[107375] in Cypherpunks
NSA Bans Furbys
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Eric Cordian)
Wed Jan 13 02:33:11 1999
From: Eric Cordian <emc@wire.insync.net>
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 01:06:06 -0600 (CST)
Reply-To: Eric Cordian <emc@wire.insync.net>
WASHINGTON (AP) -- First, they foiled thousands of weary parents,
desperately scouring store shelves to buy their kids ``the'' holiday
toy.
Now, the five-inch plush gremlin-like creatures are wanted again, this
time by the nation's supersecret spy agency: Furbys could pose the
latest threat to national security interests.
The National Security Agency has banned the popular pets from its Fort
Meade premises in Maryland. In an internal message to workers, the NSA
issued a warning about the toy, which is embedded with a computer chip
that allows it to utters 200 words -- 100 in English and 100 in
``Furbish.''
``Personally owned photographic, video and audio recording equipment
are prohibited items. This includes toys, such as 'Furbys,' with
built-in recorders that repeat the audio with synthesized sound to
mimic the original signal,'' the Furby Alert read, according to
Wednesday's editions of The Washington Post.
``We are prohibited from introducing these items into NSA spaces.
Those who have should contact their Staff Security Office for
guidance.''
The Furby resembles an owl, with tufts of hair between its huge pink
ears.
Because of its ability to repeat some of what it hears, NSA officials
were worried ``that people would take them home and they'd start
talking classified,'' one Capitol Hill source told the Post.
--
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"
