From: MERC::"uunet!CRVAX.SRI.COM!RELAY-INFO-VAX" 7-FEB-1993 19:13:52.08 To: info-vax@kl.sri.com CC: Subj: DECUS DFWLUG Feb 9th Meeting Notice/Newsletter ========================================================================== = __________ = =| ______ | THE DFWLUG = =| / ---- \ | 10th Anniversary(*1982-1992*) = =| | | | Celebrating over 10 Years of DECUS = =| \ ____ / | in Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas = =| ------ | = = ---------- dfwlug@fallout.lonestar.org BBS: (214) 270-3313 = = D E C U S = = = = The DFWLUG is the Local Users Group for the = = Digital Equipment Computer Users Society (DECUS) = = = = *DECUS* DFWLUG NET/Newsletter = = = =Volume 3 Number 2 February 5th, 1993 = =========================================================================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 INDEX (in this issue) PAGE 1 * The next DFWLUG meeting Info and Map (February 9th, 1993) PAGE 2 * DFWLUG Speakers and Calendar DECUS of Events for 1993 PAGE 3 * DFWLUG will host "BOSSES' DAY" for local DECUS/DEC Customers PAGE 4 * Futurebus+ FACT SHEET PAGE 5 * Futurebus+ Vendor Contact List PAGE 6 * Digital Demonstrates Alpha AXP system with Futurebus+ PAGE 7 * Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service Lawsuit -- Day One PAGE 8 * Digital Creates 13,500-MIPS supercomputer with Alpha AXPs PAGE 9 * DFWLUG Staff members and contact list PAGE 10 * DFWLUG BBS Info PAGE 11 * Digital's 1-800 Service Phone Numbers (Consulting and Sales) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 1 2/9/93 -- >>>>>> The February meeting agenda is as follows: Bill Hancock Vice-President of Network-1 Inc. is an internationally respected consultant and engineer with many years experiance in network design, management, troubleshooting, security and standards. Bill brings a unique, first hand insight to network management and troubleshooting techniques, performance and tool requirements. He is also the recipient of the DECUS Technical Excellence Award, the top technical achievement award given by the U.S. Chapter and writes a regular technical column in Digital News and Review. His topic is : "Network Performance Issues in Client-Server Networks" This presentation is a summaried version of his seminar on the same topic scheduled for the 1993 Spring DECUS symposia in Atlanta. We are expecting a large group so be sure to come early to get a good seat! -- Chris Simon will have several of Bill Hancock's books as door prizes. -- Robert Eden will also have the Spring 92 DECUS Symposia Software on 9-track reel tapes. Please Don't bring your 9 Tracks to trade, Robert says he has enough to just give away. (but if you would like to donate 1 TK50 in trade...;-) Look for the entire listing of the Spring Symposia tape on the the DFWLUG BBS (214-270-3313). Robert has posted the index and descriptions to VAXnotes. -- David Cathey will have membership forms and DFWLUG BBS membership forms available at the meeting. LUG membership and meeting attendance is always free but your $10.00/year contribution gets you a personal/private account on the DFWLUG BBS and helps keep the LUG moving. Help us to help you, a little bit goes a long way. -- John Wisniewski will load MS-DOS Kermit/Network starter Kit on YOUR 3 1/2" floppy. If you need some help with the DFWLUG BBS see him too (he's the local sysop!) There will be a new ALPHA 64-Bit workstation(s) running OpenVMS and/or OSF/1 on Display at this meeting. -- POPCORN and Soft drinks are furnished courtesy of Digital. -----------ASCII MAP TO THE MEETING----------------------------------------- Meeting Location: 7:00pm This meeting will be at the - - - Digital's Application Center |Enter| | for Technology (214) 702-4400. | \|/ | |-------| | |----|----|----|| |-----| 9th floor of the Digital Building | Hilton| | |DEC |Bank|OXY || | | in North Dallas. |-------| | |----|----|----|| |_____|Galleria - - - - - - - - -| ______________________________|________________________ | LBJ Freeway I-635 D|T A|O ^ L|L /|\ L|L | A|W |North S|A |Y -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 2 THE DFWLUG FALL/WINTER SCHEDULE OF SPEAKERS Feb. 9 - Bill Hancock Network-1 Client/Server Network Performance Mar. 16 - DECUS and the DFWLUG hosts "BOSSES' DAY" Introduce your Boss to DECUS, Digital, and what being a DECUS member gives back to their bottom line! THE 1993 DECUS WINTER/SPRING CALENDAR OF EVENTS DECUS Seminars in Austin Feb. 6 - Converting your VMS applications to RISC VMS on Alpha Feb. 7 - Network Security - An Introduction Feb. 8 - Security from a System Manager's Perspective. Feb. 9 - Writing DECwindows Applications. Mar.27-30 - DECUS University in Chicago (6-8 seminars to choose from each day) Jun. 5-6 - DECUS Spring Seminars - Atlanta Jun. 7-11 - DECUS Spring Symposia - Atlanta -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 3 DECUS and the DFWLUG hosts "BOSSES' Day" NEXT MONTH>>>>>>>>>>>>>>March 16th 1993 The DFWLUG is hosting a meeting that you can bring your BOSS to! What is DECUS? What do those DECUS techies do at their meetings and national symposia? What DECUS services are available to help me and my company use computing and information technology more effectively? All these questions and many more will be answered in this "Introduction to DECUS" that even a boss will enjoy. The final agenda is still being finished but here is our program so far: Marg Knox President of National Chapter of U.S. DECUS Lon Crozier Chairman of the DFWLUG Keith Butler North Texas / Oklahoma Account Group Manager Digital Equipment DECUS resources, DFWLUG resources, and Digital resources will be discussed and documented for future use. The DFWLUG will hosts a terminal room with several Gigabytes of Internet News, Pathwork fileservices, VMS, UNIX and MSdos software libraries and DECUS archives. We'll also have terminals and PCs to explore or copy any of these notes archives. (Bring your own floppies;-) This will be an afternoon meeting (so no reason you can't bring your boss;-)! Watch for more details next month! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 4 Futurebus+ FACT SHEET Digital's Milestones in Futurebus+ Development: o July, 1989 - Digital joins Futurebus+ Working Group o January, 1990 - Digital announces the formation of Profile B the I/O bus for Futurebus+ o November, 1990 - Digital and Raytheon complete joint effort on Futurebus+ signal integrity studies o January, 1991 - Digital releases the MORE BIT patent to IEEE 896 o September, 1991 - IEEE REVCOM approves IEEE 896.1 and IEEE 896.2 o February, 1992 - Digital displays the first Futurebus+ System at BUSCON WEST - The IEEE Futurebus+ standards are submitted for international standardization by ISO and IEC o November, 1992 - Digital announces its Futurebus+ machines with ALPHA AXP processors IEEE Futurebus+ Working Groups in which Digital Participates: o IEEE P896.1a Errata Correction to IEEE Std. 896.1-1991 o IEEE P896.2a Errata Correction to IEEE Std. 896.2-1991 o IEEE 896.3 Futurebus+ Recommended Practices o IEEE 896.4 Conformance Test o IEEE 896.5 Military Profile o IEEE 896.6 Telecommunications Profile o IEEE 1101 Conduction Cooled/Mechanical o IEEE 1156 Environmental Standard o IEEE 1301 Metric Mechanicals o IEEE 896.9 Extensions to Futurebus+ for Fault Tolerant o IEEE 896.10 Space Profile -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 5 Futurebus+ Vendor Contact List PRODUCT NAME: Peripherals Available for Futurebus+ Based Alpha AXP Systems OVERVIEW: Third-party vendors continue to be an important aspect of Digital's strategy for Futurebus+ related products for Alpha AXP systems. Vendors can obtain support from Digital from the Futurebus+ Program Office in Maynard. Below is a partial list of third-party products that complement Digital's line of Alpha AXP/Futurebus+ systems and servers. They include a Futurebus+ VMEbus Bridge by Cable and Computer Technology, the TURBOstor Futurebus+ IPI Disk Controller by GENROCO, the Aeon Futurebus+ HiPPI Interface, Futurebus+ Analysis Tools by Future+ Systems, Futurebus+ Analysis Tools by Tektronix, a VMEbus to Futurebus+ Bridge by Nanotek, Inc., the VME+ Analyzer System from VMETRO, Inc., and a HiPPI interface, memory board, high-speed tape interface, and transputer interface from Myriad Logic. FutureBus+ VMEbus Bridge by Cable and Computer Technology Cable and Computer Technology's VMEbus Bridge offers investment protection to the VME community migrating to Digital's Alpha systems. The migration from VMEbus to Futurebus+ will provide users with balanced I/O subsystems for their high-performance Alpha systems and servers. Model FBB-001 permits the interconnection of any Futurebus+ profile A/B compatible system to an IEEE 1014 VMEbus system. No other processor or system controller cards are required. The FBB-001 Bridge thus provides transparent movement of data between Futurebus+ and VME-based systems, and conforms to both the IEEE 896 specification and the current draft IEEE 1014.1 specification (Futurebus+ to VMEbus Bridge). By adding Futurebus+ boards as I/O requirements dictate, VME users can easily upgrade their systems while preserving their VME investment. The FBB-001 also provides users of Futurebus+ systems access to a wide choice of commercial, off-the-shelf VMEbus I/O devices. For more information about the FBB-001 Bridge, contact Cable & Computer Technology, Inc. at 714/937-1341. The TURBOstor Futurebus+ IPI Disk Controller by GENROCO The TURBOstor IPI-240F Intelligent Peripheral Interface can control up to 8 IPI-2 and/or enhanced IPI-2 disk drives, including the Seagate Technology 5.25" Elite-3 with Zone Bit Recording (ZBR) and 24 MB/s buffers. The product emulates Digital's MSCP disk architecture, and will be supported under OpenVMS AXP and DEC OSF/1 AXP for Alpha AXP systems based on Futurebus+. Using DEC striping software, as few as three Elite-3 disk drives on one controller can be treated as a logical unit and sustain data transfers at 24 MB/s. Multiple controllers can be striped to yield continuous data flow in excess of 100 MB/s. For server applications, the newest TURBOstor offering features GENROCO's adaptive stream cache, intelligent read-ahead, command consolidation and queuing, overlapped seeks, seek & latency ordering, and bus/drive throttling. The IPI interface allows for better control over drive operation and mechanical management than SCSI for significantly increased throughput. The IPI-240F also offers a number of high-availability features for fault-tolerant environments. IPI drives are dual ported to allow for simultaneous connection to a host and a "hot" standby server. The IPI-240F handles dual-port, drive-locking compatibility with Digital's HA950 HSC disk array. Digital's Volume Shadowing software is supported, allowing mirror images of data also to be dual ported between two platforms. This provides constant access to information, unaffected by a single point of failure. If a disk drive fails, GENROCO TURBOswap cables allow the user to replace the drive without impact. For more information, contact GENROCO, Inc. at 1-800-2GENROCO or 414/644-8700. The Aeon Futurebus+ HiPPI Interface Aeon's Futurebus+ HiPPI (High-Performance Parallel Interface) controller is designed to offload time-critical protocol processing from the Alpha system, ensuring that full HiPPI potential can be achieved by application programs. HiPPI is emerging as a transport of choice for many aspects of high-performance computing, including disk and tape storage, and an increasing number of applications that demand high data rates (such as satellite telemetry and aerospace). Futurebus+ offers the first open standard to provide data transfer rates fast enough to fully support HiPPI's high bandwidth I/O capabilities. The Aeon Futurebus+ HiPPI controller will sustain HiPPI transfers of 100 MB/s. By combining the Futurebus+ backplane with HiPPI bandwidth and Alpha computing power, complete and balanced systems can now be constructed. The Aeon HiPPI controller can also be fully integrated with both VMS and OSF/1. For further information, contact Aeon Systems, Inc. at 505/828-9120. Futurebus+ Analysis Tools by Future+ Systems Future+ Systems offers a range of products to meet the needs of system and module designers in the growing Futurebus+ marketplace. Products include: Model FS16564 64-bit Futurebus+ Preprocessor Model FS16564CA 64-bit Futurebus+ Preprocessor with Central Arbiter Model FS16528 128-bit Futurebus+ Preprocessor Model FS16528CA 128-bit Futurebus+ Preprocessor with Central Arbiter The Futurebus+ Preprocessor provides the electrical link between the BTL Futurebus+ backplane and the HP Logic Analyzer. A complete software disassembly package is also provided. This disassembly package provides accurate transaction disassembly on a phase-by- phase basis by decoding the data from the Futurebus+ along with preprocessor-provided state bits. All signals specified by the IEEE 896.1 and 896.2 specification can be viewed using the Preprocessor line of products. The central arbiter option will support up to 14 slots. Future+ Systems provides Futurebus+ test solutions to Digital's growing TOEM customer base. For more information about Future+ Systems Analysis tools, call 508/392-9016. Futurebus+ Analysis Tools by Tektronix Tektronix offers the 92DM911 interface package for the DAS 9200 logic analyzer. It is the first logic analyzer interface package to provide full acquisition, display and analysis capability for Futurebus+ applications. The interface package, with the DAS 9200 system equipped and two Centurion logic analyzer cards, consists of a probe adapter card, setup/display software and a user's manual. For bus-based timing analysis, the logic analyzer system offers 192 channels running at 100MHz. The board performs real-time state acquisition of all three phases of each Futurebus+ transaction at up to 128 data bits. Data is displayed on a single screen using familiar Futurebus+ mnemonics. Both bus cycles and individual signals are easily recognized. The software decodes the and groups the various signal groups and the display presents the data in simple easy to use terms. For further information on the 92DM911 Futurebus+ support package, write on company letterhead to Tektronix, Inc. Test and Measurement Group. P.O. Box 1520, Pittsfield, MA 01202, or phone toll free at 1-800-426-2200. Tektronix is a leading manufacturer of electronic products and systems in the areas of test and measurement equipment, computer graphics and communications. Nanotek's VMEbus to Futurebus+ Bridge and 68040 Processor Module Nanotek's VME Futurebus+ Bridge provides a two board solution for connecting a hard metric Futurebus+ system with a VMEbus system. The bridge provides access to all the extensive range of VME functions from within the Futurebus+ system. The bridge features a 50 Mbyte/sec. link between the 32-bit VME and 64-bit Futurebus+ data path for full speed transfers; compatibility with IEEE 986.1, 896.2, and draft P1041.1; Analog I/O, disk I/O, and LAN/WAN I/O capabilities for Futurebus+ development systems. Nanotek's 68040 processor module is designed with all the required features of Profile F of the IEEE 896.2 specification. It is designed to take advantage of the increased performance and features of Futurebus+. For more information, contact Nanotek at (800) 786-8961. VME+ Analyzer System by VMETRO, Inc. VMETRO's new VME+ Analyzer System offers support for a multitude of busses, including VMEbus, VSB, SCSI, VXI, and Futurebus+. With the VME+ Analyzer System and add-on modules, users get up to 50 Mhz State Analysis and 200Mhz timing analysis with full-speed, full-width trigger capabilities on all bus signals. For more information, contact John Simpson at VMETRO at (713) 584-0728. Myriad Logic's Futurebus+ Board Products for Alpha AXP Systems Myriad Logic's Futurebus+ boards fulfill interface requirements of Digital's new Alpha AXP systems. All of the products are hard-metric, Profile B compatible and include a HiPPI interface board, a 512 Mbyte memory board, a high-speed tape, and a transputer interface board. The HiPPI interface board is designed to interconnect Alpha AXP systems to HiPPi channels in other computer, network, and storage systems. This includes interconnecting Alpha AXP systems to each other, to supercomputers such as Cray, Convex, and Maspar, to network products such as Network Systems and UltraNetwork, and to embedded systems such as Force and Motorola. The Myriad Logic Futurebus+ memory board has a capacity from 16 to 512 Mbytes. The high-speed tape interface, the model DIR-710, is an interface from the Futurebus+ to the Sony, model DIR-1000 high-speed helical scan digital recorder. And the transputer interface, the TRN-825, is a Futurebus+ TRAM carrier board with 18 TRAM sites for implementing large transputer networks within an Alpha AXP system. For more information, contact Adrian Abineri at Myriad Logic at (301) 588-0604. Note to Editors: Alpha AXP, DEC, VAX, and OpenVMS AXP are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. Cray, Maspar, Network Systems, UltraNetwork, Convex, Force Computers, Motorola, and Texas Instruments are all trademarks of the respective companies. Sony and DIR-1000 are trademarks of Sony Corporation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 6 DIGITAL DEMONSTRATES ALPHA AXP SYSTEMS WITH FUTUREBUS+ OPTIONS AT TWO NEW CONFERENCES MAYNARD, Mass. -- February 3, 1993 -- Digital Equipment Corporation today announced plans to exhibit its DEC 4000 Model 610 AXP systems and Futurebus+ options at two upcoming conferences. The conferences are the Navy's Next Generation Computer Resources (NGCR) User's Society to be held February 16-18, at the Stouffer's Concourse Hotel, in Crystal City, Virginia; and the Embedded Computer Conference (ECC), from April 14-16, in the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, California. NGCR is a new user's conference for system developers, system engineers, program managers, and acquisition managers from the Navy, other branches of the service, and government agencies. One of the objectives of the conference is to endorse recently published NGCR open systems architecture standards, including the Futurebus+ backplane. At the conference, users and potential users of NGCR-compliant products can meet with manufacturers and vendors who design, build, and integrate systems using these products. ECC is a first-time show for technical OEMs, bringing together a wide range of software and hardware solutions for embedded computer applications. ECC will attract suppliers of embedded computer software, hardware, and services, and engineers from OEMs who are responsible for specifying computer-based solutions. Jim Duval, Manager of Digital's Futurebus+ Program Office, which offers support to third-party vendors of Futurebus+ related products, said, "Our attendance at these two conferences will help us promote our Alpha AXP/Futurebus+ products to customers and prospects who require extremely high I/O performance. Customers include the military, and Technical OEMs whose products contain specialized hardware for a wide variety of sophisticated applications. Digital is committed to this market segment, and users can expect to see a number of significant Futurebus+ products coming from Digital and third parties in the near future." Digital offers the Futurebus+, an open, industry standard interconnect protocol for high-speed, high-performance I/O, as an option for its Alpha AXP systems. By matching the powerful 64-bit Alpha AXP system processing capability with the 64-bit I/O Futurebus+ subsystem, Digital is able to provide balanced, open systems with performance levels of more than 180 MB/s, the highest I/O throughput performance available. And like Alpha AXP processor technology, Futurebus+ performance scales by orders of magnitude for decades of investment protection. Customers such as Ralph Lachenmeir, Chair of the IEEE P896.5 Futurebus+ Military Profile, concur, "I'm very excited about DEC's broad commitment to Futurebus+. With Futurebus+ processor boards running at Alpha AXP speeds, the Navy can have a very high- performance Futurebus+ based open architectural systems for everything from desktop computers to weapons system controllers." And Lieutenant Commander Vinnie Squitieri, military co-chair for the Navy's NGCR backplane standards, said, "Digital's complete support of Futurebus+ based products will be a significant contributing factor in enabling the Navy to procure high-performance backplane open architecture systems for a wide range of applications." Futurebus+, also known as the IEEE 896, is the first bus architecture ever designed by an industry-wide standards body. "Digital has played a key role in the development of the IEEE 896 specification, which many in the industry have certainly appreciated," said Harrison Beasley, of Texas Instruments and the IEEE BASC chair. Digital employee Sam Duncan currently chairs the IEEE 896 Errata Working Group and is a member of the committee that oversees the international standardization of Futurebus+. Digital Equipment Corporation, headquartered in Maynard, Massachusetts, is the leading worldwide supplier of networked computer systems, software and services. Digital pioneered and leads the industry in interactive, distributed and multivendor computing. Digital and its business partners deliver the power to use the best integrated solutions - from desktop to data center - in open information environments. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 7 {The following is three days of stories on the by Joe Abernathy from the Houston Chronicle as relayed by Usenet. Contributed by Wes Plouff} Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service Lawsuit -- Day One By JOE ABERNATHY Copyright 1993, Houston Chronicle AUSTIN -- Plaintiff's attorneys wrested two embarrassing admissions from the United States Secret Service on the opening day of a federal civil lawsuit designed to establish the bounds of constitutional protections for electronic publishing and electronic mail. In the first, Special Agent Timothy Foley of Chicago admitted that crucial statements were erroneous in an affidavit he used to conduct several search-and-seizure operations in a March 1990 crackdown on computer crime. Foley later conceded that the Secret Service's special training for computer crime investigators overlooks any mention of the law that regulates the extent of permissible search-and-seizures at publishing operations. The case, brought by Steve Jackson Games, an Austin firm, is being tried before United States District Judge Sam Sparks. Carefully nurtured over the course of three years by a group of electronic civil rights activists -- at a cost of more than $200,000 -- the case has been eagerly anticipated as a possible damper on what is seen as computer crime hysteria among federal police. Plaintiffs hope to prove that the printed word exists just as surely on the computer screen as it does on a sheet of paper. The complaint also seeks to establish the right of computer users to congregate electronically on bulletin board systems -- such as one called Illuminati that was taken from Steve Jackson Games -- and to exchange private electronic mail on such BBSs. "This lawsuit is just to stand up and say, at the end of the 20th Century, that publishing occurs as much on computers as on the printed page," said Jim George, of the Austin firm George, Donaldson & Ford, Jackson's law firm. That issue came into sharp focus during George's questioning of Foley regarding the seizure of the PC on which Illuminati ran, and another computer on which was stored the word processing document containing a pending Steve Jackson Games book release, GURPS Cyberpunk. "At the Secret Service computer crime school, were you, as the agent in charge of this investigation, made aware of special rules for searching a publishing company?" George asked Foley. He was referring to the Privacy Protection Act, which states that police may not seize a work in progress from a publisher. It does not specify what physical form such a work must take. "No, sir, I was not," Foley responded. "Did you just miss class the day that was taught?" George asked. "No, sir. The United States Secret Service does not teach its agents about special rules regarding search and seizure at publishing companies," Foley said. "Let the record clearly show that to be the case," George said. Earlier, Foley admitted on the witness stand that his original affidavit seeking a judge's approval to raid Steve Jackson Games contained a fundamental error. During the March 1990 raid -- one of several dozen staged that day around the country in an investigation that the Secret Service called Operation Sun Devil at the time -- agents were seeking copies of a document taken as a hacker trophy from BellSouth. Subsequently republished in an electronic magazine called Phrack, thousands of copies of the document were stored on bulletin board systems around the nation. Neither Jackson nor his company were suspected of wrongdoing, and no charges have ever been filed against anyone targeted in several Austin raids. The alleged membership of Steve Jackson employee Loyd Blankenship in the Legion of Doom hacker's group -- which was believed responsible for the break-in -- led agents to raid the Austin game publisher at the same time that Blankenship's Austin home was raided. Yet the only two paragraphs in the 42-paragraph indictment that established a connection between Blankenship's alleged illegal activities and Steve Jackson Games were shown to have been erroneously arrived at, when George produced a statement by Bellcore expert Henry Kluepfel disputing statements attributed to him in Foley's affidavit. "Is it true that Mr. Kluepfel logged onto (Illuminati)?" George questioned. "No, sir," Foley responded. "But you state that in your affidavit," George said. "That was a misattribution," Foley said. "So you had no knowledge that anything was sent to my client?" "No sir, not directly," Foley said. "Indirectly?" George asked. "No sir." The Justice Department, in papers filed with the court, contends that only traditional journalistic organizations enjoy the protections of the Privacy Protection Act. It further contends that users of electronic mail have no reasonable expectation of privacy. The trial was to resume at 8:30 a.m. It is expected to conclude on Thursday or Friday. Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service Trial -- Day Two By JOE ABERNATHY Copyright 1993, Houston Chronicle AUSTIN -- A young woman read aloud a deeply personal friendship letter Wednesday in a federal civil lawsuit intended to establish the human dimension and constitutional guarantees of electronic assembly and communication. Testimony indicated that the letter read by Elizabeth Cayce-McCoy previously had been seized, printed and reviewed by the Secret Service. Her correspondence was among 162 undelivered personal letters testimony indicated were taken by the government in March 1990 during a raid on Steve Jackson Games, which ran an electronic bulletin board system as a service to its customers. Attorneys for the Austin game publisher contend that the seizure of the bulletin board represents a violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which is based on Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. "Because you bring such joy to my friend Walter's life, and also because I liked you when I met you, though I wish I could have seen your lovely face a little more, I'll send you an autographed copy of Bestiary," said McCoy, reading in part from a letter penned by Steffan O'Sullivan, the author of the GURPS Bestiary, a fantasy treatise on mythical creatures large and small. Although the correspondence entered the public record upon McCoy's reading, the Chronicle obtained explicit permission from the principals before excerpting from it. The electronic mail was contained on the game publisher's public bulletin board system, Illuminati, which allowed game-players, authors and others to exchange public and personal documents. After agents seized the BBS during a raid staged as part of a nationwide crackdown on computer crime, Secret Service analysts reviewed, printed and deleted the 162 pieces of undelivered mail, testimony indicated. When the BBS computer was returned to its owner several months later, a computer expert was able to resurrect many of the deleted communications, including McCoy's friendship letter. "I never thought anyone would read my mail," she testified. "I was very shocked and embarrassed. "When I told my father that the Secret Service had taken the Steve Jackson bulletin board for some reason, he became very upset. He thought that I had been linked to some computer crime investigation, and that now our computers would be taken." O'Sullivan, who is a free-lance game writer employed by Steve Jackson, followed McCoy to the stand, where he testified that agents intercepted -- via the Illuminati seizure -- a critical piece of electronic mail seeking to establish when a quarterly royalty check would arrive. "That letter never arrived, and I had to borrow money to pay the rent," he said. No charges were ever filed in connection with the raid on Steve Jackson Games or the simultaneous raid of the Austin home of Jackson employee Loyd Blankenship, whose reputed membership in the Legion of Doom hackers' group triggered the raids. Plaintiffs contend that the government's search-and-seizure policies have cast a chill over a constitutionally protected form of public assembly carried out on bulletin boards, which serve as community centers often used by hundreds of people. More than 300 people were denied use of Jackson's bulletin board, called Illuminati, for several months after the raid, and documents filed with the court claim that a broader, continuing chill has been cast over the online community at large. The lawsuit against the Secret Service seeks to establish that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act guarantees the privacy of electronic mail. If U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks accepts this contention, it would become necessary for the government to obtain warrants for each caller to a bulletin board before seizing it. The Justice Department contends that users of electronic mail do not have a reasonable expectation to privacy, because they are voluntarily "disclosing" their mail to a third party -- the owner of the bulletin board system. "We weren't going to intercept electronic mail. We were going to access stored information," said William J. Cook, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago who wrote the affidavit for the search warrant used in the Steve Jackson raid. The Justice Department attorneys did not substantially challenge testimony by any of the several witnesses who were denied use of Illuminati. They did, however, seek to prevent those witnesses from testifying -- by conceding their interests -- after Cayce's compelling appearance led off the series of witnesses. Most of the Justice Department's energies were directed toward countering damage claims made by Steve Jackson, whose testimony opened the second day of the trial. Most of the day's testimony was devoted to a complex give-and-take on accounting issues. Some $2 million is being sought in damages. Justice sought to counter the widely repeated assertion that Steve Jackson Games was nearly put out of business by the raid by showing that the company was already struggling financially when the raid was conducted. An accountant called by the plaintiffs countered that all of Jackson's financial problems had been corrected by a reorganization in late 1989. Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service wrapup By JOE ABERNATHY Copyright 1993, Houston Chronicle AUSTIN -- An electronic civil rights case against the Secret Service closed Thursday with a clear statement by federal District Judge Sam Sparks that the Service failed to conduct a proper investigation in a notorious computer crime crackdown, and went too far in retaining custody of seized equipment. The judge's formal findings in the complex case, which will likely set new legal precedents, won't be returned until later. A packed courtroom sat on the edge of the seat Thursday morning as Sparks subjected the Secret Service agent in charge of the investigation to a grueling dressing-down. The judge's rebuke apparently convinced the Department of Justice to close its defense after calling only that one of the several government witnesses on hand. Attorney Mark Battan entered subdued testimony seeking to limit the award of monetary damages. Secret Service Special Agent Timothy Foley of Chicago, who was in charge of three Austin computer search-and-seizures on March 1, 1990, that led to the lawsuit, stoically endured Spark's rebuke over the Service's poor investigation and abusive computer seizure policies. While the Service has seized dozens of computers since the crackdown began in 1990, this is the first case to challenge the practice. "The Secret Service didn't do a good job in this case. We know no investigation took place. Nobody ever gave any concern as to whether (legal) statutes were involved. We know there was damage," Sparks said in weighing damages. The lawsuit, brought by Steve Jackson Games of Austin, said that the seizure of three computers violated the Privacy Protection Act, which provides First Amendment protections against seizing a publisher's works in progress. The lawsuit further said that since one of the computers was being used to run a bulletin board system containing private electronic mail, the seizure violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act in regards to the 388 callers of the Illuminati BBS. Sparks grew visibly angry when it was established that the Austin science fiction magazine and game book publisher was never suspected of a crime, and that agents did not do even marginal research to establish a criminal connection between the firm and the suspected illegal activities of an employee, or to determine that the company was a publisher. Indeed, agents testified that they were not even trained in the Privacy Protection Act at the special Secret Service school on computer crime. "How long would it have taken you, Mr. Foley, to find out what Steve Jackson Games did, what it was?" asked Sparks. "An hour? "Was there any reason why, on March 2, you could not return to Steve Jackson Games a copy, in floppy disk form, of everything taken? "Did you read the article in Business Week magazine where it had a picture of Steve Jackson -- a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen -- saying he was a computer crime suspect? "Did it ever occur to you, Mr. Foley, that seizing this material could harm Steve Jackson economically?" Foley replied, "No, sir," but the judge offered his own answer. "You actually did, you just had no idea anybody would actually go out and hire a lawyer and sue you." More than $200,000 has been spent by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in bringing the case to trial. The EFF was founded by Mitchell Kapor amid a civil liberties movement sparked in large part by the Secret Service computer crime crackdown. "The dressing-down of the Secret Service for their behavior is a major vindication of what we've been saying all along, which is that there were outrageous actions taken against Steve Jackson that hurt his business and sent a chilling effect to everyone using bulletin boards, and that there were larger principles at stake," said Kapor, contacted at his Cambridge, Mass., office. "We're very happy with the way the case came out," said Shari Steele, who attended the case as counsel for the EFF. "That session with the judge and Tim Foley is what a lawyer dreams about." That session seemed triggered by a riveting cross-examination of Foley by Pete Kennedy, Jackson's attorney. Kennedy forced Foley to admit that the search warrant did not meet even the Service's own standards for a search-and-seizure, and did not establish that Jackson Games was suspected of being involved in any illegal activity. "Agent Foley, it's been almost three years. Has Chris Goggans been indicted? Has Loyd Blankenship been indicted? Has Loyd Blankenship's computer been returned to him?" The purported membership of Jackson Games employee Blankenship in the Legion of Doom hacker's group triggered the raids that day on Jackson Games, Blankenship's home, and that of Goggans, a Houstonian who at the time was a University of Texas student. No charges have been filed, although the computer seized from Blankenship's home -- containing his wife's dissertation -- never has been returned. After the cross-examination, Sparks questioned Foley on a number of key details before and after the raid, focusing on the holes in the search warrant, why Jackson was not allowed to copy his work in progress after it was seized, and why his computers were not returned after the Secret Service analyzed them, a process completed before the end of March. "The examination took seven days, but you didn't give Steve Jackson's computers back for three months. Why?" asked an incredulous Sparks. "So here you are, with three computers, 300 floppy disks, an owner who was asking for it back, his attorney calling you, and what I want to know is why copies of everything couldn't be given back in days. Not months. Days. "That's what makes you mad about this case." The Justice Department contended that Jackson Games is a manufacturer, and that only journalistic organizations can call upon the Privacy Protection Act. It contended that the ECPA was not violated because electronic mail is not "intercepted" when a BBS is seized. This argument rests on a narrow definition of interception. Permission to copy material from this VNS is granted (per DIGITAL PP&P) provided that the message header for the issue and credit lines for the VNS correspondent and original source are retained in the copy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 8 Digital - Creates 13,500-MIPS supercomputer farm using Alpha AXP workstations {Livewire, Worldwide News, 29-Jan-93} Digital created a virtual supercomputer rated at a massive 13,500 integer MIPS at the Australian Supercomputer Conference in December 1992 by linking four Alpha AXP workstations to a DECmpp 12000 massively parallel computer on the exhibition stand and to a remote Cray EL supercomputer. (MIPS stands for millions of instructions per second). Using the Alpha AXP workstations running the DEC OSF/1 operating system, conference delegates could assign image processing components of the demonstration program to the DECmpp system, vector processing tasks to the Cray system (sited at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) and general processing to any or all of the workstations. Using Digital's Network Application Support (NAS) integrated software products and high-speed wide-area network links, two software tools from Oak Ridge Laboratories in Tennessee were the glue that let the four computers act as one: PVM (Parallel Virtual Machine) and HeNCE (Heterogeneous Network Computing Environment). PVM and HeNCE ran on each of the computers, allowing users to move programming objects from one platform to another with a mouse. HeNCE coordinated the processing output so that objects comprising an application are displayed at the appropriate moment. The tools can link up to eight platforms into one virtual computing environment. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 9 DFWLUG Contact list The DFWLUG Steering Committee: Chairman: Lon Crozier Meeting Chris Simon Arms Inc. Coordinator: FMC Corporation 5757 Alpha Road 1460 Round Table Dallas, TX 75240 Dallas, TX 75247 (214) 385-3090 (214) 689-7127 Membership David Cathey Secretary/ Jim Rodgers Coordinator: Montagar Software Concepts Treasurer: SSC Laboratory P.O. BOX 260772 2550 Beckley Meade Plano, TX 75026 MS 1011 (214) 618-2117 Dallas, TX 75237 (214) 708-6134 SW/Tape Robert Eden NEWSLETTER Jo Ann Catcott Librarian: JCS Consulting Services CO-EDITOR: Computer Education & Design 5905 Beverly Dr. West #3133 750 Hammon Dr. Bldg #9 Fort Worth, TX 76132 Atlanta, GA 30328 (817) 897-0491 (214) 733-4318 NEWSLETTER Alan Bruns DIGITAL John Wisniewski CO-EDITOR: Allied Electronics COUNTERPART: Digital Equipment Corp 7410 Pebble Drive 14131 Midway Road Fort Worth, TX 76118 Dallas, TX 75244 (817) 595-3500 (214) 404-6412 DECUS Membership Processing NATIONAL: DECUS US Chapter 333 South Street, SHR1-4/D33 Shrewsbury, MA 01545-4195 (508) 841-3341 EMAIL TO THE DFWLUG STAFF SEND TO: dfwlug@fallout.lonestar.org The entire DFWLUG staff will receive a copy of the E-Mail message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 10 THE DFWLUG BBS SYSTEM The DFWLUG hosts a semiprivate VAX BBS for use by it's membership, we currently are using VMS 5.5-2, POSIX, have over two GIGbytes of storage, with multiple phone-lines (V.32 modem links). The DFWLUG BBS has been in operation for over two years and hosts VAXnotes, ANU News (1700+ newsgroups), DECUS UUCP (for E-Mail anywhere on the INTERNET), file exchange, and indexes of the DECUS Software libraries (with over 10,000 programs) available from our LUG Librarian. Membership and private accounts for the BBS are available to computer professionals in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Private accounts may be granted by joining the DFWLUG and donating $10.00 yearly to the DFWLUG BBS Memorial Phone-Line fund. Accounts are available during the monthly meetings that take place every second Tuesday, 7:00pm at the Digital ACT (702-4400) in Dallas TX. For more information you may dial-in to our public account: (214) 270-3313 300-2400 Baud 8/n/1 mnp 5 (214) 270-3313 1200-9600 Baud 8/n/1 mnp 5 Use account name INFO for public access. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 PAGE 11 TELEPHONE NUMBERS FOR DIGITAL SUPPORT AND ORDERING PC DESKTOP Direct (to purchase a PC or for PC configuration questions) 1-800-722-9332 1-800-SOFTWARE (to purchase any of 12,000 PC software products) 1-800-763-8927 DECdirect (to purchase any non-PC product computers, network, supplies 1-800-344-4825 or for DECdirect Prepurchasing Technical questions.) DECdirect Modem Line 1200-2400 Baud 1-800-234-1998 Education Services hotline (For information on upcoming DEC classes and locations) 1-800-332-5656 --------------------- The above service numbers are free. The following requires a valid Digital support Contract and are available 24 hours per day. --------------------- Colorado Customer Support Software support under contract 1-800-354-9000 Atlanta Customer Software Support under contract. 1-800-332-8000 Master Champs 24x7 Mission Critical Support under special contract. 1-800-345-3746 24 hour each day Customer Support to log a call with Field service and have something repaired 1-800-354-9000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- MASTHEAD/DISCLAIMERS/LEGAL STUFF __________ | ______ | THE DFWLUG | / ---- \ | 10th Anniversary(*1982-1992*) | | | | Celebrating over 10 Years of DECUS | \ ____ / | in Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas | ------ | ---------- dfwlug@fallout.lonestar.org BBS: (214) 270-3313 D E C U S The DFWLUG is the Local Users Group for the Digital Equipment Computer Users Society (DECUS) *DECUS* DFWLUG NET/Newsletter Volume 3 Number 2 February 5th, 1993 The DFWLUG is an affiliated and licensed Local Users Group of the U.S. DECUS Chapter. The DFWLUG Net/Newsletter is published as a monthly service in electronic form Copyright (c) DFWLUG, DECUS, and Digital Equipment Corporation 1993. All rights reserved. This information in this document is subject to change and should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment Corporation, DECUS, or the DFWLUG. Digital Equipment, DECUS and the DFWLUG assume no responsiblity for any errors that may appear in this document. It is assumed that all material submitted for publication in this newsletter is with the author's permission to publish in any DECUS publication. Content is the responsiblity of the author and DECUS, Digital Equipment, the DFWLUG, the Editors and Staff assume no responsiblity or liablity for information appearing in this document. Views experessed are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of DECUS, the DFWLUG or Digital Equipment Corporation. Address correspondence to the editors: "dfwlug@fallout.lonestar.org" ---------------------------------end-------------------------------------------