<< 1992 1993 1994 >>
January 12, 1993
The Offworld BBS in St. Louis, MO is shut down by the FBI for pornographic images. 

On Friday night, the FBI confiscated more than $40,000 worth of
computer equipment at Offworld, a computer company owned and operated
by Joey Jay.  Jay, 28, ran the business from his residence in the
basement of his father's house on Tecumseh Drive in Chesterfield.

Jay was not arrested, and no charges have been filed against him.
Jay said his father threw him out of the house after the raid.

"Everyone assumes we are some kiddie porn ring," Jay said.  "We are
not.  We are a nonprofit community service."

 A spokesman for the FBI said that someone had reported that Offworld
had images available showing bestiality, as well as child pornography.
It is a federal offense to have child pornography, and any property
used to promote it is subject to being seized and forfeited to law
enforcement authorities, an FBI spokesman said.

January 30, 1993
Rusty & Edie's BBS of Boardman, Ohio, is busted/seized by the FBI for software piracy. 

The Federation Bureau of Investigation on Saturday, Jan. 30, 1993, raided
"Rusty & Edie's," a computer bulletin board located in Boardman, Ohio,
which has allegedly been illegally distributing copyrighted software
programs. Seized in the raid on the Rusty & Edie's bulletin board were
computers, hard disk drives and telecommunications equipment, as well as
financial and subscriber records. For the past several months, the Software
Publishers Association ("SPA") has been working with the FBI in
investigating the Rusty & Edie's bulletin board, and as part of that
investigation has downloaded numerous copyrighted business and
entertainment programs from the board.

The SPA investigation was initiated following the receipt of complaints
from a number of SPA members that their software was being illegally
distributed on the Rusty & Edie's BBS. The Rusty & Edie's bulletin board
was one of the largest private bulletin boards in the country.  It had 124
nodes available to callers and over 14,000 subscribers throughout the
United States and several foreign countries.  To date, the board has logged
in excess of 3.4 million phone calls, with new calls coming in at the rate
of over 4,000 per day.  It was established in 1987 and had expanded to
include over 19 gigabytes of storage housing over 100,000 files available
to subscribers for downloading. It had paid subscribers throughout the
United States and several foreign countries, including Canada, Luxembourg,
France, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United
Kingdom.

"The SPA applauds the FBI's action today," said Ilene Rosenthal, general
counsel for the SPA.  "This shows that the FBI recognizes the harm that
theft of intellectual property causes to one of the U.S.'s most vibrant
industries. It clearly demonstrates a trend that the government understands
the seriousness of software piracy." The SPA is actively working with the
FBI in the investigation of computer bulletin boards, and similar raids on
other boards are expected shortly.

March 8, 1993
The 9-Month "Akron Anomaly BBS" felony court case comes to an end, with Sysop Mark Lehrer pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of "Attempted Possession of Criminal Tools" (his computer). Lehrer had first been charged with distribution of pornography to minors, based on the existence of adult GIFs in a non-adult section of his BBS. The Akron, Ohio police deparment had quickly withdrawn this case and changed it to an accusation of distribution of child pornography, also never proven.

Source http://www.infowar.com/iwftp/cpd/CPD-2/V2_030.txt

May 24, 1993
Hayes Microcomputer Products announces a new Sysop Program, where qualified sysops are able to purchase Hayes Modems at greatly discounted rates. It is similar to a Sysop Program by US Robotics, introduced earlier.

announce.txt (8.0K) Official Press Release of Hayes Sysop Program

June 2, 1993
The RIPCO BBS officially becomes an ISP, incorporating as Ripco Communications, offering both free and for-pay accounts, including full Usenet and E-mail access.

Source http://www.ripco.com/ripco/what_is_ripco.html

June 9, 1993
Emmanuel Goldstein, editor of 2600, appears before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance regarding Network Security. Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) The session becomes known as the "Emmanuel Bashing", as Rep. Markey and other members of the committee grill Goldstein on the pros and cons of publishing 2600 magazine. 2600 magazine holds up the transcript as an example of the gulf of perception between Markey and the hacker community.

Source http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6095/assorted-short-pieces/goldstein-markey.html

August 2, 1993
Michael Elansky, a 21 year old University of Hartford student, is arrested for two "anarchy" files on his "Ware House BBS", which contain bomb-making instructions. Unable to post the $500,000 bail, Elansky waits in jail for nearly 4 months, and eventually plea-bargains to 28 months of prison, down from a possible 10 years. The case recieves a lot of attention for its first amendment issues.

cud569.txt ( 48K) Computer Underground Digest #569
Source Computer Underground Digest #569

August 3, 1993
The Fear and Loathing BBS out of Birmingham, Alabama is busted by the FBI for piracy of Novell and Quarterdeck products. 

 From a textfile by Empedocles, co-sysop of Fear and Loathing:

 Well, there is some TERRIBLE NEWS here. 

 The FEAR & LOATHING in Las Vegas BBS was BUSTED today, Aug. 3, 1993. 

 At 8 am. - The FBI from Birmingham, Alabama came in and presented a 
 Search Warrant dated 7/29/93 and proceded to swipe every piece of 
 Electronics from The Doctor - SYSOP of the Fear & Loathing. 

 What they told the Doctor was this..... to paraphrase. 

 "Didn't you learn a lesson from RustynEdies? We been subscribing to the 
 Fear for about a year ... and we have capture screens of your Board. We 
 know you have NOVELL and Quarterdeck stuff on your Board." 

 (When Doc protested that he did NOT and instead had a NO-NOVELL Policy ... 
 they said that he DID have NOVELL stuff on .. about 3 months ago. They also 
 spoke informatively of the files and messages that had passed thru the Fear) 

 TWO NOVELL guys and one Quarterdeck guy were in on the Raid... it was ALL 
 FBI and no LOCAL Cops were involved. 

 All Doc's Computers and Electronic Gear was taken away "to be studied in 
 Washington".

fearnloathing.txt ( 24K) Message from Empeodcles of the Fear and Loathing BBS (August 3, 1993)

August 18, 1993
RemoteAccess BBS v2.00 is Released.

August 25, 1993
ONE BBSCON '93 is held at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The event goes from the 25th to the 29th.

announce ( 12K) Announcement of BBSCON '93 by Jack Rickard (July 27, 1993)
onebbs.txt (216K) Full ONEBBSCON Announcement, Schedule, and Speakers List
short.txt ( 32K) Summary List of ONEBBSCON Speakers and Schedule
Source http://groups.google.com/groups?q=+%22Mustang+Software%22+FBI&start=10&scoring=d&selm=9307271415.A7684wk%40boardwatch.com&rnum=11

August 27, 1993
The National Online Media Association, a trade association of BBS Sysops, ISPs and online media figures, is formed at ONE BBSCON '93 in Colorado Springs. 
NOMA
                National Online Media Association

Contacts: Phill Liggett
                                             LIGGETT@delphi.com
                                             (203)233-3163

                                             Lance Rose
                                             elrose@echonyc.com
                                             (201)509-1700

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A new trade association, the National Online Media Association
(NOMA), was formed at ONE BBSCON '93 in Colorado Springs on August
27th, 1993.  NOMA comprises BBS operators, Internet service
providers, and other online media and services.

NOMA's mission is to act for the BBS and online service industry
on matters of national importance by creating an industry presence
in Washington, D.C. and other means; assist its members at the
state and local levels; educate the public on the unique social,
business and legal roles of BBS's and other online services;
establish appropriate industry standards and guidelines;
promote business development in the industry; and maintain and
provide access to resources and industry information for use by the
public and the industry.

An 11 person Organizing Committee was elected to develop a proposal
for NOMA's charter, bylaws, membership requirements, structure, and
form of leadership.  The proposal is to be completed and
distributed within the BBS and online services industry by November
30th, 1993.

Discussion areas are being set up immediately for those interested
in participating in NOMA's early development.  An Internet mailing
list is available to all those interested at natbbs@echonyc.com
(subscribe to natbbs-request@echonyc.com).  A conference area is
also being made available on the Delphi national information
service.

The members of NOMA's Organizing Committee are:

Phill Liggett - Chairperson
LIGGETT@delphi.com

Joe Balshone
BALSHONE@delphi.com

Celeste Clark
BBS #: (805)520-2300

Pat Clawson
76357.3572@compuserve.com

P. Victor Grambsch - Secretary
PVICTOR@delphi.com

Tony McClenny
BBS#: (703)648-1841

Robert Pataki
PUGDOG@delphi.com

W. Mark Richmond
BBS#: (209)685-8487

Steve Sprague
steve.sprague@uboa.org

Jim Taylor
jim.taylor@F5.N310.Z1.FIDONET.ORG

Bill Wilt
wilt@aol.com

In addition, three advisors agreed to assist NOMA's Organizing
Committee:

Mike Godwin, Esq.
mnemonic@eff.org

David Johnson, Esq.
djohns06@reach.com

Lance Rose, Esq.
elrose@echonyc.com

For further information, please contact Phill Liggett, (203)233-
3163 or Lance Rose, Esq., (201)509-1700

Mailing Address:    NOMA
                    c/o Phill Liggett
                    Solutions, Inc.
                    89 Seymour Avenue,
                    West Hartford, CT  06119

September 22, 1993
RemoteAccess BBS v2.01 is Released.

November 19, 1993
Michael Elansky (The Ionizer) is sentenced to 28 months in prison for having bomb-making instructions on his BBS. Elansky had been held for nearly four months in prison, unable to make a $500,000 bail.

phant20.txt (140K) Phantasy Issue #20 (Contains Excellent Coverage of Sentencing)
Source PHANTSY Issue #20

<< 1992 1993 1994 >>