject: Net 106 still at it? Despite the stern warnings of the tribal elders, Tim Devore said this to Scott Mills: TD> No it's not "against the law" for the sysop to review any Net TD> Mail. Find a copy of the Policy4 and read section 2 and it will TD> fill you in on alot of stuff. Policy 4 says it's legal, that's true. However, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 says it's illegal; a felony, in fact. Guess which one is used in the court system? (Hint; it ain't Fidonet Policy.) BTW, this law has been challenged AND UPHELD in US courts. It's not going away. Don't assume that, just because Fidonet Policy says something is legal, it's legal. Fidonet Policy wasn't written by communications attorneys. Feel free not to assume it's illegal just because I say so (and attorney Mike Godwin of the EFF says so, and a couple Justice Department guys quoted here the other day say so, etc.) Get yourself a copy of the law and read it yourself. Although long, it's quite understandable. For reading other people's netmail, despite Policy 4 saying it's ok, you can get felony time in a federal prison, massive fines, and lose many of your civil rights. (Two of the three most important ones, for certain.) Is getting a peek at somebody else's mail really worth the following: 1) Armed Secret Service agents breaking down your door, holding your family at gunpoint, and hauling you off in handcuffs. 2) A long set of court proceedings, in which you're portrayed in the media as a vicious modern computer criminal. 3) Fines that basically clean out everything you own but the house and a car, depending upon what state you're from, leaving your wife and kids with nothing. 4) A year or more in federal prison, getting anally raped by large bald men with tattoos, who insist on calling you their "bitch" and making you wear makeup. 5) After the prison term, a long period in which you must report to a parole officer, and get PERMISSION if you want to leave the state. Wanna go to Disneyland? Don't promise the kids anything until after you hear from the government. Oh, and they're perfectly within their rights to give you permission, and then take it away at the last minute. Not that this will hurt you much, since you won't have a job. 6) Every criminal in the area will know you can't legally own a firearm, nor can your wife have one in the house. They'll come rob you, because they know you're a safe target. Call a lawyer specializing in communications law, Tim; read him the above scenario. See what he has to say about it. 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Shawn McMahon Area: Public Key Encryption To: Ron Pritchett 18 Aug 94 09:41:50 Subject: Pres/Vice Pres Despite the stern warnings of the tribal elders, Ron Pritchett said this to All: RP> For Example RP> key David Carter (1024/76271099 1993/07/05) RP> sig Albert Gore (DE09D78D 1994/08/12) RP> sig William J Clinton (23BDC6F9 1994/08/12) I would think that the President would probably use both his middle initials, if he was going to use either. Have you tried getting his key, and seeing who's signed it? 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Shawn McMahon Area: Public Key Encryption To: Brad Stiles 18 Aug 94 09:42:38 Subject: Net 106 still at it? Despite the stern warnings of the tribal elders, Brad Stiles said this to Scott Mills: BS> What law would that be violating? The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. And the violation is a felony. 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Shawn McMahon Area: Public Key Encryption To: Alan Pugh 18 Aug 94 09:49:56 Subject: Re: pgpblue Despite the stern warnings of the tribal elders, Alan Pugh said this to Christopher Baker: AP> i think i just need to get an hp-3000/70 minicomputer and put it AP> in my garage. believe it or not they are cheaper than a good pc There's a reason for that, Alan. I used to program an HP-3000, in college. Did you know that each user only gets 64k of memory? 128 if you know the command? That's all you get. I haven't done benchmarks, but gut instinct and years of experience tell me my 486DX40 runs rings around it. BTW, OS/2 seems to multitask a lot smoother than the HP's operating system. However, I'm surprised your local electric company doesn't give you an HP for free; if you actually used it, they'd make their money back in mere months. As for security on those things: we used to spend spare minutes recreating Trojan Horse programs from scratch on the thing. Didn't have to bother to keep a copy lying around, because it was too easy to make another. I wouldn't recommend running PGP on it if anybody capable of rudimentary BASIC programming has been on it for more than an hour, ever. 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718