From: rats@cbnewsc.cb.att.com (AOR AR-1000)
Subject: Re: Washington Post Article
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 21:25:15 GMT


|Essence of The Washington Post, August 17, page 1 article:

|Hackers Scan Airwaves for Conversations
|(Eavesdroppers Tap into Private Phone Calls)

Since radio waves in theory stretch to infinity, how one could
imagine their conversations are "private" boggles the mind.

|Mark Lewyn (Special to The Washington Post)
|[No where does it mention he works for Business Week or
| tells people he does and that he has pro-business stance
| and connections with cellular interests.]

Sounds like the power of advertising has caused the Washington Post
to consider your right to receive information over the airwaves to
be the same as the Post's position on private firearms [The Washington
Post editorialised everyday for a WHOLE MONTH against firearms.]

|Mentions various phone calls between VIPs that were monitored
|including one by VP over Amarillo, TX.  Refers to listeners as
|hackers, amateur electonic eaversdroppers, snoops, and "listening
|Toms."

Do you think Mark Lewyn has a scanner with cellular capability at home?

|Mentions calls of the President have been monitored.

Rightttt... as if the Washington Post didn't resort to scanners to
pick up official activities.

|says Bob Grove has been questioned many times by federal agents
|about hackers' listening.

What a laugh and a half; the government is one of the big consumers of
wideband VHF/UHF receiver equipment... where do you think all those
ICOM R7000/R7100s are disappearing? Maybe citizens should wonder what
the federales are using all those ICOM/Watkins-Johnson/et al. sets
for, eh?

Or is the government just jealous; that the capacity to monitor certain
frequencies should be theirs, and theirs alone?

|Quotes Thomas Birney III of the
|Cellular Security group about "substantial" threat.

Perhaps the feds are planning something that causes scanner hobbyists
to be a "substantial threat," huh?

|States the House anti-scanner law is still in the Senate.

This is a warning for folks to start writing letters PRONTO to their
Congresscritters, because the apparent point of this article is to
create 'awareness' of the awful  scanner hobbyist.

|Compares hobbyist to ambulance chasers and computer hackers.

Interesting; a passive activity is classified as a threat to the social
order. I'm surprised he didn't throw in "assault weapon" ownership for
good measure.

|Ends with:  "He
|justifies his avocation with seemingly tortured logic.  "I'm not
|going out and stealing these signal," he said.  "They're coming
|into my home right through my windows.""

Hmm, I guess the EM spectrum is the exclusive property of the government,
and woe to those that attempt to use it in a manner not fitting to the
purposes considered ethical to the government, Washington Post, or
cellular service providers.

|Very little mention in the article about the ability to secure
|communications.

Of course not; the aim is pass legislation aimed at scanner owners, and
it will succeed, if scanner enthusiasts just SIT ON THEIR BUTT waiting
for George to write their letters and make their phone calls.

Nobody else is going to write those letters, it's up to each U.S.
voter to put their views on paper and send them to their Senators!
From: A..Ray.Miller@iphase.UUCP (A. Ray Miller)
Sender: FredGate@iphase.UUCP