From: Toto <toto@sk.sympatico.ca>
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 18:26:20 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: can Sun Tzu be a cypherpunks?
Message-ID: <199701290226.SAA13870@toad.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


nobody@nowhere.com wrote:

> Question: Can cypherpunks use these methods to defeat those
> who would take our freedom?

WARNING! "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" Is A Very Dangerous Document
-------------------------------------------------------------------
	
  It is reputed among many of the top minds in the Computer Industry 
to be a very real, and revealing, documentary of some of the horrors 
of the Industry which are sometimes rumored, but seldom exposed.  
But be warned-they say it in private, not in public.
  Though management at the major Corporations in the Industry brush 
aside the document as the mad ramblings of an unstable, failed 
business executive, the fact remains that there are more and more 
people coming forward who claim to have suffered demotions or loss 
of employment after deliberately or inadvertently revealing their 
support of the document's claims and it's authenticity.

  If you choose to read this manuscript, do not speak of it in casual
conversation at your place of employment, or around strangers in 
any business or social environment.  Though it is almost impossible 
to document cases of reprisal of this nature, the increasing numbers 
of ex-employees of major Corporations in the Computer Industry 
making these claims, and the devastating consequences they allege 
to their professional and private lives, make it wise to be discreet 
in expressing any opinion, or even knowledge, of this document.
  If you choose to share this document with others, it would be wise 
to do so discreetly, even anonymously, should you be unsure of the 
reliability and discretion of whomever you choose to share this 
knowledge with.

  Though I personally lean toward viewing the manuscript as authentic, 
my exhaustive research into it's origin has always come to a dead-end, 
even among the principals involved.
  C.J. Parker, former President of Pearl Harbor Computers, Inc., denied
emphatically, in a face-to-face encounter with  anything whatsoever to 
do with the document.  When I pressed him with questions regarding 
the hasty demise of his business and the unraveling of his personal 
life after the public circulation of "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" 
began, he became very agitated and distraught, bordering on violence, 
and the interview was abruptly terminated.
  Dr. William M. Denney, one of the few principals in the manuscript 
referred to directly, was reluctant to be interviewed, but eventually 
made a few comments which I found to be very revealing.  Dr. Denney, 
Vice-President of Basis, Inc. in Emmeryville, Ca., consistently rated 
as one of the top ten Unix Open Systems vendors in the world, said, 
"I deny any knowledge of or participation, in any way whatsoever, 
with anything connected to 'The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre', and it 
would be wise for others to do the same."
  I find this statement to be very cryptic and, at the same time, 
very revealing; very much in line with what would expect from one 
associated with the alleged underground computer society described 
in the manuscript.
  As for Mr. Torry Basford, a former employee of Bell Labs who was 
Mr. Parker's first mentor in the world of Unix and is rumored to be 
laboring in obscurity in a small community college somewhere in the 
southwestern U.S., Mr. Parker would only say, "The man has suffered 
enough, please leave him alone."

 Regardless of the origins or authenticity of the document, it is 
considered by many to be extremely unsettling, perhaps even 
dangerous, and one might be better served to avoid reading the 
manuscript, if for no other reason than simple peace of mind.

___________________________________

 If you would like a copy of the manuscript,
send me a private email indicating a  desire
to receive it.

Toto