GOING DOWN

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This article first appeared in "Iron Feather Journal" #14--March 1995.
I have been reading and on occasion writing for IFJ since 1989.  It
is an excellent underground/techno/hacker/etc resource guide that can
be obtained by contacting sprother@nyx.cs.du.edu or sending $5 to 
Steve Prothero, P.O. Box 1905, Boulder, CO 80306-1905.  RECOMMENDED.
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What is a hacker?  Are they really such bad people?  Or do they just
use the knowledge they have to gain more knowledge.  Perhaps it is
curiosity which makes them exploit a system for its worth.  If you
knew how to make free long distance calls you probably would too. 
Hackers usually know things like that.  There are too many types of
hackers to name.  Some call themselves Elite and will not share
anything; others, well they will help just about anyone.  A pirate is
someone who deals in copyrighted software.  Similar to hackers there
are various degrees of pirates.  One could categorize a hacker in the
same group as a pirate though.  But really, it is not a complicated
system and there are many good people out there--hackers and pirates. 
Pirates give and take software that companies usually charge a
tremendous price for.  Software companies try to blame the high price
on hackers but we all know that is not true.  If so then please
explain to me how SEGA and NINTENDO cartridges cost $40-$70?  It is
not because of pirates!  The hardware probably amounts to less then
$10 per cartridge.  If you saw a $20 bill on the ground you would
probably consider picking it up.  Well, pirates see software at
certain BBS's or parties, or ftp sites and take what they can.  About
half (or more) of all the software a pirate gets is hardly used--who
would want to pay for that.  It is useless trying to justify pirating
but the gist is many people do it to check out software.  I agree
with many hackers when they mention testing the software and if you
use it a lot then go ahead and buy it.  Of course I must admit it is
mighty difficult buying something you already have.

Below is a TRUE story about leaving a nasty paper trail.  

One sunny fall day early in the college semester day I got a call
setting up an appointment for me to meet with the undergraduate
advisor of my college.  I thought for a moment and wondered what it
could be for?  Perhaps I would make the honor society and he was
going to congratulate me on my excellent previous semester--I was
only .005 away from being a member.  Or perhaps the call was because
I won some kind of award or scholarship. A thought of being 
commissioned for an art project even crossed my mind.  I really was
not sure what the meeting was going to be about which essentially
caused a certain fear/excitement to dwell within my gut.  

Finally the meeting day arrived. Just before the meeting I was
pulling some cool software (read "pirate") from a ftp site.  I walked
around, took a leak and went off to the meeting place.  Three other
people were there as well, apparently to meet with the same person
also.  Humm, I wondered.  The advisor came out, we all greeted each
other and I actually said "Humm, I wonder where I fit in here."  The
door closed the five of us in.

There was me, the advisor, the system manager of the network (Unix),
and two other fellows--security people?  The main "security" person
stated that what he had to say was kind of awkward and he did not
know how to say it.  He then laid a piece of paper containing
information about a certain site (ftp site) in front of me.  Right
then I knew things worsened and the situation of why I was there came
into focus.  The paper contained a message I had posted to the USENET
about a special ftp site (not related to commercial software) in
numerical form.  I was asked if I "posted" the message or had a
hacker taken control of the account.  Well, certainly the option for
an excuse was opened but I decided to stick with the truth.  I told
everyone the message was posted to draw attention to the "special"
ftp site not the "pirate" section.  Of course, leaving out the PATH
to the "special" section in the post did not help my case but they
seemed to accept my explanation.

The bad thing was I had realized there was a pirate site within the
same subdirectory but accessible through a different path.  They
probably figured I was attempting to promote a pirate site which was
definitely not the intention. Right there I learned the valuable
lesson that Big Brother is always present!  The main security person
seemed concerned about the certain directory that promoted (or looked
to promote) pirated/cracked software.  Fingers were pointing to me. 
"Who created it?  Did you?"  Well, certainly I did not as I had an
unauthorized ftp site there and hoped the pirate site would not
interfere.  Well, in the end it did.  "This is a violation of the
state computer crime's act."  The main guy said.  "We have a
problem."  "If it happens again there will be a bigger problem and
the law will be involved."  Boy oh boy, I thought, what have I gotten
myself into. I did not do it!  I did not create the suspicious
directory!  The meeting ended with the security people asking the
system maintainer for a copy of the ftp system log and to find out
who created the "special" directory.  I left promptly and got rid of
any "bad" stuff on my accounts.  Who knew what those security people
did or would do now?  If they monitored the newsreader, perhaps they
monitored people's accounts, perhaps their mail.

EPILOGUE

The next few days after the meeting I was paranoid.  I would be more
suspicious, more observant, and I even went so far as to minimize all
my "pirate" stuff and reduced my "pirate" ftp intake to zero.  There
is a 10-copy felony somewhere on the law books and I surly did not
need that before starting my career life so I cleaned up.  I later
heard some people were busted at the University I attended for dealing
with "pirated" stuff that semester.  I somehow suspect the meeting I
attended was a direct result of this bust but I received no evidence
to support this opinion (i.e., they had to find someone to make an
example of).

The moral of the story is that "these people" can easily point
fingers, incriminate, incarcerate, and ruin ones "future" on
speculation alone--hey, they could have easily done it to me because
of the post.  One does not need to be proven guilty in this
society--if it hits the media and people see you then you ARE guilty. 

Best bet is to cover your tracks because if they have no
evidence--well we know the law.  Unfortunately people have the wrong
idea about hackers, pirates, and the computer underground. Be sure
not to judge a book by its cover nor always believe the "story teller"
because there are good "computer" people out there, including myself,
whose intentions were and still are to help.
  
-Pallbearer