****************************************************************** ////////////// ////////////// ////////////// /// /// /// /////// /////// /////// /// /// /// ////////////// /// /// ****************************************************************** EFFector Online Volume 5 No. 2 2/19/1993 editors@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 326 lines -==--==--==-<>-==--==--==- In this issue: Update on the Steve Jackson Games Case Contact information for Local and Regional Groups Supporting the Online Community -==--==--==-<>-==--==--==- Happy Anniversary ;-) Steve Jackson Games Case!! March 1st marks the three-year anniversary of the Secret Service raid on Steve Jackson Games. As we await Judge Sam Sparks's decision in this precedent-setting case, EFF would like to remind everyone of what has happened so far. In May of 1991, EFF reported about the case in issue #1.04 of EFFector Online: On March 1, 1990, the United States Secret Service nearly destroyed Steve Jackson Games (SJG), an award-winning publishing business in Austin, Texas. In an early morning raid with an unlawful and unconstitutional warrant, agents of the Secret Service conducted a search of the SJG office. When they left they took a manuscript being prepared for publication, private electronic mail, and several computers, including the hardware and software of the SJG Computer Bulletin Board System. Yet Jackson and his business were not only innocent of any crime, but never suspects in the first place. The raid had been staged on the unfounded suspicion that somewhere in Jackson's office there "might be" a document compromising the security of the 911 telephone system. In the months that followed, Jackson saw the business he had built up over many years dragged to the edge of bankruptcy. SJG was a successful and prestigious publisher of books and other materials used in adventure role-playing games. Jackson also operated a computer bulletin board system (BBS) to communicate with his customers and writers and obtain feedback and suggestions on new gaming ideas. The bulletin board was also the repository of private electronic mail belonging to several of its users. This private mail was seized in the raid. Despite repeated requests for the return of his manuscripts and equipment, the Secret Service has refused to comply fully. Today, more than a year after that raid, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, acting with SJG owner Steve Jackson, has filed a precedent setting civil suit against the United States Secret Service, Secret Service Agents Timothy Foley and Barbara Golden, Assistant United States Attorney William Cook, and Henry Kluepfel. "This is the most important case brought to date," said EFF general counsel Mike Godwin, "to vindicate the Constitutional rights of the users of computer-based communications technology. It will establish the Constitutional dimension of electronic expression. It also will be one of the first cases that invokes the Electronic Communications and Privacy Act as a shield and not as a sword -- an act that guarantees users of this digital medium the same privacy protections enjoyed by those who use the telephone and the U.S. Mail." As the case proceeded, the attorneys from George, Donaldson and Ford, who represented Steve Jackson, Steve Jackson Games, and Illuminati BBS users Elizabeth McCoy, Steffan O'Sullivan and Walter Milliken, decided to drop charges against all defendants except the United States Secret Service. (This was a strategic decision made to ensure that the trial would proceed in a timely manner.) The case went to trial in the United States District Court in Austin, Texas, from January 26 - 28, 1993. The plaintiffs presented their case first with testimony from all of the plaintiffs themselves, Secret Service Special Agents Timothy Foley and Barbara Golden, former U.S. District Attorney William J. Cook, Bellcore security expert Henry Kluepfel, University of Texas security guard Larry Coutorie, WWIV BBS software creator Wayne Bell and a financial expert who testified to the amount of damages. By the end of the second day, the plaintiffs rested their case. On Thursday morning, the defense put Special Agent Timothy Foley back on the witness stand. After he testified that he did not know that Steve Jackson Games was a publisher, that the seized computer equipment (3 computers, 5 hard disks, and more than 300 floppies) had not been accessed by Secret Service investigators after March 27, 1990, but was not returned to Steve Jackson until late June, and that no copy of the information contained on the seized disks (including a manuscript for an upcoming publication and the company's business records) was ever provided to Steve Jackson, Agent Foley sat through a solid 15-minute reprimand from the judge on the unacceptability of the government's behavior. The defense attorneys were so shaken by the judge's admonishments that they decided not to call any other witnesses. While Judge Sparks made it clear that he found the Secret Service's behavior to be reprehensible, it is not clear how he will rule in this case. The case was based on two rarely-construed federal statutes -- the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and the Privacy Protection Act (PPA). ECPA says that government officials may not read private electronic mail unless they have a warrant specific to that mail. No search warrant specified that Elizabeth McCoy, Steffan O'Sullivan or Walter Milliken had done any wrong, yet it appears that their mail -- in fact, ALL of the electronic mail contained on the system that ran the Illuminati BBS -- had been read and deleted by agents conducting the search at Secret Service headquarters in Chicago. PPA requires that law enforcement officers follow special procedures when the entity to be searched is a publisher, in order to protect the First Amendment freedom of the press. No special procedures were followed in this case. So even if the judge finds that Secret Service behavior was inappropriate, it is not so clear that he will find that the behavior was actually in violation of these statutes. We expect Judge Sparks will hand down his decision any time now. When it is issued, we will be sure to print the written opinion in an upcoming issue of EFFector Online. -==--==--==-<>-==--==--==- Local and Regional Groups Supporting the Online Community Many of our members have expressed interest in joining with others in activities that support the online community. Below is a list of regional groups that are organized to work on projects to improve online communications. Feel free to contact any of the folks listed below with your ideas and to learn more about how you can get involved. We are constantly looking to update this list, so if you know of other groups that we should add, or if you are trying to form a group in your local area, please forward the name of the group and contact information to Shari Steele at ssteele@eff.org. NATIONAL Electronic Frontier Foundation Shari Steele - ssteele@eff.org Cliff Figallo - fig@eff.org Electronic Frontier Foundation 666 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, #303 Washington, DC 20003 Phone: (202)544-9237 (voice) ALABAMA Huntsville: Huntsville Group Matt Midboe - mmidboe@nyx.cs.du.edu CALIFORNIA San Francisco Bay Area: This!Group Mitch Ratcliffe - coyote@well.sf.ca.us or Mitch_Ratcliffe@macweek.ziff.com Glenn Tenney - tenney@netcom.com Judi Clark - judic@netcom.com DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington, DC, Area: "Group 2600" and some public access operators Bob Stratton - strat@intercon.com Mikki Barry - ooblick@intercon.com MASSACHUSETTS Cambridge: EF128 (Electronic Frontier Route 128) Lar Kaufman - lark@ora.com MICHIGAN Ann Arbor: Ann Arbor Computer Society & others Ed Vielmetti - emv@msen.com msen gopher - gopher.msen.com msen mail list - majordomo@mail.msen.com "info aacs" MISSOURI Kansas City: Greater Kansas City Sysop Association Scott Lent - slent@vax1.umkc.edu GKCSA P.O. Box 14480 Parkville, MO 64152 Phone: (816)734-2949 (voice) (816)734-4732 (data) NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: FreeNet! and Noise in the Void Stanton McCandlish - anton@hydra.unm.edu Stanton McCandlish 8020 Central SE #405 Albuquerque, NM 87108 Phone: (505)246-8515 (data - 24hr, 1200-14400 v32bis, N-8-1) NEW YORK Batavia: Genesee Community College Group Thomas J. Klotzbach - 3751365@mcimail.com Thomas J. Klotzbach Genesee Community College Batavia, NY 14020 Phone: (716)343-0055 x358 (voice - work) New York City: NTE general - nte@panix.com Simona Nass - simona@panix.com Alexis Rosen - alexis@panix.com TEXAS Austin: EFF-Austin general - eff-austin@tic.com directors - eff-austin-directors@tic.com Jon Lebkowsky - jonl@tic.com EFF-Austin P.O. Box 18957 Austin, TX 78760 Phone: (512)465-7871 (voice) ============================================================= EFFector Online is published by The Electronic Frontier Foundation 666 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20003 Phone: +1 202 544-9237 FAX: +1 202 547 5481 Internet Address: eff@eff.org Articles by Shari Steele, EFF Staff Attorney (ssteele@eff.org) Coordination, production and shipping by Cliff Figallo, EFF Online Communications Coordinator (fig@eff.org) Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is encouraged. Signed articles do not necessarily represent the view of the EFF. To reproduce signed articles individually, please contact the authors for their express permission. *This newsletter is printed on 100% recycled electrons* ============================================================= MEMBERSHIP IN THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION In order to continue the work already begun and to expand our efforts and activities into other realms of the electronic frontier, we need the financial support of individuals and organizations. If you support our goals and our work, you can show that support by becoming a member now. Members receive our bi-weekly electronic newsletter, EFFector Online (if you have an electronic address that can be reached through the Net), and special releases and other notices on our activities. But because we believe that support should be freely given, you can receive these things even if you do not elect to become a member. Your membership/donation is fully tax deductible. 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I enclose: $_______ $20.00 (student or low income membership) $40.00 (regular membership) $100.00 (Corporate or organizational membership. This allows any organization to become a member of EFF. It allows such an organization, if it wishes to designate up to five individuals within the organization as members.) [ ] I enclose an additional donation of $_______ Name: Organization: Address: City or Town: State: Zip: Phone: ( ) (optional) FAX: ( ) (optional) Email address: I enclose a check [ ]. Please charge my membership in the amount of $ to my Mastercard [ ] Visa [ ] American Express [ ] Number: Expiration date: Signature: ________________________________________________ Date: I hereby grant permission to the EFF to share my name with other non-profit groups from time to time as it deems appropriate [ ]. Initials:___________________________ Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253