Hello folks,

I am writing this from a Ruckus Society Tech Training gathering in Northern California. I thought I'd post some interesting information I have learned from various sessions here at camp. Anyone who uses a computer for email, (or for anything, really) will probably find these things very interesting...

Please read important #3 if that is all you have time for.

1. A very nice (sarcasm) company by the name of Booz-Allen is the # 9 company on the top 100 list of federal gov't contract recipients. They make most of their money from the defense department, like all the top ten gov't contract recipients. Here's the important information:

They have developed a program named "carnivore" the gov't is currently using. It is installed at major routing points in the net and at major Internet Service Providers computers. It "watc hes" all the traffic in and out of a router or through an ISP. In short, it follows people around the web and "records" where they go... especially if they go to certain "target" sites. This is happening. Files are being created, all with the purpose of "fighting terrorism."

 http://www.boozallen.com
 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/1146651
 http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/carnivore/carnivore.htm
 http://stopcarnivore.org/
 http://www.howstuffworks.com/carnivore.htm
 http://www.epic.org/privacy/carnivore/foia_documents.html
 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-870178.html

2. Booz-Allen is engaged in the creation of a program called "Magic Lantern." This program is designed to figure out people's passwords so the military can have access to *ALL* email accounts...for the purpose of fighting terrorism. Magic Lantern insidiously will install
a "virus" on your computer so that when you next log in to your email using a password, Magic Lantern sends a copy of the password to a Military computer, and they can then access your email. This is all stuff I got to read in the Washington Technology (a magazine devoted to celebrating the newest technological contracts awarded on Capitol Hill).

 http://www.boozallen.com
 http://www.msnbc.com/news/660096.asp?cp1=1
 http://www.msnbc.com/news/671981.asp

 http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/CuttingEdge/cuttingedge011221.html

 http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,48648,00.html
 http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,54342,00.html
 http://online.securityfocus.com/columnists/44

3. Yahoogroups recently cut off the service of several antiwar and pro-palestinian list servs in the interest of "national security."

All the archives, and especially ALL MEMBER INFORMATION for these groups was transferred over to the FBI. This is not a rumor or a joke. Jus three weeks ago, yahoogroups also SOLD all of our emails to spammers.

We should be getting list serv spam in the near future. I was advised by the system administrator of riseup.net and resist.net and a system administrator of tao.ca that we move our list serv over to an activist friendly server like theirs. It is free, and they will always fight any requests from the feds to access ou r membership list, or archives.

I would like to very seriously suggest this.

I do not personally have a problem with the feds reading anything on this list serv, but I do not like to think that we are using a service that has shut down other groups because of their anti-war content.

This camp has been highly informative about tech stuff. It has also opened my eyes to how protected I am in the Midwest. The bulk of surveillance and federal harassment is happening on both coasts, in San Fran, Seattle and in DC and NY. It shocked me to learn just how much is happening, and not only to the "biggies" in Direct Action like Ruckus.

I'd also like to suggest if anyone on the list has an email account through a university, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. that you move it to a much more secure location, like:

www.people-link.org >  http://www.people-link.org
www.riseup.net >  http://www.riseup.net
www.protest.net >  http://www.protest.net
www.tao.ca >  http://www.tao.ca
www.resist.net >  http://www.resist.net