BBSs under fire! (or on fire, if BATF gets into the act!)

I'd like to invite discussion, either private or listwise, on: Why is the govt.
targetting BBSs?

I note Eric S. Raymond accuses the govt and its mouthpieces of using the largely
manufactured horror of 'kiddie porn' as a "fait acompli", to yank the rug from
under our feet when we take exception to the idea that the U.S. Govt. should
have the authority to inspect our private lives and operations. Not to mention
also using the treat of 'terrorism' and 'dangers to national security' et al.
ad nauseum.

I'd like to tell you a short anecdote:
I frequently grep the entire disk system here for accessible .GIF files.
I need them for my BBS, and even though this grepping about hogs CPU time,
it is certainly less bandwidth costly than firing up a full FTP session to 
go hunting for such "warez".  Inevitably, many of these graphics files are
'porno'.  Also inevitably a few are 'illegal' porno, such as that featuring
beastiality and or nude children.  Most of these appear to originate from the
orient and from Europe.  I have no use for such materials, but apparently 
someone does. I did an experiment.  Noting the filenames, I looked about in
alt.binaries.pictures.erotica, and did an xarchie search, and many of these
files are available from US educational institutions, via both FTP archives
(usually in the uploads area -- I am confident that the maintainers of such
sites ditch this stuff in a jiffy.  There are exceptions, however) and 
the UseNet system.

Now, maybe I missed something, but I have yet to see the secret service raid
ftparchive.blah.edu, or UNM where I work, for 'pandering'.  Yet BBSs get
raided for SUSPICION of having such material, and get their equipment con-
fiscated.  I am pissed off enough that I am having a hard time even formulating
my displeasure into a logical post, but here goes anyway:

1) who gave the govt the right to distribute this material, and deny others
to do so (for whatever reason) - these universities ARE part of the govt.
2) why is the govt scapegoating BBSs?  Are we THAT 'dangerous and subversive'?
3) why is it that people in general cannot see this BS for the BS it is?
Is it REALLY so hard to see that "terrorism" and "kiddie porn" are not real
threats, but that stomping all over our privacy rights IS?
4) why is nothing much really being done about these civil rights violations?
The SJG case is a case in point.  EFF did plenty to help out, but where was the
ACLU?  I see lots of NETTERS mad about clipper, but where is the media blitz?
Where are the demonstrations on the White House lawn?  Are the people in this
country really so apathetic?  Where is the outcry over the Waco massacre?
For a govt to willy-nilly burn a bunch of children to death and lie like hell
to the people the whole time, is enough to start a civil war in a lot of 
places, yet here it's just another "oh well".  

Well before I really get lost here, I will just finish up by saying that I
became a BBS system operator with enthusiasm and happiness, and now find my
self embroiled in the fringes of a bitter war, and one which the general 
populace seems 100% ignorant of.  I don't care what Mike Godwin says, the
media DO see BBSs as a threat. I just got word that the article that was 
supposed to be done by a local paper on BBSs in our area was nixed. I don't
like conspiracy theories, but christ, it is almost impossible to get the
media to do anything on the online world that is not negative; the only
VR-oriented movie I have ever seen was a horror film designed to turn 
people OFF the idea (_Lawnmower_Man_), MTV wants to do stories about neo-
nazis using BBS for their goals; the media worked hand in hand with the 
govt in the Waco mess, and now the media are generally silent, even supportive,
about the clipper; I try to do my part in distributing crypto, and get 
legal threats from a govt. contractor...

What gives?  How far is this going to go?
-- 
Testes saxi solidi!  **********************   Podex opacus gravedinosus est!  
Stanton McCandlish,  SysOp:  Noise in the Void Data Center BBS
IndraNet: 369:1/1      FidoNet: 1:301/2      Internet: anton@hydra.unm.edu
Snail: 8020 Central SE #405, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108 USA
Data phone: +1-505-246-8515 (24hr, 1200-14400 v32bis, N-8-1)
Vox phone:  +1-505-247-3402 (bps rate varies, depends on if you woke me up...:)

>> Now, maybe I missed something, but I have yet to see the secret service raid
>> ftparchive.blah.edu, or UNM where I work, for 'pandering'.

You missed it.  It has happened.  MIT used to run an alt.sex.bondage
stories server.  Someone would read a.s.b., cull out the stories and
make them available for anonymous ftp.  Well, a while ago (2-3 years)
a guy named Joe Abernathy from the Houston Chronicle wrote a story
about the Internet, and mentioned the asb archive.  This got up to the
highest level of the NSF management, and MIT was threatened to take
down the server, or have their connection cut.  This was a big deal
within MIT, since MIT is extrememly progressive about virtual data.
They have a policy to take the ECPA seriously, and they really did
regard this as censorship.  But the NSF did not seem to be bluffing,
so MIT told the organization running the server that it had to be taken
down, and why.  The organization agreed, since they didn't want to be
cut off the net either.

It takes an extremely strong idealist to stand up to this sort of
pressure, and MIT just wasn't up to it.  I really can't blame them.
Today, maybe they could do it, since the net is much more in the
public's eye, and there are organizations like EFF and CPSR to support
them.

So, don't feel singled out.  The gov't isn't just targetting the
little guys.

>> 1) who gave the govt the right to distribute this material, and deny
>> others to do so (for whatever reason) - these universities ARE part of
>> the govt.

Laziness, not intent.  If someone made a big stink, unm would feel it,
I promise.

>> 2) why is the govt scapegoating BBSs?  Are we THAT 'dangerous and
>> subversive'?

No, you're easy targets, and closing down kiddie porn distribution
looks real good on the personnel evaluation.

>> 3) why is it that people in general cannot see this BS for the BS it is?
>> Is it REALLY so hard to see that "terrorism" and "kiddie porn" are not real
>> threats, but that stomping all over our privacy rights IS?

People in this country are soft.  They don't see the government as a
threat.  They also smoke too much and rot their brains with TV.
"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by
stupidity."

>> 4) why is nothing much really being done about these civil rights
>> violations?  The SJG case is a case in point.  EFF did plenty to help
>> out, but where was the ACLU?

The EFF did a fine job.  The ACLU wasn't needed here.  If they were, I
hope they would have done something.  The fact is, you haven't
experienced any civil rights violations, and the Clipper Chip,
although enabling them, does not cause them.  You can't take the
government to court because you think they're evil.  They have to
screw up first, and they are, in general, careful about provably
screwing up.

>> I try to do my part in distributing crypto, and get legal threats from
>> a govt. contractor...

They have rights to that software.  Plaster the universe with DES
software; nobody will touch you.  RSA does not want to cut off all
crypto; they're just trying to make money off what they own.  Would
you be upset if Playboy's lawyers sent you a letter ordering you to
get the digitized centerfolds off your BBS?  It's exactly the same
thing.

>> What gives?  

Look at the newspaper.  Open to a random page.  Do you see a story
about public service in your town, or about a police officer who got
shot yesterday?  Happy, peaceful, nice doesn't sell.  The media
focuses on death, violence, and stuff like that because it's what
people want to watch.  Nazis (Oops.  It's a flame.  The Nazis got
mentioned :-) and pornography are just the equivalents in the
networking world.  People could care less about all the good things
that happen.  They want to be reminded about all the bad things in the
world, so their own lives seem a little less miserable.

>> How far is this going to go?

Too far.  It already has.  I wish I could tell you when it would stop.

		Marc