Volume 5, Number 30 25 July 1988 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief Dale Lovell Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings Contributing Editors: Al Arango FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1:1/1. Copyright 1988 by the International FidoNet Association. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067. IFNA may also be contacted at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141. Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and are used with permission. The contents of the articles contained here are not our responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them. Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING received. Table of Contents 1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1 SYSOP LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSING PRIVATE MESSAGES .......... 3 2. FOR SALE ................................................. 8 3. NOTICES .................................................. 9 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 9 Latest Software Versions ................................. 9 FidoNews 5-30 Page 1 25 Jul 1988 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Jerry Hindle Sysop of 18/6 (901) 353-4563 9600bps HST This article is in reply to Mr. Mednicks article concerning his running for a political office. While I do agree with some of the points he raised during our brief telephone conversation, I must also express this opinion. Mr. Mednick; While I have never met you, (but am looking forward to doing so at FIDOCON) I must say that your article in FidoNews528 was (to my way of thinking anyway) against the precepts of FidoNet as an amateur communications network. We should not be foisting the costs (by we I mean the people placing the calls to pick up Fnews files) of your political campaign unless we wish to do so. Since we were not given the choice in the matter I feel that you have done a disservice to us as a hobby network by placing this article in Fnews. I just got thru talking to you voice (as you know) and I hope what I present here is a true and accurate account of that call. I wish to present your side here also so that there is no bias in the matter. You stated that you had cleared the article with the IFNA BoD and (I think) the President of that body. I applaud this action and can't totally blame you for the results. I must also blame them (the BoD) for allowing the article to run. I understand that FidoNews publishes anything that comes in that meets the technical requirements and your article does in fact meet them. I also understand your view that since there are commercial advertisements in FidoNews that you should be allowed to also "advertise". I agree with that premise but I also feel that advertisements of a commercial nature should be limited to 1 page in length and only allowed if there is sufficient room to do so without making the file excessively large (say over 40k arced format). Your article however ran from the top of page 11 to the bottom of page 14, thus it was 4 pages in length. You stated that you want to "champion" the computer community, yet you only referred to this in 1 small place and the rest of the article dealt with matters concerning your qualifications as a CPA and other matters not relating to computers. While I agree that the computer community needs FidoNews 5-30 Page 2 25 Jul 1988 (desperately) someone in Washington who understands the needs of the computer users, we also need people who are literate in the field of public relations and dealing with people. I feel that you did not present enough information geared toward the computer community to warrant the space as an "unpaid political announcement" in a hobby newsletter. Also I saw no need of even considering publishing an article worldwide that would be of no benefit to those outside your congressional district (directly anyway, maybe there "could" be a construed benefit to those in the USA given a lot of luck). This is not meant to be a flame, nor even a little candle, but is intended to inform you that not all who read Fnews will view the article in the light that I do. I view it as a mistake on the part of the Administration of both IFNA (who really should not have a part in what Fnews does) and the Fnews publisher. They failed to properly supervise the operation of Fnews in that they have now opened up our newspaper to the infamous "EQUAL TIME" amendment concerning political announcements and editorials, a move that will cost us (the sysops placing the calls, countless dollars. I feel that in order to be totally fair about it you should contact your opponent in the race and offer him the opportunity to also publish a 4 pager in Fnews. Well, I guess I have now made enemies of a few more folks within the administration of both IFNA and FidoNet since I blame THEM for even allowing the article in the first place. I realize you are only using the "avenues open to you" to conduct your campaign, but please, (emphasis mode ON) NOT HERE. (emphasis mode OFF) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Editor's Note: As far as equal time, I print anything I receive. This has been and will continue to be my policy until the Publications Committee decides otherwise and presents me with a VERY detailed list of what is and is not printable (this will most likely be the same day I resign as editor). FidoNews always has been a place where you could have almost anything printed. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-30 Page 3 25 Jul 1988 Jonathan D. Wallace, Esq. 1:107/801 SYSOP LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSING PRIVATE MESSAGES In what appears to be the first case of its kind, an Indiana law student and BBS user has sued a local sysop, Bob Predaina, in federal court, claiming that he intentionally disclosed her private electronic mail to others without her permission. The lawsuit, which is in the early stages and has not reached trial, relies upon the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (the "ECPA"), which makes disclosure of private electronic mail without consent either of the sender or the recipient a federal crime. The ECPA does not obligate sysops to offer private mail on their systems. However, if a sysop promises private mail, that promise must be kept and the contents of private messages may not be disclosed without consent. The ECPA provides limited exceptions to the general rule of no disclosure. A sysop may voluntarily disclose to law enforcement authorities the contents of a message pertaining to the commission of a crime, if read inadvertently by him or if it is read pursuant to the exercise of his duties as a sysop. Until the courts clarify these rules, sysops who read private mail on their systems and disclose it may be playing with fire. Prior court cases involving telephone operators have established some useful guidelines: an operator may disclose information she overheard while checking the line at the user's request, but may not disclose information overheard while eavesdropping out of curiosity. Sysops, like phone operators, will not be considered to have a blanket authorization to intercept and disclose private messages. Systems such as Fido 11w which routinely make all private mail visible to the sysop are therefore problematic. BBS programmers should consider making private mail truly private-- while allowing sysops to turn the private mail option off if they do not want it. In the meantime, sysops should reconsider whether it is worth having private mail on their systems and should make clear to users in no uncertain terms, through bulletins and messages, the degree of privacy which can be expected, if any. Note: a copy of the complaint filed in the Thompson v. Predaina case is available on the LLM BBS, Fido 107/801 (212)766-3788) in file area 5 under the name "Indiana". * * * JONATHAN D. WALLACE, ESQ. is an attorney in New York FidoNews 5-30 Page 4 25 Jul 1988 City specializing in computer law. With Rees Morrison, he is the author of the Sysop's Legal Manual, published this year by LLM Press. He can be reached at (212) 766-3785 (voice) or at the LLM BBS, given above. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-30 Page 5 25 Jul 1988 Public Access Messaging PUBLIC ACCESS MESSAGING is now here. What you do with echo mail can be done with Public Access Messaging. The messages are arranged by topic and you can subscribe to those areas of interest to you. Echo mail is a subset of Public Access Messaging. WE DELIVER! We will deliver and pickup your echo mail. BASIC SERVICE. We call once a night, some time after six pm and before eight am, to drop off that days Public Access Messages. We do a pickup so any Public Access Message that you have on hold for us to pickup is picked up for delivery tomorrow. More frequent delivery is available for various fees. If you like we will even pickup your outgoing public netmail traffic for delivery to the public network. For an additional fee you can consider us an outbound netmail gateway that picks up. We will deliver the traffic to the inbound gateway for any destination in the public network. If you have private traffic or a private network we can pickup and deliver that traffic as well. For an additional fee we deliver the public network traffic directly to its destination. Also for an additional fee we will deliver to your private network, provided that you give us all the information we ask for. Redundant backup systems make Public Access Messaging reliable. RELIABLE. The hardware and software systems used by us to deliver to you have both automatic and manual redundancy, self checking, and error correction facilities. We send to you once a night, but our system makes delivery attempts spread out during the entire evening. Until our system connects with yours it will try again. But not right away, it will call again later. This multiple try method of delivery makes Public Access Messages available to you when your system is likely to be able to receive. We will try till we get to you! AVAILABLE. By delivering all night long, you are assured that sometime during the night your system will be available to receive the call and your messages for the day will be delivered. Thus overall you have availability of the Public Access Messages. Our voice line and data line customer support makes sure that Public Access Messaging can be made to service your needs. SERVICEABLE. Our hardware and software delivery mechanisms are flexible and for various fees our systems can accommodate your needs. You will do many things with Public Access Messaging because our systems are dedicated to serving you. FidoNews 5-30 Page 6 25 Jul 1988 Did you ever wonder why there were lapses in the delivery of echo mail? Use Public Access Messaging and you can know. RELIABLE. Well that won't happen with us!. We will be here when you need us. We are ready, willing, and able to serve you. Did you ever wonder where to get more echo mail? Use Public Access Messaging and you can know. AVAILABLE. We either have it all, or are willing to exert our best efforts to tie into it. Either way you can get it. Did you ever wonder how to get the most from your echo mail dollar? Use Public Access Messaging and you can know. SERVICEABLE. A rate structure allows you to mix and match which Public Access Message topics you want to receive, without regard as to how they get to you, because they all come in on the same flexible delivery schedules. Did you ever wonder how echo mail really works? Use Public Access Messaging and you can know. RELIABLE. We deliver to you tonight what we received last night. We deliver to you tomorrow night what we receive tonight. This is straight forward reliable service. More frequent deliveries are available for a fee. Did you ever wonder who participates in the echo mail network? Use Public Access Messaging and you can know. AVAILABLE. We know and are willing to tell you. Anyone who wants to be plugged in can be plugged in. If you have a need for limiting participants, then for an additional fee we can accommodate you. Did you ever wonder how to solve problems you are having using your echo mail system? Use Public Access Messaging and you can have help. SERVICEABLE. After you have tried and tried to make things work and they still don't, what do you do? Who do you call? We offer three tiers of problem solution. The least expensive is called "Common Knowledge". You call in via modem and look through our Information Dispenser. It has on it things that have been helpful for folks in the past, as well as other information. More expensive is "Electronic Messaging", which includes "Common Knowledge" plus allows you to converse via netmail with us about your needs. The top of the line is "Personal Access" via daytime voice call with our communication consultants, and includes both "Common Knowledge" and "Electronic Messaging". FidoNews 5-30 Page 7 25 Jul 1988 Did you ever wonder if your echo mail is old or just slow? Use Public Access Messaging and you can know. We don't have any old messages. We send tonight, what we received since the last time we delivered to you. THERE IS A BETTER WAY! PUBLIC ACCESS MESSAGING! Be party to Public Access Messaging. Public Access Messaging is fun and easy to use. Best of all you'll like the price. Answer these questions, so that we may prepare a plan suited to your circumstances, detailing features and fees. 1. Phone numbers your system calls to get echo mail. 2. Numbers your system calls to deliver echo mail. 3. What echoes do you link via each phone number. 4. What are your recent phone bills. Include photocopies. 5. What modem do you use. Make and model. 6. What echo mail program(s) do you use (be specific). 7. What network mailer do you use. Include version. 8. What kind of computer do you use. Make and Model. 9. What is your proper name and mailing address. 10. What is your data phone number. 11. What is your voice phone number. Public Access Messaging - Effective Public Access Messaging - Inexpensive Public Access Messaging - Easy to Setup and to Use Public Access Messaging - Saves Real Time and Real Money Include $35 dollars as our fee for preparing a plan for you. If you accept our offer the $35 will be applied to your subscription. Answer the above questions and send your check for $35 to Computer Assisted Marketing Programs Inc 1300 Industrial Highway, Suite 400 Southampton, PA 18966 Now is the right time to do it! ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-30 Page 8 25 Jul 1988 ================================================================= FOR SALE ================================================================= SYSOP LEGAL MANUAL FOR SALE SYSLAW, the Sysop's Legal Manual, by Jonathan D. Wallace Esq. and Rees Morrison Esq. This 130 page book, newly published by LLM Press, includes chapters on the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, sysop liability for illegal uploads such as pirated software and stolen credit card codes, libel and state computer crime laws. The book is $21.00 (includes postage and handling) from LLM Press, 150 Broadway Suite 610, New York, New York 10038. New York residents include 8.25 percent sales tax. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-30 Page 9 25 Jul 1988 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 25 Aug 1988 Start of the Fifth International FidoNet Conference, to be held at the Drawbridge Inn in Cincinnati, OH. Contact Tim Sullivan at 108/62 for more information. This is FidoNet's big annual get-together, and is your chance to meet all the people you've been talking with all this time. We're hoping to see you there! 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. 5 Oct 1989 20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Software Versions BBS Systems Node List Other & Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version Dutchie 2.90* EditNL 4.00* ARC 5.22* Fido 12h MakeNL 2.12* ARCmail 1.1 Opus 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.31 SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86 EchoMail 1.31 TBBS 2.0M XlaxNode 2.10* MGM 1.1 BinkleyTerm 1.50 XlaxDiff 2.10* QuickBBS 2.01 ParseList 1.10 * Recently changed Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-30 Page 10 25 Jul 1988 OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION Ken Kaplan 100/22 Chairman of the Board Don Daniels 107/210 President Mark Grennan 147/1 Vice President Dave Dodell 114/15 Vice President - Technical Coordinator David Garrett 103/501 Secretary Leonard Mednick 345/1 Treasurer IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS DIVISION AT-LARGE 10 Steve Jordan 102/2871 Don Daniels 107/210 11 Bill Allbritten 11/301 Hal DuPrie 101/106 12 Leonard Mednick 345/1 Mark Grennan 147/1 13 Rick Siegel 107/27 Brad Hicks 100/523 14 Ken Kaplan 100/22 Ted Polczyinski 154/5 15 Jim Cannell 128/13 Kurt Reisler 109/74 16 Vince Perriello 141/491 Robert Rudolph 261/628 17 Rob Barker 138/34 Greg Small 148/122 18 Christopher Baker 135/14 Bob Swift 140/24 19 Vernon Six 19/0 Larry Wall 15/18 2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 Gee Wong 107/312 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-30 Page 11 25 Jul 1988 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm) Membership for the International FidoNet Association Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that pays the annual membership fee. IFNA serves the international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to increase worldwide communications. Name __________________________________ Date ___________________ Address _________________________________________________________ City ____________________________________________________________ State ________________________________ Zip _____________________ Country _________________________________________________________ Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Is this a new application? _________ a renewal? ________________ Are you a Sysop? _________ If so, for how long? ________________ Your BBS Info: (Non-Sysops enter info for your most-called BBS) Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________ BBS Name ________________________________________________________ BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________ Your Special Interests __________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Are there any special resources that you could provide? _________ _________________________________________________________________ Regular Membership $25 Lifetime Membership $250 Send this form and a check or money order in US Funds to: International FidoNet Association c/o Leonard Mednick, CPA 700 Bishop Street, #1014 Honolulu, HI 96813 USA IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization. Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the membership in January 1987. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the Board of Directors. We welcome your input on this Conference. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-30 Page 12 25 Jul 1988 INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION ORDER FORM Publications The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido 1:1/10 or other FidoNet compatible systems, or by purchasing them directly from IFNA. We ask that all our IFNA Committee Chairmen provide us with the latest versions of each publication, but we can make no written guarantees. Hardcopy prices as of October 1, 1986 IFNA Fido BBS listing $15.00 _____ IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs $10.00 _____ IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs $10.00 _____ SUBTOTAL _____ IFNA Member ONLY Special Offers System Enhancement Associates SEAdog $60.00 _____ SEAdog price as of March 1, 1987 ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member Fido Software's Fido/FidoNet $100.00 _____ Fido/FidoNet price as of November 1, 1987 ONLY 1 copy Fido/FidoNet per IFNA Member International orders include $10.00 for surface shipping or $20.00 for air shipping _____ SUBTOTAL _____ HI. Residents add 4.0 % Sales tax _____ TOTAL _____ SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IN US FUNDS: International FidoNet Association c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA 700 Bishop Street, #1014 Honolulu, HI. 96813-4112 USA Name________________________________ Zone:Net/Node____:____/____ Company_____________________________ Address_____________________________ City____________________ State____________ Zip_____ Voice Phone_________________________ Signature___________________________ -----------------------------------------------------------------