[471] in libertarians
Report -- 10 Pensacola Florida BBS systems raided (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jyri Kaljundi)
Wed Dec 7 05:56:11 1994
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 1994 10:48:02 +0200 (EET)
From: Jyri Kaljundi <yhuubert@cherry.viabalt.ee>
To: libertarians@MIT.EDU
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 17:14:36 -0800
From: Phil Agre <pagre@weber.ucsd.edu>
To: rre@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: Report -- 10 Pensacola Florida BBS systems raided
I don't know whether this report is true. I offer it largely as a cultural
document. You should certainly watch out for other, more detailed reports.
Phil
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 15:39:41 -0600 (CST)
From: David Smith <bladex@bga.com>
To: action@eff.org (action mailing list)
Subject: Report -- 10 Pensacola Florida BBS systems raided
Here is an initial report on a massive law enforcement raid of 10 BBS
systems in Pensacola, Florida. If this account is accurate and
representatives of the raids, then this is pretty awful.
This does not sound like FBI work to me, but rather the work of local law
enforcement. George Frena, sysop of the Tech Warehouse and defendent in
Playboy Enterprises v. Frena, was busted for obscenity some two or three
weeks ago. What part of Florida is he from? Pensacola? Nearby? I'm
wondering if there is a connection.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
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* Forwarded by Tia Darrow (1:128/68)
* Area : TO/FROM-SYSOP (TO/FROM-SYSOP)
* From : Steven Stepp, 1:128/1320 (Sunday December 04 1994 13:32)
* To : Tia Darrow
* Subj : Please post and make public aware
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Well, kids... this just in.... you heard it HERE first...
There were 25 BBS systems operating in Pennsacola, FL day before yesterday.
Yesterday at approximately 17:00, there were TEN FEWER.
The FBI descended on ten bulletin boards in the Pennsacola area. Using tactics
reminiscent of the Nazi's in WWII, they terrorized and vandalized at will.
One sysop, a paraplegic was HELD by two armed thugs by the arms and grilled
with questions for 30 minutes while they ransacked his apartment.
AFTER the first thirty minutes, they sat him down in a chair in the middle of
his front lawn (NOT his wheelchair) without a jacket or coat. It was 43 degrees
in Pennsacola yesterday. And he sat. And sat. And sat. For two hours. In 43
degree weather, winds... and watched as they wheeled his equipment away.
In another case, 30-odd storm troopers descend on a Pennsacola computer store,
as the customers scattered. AFTER they had succeeded in ruining the businesses
reputation in its entirety, they moved to the Sysops home. Equipped with search
warrants, they took his home apart and put it back together, again confiscating
equipment... all the way down to the PENCILS on his DESK. And in the process,
they found that the man had a bag of marijuana tucked away in a nightstand in
his bedroom. Even though the search warrant made NO mention of DRUGS (a search
warrant must be specific in nature; anything siezed which is NOT the purpose
for the warrant is SUPPOSED to be inadmissible in court). In spite of this, he
spent the night in jail.
Another area SysOp in Pennsacola was held, with his wife and two children
(age 5 and 7) at GUNPOINT, forced to lie face-down on the floor in the
living room, hands behind their heads, while the FBI raid took place. Some
of these people are gonna need THERAPY before they can put this ordeal
behind them. Can you imagine the effect this had on those KIDS?
One SysOp was held at gunpoint, as the thought police continued their raid,
REFUSING to allow him to phone his lawyer.
At issue on Donnie Lee's system were the ALT.BIN files which broadcast in
nightly from Planet Connect as a part of the UUCP internet feed. The SAME files
the local university there in Pennsacola carries. And... you guessed it - the
University was NOT one of the systems busted. Why would the government bust
themselves for the SAME "crimes against the state"?
C'MON, guys... these folks aren't common criminals. They're not muggers,
rapists, or thieves. They're just SysOps like you and me. SysOps who made the
mistake of putting a CD onto their BBS systems, a CD which went against the
beliefs of the church and state. A CD which any 12-year-old can buy across the
counter at any software store or through mail order.
And suddenly, the world is much smaller. These are NOT just SysOps in some
faraway land. Two of them are OUR SysOps. And four more arrests are set to
follow today.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation was all over Pennsacola by 8pm. I
phoned Steve Graves and he was on his way to Pennsacola this morning,
along with a representative from AOP (the Association of Online
Professionals). Also called in a favor from a buddy at BoardWatch who once
lived here... so the press is descending on Pennsacola today, in SPITE of
the media blackout (local tv, radio, and newspapers are banned from
reporting any of this until the OTHER four busts are completed TODAY).
So, out of 25 boards, there remain 11, most of them turncoat. And our
government no longer serves the people. The people serve IT. Something is
terribly terribly WRONG with this picture.
At gunpoint? Abusing a paraplegic? Terrorizing a family? Refusing ones
rights to have legal counsel present? For WHAT? THIS isn't murder. It
isn't rape. It's not even GANG violence. It's a gross misuse and Abuse of
power.
Is THIS the government YOU pledged allegiance to in second grade?
Sigh.
Not me, pal. I'm all in favor of declaring CyberSpace it's own sovereign
state, a nation all its own, a nation without physical boundaries. And why
not? Isn't that what the Church is? A nation unto itself, immune to the
interference of the government? Seems to me that the transfer of ideas and
concepts is what the CHURCH stands for, in the most basic of terms. Seems
to me that CyberSpace needs to unite and form its OWN government.
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