Article 174 of cs.general:
Newsgroups: cs.general
Path: orstcs!fog.CS.ORST.EDU!budd
From: budd@fog.CS.ORST.EDU (Tim Budd)
Subject: Am I a Data Junkie?
Message-ID: <1992Mar31.162416.22880@CS.ORST.EDU>
Sender: usenet@CS.ORST.EDU
Nntp-Posting-Host: fog.cs.orst.edu
Organization: Oregon State University, Computer Science Dept.
Distribution: cs
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1992 16:24:16 GMT

I found the following report, from the CPSR newsletter, quite interesting.
I guess I'm just another degenerate data junkie.
My only question is: should I expect the FBI to raid my house with guns
drawn at some point?  The article would lead one to believe that using a
modem on a residential line is a federal crime.  Anybody know what the law
is in Oregon?
--tim budd

>From wire reports

When Louise Gurka received a knock in the predawn hours of March 19, she had no
way of knowing that the fist knocking on her door was attached to the long arm
of Operation Mooncalf, a giant, multistate investigation of modem use by
handicapped bulletin-board operators.

Ms. Gurka is a Salem resident who operates a bulletin board as a "social club
for the homebound."  She has multiple handicaps and uses a wheelchair.  When
she opened her door, she was greeted by FBI agents, U S West security
officials, Secret Service agents, Federal Fish and Wildlife agents, and Marion
County Sheriff's Deputies, all with guns drawn.  She was ordered to put her
hands behind her head by the FBI, while a Deputy ordered her to lie on the
floor.  A telco security agent shouted "freeze!," which she did.  "I was
terrified," she later said.

Finally, an FBI agent placed his pistol to the side of her head, while the
remaining officers sacked her apartment, looking for "modems, computers,
electronic things, and stuff like that," according to a search warrant she was
shown.  A modem was discovered, on her dining room table, turned on and
connected to an operating computer.  The Salem modem-disposal unit was called
in, and the modem was carefully disconnected and removed.  Before arresting Ms.
Gurka for improper use of a telephone line and wire fraud, officers removed
every object in the apartment with a power cord, battery, or telephone line,
including Ms. Gurka's alarm clock, smoke detector, television, and electric
blanket.  "An officer asked me what my night-light was for as he unplugged it,"
she said.  "I told him that it came on at night so I didn't run into the walls.
He said, 'sure, honey,' and took it away.  That was two nights ago and already
I've rubbed all the skin off my knuckles.  What got into these people?"

What got into those law enforcement officials was Operation Mooncalf, a huge
investigation of modem use, involving law enforcement officials from 22
government agencies, not counting U S West.  The morning Ms. Gurka was
arrested, 27 other modem owners were arrested in 14 states.

Among the arrested was Michael Rova of Okanogan, Washinton.  Mr. Rova lost both
his legs in Vietnam and runs a bulletin board for disabled veterans.  He has
the massive upper body strength of a long-distance wheelchair racer, and his
huge arms tense and writhe with rage as he talks about his arrest.  

"There were 18 of them, deployed in two groups, one for the front door, one for
the back.  Did they expect me to leap into my chair and take off down the
highway?  They came in with guns drawn, M-16's and semiauto shotguns first,
brass with Glocks and Sig Saurs behind.  There was this skinny guy in a suit
running around shouting "freeze" at everything in a thin, reedy voice.  It was
bizarre."

Mr. Rova's crime?  Operating a modem on a residential telephone.  Authorities
showed him a warrant similar to Ms. Gurka's.  After every electronic device in
the house had been removed, a U S West official told him his telephone service
would be disconnected.

Why this sudden interest in modem users?  "Modem users are degenerate data
junkies," said FBI agent Glade Frippery from his office in Phoenix.  "They meet
at night to share data-tainted needles, while decent people are asleep.  Nobody
in my family uses modems, I'm proud to say."  Mr. Frippery is the only Federal
law enforcement official who would comment on the raids.  He claims that L.A.
gangs are involved in much of the recent modem-based trafficing in data.
"Gerome Russin ran a board called 'Crip Nation' out of his Tucson apartment.
We believe Mr. Russin has connections to a Crips gang called 'The L.A. Mona
Lisa Crips,' and allowed the gang to use his board to traffic in digitized
child pornography, to organize crack and speed distribution, and to talk to
each other."

Mr. Russin is described as the "plum" in the recent raids.  "We were really
glad to get him out of circulation."  Mr. Russin, who has cerebral palsey, says
that the "Crip" in "Crip Nation" stood for "Crippled."  "I'm crippled, and
proud of what I've made out of my life."  Mr. Russin had 15 residential
telephone lines, hooked up through trailblazer modems to a Vaxstation 5100.  He
ran a bulletin board for people with cerebral palsey and other handicaps, and
received calls from all over North America.  Now all the equipment is gone, the
phone line disconnected.  "It baffles me how the government could be this
stupid.  What law did I break?"

In fact, it isn't clear what law many of the accused might have broken.  While
all of the arrested were in violation of U S West guidelines for the use of
residential telephone lines, internal U S West memos have the force of law in
only 4 the 14 states in U S West's territory (North Dakota, Nebraska, Idaho,
and Oregon).

According to Mr. Frippery, the investigation is ongoing.  "We know that there's
a lot of nasty, evil stuff out there that we don't fully understand, and we're
going to put a stop to it."


DR's Notes: Note transmission date, April 1 ;-)