Sadly this latest Phrack post reads as lucid as the methamphetamine inspired posts lately on cpunks.org. Phrack what happened man, you used to be cool.
The real reason that there is no more "hacking scene" is simply availability.
Back in the baud days, most BBS hacking was to get into well connected boards and from there get connected to the internet. As most people now virtually have always-on Internet, the value of stealing a connection has vanished.
Another example of availability killing a scene (well, almost dead) is the once-thriving phreaking scene. Groups were dedicated to discovering and sharing the latest info on how to get free phone calls. As the cost of a phone call got cheaper and cheaper, the value of free phone calls also vanished. Who likes jail time anyway? Take Skype for instance... Instant and virtually free international calls. Why would I bother diving into a pit in the cold when it's totally legal AND free!
I would compare the various scenes to ham radio. It's still a thing even though technology has replaced it multiple times over, but the hard cores will still be enthusiastic as ever.
Edit: The Phrack paper being "released" via the Full Disclosure list earlier today was a nice touch.
Back in the baud days, most BBS hacking was to get into well connected boards and from there get connected to the internet.
I'm not sure what you mean. Free dialup internet access used to be trivial. You could put fake bank account or credit card numbers into services like AOL and get free accounts that lasted days or weeks. Many local dialup ISPs just mailed you a monthly bill. All you had to do was put in someone else's contact info and bam, instant free account.
Not where I was from. Even when Australia only had a hand full of dialup ISPs, they cracked down pretty fast on generated cards. At one point, a close friend got a knock at the door and a suspended sentence.
I think this kind of attitude is exactly what the OP denounces. Community are not driven by a need to acquire something (information, or whatever you consider to be "available") but by kindred minds coming together and working on fun stuff.
It depends on motivation. I know that the local demo scene is very alive and kicking... but to bring it back to my "availability" reasoning, they are mostly "int 10h" guys or C64 hackers even though we have the availability of OpenGL/WebGL. Like I said, the hard cores will always be there despite generational technology improvements.
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Sadly this latest Phrack post reads as lucid as the methamphetamine inspired posts lately on cpunks.org. Phrack what happened man, you used to be cool.
The real reason that there is no more "hacking scene" is simply availability.
Back in the baud days, most BBS hacking was to get into well connected boards and from there get connected to the internet. As most people now virtually have always-on Internet, the value of stealing a connection has vanished.
Another example of availability killing a scene (well, almost dead) is the once-thriving phreaking scene. Groups were dedicated to discovering and sharing the latest info on how to get free phone calls. As the cost of a phone call got cheaper and cheaper, the value of free phone calls also vanished. Who likes jail time anyway? Take Skype for instance... Instant and virtually free international calls. Why would I bother diving into a pit in the cold when it's totally legal AND free!
I would compare the various scenes to ham radio. It's still a thing even though technology has replaced it multiple times over, but the hard cores will still be enthusiastic as ever.
Edit: The Phrack paper being "released" via the Full Disclosure list earlier today was a nice touch.
I'm not sure what you mean. Free dialup internet access used to be trivial. You could put fake bank account or credit card numbers into services like AOL and get free accounts that lasted days or weeks. Many local dialup ISPs just mailed you a monthly bill. All you had to do was put in someone else's contact info and bam, instant free account.
Not where I was from. Even when Australia only had a hand full of dialup ISPs, they cracked down pretty fast on generated cards. At one point, a close friend got a knock at the door and a suspended sentence.
And laws were changed to make the crimes much easier to prosecute and much more severe.
Fooling around with an 0800 list became a serious crime, rather than just dicking around.
I remember having fun with those when I was about 20(?) and being gently frustrated that people could tell fax and modem tones apart.
I think this kind of attitude is exactly what the OP denounces. Community are not driven by a need to acquire something (information, or whatever you consider to be "available") but by kindred minds coming together and working on fun stuff.
This is not true. Many communities are driven by a desire to acquire something.
It depends on motivation. I know that the local demo scene is very alive and kicking... but to bring it back to my "availability" reasoning, they are mostly "int 10h" guys or C64 hackers even though we have the availability of OpenGL/WebGL. Like I said, the hard cores will always be there despite generational technology improvements.
HAM Radio folks always freaked me out, but the ability to legally do something on the airwaves is valued.