hosts community is a story in itself. The success of the WELL in its first five years, all would agree, rested heavily on the efforts of the conference hosts - online characters who had created the character of the first neighborhoods and kept the juice flowing between one another all over the WELL, but most pointedly in the Hosts conference. Some spicy reading in the Archives conference originated from old hosts' disputes - and substantial arguments about the implications of CMC for civil rights, intellectual property, censorship, by a lot of people who know what they are talking about, mixed liberally with a lot of other people who don't know what they are talking about, but love to talk anyway, via keyboard and screen, for years on end. In this virtual place, the pillars of the community and the worst offenders of public sensibilities are in the same group - the hosts. At their best and their worst, this ten percent of the online population put out the words that the other ninety percent keep paying to read. Like good hosts at any social gathering, they make newcomers welcome, keep the conversation flowing, mediate disputes, clean up messes, and throw out miscreants, if need be. A WELL host is part salon keeper, part saloon keeper, part talk-show host, part publisher. The only power to censor or to ban a user is the hosts' power. Policy varies from host to host, and that's the only policy. The only justice for those who misuse that power is the forced participation in weeks of debilitating and vituperative post-mortem. The hosts community is part long-running soap opera, part town meeting, bar-room brawl, anarchic debating society, creative groupmind, bloody arena, union hall, playpen, encounter group. The Hosts conference is extremely general, from technical questions to personal attacks. The Policy conference is supposed to be restricted to matters of what WELL policy is, or ought to be. The part-delusion, part-accurate perception that the hosts and other users have strong influence over WELL policy is part of what feeds debate here, and a strong element in the libertarian reputation of the stereotypical WELLite. After fighting my way through a day's or hour's worth of the Hot New Dispute in News, Hosts, and Policy, I check on the conferences I host - Info, Virtual Communities, Virtual Reality. After that my `.cflist' directs me, at the press of the return key, to the first new topic or response in the Parenting, Writers', Grateful Dead tours, Telecommunication, Macintosh, Weird, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Whole Earth, Books, Media, Men on the WELL, Miscellaneous, and Unclear conferences. The social dynamics of the WELL spawn new conferences in response to different kinds of pressures. Whenever a hot interpersonal or doctrinal issue breaks out, for example, people want to stage the brawl or make a dramatic farewell speech or shocking disclosure or serious accusation in the most heavily-visited area of the WELL, which is usually the place that others want to be a Commons - a place where people from different sub-communities can come to find out what is going on around the WELL, outside the WELL, where they can pose questions to the committee of the whole. When too many discussions of what the WELL's official policy ought to be, about censorship or intellectual property or the way people treat each other, break out, they tended to clutter the place people went to get a quick sense of what is happening outside their neighborhoods. So the Policy conference was born. But then the WELL grew larger and it wasn't just policy but governance and social issues like political correctness or the right of users to determine the social rules of the system. Several years and six thousand more users after the fission of the News and Policy conferences, another conference split off News - "MetaWELL," a conference was created strictly to discussions about the WELL itself, its nature, its situation (often dire), its future. Grabbing attention in the Commons is a powerful act. Some people seem drawn to performing there; others burst out there in acts of desperation, after one history of frustration or another. Dealing with people who are so consistently off-topic or apparently deeply grooved into incoherence, long-windedness, scatology, is one of the events that challenges a community to decide what its values really are, or ought to be. Something is happening here. I'm not sure anybody understands it yet. I know that the WELL and the net is an important part of my life and I have to decide for myself whether this is a new way to make genuine commitments to other human beings, or a silicon-induced illusion of community. I urge others to help pursue that question in a variety of ways, while we have the time. The political dimensions of CMC might lead to situations that would pre-empt questions of other social effects; responses to the need for understanding the power-relationships inherent in CMC are well represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others. We need to learn a lot more, very quickly, about what kind of place our minds are homesteading. The future of virtual communities is connected to the future of everything else, starting with the most precious thing people have to gain or lose - political freedom. The part played by communication technologies in the disintegration of communism, the way broadcast television pre-empted the American electoral process, the power of fax and CMC networks during times of political repression like Tienamen Square and the Soviet Coup attempt, the power of citizen electronic journalism, the power-maneuvering of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to restrict rights of citizen access and expression in cyberspace, all point to the future of CMC as a close correlate of future political scenarios. More important than civilizing cyberspace is ensuring its freedom as a citizen-to-citizen communication and publication medium; laws that infringe equity of access to and freedom of expression in cyberspace could transform today's populist empowerment into yet another instrument of manipulation. Will "electronic democracy" be an accurate description of political empowerment that grows out of the screen of a computer? Or will it become a brilliant piece of disinfotainment, another means of manipulating emotions and manufacturing public opinion in the service of power. Who controls what kinds of information is communicated in the international networks where virtual communities live? Who censors, and what is censored? Who safeguards the privacy of individuals in the face of technologies that make it possible to amass and retrieve detailed personal information about every member of a large population? The answers to these political questions might make moot any more abstract questions about cultures in cyberspace. Democracy itself depends on the relatively free flow of communications. The following words by James Madison are carved in marble at the United States Library of Congress: "A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." It is time for people to arm themselves with power about the future of CMC technology. Who controls the market for relationships? Will the world's increasingly interlinked, increasingly powerful, decreasingly costly communications infrastructure be controlled by a small number of very large companies? Will cyberspace be privatized and parceled out to those who can afford to buy into the auction? If political forces do not seize the high ground and end today's freewheeling exchange of ideas, it is still possible for a more benevolent form of economic control to stunt the evolution of virtual communities, if a small number of companies gain the power to put up toll-roads in the information networks, and smaller companies are not able to compete with them. Or will there be an open market, in which newcomers like Apple or Microsoft can become industry leaders? The playing field in the global telecommunications industry will never be level, but the degree of individual freedom available through telecommunication technologies in the future may depend upon whether the market for goods and services in cyberspace remains open for new companies to create new uses for CMC. I present these observations as a set of questions, not as answers. I believe that we need to try to understand the nature of CMC, cyberspace, and virtual communities in every important context - politically, economically, socially, culturally, cognitively. Each different perspective reveals something that the other perspectives do not reveal. Each different discipline fails to see something that another discipline sees very well. We need to think as teams here, across boundaries of academic discipline, industrial affiliation, nation, to understand, and thus perhaps regain control of, the way human communities are being transformed by communication technologies. We can't do this solely as dispassionate observers, although there is certainly a huge need for the detached assessment of social science. But community is a matter of the heart and the gut as well as the head. Some of the most important learning will always have to be done by jumping into one corner or another of cyberspace, living there, and getting up to your elbows in the problems that virtual communities face. FYI: ==== Howard Rheingold (1985) "Tools for Thought" New York, NY. Howard Reingold (1991) "Virtual Reality" New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Howard Rheingold (1993) "The Virtual Community: Homesteading On The Electronic Frontier" Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. *"Everybody's got somewhere they call home."* -- Roger Waters *"All's WELL that ends WELL."* -- Shakespeare  * A Statement of Principle" by Bruce Sterling *  ******************************************** By *Bruce Sterling* (1) (Reprinted from SCIENCE FICTION EYE #10 with permission of the author.) I just wrote my first nonfiction book. It's called THE HACKER CRACKDOWN: LAW AND DISORDER ON THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER. Writing this book has required me to spend much of the past year and a half in the company of hackers, cops, and civil libertarians. I've spent much time listening to arguments over what's legal, what's illegal, what's right and wrong, what's decent and what's despicable, what's moral and immoral, in the world of computers and civil liberties. My various informants were knowledgeable people who cared passionately about these issues, and most of them seemed well- intentioned. Considered as a whole, however, their opinions were a baffling mess of contradictions. When I started this project, my ignorance of the issues involved was genuine and profound. I'd never knowingly met anyone from the computer underground. I'd never logged-on to an underground bulletin-board or read a semi-legal hacker magazine. Although I did care a great deal about the issue of freedom of expression, I knew sadly little about the history of civil rights in America or the legal doctrines that surround freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of association. My relations with the police were firmly based on the stratagem of avoiding personal contact with police to the greatest extent possible. I didn't go looking for this project. This project came looking for me. I became inextricably involved when agents of the United States Secret Service, acting under the guidance of federal attorneys from Chicago, came to my home town of Austin on March 1, 1990, and confiscated the computers of a local science fiction gaming publisher. STEVE JACKSON Games, Inc., of Austin, was about to publish a gaming- book called GURPS Cyberpunk. When the federal law-enforcement agents discovered the electronic manuscript of CYBERPUNK on the computers they had seized from Mr. Jackson's offices, they expressed grave shock and alarm. They declared that CYBERPUNK was "a manual for computer crime." It's not my intention to reprise the story of the Jackson case in this column. I've done that to the best of my ability in THE HACKER CRACKDOWN; and in any case the ramifications of March 1 are far from over. Mr. Jackson was never charged with any crime. His civil suit against the raiders is still in federal court as I write this. I don't want to repeat here what some cops believe, what some hackers believe, or what some civil libertarians believe. Instead, I want to discuss my own moral beliefs as a science fiction writer - such as they are. As an SF writer, I want to attempt a personal statement of principle. It has not escaped my attention that there are many people who believe that anyone called a "cyberpunk" must be, almost by definition, entirely devoid of principle. I offer as evidence an excerpt from BUCK BLOOMBECKER's 1990 book, SPECTACULAR COMPUTER CRIMES. On page 53, in a chapter titled "Who Are The Computer Criminals?", Mr. BloomBecker introduces the formal classification of "cyberpunk" criminality. "In the last few years, a new genre of science fiction has arisen under the evocative name of 'cyberpunk.' Introduced in the work of WILLIAM GIBSON, particularly in his prize-winning novel NEUROMANCER, cyberpunk takes an apocalyptic view of the technological future. In NEUROMANCER, the protagonist is a futuristic hacker who must use the most sophisticated computer strategies to commit crimes for people who offer him enough money to buy the biological creations he needs to survive. His life is one of cynical despair, fueled by the desire to avoid death. Though none of the virus cases actually seen so far have been so devastating, this book certainly represents an attitude that should be watched for when we find new cases of computer virus and try to understand the motivations behind them. "The New York Times's JOHN MARKOFF, one of the more perceptive and accomplished writers in the field, has written than a number of computer criminals demonstrate new levels of meanness. He characterizes them, as do I, as cyberpunks." Those of us who have read Gibson's NEUROMANCER closely will be aware of certain factual inaccuracies in Mr. BloomBecker's brief review. NEUROMANCER is not "apocalyptic." The chief conspirator in NEUROMANCER forces Case's loyalty, not by buying his services, but by planting poison-sacs in his brain. Case is "fueled" not by his greed for money or "biological creations," or even by the cynical "desire to avoid death," but rather by his burning desire to hack cyberspace. And so forth. However, I don't think this misreading of NEUROMANCER is based on carelessness or malice. The rest of Mr. BloomBecker's book generally is informative, well-organized, and thoughtful. Instead, I feel that Mr. BloomBecker manfully absorbed as much of NEUROMANCER as he could without suffering a mental toxic reaction. This report of his is what he actually *saw* when reading the novel. NEUROMANCER has won quite a following in the world of computer crime investigation. A prominent law enforcement official once told me that police unfailingly conclude the worst when they find a teenager with a computer and a copy of NEUROMANCER. When I declared that I too was a "cyberpunk" writer, she asked me if I would print the recipe for a pipe-bomb in my works. I was astonished by this question, which struck me as bizarre rhetorical excess at the time. That was before I had actually examined bulletin-boards in the computer underground, which I found to be chock-a-block with recipes for pipe-bombs, and worse. (I didn't have the heart to tell her that my friend and colleague WALTER JON WILLIAMS had once written and published an SF story closely describing explosives derived from simple household chemicals.) Cyberpunk SF (along with SF in general) has, in fact, permeated the computer underground. I have met young underground hackers who use the aliases "Neuromancer," "Wintermute" and "Count Zero." The Legion of Doom, the absolute bete noire of computer law-enforcement, used to congregate on a bulletin-board called "Black Ice." In the past, I didn't know much about anyone in the underground, but they certainly knew about me. Since that time, I've had people express sincere admiration for my novels, and then, in almost the same breath, brag to me about breaking into hospital computers to chortle over confidential medical reports about herpes victims. The single most stinging example of this syndrome is "PENGO," a member of the German hacker-group that broke into Internet computers while in the pay of the KGB. He told German police, and the judge at the trial of his co-conspirators, that he was inspired by NEUROMANCER and JOHN BRUNNER's SHOCKWAVE RIDER. I didn't write NEUROMANCER. I did, however, read it in manuscript and offered many purportedly helpful comments. I praised the book publicly and repeatedly and at length. I've done everything I can to get people to read this book. I don't recall cautioning Gibson that his novel might lead to anarchist hackers selling their expertise to the ferocious and repulsive apparat that gave the world the Lubyanka and the Gulag Archipelago. I don't think I could have issued any such caution, even if I'd felt the danger of such a possibility, which I didn't. I still don't know in what fashion Gibson might have changed his book to avoid inciting evildoers, while still retaining the integrity of his vision - the very quality about the book that makes it compelling and worthwhile. *This leads me to my first statements of moral principle.* As a "cyberpunk" SF writer, I am not responsible for every act committed by a Bohemian with a computer. I don't own the word "cyberpunk" and cannot help where it is bestowed, or who uses it, or to what ends. As a science fiction writer, it is not my business to make people behave. It is my business to make people imagine. I cannot control other people's imaginations - any more than I would allow them to control mine. I am, however, morally obliged to speak out when acts of evil are committed that use my ideas or my rhetoric, however distantly, as a justification. Pengo and his friends committed a grave crime that was worthy of condemnation and punishment. They were clever, but treacherously clever. They were imaginative, but it was imagination in a bad cause. They were technically accomplished, but they abused their expertise for illicit profit and to feed their egos. They may be "cyberpunks" - according to many, they may deserve that title far more than I do - but they're no friends of mine. What is "crime"? What is a moral offense? What actions are evil and dishonorable? I find these extraordinarily difficult questions. I have no special status that should allow me to speak with authority on such subjects. Quite the contrary. As a writer in a scorned popular literature and a self-professed eccentric Bohemian, I have next to no authority of any kind. I'm not a moralist, philosopher, or prophet. I've always considered my "moral role," such as it is, to be that of a court jester - a person sometimes allowed to speak the unspeakable, to explore ideas and issues in a format where they can be treated as games, thought-experiments, or metaphors, not as prescriptions, laws, or sermons. I have no religion, no sacred scripture to guide my actions and provide an infallible moral bedrock. I'm not seeking political responsibilities or the power of public office. I habitually question any pronouncement of authority, and entertain the liveliest skepticism about the processes of law and justice. I feel no urge to conform to the behavior of the majority of my fellow citizens. I'm a pain in the neck. My behavior is far from flawless. I lived and thrived in Austin, Texas in the 1970s and 1980s, in a festering milieu of arty crypto-intellectual hippies. I've committed countless "crimes," like millions of other people in my generation. These crimes were of the glamorous "victimless" variety, but they would surely have served to put me in prison had I done them, say, in front of the State Legislature. Had I lived a hundred years ago as I live today, I would probably have been lynched by outraged fellow Texans as a moral abomination. If I lived in Iran today and wrote and thought as I do, I would probably be tried and executed. As far as I can tell, moral relativism is a fact of life. I think it might be possible to outwardly conform to every jot and tittle of the taboos of one's society, while feeling no emotional or intellectual commitment to them. I understand that certain philosophers have argued that this is morally proper behavior for a good citizen. But I can't live that life. I feel, sincerely, that my society is engaged in many actions which are foolish and shortsighted and likely to lead to our destruction. I feel that our society must change, and change radically, in a process that will cause great damage to our present system of values. This doesn't excuse my own failings, which I regret, but it does explain, I hope, why my lifestyle and my actions are not likely to make authority feel entirely comfortable. Knowledge is power. The rise of computer networking, of the Information Society, is doing strange and disruptive things to the processes by which power and knowledge are currently distributed. Knowledge and information, supplied through these new conduits, are highly corrosive to the status quo. People living in the midst of technological revolution are living outside the law: not necessarily because they mean to break laws, but because the laws are vague, obsolete, overbroad, draconian, or unenforceable. Hackers break laws as a matter of course, and some have been punished unduly for relatively minor infractions not motivated by malice. Even computer police, seeking earnestly to apprehend and punish wrongdoers, have been accused of abuse of their offices, and of violation of the Constitution and the civil statutes. These police may indeed have committed these "crimes." Some officials have already suffered grave damage to their reputations and careers - all the time convinced that they were morally in the right; and, like the hackers they pursued, never feeling any genuine sense of shame, remorse, or guilt. I have lived, and still live, in a counterculture, with its own system of values. Counterculture - Bohemia - is never far from criminality. "To live outside the law you must be honest" was Bob Dylan's classic hippie motto. A Bohemian finds romance in the notion that "his clothes are dirty but his hands are clean." But there's danger in setting aside the strictures of the law to linchpin one's honor on one's personal integrity. If you throw away the rulebook to rely on your individual conscience you will be put in the way of temptation. And temptation is a burden. It hurts. It is grotesquely easy to justify, to rationalize, an action of which one should properly be ashamed. In investigating the milieu of computer-crime I have come into contact with a world of temptation formerly closed to me. Nowadays, it would take no great effort on my part to break into computers, to steal long-distance telephone service, to ingratiate myself with people who would merrily supply me with huge amounts of illicitly copied software. I could even build pipe-bombs. I haven't done these things, and disapprove of them; in fact, having come to know these practices better than I cared to, I feel sincere revulsion for them now. But this knowledge is a kind of power, and power is tempting. Journalistic objectivity, or the urge to play with ideas, cannot entirely protect you. Temptation clings to the mind like a series of small but nagging weights. Carrying these weights may make you stronger. Or they may drag you down. "His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean." It's a fine ideal, when you can live up to it. Like a lot of Bohemians, I've gazed with a fine disdain on certain people in power whose clothes were clean but their hands conspicuously dirty. But I've also met a few people eager to pat me on the back, whose clothes were dirty and their hands as well. They're not pleasant company. Somehow one must draw a line. I'm not very good at drawing lines. When other people have drawn me a line, I've generally been quite anxious to have a good long contemplative look at the other side. I don't feel much confidence in my ability to draw these lines. But I feel that I should. The world won't wait. It only took a few guys with pool cues and switchblades to turn Woodstock Nation into Altamont. Haight-Ashbury was once full of people who could trust anyone they'd smoked grass with and love anyone they'd dropped acid with - for about six months. Soon the place was aswarm with speed-freaks and junkies, and heaven help us if they didn't look just like the love-bead dudes from the League of Spiritual Discovery. Corruption exists, temptation exists. Some people fall. And the temptation is there for all of us, all the time. I've come to draw a line at money. It's not a good line, but it's something. There are certain activities that are unorthodox, dubious, illegal or quasi-legal, but they might perhaps be justified by an honest person with unconventional standards. But in my opinion, when you're making a commercial living from breaking the law, you're beyond the pale. I find it hard to accept your countercultural sincerity when you're grinning and pocketing the cash, compadre. I can understand a kid swiping phone service when he's broke, powerless, and dying to explore the new world of the networks. I don't approve of this, but I can understand it. I scorn to do this myself, and I never have; but I don't find it so heinous that it deserves pitiless repression. But if you're stealing phone service and selling it - if you've made yourself a miniature phone company and you're pimping off the energy of others just to line your own pockets - you're a thief. When the heat comes to put you away, don't come crying "brother" to me. If you're creating software and giving it away, you're a fine human being. If you're writing software and letting other people copy it and try it out as shareware, I appreciate your sense of trust, and if I like your work, I'll pay you. If you're copying other people's software and giving it away, you're damaging other people's interests, and should be ashamed, even if you're posing as a glamorous info-liberating subversive. But if you're copying other people's software and selling it, you're a crook and I despise you. Writing and spreading viruses is a vile, hurtful, and shameful activity that I unreservedly condemn. There's something wrong with the Information Society. There's something wrong with the idea that "information" is a commodity like a desk or a chair. There's something wrong with patenting software algorithms. There's something direly mean spirited and ungenerous about inventing a language and then renting it out to other people to speak. There's something unprecedented and sinister in this process of creeping commodification of data and knowledge. A computer is something too close to the human brain for me to rest entirely content with someone patenting or copyrighting the process of its thought. There's something sick and unworkable about an economic system which has already spewed forth such a vast black market. I don't think democracy will thrive in a milieu where vast empires of data are encrypted, restricted, proprietary, confidential, top secret, and sensitive. I fear for the stability of a society that builds sand castles out of databits and tries to stop a real-world tide with royal commands. Whole societies can fall. In Eastern Europe we have seen whole nations collapse in a slough of corruption. In pursuit of their unworkable economic doctrine, the Marxists doubled and redoubled their efforts at social control, while losing all sight of the values that make life worth living. At last the entire power structure was so discredited that the last remaining shred of moral integrity could only be found in Bohemia: in dissidents and dramatists and their illegal samizdat underground fanzines. Their clothes were dirty but their hands were clean. The only agitprop poster Vaclav Havel needed was a sign saying *Vaclav Havel Guarantees Free Elections.* He'd never held power, but people believed him, and they believed his Velvet Revolution friends. I wish there were people in the Computer Revolution who could inspire, and deserved to inspire, that level of trust. I wish there were people in the Electronic Frontier whose moral integrity unquestionably matched the unleashed power of those digital machines. A society is in dire straits when it puts its Bohemia in power. I tremble for my country when I contemplate this prospect. And yet it's possible. If dire straits come, it can even be the last best hope. The issues that enmeshed me in 1990 are not going to go away. I became involved as a writer and journalist, because I felt it was right. Having made that decision, I intend to stand by my commitment. I expect to stay involved in these issues, in this debate, for the rest of my life. These are timeless issues: civil rights, knowledge, power, freedom and privacy, the necessary steps that a civilized society must take to protect itself from criminals. There is no finality in politics; it creates itself anew, it must be dealt with every day. The future is a dark road and our speed is headlong. I didn't ask for power or responsibility. I'm a science fiction writer, I only wanted to play with Big Ideas in my cheerfully lunatic sandbox. What little benefit I myself can contribute to society would likely be best employed in writing better SF novels. I intend to write those better novels, if I can. But in the meantime I seem to have accumulated a few odd shreds of influence. It's a very minor kind of power, and doubtless more than I deserve; but power without responsibility is a monstrous thing. In writing HACKER CRACKDOWN, I tried to describe the truth as other people saw it. I see it too, with my own eyes, but I can't yet pretend to understand what I'm seeing. The best I can do, it seems to me, is to try to approach the situation as an open-minded person of goodwill. I therefore offer the following final set of principles, which I hope will guide me in the days to come. * I'll listen to anybody, and I'll try to imagine myself in their situation. * I'll assume goodwill on the part of others until they fully earn my distrust. * I won't cherish grudges. I'll forgive those who change their minds and actions, just as I reserve the right to change my own mind and actions. * I'll look hard for the disadvantages to others, in the things that give me advantage. I won't assume that the way I live today is the natural order of the universe, just because I happen to be benefiting from it at the moment. And while I don't plan to give up making money from my ethically dubious cyberpunk activities, I hope to temper my impropriety by giving more work away for no money at all. ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) Copyright (C) 1992 by Bruce Sterling. All rights reserved. FYI: ==== Bruce Sterling (1992) "Free as Air, Free as Water, Free as Knowledge" Speech to the Library Information Technology Association, June 1992. San Francisco, CA. Bruce Sterling (1992) "The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder at the Electronic Frontier", Viking, London, England. Bruce Sterling & William Gibson (1993) "Literary Freeware -- Not for Commercial Use" Speeches to National Academy of Sciences Convocation on Technology and Education, May 10, 1993, Washington, D.C.: Computer Underground Digest #5.54. Bruce Sterling (1992-1993) "Agitprop disk: Literary Freeware -- Not for Commercial Use" Contains various SF magazine columns, texts of speeches, etc. Available via anonymous FTP from `ftp.eff.org' in directory `/pub/agitprop'. Or use Gopher at `gopher.well.sf.ca.us', and see under `Bruce Sterling/'. *"...and the silicon chip inside her head, has turned to overload."* -- Bob Geldof, "I don't like Mondays"  * "Subject: A Perspective on NREN" by Greg Chartrand *  ************************************************** By *Greg Chartrand* (1) National Science Foundation Develops a National Super Highway GREG CHARTRAND 3/11/93 "I just returned from a network meeting in San Diego today and though you would be interested in my interpretation of what NSF proposes for the National Education and Research Network (NREN). Rather than comment specifically, I decided it would be interesting to write a *parody* which relates the NREN to the construction of a national super highway. Doing so removes the highly technical aspects of the overall planned functions the NREN. Please excuse this style, but I think its the only way to explain my understanding of their plan in a way that does not immediately get very technical. It may be flawed, but the information is based upon Hans-Werner Braun's presentation.... as I understood it." The National Science foundation is in the process of developing plans to build a national super highway that will advance transportation technology in our country. The super highway proposed will replace the existing interstate highway system and allow speeds of at least 240 MPH. the following interview with NSF developers explores their current plans. * ME: I understand you are building a new Super national highway(2) to serve the purposes of advancing ground transportation throughout our county. NSF: Yes we are, as a part of an earlier initiative sponsored by the then Senator Gore. We are very excited about the technology that will allow transportation speeds of 240 MPH(3) across the country. ME: That sounds exciting, how will it be built? NSF: Well, we will have this super highway designed to allow the high speed travel(4) and it will have six entrance/exit ramps.(5) ME: Ahh.... that doesn't sound like very many ramps, where will they be located? NSF: Well, several years ago we funded the establishment of six gourmet restaurants(6) scattered across the country, we are going to fund the building of the super highway and access ramps at the restaurant locations. We are however allowing the ramp contractor(7) to build as many ramps as he wishes, at his own expense. ME: I assume then the contractor for the highway(8) builds ramps where ever it makes sense to optimize access. NSF: Well, not exactly. We are separating the contracts for the ramps and the highway so the bidders can be very competitive. ME: I see. How to you plan to connect the rest of the interstate highway system(9) to your super national highway? NSF: Well actually, its not part of our plan. We are having the highway and access ramps built for us, its up to the states or other government agencies to provide the highways to the access ramps. We will however fund a few temporary roads(10) to connect parts of the existing interstate highway system, but don't intend to make them permanent. Did I forget to mention that we will be shutting down the existing interstate highway system?(11) ME: You mean I will no longer be able to drive across the existing interstate highway system? NSF: Yes, it will be destroyed. ME: OK, lets see If I understand. I have a state highway system for example, and I put in a connecting highway to your super highway, and I can now travel on it, right? NSF: Well, no you can't. The super highway will only be used for vehicles that can run 240 MPH(12) and we must approve every vehicle, destination, and trip the vehicle takes.(13) We don't want our super highway clogged with vehicles which can only travel 70 MPH!(14) ME: I'm confused. You mean you want my state for example, to build an access road to a super highway it can't generally use? NSF: Well, yes and no. You see we also want to encourage development of toll roads in our country.(15) Our six high speed access ramps are wide enough to allow parallel toll roads to be accessed as well as our super highway. Private road builders will be able to put in toll roads between our access ramps, for a fee. ME: So there will no longer be a "free" interstate highway system? NSF: Right! ME: Lets see if I got this straight. You build a national super highway that has six access ramps located where you once established gourmet restaurants and you destroy the interstate highway system. There are no plans to replicate the functionality of the interstate highway systems, but you will allow private toll road builders to use your wide access ramps and develop parallel toll roads to your super highway. My state or the government has to build the roads that lead to the super highway, but once there, cannot travel on it unless the specific vehicle can run at 240 MPH and has specific permission from you to travel on it. NSF: You've got it! ME: Well then you must have a very interesting reason to put this highway and the access ramps at these restaurant locations. NSF: Well, you see, the gourmet food business isn't what it used to be. Fast food has really taken over in our country, we really need to preserve the gourmet food business.(16) High quality restaurants should be located right off of classy high speed highways. We really would like to encourage restaurant patrons to use the super highway so they can have breakfast in San Diego and dinner in Champaign Illinois. We will be looking for patrons who can afford to eat at multiple restaurants and we will let them ride the highway for free! Of course they must have a vehicle that can go 240 MPH.(17) ME: I'm even more confused. How will I get across the country? NSF: Well, if your state puts in an access road to one of our access ramps you take it, and then exit-off on to one of the toll roads that will be built parallel to our super highway. ME: How fast will I be able to go?(18) NSF: What ever the speed limit is on the toll road. ME: What will it cost me to ride on it? NSF: What ever the toll is. You see, we expect that several toll roads will be developed. Competition! It should keep the price down. ME: When the super highway is empty, how will it be used? NSF: Well, we are telling the gourmet restaurants that they should work together even though they will be competing with each other for customers.(19) You know, they could develop plans to send trash to each other so they can demonstrate how fast the transportation is on the super highway, it would be in their best interest.(20) ME: Aren't there plans for development of high speed toll roads already in progress by several toll road builders? What makes you think they will put their roads in-between your access ramps?(21) NSF: F.O.D. ME: What? NSF: Field Of Dreams. If we build it they will come. ME: So again, tell me who pays for what? NSF: The government funds the super highway and six access ramps. The toll road providers build their own roads and pays an access fee for the ramps. The states and other government agencies pay for any roads necessary to get to the access ramps. When you get on a toll road and pay what ever the price is. ME: And the only one's allowed to ride on the super highway are those persons who have special vehicles that can go 240 MPH with your specific permission, or those who can afford to frequent the gourmet restaurants and travel at 240 MPH. Everyone else takes the toll roads. NSF: Right, but don't forget the trash runs between restaurants! ME: Oh, how silly of me! Hmmmm. I wonder if this is really what Senator Gore had in mind? *"If we do not succeed, then we face the risk of failure."* -- Vice President Dan Quayle *"What a terrible thing to have lost one's mind. Or not to have a mind at all. How true that is."* -- Vice President Dan Quayle (winning friends while peaking to the United Negro College Fund) ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) Copyright (C) 1993 by Greg Chartrand. All rights reserved. (2) NSFnet backbone project (3) 155 megabit (4) high speed data transfer (5) Network Access Points (NAP's) (6) NSF sponsored super computer centers (7) The contractor providing the NAP's. (8) The contractor to provide the backbone telecommunications services (9) The Existing internet, regional, state, and other networks (10) NSF plans to provide interim funding for NSF regionals to connect to the NAP's. State networks and other government agencies are on their own. (11) The existing NSFnet will be turned off at some point after the new "arrangement" is in place. (12) The Very High Speed Backbone Service (VBNS) is reserved for applications and purposes where a demonstrated need for high speed/capacity transmission is needed. (13) NSF will require approval. (14) NSF does not wish to clog the VBNS with low speed aggregate traffic unless additions are made to the network. 70 MPH = 45 MBS. (15) The NSF expects commercial providers like AT&T, MCI to put networking between NAP's. Most of the existing NSFnet traffic would go over these commercial networks which would have to be paid for by the users. (16) The usefulness of super computer systems has been grossly reduced by the technological advances associated with very powerful Unix work stations. Super computers fill a diminishing niche in science and industry. (17) NSF is looking for potential users that can use more than one super computer center and use the VBNS to make the application work. Applications of this nature are a bit obscure. (18) There are no specifications for commercial providers. (19) NSF super computer centers are no longer funded by NSF so they compete for commercial and non-commercial business. (20) NSF is asking the NSF super computer centers to develop demonstration applications which show how the network might be used. These applications would demonstrate, and not necessarly do anything useful. (21) The major telecommunications suppliers will be selling similar services this year without the complications of the NAP's. The NAP's primary function would allow communications between commercial vendors which would be very useful, but it is unclear if the telecommunications suppliers will "buy" into this concept. Lingo ***** This glossary is only a tiny subset of all of the various terms and other things that people regularly use on The Net. For a more complete (and more entertaining) reference, get a copy of "The New Hacker's Dictionary", which is based on a VERY large text file called the Jargon File, edited by Eric Raymond . It is available from the MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02142; its ISBN number is `0-262-68069-6'. The up-to-date version of the Jargon File "The on-line hacker Jargon File, version 3.0, 29 July 1993", is kept on various FTP servers (e.g. from `ftp.gnu.ai.mit.edu' as file `/pub/gnu/jarg300.txt.gz'). `:-)': This odd symbol is one of the ways a person can portray "mood" in the very flat medium of computers--by using "smilies." This is `metacommunication', and there are literally hundreds of them, from the obvious to the obscure. This particular example expresses "happiness." Don't see it? Tilt your head to the left 90 degrees. Smilies are also used to denote sarcasm. ASCII: Has two meanings. ASCII is a universal computer code for English letters and characters. Computers store all information as binary numbers. In ASCII, the letter "A" is stored as 1000001, whether the computer is made by IBM, Apple or Commodore. ASCII also refers to a method, or protocol, for copying files from one computer to another over a network, in which neither computer checks for any errors that might have been caused by static or other problems. ANSI: Computers use several different methods for deciding how to put information on your screen and how your keyboard interacts with the screen. ANSI is one of these "terminal emulation" methods. Although most popular on PC-based bulletin-board systems, it can also be found on some Net sites. To use it properly, you will first have to turn it on, or enable it, in your communications software. ARPANet: A predecessor of the Internet. Started in 1969 with funds from the Defense Department's Advanced Projects Research Agency. Backbone: A high-speed network that connects several powerful computers. In the U.S., the backbone of the Internet is often considered the NSFNet, a government funded link between a handful of supercomputer sites across the country. Baud: The speed at which modems transfer data. One baud is roughly equal to one bit per second. It takes eight bits to make up one letter or character. Modems rarely transfer data at exactly the same speed as their listed baud rate because of static or computer problems. More expensive modems use systems, such as Microcom Network Protocol (MNP), which can correct for these errors or which "compress" data to speed up transmission. BITNet: Another, academically oriented, international computer network, which uses a different set of computer instructions to move data. It is easily accessible to Internet users through e-mail, and provides a large number of conferences and databases. Its name comes from "Because It's Time." Bounce: What your e-mail does when it cannot get to its recipient - it bounces back to you. Command line: On Unix host systems, this is where you tell the machine what you want it to do, by entering commands. Communications software: A program that tells a modem how to work. Daemon: An otherwise harmless Unix program that normally works out of sight of the user. On the Internet, you'll most likely encounter it only when your e-mail is not delivered to your recipient - you'll get back your original message plus an ugly message from a "mailer daemon." Distribution: A way to limit where your Usenet postings go. Handy for such things as "for sale" messages or discussions of regional politics. Domain: The last part of an Internet address, such as "news.com." Dot: When you want to impress the net veterans you meet at parties, say "dot" instead of "period," for example: "My address is john at site dot domain dot com." Dot file: A file on a Unix public-access system that alters the way you or your messages interact with that system. For example, your .login file contains various parameters for such things as the text editor you get when you send a message. When you do an ls command, these files do not appear in the directory listing; do `ls -a' to list them. Down: When a public-access site runs into technical trouble, and you can no longer gain access to it, it's down. Download: Copy a file from a host system to your computer. There are several different methods, or protocols, for downloading files, most of which periodically check the file as it is being copied to ensure no information is inadvertently destroyed or damaged during the process. Some, such as XMODEM, only let you download one file at a time. Others, such as batch-YMODEM and ZMODEM, let you type in the names of several files at once, which are then automatically downloaded. EMACS: From Editing MACroS. A standard Unix text editor that beginners hate, and hackers adore. E-mail: Electronic mail - a way to send a private message to somebody else on the Net. Used as both noun and verb. Emoticon: A smiley. See `:-)'. F2F: Face to Face. When you actually meet those people you been corresponding with/flaming. FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions. A compilation of answers to these. Many Usenet newsgroups have these files, which are posted once a month or so for beginners. FYI: For Your Interest. Film at 11: One reaction to an overwrought argument: "Imminent death of the Net predicted. Film at 11." Finger: An Internet program that lets you get some bit of information about another user, provided they have first created a `.plan' file. Flame: Online yelling and/or ranting directed at somebody else. Often results in flame wars, which occasionally turn into holy wars (*Note Flame Wars to Killfiles::). Followup: A Usenet posting that is a response to an earlier message. Foo/foobar: A sort of online algebraic place holder, for example: "If you want to know when another site is run by a for-profit company, look for an address in the form of ." Fortune cookie: An inane/witty/profund comment that can be found around the net. Freeware: Software that doesn't cost anything. FTP: File-transfer Protocol. A system for transferring files across the Net. Get a life: What to say to somebody who has, perhaps, been spending a wee bit too much time in front of a computer. GIF: Graphics Interchange Format. A format developed in the mid-1980s by CompuServe for use in photo-quality graphics images. Now commonly used everywhere online. GNU: Gnu's Not Unix. A project of the Free Software Foundation to write a free version of the Unix operating system. Handshake: Two modems trying to connect first do this to agree on how to transfer data. Hang: When a modem fails to hang up. Holy war: Arguments that involve certain basic tenets of faith, about which one cannot disagree without setting one of these off. For example: IBM PCs are inherently superior to Macintoshes. Host system: A public-access site; provides Net access to people outside the research and government community. IMHO: In My Humble Opinion. Internet: A worldwide system for linking smaller computer networks together. Networks connected through the Internet use a particular set of communications standards to communicate, known as TCP/IP. Killfile: A file that lets you filter Usenet postings to some extent, by excluding messages on certain topics or from certain people. Log on/log in: Connect to a host system or public-access site. Log off: Disconnect from a host system. Lurk: Read messages in a Usenet newsgroup without ever saying anything. Mailing list: Essentially a conference in which messages are delivered right to your mailbox, instead of to a Usenet newsgroup. You get on these by sending a message to a specific e-mail address, which is often that of a computer that automates the process. MIME: Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions. A currently (1993) heavily developing extension of the Internet mail protocol, that enables sending of 8 bit e-mail messages, e.g. to support extended character sets, voice mail, FAX images, etc. Read `comp.mail.mime' if you want to keep up with new developments. MOTSS: Members of the Same Sex. Gays and Lesbians online. Originally an acronym used in the 1980 federal census. Net.god: One who has been online since the beginning, who knows all and who has done it all. Net.personality: Somebody sufficiently opinionated/flaky/with plenty of time on his hands to regularly post in dozens of different Usenet newsgroups, whose presence is known to thousands of people. Net.police: Derogatory term for those who would impose their standards on other users of the Net. Often used in vigorous flame wars (in which it occasionally mutates to Net.nazis). Netiquette: A set of common-sense guidelines for not annoying others. Network: A communications system that links two or more computers. It can be as simple as a cable strung between two computers a few feet apart or as complex as hundreds of thousands of computers around the world linked through fiber optic cables, phone lines and satellites. Newbie: Somebody new to the Net. Often used derogatorily by net.veterans who have forgotten that, they, too, were once newbies who did not innately know the answer to everything. Newsgroup: A Usenet conference. NIC: Network Information Center. As close as an Internet- style network gets to a hub; it's usually where you'll find information about that particular network. NREN: National Research and Education Network. The future of the U.S. part of the Internet. Said to be 50 times faster than currently (1993). NSA line eater: The more aware/paranoid Net users believe that the National Security Agency has a super-powerful computer assigned to reading everything posted on the Net. They will jokingly (?) refer to this line eater in their postings. NSF: National Science Foundation. Funds the NSFNet, the backbone of the Internet in the U.S. Offline: When your computer is not connected to a host system or the Net, you are offline. Online: When your computer is connected to an online service, bulletin-board system or public-access site. Ping: A program that can trace the route a message takes from your site to another site. .plan file: A file that lists anything you want others on the Net to know about you. You place it in your home directory on your public-access site. Then, anybody who fingers (*Note Finger: Telnet,) you, will get to see this file. Post: To compose a message for a Usenet newsgroup and then send it out for others to see. Postmaster: The person to contact at a particular site to ask for information about the site or complain about one of his/her user's behavior. Protocol: The method used to transfer a file between a host system and your computer. There are several types, such as Kermit, YMODEM and ZMODEM. Prompt: When the host system asks you to do something and waits for you to respond. For example, if you see "login:" it means type your user name. README: Files found on FTP sites that explain what is in a given FTP directory or which provide other useful information (such as how to use FTP). Real Soon Now: A vague term used to describe when something will actually happen. RFC: Request for Comments. A series of documents that describe various technical aspects of the Internet. ROTFL: Rolling on the Floor Laughing. How to respond to a particularly funny comment. ROT13: A simple way to encode bad jokes, movie reviews that give away the ending, pornography, etc. Essentially, each letter in a message is replace by the letter 13 spaces away from it in the alphabet. There are online decoders to read these; nn has one built in. RTFM: Read the, uh, you know, Manual. Often used in flames against people who ask computer-related questions that could be easily answered with a few minutes with a manual. More politely: RTM. Screen capture: A part of your communications software that opens a file on your computer and saves to it whatever scrolls past on the screen while connected to a host system. Server: A computer that can distribute information or files automatically in response to specifically worded e-mail requests. Shareware: Software that is freely available on the Net, but which, if you like and use it, you should send in the fee requested by the author, whose name and address will be found in a file distributed with the software. .sig file: Sometimes, `.signature' file. A file that, when placed in your home directory on your public-access site, will automatically be appended to every Usenet posting you write. .sig quote: A profound/witty/quizzical/whatever quote that you include in your `.sig' file. Signal-to-noise ratio: The amount of useful information to be found in a given Usenet newsgroup. Often used derogatorily, for example: "the signal-to-noise ratio in this newsgroup is pretty low." Snail mail: Mail that comes through a slot in your front door. Sysadmin/Sysop: The system administrator/system operator; the person who runs a host system. TANSTAAFL: There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch. TLA: Three Letter Acronym, such as IBM, DEC, etc. TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The particular system for transferring information over a computer network that is at the heart of the Internet. Telnet: A program that lets you connect to other computers on the Internet. Terminal emulation: There are several methods for determining how your keystrokes and screen interact with a public-access site's operating system. Most communications programs offer a choice of "emulations" that let you mimic the keyboard that would normally be attached directly to the host-system computer. UUCP: Unix-to-Unix CoPy. A method for transferring Usenet postings and e-mail that requires far fewer net resources than TCP/IP, but which can result in considerably slower transfer times. Upload: Copy a file from your computer to a host system. User name: On most host systems, the first time you connect you are asked to supply a one-word user name. This can be any combination of letters and numbers. VT100: Another terminal-emulation system. Supported by many communications program, it is the most common one in use on the Net. VT102 is a newer version. *"It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs."* -- Oxford University Press, "Edpress News" Dear Emily Postnews ******************* By *Brad Templeton* (1) The following is available as file `/pub/usenet/ news.answers/emily-postnews/ part1' on `rtfm.mit.edu'. The last changes were made on 30 Nov 91 by Brad Templeton. NOTE: this is intended to be satirical. If you do not recognize it as such, consult a doctor or professional comedian. The recommendations in this article should recognized for what they are - admonitions about what NOT to do. "Dear Emily Postnews" *Ms Emily Postnews*, foremost authority on proper net behaviour, gives her advice on how to act on the net. * Dear Miss Postnews: How long should my signature be? - A: Dear Verbose: Please try and make your signature as long as you can. It's much more important than your article, of course, so try to have more lines of signature than actual text. Try to include a large graphic made of ASCII characters, plus lots of cute quotes and slogans. People will never tire of reading these pearls of wisdom again and again, and you will soon become personally associated with the joy each reader feels at seeing yet another delightful repeat of your signature. Be sure as well to include a complete map of USENET with each signature, to show how anybody can get mail to you from any site in the world. Be sure to include Internet gateways as well. Also tell people on your own site how to mail to you. Give independent addresses for Internet, UUCP, and BITNET, even if they're all the same. Aside from your reply address, include your full name, company and organization. It's just common courtesy - after all, in some newsreaders people have to type an *entire* keystroke to go back to the top of your article to see this information in the header. By all means include your phone number and street address in every single article. People are always responding to usenet articles with phone calls and letters. It would be silly to go to the extra trouble of including this information only in articles that need a response by conventional channels! * Dear Emily: Today I posted an article and forgot to include my signature. What should I do? - A: Dear Forgetful: Rush to your terminal right away and post an article that says, "Oops, I forgot to post my signature with that last article. Here it is." Since most people will have forgotten your earlier article, (particularly since it dared to be so boring as to not have a nice, juicy signature) this will remind them of it. Besides, people care much more about the signature anyway. See the previous letter for more important details. Also, be sure to include your signature TWICE in each article. That way you're sure people will read it. * Dear Ms. Postnews: I couldn't get mail through to somebody on another site. What should I do? - A: Dear Eager: No problem, just post your message to a group that a lot of people read. Say, "This is for John Smith. I couldn't get mail through so I'm posting it. All others please ignore." This way tens of thousands of people will spend a few seconds scanning over and ignoring your article, using up over 16 man-hours their collective time, but you will be saved the terrible trouble of checking through Usenet maps or looking for alternate routes. Just think, if you couldn't distribute your message to 30,000 other computers, you might actually have to (gasp) call directory assistance for 60 cents, or even phone the person. This can cost as much as a few DOLLARS (!) for a 5 minute call! And certainly it's better to spend 10 to 20 dollars of other people's money distributing the message then for you to have to waste $9 on an overnight letter, or even 29 cents on a stamp! Don't forget. The world will end if your message doesn't get through, so post it as many places as you can. * Q: What about a test message? A: It is important, when testing, to test the entire net. Never test merely a subnet distribution when the whole net can be done. Also put "please ignore" on your test messages, since we all know that everybody always skips a message with a line like that. Don't use a subject like "My sex is female but I demand to be addressed as male." because such articles are read in depth by all USEnauts. * Q: Somebody just posted that Roman Polanski directed Star Wars. What should I do? A: Post the correct answer at once! We can't have people go on believing that! Very good of you to spot this. You'll probably be the only one to make the correction, so post as soon as you can. No time to lose, so certainly don't wait a day, or check to see if somebody else has made the correction. And it's not good enough to send the message by mail. Since you're the only one who really knows that it was Francis Coppola, you have to inform the whole net right away! * Q: I read an article that said, "reply by mail, I'll summarize." What should I do? A: Post your response to the whole net. That request applies only to dumb people who don't have something interesting to say. Your postings are much more worthwhile than other people's, so it would be a waste to reply by mail. * Q: I collected replies to an article I wrote, and now it's time to summarize. What should I do? A: Simply concatenate all the articles together into a big file and post that. On USENET, this is known as a summary. It lets people read all the replies without annoying newsreaders getting in the way. Do the same when summarizing a vote. * Q: I saw a long article that I wish to rebut carefully, what should I do? A: Include the entire text with your article, particularly the signature, and include your comments closely packed between the lines. Be sure to post, and not mail, even though your article looks like a reply to the original. Everybody *loves* to read those long point-by-point debates, especially when they evolve into name-calling and lots of "Is too!" - "Is not!" - "Is too, twizot!" exchanges. Be sure to follow-up everything, and never let another person get in the last word on a net debate. Why, if people let other people have the last word, then discussions would actually stop! Remember, other net readers aren't nearly as clever as you, and if somebody posts something wrong, the readers can't possibly realize that on their own without your elucidations. If somebody gets insulting in their net postings, the best response is to get right down to their level and fire a return salvo. When I read one net person make an insulting attack on another, I always immediately take it as gospel unless a rebuttal is posted. It never makes me think less of the insulter, so it's your duty to respond. * Q: How can I choose what groups to post in? A: Pick as many as you can, so that you get the widest audience. After all, the net exists to give you an audience. Ignore those who suggest you should only use groups where you think the article is highly appropriate. Pick all groups where anybody might even be slightly interested. Always make sure followups go to all the groups. In the rare event that you post a followup which contains something original, make sure you expand the list of groups. Never include a "Followup-to:" line in the header, since some people might miss part of the valuable discussion in the fringe groups. * Q: How about an example? A: Ok. Let's say you want to report that Gretzky has been traded from the Oilers to the Kings. Now right away you might think `rec.sport.hockey' would be enough. WRONG. Many more people might be interested. This is a big trade! Since it's a NEWS article, it belongs in the `news.*' hierarchy as well. If you are a news admin, or there is one on your machine, try `news.admin'. If not, use `news.misc'. The Oilers are probably interested in geology, so try `sci.geo.fluids'. He is a big star, so post to `sci.astro', and `sci.space' because they are also interested in stars. And of course `comp.dcom.telecom' because he was born in the birthplace of the telephone. And because he's Canadian, post to `soc.culture.Ontario.southwestern'. But that group doesn't exist, so cross-post to `news.groups' suggesting it should be created. With this many groups of interest, your article will be quite bizarre, so post to `talk.bizarre' as well. (And post to `comp.std.mumps', since they hardly get any articles there, and a "comp" group will propagate your article further.) You may also find it is more fun to post the article once in each group. If you list all the newsgroups in the same article, some newsreaders will only show the the article to the reader once! Don't tolerate this. * Q: How do I create a newsgroup? A: The easiest way goes something like `inews -C newgroup ...', and while that will stir up lots of conversation about your new newsgroup, it might not be enough. First post a message in news.groups describing the group. This is a "call for discussion." (If you see a call for discussion, immediately post a one line message saying that you like or dislike the group.) When proposing the group, pick a name with a TLA (three-letter acronym) that will be understood only by "in" readers of the group. After the call for discussion, post the call for flames, followed by a call for arguments about the name and a call for run-on puns. Eventually make a call for "votes." USENET is a democracy, so voters can now all post their votes to ensure they get to all 30,000 machines instead of just the person counting. Every few days post a long summary of all the votes so that people can complain about bad mailers and double votes. It means you'll be more popular and get lots of mail. At the end of 21 days you can post the vote results so that people can argue about all the technical violations of the guidelines you made. Blame them on the moderator-of-the-week for news.announce.newgroups. Then your group might be created. To liven up discussion, choose a good cross-match for your hierarchy and group. For example, comp.race.formula1 or soc.vlsi.design would be good group names. If you want your group created quickly, include an interesting word like "sex" or "activism." To avoid limiting discussion, make the name as broad as possible, and don't forget that TLA. If possible, count votes from a leaf site with a once-a-week polled connection to botswanavax. Schedule the vote during your relay site's head crash if possible. Under no circumstances use the trial group method, because it eliminates the discussion, flame, pun, voting and guideline-violation accusation phases, thus taking all the fun out of it. To create an ALT group, simply issue the creation command. Then issue an rmgroup and some more newgroup messages to save other netters the trouble of doing that part. * Q: I cant spell worth a dam. I hope your going too tell me what to do? A: Don't worry about how your articles look. Remember it's the message that counts, not the way it's presented. Ignore the fact that sloppy spelling in a purely written forum sends out the same silent messages that soiled clothing would when addressing an audience. Q: How should I pick a subject for my articles? A: Keep it short and meaningless. That way people will be forced to actually read your article to find out what's in it. This means a bigger audience for you, and we all know that's what the net is for. If you do a followup, be sure and keep the same subject, even if it's totally meaningless and not part of the same discussion. If you don't, you won't catch all the people who are looking for stuff on the original topic, and that means less audience for you. * Q: What sort of tone should I take in my article? A: Be as outrageous as possible. If you don't say outlandish things, and fill your article with libelous insults of net people, you may not stick out enough in the flood of articles to get a response. The more insane your posting looks, the more likely it is that you'll get lots of followups. The net is here, after all, so that you can get lots of attention. If your article is polite, reasoned and to the point, you may only get mailed replies. Yuck! * Q: The posting software suggested I had too long a signature and too many lines of included text in my article. What's the best course? A: Such restrictions were put in the software for no reason at all, so don't even try to figure out why they might apply to your article. Turns out most people search the net to find nice articles that consist of the complete text of an earlier article plus a few lines. In order to help these people, fill your article with dummy original lines to get past the restrictions. Everybody will thank you for it. For your signature, I know it's tough, but you will have to read it in with the editor. Do this twice to make sure it's firmly in there. By the way, to show your support for the free distribution of information, be sure to include a copyright message forbidding transmission of your article to sites whose USENET politics you don't like. Also, if you do have a lot of free time and want to trim down the text in your article, be sure to delete some of the attribution lines so that it looks like the original author of - say - a plea for world peace actually wrote the followup calling for the nuking of Bermuda. * Q: They just announced on the radio that the United States has invaded Iraq. Should I post? A: Of course. The net can reach people in as few as 3 to 5 days. It's the perfect way to inform people about such news events long after the broadcast networks have covered them. As you are probably the only person to have heard the news on the radio, be sure to post as soon as you can. * Q: I have this great joke. You see, these three strings walk into a bar... A: Oh dear. Don't spoil it for me. Submit it to rec.humor, and post it to the moderator of `rec.humor.funny' at the same time. I'm sure he's never seen that joke. * Q: What computer should I buy? An Atari ST or an Amiga? A: Cross post that question to the Atari and Amiga groups. It's an interesting and novel question that I am sure they would love to investigate in those groups. There is no need to read the groups in advance or examine the "frequently asked question" lists to see if the topic has already been dealt with. In fact, you don't need to read the group at all, and you can tell people that in your query. * Q: What about other important questions? How should I know when to post? A: Always post them. It would be a big waste of your time to find a knowledgeable user in one of the groups and ask through private mail if the topic has already come up. Much easier to bother thousands of people with the same question. * Q: Somebody just posted a query to the net, and I want to get the answer too. What should I do? A: Immediately post a following, including the complete text of the query. At the bottom add, "Me too!" If somebody else has done this, follow up their article and add "Me three," or whatever number is appropriate. Don't forget your full signature. After all, if you just mail the original poster and ask for a copy of the answers, you will simply clutter the poster's mailbox, and save people who do answer the question the joyful duty of noting all the "me (n)s" and sending off all the multiple copies. * Q: What is the measure of a worthwhile group? A: Why, it's Volume, Volume, Volume. Any group that has lots of noise in it must be good. Remember, the higher the volume of material in a group, the higher percentage of useful, factual and insightful articles you will find. In fact, if a group can't demonstrate a high enough volume, it should be deleted from the net. * Q: Emily, I'm having a serious disagreement with somebody on the net. I tried complaints to his sysadmin, organizing mail campaigns, called for his removal from the net and phoning his employer to get him fired. Everybody laughed at me. What can I do? A: Go to the daily papers. Most modern reporters are top-notch computer experts who will understand the net, and your problems, perfectly. They will print careful, reasoned stories without any errors at all, and surely represent the situation properly to the public. The public will also all act wisely, as they are also fully cognizant of the subtle nature of net society. Papers never sensationalize or distort, so be sure to point out things like racism and sexism wherever they might exist. Be sure as well that they understand that all things on the net, particularly insults, are meant literally. Link what transpires on the net to the causes of the Holocaust, if possible. If regular papers won't take the story, go to a tabloid paper - they are always interested in good stories. By arranging all this free publicity for the net, you'll become very well known. People on the net will wait in eager anticipation for your every posting, and refer to you constantly. You'll get more mail than you ever dreamed possible - the ultimate in net success. * Q: What does foobar stand for? A: It stands for you, dear. *"News articles are separated into divisions called newsgroups. Each division is supposed to limit itself to a single topic, and the name of the group is supposed to give you some idea as to the content of the group. These groups are then organized into hierarchies of related topics. Usenet Network News started out with just two hierarchies, mod and net. The mod hierarchy had those groups that had a person as the moderator to edit and control the information. The net hierarchy handled all other groups. With the release of B News and its ability to have any single group be moderated or open, the great renaming was undertaken."* -- Weinstein (1992) ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) Copyright (C) 1991 by Brad Templeton. All rights reserved. åFF InformatioŠ *************** General Information About the Electronic Frontier FoundatioŠ ============================================================ *The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)* was founded in July of 1990 to ensure that the principles embodied in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are protected as new communications technologies emerge. From the beginning, EFF has worked to shape our nation's communications infrastructure and the policies that govern it in order to maintain and enhance First Amendment, privacy and other democratic values. We believe that our overriding public goal must be the creation of Electronic Democracy, so our work focuses on the establishment of: * new laws that protect citizens' basic Constitutional rights as they use new communications technologies, * a policy of common carriage requirements for all network providers so that all speech, no matter how controversial, will be carried without discrimination, * a National Public Network where voice, data and video services are accessible to all citizens on an equitable and affordable basis, and * a diversity of communities that enable all citizens to have a voice in the information age. Information Infrastructure -------------------------- EFF's Open Platform Proposal advocates that the nation's telecommunications infrastructure providers offer affordable, widely available transmission of voice, data and video information. The telecommunications infrastructure must promote broad access and enable citizens to receive and publish a diversity of information. In addition, a competitive environment must be ensured to preserve the core principles of common carriage, universal service and open standards. In the near term, EFF supports the implementation of services such as ISDN and ADSL, currently available digital technologies, for sending voice, data and video at reasonable cost to consumers. EFF supports federal funding to promote the development of network tools and applications that will make the Internet and the NREN easier to use. Although the NREN will be made up of services from commercial providers, government also has a vital role to play in making grants to institutions that cannot afford to pay for Internet connectivity. Civil Liberties --------------- EFF has been working to ensure that common carrier principles are upheld in the information age. Common carrier principles require that network providers carry all speech, regardless of its controversial content. Common carriers must also provide all speakers and information providers with equal, nondiscriminatory access to the network. EFF chairs the Digital Security and Privacy Working Group, a coalition of over 50 organizations-from computer software and hardware firms, telecommunications and energy companies to civil liberties advocates-that work on sound privacy policies in telecommunications. For example, the group has worked to oppose the FBI's Digital Telephony proposal and government-mandated encryption policies. EFF is working to convince Congress that all measures supporting broader public access to information should be enacted into law. EFF supports an Electronic Freedom of Information Act and other legislation to make information more accessible to citizens in electronic formats. EFF supports both legal and technical means to enhance privacy in communications. We, therefore, advocate all measures that ensure the public's right to use the most effective encryption technologies available. Legal Services -------------- EFF sponsors legal cases where users' online civil liberties have been violated. The Steve Jackson Games case, decided in March of 1993, established privacy protections for electronic publishers and users of electronic mail. We continue to monitor the online community for legal actions that merit EFF support. EFF provides a free telephone hotline for members of the online community who have questions regarding their legal rights. Members of EFF's staff and board speak to law enforcement organizations, state attorney bar associations and university classes on the work that we do and how these groups can get involved. Community Building ------------------ EFF, in conjunction with the Consumer Federation of America and the American Civil Liberties Union, coordinates and sponsors the Communications Policy Forum (CPF). CPF enables nonprofit organizations, computer and communications firms, and government policymakers to come together in a nonpartisan setting to discuss communications policy goals and strategies. EFF works with local organizations that support online communications issues. In September of 1993, EFF will cosponsor a cryptography conference with a group in Austin, Texas. Earlier this year, EFF sponsored a summit of groups from around the country to discuss common goals. We also participate in an online mailing list for organizations that share our interests. EFF is a funder and organizer of the annual Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference, where academics, civil libertarians, law enforcement officials and computer users all meet to discuss the privacy implications of communicating online. Each year at the conference, EFF presents its Pioneer awards to individuals who have made significant contributions to computer communications. EFF maintains several communications forums online. We have our own Internet node, eff.org, which houses our FTP and Gopher sites and our discussion areas, `comp.org.eff.talk' and `comp.org.eff.news'. EFF also maintains conferences on the *Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL)*, *CompuServe* and *America Online*. īow to connect to EFF? ====================== Internet and USENET ------------------- General information requests, including requests to be added to the EFFector Online mailing list, can be sent to . If you receive any USENET newsgroups, your site may carry the newsgroups `comp.org.eff.news' and `comp.org.eff.talk'. The former is a moderated newsgroup for announcements, newsletters, and other information; the latter is an unmoderated discussion group for discussing EFF and issues relating to the electronic frontier. For those unable to read the newsgroups, there are redistributions via electronic mail. Send requests to be added to or dropped from the `comp.org.eff.news' mailing list to . For the `comp.org.eff.talk' mailing list, send a note to . Please note that eff-talk can be extremely high-volume at times. A document library containing all EFF news releases and other publications of interest, including John Perry Barlow's history of EFF, "Crime and Puzzlement", is available via anonymous FTP from `ftp.eff.org'. Send a note to if you have questions or are unable to use FTP. This archive is also accessible via Gopher. Try `gopher gopher.eff.org'. The WELL -------- The WELL is host to an active EFF conference, as well as many other related conferences of interest to EFF supporters. Access to the WELL is $15/month plus $2/hour. Telecom access is available through the CompuServe Packet Network for an additional $4.50/hour. If you have an Internet connection, you can reach the WELL via telnet at `well.sf.ca.us'; otherwise, dial +1 415 332 6106 (data). The WELL's voice number is +1 415 332 4335. CompuServe ---------- Our forum on CompuServe is also open. `GO EFFSIG' to join. Many of the files on `ftp.eff.org', as well as other items of interest, are mirrored in the EFFSIG Libraries. America Online -------------- EFF hosts a Special Interest Group on America Online as part of the *Macintosh Communications Forum (MCM)*. `GOTO Keyword EFF' to join. Many of the files on `ftp.eff.org', as well as other items of interest, are mirrored in this forum. In addition, EFF sponsors an interactive discussion on this forum the second Saturday night of each month at 9:00 p.m. ET. ķembership in the Electronic Frontier FoundatioŠ ================================================ I wish to become a member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. I enclose: $__________ Regular membership - $40 $__________ Student membership - $20 Special Contribution I wish to make a tax-deductible donation in the amount of $__________ to further support the activities of EFF and to broaden participation in the organization. Documents Available in Hard Copy Form The following documents are available free of charge from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Please indicate any of the documents you wish to receive. ___ Open Platform Proposal - EFF's proposal for a national telecommunications infrastructure. 12 pages. July, 1992 ___ An Analysis of the FBI Digital Telephony Proposal - Response of EFF-organized coalition to the FBI's digital telephony proposal of Fall, 1992. 8 pages. September, 1992. ___ Building the Open Road: The NREN and the National Public Network - A discussion of the National Research and Education Network as a prototype for a National Public Network. 20 pages. May, 1992. ___ Innovative Services Delivered Now: ISDN Applications at Home, School, the Workplace and Beyond - A compilation of ISDN applications currently in use. 29 pages. January, 1993. ___ Decrypting the Puzzle Palace - John Perry Barlow's argument for strong encryption and the need for an end to U.S. policies preventing its development and use. 13 pages. May, 1992. ___ Crime and Puzzlement - John Perry Barlow's piece on the founding of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the world of hackers, crackers and those accused of computer crimes. 24 pages. June, 1990. ___ Networks & Policy - A quarterly newsletter detailing EFF's activities and achievements. Your Contact Information: Name: ___________________________________________________________________ Organization: ___________________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Phone: (____) _______________ FAX: (____) _______________ (optional) E-mail address: _________________________________________________________ Payment Method ___ Enclosed is a check payable to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. ___ Please charge my: ___ MasterCard ___ Visa ___ American Express Card Number: ____________________________________________ Expiration Date: ________________________________________ Signature: ______________________________________________ Privacy Policy EFF occasionally shares our mailing list with other organizations promoting similar goals. However, we respect an individual's right to privacy and will not distribute your name without explicit permission. ___ I grant permission for the EFF to distribute my name and contact information to organizations sharing similar goals. Print out and mail to: Membership Coordinator Electronic Frontier Foundation 1001 G Street, N.W. Suite 950 East Washington, DC 20001 (202) 347-5400 voice (202) 393-5509 fax The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization supported by contributions from individual members, corporations and private foundations. Donations are tax-deductible. Get GUMMed *"The Gurus of Unix Meeting of Minds (GUMM) takes place Wednesday, April 1, 2076 (check THAT in your perpetual calendar program), 14 feet above the ground directly in front of the Milpitas Gumps. Members will grep each other by the hand (after intro), yacc a lot, smoke filtered chroots in pipes, chown with forks, use the wc (unless uuclean), fseek nice zombie processes, strip, and sleep, but not, we hope, od. Three days will be devoted to discussion of the ramifications of whodo. Two seconds have been allotted for a complete rundown of all the user- friendly features of Unix. Seminars include "Everything You Know is Wrong," led by Tom Kempson, "Batman or Cat:man?" led by Richie Dennis "cc C? Si! Si!" led by Kerwin Bernighan, and "Document Unix, Are You Kidding?" led by Jan Yeats. No Reader Service No. is necessary because all GUGUs (Gurus of Unix Group of Users) already know everything we could tell them."* -- Dr. Dobb's Journal, June '84 Internet Country Codes ********************** This appendix gives a list of country codes with e-mail accessibility. It is helpful in finding-out if a country has easy access to e-mail and Internet facilities and is aimed at general e-mail and Internet users. This file is continuously updated and available by FTP from `rtfm.mit.edu' as `pub/usenet/news.answers/mail/country-codes'. *Note Archiving:: below. This document is based on *International Standard ISO 3166 Names*. Compiled by OLIVIER M.J. CREPIN-LEBLOND (1) Release: 93.8.1 ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) Copyright (C) 1993 by Olivier M.J. Crepin-Leblond. All rights reserved. Description of codes ==================== FI stands for FULL INTERNET access. This includes 'telnet', 'ftp', and internet e-mail. B stands for BITNET access although the address may be in internet DNS (Domain Name System) format. * (Asterisk) means that the country is reachable by e-mail. If this is not preceded by FI or B, it means that the connection may be a UUCP connection. An asterisk is included after FI or B for consistency. PFI stands for a provisional full internet connection.(+) P stands for provisional connection. This is used when one or more of the following is true: * address not verified or lack of address * UUCP dialup not active * net connection possible but not officially announced * premature official announcement of connection Networks which are not included =============================== Networks such as MILNET (U.S. Army) have computers all around the world. It is generally possible to assume that wherever there is a U.S. military base, there will be a node reachable through gateways. Private company networks such as for DEC (Digital Equipment Corp.), or Sun Microsystems, for example, have nodes in many exotic locations. However the connection may take place via UUCP and cost a lot of money. Those networks have therefore not been included. In addition, those are PRIVATE networks. Many companies (like U.S. Sprint, for example) offer commercial services to many countries which are not readily available on the Internet. The service is VERY COSTLY, usually takes place via UUCP or X.400 connections. X.400 e-mail is usually charged to someone and if the telecommunication carrier cannot find someone to pay for the message transfer, it will reject it. As a result, those types of network have not been included in the list. Although a user may RECEIVE e-mail from a user on those networks, one may not be able to reply to it. FIDONET nodes are NOT included. While all nodes agree to forward e-mail as a condition to be included in the tables, the high cost of phone calls in more exotic locations prompts some sysadmins not to want their site publicised. Many FIDO nodes exist throughout the Middle-East and Africa. Updates ======= The situation changes from day to day. The growth in international networking is such that the information contained in this document may be out of date by the time it reaches you. If you have any update (i.e. knowledge that a new country is connected), please send a message to , including an example address from the country reached so that it can be verified. .us sites ========= While there are several hundreds of BITNET nodes in USA, none have a name in the format `.us'. That's why the `.us' domain is only `FI' and `*'. .edu, .com, etc. ================ The domains in this section are special in that some of them are used in more than one country. The domains which have full internet access are marked accordingly. However, this doesn't mean that *all* of those domains have full internet access. For example, only a small proportion of .mil sites have full internet access. The same is true for .com sites, for example. UK and GB domains ================= There are two codes for United Kingdom, namely UK and GB. While UK is used for addressing of most domains in DNS format, the field GB is used mainly in the X.400 addressing of United Kingdom sites. However, there is an increasing trend in some United Kingdom sites being directly connected to Internet under the GB domain. The GB domain is hence a perfectly suitable Internet top level domain. ķain nameservers ================ This is the main nameserver as listed in the `rs.internic.net' database. Those often change as the network grows, and it is hard to keep track of all nameservers, but they should usually work. Nameservers can be queried by users using `nslookup'. įrchiving ========= Once released, this document is archived in a number of archive sites around the world. Amongst them: `rtfm.mit.edu' (18.70.0.224) directory: `/pub/usenet/news.answers/mail' `lth.se' (130.235.20.3) directory: `/pub/archive2/netnews/news.answers/mail' # `ftp.uu.net' (192.48.96.9) directory: `/usenet/news.answers/mail' # `unix.hensa.ac.uk' (129.12.21.7) directory: `/pub/uunet/usenet/news.answers/mail' # `grasp1.univ-lyon1.fr' (134.214.100.25) directory: `/pub/faq/mail' The tagged hosts (#) may not be accessible via Bear access or direct PC access in some cases. Via listserver request: with the command: `get faq mail/country-codes'. All FAQs are also available via or . For an index of all FAQs available, put the command `GET NETFAQS FILELIST' in the body of your message. The document is also retrievable by sending e-mail to , blank subject line and the command: `send usenet/news. answers/mail/country-codes' The up-to-date, pre-release document is also available using an experimental simple mail-server that I have setup from my account. Send e-mail to: with a subject: `archive-server-request' and the command: `get mail/country-codes' in the body of your message. ISO 3166 Codes & Top level domains ================================== Code Country Conn Notes main nameserver AD Andorra AE United Arab Emirates * ns.uu.net AF Afghanistan AG Antigua and Barbuda * upr1.upr.clu.edu AI Anguilla AL Albania P gwd2i.cnuce.cnr.it AM Armenia Ex-USSR AN Netherland Antilles AO Angola AQ Antarctica FI * luxor.cc.waikato.ac.nz AR Argentina FI B * ns.uu.net AS American Samoa AT Austria FI B * pythia.edvz.univie.ac.at AU Australia FI * munnari.oz.au AW Aruba AZ Azerbaidjan Ex-USSR BA Bosnia-Herzegovina Ex-Yugoslavia BB Barbados * upr1.upr.clu.edu BD Bangladesh BE Belgium FI B * ub4b.buug.be BF Burkina Faso * orstom.orstom.fr BG Bulgaria FI B * pythia.ics.forth.gr BH Bahrain B * Gulfnet BI Burundi BJ Benin BM Bermuda * ns.uu.net BN Brunei Darussalam BO Bolivia * ns.uu.net BR Brazil FI B * fpsp.fapesp.br BS Bahamas * upr1.upr.clu.edu BT Buthan BV Bouvet Island BW Botswana * hippo.ru.ac.za BY Belarus * Ex-USSR BZ Belize P upr1.upr.clu.edu CA Canada FI B * relay.cdnnet.ca CC Cocos (Keeling) Isl. CF Central African Rep. CG Congo CH Switzerland FI B * scsnms.switch.ch CI Ivory Coast CK Cook Islands CL Chile FI B * dcc.uchile.cl CM Cameroon FI * in .fr domain inria.inria.fr CN China PFI * iraun1.ira.uka.de CO Colombia B * cunixd.cc.columbia.edu CR Costa Rica FI B * ns.cr CS Czechoslovakia FI B * still works... ns.cesnet.cz CU Cuba * igc.org CV Cape Verde CX Christmas Island CY Cyprus B * pythia.ics.forth.gr CZ Czech Republic FI * ns.cesnet.cz DE Germany FI B * deins.informatik.uni-dortmund.de DJ Djibouti DK Denmark FI B * ns.dknet.dk DM Dominica P upr1.upr.clu.edu DO Dominican Republic P upr1.upr.clu.edu DZ Algeria * EC Ecuador FI B * ecua.net.ec EE Estonia FI * Ex-USSR uvax2.kbfi.ee EG Egypt PFI B * frcu.eun.eg EH Western Sahara ES Spain FI B * sun.rediris.es ET Ethiopia FI Finland FI B * funet.fi FJ Fiji * truth.waikato.ac.nz FK Falkland Isl.(Malvinas) FM Micronesia FO Faroe Islands P danpost.uni-c.dk FR France FI B * inria.inria.fr FX France (European Ter.) ??? GA Gabon GB Great Britain (UK) FI * X.400 & IP ns1.cs.ucl.ac.uk GD Grenada P upr1.upr.clu.edu GE Georgia * Ex-USSR ns.eu.net GH Ghana GI Gibraltar GL Greenland GP Guadeloupe (Fr.) GQ Equatorial Guinea GF Guyana (Fr.) GM Gambia GN Guinea GR Greece FI B * pythia.ics.forth.gr GT Guatemala * ns.uu.net GU Guam (US) GW Guinea Bissau GY Guyana HK Hong Kong FI B * hp9000.csc.cuhk.hk HM Heard & McDonald Isl. HN Honduras * ns.uu.net HR Croatia FI * Ex-Yugo dns.srce.hr HT Haiti HU Hungary FI B * sztaki.hu ID Indonesia * ns.uu.net IE Ireland FI B * nova.ucd.ie IL Israel FI B * relay.huji.ac.il IN India FI B * sangam.ncst.ernet.in IO British Indian O. Terr. IQ Iraq IR Iran B * IS Iceland FI B * isgate.is IT Italy FI B * dns.nis.garr.it JM Jamaica * upr1.upr.clu.edu JO Jordan JP Japan FI B * jp-gate.wide.ad.jp KE Kenya * rain.psg.com KG Kirgistan