From: anonymous-remailer@shell.portal.com
Date: Thu, 21 Dec 95 11:25:50 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: AWARD: CHRISTMAS NET SCROOGE - AT&T & NETSCAPE??
Message-ID: <199512211924.LAA21493@jobe.shell.portal.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Alice here ...

Back on Tue, 19 Dec 1995, I wrote:

>>>Can anyone tell me whether Ian Goldberg and David Wagner got their
>>>$25,000 from Netscape for finding the HUGE security flaws in Netscape's
>>>existing product line??
>>>
>> >I can't remember whether they got anything or not ...
>> 
>> That would be no (well, except for the nifty T-shirt from Sameer; Thanks!).
> 
> Not anything??  That's shameful ... where on earth are the values in 
> America, today?  

Everyone should ask this question.  AT&T can sign-on to a two-page ad,
calling on Congress to balance the budget -- to cut off veterans, and
cut-off women with dependent children just before Christmas.  It can
sign on to this, but it can't bother to even offer a scholarship to
the students who helped make its fortunes.  It would rather leave the
impression that it freeloads off of other's efforts.

It's shameful.

> AT&T and Netscape have jointly made a small fortune distributing this
> product, and yet NEITHER company feels that the software engineers who
> "voluntarily" made a difference -- a couple of students -- deserve
> even a wooden nickel for the ideas which were used.
> 
> It's absolutely shameful.  But then, I guess that AT&T and Netscape
> have no shame at all.
> 
> They just steal "intellectual property" from students, and don't even
> pay a token amount.
> 
> And people wonder what's wrong with America?

Luckily for those of us who don't live in the United States, we can
perhaps look at that country and truly wonder what is going on over
there, and what is wrong with America?

Where are the values amongst ALL Americans, not just Netscape and
AT&T?  What are the role models that all the leaders -- business,
sports, and political leaders -- show to the national youth.

Here is all I've seen (as a foreigner), over the last while:

Enid Greene Waldholtz blubbering in a news conference about how she as
a congress person certainly COULDN'T be expected to resign after
winning her election with stolen money.  Blubbering for five hours
straight (except when she had to stop to turn a page, I mean) ... She
certainly said that "leadership" is all about playing "victim".  Poor
little Enid. (And even worse, she was _defended_ by Susan Molinari.)

Bob Dole, deciding to go to Bosnia.  The former WW II veteran
willingly jeopardizing the lives of American boys -- boys who have put
their lives on the line in a _volunteer_ armed force -- all for a
lousy political photo-op.  The chance to say ... "hey look at me, I'm
here in Bosnia."  Someone who's willing to overrule the Pentagon's own
most diplomatic advice on how complex an operation this actually is.

And then there is AT&T.  A company who's Chairman can publish a letter
which calls on Congress to cut off checks to mothers with dependent
children and war veterans days before Christmas, all while stealing
and freeloading off of the work of some students.

Scrooge ... take heart.

Here's Holiday wish #1.  Enid do the right thing ... resign.  Say the
"right thing" and say that your child -- the future and the delayed
gratification that the future brings -- is much more important than
your own personal PRESENT political aspirations.

Here's Holiday wish #2.  Bob, lots of people worked their asses off to
make sure that the American fighter pilot, and the two French fighter
pilots could be rescued from Bosnia.  If you want to go and get some
photo-ops, go to Germany or Italy, and give one hell of a vote of
support to the boys that are there -- a support which could just as
easily have been given and should be given in Congress.  A _real_
strong unfettered commitment.

And here's Holiday wish #3.  AT&T.  Do the right thing.  Reward those
people who help make you a fortune.  Stand tall as an example, rather
than as an embarrassment to the nation.  You've ignored this for so
long now, that you've almost dug your own grave.  But you still have a
chance to save face.  Have the courage to take the chance when it's
offered.  Simply say that the proposal to reward David Wagner and Ian
Goldberg -- some holiday mad money and scholarships -- was lost in
committee, and approval processes -- but it WAS in the works, and it
was recommended and can now be announced just before Christmas, as a
rightful reward.

Some holiday cheer.

Will people think it's a cynical attempt at manipulation?  Yep.  But
it's a darned site better than the alternatives -- especially when you
look at possible future outcomes.  Trust me, this is far better than
calling for veterans and single mothers with children to be cut-off
just before the holidays.

Perhaps, Enid, Bob, and AT&T will all learn when to use offense and
when to use defense.  They might also learn that the best offense is a
good defense.  They might even begin to look at what "courage" truly
is, and of how difficult it can be for anyone to do the "right thing",
especially when they think that they're surrounded by minefields.  

Even when the "right thing" is in your own best interest, you not only
have to be shown the right path to take, but you have to have the
motivation and courage to make the move and take action.

Enid, Bob, and AT&T, take note.

Hopefully for the holidays, everyone finds the courage to neutralize
some portion of the vulnerability spectrum they've placed themselves
in.

> >   - Ian "There's a reason people talk about `starving grad students'..."
> > 


Alice de 'nonymous ...               <an455120@anon.penet.fi>


                                  ...just another one of those...


P.S.  This post is in the public domain.
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