2600 JANUARY, 1986!

VOLUME THREE NUMBER ONE

Private Sector Returning

BACK ONLINE NEXT MONTH BUT MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN
The Private Sector bulletin board system (the official BBS of program~and all this to cover up for some fools'
2600 Magazine), seized by New Jersey authorities on July 12, overzealousness.
1985, is in the process of being returned. However, Tom Blich, Will somebody please wake us up? Can this really .be
the system operator, feels he is being forced to plead guilty to a happening? Almost any computer is capable of producing
token offense. . "illegal" tones. Programs that produce such tones are
When the board was taken, the prosecutors seemed to have commonplace, to say the least. Many people possess them just
little idea as to what it was they were looking for. At a press for the sake of seeing what they look like and how they work.
conference the following week, they claimed that Blich and six Are New Jersey authorities now punishing people for being
others were moving satellites in space with their computers and curious? .
doing strange things to the nation's defense department. Now, What if Blich himself had written this program? Are they
six months later, this, or anything else, has yet to be proven in now telling us it's illegal to write certain things. because they
Tom's case. could potentially be used in a bad way? Clearly, there's
On December 6, Judge Mark Epstein gave Assistant something fundamentally wrong here.
Prosecutor Frank Graves one last month to find something in It's easy to say that someone who has a blue box program is
order to prove his conspiracy case, otherwise the case would be only going to use it for illegal activity. But it's simply not true
thrown out. Graves only came up with a blue box program that and it's also a very dangerous assumption. If a program on disk
was originally discovered on the Private Sector's hard disk back can be construed as a burglary tool, then why did the
in July. This program was consequently defined as a "burglary prosecutor send Blich a printout ofthe four page program? Isn't
tool". "Cat's Meow", the program's title, can be used to this distribution of a burglary tool? And what of the programs
generate blue box tones (MF tones), as well as regular touch that appear in the Information Bureau section of this issue?
tones, speech synthesis, and other sound effects. Middlesex Possession of a gun is one thing, because there aren't all that
County reportedly sent the program, along with Blich's whole many things you can do with a gun, unless you're a collector.
computer system to Bell Labs to see if it could produce the nasty (Of course, possessing a deadly weapon is legal, but we won't
MF tones. _''Cat's Meow", written by the Tempest, was get into that.) With a computer program, however, there are an
approved by Bell Labs as a working blue box, as long as it was infinite number of possibilities. Someone could possess it for
used with an Applecat modem. Blich said it was given to him by the sake of having an interesting program, so that they can learn
an associate along with other programs and that he found it how to make sound effects with their computer, so that they can
entertaining because of the noises it made and educational in hear what these magical tones actually sound like, and so on.
that it taught him a little bit about the phone network. He Yes, there is the possibility somebody could use this program
claims never to have used the program to make free phone calls for illegal purposes. But it's really just as easy (in fact, much
or do anything of a fraudulent nature. The program was not easier) to use a standard touch tone phone to commit fraud
accessible to anyone calling the bulletin board, either. these days. How is possession of a touch tone phone any less of
According to the authorities, no illegal calls have ever been a crime than this program? They can both be used for legitimate
traced to Blich and there is no evidence of any illegal activity on purposes as well as illegitimate ones. It's not hard to retrace the
his part. In New Jersey, though, under a particular statute, it is logic that is used to argue this, but is this logic correct? Or is it
illegal to possess virtually anything which can be ~sed to potentially a danger to everyone, not just us?
perpetrate fraud. . We feel threatened by such actions. How hard would it be to
Blich was told that if he pleaded guilty to the fourth degree conclude that this magazine itself is a burglary tool? Because we
misdemeanor which would carry no sentence, his equipment discuss how the various networks work and because we expose
would be returned and all other charges against him would be the inadequacies and weaknesses, are we not paving the way for
dropped. . criminals? Perhaps we are, but at the same time we're waking up
But none of this explains how various law enforcement an awful lot of people. People who realize that their secrets
departments could justify searching his home and seizing his aren't safe in a particular computer or people who need to know
equipment, especially if it was based on the possibility that how their phone system works~we exist for the purpose of
Blich was undermining the security of the United States by education alone. We cannot be held accountable for the
disrupting international telecommunications and infiltrating potential misbehavior of one of our subscribers~that is an
the Defense Department, when absolutely nothing would point unreasonable expectation.
anyone with the intelligence of a stone to this conclusion. More Fortunately, we're not yet at a stage where such affronts can
specifically, Prosecutor Alan A. Rockoff stated that one charge occur at a magazine. Why? Magazines are tangible, people
was that the "young computerniks ... threatened this nation's generally understand them. You can't hold a computer bulletin
defense" by stealing information on military tank parts board in front of you, though. Most.people don't understand
manufactured by a Connecticut defense contractor. Now, after what a BBS is in the first place. It's so much easier to get away
no evidence is found, no complaintants are found, and with something if most people don't understand what you're
Prosecutor Rockoffs outlandish headlines have worn away, really doing-this is what the authorities have accomplished.
Blich will be on probation for a year because he had a blue box We've made some important progress in this case. We
3-1 (continued on page 3-8)
 The Basics: DIVESTITURE: WHAT HAPPENED?
It's been two years now since they broke up the telephone advantages in the long distance market.
company, and if you ask around, most people seem to believe it Equal Access
was a bad idea. I n the past you received only one phone bill and Clearly, the emerging long distance companies have to be
you never had to worry about how to place your calls. It seemed protected against AT&T, so that they can have a fighting
so much simpler then. chance. If AT&T were to lower its rates, everyone would use
For phone phreaks, though, the last two years have meant an them. Because of AT&T's position, it's much easier for them to
increasing number of toys to play with. New pay phones, new do this, and re-establish a monopoly. This is prevented by the
long distance companies, new ways of doing what could only be divestiture agreement, which regulates AT&T more than the
done one way before. While many of us miss the days of that other companies. In a weird way, it's kind of like affirmative
single formidable opponent (Ma Bell), we I1)llnage to have fun action.
by figuring out all of the jargonese and being looked upon as the Another way of protecting the new companies is to give them
only people who still understand how to make a phone call. equal access to the network that AT&T built. What good is it to
This is meant to be a brief guide to just what has happened be allowed to compete for long distance customers ifby the time
because of the divestiture and what the ramifications may be. the customer gets to your dial tone, it sounds like it's on another
We're not going to compare rates of the many companies like planet? Not to mention the fact that to use your service, the
all of the newspapers are doing and we're not going to complain customer has to use a touch tone phone and key in a whole lot of
about how difficult it is to cope with phones these days like all extra numbers to identify himself, since your CO'llpany isn't
of the columnists are doing. In plain English, we'l simply try able to identify him as soon as he picks up the phone, like
and figure out what the hell is going on. AT&T can. In all fairness, shouldn't your dial tone come in as
The Way It Used To Be loud and clear as AT&T's?
Let's look at the way things were. Except for some The answer is of course. But how can this be accomplished?
independent local companies, your local phone company was a There was no easy way, but it had to be done. And so, "equal
part of the nationwide Bell System. It all tied together nicely-if access" was developed.
you wanted to call long distance, you'd place the call through In the early stages, the most that could be done under equal
your local company and they would bill you for it, and that was access was to provide a clear connection to an alternate long
it. What you most likely didn't know (or care about) was that distance service. In addition, this connection had to be toll-free
your local company had hooked into the national company and since quite a few customers were being lost because they had to
they in turn had hooked into the local company on the other pay for a phone call to the dial tone of the company they chose,
end. As far as we were all concerned, the local company did it whether or not the call they were making in the first place ever
all. got through. It couldn't be an 800 number because of technical
Under this system, things worked fairly well. It was simple and administrative reasons, not to mention the fact that an
for customers, all of the companies benefited (the local extra area code (800) would have to be dialed.
companies could keep their rates lower because the national So the 950 exchange was created. This is an exchange which
company would pay them and the national company got a is nearly the same everywhere in the country. It doesn't really
monopoly on every long distance call placed), and there were exist in anyone place; it's a theoretical exchange within local
no real problems. central offices. Calling 950 plus four digits, which are different
But it wasn't fair. I n nearly all countries, the phone company for each long distance cqmpany, connects you with their dial
is run by the government and that's it. But here, the phone tone-with no ringing and with a very clear connection. For
company was being run by private enterprise, yet there was no instance, 950-1022 gets you MCI anywhere in the country,
competition. It was inevitable that this would be challenged, 950-1088 gets you Skyline, etc. There are still drawbacks,
especially when it started becoming economically feasible for though. Primitive local companies sometimes insist on
alternative companies to offer similar services. charging for these calls, as do some hotels. Then there is also the
Signs Of Trouble matter of still having to input your authorization code and
In the late sixties, MCI became the first company to being forced to use a touch tone phone. But it represents a start.
challenge the Bell monopoly. Slowly the rules were changing. The next and most significant step towards achieving equal
As the years passed, more companies appeared and began to access was to actually make it possible for somebody to pick up
cry foul. Consumer services were offered for the first time. As their phone and make a long distance call using whatever
technology got bigger, it became obvious that one phone company they wanted without dialing any extra numbers. So at
company simply shouldn't do it all. And one day, the last it would be just as simple to make a call using Sprint or
government agreed. Western Union as it was using AT&T. All the customer had to
First off, the nationwide network had to be dismantled. So it do was tell his local company (when the time came) which long
was split into seven parts, none of which are supposed to be distance company hel she wanted.
related to each other (however, we suspect they still see each This is the point where something interesting began to
other socially). They are: Pacific Telesis, U.S. West, . happen. Phone companies all around the country started to
Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, BellSouth, Bell Atlantic, and realize that there are a great number of people who really don't
Nynex. Each of these companies has a fleet of local operating care which long distance company offers what-they just want
companies under its control, in much the same way as Ma Bell to be left alone. Some of these folks never make long distance
had nearly all of the local operating companies under its wing- calls in the first place and others don't have the time or
in fact these seven new companies have been dubbed "Baby inclination to try and figure out which company is
Bells". economically advantageous to them.
But the nationwide network was not completely eliminated, But last year a new twist was added. If you don't choose a
because AT&T still exists. Instead of tying together all of the long distance company, one will be assigned to you at random!
local companies, AT&T is now just another long distance I n other words, if you close your ears to all of this divestiture
company, with no connection to any of the local companies or talk, you could find yourself subscribing to a company that
the seven regional companies. Of course, having constructed charges a $15 monthly minimum, which is a bit of an affront to
the network in the first place, AT&T has tremendous someone who only makes local. calls. Yet, this is what's
3-2
(continued on page 3-8)
 ----- ----=
- := =:::::::=
=--== -------
==
ffiffiffiJffiJ
AT&T Does It Again
Combined News Sources
===
~
---- ---- ---
-- - --
- - -----
- -- ---
= - ======
on the Reverend Jerry Falwell by having his home computer
call Mr. Falwell's toll-free phone line (8004465000) every 30
Recently, an untold number of residential telephone seconds for eight months.
customers around the country have received letters from AT&T Edward Johnson, who stopped the calls in December after
thanking them for choosing AT&T as their primary long Southern Bell threatened to cut off his phone service, said the
distance carrier. The problem is that those customers never calls were intended to hurt M r. Falwell's fund-raising by tying
selected a carrier, or instead chose an AT&T competitor. One up the phone. [Not to mention the fact that Falwell had to pay
letter was even sent to an MCI executive. for all of those calls since they were toll-free, which really means
The wave of misdirected AT&T letters is the latest in a series collect!] Mr. Falwell heads Moral Majority.
of similar events that have occurred as AT&T and other carriers
aggressively attempt to sign up customers through the Another Astronomical Phone Bill
nationwide "equal access" program. The Hackensat..'k Record
MCI also has had problems, including telling local phone It was a routine morning for Mike Ocejo until he got to his
companies that more than 1,000 customers had chosen MCl in car dealership and found waiting for him a telephone bill-for
the Boston and New York areas when they did not. And GTE $211,165.27.
Sprint was fined $500,000 for starting service for residents who "They said 1 called places that I never even heard of before,"
hadn't asked for it. he said, looking in disbelief at the I ,007-page bill for calls to
Meanwhile, in a recent Wall StreetJournalj NBC News poll, Pakistan, Malaysia, France, and India, among other countries.
four out of every JO Americans say they are confused by the "It must have cost them a fortune just to print out this bill,"
choice of long distance phone carriers. Yet more than half, Ocejo said. He had a hint of something being wrong a few weeks
particularly younger customers, like being able to choose. ago when New Jersey Bell officials asked him if he was calling
Nonetheless, most people continue to view the breakup of Pakistan.
AT&T as a bad thing. "I canceled my telephone credit card immediately. I figured
somebody found out my credit card number and was calling all
Five Aliens Hung Up over the world."
Combined News Sources

Secret Service agents announced the arrest of five Dial-A-Porn Update

Dominican nationals living in Manhattan in a crackdown on C'ommunicatilm:-. Week
illegal long distance telephone calling fraud. Carlin Communications, the nation's largest provider of
The individuals were charged with using illegal electronic "dial-a-porn" telephone messages, said the company will be
devices known as "blue boxes" to tap into the telephone forced out of business if new, tough FCC regulations take
network to avoid being billed for long distance calls. They were effect.
also charged with placing calls with stolen personal The rules would allow dial-a-porn purveyors to operate only
identification numbers and credit card calling numbers of if they accept payment exclusively by credit card or require
AT&T, New York Telephone, MCI, ITT, and 32 other adult callers to use a pre-assigned personal identification code.
companies, stealing at least $1 million in phone calls. Otherwise, dial-a-porn operators risk prosecution under the
For $5 to $20, the suspects would allow neighbors to call Federal Communications Act and potential fines of $50.000 a
relatives in South America. If convicted of telecommunications day.
fraud in connection of accessed services, they face up to 15 years The rules would require an expensive technical
in prison, a $50,000 fine or twice the amount allegedly taken in reconfiguration of the dial-a-porn industry. Currently. dial-a-
the scam. porn programmers use automated answering equipment.
Credit card billing would require the intervention of live
Technology Nabs Hooky Players operators, reducing privacy and traffic capacity, and raising
Asbury Park Press operating costs. The FCC's only allowable alternative, use of
Computerized dialers carrying a recorded message from the personall.D. numbers. requires "interactive"equipment
principal of every elementary school in Toms River, New Jersey capable of reading the access code a caller punches in on a
checking on the whereabouts of absent students in the district touch-tone phone. Such equipment can cost five to ten times
will be made within one hour after school attendance is taken. the cost for "passive" gear typically used with dial-a-porn. In
The $38,000. system utilizes a computer terminal and addition, in New York interactive equipment cannot be used on
software package allowing personnel in each of the district's 10 the telephone company's special dial-it network.
elementary schools to plug in absent students' telephone
numbers. The computer then automatically calls the parents Phone Booth Wins Again
where they, or a designated person, can be reached during the :'\t.."Wark Star I.L-dger

early morning school hours. Three men who stole a telephone booth from a service station
A recording of the principal's voice is activated by the lot and tried to put it inside a friend's apartment as a practical
computer and a record is kept of whether or not the call was joke were foiled when the booth wouldn't fit through the
answered. doorway. police in Maple Shade, New Jersey said.
The system has already caught two "hooky players." A patrolman responding to an anonymous call about three
men trying to carry a phone booth into an apartment, found the
Home Computer Attacks Falwell pranksters replacing the front door.
Associated Press The three were released on $2.000 bail each after being
An Atlanta man angered by a television evangelist took it out charged with the theft.
3-3
NOTES FROM YOU
Dear 2600: selectors that connect all the DEC and IBM mainframes to the
A good friend of mine called MCI to get credit for a bad TrY lines. It took me a while to figure this out, but I had to set
connection and started talking with the operator. At midnight, up the terminal parity to SPACE. The terminals are in VTI 00
after a half an hour (it's free after all), he hung up with $51 emulation. To get into the grades system, I simply did the
credited to his bill. It seems that the operator was bored, new on following: VSC-VCC Micro6OO Port Selector, Which system?
the job, and grateful for someone to talk to. AD, (CR), ENTER TERMINAL TYPE: VT100, (CR)
I use GTE Sprint for my long distance calls and make it a This works during normal business hours near lunch time or
point to report any noise or crosstalk on the line. (And, as a side quitting time. The legit users often don't use a proper logout
benefit, the call is free). After all, if they are going to demand command, but just tum their terminals off. About 10% of the
equality with AT&T, they had bloody well better provide equal time, you can connect onto their jobs this way. The IBM makes
service! In any case, after about 16 of these calls, the service a mistake and thinks that the line from one of the student
operator said that her display showed that a majority of my terminal rooms is the legit line. One time, they were running
calls were to XXXXXXXXXX which is in the same calling donation records for people like alumni, and we looked up the
LATA. Therefore, you might wish to reconsider your choice of university president's donations. This method will probably
a long-distance carrier. She continued by saying she was sure work with most IBM mainframes running the MVS operating
that Sprint's rates were not competitive in this instance. system,like ours. You can also get in by modem-around noon
Strange-since when I signed up the lady told me that I would or 5 pm for best results using 8-bit word, I stop bit,and no
save 12% on that exact call. Somebody is lying somewhere! In parity. A question mark at the terminal prompt will list valid
short, they tried to drop an annoying customer. Since then, they types.
have also pulled stunts like changing my code and not telling The Creature
me. (I spent two weeks getting them to admit to that!) I think Dear 2600:
that 111 stay with (and harass) them for another couple of On the evening of November 16,1985, the home of Gremlin,
months, then, who knows, it could be MCI's tum! a user of Demented Data Systems, was raided by 2 police
Mutedly, officers, and two members of the Manitoba Telephone System
Ford Prefect (MTS) Security Gestapo. They proceeded to take all his
Dear 2600: equipment, all his floppy disks, and all his printouts. To date,
I have a question I have often wondered about. Ifan alternate his equipment has not been returned. He was charged with
long distance service must first call the local telco to set up a "Theft of Telecommunications over $200." Apparently, poor
trace when one of their lines is being abused what would be the Gremlin was using a phreaking program he had written on his
case after business hours? I mean, are these lines actually Atari 800 to make approximately $350 in free long distance
monitored 24 hours a day? Also, I have been scanning a few fone calls. MTS had a tap on Gremlin's fone line for over one
prefixes in my local area for loops. I have been looking in the month, and was keeping tabs on how much money he didn't
NPA-XXX-99XX area. Almost every loop I have seen or read spend. When his total came to well over $200, the MTS Gestapo
about in files on scanning loops has had them located in this and the Winnipeg Police Department made their move.
area. I have not had much luck, most have been constant busy Theft over $200 is a felony, theft under $200 is a
signals or ringing and a few residentials. Where else might I misdemeanor. I have openly accused MTS of entrapment and
look? still stand adamant in opinion of what really went on.
Arab149 For instance, if the police uncover a plan to murder the Prime
Dear Arab: Minister, do they let the conspirators carry out their plans, so
When companies or government agencies have a telephone they can get them on a full murder charge, instead of just a
company arrange a trace. they make the plans in advance. They conspiracy charge? No! They nab the criminals, before the act is
apply simple if-then situations. "If this code is used. then trace carried out.
that incoming call. or ifthis number is dialed. then trace the call If the MTS gave Gremlin a warning as soon as he was
to its source . .. Since all phone systems run 24 hours a day and detected making the fraudulent calls, this mess would never
most of them run automatican~'. phones can be monitored 24 have happened. The MTS big-wigs wanted to make big
hours a day. In many cases. it may be better to make a call or use headlines by nailing a phreaker. This was supposed to scare all
a system during the day. when phone traffic is high. But then the remaining phreaks enough so they refrain from their hobby.
again. it is sometimes better to call at night. when less people are It didn't.
available to notice anything fishy. Since this, MTS had admitted to letting poor Gremlin get a
Your loops may be absent because they have been moved hefty fone bill before sacking him. He must pay back the fone
elsewhere. you don't recognize them. or your Central Office is company for the $350, and he should be getting back his
made by a company other than those you arefamiliar with such equipment soon.
as Automatic Electric. The Bad News: since mid November, the Demented Data
Dear 2600: Systems (DDS) BBS has been constantly watched by MTS
I have been listening to the mobile radio-telephone Flunkies. MTS admits that nothing on the board is truly illegal,
frequencies on my scanner. I was just listening to a company much like the Private Sector, but would like to keep tabs on the
that acquires cars like Ferraris for the very rich. These channels board. They caused a big hassle when it was discovered that
were used before cellular, by the rich, since only they could DDS has the entire inner workings of the MTS Envoy 100
afford them (scarcity raises prices). In Los Angeles, they are still mailing system in detail on the board. I have offered many times
used by people with lots of money. There are certain tone to give them FREE, FULL SYSTEM ACCESS, with no
sequences used to control signaling. I was looking through the results.
latest issue of Popular Communications Magazine, and I Anyhow, that's how it is up here.
noticed an ad from a company selling VHF programmable The Grub, Canada
transceivers for $329. These cover mobile radio-telephone Dear Readers:
channels as well as things like Los Angeles Police Tactical One The Grub also sent an article from a local paper that
dispatch frequency. Has anybody hooked up tone generation described the bust. It mentioned another person who was
equipment to a progrannnable VHF transceiver and made free arrested for making $150 in calls. It also mentioned an
calls? It seems that there would be no problem doing this. underground program called "Silver Bells" which sends 2600
I'm an electrical engineering student at the V niversity of hertz and is presumably a blue box program.
Southern California. I just broke into the IBM mainframe the Demented Data Systems can be reached at 2048325397 at
administration uses for grades and stuff. We have these new 300 and 1200 baud. and is free for long distance callers.
Zenith-29 terminals on campus, hooked up to Micro-600 port
3-4
 The 2600 Information Bureau

TEXAS INSTRUMENT 99/4CA): COMMODORE 64:

FROM BASIC: 5 S=54272

0: CALL SOUNDCI00, 1300,0, 1500,0) 6 DIM B(7),AC7)
1: CALL SOUNDCI00,700,0,900,0) 10 FOR LS=S TO S+24:POKE LS,O:NEXT
2: CALL SOUNDCI00,700,0,1100,0) 20 POKE S+5,64:POKE S+6,100
3: CALL SOUNDC100,900,0,1100,0) 25 POKE S+12,64:POKE S+13,100
4: CALL SOUNDC100,700,0,1300,0) 30 POKE S+24,15
5: CALL SOUNDC 100,900, 0, 1300,0) 40 FOR T=1 TO 7
6. CALL SOUND(100, 1100,0, 1300,0) 50 READ ACT),BCT)
7: CALL SOUNDC100,700,0,1500,0) 60 NEXT T
B: CALL SOUNDC 100,900, 0, 1500,0) 70 PRINT "USE 1-0 FOR DIGITS 1-0"
9. CALL SOUNDC100,1100,0,1500,0) BO PRINT "USE K FOR KP : USE S FOR ST"
KPa CALL SOUNDC100,1100,0,1700,0) BB PRINT "USE + FOR 11 a USE - FOR 12"
KP2: CALL SOUNDC100,1300,0,1700,0) 90 PRINT "USE L FOR KP2"
11: CALL SOUNDC 100, 700, 0, 1700,0) 95 PRINT "PRESS SPACE BAR FOR 2600 HZ"
12: CALL SOUND(100,900,0,1700,0) 100 PRINT "PRESS THE APPROPRIATE KEY AND
ST: CALL SOUNDC100,1500,0,1700,0) THE TONE WILL BE EMITTED FROM THE TV"
110 GET A$I IF A$= .... THEN 110
120 IF A$-"S" THEN T-5.U-6
125 IF A•• "L" THEN T-4.U=6
130 IF A$-"K II THEN T=31 U=6
140 IF A.-"+" THEN T=2:U=6
150 IF A.- II -" THEN T=iI U-6
2600 (ISSN 0749-3851) 152 IF A$="l" THEN T-1.U-2
154 IF A$-"2" THEN T=lIU-3
Editor and Publisher
Twenty Six Hundred 156 IF A$-"3" THEN T-2,U-3
158 IF A.-"4" THEN T=1:U-4
Associate Editors 160 IF A.=15" THEN T-2.U-4
Eric Corley
David Ruderman
162 IF A.-"6" THEN T-3.U-4
163 IF A•• 117 II THEN T-1, U-S
Executive Director 164 IF A$_IIB" THEN T-2. U=5
Helen Victory 166 IF A.-"9" THEN T-3.u=S
16B IF A._IIO" THEN T-4. U-S
BBS Operator 169 IF A$= II II THEN T-7 I U-7
Tom Blich
170 POKE S+1,ACT)IPOKE S,BCU)
Writers: Paul Estev, Mr. French, Emmanuel Goldstein, The 175 POKE S+8,ACT):POKE S+7,BCU)
Kid & Company, Lord Phreaker, Mike Salerno, The Shadow, 1BO POKE S+4,17IPOKE S+11,17
Silent Switchman, and the usual anonymous bunch. 190 GET Z$I IF Z.-"II THEN 190
1600 is published by 2600 Enterprises. Inc .. an eleemosynary organi13tion.
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $12. individual; $30. corporate; $20. overseas.
200 POKE S+4,16.POKE S+11,16
LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION: $260. CORPORATE SPO:-;SORSHIP: $2600. 210 GOTO 110
BACK ISSUES: $2 each. individual; $3 each. corporate: $2.50 each. overseas.
MAKE CHECKS PAY ABLE 10: 2600 Enterprises. Inc. 500 DATA 44,0,57,0,70,0,83,0,96,0,10B,
WRITE TO: 1600. P.O. Box 752. Middle Island. NY 11953·~1752.
TELEPHONE: (516) 751-2600. BBS: (201) 366-4431.
0,166,0
ADVERTISING DEPARTME:-;T: P.O. Box 762. Middle Island. :-IY I I953'{)762. 510 REM THE ABOVE DATA STATEMENT MAY
ARTICLE SUBMISSIO'" A:-;D LETTERS: P.O. Bo.' 99. Middle Island. :-;Y I I953.{)099.
POSTMASTER: This is private mail.
HAVE TO BE ADJUSTED TO GET
THE EXACT TONE.

3-5
ATARI I

1 POKE 82,0IPOKE 755,0

2 OPEN .1,4,0,"KI"
50 PRINT "ATARI BLUE BOX PROGRAM"
51 PRINT "0-9 = MF 0-9"
52 PRINT "K=KEYPULSE"
53 PRINT "S = START"
:34 PRINT "SPACE BAR = 2bOO HZ ON/OFF"
55 PRINT "You must press the space bar twice"
56 PRINT "for the program to work correctly."
60 REM
140 DIM N$ (1)
144 GET .1,N
145 N$=""
146 LET N$=CHR$(N):? N.," ",
150 IF N$=" " THEN? "2600Hz ";IGOSUB 290
160 FOR LOOP=l TO LEN(N$)
170 IF LEN(N$)=O THEN GOTO 500
190 CHAR=ASC(N$(LOOP,LOOP»-ASC("O"):TRAP 200:
RESTORE 360+CHAR*10IGOTO 220
200 IF N$(LOOP,LOOP)="K" THEN RESTORE 460:GOTO 220
210 IF N$(LOOP,LOOP)="S" THEN RESTORE 470lGOTO 220
215 CLRI GOTO 60
220 READ A,B,C,D
230 POKE 53760, AI POKE 53762,BIPOKE 53764,C:POKE 53766,D
240 POKE 53767, 168: POKE 53763,168
250 FOR A-l TO 15:NEXT A
260 POKE 53767, 160: POKE 53763,160
270 NEXT LOOP
280 CLR: GOTO 60
290 SOUND O,O,O,OIPOKE 53768,120
300 POKE 53760,811POKE 53762, 1 I POKE 53764, 0: POKE 53766,0
310 POKE 53767, 1681 POKE 53763,168
320 GET .1,N:IF N<>32 THEN 320
330 POKE 53767, 1601 POKE 53763,160
340 N.· ....
350 RETURN
360 DATA 165,2,80,2
370 DATA 240,4,210,3
380 DATA 240,4,40,3
390 DATA 210,3,40,3
400 DATA 240,4,165,2
410 DATA 210,3,165,2
420 DATA 40,3,165,2
430 DATA 240,4,80,2
440 DATA 210,3,80,2
450 DATA 40,3,80,2
'460 DATA 40,3,8 p 2
,470 DATA 80,2,8,2
480 FOR A=1 TO 700:NEXT A
490 NEXT LOOP
500 CLRIGOTO 60
510 REM --- BY: DEVIOUS XEVIOUS ---

Programs sent in by Ford Prefect, thanks.

3-6
New Payphones Confuse Callers per each service you request, so this adds up to quite a bit of
Wall Street Journal money for the full services. The only requirement is a I A ESS.
Telephones that read credit cards may be the wave of the
future. But you wouldn't know it from watching callers at La New VAX Announced
Guardia Airport for two hours recently. Comhmed !\('v.~ Source:.

While dozens of callers dial on conventional telephones, only The Digital Equipment Corporation, the world's second-
six people approach the five card-reading phones nearby. Two largest computer maker, announced a new top-of-the-line
glance at the lengthy instructions and walk off in obvious supermini-computer capable of processing between six and
disgust. Four others, businessmen with AT&T credit cards, use seven million instructions per second.
the telephones-but punch in their account numbers manually The new machine, called a VAX 8650, was described bv
rather than using their magnetically coded cards for automatic Digital officials as the company's first extension of the VAX
recording. 8600 line. The 8650 runs about 44 percent faster and will have
The problem seems to center on the design of the new phone an internal memory that is twice as big, about 68 megabytes.
machines: Unlike most automated-teller machines used by DEC is also introducing a PC compatible that will be also
banks-where a motor-driven device whisks the card away and compatible with DEC's Rainbow Pc.
then returns it to the customer-the phone machines require
the customer to position the card's magnetic strip correctly, Cra y Maneuvers
slide the card manually through the slot, and then remove it. Communications Week

The procedure seems to intimidate customers. "People don't AT&T Bell Labs has sold an aging Cray-l supercomputer in
interact with the magnetic strip on their credit cards in daily order to purchase a sleek, new Cray X-MP; 24 supercomputer.
usage," one expert said. The new system is valued at about $10 million and will be
While the card should be inserted lengthwise along the edge installed early this year. An AT&T Bell Labs spokesman said
nearest the magnetic strip, "everyone tries to put it endways," the unit will be the company's only Cray computer. He said the
says Ray Ruiz, a product manager for Pacific Bell, which first X-MP/24 will be used at Murray Hill in AT&T microprocessor
installed credit-card phones in 1984. For the first month, he chip development and in Unix operating system research and
says, cards inserted the wrong way would get lost in the development.
machine, and a metal barrier had to be installed behind the slot
to keep the cards from being inserted too far. But he has yet to Overcharge Hunters Needed
devise a way to prevent callers from putting coins in the credit Associated Pre\~

card slot. New jobs are opening up for individuals who can ferret out
overcharges in phone bills that can exceed hundreds of
Security Software thousands of dollars. "It's basically a record keeping failure,"
Communications Week one of the detectives, James Bell, East Coast manager for Sears
American Telemanagement Corporation is marketing Communications Co. said of the telephone errors. With so
computer software aimed at preventing theft of service from many levels of telephone bureaucracy to go through before a
long distance companies by people using stolen.codes. customer's order is carried out, the request sometimes is not
The company's software, called Network Security transmitted accurately.
Management, combats theft by detecting when codes are being Some of the consultants take 50 percent of the overcharges
stolen and monitoring the use of codes to immediately identify they find. Such investigators have spent months looking over
excessive use. Three carriers have already purchased licenses to bills for large companies and municipalities. Ronal Chernow
use the program: SBS Skyline, Teltec Savings Communication Services Inc. saved New Jersey's Essex
Communications, and Microtel. Several others are testing the County $218,000 for the telephone system in their court
program. complex. Chen ow recalled a case in which a New York
company moved to New Jersey and paid a so-called mileage
Your Own Private Centrex charge for keeping its old number. But the company still was
2()(X) ~ew~ Service being billed for a switchboard that no longer existed. The
Pacific Bell is offering a new service called "Premiere" where telephone company wanted to send an employee to verify that
with a touch-tone phone one can make an amazing amount of the equipment was not there, but the building had been
services available in your own home-enough services so that replaced with a parking lot.
you could impress your friends by telling them that you have
your own pri-.ate switching system. With Premiere you can call Phone Service Via Radio Shack
any other line within your home by pushing two tones; you can Communications Week

make any phone a multi-line phone and answer any line in any Radio Shack has signed an agreement with Nevada Bell to
room; you can transfer calls within a home from one line to run a test program that allows customers to sign up for
another; you get call hold, 3-way calling, call forwarding; you immediate telephone service at Radio Shack stores in the
get something called alternate answering, where one line will Reno; Sparks area of Nevada. The cooperative program allows
ring if the other is busy; you can store up to 30 numbers that you customers to buy a phone from Radio Shack, open an account
can call up by hitting 2 tones; distinctive ringing, where external with Nevada Bell and receive a phone number on the spot.
(outside the home) and internal rings will actually sound The stores are connected to Nevada Bell via hot lines, and the
different. These services are available for $3.50 to $5 per month program is in operation any time the stores are open, not just
normal business hours.

3-7
DIVESTITURE Private Sector
(continued/rom page 3-2) (continued/rom page 3-1)
currently being done. succeeded in getting the prosecutors to reveal their true
It's true you will be writing more than one check when it knowledge of the matter in front of the entire world. And we
comes time to pay the phone bill. Many long distance convinced the American Civil Liberties Union to take up the
companies still don't go through your local phone company's case of the Private Sector. We expect them to be involved in
billing office like AT&T used to (and still does), so they must similar cases in the future. Slowly but surely, we're getting
bill you separately. Then, you could choose to make some calls through to people.
with one long distance company and others with another. Then We hope to see this kind of thing stop once and for all. Too
again, you could make calls using Visa or American Express many innocent people have already been victimized by these
and get billed that way. There are so many different ways to little-publicized gestapo tactics. Sensitive equipment has been
make a telephone call these days, so naturally there will be at damaged by careless law enforcement agents. Valuable time has
least as many ways to be billed. You could also wind up paying been lost, voices have been silenced, and people's lives have
AT&T for equipment rental, if you're wary of owning your own been adversely affected. Please, folks, wake up those around
phone equipment. So that's another check to write. you nm..·! That's our brightest hope.
Then there are pay phones, which are starting to be We apologize about having to devote yet another article to
deregulated. You may see two totally different phones that this distressing subject. Until we see some basic changes in
charge totally different rates to call the same place. This will be attitude and evidence of real protection for all of us, we must
confusing to most people, because they were never trained to continue to speak out. We hope you do the same, in whatever
think about the phones they use. But for phone phreaks, this ways possible.
represents more ways to have fun. GoodNews
What The Future Holds The good news is that at last the Private Sector is returning.
In theory, what we have today is the beginning of total At press time, the estimate for having the board up and running
equality. Unfortunately, it's also total mayhem, but that will is sometime in February. (Extra time is needed to look for any
undoubtedly clear up in time, as everyone slowly gets used to damage and also to see if any "back doors" have been installed
the new system. Many mistakes are being made and it's fun to while we weren't looking.) The numberfor the Private Sector is
find them. Skyline has a page in their bill that says, "Retain for still 2013664431.
your records," in much the same fashion as other telephone In the interim and as a supplement, 2600 will operate a
bills. The difference here is that there is no information on this limited access subscriber bulletin board from our New York
page at all except your name and the month of the bill. The office. All subscribers are welcome to call and participate in
amount owed appears on another page. Why would someone discussions with other readers on topics such as this. There will
want to retain this useless data? Then there's U.S. Tel, who also be a facility for uploading articles to us, using XMODEM
supposedly has a new credit card system-you dial a number, or ASCII transfer methods. This board will be run on an
then enter your credit card number, which is something like 14 experimental basis and only between the hours of midnight and
digits long. Miraculously enough, we've been told, any series of noon on Saturday and Sunday mornings (also known as Friday
numbers at aJi allows the call to go through! and Saturday nights), Eastern Time.
But mistakes aren't the only thing well be seeing. Since Bell To get onto this board, call 5167512600 between these times.
Labs is now able to compete openly, well see a great number of Leave your subscriber code (those funny letters and numbers
the projects they've been working on secretly for Ma Bell. This on the upper right of your mailing label) or your name as it
will be of great benefit to us. At the same time, it may get a lot appears on our mailing list, along with a first and last name of
harder for authorities and spies to keep tabs on certain people, your choice and a random password. These will be installed in
since there's no longer a guarantee that a person will use a time for the next day of activity. Don't worry about personal
certain phone or even a certain network. Diversity is good for information leaking out-we only need to see it once to verify
the individual. that you're a subscriber and then it will be destroyed.
All of this is only the beginning. Many more changes are on If you call that number at any other time, you'll either get a
the horizon and technological enthusiasts will have quite a human or a machine. If you reach the machine, leave a message
time. For the average person who doesn't care, things may be so that we can pick up for real if we're within earshot, which is
unpleasant, especially if the explanations aren't as plentiful as more often than you might think.
the changes. Hopefully though, these folks will be comforted by We're also planning to have meetings in various cities
the knowledge that it's all/air. throughout 1986. If you think a particular city is well-suited for
this, let us know and we will take it into account.
We have a lot of fine articles just waiting to be printed and
Advertise in 2600! we're always looking for more. Feel free to send us anything of
Reach over 1,000 selective interest.

readers-hackers, security
Are You Reading Someone Else' 5 Copy of 2600?
analysts, corporate spies,
WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?
private consultants, and • You'll get your very own copy at the same
people who are just time of every month.
interested in what s • You won't lose your eyesight trying to read
small print that's been copied six times or morel
gOing on. • You'll be helping 2600 become financially
Call 516-751-2600 for info. 3-8 solvent, which will result in a better publication.