>February 10, 1993  From STARSHIP INDUSTRIES, Catalog sellers of Laser Video
>Disc Software, and publishers of "The Laser Beam" Magazine.
>Fax: 703-430-6657 Voice phone: 703-430-8692   Leave EMAIL on the "EXEC PC",
>Elm Grove, WI, (414)-789-4210, 2400 Baud, under the user name "DARK STAR".

I have no idea who, or what, a Dark Star is, or just what his (or her or its)
interest in this matter might be, but I'm damn certain Dark Star and I
would not find much common ground should we ever meet.

>                     ***********************************

DS>      The chill is on folks, and the ICEMAN is your ole' Uncle Sam.

Think I have this gerbil figured out already....

DS> On Saturday, January 30, 1993, the FBI staged a raid on "Rusty & Edie's", 
DS> a computer bulletin board system located in Boardman, Ohio.  More 
DS> information on the raid is available in the file "R&E_BUST.TXT" which is 
DS> posted on the "EXEC PC" BBS.

Yep, it's police bashing time...

DS> Terri Childs, A staff member at the "Software Publishers Association",
DS> (SPA) indicated to us by telephone today that the principle complaints
DS> against Rusty & Edies rose out of the BBS posting of commercial software
DS> copyrighted by SPA members.  "These programs would only appear on the 
DS> board at certain times", she said.  Titles would include game programs 
DS> such as "Mario Teaches Typing" and many others.  She further indicated 
DS> that posting of such commercial software was "not random" but "formed a 
DS> specific pattern", prompting FBI action.   When questioned as to how a 
DS> BBS might protect itself from users posting copyrighted software, Ms. 
DS> Childs suggested the BBS could contact the copyright holder to confirm 
DS> clearance of any program posted.  On the logistical difficulty of having 
DS> to call about thousands of programs, she reiterated the SPA's position 
DS> that the BBS sysop could call the software publisher to check on [each] 
DS> program.

The sysop of a bulletin board is ultimately responsible for the material
posted to the board.  If in doubt, delete!

A sysop with any amount of experience should have acquired a reasonable
knowledge of computer software.  He should also be able to understand
basic technical terminology such as "copyright".

DS> According to sources at Rusty & Edies, the FBI raid was achieved by 
DS> forced entry into the private home of the board's owners while no one was 
DS> in the residence.  In addition to the computer hardware and Software 
DS> actually seized, the owners claimed to have suffered extensive property 
DS> damage to both their home and belongings as a result of the raid.

I would assume that the principals were served with a search warrant that 
covered both their business premises and residential quarters;  the FBI seems
to pay quite a lot of attention to little details like that.  Judges frown
and become distressed when such niceties are overlooked.

DS> Complicating matters for Rusty and Edies are recent court cases regarding
DS> property seizures.  Steming mostly from drug and tax related actions, 
DS> courts now require separate legal hearings for the recovery of lost 
DS> property and related damages even when the defendant(s) are cleared of 
DS> all charges.

Yeah, ain't it a bitch?  All those cars and planes and boats, etc., being
taken away from nice people who just want to get back into "business" quickly 
to be able to pay the lawyers' fees.... and make another few million...

"Steming" does not compute.  Try "stemming".

DS> Unlike individuals, the courts have ruled that property is not considered 
DS> to be protected by constitutional guarantees.  Even when a property owner 
DS> is proven innocent, current court precedence places the burden of proof 
DS> on the owner to "clear" his property from accusations of being used or 
DS> obtained from illegal activities.  The process of "clearing" property can 
DS> be both time consuming and costly in legal fees.  It is not usual to see 
DS> on a federal the court docket a case such as "THE UNITED STATES Vs THE 
DS> 1992 MERCADES BENZ".  

Really, old chap, it is a Mercedes - no "a".  Trust me.

DS> The owner must act as advocate councel for his 
DS> Mercades Benz if he ever hopes to get it back.

"Councel"?  Are you using a pirated copy of Webster, Dark Star?

Shades of Mark Twain's "Aunt Polly", I do believe a whitewash job is about
to commence!

DS> In addition, there is the open admission by Law enforcement agencies (both
DS> federal and local) that revenues form seized property are returned to
DS> bolster their operating budgets.  There is every incentive for an officer
DS> or agent to find any cause to seize a potential suspect's property.

That's public knowledge, dummy, but it isn't quite as simple as you attempt
to make it.  Probably your parole officer can explain the fine details so
you'll be able to understand it.  Ask him on your next visit.

And I'll spot you the "form", since it's an easy typo for "from"....

DS> Reports of abuses are surfacing nationwide.  In Washington, DC, it has 
DS> been reported that DC City police officers have often stopped pedestrian 
DS> in "high drug use" neighborhoods.  The officer demands the surrender of 
DS> all cash on the suspicion that any money carried in these areas of the 
DS> city could be used for purchasing drugs.  Once the cash is surrendered, 
DS> the pedestrian is sent on his way without any charges made or receipt 
DS> given for the seized money.  Under threat of possible arrest or accusation
DS> of "resisting an officer," few citizens are inclined to resist such a 
DS> shakedown.

Now what does that have to do with Rusty & Edie's problems?  Or is this just 
a journalistic ploy to convince the reader by inference that the FBI are dirty?
That Rusty & Edie are Really Nice People and that the Feds should give them
back all their hardware and pirated software?

Do you have some personal or financial interest in Rusty & Edie's, or are
you just another deluded bleeding heart with access to a keyboard?  Explain
your motives, Dark Star, lest your creditability suffer.

DS> In an other area of Washington, DC, commuters driving through key areas 
DS> are be stopped and their auto seized upon the suspicion of "solicitation 
DS> for prostitution".  

Is there something here that Dark Star isn't telling us?  What kind of 
"software" was being peddled?  Come on, DS, Inquiring Minds Want To Know!

At the risk of being pedantic, old fellow, your grammar and sentence 
structure leave much to be desired.  Have you considered a remedial writing
class?  

DS> While prostitution problems in the neighborhood may be genuine, there have
DS> a number of complaints from citizens who were subsequently cleared of 
DS> charges but were unable to recover their vehicle without being forced to 
DS> take separate legal actions.

Or a taxi.

DS> While the potential case against "Rusty & Edies" is far from settled, it 
DS> is quite possible the copyright violations may be no more than a mixture 
DS> of well meaning (but ignorant of the law) user uploads and slow 
DS> verification and file deletion by the R&E staff.  On many boards, new 
DS> uploaded files automatically post with the uploaders description attached.
DS> It is only when the sysop, or his employees, screen the upload list that 
DS> unsuitable files can be caught and deleted.

Or when callers repeatedly bring the matter to the sysops' attention!
Even the densest sysop should be aware that firms like Microsoft and Borland,
to name just a couple, are definitely NOT into shareware marketing!

DS> Faced with the gruelling choice of individual file verification, or a
DS> possible catastrophic property loss from seizure, few BBS sysops are going
DS> to be willing to maintain the open free flow of data files that users enjoy
DS> today.   Add to this the hackers often remove copyright identification from
DS> many files.  In the eyes of the law, an altered file that no longer
DS> displays copyright protection is still the property of it's owner.

It certainly is.  Just as removing or altering the VIN number of your 
neighbour's Caddy doesn't really make it your property.  Doesn't make for 
quiet neighborhoods, either.

DS> In summery...

You spelled "summary" incorrectly, Dark Star.  If you want to be a Real
Writer when you grow up, get a Spelling Checker..... maybe Rusty had one
tucked away that the Feds missed....

Up here, it's wintery.

DS> The burden of proof to clear copyright for each file is now squarely on 
DS> the BBS sysops, the threat of widespread raids is clear, and the burden of
DS> recovering seized property is on the all of us, innocent and guilty alike.

Cripes, that burden always has been on the sysop.  As a sysop, I feel no
threat of impending raid, doom, or plagues of locusts.  A man always has been
held responsible for his own actions.  At least until recently when the
assorted bleeding hearts began their support-your-local-criminal campaigns.

DS> The loss to all users is beyond question.  The days of small independent
DS> BBS's offering huge libraries of software may be numbered.  
DS> This is particularly true for those "accessory" files that enhance existing
DS> commercial software packages.  The process of verifying every file is just
DS> to difficult.

Speak for yourself, Dark Star.  Did you, perchance, lose a source of pirated 
programs?  Is that why you're blue, Bubba?

Personally, I didn't lose a damn thing, except a board that had become a
blotch on the reputation of every law abiding sysop in North America.

And I sure wouldn't classify Rusty & Edie's as a "small" operation.  Not with
some 124 phone lines and 19 gigabytes of hard drives.  Drop in here sometime,
and see what "small" really is.

Allegedly, Rusty & Edie's had some 14,000 users who were shelling out $89. per
annum (that's a year, in case you don't understand...).  By my math, that
works out to a gross income of $1,246,000.00 per year, which isn't exactly
chopped liver.  Last year, I had 240 users who paid $0 for access, which
works out to less than zero after operating costs.  I should feel sympathy for
the proprietors of Rusty & Edie's?  In a pig's flipping eye, mate!

With that level of gross income, I'd consider they might have been able to
afford to hire some one to check the legitimacy of new uploads.  Perhaps
they could have qualified for a job training grant from the government to 
soften the impact of adding a minimum wage employee to the payroll.

DS> The next time you need a printer driver from the Word Perfect conference,
DS> or a debugged utility for Microsoft Windows, chances are it will no longer
DS> be there, even though the publisher might allow it.

Not on Rusty & Edie's, at any rate, chum!  Probably not for a helluva long
time.....

I've never been able to understand why a person who places himself outside
the law thinks he's entitled to the protection of the law when he's caught.
Tell me, Dark Star, why should the thief who steals from me be entitled to
a defence by a court appointed attorney whose fees are paid by MY tax dollars?
The laws of society were designed originally to protect the law abiding 
citizenry, not nurture the criminal element.  In my less than humble opinion, 
it's long past time to return to that concept.

Strikes me that it's also time to restore some ethics to journalism.

All in all, Dark Star, you singularly fail to impress me.  Not as a writer,
not as a speller, not as a journalist, and certainly not as a person of any
integrity.  In the Dark you may be, but a Star you're not.  Not in my world,
or any other world that I'd care to inhabit.

And I don't hide behind any alias, Dark Star.  Right is right and wrong is 
wrong, and a man is judged by the side he supports.  Get my meaning, Dark Star?


R. Wallace Hale
Sysop
Driftnet
(506) 325-9002