Date: Thu, 25 Mar 93 08:52:36 EST
Errors-To: Comp-privacy Error Handler <comp-privacy-request@PICA.ARMY.MIL>
From: Computer Privacy Digest Moderator <comp-privacy@PICA.ARMY.MIL>
To: Comp-privacy@PICA.ARMY.MIL
Subject: Computer Privacy Digest V2#028
Computer Privacy Digest Thu, 25 Mar 93 Volume 2 : Issue: 028
Today's Topics: Moderator: Dennis G. Rears
Re: Social Security Numbers as ID
Akron BBS Sting Update
Personal Telephone Numbers
What happens if you don't have an SSN
Re: Prof. D. Denning's trust in the FBI
The Computer Privacy Digest is a forum for discussion on the
effect of technology on privacy. The digest is moderated and
gatewayed into the USENET newsgroup comp.society.privacy
(Moderated). Submissions should be sent to
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Back issues are available via anonymous ftp on ftp.pica.army.mil
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jonathan Katz <jonathan@cad.ucla.edu>
Subject: Re: Social Security Numbers as ID
Date: 23 Mar 93 21:55:31 GMT
Organization: U.C.L.A. Computer Aided Design Laboratory
In article <comp-privacy2.26.6@pica.army.mil> news@cbnewsh.att.com writes:
>In article <comp-privacy2.25.5@pica.army.mil> Wm Randolph Franklin <wrf@ecse.rpi.edu> writes:
> That's interesting, because in some (most?) places, the police want an
> SSN when they arrest you. There was a local case a few years back,
> where someone was charged with, approx, obstruction of governmental
> administration for refusing. He beat that charge, but it probably took
> some work.
>
As a quick question (which has probably already been answered. CA
requires SSN for getting a driver's lisc. now.... Is that legal? (funny word)
Is that in violation of other (national?) laws?
They will refuse to issue the lisc. if you dont provide the information.
Thanks
Jonathan
[Moderator's Note: It is now legal for a state to do this. ._dennis ]
--
qp HumanNet: Jonathan Katz | Computer Aided Design Laboratory qp
db AT&T-Net: (310)-825-7821 |_________ ---(*)--- db
qp Internet: jonathan@kanga.cad.ucla.edu |______Do you read rec.humor? qp
db SnailNet: 38-138 Engineering IV, UCLA, LA, Ca, 90024| No, frayed knot... db
------------------------------
Date: 24 Mar 93 01:31:41 EST
From: David Lehrer <71756.2116@compuserve.com>
Subject: Akron BBS Sting Update
Akron Anomaly BBS trial issue:
Distributed with permission of The Akron Beacon Journal
David Lehrer
********************
07082108
POLICE SAY THEY WERE TAKING A BYTE OUT OF CRIME MUNROE FALLS MAN WAS
ARRESTED FOR HAVING X-RATED PICTURES ON HIS COMPUTER BULLETIN BOARD; HIS
PARENTS BELIEVE THE STING OPERATION WAS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED.
Akron Beacon Journal (AK) - MONDAY March 22, 1993
By: CHARLENE NEVADA, Beacon Journal staff writer
Edition: 1 STAR Section: METRO Page: A1
Word Count: 1,538
TEXT:
When the police cars pulled up to David Lehrer's quiet Munroe Falls street
last June, it was a little like they were swooping down on a major
criminal.
Police Chief Steve Stahl went to the door and told Lehrer that he had a
search warrant to seize computer equipment belonging to Lehrer's son, Mark.
The chief told the elder Lehrer that there was reason to believe Mark
Lehrer, then 22, was using the computer and a modem to disseminate matter
harmful to juveniles.
Essentially, the chief said, it appeared that there were dirty pictures
on a popular computer bulletin board operated by the younger Lehrer and
that teen-agers could use their own computers to view the dirty pictures.
The police went through the Lehrers' home -- seizing, labeling and
photographing anything and everything that fit on the computer. It was just
like on a police television show, only it was happening in Munroe Falls and
the accused was a college student computer whiz.
Greg Lehrer, Mark's younger brother, remembers asking one of the
officers: 'Why don't you go out and find some real criminals?'
That was nine months ago.
Some might still ask that question.
The case of the State of Ohio vs. Mark Lehrer was closed last week when
Lehrer stood before a judge in Summit County and pleaded guilty to one
rather strange misdemeanor: attempted possession of a criminal tool.
Lehrer and his family said the plea bargain was a way to put the matter
behind them without risking a jury trial and more legal expenses. They
consider the whole episode a witch hunt by Munroe Falls police.
David Lehrer has said from the beginning that Munroe Falls police only
wanted to appropriate his son's high-power computer -- which they labeled a
criminal tool -- for their own use.
Within the computing community, the case caused so much outrage that
some lawyers and accountants set up a defense fund to help Lehrer. More
than $1,500 came from all over the country.
Munroe Falls Police Chief Steve Stahl is about as unhappy over the
resolution as the Lehrers.
Stahl wanted a felony conviction. The chief denied being on a witch hunt
for criminals in a relatively crime-free suburban community.
Lehrer's attorney, Don Varian, said the prosecutor offered to plea
bargain because prosecutors would have had problems going to trial: 'They
would have lost and they knew it,' he said.
On this much everyone agrees: Between last June and last week, the case
took lots of strange turns.
THE AKRON ANOMALY
It started one day last spring when Munroe Falls police got a tip from a
Kent State University student who said he was concerned that obscene
material was available to juveniles through a computer bulletin board known
as the Akron Anomaly.
The Akron Anomaly was the baby of Mark Lehrer, a University of Akron
student. Lehrer has been into computers since he was in grade school and
his dad brought the first one home. Among people who love computers,
bulletin boards are a way to share ideas and programs. Bulletin board users
are a little like yesterday's ham radio operators.
The operator of a computer bulletin board is usually someone who has
lots of games, pictures and programs to share.
Others can sign onto their own computers -- and with the aid of a modem
and telephone line -- tap into the bulletin board and copy the files.
As computers go, Lehrer had a V-8 engine, a 486 IBM clone with 500
megabytes of memory. (The whole Bible could be stored in 1 1/2 of those
megabytes.)
Lehrer works at a computer store in Stark County. He was allowed to buy
accessories and upgrades at discount. His system -- not including discs --
was valued at about $3,000.
The bulletin board was so successful that early last year a local
computer group called it one of the best around.
Those who wanted to use the bulletin board more than 45 minutes a day
were asked to pay $15 a year, which Lehrer applied to his phone bill.
X-RATED MATERIAL
The board had an adult section with X-rated pictures and movies. Those
who wanted access to the adult section had to send Lehrer a copy of a
driver's license and get a special clearance.
Computer users don't just take things from a bulletin board. They
contribute, too.
Programs and pictures sent to the Anomaly were received in sort of an
'in' basket. Lehrer then sorted them and filed them by category.
The X-rated stuff -- which Lehrer said was less than 2 percent of the
available files -- was put into the restricted-entry adult category.
According to Stahl, some of the X-rated files wound up in the clean
section.
One in particular troubled Stahl. It was labeled '69,' a slang term for
oral sex, and had three X's behind it.
To Stahl, that meant dirty. And since it wasn't in a restricted-access
section, anyone could see it.
But since Munroe Falls didn't actually have any outraged parents
complaining, the police set up a sting operation.
Working on the advice of prosecutors from the Cuyahoga Falls Municipal
Court, police found a 15-year-old volunteer and had him apply for
membership under a fake name. They sat him down at a computer and had him
press the button to access one of the X-rated files. Then he left because
his parents didn't want him viewing the material.
Lehrer was charged with disseminating matter harmful to juveniles and
possession of criminal tools -- his computer.
At a preliminary hearing last June, Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Judge
James Bierce warned that more evidence would be needed to convict Lehrer.
Nonetheless, the matter was bound over to the grand jury.
And that's where it died. Just why isn't clear. Grand jury proceedings
are secret.
Stahl said the grand jury didn't actually get to see the pictures.
Varian has his own theory.
The police didn't have an independent witnesses saying they or their
children were offended, Varian said. All they had was the 15-year-old kid
who was set up. That meant the jury would have had to look at the issue of
entrapment. Jurors might not have liked that.
NEW CHARGES
But the matter didn't end with the grand jury no-billing the issue of
disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
New charges surfaced.
When authorities seized Lehrer's computer, they also took those
shopping bags full of floppy discs. And apparently among them were some sex
pictures in which the subjects could have been under 18.
So Lehrer was indicted for pandering obscenity involving minors.
It didn't matter that the pictures came from a disc and weren't on line
or available through the bulletin board.
The new charges made David Lehrer, Mark's father, suspect even more
that there was a hidden agenda.
POLITICS AT WORK?
Lehrer chairs the city's charter review commission. Last May, the
commission voted not to make the police chief's job classified, which would
have afforded Stahl a great measure of job protection.
Plus, after the bust, Susan Lehrer -- Mark's mother -- visited the
chief. She took notes. She said Stahl talked about how her son's computer
could be used in police work.
Stahl denied his actions were politically motivated. He also denied
wanting to get the computer, which is now in the hands of state law
enforcement officials.
The chief said he decided it would be wrong to ignore the case just
because Mark Lehrer's father held a public position.
Stahl denied digging through the floppies to find more to charge Lehrer
with. The Bureau of Criminal Investigation did that, he said.
COMPUTER GONE FOR GOOD
Mark Lehrer acknowledged having some adult files in the unrestricted
area. With 10,000 files to deal with, he said, it was a clerical error.
Summit County Prosecutor Lynn Slaby said that it would have been tough
to convict Lehrer on the kiddie porn charges because proving the ages of
the people in the pictures would have been tough. Varian said the women
looked in the range of 16 to 20.
To salvage the case, prosecutors offered the plea bargain.
Lehrer said he agreed to it because expert witnesses -- people to
testify the people in the picture weren't under 18 -- would have cost
$6,000.
Most importantly, he said: 'I didn't want to go to trial for child
pornography. Juries sometimes convict people unfairly.'
He got no jail time, no probation and a small fine. But he had to give
up his computer.
'We did not endorse the plea agreement,' Stahl said. He said he still
believes that Lehrer is guilty of disseminating matter harmful to
juveniles.
The chief said he isn't on an obscenity crusade. 'We're not Ravenna,' he
said, referring to that city's anti-porn-crusading mayor, Donald Kainrad.
To Lehrer -- who sees an empty room instead of a sophisticated computer
-- it's been a nightmare and the end of a great hobby.
'Being hit with child pornography charges' was far from just, he says.
'It's scary what people -- police and prosecutors -- can do to a citizen.'
dl
CAPTION:
Photo
PHOTO: LEW STAMP
Beacon Journal - David Lehrer (left) and his son Mark question why
Munroe Falls police targeted Mark's computer bulletin board, the Akron
Anomaly.
DESCRIPTORS: DAVID LEHRER; MARK; MUNROE FALLS POLICE; SEARCH WARRANT;
COMPUTER EQUIPMENT; COLLEGE STUDENT; OBSCENE; JUVENILE;
BIOGRAPHY; INFORMATION
------------------------------
From: chonoles@sde.mdso.vf.ge.com (Chonoles Michael Jesse)
Subject: Personal Telephone Numbers
Organization: GE M&DSO - VF
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1993 18:28:24 GMT
Many plans for future communications systems have the concept
of a personal telephone numbers. Some simple versions of these are
already available , AT&T's 700 service, BellAtlantic ContactLines, etc.
What would the consequencues be of every person having one telephone
number that would be used for work, home, vacation, etc.
Some suggestions were that you could have your social security number be your
telephone number, but any string could be used.
Does anyone have any ideas
Thanks
--
Michael Jesse Chonoles
chonoles@acc.vf.ge.com
mjc@seas.eniac.upenn.edu
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 93 13:55:19 -0500
From: Susanna Elaine Johnson <sej3e@kelvin.seas.virginia.edu>
Subject: What happens if you don't have an SSN
Being a Canadian citizen I don't have an SSN. So I know what
happens if the local gestapo asks for one and you don't have it.
You go to jail for a minimum of three days while they
"investigate" you. Note that this isn't an arrest - you haven't
been charged, merely "detained".
Of course, if they are able to show that you are NOT a US citizen
then the above mentioned three day limit does not apply for the
following reasons:
(1) Not being a US citizen you have no civil rights, so
the police can do anything they want to you with
impunity.
(2) They can, if sufficiently annoyed, turn you over to
Immigration. You can rot in an INS jail for months
while they verify your status.
(3) It can take weeks to do a worldwide make through
Interpol. Meanwhile you sit in jail. After all,
you MIGHT be some sort of international terrorist...
If I sound bitter about your land of liberty it is
because I speak from experience.
Anna Johnson
!All paranoid delusions are mine, not my employer's!
------------------------------
From: Phil Karn <karn@qualcomm.com>
Subject: Re: Prof. D. Denning's trust in the FBI
Organization: Qualcomm, Inc
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1993 08:27:49 GMT
You don't understand. Dorothy Denning is actually a very strong
proponent of the unrestricted private use of encryption to protect
individuals against government abuse. She has been very distressed of
late to see how slowly encryption has been making it into the
mainstream. After all, her textbook is over 10 years old. Even though
it has sold many copies, and even though it describes all of the
standard techniques in great detail, only a few paranoids seemed
interested in turning them into practice.
She finally realized that the very best way to get encryption deployed in
the real world was to raise the specter of the government outlawing it.
Just consider all of the publicly available crypto software that has
become available in the short time since she first floated her "trial
balloon": PGP 2.x, RSAREF, RIPEM, maybe even PEM itself! Groups of
hackers (in the old, respectable sense of the word) are now working
feverishly to "get the crypto genie safely out of the bottle" in the time
they think they have left.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot: :-) :-)
Phil
------------------------------
End of Computer Privacy Digest V2 #028
******************************