Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: jtchew@csa2.lbl.gov (JOSEPH T CHEW)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Loose lips sink ships
Summary: Everybody's got loose lips these days
Message-ID: <1990Aug30.030013.29128@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 30 Aug 90 03:00:13 GMT
References: <1990Aug28.042558.28715@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
Lines: 26
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: jtchew@csa2.lbl.gov (JOSEPH T CHEW)
In article <1990Aug28.042558.28715@cbnews.att.com>, paulf@csl.ncsu.edu 
(Paul Franzon) writes...

>Please think twice before posting material that is not in the National press.

The people who talk to the press sometimes have pretty loose lips themselves.
The other night I saw a local TV news report on rush orders of various 
electronic items from Silicon Valley companies.  A fellow who makes Mil-Spec 
versions of a popular computer was quite explicit about such points as how 
long it would take him to fill the order.  (Whether he was spreading 
disinformation is another story; no clues were provided either way.)  

Admittedly, this is not as immediately harmful as, say, leaks about 
plans and deployments.  But still, it seems we haven't adopted the wartime 
ethic that even if something isn't officially classified, blabbing it might 
not be in our best interest.

The dichotomy between the secretive "traditional" defense industry and the
gossip culture of the computer industry will in general be interesting 
to observe.

--Joe
"Just another personal opinion from the People's Republic of Berkeley"