From: MERC::"uunet!CRVAX.SRI.COM!RELAY-INFO-VAX" 7-FEB-1993 19:13:52.08
To: info-vax@kl.sri.com
CC:
Subj: DECUS DFWLUG Feb 9th Meeting Notice/Newsletter
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= __________ =
=| ______ | THE DFWLUG =
=| / ---- \ | 10th Anniversary(*1982-1992*) =
=| | | | Celebrating over 10 Years of DECUS =
=| \ ____ / | in Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas =
=| ------ | =
= ---------- dfwlug@fallout.lonestar.org BBS: (214) 270-3313 =
= D E C U S =
= =
= The DFWLUG is the Local Users Group for the =
= Digital Equipment Computer Users Society (DECUS) =
= =
= *DECUS* DFWLUG NET/Newsletter =
= =
=Volume 3 Number 2 February 5th, 1993 =
===========================================================================
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 INDEX (in this issue)
PAGE 1 * The next DFWLUG meeting Info and Map (February 9th, 1993)
PAGE 2 * DFWLUG Speakers and Calendar DECUS of Events for 1993
PAGE 3 * DFWLUG will host "BOSSES' DAY" for local DECUS/DEC Customers
PAGE 4 * Futurebus+ FACT SHEET
PAGE 5 * Futurebus+ Vendor Contact List
PAGE 6 * Digital Demonstrates Alpha AXP system with Futurebus+
PAGE 7 * Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service Lawsuit -- Day One
PAGE 8 * Digital Creates 13,500-MIPS supercomputer with Alpha AXPs
PAGE 9 * DFWLUG Staff members and contact list
PAGE 10 * DFWLUG BBS Info
PAGE 11 * Digital's 1-800 Service Phone Numbers (Consulting and Sales)
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 1
2/9/93 -- >>>>>> The February meeting agenda is as follows:
Bill Hancock Vice-President of Network-1 Inc. is an internationally
respected consultant and engineer with many years experiance in
network design, management, troubleshooting, security and standards.
Bill brings a unique, first hand insight to network management and
troubleshooting techniques, performance and tool requirements.
He is also the recipient of the DECUS Technical Excellence Award,
the top technical achievement award given by the U.S. Chapter
and writes a regular technical column in Digital News and Review.
His topic is : "Network Performance Issues in Client-Server Networks"
This presentation is a summaried version of his seminar on the
same topic scheduled for the 1993 Spring DECUS symposia in Atlanta.
We are expecting a large group so be sure to come early to get a
good seat!
--
Chris Simon will have several of Bill Hancock's books as door prizes.
--
Robert Eden will also have the Spring 92 DECUS Symposia Software on
9-track reel tapes. Please Don't bring your 9 Tracks to trade, Robert
says he has enough to just give away. (but if you would like to donate
1 TK50 in trade...;-)
Look for the entire listing of the Spring Symposia tape on the the
DFWLUG BBS (214-270-3313). Robert has posted the index and
descriptions to VAXnotes.
--
David Cathey will have membership forms and DFWLUG BBS membership forms
available at the meeting. LUG membership and meeting attendance is always
free but your $10.00/year contribution gets you a personal/private account
on the DFWLUG BBS and helps keep the LUG moving.
Help us to help you, a little bit goes a long way.
--
John Wisniewski will load MS-DOS Kermit/Network starter Kit
on YOUR 3 1/2" floppy.
If you need some help with the DFWLUG BBS see him too
(he's the local sysop!)
There will be a new ALPHA 64-Bit workstation(s) running OpenVMS and/or
OSF/1 on Display at this meeting.
--
POPCORN and Soft drinks are furnished courtesy of Digital.
-----------ASCII MAP TO THE MEETING-----------------------------------------
Meeting Location:
7:00pm This meeting will be at the
- - - Digital's Application Center
|Enter| | for Technology (214) 702-4400.
| \|/ |
|-------| | |----|----|----|| |-----| 9th floor of the Digital Building
| Hilton| | |DEC |Bank|OXY || | | in North Dallas.
|-------| | |----|----|----|| |_____|Galleria
- - - - - - - - -|
______________________________|________________________
| LBJ Freeway I-635
D|T
A|O ^
L|L /|\
L|L |
A|W |North
S|A
|Y
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 2
THE DFWLUG FALL/WINTER SCHEDULE OF SPEAKERS
Feb. 9 - Bill Hancock Network-1
Client/Server Network Performance
Mar. 16 - DECUS and the DFWLUG hosts "BOSSES' DAY"
Introduce your Boss to DECUS, Digital, and
what being a DECUS member gives back to their
bottom line!
THE 1993 DECUS WINTER/SPRING CALENDAR OF EVENTS
DECUS Seminars in Austin
Feb. 6 - Converting your VMS applications to RISC VMS on Alpha
Feb. 7 - Network Security - An Introduction
Feb. 8 - Security from a System Manager's Perspective.
Feb. 9 - Writing DECwindows Applications.
Mar.27-30 - DECUS University in Chicago
(6-8 seminars to choose from each day)
Jun. 5-6 - DECUS Spring Seminars - Atlanta
Jun. 7-11 - DECUS Spring Symposia - Atlanta
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 3
DECUS and the DFWLUG hosts "BOSSES' Day"
NEXT MONTH>>>>>>>>>>>>>>March 16th 1993
The DFWLUG is hosting a meeting that you can bring your BOSS to!
What is DECUS?
What do those DECUS techies do at their meetings and national symposia?
What DECUS services are available to help me and my company
use computing and information technology more effectively?
All these questions and many more will be answered in this
"Introduction to DECUS" that even a boss will enjoy.
The final agenda is still being finished but here is
our program so far:
Marg Knox President of National Chapter of U.S. DECUS
Lon Crozier Chairman of the DFWLUG
Keith Butler North Texas / Oklahoma Account Group Manager Digital Equipment
DECUS resources, DFWLUG resources, and Digital resources will be
discussed and documented for future use.
The DFWLUG will hosts a terminal room with several Gigabytes of
Internet News, Pathwork fileservices, VMS, UNIX and MSdos software
libraries and DECUS archives.
We'll also have terminals and PCs to explore or copy any of these
notes archives. (Bring your own floppies;-)
This will be an afternoon meeting (so no reason you can't bring
your boss;-)!
Watch for more details next month!
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 4
Futurebus+ FACT SHEET
Digital's Milestones in Futurebus+ Development:
o July, 1989
- Digital joins Futurebus+ Working Group
o January, 1990
- Digital announces the formation of Profile B the I/O bus
for Futurebus+
o November, 1990
- Digital and Raytheon complete joint effort on Futurebus+
signal integrity studies
o January, 1991
- Digital releases the MORE BIT patent to IEEE 896
o September, 1991
- IEEE REVCOM approves IEEE 896.1 and IEEE 896.2
o February, 1992
- Digital displays the first Futurebus+ System at BUSCON WEST
- The IEEE Futurebus+ standards are submitted for
international standardization by ISO and IEC
o November, 1992
- Digital announces its Futurebus+ machines with ALPHA AXP
processors
IEEE Futurebus+ Working Groups in which Digital Participates:
o IEEE P896.1a Errata Correction to IEEE Std. 896.1-1991
o IEEE P896.2a Errata Correction to IEEE Std. 896.2-1991
o IEEE 896.3 Futurebus+ Recommended Practices
o IEEE 896.4 Conformance Test
o IEEE 896.5 Military Profile
o IEEE 896.6 Telecommunications Profile
o IEEE 1101 Conduction Cooled/Mechanical
o IEEE 1156 Environmental Standard
o IEEE 1301 Metric Mechanicals
o IEEE 896.9 Extensions to Futurebus+ for Fault Tolerant
o IEEE 896.10 Space Profile
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 5
Futurebus+ Vendor Contact List
PRODUCT NAME: Peripherals Available for Futurebus+ Based Alpha AXP
Systems
OVERVIEW:
Third-party vendors continue to be an important aspect of Digital's
strategy for Futurebus+ related products for Alpha AXP systems.
Vendors can obtain support from Digital from the Futurebus+ Program
Office in Maynard.
Below is a partial list of third-party products that complement
Digital's line of Alpha AXP/Futurebus+ systems and servers. They
include a Futurebus+ VMEbus Bridge by Cable and Computer Technology,
the TURBOstor Futurebus+ IPI Disk Controller by GENROCO, the Aeon
Futurebus+ HiPPI Interface, Futurebus+ Analysis Tools by Future+
Systems, Futurebus+ Analysis Tools by Tektronix, a VMEbus to
Futurebus+ Bridge by Nanotek, Inc., the VME+ Analyzer System from
VMETRO, Inc., and a HiPPI interface, memory board, high-speed tape
interface, and transputer interface from Myriad Logic.
FutureBus+ VMEbus Bridge by Cable and Computer Technology
Cable and Computer Technology's VMEbus Bridge offers investment
protection to the VME community migrating to Digital's Alpha
systems. The migration from VMEbus to Futurebus+ will provide users
with balanced I/O subsystems for their high-performance Alpha
systems and servers.
Model FBB-001 permits the interconnection of any Futurebus+ profile
A/B compatible system to an IEEE 1014 VMEbus system. No other
processor or system controller cards are required. The FBB-001
Bridge thus provides transparent movement of data between Futurebus+
and VME-based systems, and conforms to both the IEEE 896
specification and the current draft IEEE 1014.1 specification
(Futurebus+ to VMEbus Bridge).
By adding Futurebus+ boards as I/O requirements dictate, VME users
can easily upgrade their systems while preserving their VME
investment. The FBB-001 also provides users of Futurebus+ systems
access to a wide choice of commercial, off-the-shelf VMEbus I/O
devices.
For more information about the FBB-001 Bridge, contact Cable &
Computer Technology, Inc. at 714/937-1341.
The TURBOstor Futurebus+ IPI Disk Controller by GENROCO
The TURBOstor IPI-240F Intelligent Peripheral Interface can control
up to 8 IPI-2 and/or enhanced IPI-2 disk drives, including the
Seagate Technology 5.25" Elite-3 with Zone Bit Recording (ZBR) and
24 MB/s buffers. The product emulates Digital's MSCP disk
architecture, and will be supported under OpenVMS AXP and DEC OSF/1
AXP for Alpha AXP systems based on Futurebus+.
Using DEC striping software, as few as three Elite-3 disk drives on
one controller can be treated as a logical unit and sustain data
transfers at 24 MB/s. Multiple controllers can be striped to yield
continuous data flow in excess of 100 MB/s.
For server applications, the newest TURBOstor offering features
GENROCO's adaptive stream cache, intelligent read-ahead, command
consolidation and queuing, overlapped seeks, seek & latency
ordering, and bus/drive throttling. The IPI interface allows for
better control over drive operation and mechanical management than
SCSI for significantly increased throughput.
The IPI-240F also offers a number of high-availability features for
fault-tolerant environments. IPI drives are dual ported to allow
for simultaneous connection to a host and a "hot" standby server.
The IPI-240F handles dual-port, drive-locking compatibility with
Digital's HA950 HSC disk array. Digital's Volume Shadowing software
is supported, allowing mirror images of data also to be dual ported
between two platforms. This provides constant access to
information, unaffected by a single point of failure. If a disk
drive fails, GENROCO TURBOswap cables allow the user to replace the
drive without impact.
For more information, contact GENROCO, Inc. at 1-800-2GENROCO or
414/644-8700.
The Aeon Futurebus+ HiPPI Interface
Aeon's Futurebus+ HiPPI (High-Performance Parallel Interface)
controller is designed to offload time-critical protocol processing
from the Alpha system, ensuring that full HiPPI potential can be
achieved by application programs. HiPPI is emerging as a transport
of choice for many aspects of high-performance computing, including
disk and tape storage, and an increasing number of applications that
demand high data rates (such as satellite telemetry and aerospace).
Futurebus+ offers the first open standard to provide data transfer
rates fast enough to fully support HiPPI's high bandwidth I/O
capabilities.
The Aeon Futurebus+ HiPPI controller will sustain HiPPI transfers of
100 MB/s. By combining the Futurebus+ backplane with HiPPI
bandwidth and Alpha computing power, complete and balanced systems
can now be constructed. The Aeon HiPPI controller can also be fully
integrated with both VMS and OSF/1.
For further information, contact Aeon Systems, Inc. at 505/828-9120.
Futurebus+ Analysis Tools by Future+ Systems
Future+ Systems offers a range of products to meet the needs of
system and module designers in the growing Futurebus+ marketplace.
Products include:
Model FS16564 64-bit Futurebus+ Preprocessor
Model FS16564CA 64-bit Futurebus+ Preprocessor with
Central Arbiter
Model FS16528 128-bit Futurebus+ Preprocessor
Model FS16528CA 128-bit Futurebus+ Preprocessor with
Central Arbiter
The Futurebus+ Preprocessor provides the electrical link between the
BTL Futurebus+ backplane and the HP Logic Analyzer. A complete
software disassembly package is also provided. This disassembly
package provides accurate transaction disassembly on a phase-by-
phase basis by decoding the data from the Futurebus+ along with
preprocessor-provided state bits. All signals specified by the IEEE
896.1 and 896.2 specification can be viewed using the Preprocessor
line of products. The central arbiter option will support up to 14
slots.
Future+ Systems provides Futurebus+ test solutions to Digital's
growing TOEM customer base.
For more information about Future+ Systems Analysis tools, call
508/392-9016.
Futurebus+ Analysis Tools by Tektronix
Tektronix offers the 92DM911 interface package for the DAS 9200
logic analyzer. It is the first logic analyzer interface package to
provide full acquisition, display and analysis capability for
Futurebus+ applications.
The interface package, with the DAS 9200 system equipped and two
Centurion logic analyzer cards, consists of a probe adapter card,
setup/display software and a user's manual. For bus-based timing
analysis, the logic analyzer system offers 192 channels running at
100MHz. The board performs real-time state acquisition of all three
phases of each Futurebus+ transaction at up to 128 data bits.
Data is displayed on a single screen using familiar Futurebus+
mnemonics. Both bus cycles and individual signals are easily
recognized. The software decodes the and groups the various signal
groups and the display presents the data in simple easy to use
terms.
For further information on the 92DM911 Futurebus+ support package,
write on company letterhead to Tektronix, Inc. Test and Measurement
Group. P.O. Box 1520, Pittsfield, MA 01202, or phone toll free at
1-800-426-2200.
Tektronix is a leading manufacturer of electronic products and
systems in the areas of test and measurement equipment, computer
graphics and communications.
Nanotek's VMEbus to Futurebus+ Bridge and 68040 Processor Module
Nanotek's VME Futurebus+ Bridge provides a two board solution for
connecting a hard metric Futurebus+ system with a VMEbus system. The
bridge provides access to all the extensive range of VME functions
from within the Futurebus+ system.
The bridge features a 50 Mbyte/sec. link between the 32-bit VME and
64-bit Futurebus+ data path for full speed transfers; compatibility
with IEEE 986.1, 896.2, and draft P1041.1; Analog I/O, disk I/O, and
LAN/WAN I/O capabilities for Futurebus+ development systems.
Nanotek's 68040 processor module is designed with all the required
features of Profile F of the IEEE 896.2 specification. It is
designed to take advantage of the increased performance and features
of Futurebus+.
For more information, contact Nanotek at (800) 786-8961.
VME+ Analyzer System by VMETRO, Inc.
VMETRO's new VME+ Analyzer System offers support for a multitude
of busses, including VMEbus, VSB, SCSI, VXI, and Futurebus+. With
the VME+ Analyzer System and add-on modules, users get up to 50 Mhz
State Analysis and 200Mhz timing analysis with full-speed,
full-width trigger capabilities on all bus signals.
For more information, contact John Simpson at VMETRO at (713)
584-0728.
Myriad Logic's Futurebus+ Board Products for Alpha AXP Systems
Myriad Logic's Futurebus+ boards fulfill interface requirements of
Digital's new Alpha AXP systems. All of the products are
hard-metric, Profile B compatible and include a HiPPI interface
board, a 512 Mbyte memory board, a high-speed tape, and a transputer
interface board.
The HiPPI interface board is designed to interconnect Alpha AXP
systems to HiPPi channels in other computer, network, and storage
systems. This includes interconnecting Alpha AXP systems to each
other, to supercomputers such as Cray, Convex, and Maspar, to
network products such as Network Systems and UltraNetwork, and to
embedded systems such as Force and Motorola.
The Myriad Logic Futurebus+ memory board has a capacity from 16 to
512 Mbytes. The high-speed tape interface, the model DIR-710, is an
interface from the Futurebus+ to the Sony, model DIR-1000 high-speed
helical scan digital recorder. And the transputer interface, the
TRN-825, is a Futurebus+ TRAM carrier board with 18 TRAM sites for
implementing large transputer networks within an Alpha AXP system.
For more information, contact Adrian Abineri at Myriad Logic at
(301) 588-0604.
Note to Editors: Alpha AXP, DEC, VAX, and OpenVMS AXP are
trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.
Cray, Maspar, Network Systems, UltraNetwork,
Convex, Force Computers, Motorola, and Texas
Instruments are all trademarks of the respective
companies.
Sony and DIR-1000 are trademarks of Sony
Corporation.
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 6
DIGITAL DEMONSTRATES ALPHA AXP SYSTEMS
WITH FUTUREBUS+ OPTIONS AT TWO NEW CONFERENCES
MAYNARD, Mass. -- February 3, 1993 -- Digital Equipment Corporation
today announced plans to exhibit its DEC 4000 Model 610 AXP systems
and Futurebus+ options at two upcoming conferences. The conferences
are the Navy's Next Generation Computer Resources (NGCR) User's
Society to be held February 16-18, at the Stouffer's Concourse
Hotel, in Crystal City, Virginia; and the Embedded Computer
Conference (ECC), from April 14-16, in the Santa Clara Convention
Center, Santa Clara, California.
NGCR is a new user's conference for system developers, system
engineers, program managers, and acquisition managers from the Navy,
other branches of the service, and government agencies. One of the
objectives of the conference is to endorse recently published NGCR
open systems architecture standards, including the Futurebus+
backplane. At the conference, users and potential users of
NGCR-compliant products can meet with manufacturers and vendors
who design, build, and integrate systems using these products.
ECC is a first-time show for technical OEMs, bringing together
a wide range of software and hardware solutions for embedded
computer applications. ECC will attract suppliers of embedded
computer software, hardware, and services, and engineers from OEMs
who are responsible for specifying computer-based solutions.
Jim Duval, Manager of Digital's Futurebus+ Program Office,
which offers support to third-party vendors of Futurebus+ related
products, said, "Our attendance at these two conferences will help
us promote our Alpha AXP/Futurebus+ products to customers and
prospects who require extremely high I/O performance. Customers
include the military, and Technical OEMs whose products contain
specialized hardware for a wide variety of sophisticated
applications. Digital is committed to this market segment, and
users can expect to see a number of significant Futurebus+ products
coming from Digital and third parties in the near future."
Digital offers the Futurebus+, an open, industry standard
interconnect protocol for high-speed, high-performance I/O, as an
option for its Alpha AXP systems. By matching the powerful 64-bit
Alpha AXP system processing capability with the 64-bit I/O
Futurebus+ subsystem, Digital is able to provide balanced, open
systems with performance levels of more than 180 MB/s, the highest
I/O throughput performance available. And like Alpha AXP processor
technology, Futurebus+ performance scales by orders of magnitude for
decades of investment protection.
Customers such as Ralph Lachenmeir, Chair of the IEEE P896.5
Futurebus+ Military Profile, concur, "I'm very excited about DEC's
broad commitment to Futurebus+. With Futurebus+ processor boards
running at Alpha AXP speeds, the Navy can have a very high-
performance Futurebus+ based open architectural systems for
everything from desktop computers to weapons system controllers."
And Lieutenant Commander Vinnie Squitieri, military co-chair
for the Navy's NGCR backplane standards, said, "Digital's complete
support of Futurebus+ based products will be a significant
contributing factor in enabling the Navy to procure high-performance
backplane open architecture systems for a wide range of
applications."
Futurebus+, also known as the IEEE 896, is the first bus
architecture ever designed by an industry-wide standards body.
"Digital has played a key role in the development of the IEEE 896
specification, which many in the industry have certainly
appreciated," said Harrison Beasley, of Texas Instruments and the
IEEE BASC chair. Digital employee Sam Duncan currently chairs the
IEEE 896 Errata Working Group and is a member of the committee that
oversees the international standardization of Futurebus+.
Digital Equipment Corporation, headquartered in Maynard,
Massachusetts, is the leading worldwide supplier of networked
computer systems, software and services. Digital pioneered and
leads the industry in interactive, distributed and multivendor
computing. Digital and its business partners deliver the power to
use the best integrated solutions - from desktop to data center -
in open information environments.
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 7
{The following is three days of stories on the by Joe Abernathy from the
Houston Chronicle as relayed by Usenet. Contributed by Wes Plouff}
Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service Lawsuit -- Day One
By JOE ABERNATHY
Copyright 1993, Houston Chronicle
AUSTIN -- Plaintiff's attorneys wrested two embarrassing admissions
from the United States Secret Service on the opening day of a federal
civil lawsuit designed to establish the bounds of constitutional
protections for electronic publishing and electronic mail.
In the first, Special Agent Timothy Foley of Chicago admitted that
crucial statements were erroneous in an affidavit he used to conduct
several search-and-seizure operations in a March 1990 crackdown on
computer crime.
Foley later conceded that the Secret Service's special training for
computer crime investigators overlooks any mention of the law that
regulates the extent of permissible search-and-seizures at publishing
operations.
The case, brought by Steve Jackson Games, an Austin firm, is being
tried before United States District Judge Sam Sparks. Carefully nurtured
over the course of three years by a group of electronic civil rights
activists -- at a cost of more than $200,000 -- the case has been
eagerly anticipated as a possible damper on what is seen as computer
crime hysteria among federal police.
Plaintiffs hope to prove that the printed word exists just as surely
on the computer screen as it does on a sheet of paper. The complaint
also seeks to establish the right of computer users to congregate
electronically on bulletin board systems -- such as one called
Illuminati that was taken from Steve Jackson Games -- and to exchange
private electronic mail on such BBSs.
"This lawsuit is just to stand up and say, at the end of the 20th
Century, that publishing occurs as much on computers as on the printed
page," said Jim George, of the Austin firm George, Donaldson & Ford,
Jackson's law firm.
That issue came into sharp focus during George's questioning of Foley
regarding the seizure of the PC on which Illuminati ran, and another
computer on which was stored the word processing document containing a
pending Steve Jackson Games book release, GURPS Cyberpunk.
"At the Secret Service computer crime school, were you, as the agent
in charge of this investigation, made aware of special rules for
searching a publishing company?" George asked Foley. He was referring to
the Privacy Protection Act, which states that police may not seize a
work in progress from a publisher. It does not specify what physical
form such a work must take.
"No, sir, I was not," Foley responded.
"Did you just miss class the day that was taught?" George asked.
"No, sir. The United States Secret Service does not teach its agents
about special rules regarding search and seizure at publishing
companies," Foley said.
"Let the record clearly show that to be the case," George said.
Earlier, Foley admitted on the witness stand that his original
affidavit seeking a judge's approval to raid Steve Jackson Games
contained a fundamental error.
During the March 1990 raid -- one of several dozen staged that day
around the country in an investigation that the Secret Service called
Operation Sun Devil at the time -- agents were seeking copies of a
document taken as a hacker trophy from BellSouth. Subsequently
republished in an electronic magazine called Phrack, thousands of copies
of the document were stored on bulletin board systems around the nation.
Neither Jackson nor his company were suspected of wrongdoing, and no
charges have ever been filed against anyone targeted in several Austin
raids. The alleged membership of Steve Jackson employee Loyd Blankenship
in the Legion of Doom hacker's group -- which was believed responsible
for the break-in -- led agents to raid the Austin game publisher at the
same time that Blankenship's Austin home was raided.
Yet the only two paragraphs in the 42-paragraph indictment that
established a connection between Blankenship's alleged illegal
activities and Steve Jackson Games were shown to have been erroneously
arrived at, when George produced a statement by Bellcore expert Henry
Kluepfel disputing statements attributed to him in Foley's affidavit.
"Is it true that Mr. Kluepfel logged onto (Illuminati)?" George
questioned.
"No, sir," Foley responded.
"But you state that in your affidavit," George said.
"That was a misattribution," Foley said.
"So you had no knowledge that anything was sent to my client?"
"No sir, not directly," Foley said.
"Indirectly?" George asked.
"No sir."
The Justice Department, in papers filed with the court, contends that
only traditional journalistic organizations enjoy the protections of the
Privacy Protection Act. It further contends that users of electronic
mail have no reasonable expectation of privacy.
The trial was to resume at 8:30 a.m. It is expected to conclude on
Thursday or Friday.
Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service Trial -- Day Two
By JOE ABERNATHY
Copyright 1993, Houston Chronicle
AUSTIN -- A young woman read aloud a deeply personal friendship
letter Wednesday in a federal civil lawsuit intended to establish the
human dimension and constitutional guarantees of electronic assembly and
communication.
Testimony indicated that the letter read by Elizabeth Cayce-McCoy
previously had been seized, printed and reviewed by the Secret Service.
Her correspondence was among 162 undelivered personal letters
testimony indicated were taken by the government in March 1990 during a
raid on Steve Jackson Games, which ran an electronic bulletin board
system as a service to its customers.
Attorneys for the Austin game publisher contend that the seizure of
the bulletin board represents a violation of the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act, which is based on Fourth Amendment
protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
"Because you bring such joy to my friend Walter's life, and also
because I liked you when I met you, though I wish I could have seen your
lovely face a little more, I'll send you an autographed copy of
Bestiary," said McCoy, reading in part from a letter penned by Steffan
O'Sullivan, the author of the GURPS Bestiary, a fantasy treatise on
mythical creatures large and small.
Although the correspondence entered the public record upon McCoy's
reading, the Chronicle obtained explicit permission from the principals
before excerpting from it.
The electronic mail was contained on the game publisher's public
bulletin board system, Illuminati, which allowed game-players, authors
and others to exchange public and personal documents. After agents
seized the BBS during a raid staged as part of a nationwide crackdown on
computer crime, Secret Service analysts reviewed, printed and deleted
the 162 pieces of undelivered mail, testimony indicated.
When the BBS computer was returned to its owner several months later,
a computer expert was able to resurrect many of the deleted
communications, including McCoy's friendship letter.
"I never thought anyone would read my mail," she testified. "I was
very shocked and embarrassed.
"When I told my father that the Secret Service had taken the Steve
Jackson bulletin board for some reason, he became very upset. He thought
that I had been linked to some computer crime investigation, and that
now our computers would be taken."
O'Sullivan, who is a free-lance game writer employed by Steve
Jackson, followed McCoy to the stand, where he testified that agents
intercepted -- via the Illuminati seizure -- a critical piece of
electronic mail seeking to establish when a quarterly royalty check
would arrive.
"That letter never arrived, and I had to borrow money to pay the
rent," he said.
No charges were ever filed in connection with the raid on Steve
Jackson Games or the simultaneous raid of the Austin home of Jackson
employee Loyd Blankenship, whose reputed membership in the Legion of
Doom hackers' group triggered the raids.
Plaintiffs contend that the government's search-and-seizure policies
have cast a chill over a constitutionally protected form of public
assembly carried out on bulletin boards, which serve as community
centers often used by hundreds of people. More than 300 people were
denied use of Jackson's bulletin board, called Illuminati, for several
months after the raid, and documents filed with the court claim that a
broader, continuing chill has been cast over the online community at
large.
The lawsuit against the Secret Service seeks to establish that the
Electronic Communications Privacy Act guarantees the privacy of
electronic mail. If U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks accepts this
contention, it would become necessary for the government to obtain
warrants for each caller to a bulletin board before seizing it.
The Justice Department contends that users of electronic mail do not
have a reasonable expectation to privacy, because they are voluntarily
"disclosing" their mail to a third party -- the owner of the bulletin
board system.
"We weren't going to intercept electronic mail. We were going to
access stored information," said William J. Cook, a former assistant
U.S. Attorney in Chicago who wrote the affidavit for the search warrant
used in the Steve Jackson raid.
The Justice Department attorneys did not substantially challenge
testimony by any of the several witnesses who were denied use of
Illuminati. They did, however, seek to prevent those witnesses from
testifying -- by conceding their interests -- after Cayce's compelling
appearance led off the series of witnesses.
Most of the Justice Department's energies were directed toward
countering damage claims made by Steve Jackson, whose testimony opened
the second day of the trial. Most of the day's testimony was devoted to
a complex give-and-take on accounting issues. Some $2 million is being
sought in damages.
Justice sought to counter the widely repeated assertion that Steve
Jackson Games was nearly put out of business by the raid by showing that
the company was already struggling financially when the raid was
conducted. An accountant called by the plaintiffs countered that all of
Jackson's financial problems had been corrected by a reorganization in
late 1989.
Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service wrapup
By JOE ABERNATHY
Copyright 1993, Houston Chronicle
AUSTIN -- An electronic civil rights case against the Secret Service
closed Thursday with a clear statement by federal District Judge Sam
Sparks that the Service failed to conduct a proper investigation in a
notorious computer crime crackdown, and went too far in retaining
custody of seized equipment.
The judge's formal findings in the complex case, which will likely
set new legal precedents, won't be returned until later.
A packed courtroom sat on the edge of the seat Thursday morning as
Sparks subjected the Secret Service agent in charge of the investigation
to a grueling dressing-down.
The judge's rebuke apparently convinced the Department of Justice to
close its defense after calling only that one of the several government
witnesses on hand. Attorney Mark Battan entered subdued testimony
seeking to limit the award of monetary damages.
Secret Service Special Agent Timothy Foley of Chicago, who was in
charge of three Austin computer search-and-seizures on March 1, 1990,
that led to the lawsuit, stoically endured Spark's rebuke over the
Service's poor investigation and abusive computer seizure policies.
While the Service has seized dozens of computers since the crackdown
began in 1990, this is the first case to challenge the practice.
"The Secret Service didn't do a good job in this case. We know no
investigation took place. Nobody ever gave any concern as to whether
(legal) statutes were involved. We know there was damage," Sparks said
in weighing damages.
The lawsuit, brought by Steve Jackson Games of Austin, said that the
seizure of three computers violated the Privacy Protection Act, which
provides First Amendment protections against seizing a publisher's works
in progress. The lawsuit further said that since one of the computers
was being used to run a bulletin board system containing private
electronic mail, the seizure violated the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act in regards to the 388 callers of the Illuminati BBS.
Sparks grew visibly angry when it was established that the Austin
science fiction magazine and game book publisher was never suspected of
a crime, and that agents did not do even marginal research to establish
a criminal connection between the firm and the suspected illegal
activities of an employee, or to determine that the company was a
publisher. Indeed, agents testified that they were not even trained in
the Privacy Protection Act at the special Secret Service school on
computer crime.
"How long would it have taken you, Mr. Foley, to find out what Steve
Jackson Games did, what it was?" asked Sparks. "An hour?
"Was there any reason why, on March 2, you could not return to Steve
Jackson Games a copy, in floppy disk form, of everything taken?
"Did you read the article in Business Week magazine where it had a
picture of Steve Jackson -- a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen -- saying
he was a computer crime suspect?
"Did it ever occur to you, Mr. Foley, that seizing this material
could harm Steve Jackson economically?"
Foley replied, "No, sir," but the judge offered his own answer.
"You actually did, you just had no idea anybody would actually go out
and hire a lawyer and sue you."
More than $200,000 has been spent by the Electronic Frontier
Foundation in bringing the case to trial. The EFF was founded by
Mitchell Kapor amid a civil liberties movement sparked in large part by
the Secret Service computer crime crackdown.
"The dressing-down of the Secret Service for their behavior is a
major vindication of what we've been saying all along, which is that
there were outrageous actions taken against Steve Jackson that hurt his
business and sent a chilling effect to everyone using bulletin boards,
and that there were larger principles at stake," said Kapor, contacted
at his Cambridge, Mass., office.
"We're very happy with the way the case came out," said Shari Steele,
who attended the case as counsel for the EFF. "That session with the
judge and Tim Foley is what a lawyer dreams about."
That session seemed triggered by a riveting cross-examination of
Foley by Pete Kennedy, Jackson's attorney.
Kennedy forced Foley to admit that the search warrant did not meet
even the Service's own standards for a search-and-seizure, and did not
establish that Jackson Games was suspected of being involved in any
illegal activity.
"Agent Foley, it's been almost three years. Has Chris Goggans been
indicted? Has Loyd Blankenship been indicted? Has Loyd Blankenship's
computer been returned to him?"
The purported membership of Jackson Games employee Blankenship in the
Legion of Doom hacker's group triggered the raids that day on Jackson
Games, Blankenship's home, and that of Goggans, a Houstonian who at the
time was a University of Texas student. No charges have been filed,
although the computer seized from Blankenship's home -- containing his
wife's dissertation -- never has been returned.
After the cross-examination, Sparks questioned Foley on a number of
key details before and after the raid, focusing on the holes in the
search warrant, why Jackson was not allowed to copy his work in progress
after it was seized, and why his computers were not returned after the
Secret Service analyzed them, a process completed before the end of
March.
"The examination took seven days, but you didn't give Steve Jackson's
computers back for three months. Why?" asked an incredulous Sparks. "So
here you are, with three computers, 300 floppy disks, an owner who was
asking for it back, his attorney calling you, and what I want to know is
why copies of everything couldn't be given back in days. Not months.
Days.
"That's what makes you mad about this case."
The Justice Department contended that Jackson Games is a
manufacturer, and that only journalistic organizations can call upon the
Privacy Protection Act. It contended that the ECPA was not violated
because electronic mail is not "intercepted" when a BBS is seized. This
argument rests on a narrow definition of interception.
Permission to copy material from this VNS is granted (per DIGITAL PP&P)
provided that the message header for the issue and credit lines for the
VNS correspondent and original source are retained in the copy.
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 8
Digital - Creates 13,500-MIPS supercomputer farm using
Alpha AXP workstations
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 29-Jan-93}
Digital created a virtual supercomputer rated at a massive 13,500 integer
MIPS at the Australian Supercomputer Conference in December 1992 by linking
four Alpha AXP workstations to a DECmpp 12000 massively parallel computer on
the exhibition stand and to a remote Cray EL supercomputer. (MIPS stands for
millions of instructions per second).
Using the Alpha AXP workstations running the DEC OSF/1 operating system,
conference delegates could assign image processing components of the
demonstration program to the DECmpp system, vector processing tasks to the
Cray system (sited at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) and general
processing to any or all of the workstations.
Using Digital's Network Application Support (NAS) integrated software
products and high-speed wide-area network links, two software tools from
Oak Ridge Laboratories in Tennessee were the glue that let the four
computers act as one: PVM (Parallel Virtual Machine) and HeNCE (Heterogeneous
Network Computing Environment). PVM and HeNCE ran on each of the computers,
allowing users to move programming objects from one platform to another with
a mouse. HeNCE coordinated the processing output so that objects comprising
an application are displayed at the appropriate moment. The tools can link up
to eight platforms into one virtual computing environment.
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 9
DFWLUG Contact list
The DFWLUG Steering Committee:
Chairman: Lon Crozier Meeting Chris Simon
Arms Inc. Coordinator: FMC Corporation
5757 Alpha Road 1460 Round Table
Dallas, TX 75240 Dallas, TX 75247
(214) 385-3090 (214) 689-7127
Membership David Cathey Secretary/ Jim Rodgers
Coordinator: Montagar Software Concepts Treasurer: SSC Laboratory
P.O. BOX 260772 2550 Beckley Meade
Plano, TX 75026 MS 1011
(214) 618-2117 Dallas, TX 75237
(214) 708-6134
SW/Tape Robert Eden NEWSLETTER Jo Ann Catcott
Librarian: JCS Consulting Services CO-EDITOR: Computer Education & Design
5905 Beverly Dr. West #3133 750 Hammon Dr. Bldg #9
Fort Worth, TX 76132 Atlanta, GA 30328
(817) 897-0491 (214) 733-4318
NEWSLETTER Alan Bruns DIGITAL John Wisniewski
CO-EDITOR: Allied Electronics COUNTERPART: Digital Equipment Corp
7410 Pebble Drive 14131 Midway Road
Fort Worth, TX 76118 Dallas, TX 75244
(817) 595-3500 (214) 404-6412
DECUS Membership Processing
NATIONAL: DECUS US Chapter
333 South Street, SHR1-4/D33
Shrewsbury, MA 01545-4195
(508) 841-3341
EMAIL TO THE DFWLUG STAFF SEND TO:
dfwlug@fallout.lonestar.org
The entire DFWLUG staff will receive a copy of the E-Mail message.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 10
THE DFWLUG BBS SYSTEM
The DFWLUG hosts a semiprivate VAX BBS for use by it's membership, we
currently are using VMS 5.5-2, POSIX, have over two GIGbytes of storage,
with multiple phone-lines (V.32 modem links).
The DFWLUG BBS has been in operation for over two years and hosts VAXnotes,
ANU News (1700+ newsgroups), DECUS UUCP (for E-Mail anywhere on the INTERNET),
file exchange, and indexes of the DECUS Software libraries (with over 10,000
programs) available from our LUG Librarian.
Membership and private accounts for the BBS are available to computer
professionals in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
Private accounts may be granted by joining the DFWLUG and donating
$10.00 yearly to the DFWLUG BBS Memorial Phone-Line fund.
Accounts are available during the monthly meetings that take place every
second Tuesday, 7:00pm at the Digital ACT (702-4400) in Dallas TX.
For more information you may dial-in to our public account:
(214) 270-3313 300-2400 Baud 8/n/1 mnp 5
(214) 270-3313 1200-9600 Baud 8/n/1 mnp 5
Use account name INFO for public access.
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VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2
PAGE 11
TELEPHONE NUMBERS FOR DIGITAL SUPPORT AND ORDERING
PC DESKTOP Direct (to purchase a PC or for PC configuration questions)
1-800-722-9332
1-800-SOFTWARE (to purchase any of 12,000 PC software products)
1-800-763-8927
DECdirect (to purchase any non-PC product computers, network, supplies
1-800-344-4825 or for DECdirect Prepurchasing Technical questions.)
DECdirect Modem Line 1200-2400 Baud
1-800-234-1998
Education Services hotline
(For information on upcoming DEC classes and locations)
1-800-332-5656
---------------------
The above service numbers are free.
The following requires a valid Digital support Contract and are available
24 hours per day.
---------------------
Colorado Customer Support Software support under contract
1-800-354-9000
Atlanta Customer Software Support under contract.
1-800-332-8000
Master Champs 24x7 Mission Critical Support under special contract.
1-800-345-3746
24 hour each day Customer Support to log a call with Field service
and have something repaired
1-800-354-9000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
MASTHEAD/DISCLAIMERS/LEGAL STUFF
__________
| ______ | THE DFWLUG
| / ---- \ | 10th Anniversary(*1982-1992*)
| | | | Celebrating over 10 Years of DECUS
| \ ____ / | in Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas
| ------ |
---------- dfwlug@fallout.lonestar.org BBS: (214) 270-3313
D E C U S
The DFWLUG is the Local Users Group for the
Digital Equipment Computer Users Society (DECUS)
*DECUS* DFWLUG NET/Newsletter
Volume 3 Number 2 February 5th, 1993
The DFWLUG is an affiliated and licensed Local Users Group of the
U.S. DECUS Chapter.
The DFWLUG Net/Newsletter is published as a monthly service in
electronic form Copyright (c) DFWLUG, DECUS, and Digital Equipment
Corporation 1993. All rights reserved.
This information in this document is subject to change and should not
be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment Corporation, DECUS,
or the DFWLUG. Digital Equipment, DECUS and the DFWLUG assume no
responsiblity for any errors that may appear in this document.
It is assumed that all material submitted for publication in this
newsletter is with the author's permission to publish in any DECUS
publication. Content is the responsiblity of the author and DECUS,
Digital Equipment, the DFWLUG, the Editors and Staff assume no
responsiblity or liablity for information appearing in this
document.
Views experessed are those of the authors and do not reflect the views
of DECUS, the DFWLUG or Digital Equipment Corporation.
Address correspondence to the editors: "dfwlug@fallout.lonestar.org"
---------------------------------end-------------------------------------------