Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!ucsd!ucbvax!MULTIMAX.ENCORE.COM!bzs
From: bzs@MULTIMAX.ENCORE.COM (Barry Shein)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Hacker's Convention 4.0 (2)
Message-ID: <8810240501.AA08755@multimax.ARPA>
Date: 24 Oct 88 05:01:57 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 56


And now for a darker note...

Normally (as I understand it) the press is not allowed into the
convention until Sunday brunch as a matter of policy. Apparently CBS
called the convention organizers and convinced them to allow CBS in
all day Saturday for a spot they had lined up that evening in their
news segment.

CBS abused that privilege in the most unimaginably irresponsible way.

What they did was take the word "hacker" from the title of the
convention and fabricated a story about people who break into military
computer installations, phone systems etc. It appeared on their
6 o'clock news segment.

It opened with a shot of the convention grounds and a voice-over about
this being a "revolutionary army in the hills plotting their next
attacks on the Valley below" (referring to Silicon Valley.)

There were random, unrelated interviews edited in with Don Parker of
SRI warning of what a danger computer system crackers were and someone
from Pacific Bell saying "hackers, crackers, I don't care what you
call them, to me they're criminals!"  There was a small segment on (I
forget his name, from LBL) describing how he caught that German
cracker who was invading military networks.

There was no indication that the people in the interviews had any idea
that this material was to be used in relationship with the conference.
I suspect they felt as shocked and scandalized as the rest of us did.

The whole thing was sensationalist, opportunistic journalism of the
worst kind and CBS is to be condemned for it.

I know there are 200+ computer experts who will know better in the
future than to ever speak with CBS reporters again. How can one
cooperate with reporters who come to a conference, see nothing but
technical presentations on computers, graphics, teaching children
computers etc and walk away and write them up as criminals just to
sell some commercial space, because sensationalism sells soap?!

The reporters were so interested, so friendly! I remember them
hovering around and taking what seemed like excessive footage of a
recumbent bicycle outfitted with five computers, a ham radio and solar
power panels which has been ridden by an attendee around the country.
This is the work of a criminal? They never used the footage.

CBS is to be considered outlaws of the media, there can be no
tolerance of willful liars if a free press is to survive. With rights
come responsibilities, and CBS was irresponsible. We all deserve a
public apology, at the very least.

(You might also want to refer to a good article in MacWeek this past
week on the convention which also covered this CBS scandal.)

	-Barry Shein, speaking for myself