From: Eric Murray <ericm@lne.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 02:19:10 +0800
To: Kevin.L.Prigge-2@tc.umn.edu
Subject: Re: Jim Bell reference
In-Reply-To: <33c3b8125eb0002@earth.tc.umn.edu>
Message-ID: <199707091809.LAA02522@slack.lne.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Kevin L Prigge writes:
> 
> Dorothy Denning taught a class (COSC 511) "Information Warfare"
> Spring 97. Apparently as an assignment, several students put 
> together an infowar incident database at:
> 
> http://www.georgetown.edu/users/samplem/iw/
> 
> Jim Bell's case is mentioned under:
> 
> http://www.georgetown.edu/users/samplem/iw/html/iw_database_92.html


Wow.  This is the most blatant propaganda I've seen in a long time.
It's full of so much inaccurate info that it can't be an accident.



Their blurb on Bell says:

"In his "Assassination Politics," Bell suggests that IRS
agents are not protected against violent acts,
because they have stolen taxpayers' money. He also
initiates a betting pool as to what government
employees and officeholders would be assassinated."


If I remember correctly, Bell never 'initiates'[sic] anything, he
just talked about it.

They cites a Netly News article by Declan McCullagh
(http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/editorial/0,1012,800,00.html)

Declan's article doesn't say, or even imply, that Bell actually
set up his AP betting pool.  The "database" authors apparently wanted
to make a point by making his crime seem to be real, and were willing
to stretch the truth to do so.

This fits in with the rest of the "database".  Take a look
at the 'terrorisim' category.  Most of the 'terrorists' crimes
(or more correctly, arrests- this database seems to assume that
being arrested or charged with a crime makes one guilty) are
horrible terrorist crimes like sending hate email, or suggesting that a state
senator who vociferously supports mountain lion hunting be
"hunted down and skinned and mounted".  In that one the 
California state senator somehow becomes a US senator...
(http://www.georgetown.edu/users/samplem/iw/html/iw_database_90.html)

The "database" is filled with inaccurately-labeled "data".  I'd
be willing to bet that it will be used to support the "Info war"
military-industrial-complex money grab:  "Look, a study at
Gorgetown shows that we've had three incidents of Internet terrorisom
in 1997 alone, one against a US senator!"


Feh.  "Research" like this makes me puke.


BTW, you can add you own "IW incidents" via a form at
http://www.georgetown.edu/users/samplem/iw/html/feedback.html



-- 
Eric Murray  ericm@lne.com  Security and cryptography applications consulting.
PGP keyid:E03F65E5 fingerprint:50 B0 A2 4C 7D 86 FC 03  92 E8 AC E6 7E 27 29 AF