Knowledge is Strength
What makes the hacker world come alive more than anything else is newness. New technology, new ideas, new challenges, new people. We're fortunate to live in an age where all of these are in abundance.
But too often, we fall into the age-old trap of complacency. We do the same old thing, time and again, until it no longer is any fun. Before long, we hold little interest in new ways of doing things and the development of new technology is passed, once again, to the next generation. It's almost a human trait - we see the same behavior manifest itself in the music and film cultures, not to mention within our own social lives.
The hacker culture does not have to fall into this trap. In fact, it's a double tragedy when it happens to us because of the vitality of newness in everything we do. While it's inevitable that some of us will wind up working "establishment" jobs - perhaps becoming CEO's of Fortune 500 companies or putting Bill Gates out of business with software that really works - we don't ever have to abandon that spark of life known as the hacker spirit. Those of us who built Blue Boxes in the sixties, played with CP/M in the seventies, or hacked the ARPANET in the eighties should be keenly aware of today's new toys, whether they be DVDs, PCS phones, or smart cards. This awareness extends into the sociopolitical arena out of necessity - the latest attempts to quell our enthusiasm and desire to spread information are every bit as important as those which occurred in years past.
It's easy to dismiss today's beginners as newbies, AOL kids, or leeches who want easy answers. It would be a sad mistake to fail to distinguish between those who indeed have no interest in true hacking and those who are the future.
Over the years we've seen divisiveness develop for all the usual reasons - generational, national, regional, even sexual. Ideologically though, a great majority of the hacker world seems to stand for the same thing. We're certainly not all on the same political wavelength but that's a petty detail at best. What we share is the understanding that free speech is paramount, individuality is a valuable asset, and that the Internet - which was developed with the hacker spirit - is potentially the most valuable tool that free speech, individuality, and hence humanity itself has ever had at its disposal.
While divisiveness can be fun, it ultimately winds up destroying, or at least greatly hurting, whatever community it affects. That would be of great benefit to the people who want us to go away so they can control and regulate technology, speech, society, or whatever it is they're after. Every act of factionalization is a victory for them. Each time a hacker from the sixties calls the FBI to investigate "some punk kid" who breaks into his machine, we all lose something. And every time someone new to the scene dismisses the hacker culture of years past, the potential river of knowledge is reduced to a trickle. Such examples multiplied are all that is needed to eliminate the "hacker threat."
We need to know why what happened to Bernie S. is a clear threat to hackers everywhere, as is the continuing imprisonment and persecution of Kevin Mitnick. We need to know where to draw the line - defending people who, for example, commit credit card fraud or cause intentional damage to computer systems by considering them part of the hacker world is ultimately self-defeating.
We need to remember that we are all individuals in this culture and that being part of an image conscious hacker "group" can often obscure the real issues. New people are often wrongly intimidated into silence by big names who cover up their own ignorance with bravado. It happens everywhere but it doesn't mean we're doomed to repeat history. If anyone can escape the predictable, it should be hackers.
One other very important thing we must be careful of is the temptation of true crime. While society is increasingly unable to tell the difference between crimes of curiosity and mischief and those of genuine criminals, we don't need to be as obtuse. Yes, it's easy to make quick and dirty money with some basic hacker skills. You can sell passwords, calling cards, credit histories, or cloned phones. But once that world is entered, the spirit of adventure and discovery is replaced by the incentive for profit, almost always permanently. Not to mention that you turn into an utter sleaze-bag. It's up to all of us to see that we're not polluted by such subversion. It's up to our enemies to see that we are.
As we enter our 14th year of publishing, we recognize the risks of succumbing to that which we warn others about. Over the years, we've tried to remain true to our ideals and to not be adversely affected by our ever-increasing exposure to the mainstream. We have a no-advertising policy which we intend to continue. We pledge never to "tone down" what we do in order to become more marketable. We promise to continue to give new and established writers the same opportunity to be heard.
The rest is up to you. We want to always have the edge in reporting on the newest technological toys, as well as continuing fun and games with existing phone and computer systems. And we can never forget the social issues that go with these. Those of you who have the knowledge also have the opportunity to share it with the rest of us. In so doing, we are all strengthened and motivated.