WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 NOV 9 (NB) -- The publisher of
a well-known hacker magazine claims a recent meeting attended by
those interested in the issues his magazine raises was disrupted
by threats of arrest by security and Arlington, Virginia
police officers.
Eric Corley, also known as "Emmanuel Goldstein," editor and publisher
of "2600 Magazine: The Hacker Quarterly," told Newsbytes that the
meeting was held November 6th at the Pentagon City Mall
outside Washington, DC was disrupted and material was confiscated
in the raid.
2600 Magazine promotes monthly meetings of hackers, press, and other
interested parties throughout the country. The meetings are held in public
locations on the first Friday evening of the month and the groups often
contact each other by telephone during the meetings.
Corley told Newsbytes that meetings were held that evening in New
York, Washington, Philadelphia, Cambridge, St. Louis, Chicago,
Los Angeles and San Francisco. Corley said, "While I am sure that
meetings have been observed by law enforcement agencies, this is
the only time that we have been harassed. It is definitely a
freedom of speech issue."
According to Craig Neidorf, who was present at the meeting and was
distributing applications for membership in Computer Professionals
For Social Responsibility (CPSR), "I saw the security officers focusing
on us. Then they started to come toward us from a number of
directions under what seemed to be the direction of a person with
a walkie-talkie on a balcony. When they approached, I left the
group and observed the security personnel encircling the group of
about 30 gatherers. The group was mainly composed of high
school and college students. The guards demanded to search the knapsacks
and bags of the gatherers. They confiscated material, including CPSR
applications, a copy of Mondo 2000 (a magazine), and other material."
