Off The Hook Audio

"This also led to my involvement with another magical place: WBAI-FM in New York City, a full-power noncommercial station that reaches four states, accepts no corporate money and basically exists to challenge the status quo."

--- Quote from Eric Corley in the "Acknowledgement" section of The Best of $2600: A Hacker Odyssey.  Brain-dead, big government New York City liberals are the status quo - you stupid fucking pedophile.


Think Eric Corley in print is a fucking idiot?  Wait until you hear him speak!

This is audio proof that the "leader of the hacker community" really is clueless, and is just in it for the money and young boys.

For those who may not know, WBAI (Pacifica Radio) is one of those radio stations that makes up the news, then they get all prissy when no one listens to them or takes them seriously.  The have no "commercials" but have to constantly suck up to their listeners for money - just like corporations do!

Here is a good example of Pacifica Radio bias.  Note how the Pacifica Radio interviewer is trying to smear Sarah Palin, but the interviewee (Mike Gravel) will not fall for it.

Listener Notes

Off The Hook - 1988

  1. This is the very first edition of Off The Hook and there's an interesting story behind its airing.  The program was originally scheduled to air as a one hour special on Friday, August 12 at 1:30 pm.  At precisely that minute, a fire on the transmitter floor of the Empire State Building took down every radio station in New York City.  Off The Hook was "Off The Air."  Radio time was at a premium and it took months to reschedule the show.  Finally, it aired on a Thursday night from 1 am until 3:30 am.  The first half hour is a formal documentary while the rest is informal live radio which includes a call from at least one not-yet-famous hacker.  To capture the essence of both airings, we have included the very beginning of the failed broadcast moments before the station was knocked off the air and merged that with the successful airing months later.  The first section, which lasts only a few minutes, has a rather high hiss.  Featured: a documentary on teleconferences with excerpts of local conferences, advertisements, an interview with Cheshire Catalyst, Dutch hackers talking to American hackers on an illegal conference, a social engineering Alliance teleconference, and a live WBAI teleconference.  This show is in two parts.

Off The Hook - 1989

  1. This was Emmanuel's first show since the 1988 Off The Hook special.  This was a Monday evening special entitled "News of the World," a program that focused on shortwave and foreign news broadcasts from around the globe.  BBC news commentary on West German elections, a warning on ionospheric interference, a guide to interval signals, Moscow Mailbag, the law concerning rebroadcasting the Voice of America in the United States, listener feedback, Radio Beijing.  The South African segment is missing.  "News of the World" had also aired as a series on WUSB.
  2. This was a Monday evening fill-in for Margot Adler's Unstuck In Time program.  The show focused on the Shoreham nuclear power plant, recent events in Tiananmen Square, and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
  3. This edition of Off The Hook aired more than nine months after the pilot.  It was a special fill-in program and dealt with the story of Kevin Mitnick.  The "dark side hacker" had just been sentenced to a year in prison.  Guests include Alan Rubin (Mitnick's lawyer), reporter John Markoff, and computer hacker Richard Matthews.  We hear the revelation that Mitnick was held in solitary confinement.  Also: talk of the Shadowhawk sentencing.  Listen for Phiber Optik calling in as a listener.
  4. This was a Thursday morning at 3:30 am fill-in for a program called Out of the Shadows.  Topics include Emmanuel's trip to Europe, the Galactic Hacker Party, and selections from Brain Damage Inc. (an in-house production of funny phone calls and comedy sketches).  This show is in two parts and includes fundraising.
  5. While in Europe, Emmanuel met up with members of Big Audio Dynamite who had just released Megatop Phoenix, which would prove to be their last album in the band's original configuration.  This interview was originally aired on WUSB-FM in Stony Brook, NY and re-aired on WBAI when a slot unexpectedly opened up.  The first half of the interview is primarily Don Letts and other members of the band while the second half is Mick Jones, B.A.D.'s founder and, within a year, the only remaining member.  (Don Letts, incidentally, is the voice on the Off The Hook theme.)
  6. Although not an edition of Off The Hook, this early broadcast had many of its elements.  It came about as a double fill-in.  The first section is a fill-in for Robert Knight's Earthwatch program and it contains much discussion of the ongoing New York Telephone strike.  Reference is made to a previous fill-in program a week or so earlier which was apparently a similar show done in Peter Lamborn Wilson's overnight slot.  No known recording of that program exists.  Also included in this edition are recordings from Brain Damage Inc., a call to the new automated repair service and the automated credit service which were originally made on the WUSB Brain Damage program, and a feature entitled "Confuse The Operator."  The second section is a fill-in for Sidney Smith's overnight show.  Talk of election results, "Confuse The Operator," the first call from dedicated WBAI listener Monroe, the horrors of French phone cards, Bill the Comic, the New York Telephone strike, and phone service during the San Francisco earthquake.  This show is in two parts.
  7. Wednesday morning 1:00 am fill-in for Tom Whisker on a program called Weaponry.  Topics include U.S. policy in El Salvador and changes in Eastern Europe.  Tapes from Radio Moscow are featured. This show is in two parts.
  8. Another Wednesday morning 1:00 am fill-in for Tom Whisker's Weaponry show.  The topic is flag burning and features Dave Blaylock and Joey Johnson.  This show is in two parts.
  9. The last of the Wednesday morning 1:00 am fill-ins for Tom Whisker's Weaponry program.  The guest is Craig Demmer, a South African in the United States facing deportation for evading the draft.  This show is in two parts.

Off The Hook - 1990

  1. This was the debut of Emmanuel's first regularly scheduled series on WBAI.  The Thursday late night series The Fifth Corner was scheduled every two weeks from 11:45 pm to 1:00 am.  The show almost always dealt with technology in some way but there were some programs that were entirely political or focused on current events.  In this edition: the beginning of a new decade, Emmanuel's trip to Florida, Roger <gulp>, COCOTs, Panama, New Year's greetings from Radio Moscow.  Bob Fass follows.
  2. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  This edition took place right after the Martin Luther King Day AT&T failure.  Topics include prank phone calls, Caller ID, and the coming area code crisis.  This show includes fundraising.
  3. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  Emmanuel's car adventure, a telephone company nightmare, trying to dial 950s through the operator, getting the time from the operator, the Robert Morris trial, playing with New York Telephone's new automated collect service, a problem with the WBAI phone system.  Bob Fass follows.
  4. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  This is mostly a show about noncommercial radio, focusing on stations like WFMU, WUSB, WPKN, WPBX, and incursions by NPR stations like WSHU.  The beginning of the show is devoted to trying to make a phone call to Albania.  Rop from Amsterdam is the guest.
  5. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  An interview with WFMU general manager Ken Freedman.  A discussion of practically every noncommercial radio station in the area.  Bob Fass follows.
  6. Emmanuel was the studio engineer on Monday nights and on this occasion a program called Women Just Want To Have Funds with Laura Flanders was misplaced and a last minute fill-in was thrown together.  Topics include the changes in Eastern Europe, the pollution left behind, what it takes to get people interested in the environment, what the show originally scheduled for this time would have covered, an accident at a suspected chemical plant in Libya, all trains to Queens are suspended due to a derailed propane train car, Tom gives an update on the situation, blaming men for the problems of the world, how change is made, an "update" from Queens, an amazing phone connection.
  7. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  Excerpts from Radio Moscow, Emmanuel tries to fulfill his responsibilities with the North American Census Association, random phone calls mixed with Negativland excerpts, talk of pirate radio from the 80s, insane callers converge on a teleconference, Emmanuel calls for a shortwave pirate station to simulcast WBAI's signal.
  8. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  Outrage over the new proposed rates by New York Telephone, including fees for accessing an operator and new charges for local information from a payphone.  Also: a demonstration of how few lines the Public Service Commission has available for the public, tips on avoiding charges for call waiting, and scams the phone company makes money at.  Rop from Amsterdam is the guest.
  9. An unintentional fill-in for Bob Fass during a fundraiser.  A Monroe-free hour.  Talk of satellites and the space program.  Also: an appearance by WBAI program director Andrew Phillips.  This show includes fundraising.
  10. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  An extra long edition of this program which provided many people with the very first glimpse of Operation Sun Devil, the raiding of Steve Jackson Games, and the shutting down of Phrack Magazine and various bulletin boards, as well as the first reports of the MOD raids.  Guests include Steve Jackson and John Perry Barlow.  Morning Dew (the Grateful Dead Show) follows with a continued interview with John Perry Barlow.  This may have been the first time in WBAI history that a guest spanned two different programs.  This show is in three parts and includes fundraising.
  11. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  Emmanuel tries to get through to the Philippines.  A discussion of COCOTs and New York Telephone's plan to charge for directory assistance from payphones.  The guest is New York City Commissioner of Consumer Affairs Mark Green.  Listen for the extended version of the Off The Hook intro theme.
  12. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  A show about censorship, centering on the recent 2 Live Crew arrests in Florida.  It's a special Flag Day edition, featuring talk of flag burning and a rendition of the Internationale.
  13. This edition (June 28, 1990) of The Fifth Corner was lost due to the only known copy being stolen out of Emmanuel's car later that night.  Memories of what this show was about appear to have also been lost.
  14. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  The New York Telephone rate increase, Emmanuel's bank nightmare, FCC indecency rules, trying to call Antarctica.
  15. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  A show focusing on the threat of war in the Persian Gulf featuring war-related music and part of the soundtrack to "The Ugly American."  Also: Emmanuel's trip to Mexico, calling a commercial radio station to request Sinead O'Connor after she was banned for not being patriotic, Persian Gulf news from the past, news from the Voice of America.  Approximately 15 minutes of news precedes.
  16. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  Rumors of changes at the station, a banking story, a car phone malfunction, Patriot missiles, smart card technology in French prisons, how Emmanuel got a particular news story, hazards of computers, contacting Discover, contacting Citibank, a warning about 800 numbers, a demonstration of a nationwide ANI service, a demonstration of AT&T's Voicemark service, banks close ATMs to get rid of the homeless, a call from Voicemark, what an adjunct frame does, surcharges and phone calls, Emmanuel's unique way of making calls while traveling.
  17. An edition of The Fifth Corner.  An extended program focusing on the recent trial of Craig Neidorf which dealt with the famous E911 document from BellSouth.  At this point, the case against Craig had been dropped, leaving him in financial debt.  Discussion centers on the trial as well as the Steve Jackson Games situation.  Although it was not known at the time of this broadcast, this would be the last edition of The Fifth Corner.  Guests include Craig Neidorf and Village Voice writer Julian Dibbell.  This show is in three parts and includes fundraising.
  18. At long last, Off The Hook became a regularly scheduled program on WBAI, airing every two Wednesdays from 9 pm to 10 pm.  In this debut show, a feature on satellite pirates from Radio Nederland, the NYNEX newsline, hacking a COCOT, a New York Telephone scandal, a possible NYNEX divestiture.  Listen for the screwup of the intro theme which wound up sounding pretty good.
  19. A fill-in for Andrew Phillips' Investigations program.  The focus is on the environment and on the plan to build a new mall on Long Island.  Guests include Dick Amper (Long Island Pine Barrens Society), Dan Morris (Open Space Council), Nancy Oku (Citizens' Planning Board), and Rich Didonato (Citizens' Planning Board).
  20. Emmanuel's subway misadventure, mass announcement rip-offs, comparing overseas rates to 900 numbers, long distance welcome messages.  The guest is Peter Barnes (president of Working Assets Long Distance).  Listen for the wacky intro.
  21. A fill-in for Andrew Phillips' Investigations program.  Controversy is the topic which circles around the verdict in the 2 Live Crew case.  Features include a 2 Live Crew song, controversial thoughts, a Charles Manson song, and Moscow Mailbag.
  22. This was the first edition of Off The Hook after a number of preemptions and, from this point on, the program was supposed to be on every two weeks.  Topics include the sentencing of the LOD hackers in Atlanta, the victimization of Robert Riggs, and Staten Island voice mail hacking.  The guest is Sheldon Zenner (Craig Neidorf's lawyer).
  23. A leaked Secret Service document on ATM fraud falls into Emmanuel's hands.  Also: trying to reach a toll station in Drake's Bad, California and the sentencing of the LOD hackers in Atlanta.  The audio on this program is a bit slow.

Off The Hook - 1991

  1. The latest New York Telephone rate increase, connecting to a long distance operator, unfairness between the companies (AT&T, Sprint, MCI), the touch tone fee, the 917 area code and the Bronx split from 212 is announced, how to use the 660 service.
  2. An edition of Investigations.  On this fill-in, the topic is the approaching War Day (January 15) and the lack of debate taking place.  Also: physical requirements for members of the press in Saudi Arabia, trying to call soldiers in the Gulf, Emmanuel accused of being sarcastic, a caller is concerned that he agrees with the extreme right on the war.
  3. An edition of Investigations.  A hectic fill-in that took place during a pledge drive and right in the middle of the true beginning of the Gulf War.  Iraq had just bombed Israel and all kinds of reports had been coming in all night on WBAI.  News Director Amy Goodman gives periodic updates.  Thomas Bermer of the antiwar movement in Germany is the guest.  Rumors of deserters, the story of WBAI, a report on an earlier protest in New York City, and how a reinstated draft would work.  This show includes fundraising.
  4. A call for information on shortwave frequencies for war-related news, the next edition of $2600 will feature BBS numbers in the Mideast, a special on the digital age in the Mideast is scheduled for two weeks from now, $2600 meeting this week, the subject tonight is the potential of a military draft, problems with a tape machine, the guest is Dave Lindorff from In These Times, a history of draft registration, how the system works, how quickly the draft could be reinstated, the rules regarding students, how a draft is key to war opposition, reports of the Carvel connection, ways of avoiding a draft, the potential for high casualty figures.
  5. An edition of Talkback.  A rare afternoon fill-in on the day after the ground offensive began in the Gulf War.  Emmanuel speaks out on the war and the frustrations of being an antiwar activist, news from the BBC.
  6. A show about shortwave radio, selections from Negativland, taking a break from the war coverage, Bob Horvitz is the guest, Bob's start at WBAI, a demonstration of numbers stations in different languages, examples of tone codes, how numbers stations get their information, how shortwave radios have become very popular since the war began, the best kind of antenna to use, what the Soviet Woodpecker used to sound like, other similar projects, a call for frequencies to help with war coverage, solar weather conditions, Emmanuel's impressions of a recent conference concerning First Amendment issues in the computer age, there is a $2600 meeting this Friday.
  7. The death of the New York Telephone repair computer, calling New York Telephone customer service and news department, how hacker bulletin boards are disappearing, how to start hacking, confusion over a "2126T" recording, a demonstration of different types of busy signals.  The theme to the show is missing this week.  Phiber Optik makes his first appearance.
  8. No known recording of this show exists.  (April 10, 1991)
  9. Hacker Kevin Poulsen is apprehended after a nationwide search, computer mischief at Carleton University.  Dutch hacker "Bart" is the guest, talking about breaking into U.S. military systems.  This was the last show in this timeslot for the next five weeks, although a six hour special in late May is announced.
  10. Part of a six hour special which makes this the longest Off The Hook ever.  Unfortunately, the first 45 minutes, which included an interview with hacker Bill Squire, is missing.  On an episode of "Confuse The Operator," Emmanuel tries to connect to MCI and Sprint from New York Telephone in a demonstration of the inequality of the long distance carriers.  A caller defends AT&T, Emmanuel tries to find callers' birthplaces from their Social Security Numbers, talk of Prodigy, "helpful telephone tips" from the Defense Department phone book.  In another episode of "Confuse The Operator," Emmanuel tries to call Myanmar.  Steve Jackson is the guest.  A 15 minute version of Night Shift appears in the middle.  This show is in four parts and includes fundraising.
  11. An important transition as Off The Hook is made a weekly show for the summer.  This change, however, was actually a permanent one.  Topics include privacy, new advances in technology, and what the future holds.
  12. This week's guest is Paul Edwards, publisher of Travel Confidential, a newsletter on the characteristics of the airline industry and how consumers can benefit from them.
  13. A credit card misadventure, a 540 rip-off.
  14. A man gets a computer virus.  The serious topic, however, is the COCOT industry.  Larry Berman of North American Industries is the guest.  Discussion centers around how telcos make money from fraud.  Highlights include a call from a New York Telephone employee.
  15. Unexplained phone outages, a story from Tsutomu Shimomura, hacking PBXs live on the air.  Guests are former Legion of Doom (LOD) members Scott Chasin and Chris Goggans talking about their new business venture: Comsec Data Security.
  16. Emmanuel's frustration with line noise, mysterious phone outages in Washington and Los Angeles.  Joel Shapiro of Gabriel Systems, a unique reseller of phone service, is the guest.  The theme to the show is missing.
  17. A discussion of the new book Cyberpunk with authors John Markoff and Katie Hafner.  Also: COCOT rip-offs.  This was a prerecorded show.
  18. An interview with Mr. French, a unique phone phreak who Emmanuel bumped into on a primitive voice mail system back in 1983.  Discussion centers on IBM's Audio Distribution Systems, a demonstration of step and crossbar rings, the woes of a small town phone company.  This was a prerecorded show.
  19. This was an abbreviated repeat of the first Off The Hook program from 1988.  (August 7, 1991)
  20. The first live show in a while since Emmanuel was off wandering around Europe for a few weeks.  Discussion of the French and Italian phone systems and how military computers were penetrated from Holland.  Listen for an unusual call from a not-yet-famous hacker.
  21. A phone demonstration for religious groups on how to maximize over-the-air revenues, Emmanuel's experience with the electric company during Hurricane Bob, news from Moscow concerning the coup attempt.  This show took place in the midst of rioting in Crown Heights and Emmanuel tells of his adventure driving through the midst of it earlier that evening.  The show is also preceded by a special news report on the rioting.
  22. The topic is the question of customer eavesdropping by cable television companies.  Wilt Hildebrand, Vice President of Engineering for Long Island's Cablevision, is the guest.
  23. A new law in New York State that imposes a tax on all software transfers is discussed.  Guests are Charles Rowles and Jack Brooks of New York's Dorsai Embassy.
  24. This show was actually part of a three hour special that incorporated other WBAI programs.  Topics include yet another AT&T phone outage, this time affecting local airports, and recordings of what it sounded like to customers.  The New York City Assistant Commissioner of Telecommunications Policy for the New York City Mayor's Office, Department of Telecommunications and Energy Tom Dunleavy is the guest.  Explorations host Dr. Michio Kaku and WBAI Program Director Andrew Phillips make guest appearances.  An interview with Peacenet experts Howard Fredericks, Bill Bolls, and Dennis Law follows.  This show includes fundraising.
  25. Caller ID is the topic as New York Telephone announces that per call blocking will be offered instead of per line blocking.  Also: comments on the just aired Now It Can Be Told television feature on hackers and discussion of the likelihood of nationwide Caller ID in the future as well as the potential transmission of names along with numbers.
  26. A WFMU fundraiser is announced, NASA is hacked from Colorado, the aggravation of buying things at electronics stores, Clarence Thomas phone records, a caller who was a customer at the very first Radio Shack in the 1930s.
  27. This was believed to be the show where Simplex locks and their vulnerabilities were discussed.  Unfortunately, no known recording of this show exists.  (October 23, 1991)
  28. In this show, Emmanuel demonstrates how easy it is to get personal information on individuals using MCI's Friends and Family service.  This show was said to have had quite an impact at MCI corporate headquarters, where the hole was patched within a few days.
  29. Emmanuel's 24 hour phone call for a file transfer from Australia, 9600 bps is now the standard, how to avoid calling card surcharges.
  30. Tracking people in Germany with identity cards, BBC update on the attack of WBAI reporter Amy Goodman in East Timor, MCI Friends and Family update.  Phiber Optik is the guest.
  31. An interview with Joybubbles, formerly known as Joe Engressia or "High Rise Joe," one of the nation's first and most famous phone phreaks.  A thorough discussion and demonstration of all sorts of different tones, rings, and busy signals, as well as a history of the phone system.  Also: a Simplex update.
  32. Winn Schwartau, author of Terminal Compromise, is the guest.  Topics include hackers, HERF guns, the government, and "electronic terrorism."
  33. This is the last show of 1991.  Emmanuel is 15 minutes late because of, ironically enough, a technological glitch.  Discussion centers on the removal of touch tone payphones and postal hacking.  Emmanuel calls COCOTs and reports on the raids of December 6 in which the FBI and Secret Service cooperated.  These would later be known as the first raids on the Masters of Deception (MOD) which would have a profound and ominous effect on listeners.

Off The Hook - 1992

  1. How to forge faxes, Australia's 06 numbers, getting rates for premium calls, the future 917 area code, the future of the European Community.  This show also focused for the first time on the raids of December 6, which eventually would wind up sending Phiber Optik to prison.  (From this point on, Phiber was more or less a regular on the show.)  Also: talk of Dutch hackers getting into U.S. military systems with Rop from Holland.  Listen for the call from George Gleason of People's Telecom in Berkeley.
  2. A show devoted to defining terms.  Examples are given of the differences between crossbar and ESS using rings, busy signals, reorders, intercepts, faxes, slow and fast modems, and beepers.
  3. The first show in three weeks.  Emmanuel talks about his trip to Holland and a Dutch hacker raid.  The debate over "hacker vs. cracker" continues, Emmanuel beeps himself on the air.
  4. A rather historical show as Emmanuel interviews Robert Thomas, sysop of the Amateur Action BBS in San Jose.  At this point, the board had been seized by local authorities - it would later be returned with no charges filed.  Among the stories recounted here, Thomas reveals that the police wanted him to buy them a 300 meg hard drive so they could make a copy of his system.  (Years later, Thomas and his wife would be imprisoned for violating the community standards of Memphis, Tennessee when a postal inspector in that part of the country called into their California system.)  The audio on this show is a bit slow.
  5. Clearing up confusion between unlisted and non-published numbers.  An update on the Robert Thomas case.  Craig Neidorf talks about the aftermath of his prosecution.  Also: a preview of the Michelangelo virus.
  6. The Michelangelo Virus.  Debunking the myths.  This was part of a special two hour show where Emmanuel and Phiber stayed on for the Personal Computer Show to talk about this issue.  Only the first hour exists here.
  7. One week after Michelangelo - why not much at all happened.  Guests are Dr. Fred Cohen, author of A Short Course in Computer Viruses and Mark Ludwig, author of The Little Black Book of Computer Viruses.  This show took place the week of a computer virus conference in New York City.
  8. A prerecorded show that profiles a growing trend in phone fraud.  In a demonstration, telephone companies are clearly shown ripping off consumers by billing them for collect calls they never accepted.  Mark Green, Commissioner of Consumer Affairs of New York City and David Ruderman, cofounder of $2600 discuss scams perpetrated by the phone companies and what consumers can do.
  9. A rather somber show as word filters down that Off The Hook is being canceled, effective immediately.  Dave Burstein of the Personal Computer Show and Program Director Andrew Phillips make appearances.  Before the show's dramatic conclusion, Emmanuel reads RISKS Digest submissions from Tsutomu Shimomura and Steve Belovin.  Also: the entire Off The Hook theme is played, Emmanuel talks about his visit to NASA and the FBI, dialing a $120 800 number.
  10. Phone privacy and the FBI proposal to tap digital phones at taxpayers' expense.  The guest is Mike Godwin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
  11. New York State Police Investigator Don Delaney is the guest.  He and Phiber Optik talk about what's legal and what isn't, as well as hacker cases, rip-offs, and COCOTs.
  12. Word of hackers in San Diego, introduction of 700 "lifetime" numbers (Easyreach), how easy it is to listen in on cellular.
  13. The Rodney King verdict is announced, the riots in Los Angeles, the near riot in New York City.  Captain Crunch (John Draper) is the guest.
  14. A Daylight Savings Time snafu, the New York Post report on an "anti-Semitic font," a report on 540 numbers.  This show includes fundraising.
  15. A massive crosstalk recording, the newest issue of $2600, BillSF reports from Amsterdam on the arrest of RGB, Caller ID arrives in New York, the introduction of *69.  This show includes fundraising.
  16. Emmanuel's crossbar switch is scheduled to cut over at the end of the month, a new $2600 meeting in Los Angeles is announced for a total of four, a new form of AT&T itemization is mistaken by many for a free calling card, TRW getting more info on people, mention of hacker raids, the potential privacy violations of Caller ID.
  17. Screwed up intro theme, a gay BBS in Boston (Doug's Den) is raided, high tech voting in Nova Scotia, a demonstration of touch tones, MF tones, the 2600 tone, red box tones, and silver box tones.  Also: Emmanuel demonstrates how donating money to a PBS station turned into a privacy violation.
  18. More on *69 and Caller ID which officially starts on July 31, the dangers of local telephone monopolies, New York Telephone rate change proposal, trying to defeat *69.
  19. New York Telephone operators begin transferring to long distance companies other than AT&T, a Cable and Wireless operator reveals a direct dial number for British information, the cost for overseas information goes up, why *69 is a betrayal of trust by New York Telephone, announcement of next week's controversial cellular show, the very first Rebel call-in during which he plays a tape from ten years earlier when he called overseas information in France.  Michio Kaku precedes.
  20. This is one of the most famous editions of Off The Hook ever to air.  And even though it was scheduled twice, it has never aired in its entirety.  The program deals with the ease of listening in on cellular phone calls by demonstrating telephone conversations that were not only overheard, but actually interfered with by an anonymous hacker.  This program was prerecorded and for some reason the last few minutes never made it onto the air.  When the show was rescheduled later in the summer, it was yanked midway by station management who thought it was too controversial even for WBAI.
  21. Emmanuel discusses his trip to Summercon the previous week, problems with mall guards in St. Louis concerning the infamous baseball cap incident, a border crossing nightmare from Canada, the MOD indictments, phone taps used on hackers for the first time, ominous forebodings.  This is definitely a show with some very strong material.
  22. Phiber responds to the charges against him, Bellcore threatens $2600 with a lawsuit, Caller ID expanding in the New York region, technical info for Caller ID over Call Waiting, Cable and Wireless to cut off 950 access.  This show includes fundraising.
  23. Genie vs. Prodigy, the Bellcore lawsuit threat hits the papers, Rebel's first Chemical Bank call, the 394 exchange is explained by a New York Telephone operator.
  24. What Would You Like Your Telephone To Be Able To Do?  Phone features that aren't publicized, the article Bellcore is so pissed off about and an explanation, how indictments and lawsuits are affecting us, the new $2600 700 number.  Also: new meetings in Chicago and St. Louis for a total of six.
  25. Emmanuel's beginnings as a hacker, a review of 800/900 "code" book with Carrier Access Codes, a debate with a caller over hacker ethics, an emergency interrupt, Emmanuel accidentally dials into a dial-it service, a mention of the MCI/Telecom USA merger.
  26. The first new show in a while.  Emmanuel's fun with TRW Credentials and his trip to Eastern Europe including adventures in Romania and Yugoslavia.  Comments on the yanking of last week's show, which was a repeat of the July 1st show on cellular phone eavesdropping.  Also: a review of Sneakers, another gay BBS is shut down.  This show includes fundraising.
  27. A Sneakers review by Don Parker, Emmanuel and Phiber discuss Sneakers.  Peter Barnes of Working Assets Long Distance talks about their Free Speech Day which targeted James Baker.  Also: talk of the National Reconnaissance Organization, making a phone call to the NSA.  This show includes fundraising.
  28. The Chaos Computer Club breaks bank info in Germany, calling Ross Perot's 800 number, Emmanuel's latest customs experience returning from Eastern Europe, calling the Michigan Bell automated CNA number, the prospect of 800 numbers running out, the 311 mystery, automated coin repair, more talk of Sneakers.
  29. Germany unifies its country code, a plane crash in Amsterdam hits close to friends, the 911 system in Toronto "crippled," New York Telephone announces "Call ID" which debuts in New York next month, getting a phone in China, the death of the 718-762 #1 crossbar.  Listen for Claude the engineer backing into the transmitter control.
  30. Bruce Sterling arrives late as this week's guest and has a rousing debate with Emmanuel, Phiber, and Acid Phreak over the morality of hacking.  He also talks about his new book, Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier, and reveals the very first hacker group ever - the Wild Indians of 1878.  Also: New York Telephone job cuts, Suffolk County's 911 service goes down.
  31. A Caller ID update, an explanation of SS7, a major phone snafu, Claude explains the problem.
  32. Phiber decodes touch tones by ear, a full explanation of the coming "Phonesmart" services, Bernie S. on the phone from a supermarket in Pennsylvania talks about *57.
  33. Step-by-step instructions on how to use phone services, parallels of hacking to real world things.  Almost all of the callers appear to be anti-hacker.
  34. A special report on the Secret Service raid of the Washington DC $2600 meeting at the Pentagon City Mall.  Security guards were used as pawns but the Secret Service involvement was uncovered by a reporter.  Guests include meeting attendee Inhuman, EFF lawyer Mike Godwin, and reporter Brock Meeks.  An announcement is made concerning a schedule change which resulted in the show being heard at 10 pm instead of 9 pm starting December 2.
  35. Electronic voting mishaps, listener mail, more debate on hackers and analogies, a Pentagon City update, Rebel tries to play his phone song.
  36. Illegally obtaining private info, getting credit reports, calling Equifax, translating telco recordings, a comparison of Secret Service and FBI tactics, the correct way to pronounce "Citicorp," the World Trade Center phone switch, the first call from another regular caller.  John Perry Barlow is the guest.  This was the last show at the 9 pm timeslot.
  37. The first show at the new timeslot.  Clearing up Caller ID confusion, calling New York Telephone to see if blocking is in place, calling Blockbuster Video to get info on a customer, Phiber's pet peeve: the "gotta go" device, phone company bashing.  As is the case with many of the shows that appeared in this new timeslot, part of the evening news follows.
  38. Rutgers University agrees to stop using Social Security Numbers as IDs, a Blockbuster update, analyzing Dead Kennedy lyrics, the first Pentagon City meeting since the raid, criticism of a recent article in Forbes.  Julian Dibbell of the Village Voice is the guest and he discusses, among other things, the new section of the Voice dedicated to high tech called "Wired."  This show is 12 minutes longer than normal.
  39. Emmanuel's nightmare with the SCAN system, Akron adult BBS prosecution, comparing faxes, 2400, and 9600 bps modems, how to eavesdrop on phone calls, the lousy conditions of New York Telephone payphones.  Listen for the George Carlin ID.
  40. Enhanced phones and picture phones, more on "gotta go," Rebel gives details on Chemical Bank phones, calling 900 information, an explanation of ACTS, TSPS/OSPS.  It's mentioned that Panix is the only system in New York City that allows full Internet access.
  41. Emmanuel scolds Claude the engineer, $2600 gets billed for collect calls, New York telephone revealed as allowing fraudulent billing, a live demonstration of a new way to block your number when *69ing, Emmanuel and Phiber theorize on a local kidnapping case that could involve Caller ID, Steve Jackson talks about his fight and upcoming lawsuit against the Secret Service, Milo Phonbill calls with a warning, a caller reveals an interesting fact about the military tribunal flag.

Off The Hook - 1993

  1. Emmanuel debates the logic of signing credit cards, an update on the Long Island kidnapping, the Brighton (England) city code change recording, Emmanuel demonstrates how fast a call to Sweden is placed and how slow a local call is in comparison.  Mr. French is the guest who brings the sad news of the last step cutover in New York and the cutover of the 212-942 exchange, as well as demonstrations of old phone sounds and touch tone decoding.
  2. A crazy news day.  Emmanuel loses his touch tones, Jim Thomas of Computer Underground Digest discusses the Neidorf case, First Amendment issues, and the Software Publishers' Association.  No show next week.  This show includes fundraising.
  3. Comparing 800 rates, breaking into PBXs, Emmanuel's trip to Austin, the Clinton inauguration, Dave Burstein from the Personal Computer Show joins Claude the studio engineer, Phiber, and Emmanuel in a reenactment of a Lubbock, TX Secret Service press conference concerning a raid on an on-campus computer system.  Mr. French shares his expertise on the phone network.  The WBAI story, Gene Scott on Radio Moscow, updates on the Steve Jackson trial, $2600 meetings in Munich are announced.  This show includes fundraising.
  4. Do cellular phones cause brain tumors?  The new White House staff brings in computers, a new White House Internet address on Compuserve is introduced, SNET's restrictions on privacy, AT&T's new cordless phone, Steve Jackson talks about his just concluded trial, Judge Sparks chews out Secret Service Agent Tim Foley.
  5. The beginning of this show is a bit messed up.  A lawsuit is filed to get the facts on the Pentagon City Mall incident, the house.gov domain is introduced by the new administration, voice dialing comes into existence, Rebel is framed, Emmanuel critiques a WNBC piece on hackers and child porn.
  6. Clinton Speech.  This show has nothing to do with Off The Hook.  This was President Clinton's first major speech after three weeks in office and it took place during the Off The Hook airtime so Emmanuel wound up providing commentary.  Also included is the Republican rebuttal by Bob Michael.  Guests include Don Rojas of the Amsterdam News and Doug Henwood of the Left Business Observer.
  7. Lives destroyed by computer errors, Emmanuel's double reservation via credit card, talk of GSM's difficulty getting exported, Phiber tells the story of Mr. X and the mysterious disappearance of his Phonesmart services, a complaint about background music, Emmanuel proves he isn't afraid of dead air.  The end of the show is cut off.
  8. The World Trade Center explosion, television and phone outages, New York Telephone and MCI offers of free service.  Phiber joins in on the phone.
  9. Emmanuel's trip to CFP in California, visiting the Well, reasons why *69 is an invasion, New Jersey Bell bills illegally, the Steve Jackson verdict.  Mike Godwin offers insight.
  10. The new issue of $2600 is released, Phiber takes an acronym quiz, prison problems with software, the Circuit 9 mystery involving the 910 and 920 exchanges, New York Telephone tips on harassing calls, a Con Ed experience, Emmanuel defends WBAI to an angry listener.
  11. A Blue Cross story, a Dutch hacker prosecution, the 8LGM sentencing, CPSR news on disclosure of Social Security Numbers, a Minnesota House of Representatives telephone scandal, British crackdown on monitoring police frequencies, authorities seize the printer of a World Trade Center suspect, a Prodigy controversy over slander, new meetings in Poughkeepsie and Danbury, Phonesmart supposedly available everywhere by April 1, a new directory assistance feature, Con Ed update.
  12. Comments on the show that preceded which happened to have a guest from the Software Publishers' Association, a Don Parker article, the continuing touch tone fee war, Emmanuel's ordeal with a relentless machine that calls every 15 minutes, talking over Monroe, Milo Phonbill calls in.
  13. Emmanuel gets features and Phiber doesn't, voice dialing rates are announced, Glen Roberts (publisher of Full Disclosure) talks about 1-900-STOPPER, Rebel announces a free phone scam at Penn Station.
  14. Emmanuel plays with "Call ID," Caller ID info delivered over 800 numbers, $2600 threatened with lawsuit by AT&T, George Gleason of People's Telecom talks about alternative local service.
  15. Problems with emergency computers in Suffolk County, the first use of Emmanuel's brain wave analogy, a promo for next week's special morning show, Emmanuel gets ripped off on new phone features.
  16. This was a special expanded program that aired at a very unusual time: 9 in the morning!  Guests include Rop from Hacktic in Amsterdam and Phil Zimmerman who discusses PGP and the government's efforts to stop him.  Hacking at the End of the Universe is announced, Rop talks about the changing climate towards hackers in Holland, the threat of the Clipper Chip, a Chinese "hacker" is executed, a fake ATM victimizes people.  Also: trying to get payphone rates, a demonstration of tones, new personalized CDs available in record stores.  In addition, the McDonald's and automated credit sketches are aired from Brain Damage Incorporated.  This show includes fundraising.
  17. A "Wild Palms" review, Robert Thomas from the Amateur Action BBS discusses his experiences with law enforcement, Rebel makes a studio appearance.  This show includes fundraising.
  18. The introduction of 1-800-COLLECT, comparing collect rates, interview with James Henderson, a student at the University of Texas at Houston who was kicked out of school for printing a user list.  His friend and attorney also join the discussion.  Claude offers commentary.  Listen for talk of the Houston Pacifica station, KPFT.  This show includes fundraising.
  19. The introduction of whitehouse.gov, 800 number portability, an intelligent newsletter from Cable and Wireless, calling AT&T's 800-321-0288 number, New York Telephone's directory assistance no longer gives extra help, British hackers sentenced to prison, British Telecom buys 20 percent of MCI, Integretel nightmares.
  20. Emmanuel testifies before Congress and learns some interesting things about government.  Included in the written statement which is read in its entirety here, Emmanuel talks about red boxes, access for the poor, and why hackers are not criminals.  The end of this show is cut off.
  21. Emmanuel's close call, nightmares upgrading a Mac, the summer issue of $2600 is released, new CD ROMs with directory listings, HEU news, New York Telephone begins cutting off callers after a certain number of rings.
  22. The WBAI cutover to a 5ESS is discovered, the "You Will" commercials, Phiber going on trial in a few weeks, a caller from Radio New York International, playing with new SS7 features live.
  23. Demonstrating the new NYNEX "cutoff" feature, Phiber tells the difference between a 5ESS and a DMS100, a broken AIS recording (212-279-9970), reporting the problem, playing songs with touch tones, report of a phone outage in 914, the future of ISDN.  Repeats are scheduled for the next few weeks.
  24. Stony Brook's automated registration system, trying to call information in a small GTE town (Ohiopyle, PA), a radio station in Bismarck, ND turns into a lifeline, a phone company in Fairbanks is owned by the city, tales from Emmanuel's recent drive to Alaska.  Also: customer problems, Pacifica the cat dies, Phiber's legal situation: he is forced to plead guilty and faces sentencing in November.  Phiber is now working for Echo, an Internet provider in New York.
  25. AT&T announces that it will be buying McCaw Cellular, the possibility of local companies getting involved in long distance, an update on Stony Brook's automated registration system, a demonstration of AT&T True Voice, an explanation of SignWorks, a warning from the Software Publishers' Association, wondering why Rebel is always the first caller, a report on some interesting phone numbers, asking an operator about a weird recording, the limitations of bandwidth, the possibility of a hacker event in New York City next summer, what waffle is, how service has changed since the phone company breakup, the rights of consumers to not have telemarketers call them, the difficulty of telling if "All Call Restrict" is working, home voice mail systems.
  26. This show took place when a NASA spacecraft disappeared mysteriously.  Scanning live on the air, governmental privacy issues, an unsuccessful playing of the full theme, the move towards local phone companies, long distance companies, and cable companies all offering the same services, Emmanuel's trick of getting the time from the phone company for free.  Marc Rotenberg of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility is the guest.
  27. A new five percent New York State tax on computer use is suddenly imposed, Phiber talks about how this effects Echo, a teleconference of listeners reminiscent of Off The Hook's first show.
  28. Acid Phreak and Scorpion are sent to prison, comparing rates of long distance companies and the time it takes for them to respond, Bill from RNOC and Razor provide commentary, the introduction of LCI, the Hacktic Demon Dialer.
  29. Prison clarification, New York Telephone rate reduction, playing recordings of Phonesmart features, getting an operator to explain why payphones can't be *69'd, a fake pledge drive from National Lampoon, Razor talks about funneling money at NYNEX.  This show includes fundraising.
  30. The first show in a while.  New Jersey finally allows call blocking, $2600 receives caller ID from 703, a motor vehicle computer outage, clearing up misconceptions on defeating *69, New York Telephone uses a single recording for 411, an "AT&T has been disconnected" recording, AT&T's voice recognition operator, a listener test of Caller ID.  Listen for Emmanuel accidentally answering a call with the name of his other talk show on another station ("Brain Damage").
  31. Pranks and privacy, three magic bits of information, Craig Neidorf provides information on a Connecticut sysop (Michael Lansky) imprisoned for files on explosives, Phrack now reported to be run by Chris Goggans, Pumpcon 2 is announced, report on Defcon, Craig gets legal access to 911 data, Razor reports on the announced Bell Atlantic/TCI merger, New York Telephone plans to charge for intercepts, results of last week's listener test.
  32. The New York State tax reported on several weeks ago is repealed, Caller ID is received from 314, Brock Meeks talks about the Bell Atlantic/TCI merger and the dangers of one entity controlling content flow.
  33. This show had a prerecorded interview with Rop from Hacktic and the announcement of Phiber's sentence.  Unfortunately, no known recording of this show exists.  (November 3, 1993)
  34. Robert Steele of Open Source Solutions discusses last week's conference in Washington DC where Emmanuel met the Vice Chairman of the National Intelligence Council.  Also: Phiber discusses the sentence he was given last week.
  35. This show had nothing to do with Off The Hook.  The NAFTA treaty was voted on during the Off The Hook timeslot so Emmanuel wound up providing commentary.  Included is a Dick Gephardt speech, the vote on NAFTA, as well as analysis with Emmanuel and Claude and a call-in segment on what NAFTA will mean.  The sound for this show fades in and out.
  36. A company on Long Island is threatened with a virus from another company, more cameras in England, Emmanuel finds a cable system in Virginia with 119 channels, AOL goes 9600.  Listen for Emmanuel almost giving out the phone number for a different radio station.
  37. Trying to hack NYNEX voice mail, calling a Pay Per View number, amazing problems calling New York Telephone, alt.2600 is founded.
  38. An unauthorized change of address, New York Telephone to be dismantled by the end of the month, playing Caller ID data, Phiber gets some of his equipment back from the Secret Service and finds out where he's going, Phiber winds up in court with the World Trade Center bombers.
  39. An anonymous contributor shares an experience on Simplex locks on dropboxes, 950 numbers in danger, Phiber talks about getting his equipment back, the first days of alt.2600.
  40. Cops catch answering machine thieves, Clinton phone records reveal possible affairs, Emmanuel has an unpleasant telephone experience at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC, New York Telephone is chided by the PSC and told to cut its rates by three percent, the touch tone fee is cut in half, Home Shopping Network and TCI plan to form an international home shopping network, QVC set to take over Paramount, Emmanuel has an interesting parking experience at JFK Airport, Julian Dibbel discusses his Village Voice story of "cyber-rape."
  41. A last listen to the New York Telephone recording as the company changes to NYNEX, anonymous call rejection is announced, why pulse dialing actually costs the phone company more than touch tone dialing, a man is sued for $40 million for stating a negative opinion about a company, the winter issue of $2600 is released, the second to last show that Phiber Optik can attend, a listener writes in to tell the horrors of French phone service, Phiber analyzes a smart card, Encore reveals a shady back-billing practice, a description of the prison Phiber is being sent to, reverse directory assistance to be introduced in New York in February, Emmanuel suggests a way around the increasing directory assistance charges, a going away party for Phiber is planned for New Year's Eve in Times Square.

Off The Hook - 1994

  1. A very sad show as Emmanuel and the listeners say goodbye to Phiber on the eve of his departure to prison.  An incredible ad from networkMCI, a fake ATM makes an appearance on NYPD Blue, New York Telephone recordings still seem to be active, George Gleason calls in from California, Craig Neidorf calls in from Virginia, Emmanuel is labeled a subversive by the prison holding Scorpion.
  2. In this expanded show, the mystery of 311 is revealed, rotary payphones are said to be replacing touch tone phones on city streets to fight drugs, what the X in NYNEX stands for  Also: the story of Phiber's trip to prison, the New York City Metrocard, and the 360 area code is announced.
  3. The new NPA format is set to start next January, details on the special 456 area code, getting carrier access codes from operators, NYNEX now able to connect to other long distance companies, a cable outage is reported, the new carrier access code format of 101XXXX, report from the first #2600 IRC meeting, Emmanuel's Metrocard woes, an update from Acid Phreak and Scorpion, a taped telephone interview with Phiber from prison where the details of what really happened after he was dropped off are revealed.
  4. The Clipper Chip is re-endorsed by the Clinton administration, although the administration says it will be voluntary.  Insight from a Brock Meeks article.  Mike Godwin offers commentary.
  5. More updates on Clipper, Wiltel discovered to be passing Caller ID data nationwide, the White House engages in electronic press release revisionism, a new listener test is announced.
  6. Lynn McNulty, Associate Director of Computer Security at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, discusses the Clipper and Capstone chips and how they will work.  Also: how Clipper got its name.
  7. Results of the 10555 Wiltel test, a playback of an important quote from last week's show, the EFF comes out against the Digital Telephony bill and why this is important, Emmanuel scheduled to visit Phiber this weekend, Razor calls in with news of PGP over the phone.
  8. Emmanuel visits Phiber in prison and relates the day-to-day frustrations faced there, the Daily News article, the upcoming CFP conference in Chicago, more on Metrocard.
  9. Reporters snoop into Tonya Harding's email, Phiber is switched to dishwashing duty, Acid Phreak talks about his prison experience and how he was arrested.
  10. Phiber is forced to send books back from prison, Emmanuel's frustration trying to visit Scorpion, report from the CFP conference in Chicago which wound up being "raided" by the FBI in an unsuccessful search for Kevin Mitnick and Justin Peterson.  Lee Nessbaum, Robert Steele, and Joe Stevala share their experiences.
  11. FCC Common Carrier Bureau news on nationwide Caller ID, some old phone sounds, a recording of unknown origin follows the search for phone numbers for city zoos in the 1960s, AT&T's TDD scandal involving 800 numbers, an incredible experience while on hold, an increasing number of payphones stop taking incoming calls.
  12. NYNEX sends out a mass mailing with private calling card info, the David LaMacchia case (an MIT student is accused of running a wares site on the Internet) hits the media, Emmanuel debates listeners over software piracy.
  13. A move to outlaw encryption in Holland, Emmanuel apologizes for dissing Atari computers, a Citizens' Utility Board promo, a phone horror tale from India, another perspective on software piracy - a biblical look, a caller is concerned over Enhanced 911, the Romanian phone system, advertising inside traffic lights.
  14. Half of this show was a simulcast with another radio program on New York City's WNYU.  Rop from Hacktic talks about the Dutch government's attempt to outlaw encryption, Rebel's latest phone trick, cloning cellular phones for legal purposes.  This was an official day of mourning for former president Nixon.
  15. Monitoring the Internet live via IRC on the #wbai channel, Emmanuel gets proofed in a supermarket, talk of Linux, the first announcement about the Hackers On Planet Earth conference this summer, Emmanuel's appearance on Nightline.
  16. This was a two hour show.  The trials and tribulations of getting new phone lines at $2600, playing with NYNEX voice mail, the Call Mover service, the Kenyan phone system, update on HOPE, the fate of WNYC, Walter talks about visiting Phiber, feedback over the Nightline show.  The end of this show, which included an interview with Bernie S., is missing.
  17. No known recording of this show exists.  (May 18, 1994)
  18. AT&T introduces 1-800-CALL-ATT to replace 1-800-OPERATOR, a man becomes a millionaire for a short while due to a bank error, some old phone company commercials, playing with Call Mover live on the air, 1-800-I-FEEL-OK.
  19. 500 area code update, getting info on a fictitious number, a demonstration of People Mover, Ed from Long Island has a misadventure with Metrocard, Brock Meeks on the latest Clipper controversy and his legal defense, details on the Matt Blaze compromising of the Clipper system.  The beginning of this show is missing.
  20. Calling North Korea, theories on Metrocard, tracing the history of a Metrocard over the phone, a field trip to other IRC channels, Emmanuel appears on Nightline again.
  21. New traffic cameras in New York City, a call for Metrocard info, the OJ case and cellular phones.  Bernie S. is the guest.
  22. Programming AT&T's Easyreach service to call overseas, NYNEX repeatedly fails to install lines properly at $2600, John Markoff is interviewed over the recent front page article about fugitive hacker Kevin Mitnick, the manhunt mentality, America's Most Wanted supposedly interested, an upcoming NBC feature on Deth Vegetable.
  23. Forwarding Easyreach to a distant land, an annoying automated voice recognition operator that won't go away, more NYNEX woes, the Clinton administration looks at a nationwide ID card.  Dave Banisar of the Electronic Privacy Information Center is the guest.
  24. An incoming call from a NYNEX computer, the NYNEX problems continue, "crippled Caller ID" at $2600, a porn scandal at Lawrence Livermore Labs and the Los Angeles Times article that got nearly all the facts wrong.  Thomas Icom talks about intercepting pager traffic and demonstrates different types of pagers, Phiber's prison phone system crashes, digital cellular begins to be noticed.
  25. Robert Thomas of the Amateur Action BBS is convicted by a court in Tennessee, rumors of a national ID card announcement, ATM charges, Rebel's phone tape, a New York City police auction, Roman Kazan of Escape talks about a new proposal to make ISPs pay an additional $10,000 a year, a new caller talks about Citibank phones and offers services as an MTA employee, corrections about the Metrocard.
  26. The HOPE conference is scheduled for this weekend, a New York Times article says there may be less Internet users than originally thought, BillSF discusses the difference between switches in Europe and America, more NYNEX stupidity, getting rates for calls to Marisat and seeing just how phenomenally expensive they are, 1-800-CNN-TALK goes to a wrong number, CU-SeeMe, Razor discusses the White House phone system.
  27. The post-HOPE analysis. BillSF from Amsterdam, Chris (who ran the sound board), Andy from the Chaos Computer Club, and Walter (who helped run the network) discuss some of the experiences.  Phiber's speech from prison to the conference is aired here.  Also: the opening and closing of the conference, and an explanation of how the $2600 voice BBS works.
  28. NYNEX foulups and funny recording adventures, the New York Magazine article on HOPE, 955 numbers, red boxes, 10NJB, Plant Test numbers, new Citibank phones, an interesting fact regarding the first and last names in the New York City phone book, remote water meter testing, nationwide Caller ID begins April 12, 1995.
  29. A lousy story in the Philadelphia City Paper, Compuserve to offer Internet service, Agent Steal captured, Phiber is live on the phone for the first time from prison - his release date is set for November 22.  Rop from Amsterdam is also on hand.
  30. Another way to get ripped off on your phone bill, an angry Canadian recording, NYNEX seems to no longer complete calls to 800 numbers, calling LocTel, an 800 help center, a "special" phone company recording, an interesting feature on a ROLM Phonemail system, an extensive look at an employee locator service offered by Southwestern Bell, Rop is still in the country, automated firing, Rop manages to visit Phiber in prison, Rop describes his visit to the L0pht in Boston, Phiber has exciting news from prison, weird area codes, Rop tests Phiber and Emmanuel on area codes, Phiber talks about "Supermax."
  31. Steve O'Keefe, editorial director of Loompanics, talks about the recent Dateline NBC program that focused on "dangerous" books and the proliferation of reality-based news shows.  Phiber phones in from prison with Sal and Ira (two guest prisoners), speaks out against prison injustice, and gives advice to people facing interrogation.  This show includes fundraising.
  32. Telco horror stories from around the country, trying to get the country code for McDonald and Heard Islands near Australia, a progress report from Walter on the efforts to duplicate a Metrocard, a listener supporter from Philadelphia, Emmanuel rants against commercial cable networks and radio, Phiber phones in from prison with Ira who talks about his case.  Also: domains with no people, the CIA World Facts database.
  33. A song is released about *69, an MCI employee is arrested in a fraud scheme, the House of Windsor Collection scandal, Phiber calls in from prison, Roman Kazan calls from Unix Expo, Emmanuel discusses going to Argentina next week.  There is no show next week.
  34. Emmanuel and Chris talk about Argentina and the hacker scene there, NYNEX voice dialing gets high marks - a complete demonstration, Emmanuel critiques the Wired article on HOPE, the 1-800-CALL-INFO scandal.
  35. The FCC is named as the agency to regulate the Internet, the EFF caves in on Digital Telephony, Newsday Direct starts, calling Prodigy (listen for the horrible script reader), more on 800-CALL-INFO, Phiber calls in from prison.
  36. The prison population hits one million, the House of Windsor no longer gives addresses, Digital Telephony passes.  Dave Banisar of the Electronic Privacy Information Center talks about passage of the bill and what has happened to the EFF.  The show is preempted next week.
  37. Phiber scheduled to leave prison next week, the fallout over Digital Telephony and how EFF helped it pass, a phone system problem, Emmanuel discovers a billing error with NYNEX and helps Monroe attain a record, Phiber calls from prison to discuss next week's homecoming "parade" and the negative reinforcement in prison as well as an update on fellow prisoner Ira.
  38. An extended show celebrating Phiber's release from prison.  From Columbus Circle, Phiber rides down Broadway in the $2600 van, keeping in touch via cellular phone and eventually arriving at the station to a hero's welcome.  (The references to police barricades that were set up for the parade were not untrue.  It's likely, however, that they were in place for the next day's Thanksgiving Day parade.)  Also: a caller with an unusual ability to imitate telco sounds, calling funny telco numbers, what is hacking, the Republican landslide in recent elections, an explanation of predictors.
  39. The mayor's cellular phone is compromised, AOL plans to buy ANS, a hacker gains access to major secrets in England, Phiber on the phone from a conference, NYNEX introduces a new way to block *69 and introduces *82, the Internet Liberation Front issues a manifesto, the Pentium chip error is discussed.
  40. Pensacola bulletin boards are seized, Josh Quittner is mailbombed, spam sent to usenet in Emmanuel's name, analyzing the ILF, an "anonymous" Internet provider speaks out, the tragedy of the Thomas case, carving up the electromagnetic spectrum, PCS service coming, the New York Post claims credit for info run in $2600, Rebel talks about the phone system at SUNY Morrisville, the first mention of a NYNEX yellow phone.
  41. The New Scientist article on HOPE, alt.2600 targeted, tracking a spammer, plans for an Echo celebration of New Year's.
  42. The Pentium people give in at last, Emmanuel attacks Netcom, why Netcom is so vulnerable, Netcom responds to the $2600 allegations that their credit file was compromised earlier in the year, trying to get switch information from the operator, Walter gives a Metrocard update, an explanation of 500 numbers, a look at AUTOVON.
  43. Emmanuel reads his entire calling card number out over public airwaves, the utter stupidity of a cellular company, a NYNEX hold nightmare, New York Telephone songs from the past, upcoming First Night activities, a prepaid calling card that lasts forever, a phone line with infinite feedback, a review of Discovery's "Hack Attack."

Off The Hook - 1995

  1. A British hacker invades the Defense Department, the Chaos Communication Congress, calling an FBI hotline to catch spies and Russian mobsters, Brock Meeks talks about changes in the EFF and the recent Compuserve controversy over the GIF standard.  Also: David LaMacchia is cleared of all charges, the station receives an emergency interrupt, the new carrier access code formats begin to work, and a caller demonstrates his own version of voice dialing.  The show is preempted next week.
  2. A two hour special.  Roman Kazan of Escape talks about the upgrading to a T1 and ISDN access, a user discusses virtual games on Escape, Emmanuel plays a minidisc on the air for the first time, an excerpt of Robert Steele's opening address at the HOPE conference, Walter offers perspective on the HOPE conference, Serbs crack down on Albanians listening in on authorities via wireless phones, Emmanuel demonstrates that the listeners exist, Emmanuel's trip to North Carolina and his nightmarish experience with the cops.  This show includes fundraising.
  3. The pledge drive totals more than $800,000, a collage of "thank you's" from the WBAI staff, a closed captioning tale, Emmanuel reads the edited portions of his letter to Wired with help from the "official voice" of Wired, Phiber on the phone from Echo where there are major system problems, Phiber is named by New York Magazine as one of the 100 smartest people in New York City, the New York Times article on Internet spoofing and hijacking, Emmanuel plays the Burmese national anthem, Phiber's homecoming party at Irving Plaza, the upcoming $2600 Internet site, talk of conspiracy and Mormons.  A very critical analysis of Clinton's State of the Union address follows.
  4. A Long Island plumber is accused of using Ultra Call Forwarding illegally, a cat almost replies to a message on the net, NYNEX faces an angry crowd of technology experts and admits that they're behind the times, update on NYNEX ISDN, a full rundown of AT&T's 500 service, spoofing a payphone.
  5. Emmanuel suffers an on-air computer crash, NYNEX fouls up All Call Block for some customers, Emmanuel's voice dialing directory gets wiped out, Robert Thomas is sent to prison, a Metrocard scam, Emmanuel has problems getting a working modem cable for a Mac from CompUSA, trains pass through the station, fun with polls, Mr. Radio calls in, 1-800-MY-ANI-IS, Hackers is being edited and is now set to come out in September, a call for used phone cards.
  6. The very first public mention of Kevin Mitnick's arrest came on this program - the front page story appeared in the next day's New York Times, questions as to what Mitnick actually did, the case of Kevin Poulsen, the Communications Decency Act is introduced, how to dial a senator, the dangers of banning speech from an AOLer, the Jake Baker story (an Ann Arbor college student who wrote a sexually explicit story about another student is put in federal prison) hits the net, the NYNEX foulup of All Call Block is discussed by Daniel Forrest of Forrest Research who discovered the problem, a real NYNEX vehicle comes to the rescue of the $2600 van during a TV shoot.
  7. An anonymous remailer in Finland is shut down by Interpol at the behest of the Church of Scientology, raids taking place around the country focusing on cellular info and money laundering, more on the Jake Baker story, a barrage of media coverage, an upcoming 60 Minutes piece, the Shimomura connection to the Kevin Mitnick capture.  Dave Harrison, a longtime friend of Mitnick's, is the guest.  The infamous Netcom credit card file and evidence that it was widely available last year, the connection with The Well, how the New York Times was involved.  This was the first real criticism that was aimed at John Markoff's reporting of the story.
  8. Checkpoint Software invites an attack with the help of the media, the 60 Minutes piece airs, a Wall Street Journal article, Emmanuel gets misquoted in the Los Angeles Times, Shimomura's quotes in Newsweek, the Mitnick case becomes even more bizarre as John Markoff signs a $750,000 book deal, Brock Meeks offers insight, Iphone and the effects it will have on long distance companies.
  9. NYNEX recordings geared for kids, the Bernie S. saga begins with his arrest in Pennsylvania, Secret Service Agent Tom Varney gets involved in the case, the MCI 800-WOW-ITS-HOT hotline returns, dialing 311, news of SATAN.  The beginning of the show is missing.
  10. Chapter Two of the ISDN saga with Emmanuel and Phiber, NYNEX tries to fax the radio show and Phiber imitates a fax machine, a hacker strikes the WBAI phone system live on the air, upcoming media pieces, Bernie S. update - imprisoned since March 13th on $100,000 bail for possession of a red box, press release issued on the net that vividly describes what happened in the early days of this case, Emmanuel encounters a new way of verifying signatures on a credit card purchase, SATAN update, Emmanuel reviews a frequency counter called The Scout, the "train disaster" in Jamaica, AT&T introduces *234 for international busy signals.
  11. Day 15 of the ISDN saga, NYNEX employees trained by Bell Atlantic, Emmanuel's secret NYNEX code is repeatedly sent out in the mail, NYNEX overcharges in a bad way, Emmanuel tries to visit Bernie S. in prison, SATAN is released, 2600.com goes online, Spy Shops gets raided, Emmanuel receives a strange frequency at 513.24 MHz, AT&T's new calling card format proves easy to compromise.
  12. Day 22 of the Quest for ISDN, Emmanuel visits Bernie S. in prison and tells the horror story, attempts to get Bernie S. to phone in, state charges are dropped and the Secret Service takes over, examining the affidavit, Kevin Poulsen sentenced to 51 months in prison, nationwide Caller ID now working, Bruce Sterling attacks Phiber out of the blue.
  13. Day 29 of the Quest for ISDN, Dave talks about getting ISDN from NYNEX, a tribute to Tom Mandel, Phone Day changes in England, scrolling advertisements on NYNEX payphones, the Crackerbuster mailings to posters on alt.2600, Bernie S. updates, another caller relates harassment by the Secret Service, a Radio Shack tone dialer is turned into a red box live on the air.  This show was on the day of the Oklahoma City bombing.  While there is no real mention of this on the show, there is coverage on the portion of the news rebroadcast that follows.
  14. Day 36 of the Quest for ISDN with some incredible runaround tales from Phiber and Emmanuel, Dave updates us on his search, building a red box on the air, Clinton introduces new legislation after the bombing, another Dateline NBC story, Emmanuel plays with a nationwide street map CD ROM, the Guttenberg Project.
  15. Phiber and Emmanuel both get ISDN, Xenophile is threatened by law enforcement for speaking out on the Bernie S. case, Phiber tries to explain the World Wide Web to Rebel, an 800 sex line is suspected of billing callers.
  16. An extended show.  Phiber reviews the Motorola Bitsurfr for ISDN, Roman Kazan describes PPP with Phiber's help, the amazing disproportion between AOL rates and the rest of the net, Pam and Jim from Esoteric Resources talk about the World Wide Web, Bernie S. now being held at the Fairton federal facility in New Jersey, a cyber cafe opens in New York City (the @ Cafe), Nick Barnes and Glen McGuiness talk about how the cafe got started, encryption is banned in Russia with the FBI's help, Master Chemist talks about monitoring cellular calls, Phiber reviews Masters of Deception, Emmanuel catches Phiber throwing paper airplanes in the studio and makes him beg for money on the air, a Stuyvesant High School hacking scandal, a Daily News editorial.  This show is in three parts and includes fundraising.
  17. An extended show although this was unknown until the normal time was almost up.  More critique on how the Mitnick case went down, the Office of Records Purification, getting the number for the Public Service Commission from NYNEX, the yellow payphones of Manhattan and the reasons why they suck, listener mail, a new Bell Atlantic service to provide reverse directory assistance, a kid is treated like a hero after shutting down a racist BBS.  This show includes fundraising.
  18. The Bernie S. case worsens, he's held with no bail and allowed no visitors, Emmanuel's efforts to get the Independent Film Channel on cable, Bernie S. calls in and explains the new statute that helped imprison him and how the books he had in his house were used against him, Emmanuel discovers a way to check on phone bills.
  19. Bernie S. tries to get the government to move on his case and describes what life is like in prison, Sarlo offers an analysis of phone company policies, an update on last week's phone bill scandal, a proposal to eliminate cashiers in supermarkets through the use of customer held scanners, Joker talks about privacy threats, a caller has suggestions for some good "goofs," Emmanuel encounters a deceptive practice with airplane phones.
  20. Bernie S. is indicted on three counts which seem rather unbelievable, Bernie S. gets into an argument with another inmate over phone time live on the air, neither Emmanuel nor Phiber are using their ISDN lines after all the fuss, the Exon Bill is voted on, a debate over bomb-making information on the net.
  21. Phiber gets ISDN again at his new residence, Emmanuel talks about his trip to a British hacker conference, trying to get rate information for Europe, the different prices to make an international call from a European payphone, the hassles of getting a phonecard in Holland, Kevin Mitnick to plead guilty and face a sentence of eight months, he still faces charges in other states, Emmanuel drives a car on the other side of the road in England, Bernie S. calls in with news that he's still imprisoned with no bail, Emmanuel sees the new copy of $2600 for the first time, Bernie S. reveals that he's considering "making a deal with the devil" right before being cut off, Emmanuel and Phiber discuss the differences between American and British Mars and Milky Way candy bars, Rebel announces NYNEX phones that cut off touch tones after a certain number.
  22. Phiber uses his ISDN line over the air, it's revealed that the Secret Service tried to apply pressure to WBAI to keep Bernie S. off the air, Emmanuel describes the different forms given to people entering the country and describes how he was searched yet again coming back to the United States, Emmanuel responds to a criticism of the music, a caller has an intriguing telephone problem.
  23. Friends of Bernie S. are questioned by the government, an appeal for expert witnesses, how Bernie S. was charged as the first person under the new statute, announcement of something "interesting" being released to the net within the next 24 hours, Emmanuel and Phiber get ISDN to work, the search for providers, Eric Hughes talks about the Citibank visually impaired ATM features and Cypherpunks.  The very beginning of this show is missing.
  24. Emmanuel discovers that touch tone service works from everywhere in New York, Phiber's experiments with ISDN, the 800 area code running out of number, the 710 area code, calling the NSA, an emergency interrupt, Bernie S. answers questions about cellular phones.
  25. First new show in three weeks.  The Phiber going to prison show was repeated two weeks earlier, Emmanuel's trip to Las Vegas, three weeks until Bernie S.'s trial, the one message hotels in Las Vegas will never deliver, a review of The Net the website for Hackers is hacked.
  26. The new book Takedown is announced with much fanfare, Bernie S. court date set for September 8 with a bail hearing set for the day before, the potential oppressive outcome for everyone as a result of this case, why the cellular software Bernie S. is charged with possessing is not illegal, Phiber's continuing battle with ISDN's Caller ID, Emmanuel gets a Bitsurfr, 2600.com almost gets hacked, Phiber explains some technical differences between NYNEX and Bell Atlantic, the 555-5454 reverse lookup service is introduced in New Jersey, finding out the cost of emergency interrupts.
  27. Bernie S. hopes to be released from prison within the next week, how testimony from an unnamed "witness" helped keep him behind bars, how Hackers will show the Secret Service in unflattering terms, reviews of Hackers, Phiber talks about major Solaris bugs, Emmanuel proposes four digit area codes, a demonstration of New Jersey's reverse directory service.
  28. The results of Bernie S.'s suppression hearing, how he was left in a burning building by the authorities.  Also: XS4ALL is raided by the Scientologists, Razor, Joker, and Roman Kazan offer commentary on Bernie S., censorship, and the net, Rop from Amsterdam talks about the raid, 2600.com about to go ISDN.  There is no show next week.
  29. An extended show.  Announcement of a schedule change which will move Off The Hook to Tuesday nights at 8 starting October 3rd, Bernie S. forced to plead guilty since the statute as phrased defines his possession of technology as a crime, Emmanuel reports on a hacker infiltrator who wound up making a hacker documentary while he was working for the Secret Service which later prompts the true organizers of the documentary to call into the show, a replaying of the writers' panel from HOPE including Julian Dibbel from the Village Voice, Paul Tough from Harpers, Winn Schwartau, Iain Softley (director of Hackers), Rafael Moreu (screenwriter for Hackers), and Michael Peyser (producer of Hackers).  Also: AT&T splits into three pieces, Blake makes a pledge, BillSF wanders by with some choice words for the Scientologists, Roman Kazan talks about "complete" Internet access, Joker, Phiber, and the listeners review Hackers.  This show is in two parts and includes fundraising.
  30. The last show in this timeslot.  The new NYNEX tariffs promise to lower rates, 10NYT not working from 516, Emmanuel has problems using ISDN with PSI, Phiber makes progress with his ISDN battle, Bernie S. sentencing is put off for three weeks for no particular reason, Blake, Joker, Roman Kazan, and Robert Knight help in the plea for funds.  This show includes fundraising.
  31. An expanded first show in the new Tuesday at 8 pm timeslot.  A brief history of the major stories followed on Off The Hook over the years, Bernie S. set to be sentenced in one week, sentencing guidelines, BillSF is arrested in California sparking fears of another Bernie S. situation, a replay of his commentary from two weeks ago on the Church of Scientology, tube station signs hacked in London, Phiber talks about stack overflows, the sound of Rebel hacking live, alt.2600 is spammed again, control freaks on the net, problems with the Internic, a free sample of 976 numbers, a caller shares his ISDN problems, David of david.com offers solutions, dialing UK Direct, 1-800-FIND-ATT, Bitsurfr advice.  You will hear warnings for callers not to discuss a particular subject, however the subject is never revealed.  The O.J. verdict had just been announced and there was no radio show that wasn't obsessed with it - until now.
  32. Emmanuel has traffic problems, alternatives to the 976 time service, Bernie S. is sentenced and reveals how he could be charged all over again, Phiber has a hard disk crash, BillSF is released, how the O.J. verdict was received in prison, Southwestern Bell seeks to release customer data, 911 calls route to a house, Scott Skinner calls in to discuss Bernie S.'s legal affairs, a rumor of Bell Atlantic taking over NYNEX, the 814 exchange mystery.
  33. The new issue of $2600 is released, New York City payphones increasingly don't accept incoming calls, a review of Private Line magazine, Bernie S. is released, a hacker raid in Holland centers on pager monitoring, Scott Skinner plays with a scanner, frequency counter, and touch tone decoder, Phiber gives updates on ISDN features, problems getting an ISDN provider on Long Island, new computerized directory assistance, a report on the Amnex 950-0370 service, questions about Mitel phones.
  34. Calling MCI foreign operators, more ISDN tips, Phiber defends NYNEX voice mail, another ANI number, Bernie S. appears at Pumpcon and is trying to put his life back together, Secret Service Agent Tom Varney intent on putting Bernie S. away again, a new NYNEX flat rate regional plan is rumored to exist, Phiber and Emmanuel argue over the pronunciation of Linux, Emmanuel's call waiting tone changes out of the blue, Bernie S. talks about assimilating to the real world, it's revealed that Bernie S. was not the actual person to remove the batteries from a tone dialer in 1993.
  35. Emmanuel's ISDN woes worsen as NYNEX line quality falls short of expectations, the new NYNEX regional rate plan, an FBI plan to tap 1 in 100 phones is reported in the New York Times, Emmanuel and Phiber disagree on the legality of encrypted cellular phones, 888 is officially announced and Emmanuel finds an error in the AT&T statement, Emmanuel gets a letter from the Critical Payments Unit, an update on the Long Distance Wholesale Club, Phiber defends New York City's yellow phones, a listener with an interesting background is concerned over misuse of voice recognition, Blake predicts the end of long distance, Jim comments on a Metrocard article in the Daily News.
  36. The guest is Dov Wisebrod of LoGIC, the Legal Group for the Internet in Canada, discussing the Jesse Hirsh case.  Also: telephone calls and an update on the 1-800-MY-ANI-IS service.
  37. First show from the brand new temporary studio.  News updates: 911 service, air traffic control outages, AOL Gold, the new NYNEX calling plans.  First calls on the new phone system, Joker reviews "Virtual City," a caller defends AT&T against Emmanuel's attack two weeks
  38. Getting Off The Hook on the net, the new WBAI phone system allows callers to be put on hold, Bernie S. update, overview of the Mitnick books, Don Delaney statements, NYNEX employee regulations, PSI update, the WBAI web page, monitoring through payphones.  (The initial method of getting the show onto the net was rather complex - the shows were first recorded as .wav files, then converted to .au format, and finally compressed into a gsm file.  The end user had to have the appropriate gsm player on their home system and real time streaming wasn't possible.  It would be more than a year before the show would be available on RealAudio, which was far easier to use and had a better sound with no increase in file size.)
  39. Civil liberties groups cave in on the Exon Bill, AOL censorship, more evidence against PSI obtained, Phiber connects to government websites live from his home, update on Netcom vs. Church of Scientology, ISDN setup, giving Social Security Numbers to the phone company.  The beginning of this show is missing.
  40. Internet Protest Day.  The Exon Bill, the V-chip, the Christian Coalition, calling Newt Gingrich and Jim Exon live, Polish Internet regulations, new AT&T surcharge, PSI update, AT&T automated customer service, Long Distance Wholesale Club, trying to use directory assistance without human intervention, PSI complaint.
  41. Bernie S. hearing postponed again, Clinton's mandatory drug test, Bell Atlantic merging with NYNEX, PSI exposed.  The beginning of this show is missing.
  42. More ISDN problems, coming of the V-chip, Captain Crunch whistle, problems with the delay system, Rebel uses his operator privileges.

Off The Hook - 1996

  1. Review of the NYNEX "Magic of ISDN" display on New Year's Eve, prediction of "Atlantic NYNEX," new custom calling features, Bernie S. update, quotes from Takedown, escape.com retort to bad publicity.
  2. A special interview from Wakeup Call, WBAI's morning show with Amy Goodman and Bernard White.  Topics include Compuserve censorship and threats to free speech on the Internet.  WBAI's Jim Freund joins the discussion.  There is some static in the background.
  3. Bernie S. hearing approaches, the Blizzard of '96, Fedex tracking numbers on the web, the nationwide SSN collection project, interview with Clint Danbury.  No show for three weeks.
  4. An extended program.  The Secret Service puts Bernie S. back in prison, an interview with authors Jon Littman and Jeff Goodell.  Topics include the Kevin Mitnick saga, Tsutomu Shimomura, John Markoff, persecution of hackers, and President Clinton's Social Security Number.  Joker talks about escape.com.  There was an incredible amount of confusion at the beginning of the show which resulted in periods of dead air and recorded announcements being repeated numerous times.  This was because of problems with the new studio as well as difficulty with another studio that was using the Bernie S. incoming line.  There were also at least two TV crews filming in the studio.  The audio on the second part of the show is slightly overmodulated.  This show is in three parts and includes fundraising.
  5. $2600 wins the battle against PSI, the Communications Decency Act passes, the new WBAI phone system has more lines than can be answered, Emmanuel berates listeners for tying up the Bernie S. line, talk of the prospect of more censorship.
  6. A Scientology publication targets alt.2600 as an example of what is wrong with the Internet, Tsutomu Shimomura's takedown.com turns into takendown.com, Bernie S. defends himself against allegations that he's guilty of something and explains why he's pessimistic about getting out anytime soon, Emmanuel wonders why civil liberties groups have avoided the case, comparison of some prison phone systems.
  7. The press seems to start taking an interest in the Bernie S. case, the public is encouraged to attend the next hearing, Bernie S. develops bronchitis, the Internet to be shut down for 24 hours on February 29, calling the 710 area code, Rebel talks about his trip down south and advertises his website, Emmanuel's payphone experience at the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border, trouble with the outro.
  8. Kevin Mitnick in prison for more than a year, the new NYNEX phone bills, regional competition, another case very similar to Bernie S.'s is revealed, sentencing scheduled for next week.
  9. Bernie S. is sentenced to more prison time with an anticipated release by the summer, Izzy and Master Chemist discuss the case, $2600 to release a special web page in 24 hours, criticism of AT&T's new Worldnet service, why new NYNEX phones that cut off touch tones are self-defeating, Dave Burstein announces an event at the @ Cafe in two weeks.
  10. $2600 introduces the Secret Service web page, more experiments with GETS, Emmanuel introduces the Motion Picture Patents Company which makes it illegal to make your own film without approval, promotion for next week's event, Cable & Wireless overcharging for local calls.
  11. Major problems getting a call from Bernie S. who was mysteriously transferred from Northampton County to Bucks County - a harsher place, a release date of July 12 seems likely although May 30 would be the right date if a 41 day credit is applied as ordered by the judge, the possibility also exists that he could be held until 1998, the Secret Service responds to the $2600 website, NYNEX appears to have stopped billing for long distance companies, concern for possible mistreatment of Bernie S. at Bucks County Prison, promo for an upcoming event at the @ Cafe.
  12. Problems with Bernie S.'s phone system, a billing error leads to the AT&T section being left out of NYNEX bills, Joker is slammed by MCI and Amway, building cable descramblers.
  13. An Argentinean hacker is found, Chris Schanot is arrested and blamed for the Internet Liberation Front, optimism for Bernie S.'s federal appeal, the ACLU appeal of the Communications Decency Act approaches, Bernie S. gets his first visitors at Bucks County Prison and has an interesting dream, the new $100 bill is introduced.  The beginning of this show is missing.
  14. Emmanuel reserves a golf game via touch tone, bail is revoked for Chris Schanot, SBC to merge with Pacific Telesis, excerpts from a book on the Secret Service, Bernie S. sees Hackers on a mirror through prison bars, more media coverage.
  15. The I-CON conference, MCI pranks Emmanuel, Emmanuel tries to sell long distance to MCI, Phiber reports on a proposal to add a "decency flag" to the Internet Protocol, an Iowa hacker gets in trouble, foreign phone sounds.
  16. AT&T's new automated lookup and credit system, Bernie S. has an appeal denied because it was filed on the wrong color paper, the Bell Atlantic/NYNEX merger is challenged, a listener is accused of hacking for using RPC, telnetting to all.net results in warnings to system administrators.
  17. The New York Times comes out against net censorship, Emmanuel gets mail from a militia group, monitoring cameras supposedly coming to American cities, the drive to get Bernie S. a television set, Emmanuel plays with the Service Merchandise customer database, ACLU court challenge to the CDA coming up on May 10, the V chip and the tremendous amount of ratings it will entail, Bernie S. is accused of having children by his prison.
  18. Mission Impossible coming out soon, AT&T cards no longer able to be used on the NYNEX network, surveillance on school buses, a prepaid calling card is used to get evidence against Timothy McVeigh, the Bernie S. TV saga continues, teleconferencing exploits, Bernie S. still scheduled to be released on May 30.
  19. 250,000 hackers with a 65 percent success rate allegedly break into the Pentagon according to press reports, Bernie S. release delayed, listener action considered, "Web Review" appeals to readers for money, criticism of Bernie S.'s attorney, a caller is arrested while having a heart attack.
  20. Calling the Bellcore Tiger Team and hacking their voice mail, Spyline products, Bernie S. remains in prison, the theory is presented that the Secret Service is keeping him imprisoned to impede his federal appeal, Kevin Mitnick is offered a ridiculous deal by the government, Vietnamese Internet rules, Secret Service codenames, Emmanuel not going to New York City meetings for a while.
  21. Mike Yuhas, a man who has memorized every area code and Emmanuel's former co-host on a different radio show (The Voice of Long Island), is the guest.  A recording is played of a 1982 broadcast where a foreign operator is called in the search for Oscar's All Night Kosher Deli.  Also: Bernie S.'s release is held up.
  22. Report from Summercon, the Communications Decency Act is given a thumbs down in court, Emmanuel hits a dead end with a NYNEX payphone, Claude has a payphone story, Bernie S. is two weeks late for release.  Repeats are scheduled for the next few weeks.
  23. The last two weeks were repeats.  Emmanuel's trip to Europe, stopping over in Iceland and escaping from the plane in Germany, the proliferation of GSM phones in Europe, Pam reports on Bernie S.'s appeal being rejected by a federal court, release is now reported to be as far away as November, net cafes in Europe, teletext services.
  24. Another bad TV documentary on hackers airs on The Learning Channel, a review of Independence Day, MSNBC debuts, NYNEX renames Call ID to "Caller ID," Joker gets a weird voice mail promotion, Emmanuel tries to reserve a hotel room in Atlanta on the eve of the Olympics, Phiber talks about new rdist security holes.
  25. A "Free Kevin Mitnick" record from Europe, a survey from Access All Areas, callback rates, pirate radio, Off The Hook accused of being elitist, discussion of the Flight 800 explosion, terrorism in society.
  26. First new show in three weeks.  Emmanuel reports on Defcon and Las Vegas, the Los Angeles 2600 meeting, 1-800-54NYNEX, Phiber tries to stretch time, the Pepsi fighter jet controversy, the lack of airport security, Phiber's theory on Flight 800, Rob Bernstein from Internet Underground is introduced to the Bernie S. case and tells how his sending a fax may result in an additional nine month prison sentence.
  27. A Trainspotting spoof, Department of Justice web page hacked, Bernie S. sent to max for 19 days as a result of the fax and files a grievance resulting in retribution, Secret Service agent Tom Varney is targeted for protest at the Democratic Convention in Chicago and claims not to know what's happening with Bernie S., Confuse The Operator: calling a voice activated machine at Chase, Bernie S. calls from a new facility with a full report, Emmanuel gets a useless NYNEX calling card and fails an ISDN loop test, one in 132 Americans are now in prison.
  28. A soldier is caught hacking and faces a life sentence, the coming of PCS phones, Confuse The Operator: what does ISDN stand for, the mystery of telex, the new $2600 voice mail system, playing with ANAC, a caller is interrupted by multiple phone calls, Emmanuel finds a magic phone in Las Vegas, Bernie S. update.
  29. Events take a dramatic turn for the worse as Bernie S. is transferred to a more dangerous facility and severely beaten, Pam describes his frustration at having his jaw wired shut, Emmanuel announces the start of a protest movement, Phiber talks about the differences between his imprisonment and Bernie S.'s, a list of phone numbers and addresses is given.  Bernie S. actually managed to call in during this show, even though he could barely talk.
  30. The protest gathers momentum as Bernie S. continues to be mistreated by the prison and the hospital.  Bernie S.'s uncle is attacked by prison personnel when he attempts to take a picture, Bernie S. describes how he isn't getting medication or pain killers and how this is common practice within prisons, Chris Neitzert calls with an update on his part in the case and an appeal to end infighting within the hacker community, Pam updates the legal status of the case, the listeners discuss strategy.
  31. In a real surprise to everyone, Bernie S. is released amidst much fanfare.  Pam describes his reassimilation into society, thanks given to the listeners for helping apply pressure and get the word out, Bernie S. calls in with his experiences, the chapter finally ends.
  32. An analysis of SYN attacks as $2600 and Phrack both publish articles on the subject and panix.com is paralyzed as a result.  Also: NYNEX found to be improving, Emmanuel's ISDN finally working properly, the inequity of payphone charges, Rebel offers new discoveries, Confuse The Operator: why does 10698 go to AT&T, Emmanuel accidentally gets AT&T in Spanish.  Alexis Rosen of Panix is the guest.
  33. Lucent goes public, E-Z Pass is found to be overcharging motorists, Joker has info on Fast Toll in Washington DC, Kevin Mitnick is indicted, discussion on why Lewis DePayne (Roscoe) was indicted with him, law enforcement overdoes it with prosecution of child pornography, Phiber Optik comments on the MOD book, Emmanuel going to the Ottawa meeting, Phiber explains frame relay.  A three and a half hour special in two weeks is announced but it wound up being canceled.
  34. The new issue of $2600 is about to come out, a woman has a car accident and chase on the radio, the takeover of Turner by Time Warner and the fight involving Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch, and New York Mayor Rudolph Guliani over the Fox News Channel, Emmanuel calls the hotline to comment on the Bell Atlantic/NYNEX merger and leaves a comment, a net code of conduct threatens c2.net, Robert Thomas update, Emmanuel investigates the 910 and 920 exchanges.
  35. The 809 scam - Emmanuel calls a recording designed to keep callers on the phone, a mass mailing advertising child porn, DVDs to be introduced in January, Phiber gets another ISDN line, Panix reportedly leaving New York for New Jersey because of NYNEX's lousy service, more on the Guliani/Murdoch/Fox story, Emmanuel tracks down a random person on IRC, 56k is now possible over a regular phone line.  No show for two weeks.
  36. Kriegsman Furs is hacked, another look at the possible Bell Atlantic/NYNEX merger, Emmanuel opens a scam letter from AT&T live on the air, Joker reports on a Worldnet outage, an unsatisfied Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Mobile customer calls, the $2600 voice BBS gives info on Caller ID, anonymous call rejection, problems with using RealAudio and the future potential of having Off The Hook available in that form.
  37. Confuse The Operator: Emmanuel tries to find the cheapest long distance rate, a warning to avoid long distance companies for regional calls, Metrocard rate reductions rumored, a town on Long Island outlaws payphones, some new bugs are discovered for Sendmail and Pipelines.
  38. Excerpts from www.nynexsux.com, Phiber gets charged business rates for his second ISDN line, Phiber gets a GSM phone and introduces the listeners to Omnipoint, Phiber discovers that his phone doesn't work and that the phone has a slight delay which is demonstrated on the air, Phiber calls Omnipoint customer service on the air, Emmanuel gets E-Z Pass information.
  39. First new show in several weeks.  Repeats included the $2600 panel and the social engineering panel at the Hackers On Planet Earth conference, Emmanuel brings back new music, GSM phones in Europe, how airline travel demands blind faith in technology, some differences in expressions in England, Emmanuel's Eurostar story, the British Labour Party web page gets hacked during Emmanuel's visit, the Singapore government site is also hacked, how xs4all in Holland is helping the antigovernment demonstrations in Belgrade, a live demonstration of the RealAudio site linking B92 from Belgrade to the world, Rop from xs4all describes what the project entails, some changes in *69 which now announces the number about to be dialed, an 890 scan leads to an old New York Telephone service, the number for NYNEX repair is about to change.
  40. Emmanuel gets an E-Z Pass device and it is dissected during the show, Charles Platt talks about his new book Anarchy Online and how it relates to Kevin Mitnick and other aspects of the hacker world, Rebel reminisces about HOPE, Emmanuel apologizes for a major mistake made last week, David from IBM offers analysis on the E-Z Pass device.
  41. The 1996 Retrospective Program, Phiber's Omnipoint phone has trouble staying in range, Emmanuel's E-Z Pass backfires, Kevin Mitnick placed in solitary, the Air Force website is hacked, the program crack is defined as a menace, Emmanuel practices for a national talk show, Bernie S. calls in and gives an update on his recovery, a listener thanks Bernie S. for recommending his lawyer, Emmanuel tries to find a part of the world where it will be New Year's at 9 pm Eastern Time.

Off The Hook - 1997

  1. A clarification of the mistake made on the show on New Year's Eve concerning time zones, the E-Z Pass computer, Phiber journeys from his house to the station broadcasting live from his Omnipoint phone, Phiber's large ISDN bill, the coming of DVD, the new TV ratings system.
  2. The first show to be broadcast live over RealAudio, reports from all over the country, Winn Schwartau's review of Takedown, Manos updates the listeners on the status of the RealAudio broadcast, eavesdropping on Newt Gingrich's cellular phone call.
  3. Phiber's ISDN woes, more on Omnipoint and E-Z Pass, calling Radio Shack for DVD information, new numbering scheme for London announced, announcement for Beyond HOPE, Japan's PHS service, the new MCI plan to England.
  4. The second show to be broadcast live over RealAudio, Manos the Technician updates the listeners, calls from around the country, Emmanuel to visit Atlanta, an update on MCI and AT&T local service, trying to reach Phiber, a subway sign is hacked in New York, how Beyond HOPE will differ from other hacker conferences, DVD update.
  5. This was originally scheduled to be a three hour show running from 9 to midnight but a last minute schedule change from Pacifica forced the show to run from 7:30 to 9 in order to allow coverage of the State of the Union address.  Jon Littman talks about his new book, The Watchman, a review of Where Wizards Stay Up Late, trying to cancel AOL live on the air.  Roman Kazan of Escape and Bernie S. join the fun.  In addition to the upcoming State of the Union address, the O.J. Simpson civil case verdict was about to be announced, which made for a real sense of anticipation.  This show is in two parts and includes fundraising.
  6. The first show in two weeks.  The yellow phones of New York City are terminated, AT&T offers a lower rate to people who ask for it, the Cyberangels look for child porn viewers, a company is victimized by voice mail hackers, Emmanuel's adventure with a "smart" rental car.
  7. Croatian hackers break into the Pentagon, Radio Shack's Family Radio Service, trying yet again to get E-Z Pass info, Emmanuel reports on BellSouth DCS rates and how New York PCS rates are too high, the Moldova rip-off, an AOL caller talks about wares.
  8. New York City is plunged into crisis as it is announced that the 212 area code will have to be split again into 646.  Speculation as to just how such a split will work.
  9. More on the 646 crisis, Emmanuel's trip to Chicago and the many area codes that are in use there, the push for four digit area codes, PCS and DCS, 1800 and 1900 megahertz phones, GSM, Sprint's Total Voice service, DVD update, Spy Factory case resolved, FBI requests worldwide cooperation to capture computer criminals, the NASA and NCAA web hacks, the declining state of radio in New York, Bernie S. sends a TDD message.
  10. Emmanuel finally plays with a DVD, calling Blockbuster for DVD info, demonstrating Caller ID on an Omnipoint phone, INN security hole, Bill Gates' low orbit satellite Internet plan, trying to get new callers, Phiber fooled by $2600 voice BBS, a review of Web TV.
  11. Digital cellular phones are compromised, the New York PSC approves the Bell Atlantic/NYNEX merger, Dutch computer hackers accused by media of trying to help Iraq during the Gulf War, Rop from Amsterdam and Bernie S. offer insight, a preview of Hacking In Progress, Bernie S. tries to help a caller who's being harassed.
  12. April Fool's Day: Emmanuel tries to get Rebel to repent, the new religious format, analyzing Higher Source, Hale-Bopp news, calling Sprint Spectrum.
  13. The I-CON conference, a debate on hackers, PCS phones useless on Long Island, SBC/Pacific Telesis merger, clarification of last week's religious takeover, how NYNEX busy signals can be harassing.
  14. Emmanuel is frustrated by junk mail, a phone nightmare in Ontario (the Sommi story), Low Tek of Atlanta talks about the breakup of last week's $2600 meeting, a call from Manitoba, Garth Brooks announced as an opening act for Beyond HOPE, Monroe calls after a long absence, a mysterious box downtown.
  15. Internet spammers and how to deal with them, Mudge from The L0pht explains their assault on Windows NT, Phiber and Mudge discuss s-key, the Ontario Sommi case is resolved.  (Midway through the show, Claude the studio engineer unwittingly patched out the signal to the telephone lines resulting in callers not being able to hear the station over the phone.  This made it seem as if none of the callers were paying attention when they called in, resulting in Emmanuel getting increasingly exasperated.  Eventually, Mudge himself got disconnected and the problem was diagnosed when he and Emmanuel began to converse in touch tones.  Claude delivered a personal apology to all of the listeners for all of the mayhem.)
  16. New "secure" postal barcodes, the dangers of laser pointers (Vinnie's tale), the Bell Atlantic merger is approved, an area code quiz, overlay area codes to go into effect in 240, 443, 410, 301, the potential for overlays in the 212/646 split, calling test numbers for new area codes, the future of 311 and 711, 611 changing numbers, comparing services in New York and New Jersey, shopping for a cordless phone, billing numbers by fooling ANI, the cost of overseas information.
  17. Cable companies plan on reducing quality, Omnipoint bypasses *67 on voice mail, Rebel tries to trick ANI and bill a call to another number.
  18. More dark and sinister tales of hackers with no real details, an Iowa student hacker is sentenced for an unbelievable crime, a "news" report from a Brussels security conference, Emmanuel decides to get DSS, Scott Skinner talks about DVDs and the future as well as such things as the distinctions between CD ROMs and CD-Rs.
  19. Last show until mid June.  Conservative Party website hacked in England, a listener writes in with another tale of *67 being disabled, Bell Atlantic announces ADSL service to be offered to residential customers, Rebel talks about the 10321 "free" long distance service, Ryan talks about DVD RAM drives, Emmanuel defeats a COCOT and makes a discovery on how to bypass the automated NYNEX directory assistance system, a caller gets hit with calls to Bangladesh, a call from Australia.  Scott Sommer from Housing Notebook returns from a demonstration in Albany to save rent control.
  20. The massive archiving of all previous editions of Off The Hook proves to be an educational experience, Off The Hook will broadcast live from the Beyond HOPE conference, Emmanuel goes to PC Expo, the Associated Press tells mistruths about Kevin Mitnick, the White House may back down on the Communications Decency Act and allow for self regulation of the Internet.
  21. The CD player malfunctions, Rebel becomes Phiber Optik, Emmanuel mysteriously appears on the phone and turns into two people, Omnipoint introduces voice dialing, Kevin Mitnick is sentenced, Emmanuel's report on DSS and the lack of real choice, Emmanuel jumps the turnstile after a Metrocard malfunction, NASA claims $10,000 damage to their website, Emmanuel's American Express adventure.
  22. The Communications Decency Act is ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, the Chinese take back Hong Kong, the increased success of Metrocard is analyzed, Microsoft is hit by a denial of service attack and comes up with a plan for people in cars, Phiber explains supervised release as the conditions for Minor Threat's and Kevin Mitnick's supervised release are revealed, Phiber's phone crashes, another Indonesian website is hacked, Emmanuel's advice on getting NYNEX payphones fixed.
  23. Phiber causes a panic on the net and CERT drops the ball, new problems with Metrocard, Emmanuel tries to arrange a Fedex pickup through the web, AT&T poses as a consumer group, experiments with Frontier Long Distance and third number billing.
  24. Beyond HOPE preview, Seraf talks about military sites probing the HOPE website, an explanation on what Phiber did to the net last week, Rebel talks about third number billing, what happens to extra change in payphones, Phiber tries to explain the difference between landline and cellular calls in terms of light.
  25. Mysterious noises sounding suspiciously like the sounds from Contact come out of nowhere, Pam and David preview Beyond HOPE, Emmanuel gets an Omnipoint phone and selects a ring type over the air, Emmanuel's nightmare with Omnipoint, why there isn't any GSM competition, the 10 megabit connection for the conference is confirmed.
  26. The last show before Beyond HOPE, Pam talks about what to expect, Emmanuel's battery problems on his new Ericsson phone, Wicked David describes a crosstalk problem with Omnipoint, Emmanuel defends printing information on credit cards.
  27. A special edition of Off The Hook broadcast live from the Beyond HOPE conference at the Puck Building in New York City.  Guests include Major Hacking, Cyberjunkie, Bernie S., Veggie, Mike Roadancer, Steve Rambam, Paul from name.space, as well as a special media panel (Paper Tiger, Cyberwire Dispatch, Netly News, Japanese TV, Internet Underground).  Listen for the ring voltage complete with Caller ID data every time phone calls are taken.  This show is in two parts.
  28. The theme is lost, post Beyond HOPE retrospective, media highlights, more Omnipoint problems and how they almost kept the Mitnick panel from happening.  Highlights of the conference are gone over by Netweasel, Seraf, Izaac, Patty, Zap, Gorph, Rebel, Meme, and Chris the sound man.  A half hour of We The People with Jerry Brown precedes.
  29. The FCC approves the Bell Atlantic takeover of NYNEX, talk of Liberty Cable/RCN and the FX network, a survey of NYNEX operators, Emmanuel gets his first Omnipoint bill, why certain parts of the city have weird GSM problems, Emmanuel reaches a credit limit with American Express, AT&T responds to the 10321 people, a report on Nextel, Emmanuel and Phiber debate over Omnipoint features and flaws.
  30. A preview of next week's ADSL show and an explanation of the differences between it and ISDN, Emmanuel tries to send email and get weather forecasts live through Omnipoint, trying to get nationwide directory assistance, a federal judge rules against encryption restrictions, a hacker pleads guilty, a new book called @Large is released, a new area code (347) is announced for Brooklyn.
  31. Emmanuel resolves some of his Omnipoint problems, an evaluation of Nextel, Bell Atlantic takes over NYNEX recordings, members of the Breaking News Network are indicted for monitoring pager traffic, Nettwerk talks about ADSL in Canada and the prospects for the United States, Emmanuel and Phiber make a wager, a listener calls from Utah.
  32. A new bill to control encryption looms, a cellular phone service that provides anonymity is introduced, pagers to provide limited web access, Bernie S. describes his Sprint PCS service a year after his release, more talk of the Breaking News Network story, the anti-Rebel algorithm is tested, another call from Utah.
  33. Emmanuel calls Phiber using a prepaid calling card sent in by a listener, the SAFE bill is analyzed, Porkchop discusses the upcoming live RealAudio setup, Emmanuel talks about his headlight ticket snafu, HR2369 is discussed, more talk of Omnipoint bypassing privacy, the effect of radio waves on health.
  34. $2600 releases information on White House pager traffic, ABC News covers the story, Pam talks about why she put the actual data on her web page, Bernie S. offers insight into how such things are done, spam victim Dylan discusses what Internet users can do to fight junk email.
  35. A RealAudio show featuring callers from around the country, Emmanuel looks forward to the day WBAI is on the net around the clock, fighting for the 212 area code, Emmanuel gets a letter from the National Security Council, trashing is made illegal in Connecticut, Emmanuel overhears a supposedly private conversation at the Sprint PCS offices, Izaac gives an update on the Beyond HOPE RealAudio project, Bell Atlantic begins to convert payphones in Manhattan, Manos challenges a caller claiming to be in Greece.
  36. Emmanuel calls a continuous string of AT&T recordings and begins using Sprint PCS service as well as Omnipoint.  This show was the first to be sent to a much larger number of people on the net thanks to other servers signing on.  A real milestone is a call from England.  Logs revealed listeners in China, South Korea, and Holland as well.  Also: calling a new victim hotline that gives updates on prisoner status, Phiber appears on NBC Nightly News and Emmanuel shows up on Good Morning America.
  37. Another worldwide broadcast, Emmanuel has trouble with SMS on his phone and offers another perspective on the Iraqi crisis, Phiber talks about a patch to Netscape that enhances encryption, Canadian PCS update, a Chicago listener sends in a CTA card which is the exact same format as New York's Metrocard, Emmanuel is forced to give out his password over the air, E-Z Pass is used to track criminals, Emmanuel reads a list of prisoners in China sentenced to die for minor crimes.  This show took place on Election Day.
  38. Emmanuel demonstrates how black can equal white via Omnipoint Voicemail, Porkchop explains what is needed locally for the RealAudio project to succeed, the new Pentium bug is explained and code is given out detailing how to crash almost any system on the net, Emmanuel saves a major television network from embarrassment, Worldcom decides to officially buy MCI, Bernie S. talks about the Phone Miser, Bell Atlantic's new name delivery service, tracking people through their cell phones, a cyber agent arrests a cyber criminal in a cyber sex sting.
  39. Trouble with the theme, Maurice from Xs4all tells how that Dutch provider is refusing to monitor a user at the request of the police, 200 Internet listeners this week, New Jersey teenagers to be tracked by satellite, patches to last week's Pentium bug, listener mail, ADSL update from the West Coast, the 999 exchange to New York City's fire department.
  40. A show dedicated to freedom.  A British hacker has charges against him dropped, Phiber's probation finally ends, a DVD crack is reported, a hacker named Rhosts explains how he hacked a NASA website, how he was caught, what happened to him, and why he fears for his freedom.  A brief explanation of the $2600 financial problems and a mention of Harper's reprinting of the White House pager traffic released by hackers.
  41. Schedule changes on WBAI include having a former fed doing the show before Off The Hook and Arab Voices following, more ADSL updates from Alabama, ATM implemented in New Brunswick (Canada), Congressional hearings on blocking pornography on the Internet from children, Emmanuel points out the injustice of the TV-MA rating on commercial television, a non-licensed radio station in Philadelphia protests an FCC shutdown, how to send anonymous mail via Netscape, a hazard of Internet Explorer's ActiveX, sites blocked by CyberPatrol, Emmanuel and Phiber read entries from the Yahoo! search engine, a caller from Kentucky reveals a security hole in BellSouth payphones, the new fee for 800 numbers from payphones implemented by the FCC.
  42. Yahoo! is hacked by a group demanding the release of Kevin Mitnick, a call to arms on the Mitnick case, an Argentinean hacker enters a plea in the United States, a GSM hack is described, Emmanuel has battery problems on his Sprint phone and has more fun at Radio Shack, confusion rises over the new 800 number fees, Emmanuel goes to court to battle a confusing traffic ticket, weather problems on Omnipoint.
  43. A 700 Club report on hackers, Emmanuel reports on the Internet World show and the attempts to put the "Free Kevin" display on the web browsers there, an update on Omnipoint service, the FCC raids micropower radio stations, Phiber arrives late, clarification of the supposed Yahoo! virus, the new 800 number fee opens up the potential for fraud, Phiber responds to Mr. Upsetter on cracking GSM, Emmanuel's Samsung/Sprint PCS/Radio Shack nightmare continues, JP from AntiOnline talks about his website that was shut down by the University of Pittsburgh.
  44. A letter from Phiber dispels ADSL myths, a call for more international coverage on the show, a clarification on HAGIS, a "random URL" service, a potential Metrocard problem, more stupidity from school administrators, potential health problems associated with GSM phones, Bernie S. reports on strange Omnipoint posters in Philadelphia, Emmanuel figures out the problem with his Sprint PCS phone and issues a challenge, a website of prostitution suspects is put up by the St. Paul police department, a new bill looms that would criminalize mere possession of $2500 or more of copied software, Rebel plays another of his songs from the past, a call comes in from Singapore.
  45. Clinton signs the ill-advised bill mentioned last week, a Nextel story, Phiber comments on the GSM health question, haggis websites, Porkchop gives a RealAudio update, word of a future split in the 516 area code, a review of 1997 and a look ahead to 1998, news of Radio Peace International, new unfair FCC charges.  (Emmanuel was sick as a dog during this show.)

Off The Hook - 1998

  1. The new copyright law - music lovers may be safe but font lovers may not be, the uncertainty of the next edition of Off The Hook, clarification of Radio Peace International, a review of the Cellularvision ISP, Phiber gets a new GSM phone and programs a unique ring, how to get even with the FCC's new 800 number policy by giving out their own 800 number, Emmanuel winds up in a voice mail dead end when trying to reach a new exchange, Nextel phones cause interference, Emmanuel and Phiber create a new technology to scare people, the Associated Press gets Kevin Mitnick's name wrong, sending a fax to Phiber's GSM phone, the rumor of a new fee for Internet connections returns.
  2. Emmanuel has temporary amnesia because of the long period of time between shows, the entire Clinton scandal came and went while the show was off the air, the drive to outlaw sales of used software, dispelling the rumors of a new FCC fee on data connections, a high school student is expelled for writing an article on hacking, the case of the allegedly gay person who was kicked out of the Navy because his information was given out by AOL, Bell Atlantic's ADSL plans, an update on cable modems, Omnipoint continues its expansion, IDT offers five cent a minute phone service over the Internet, a listener has a run-in with a New Jersey ISP, the low-tech Metrocard hack, a dialing trick to get lower rates from Bell Atlantic payphones.
  3. A warning from the Coast Guard on telephone fraud, AOL raises its prices, a report on international encryption controls, Monica Lewinsky's email address, ACLU information, Emmanuel and Bernie S. have an adventure with a payphone in Philadelphia, an interview with Owen Davis who runs www.nynexsucks.com and www.bellatlanticsucks.com, timing the response of 411, Phiber's Omnipoint bill goes down, an update on US West implementation of ADSL, complaints about useless and annoying Bell Atlantic features.
  4. Employees are captured on cameras committing crimes in a bathroom, more annoying Bell Atlantic services, a listener has a mysterious encounter with a beeper number, 2600.com crashes because of a destructive backup, attorney Roger Slates discusses the status of the Kevin Mitnick case three years after his imprisonment, the frustration of having to deal with 200 million pages of evidence that the government won't allow Mitnick to look at, ways people can get involved.
  5. Announcement for an upcoming microbroadcasters' convention, an experiment involving cell phones, interview with Paul Figueiredo who has challenged the Nabisco Corporation by registering oreos.com, word of a service offering free PPP, clarification of terms for Kevin Mitnick's eventual release, a defense of Bell Atlantic engineers, a caller accuses phone companies of fraud with relation to Caller ID.
  6. Everything in the studio is broken, Emmanuel describes a war that has been raging in the $2600 channel of Internet Relay Chat, the Pentagon hackers are allegedly found and questions are raised as to Janet Reno's true motives, Bernie S. describes how new laws will make it possible to charge even more people with crimes similar to his, an update from Steal This Radio and Radio Mutiny, a Bell Atlantic telephone play on the new 646 area code.
  7. New Mexico passes a new indecency act, the latest from the Pentagon hackers, free PPP clarification, Swedish phone rates, tales of stupidity from high schools, Steal This Radio gets a visit from the FCC, Bernie S. tries to find a guest, Emmanuel has new problems with Sprint PCS as they expand and begins getting advertisements on his Omnipoint phone, how cellular service has changed over the years, info on AT&T PCS, Emmanuel's dream of the future of portable phones.
  8. Hacked.net shuts down, an Israeli hacker takes credit for February's Pentagon intrusions, comparing alternative local phone companies, the whitehose.com and whitehouse.com websites, concern over video camera surveillance, Emmanuel tries to get a secret phone number out of Omnipoint and has a conversation with himself, an Elvis phone company recording, revelation of a scam involving fraudulent Omnipoint accounts and the dangers of giving out Social Security Numbers to phone companies.
  9. The Bell Atlantic play on the new 646 area code is played in its entirety, talk of trouble in the 978 area code, Emmanuel and Bernie S. try to solve some listener phone mysteries, talk of consumer pen registers, the Binary Brothers and VarTec Communications introduce the 1010811 carrier access code along with a whole lot of confusing terms, an appeal is made for an expert witness for Kevin Mitnick, the Israeli prime minister praises "The Analyzer," previews of I-CON and the microbroadcasting convention, a weird door entry system is forced upon residents in New York City.
  10. Bell Atlantic attempts to change the terms of an agreement, CyberPromotions settles a lawsuit, final details on the upcoming microbroadcasting convention, an interview with Kevin Mitnick's lawyer, Donald Randolph.  Topics include the details of Monday's hearing where Mitnick was denied bail as well as the right to review the 9.75 gigabytes of evidence on a computer, the public reaction to the judge's actions, the problems of reviewing such a huge amount of evidence, ways the public can help.
  11. Daylight Savings Time causes confusion, Bernie S. reveals some interesting theories from Sprint representatives, Emmanuel uncovers a way to get billing information for any Sprint PCS customer, a report on what went on at the microbroadcasting convention in Philadelphia, the state of radio in the United States, word of a magazine devoted to microbroadcasting (Hobby Broadcasting), controversy over water companies gaining access to customer phone lines, instructions on visitor entry systems in apartment buildings and rumors of a master code that allows entry into buildings.
  12. GSM is cracked, an interview with one of the people behind it: Marc Briceno of the Smartcard Developer Association. Omnipoint claims there is "no risk of fraud," a discussion of what will be involved in fixing this, allegations that the algorithm was cracked because it was kept secret as well as the possibility that the algorithm was deliberately weakened, the possibility that someone else may have done this before.  Also: more high school harassment, cellular cloning.
  13. Last show for the next few weeks, an MTV system is hacked, another pirate station is silenced, Kevin Mitnick's judge is revealed to not be as clueless as she appears, an FBI report on computer breaches is challenged by a privacy expert, an update on encryption from England, military computer systems and the nation's power grid said to be at great risk, a Canadian hacker is caught by NASA, Omnipoint reverses its lack of concern over last week's GSM crack and revises its algorithm, the Trenton Computer Festival, letters from Australia and Argentina, Emmanuel gets weird numbers on his Caller ID and tries to social engineer the GETS system, an official White House recording, complaints about Ultima Online.
  14. First show in a month.  Emmanuel announces a "new law" requiring WBAI to air commercials, Mitnick's bail hearing is denied, "Free Kevin" bumper stickers begin to appear, Emmanuel reports on his trip to the Dayton Hamvention, New Republic comes out with a fraudulent article on hackers, Signal Magazine accuses $2600 members of plotting with Japanese nationals to hack into sensitive computer systems, media reports of hacker threats in front of Congress, students are disciplined for distributing flyers about the Mitnick case, an organization known as FIRN explains why it blocks the $2600 website, the U.S. Navy is accused of attempting to hack into the Whale and Dolphin Preservation Society's computer system, more problems with Sprint PCS and their voice mail system, Emmanuel reveals how to shut down certain ATMs as a protest against the ATM fees.
  15. A brief look at Negativland's anti-Pepsi campaign, Emmanuel discovers the prevalence of Nike, Emmanuel goes to Amsterdam and reports on the prevalence of GSM and the image of Americans, the entire United States pager network goes down due to a satellite problem, Janet Reno comments on how confusing computers are, the backlash from the L0pht statement to Congress, new fees placed on phone bills, a change in the way Bell Atlantic handles refunds, Emmanuel sets the record straight on his connection to the Hackers movie, Media One heavily advertises broadband in the midwest, GTE and ADSL, the last show from the 8th Avenue studios.
  16. The first show from the new Wall Street studios, a brand new telephone number, a new local phone company (TCG instead of Bell Atlantic), an explanation of some of the new charges that are appearing on all phone bills, Bell Atlantic offers to "protect" customer privacy, Izaac relates his PCS nightmare in Atlanta and Emmanuel smashes his phone, a new offer from Sprint PCS, Emmanuel demonstrates how it's possible to appear to spoof Caller ID on Omnipoint phones, Sprint unveils a $2 billion network that promises to revolutionize the industry within a year, the "love" beeper, $2600 moves to a new website, credit card snafus, local callers are no longer cut off after a certain number of rings when calling the show.  Because of the transition to the new studio, there is some distortion at times during the show.
  17. Getting used to the new studios, an update on Turkish hackers, "Free Kevin" bumper stickers and virtual stickers appearing around the world, hacking reports from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, a new film based on the book Takedown is announced, report from Summercon, a $2600 reader is threatened by International Churches of Christ for expressing support of a hacked web page, PCS in the south, Emmanuel tries to help a caller with a weird fax problem.
  18. The move to the final new studio is completed, update on the Takedown film, looking for the number to Miramax, Fill gives an update on the www.kevinmitnick.com site, a look at a hacked website that got Mitnick news out, hacker insurance from ICSA, Tersian tells a horror story about Bell Atlantic and ISDN, Rebel calls from California.
  19. The script to Takedown is obtained, Emmanuel changes his views on whether the film should be made at all, the entire character list is read, Fill, Porkchop, and Emmanuel read excerpts and discuss the implications of the extremely negative portrayal of Kevin Mitnick as well as the many facts that are left out and the glaring technical inaccuracies, what people can do to get involved, the Mitnick Defense Fund continues to grow, "Free Kevin" bumper stickers start showing up everywhere, a caller expresses concern over Emmanuel's recent demonic appearance in the New York Times.
  20. More research is done on the Takedown script, a connection to the writer of Hackers is revealed, Fill joins the Skeet Ulrich Fan Club and the Miramax Cafe, Mojo raises questions on how far the truth can be stretched when dealing with public figures in films, the Kevin Poulsen article for ZDTV on the Takedown script, bad news in the world of microbroadcasting as Free Radio Berkeley is shut down and Radio Mutiny in Philadelphia is raided, New York loses another alternative FM station, how the Internet is leveling the playing field, New York City's Metrocard is successfully cloned, an AOL hacker is sentenced, how the "Free Kevin" message is being spread on the net and the streets, Emmanuel breaks his Sprint phone yet again and has it turned on quicker than ever, news on the WIPO bill.
  21. Emmanuel and friends cause commotion at the debut of unlimited use Metrocards by giving away subway rides, the campaign against Takedown intensifies, reader mail, Emmanuel has trouble finding a copy of The Fugitive Game to give to Skeet Ulrich who appears to have moved away, a meeting is announced to plan a demonstration against Miramax, a full list of contact numbers and addresses, a new action alert is released, Netweasel debates a caller on hacker ethics, more plans are discussed, talk of new local phone companies.
  22. Omnipoint introduces Power On which appears to be a campaign of unsolicited junk mail on PCS phones, Emmanuel and friends have the cops called on them when they give away unlimited Metrocard fares in the subway, Emmanuel and friends are kicked out of a Miramax building when they show up with a camera, a request to interview Skeet Ulrich is turned down, a report from Friday's organizational meeting, a demonstration outside Miramax is planned for Thursday afternoon, "Free Kevin" buttons are introduced along with a second order of bumper stickers, a Chicago Fox affiliate's website is hacked with a "Free Kevin" message, a caller believes Kevin Mitnick is racist based on the script.  The audio is a bit slow on most of the show.
  23. The WIPO bill is passed, EFF cracks DES, ourfirsttime.com is revealed to be a hoax and has their website hacked, the Suffolk County Police Department reveals its wariness of $2600, the demonstration against Miramax takes place and gets major media coverage, two more script revisions are released with some major changes but still a lot of problems, plans for the filming of a $2600 documentary are announced as Emmanuel and crew head out across the nation, Emmanuel's horrible airline experience, Sprint PCS service worsens, Emmanuel has a positive Omnipoint experience.
  24. Emmanuel calls in from Oklahoma and relates the many encounters with police that the film crew has had, Fill reports on an MSNBC chat with Kevin Mitnick's lawyer, the film crew visits an 18-wheeler preacher, the Computer Emergency Response Team, questions as to whether any damage at all was caused by Mitnick, a fourth revision of the Takedown script is released, a discussion of the real reasons why Mitnick became a fugitive, an encounter with Oral Roberts University, Porkchop tells of the differences between New York and all of the other cities the crew has gone through, a new scam involving three-way calling from Bell Atlantic.
  25. Emmanuel calls in from Los Angeles.  Fill reports on the short-lived Bell Atlantic strike, the unveiling of Back Orifice by the Cult of the Dead Cow and Microsoft's response, corporate mergers, Emmanuel goes to the wrong Las Vegas, report from Defcon, the San Diego $2600 meeting, Nu Image refuses to talk about the Takedown script, the latest script revision incorporates the "Free Kevin" movement, Emmanuel and the camera crew "visit" Kevin Mitnick across the street from the prison and annoy federal authorities, Agent Steal is returned to prison, Emmanuel and the camera crew climb the Hollywood hill, major problems with Sprint PCS in California, a caller questions the worthiness of the "Free Kevin" movement.
  26. Lots of technical problems as Emmanuel calls in on his Sprint PCS phone from the Bay Area, the hacker relation to the Clinton scandal as defined by the media, the latest changes to the Takedown script include changing the name of The Well to The Ball, Shimomura is spotted on the Takedown set instructing Skeet Ulrich on how to portray Kevin Mitnick, the Vatican goes online, a report on the handing out of "Free Kevin" literature outside a famous Los Angeles theater, Claude and Fill have difficulty reestablishing contact with Emmanuel, AT&T announces a $3 charge for people who don't use their service, Sprint PCS turns Emmanuel's voice into something completely unrecognizable, the prevalence of DSL in California.
  27. Still more technical problems with the WBAI phone system, Emmanuel calls in from Alabama, Hurricane Bonnie headed straight for the Takedown set, the latest from the US West and SNET strikes, the silencing of microbroadcasting, a sobering reminder of life in prison for Kevin Mitnick, more news on Back Orifice.
  28. Emmanuel returns and tells how the filming turned out, the race to meet Hurricane Bonnie in Wilmington, how Waffle House rescued the crew from the hurricane, how the Takedown crew was tracked down, what happened when Emmanuel and crew tried to interview the Takedown people, life under a curfew in Wilmington, Bryan and Exceed describe the life-risking adventure on the Hollywood hills, Porkchop and Fill add perspective to the entire trip, a letter from Julia Menapace tells another side of the Takedown story, the Supreme Court turns down Kevin Mitnick's appeal, Emmanuel describes a low-speed chase in Wilmington involving the film crew, a strange phone rings in the studio, Emmanuel chooses GSM over CDMA, Sprint PCS sort of introduces voice mail.
  29. The MTV web page is NOT hacked, an Internet child pornography ring is shut down, Emmanuel calls a long distance verification number for LCI that produces a recording of the customer agreeing to sign up, Freddy the Phone Fraud Fox makes local appearances, a new type of phone fraud called cramming is introduced, Bell Atlantic three-way calling scam.
  30. The New York Times website is hacked in the middle of one of the busiest news periods in history, Congress forces indecent material to be put on the net, media coverage of the hack and the connection to Kevin Mitnick, a hidden fact about the Kenneth Starr report, Simson Garfinkel comments on the implications of the New York Times incident as well as the technical means that allowed it to happen, the hidden message in the page source, Fox distorts the story in a really bad way.
  31. A special new caller only program, a US West employee ties up computer processor time in the search for a new prime number, a controversy looms for the allocation of the .us top level domain, more hypocrisy from the New York Times, Emmanuel reads ignored letters to the Times and CNN, a possible way around new long distance company charges, the difference between long distance, in-state long distance, and regional calls, Emmanuel gets a whole lot of new useless phone features, battling beeper harassment.
  32. The White House website is NOT hacked, comparisons of sentences for serious crimes with the time Kevin Mitnick has already served, EC cards are cracked, a demonstration of Sprint PCS numeric paging, a demonstration of microbroadcasters is planned, Chancellor Media on the verge of owning 500 radio stations, news departments at radio stations are disappearing and being replaced by outside monopolies, Emmanuel gets spam from anti-spammers, a look at the legalities of spam, the threat of the CDA sequel, email to a listener from John Markoff.  Listen for the disguised Rebel call.
  33. Emmanuel demonstrates a special test mode on his Sprint PCS phone, a live demonstration of Net2Phone from IDT, Bernie S. offers insight into developments in the Mitnick case, theories as to why none of the evidence has been looked at with three months until the trial, comparisons to the Kenneth Starr prosecution, AT&T's new "Chat and Talk" service, Sprint's new "Short Calls Free" service, Bell Atlantic makes a DSL announcement, problems with the new $20 bill, phone service lost in Oklahoma, preparations for the year 2000 bug, an update on the Long Island Telephone company.
  34. The last show until November, the tenth anniversary of Off The Hook, Emmanuel is frustrated by the many new charges on phone bills, AT&T deceives consumers with its One Rate Plus program, the attempt to remove long distance charges from a line with no long distance, Bell Atlantic introduces Private Reach Service which enables unlisted numbers to be called, broad new surveillance legislation is passed behind closed doors, another setback for Kevin Mitnick, hackers get blamed for nearly everything computer related, Emmanuel tries to get rate information for the 767 area code, WEBtv spies on its users, how to combat slamming, DSL makes its way into New York via Eclipse and Concentric
  35. Election Day coverage from Pacifica delays the show for ten minutes.  ABC posts fictitious election results on its web page a day before the election, Buffnet is raided by New York's Attorney General, BillSF visits from Amsterdam, Emmanuel visits a federal prison in the middle of Philadelphia, revisiting the Bernie S. case, Kerry gives an update on the Mitnick website and the latest in the case, an article on "hacktivism" appears in the New York Times, AT&T gives the time on long distance calls between time zones, the tenth anniversary of the Internet Worm, Kevin Mitnick's grandmother has a mild heart attack.
  36. Trouble with the theme, Bernie S. talks about Philadelphia's new federal prison, the majority of African Americans between 18 and 34 to be imprisoned within a few years if current trends continue, how federal cases have little to do with the truth, California teenagers accused of hacking the Pentagon are sentenced, a teenager is publicly accused of downloading child pornography, a new set of federal regulations require all ISPs to register with the government, a Y2K update from England, Agent Steal becomes a fugitive again, Xs4all is summoned to court for refusing to monitor a user account, positive developments on encryption from Finland, Izaac demonstrates a Sprint PCS mystery, weirdness with forwarding, Omnipoint completely reverses its marketing strategy, a Sprint PCS employee calls in.
  37. More trouble with the theme, a pirate radio station in Los Angeles is shut down by the FCC, the corruption of radio, listener feedback, a communique from Agent Steal that defends his actions against Kevin Mitnick and others, focus on the Y2K problem, readings from various websites, some funny products for sale, Izaac and Ray offer expertise on how Y2K may affect anything from nuclear weapons to Social Security, why burying your money won't help, Emmanuel encourages listeners to watch for meteors.
  38. AOL announces a takeover of Netscape, Rop and Izaac offer analysis, Barry from Holland asks for help from the listeners in identifying a strange radio signal, the difference in scanner laws between the United States and Europe, Emmanuel identifies the mysterious theme for last week's Y2K feature, what the "Free Kevin" movement really stands for, Alexis Rosen from Panix describes their debut of DSL service in the New York area, Emmanuel tries to come up with a better way of saying WWW, ways of countering spam.
  39. Emmanuel solicits funds to cover a malfunctioning parking meter downstairs, new allegations are raised in the Mitnick case concerning an FBI informant having access to Kevin's former lawyer's office, Kevin Poulsen offers insight into the latest developments and background on the case, suggestions for Y2K preparedness, debate on whether copying software should be considered stealing.
  40. Agent Steal is apprehended, Kevin Poulsen tells the story of his capture, Micah confronts the Washington Post over false reporting in the Kevin Mitnick story, the myth of Mitnick being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list is addressed, the judge in the case responds to Kerry's request for financial disclosure in a somewhat volatile way, the trial is postponed until April, another suggestion on how to say WWW, the need for students to be aware of their rights, Izaac brings in an MRE.
  41. An unusually political show focusing on the dramatic events of the day including the bombing of Iraq and the impeachment of President Clinton.  Emmanuel discusses the importance of WBAI's unique coverage and shows how bias exists in all media outlets and how too many people accept what they are told without questions, how all of this relates to the world of hackers.  Also: increased control of the Internet in Yugoslavia, anti-Mitnick sentiment, developments in Croatia, Rwanda, and Central America.  Emmanuel tries to call Iraq and gets through to the White House.
  42. The last show of 1998.  Emmanuel, Izaac, Porkchop, and Bernie S. talk about the most memorable events of the year including a rundown of the "Free Kevin" movement and the making of Takedown, website hacks, previews of Y2K, the microbroadcasting battle, corporate ownership, the Pentagon hackers, Wired reports on "hackers" in China being sentenced to death, the Guinness Book of World Records spreads more inaccuracies about Mitnick, the question of who Shimomura was working for is raised again, Six Flags gets hacked, a clarification on the upcoming $2600 meeting.

Off The Hook - 1999

  1. Problems making a phone call, the first Y2K problems start to appear, Patty gives an update on a disturbing change in the Kevin Mitnick saga, Frank from the Chaos Computer Club explains a coordinated reaction to a statement by the Legions of the Underground threatening electronic sabotage against China and Iraq, the mysterious death of Tron, the Chaos Communication Congress, AOL tries to block AT&T from saying "You have mail," Coca Cola on its way to resolving Y2K problems, a library is sued for allowing access to pornography on the net, online holiday sales set a record, Sprint is robbed in Las Vegas, Bell Atlantic considers taking over Airtouch, the latest on the Agent Steal arrest, Steal This Radio comes back on the air, hacking in the future, 1010502# gets free phone calls.
  2. Confusion reigns over the scheduling of Off The Hook due to the fundraiser and the Clinton trial, the debate on how to keep kids away from adult websites continues, Emmanuel is accused of running a toll by the E-Z Pass people, a teenager is believed to have run away from home because of the Internet, a federal 888 number devoted to the Y2K issue, a Rhode Island hacker is sentenced to prison but the judge questions much of the government's allegations, Clinton singles out hackers as enemies of peace, the Mitnick trial is postponed until April 20, the frustration of trying to prepare his defense, Philadelphia begins mandatory ten digit dialing, Emmanuel advises people to listen to the Clinton trial.
  3. An unexpected show as the marathon drive is postponed again, a European plan for mass monitoring is revealed, another look at the Y2K problem, Emmanuel predicts that nothing at all will happen, some of the more ridiculous things coming out of the Y2K scare, Bell Atlantic mails a flyer to its customers promoting free three-way calling, taxes and fees on a typical phone bill skyrocket, a call to Bell Atlantic's recorded info, a $25 check scam from AT&T, an update on the $2600 film, New York may soon require ten or eleven digit dialing, a tribute to Tom Pomposello.
  4. Emmanuel goes to the Clinton trial and discusses the security arrangements, what really goes on on the Senate floor, Bernie S. talks about the COPA case, the FCC proposes licensing microbroadcasting stations, the dangers of the corporate takeover of the radio spectrum, the story of the WXPN takeover, Emmanuel suggest that corporate entities give back excess stations to the communities, a suggestion on how to refer to the broadcast networks by their rightful names.
  5. Emmanuel catches the flu, an accidental disclosure of private greeting cards on the web by Hallmark, comments on revisionism in the media, the military purges its websites, a Long Island family is a target of cyberslander, Bronc discusses hacking Chinese websites and the Legions of the Underground, $2600 makes a correction to the Guinness Book of Records via the www.guinessrecords.com site, a summary of Windows Refund Day, the fourth anniversary of Kevin Mitnick's arrest passes, Emmanuel declares himself President of the Internet.
  6. A late-breaking news item - hackers are reported to have taken over British military satellites and issued a blackmail threat, Emmanuel admits that hackers are evil and that Western civilization is threatened by their existence, a new bill to ban digital decrypting technology moves closer to law, states are found to be selling personal info to credit card companies, the Secret Service connection, another child pornography case on the net involving the military, cleaning up military websites, Space Rogue of the Hacker News Network offers some enlightening info on the true nature of the British satellite story, a Takedown poster is spotted.
  7. The Reuters story of hackers threatening a military satellite is officially dispelled, a Pennsylvania congressman announces that we are at cyberwar, a man is arrested for terroristic threats for pointing a finger at a Secret Service agent, the disproportionate way law enforcement people are treated, Omnipoint reveals a "no roaming fee" plan but only for certain customers, some Y2K updates, word of an MTV interest in the Mitnick story, a final tribute to Walter.
  8. Al Gore makes an incredibly foolish statement concerning the Internet, AT&T tries to convince Emmanuel to switch his phone line over with a $100 check, Sprint and American Express offer unlimited long distance dialing for a fee with a possible catch, a company advertises hacker backpacks but misrepresents what hackers are, Emmanuel discusses a power loss due to a storm, the FCC chairman tries to dispel rumors about FCC regulation of the Internet, a Y2K scam, Emmanuel violates an explicit warning by reading a fax about a "high tech hustler" named Greg Evans and the book being published about his life, Emmanuel issues an appeal for listeners to get involved in the current New York City police controversy and to listen to an eyewitness account later on the evening news, AT&T reported to backbill customers called from certain hotels, more Omnipoint spam.  [NOTE: The eyewitness account of police brutality mentioned in this show immediately follows this program.]
  9. A tribute to WBAI's program director, Samori Marksman, who died earlier in the day.  Dave Burstein of The Personal Computer Show stops by to share memories and discuss the incredible contributions, history, and significance of this most remarkable person who was largely responsible for the continued survival of WBAI.  Kevin Mitnick is reported to be making a plea arrangement with the government, Macki offers insight into how this information may have been leaked, what it actually means, Bernie S. explains how Kevin could have been forced into this decision, the potential of yet more charges being filed against Kevin, what will happen to the "Free Kevin" movement, why the federal government has a 97 percent success rate in court, the restrictions Kevin will face when he finally is released, Porkchop commits a potential federal crime on the air, a final thought for a tribute to Samori.  Remembering Samori Marksman.
  10. Emmanuel gets arrested in the New York demonstrations against police brutality, a moment by moment account of the experience ranging from the time of arrest to release, Emmanuel manages to make phone calls and send email while enjoying a ride in the paddywagon, an accounting of the 28th precinct - the most dangerous in the city, a realization as to where the enemy really is, the low technology of a police station, Kevin Mitnick agrees to plead guilty in exchange for another year in prison and a whole host of other conditions, why this means the "Free Kevin" movement must continue.
  11. Emmanuel demonstrates the incredible insecurity of the Sprint PCS billing system using Izaac's phone number, a massive amount of web pages are hacked because of the war in Yugoslavia and the plight of a Canadian hacker, Izaac, Porkchop, and Carl discuss the Melissa virus, what David L. Smith actually did to spread the virus, how he was tracked down.
  12. The ACLU expresses concern over Echelon, Emmanuel accidentally dispatches a repair crew from the power company using a touch tone phone, an anonymous tip website allows anyone to view confidential information and people who entered the URL are investigated as criminals, the case of Bill Cheek and how it could adversely affect radio hobbyists, Emmanuel plays with a new service that allows users to send email to a phone account, an interview with Ron Schnell, the founder of Mailcall who happens to be an old friend of Kevin Mitnick.
  13. The CD players malfunction, Emmanuel starts an anti-Giuliani website, the 516 area code is targeted for a split, how to be labeled a terrorist, an update on the Bill Cheek case, charges are dropped against Emmanuel for his March arrest, Bell Atlantic offers a flat rate 19.2k CDPD wireless service.
  14. Connectivity problems make the show harder to hear on the net, Lewis DePayne pleads guilty, Emmanuel discloses federal documents that report losses attributed to Kevin Mitnick and appear to be grossly inflated, Bernie S. comes up with an analogy to the Mitnick case, Pam and Bernie S. recollect events leading to his release from prison, plans are announced for a series of "Free Kevin" protests in conjunction with $2600 meetings, reactions to the shootings in Colorado.
  15. Report from the Trenton Computer Festival, new federal guidelines may affect websites, a tale of a true criminal, questions about the loss figures in the Mitnick case hit the national media, further details on the upcoming "Free Kevin" demonstrations, Emmanuel and Izaac get into an impromptu debate on trenchcoats and school uniforms, a three hour special is announced for the upcoming WBAI fundraiser.
  16. The first fundraising show in quite a while and the first one ever that went out over the net.  Lazlow from commercial radio stops by to outline the differences between WBAI and commercial radio, hypocrisy in U.S. policy towards Yugoslavia, attempting to place a live call to Yugoslavia, an interview with Duska of B92 in Yugoslavia that focuses on the history and future of B92 as well as how the bombings are affecting the people, AT&T possibly blocking all calls to Yugoslavia, a critique of FM radio, the first pledge from overseas, Bernie S. reports on the Dayton Hamvention, an update on the Mitnick case and the government's reaction to $2600's release of damage claims by cellular companies, a list of new cities that will be participating in the "Free Kevin" demonstrations on June 4, a complete playing of the song that comprises the Off The Hook theme, Daniel Morgan of Satellite Watch News tells of a lawsuit brought by DirecTV.  This show is in three parts and includes fundraising.
  17. The air conditioning in the studio fails, Emmanuel's confrontation with a federal marshal outside the courthouse in Manhattan, Guy Montag and Kerry discuss preparations for Friday's Washington DC and Los Angeles demonstrations, a "Free Kevin" sticker is spotted on the TV show Felicity, a complete rundown of all the demonstrations, "Free Kevin" is spotted in a comic book, AT&T begins to charge people for getting area codes and Emmanuel confronts them about it, the Senate website is hacked and hackers strike back after FBI raids.
  18. A report on the "Free Kevin" demonstrations including a report from the WBAI Evening News as well as other media outlets, the ongoing question on whether or not it's legal to take pictures of a federal building, a new test number for the 646 area code, more phone scams that get people to spend lots of money dialing numbers, a user is disciplined for portscanning the $2600 website, Rebel demonstrates how callers are automatically routed to an expensive number if they ask an AT&T operator for an area code, demonstrators call in with their experiences, the lack of major media outlets to cover the story, a listener promotes an upcoming movie that features him.
  19. Another virus spreads throughout the Internet leading to questions as to how this could happen again so close to the Melissa virus, Emmanuel attempts to demonstrate the inaccessibility of toll-free information, a call to McAfee, an attempt to get the time of day from an AT&T operator, the summer issue of $2600 is released, a new scam targets Internet users through their phone bill, Emmanuel and Izaac debate the politics of George W. Bush, political parody sites cause controversy, Off The Hook voice mail makes its debut, the Mitnick sentencing is postponed for a month, an insider report on an upcoming MTV special on Kevin Mitnick, a call from Yankee Stadium, Emmanuel bemoans the loss of his area code.
  20. Bernie S. makes his first ever in-studio appearance as he becomes a free man at last, Emmanuel forgets to put quarters in the parking meter downstairs, Bell Atlantic introduces a four digit ANAC, DIVX ceases operations, a Y2K update, Emmanuel refuses to register in order to print out a page, a review of Pirates of Silicon Valley and how TNT deceives its viewers, Carl demonstrates some of the technical inaccuracies in the film, how it's difficult to get alternative views onto TV networks, the Secret Service infiltrates high schools.
  21. Emmanuel's bureaucratic nightmare with the passport agency, a listen to this week's voice mail submissions, announcement of a Palestinian country code (970), Emmanuel is hounded by Republican junk mail, a racist is sent to prison for harassing email, someone inserts a "Free Kevin" message in the Roget's Thesaurus site, an army website is defaced, a disturbing update on the MTV report on Kevin Mitnick, Emmanuel and Izaac debate the wisdom of preventing people under 18 from attending computer shows.
  22. A heat wave strikes New York, a preview of Defcon and the outdoor German hacker camp, why the new $2600 cover is illegal, why unlisted numbers don't protect people's privacy, an update on the IRC network, calling various time numbers, a comparison of the various rates charged at payphones, Omnipoint announces a merge with Voicestream, Emmanuel has multiple monitors shipped because of an encryption error during online shopping, a new net monitoring program is released, a voice mail update, more on the debate about keeping kids out of computer shows.
  23. Emmanuel calls in from Los Angeles, a report on Defcon, the release of BO2K, floods in Las Vegas, a trailer of the $2600 documentary Freedom Downtime is shown at Defcon and the film is scheduled for release in early 2000, a report on the Mitnick sentencing and the debate over restitution, Emmanuel sees Kevin for the first time since his arrest, allegations are brought forward accusing Sprint PCS of billing customers while the phone is ringing.
  24. More on last week's Mitnick sentencing hearing, a report on what it was like to spend time with Kevin's family after the hearing, Porkchop reports that the touch tone fee is alive and well in New Jersey, a critique of hackers who use homophobic speech, reasons why the $2600 site is blocked, a press release from the Cult of the Dead Cow that challenges Microsoft, Emmanuel comments on the increasingly troubling situation involving WBAI's owner (the Pacifica Foundation) and sister station KPFA in Berkeley which has been shut down, censorship on the network.
  25. WBAI goes off the air right before the show airs and returns 15 minutes into it, listener fears that the station has been taken off the air by Pacifica, an update on the KPFA situation, the Kevin Mitnick sentencing is delayed until August 9th for no apparent reason, Izaac reviews Antisniff, a local number gives a strange recording, Emmanuel is denied a passport by the State Department and tries to make an appointment with the Passport Agency on the air, a real-life information operator from TCG.  [Five minutes of dead air precedes the show.  The very beginning of this show consists of random callers who were tied together while the station was still off the air.  At some point during their conversation, the station came back on.]
  26. Production on the film continues, an appeal for audio experts, nobody remembers the number for voice mail, a bill is introduced to fight cybersquatting, Emmanuel's passport arrives with no explanation, an update from "Lake Pacifica", 15,000 people rally to save KPFA, Emmanuel explains why he's proud to be part of Pacifica, the Associated Press makes an incredible typo, the fall of WXPN, a demonstration in front of KPFK, advice from WPKN, the negative changes that have taken place at KPFT, the prospect of selling WBAI.
  27. Kevin Mitnick is finally sentenced, how the $500 million in damage wound up really being around $4,000, Emmanuel addresses morons, a sobering look at the state of the nation's prisons, the cybersquatting bill moves closer to law, KPFA returns to the airwaves, a question as to whether H2K should be held in June or July of 2000, more controversy on another local radio station, a funny recording from a hotel voice mail system in Las Vegas.
  28. Kevin Mitnick is transferred to a county prison, analysis of a Mitnick story in the New York Post, the new prison refuses to serve kosher food to Mitnick, Dan Morgan of Satellite Watch News describes how his magazine has been shut down by DirecTV because of information on encryption that was published, the strong possibility that something like this could hit $2600 and Off The Hook, what people can do to help and why this is important.  This show includes fundraising.
  29. The continuing frustration of the Mitnick ordeal, prosecutor David Schindler is quoted as saying some very negative things about Mitnick on his way to private practice, feedback on the Dan Morgan case, another Microsoft product has its security defeated, Sprint PCS starts to charge customers $3 for paying cash, a listener accidentally meets Kevin Mitnick's grandmother, states and phone companies are found to be making huge amounts of money from prisoner phone calls, a Sprint PCS customer is charged tax for unused minutes, Y2K problems may affect navigation as soon as August, upcoming potential problems on 9/9/99, Emmanuel and Izaac announce their plans for New Year's, the government attempts to gain the ability to covertly access people's computers, George W. Bush attempts to shut down a website that is critical of him, a brief debate on Second Amendment issues, a prisoner challenges the prison phone system, H2K is announced as being held on July 14, 15, and 16, 2000, with the exact location to be announced on Friday on the website.
  30. Emmanuel asks for on-air witnesses to a parking meter snafu, Kevin Mitnick is involved in an automobile accident while being transported to court, the incredible lack of attention to medical conditions in prison, Emmanuel's passport problem is addressed by two congressmen, H2K is officially announced (July 14, 15, and 16, 2000 at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York - site of the first HOPE conference in 1994), www.godhatesfags.com is routed to www.godlovesfags.com, Microsoft's Hotmail is penetrated, Emmanuel combats operators who demand money to identify the location of an area code, overreaction to a person making an electronic threat, information on Working Assets long distance, Emmanuel gets even with AT&T, the lack of a phone number to check the regional carrier assigned to a customer.
  31. Registrations for H2K start coming in, the latest in the low power FM saga including the two major opponents to new radio stations: NAB and NPR, CBS and Viacom announce a merger, Kevin Mitnick is reportedly transferred to Lompoc, the FCC objects to phone companies invading the privacy of individuals, AT&T sends Emmanuel an unrequested Mastercard, AT&T's 700 and 500 service is scheduled to be discontinued, a number is discovered to check the regional carrier assigned to a phone number, the discovery of an "NSA key" in Windows.
  32. Emmanuel finds a video of a film called Takedown, Kevin Mitnick is officially transferred to Lompoc and is no longer able to make collect calls, an appeal for contributions to a new fund, a hacker pleads guilty to altering websites belonging to NATO and the White House, the Matt Drudge website is hacked, the absurdity of sending people to prison for altering web pages, the public's sudden awareness of East Timor, reported Y2K problems from 9/9/99, Emmanuel's electric bill has a beginning date of 1800, suspicion of foreign programmers repairing Y2K problems, a disturbing statistic involving NPR and college radio stations, the 914 area code faces a split, a campaign begins to lower telephone taxes, an automated system to prevent "slamming" is introduced by Bell Atlantic, potential ISDN problems after an area code split.
  33. NSI sends predictable passwords out in cleartext and allows anyone to login as anyone else without a password, highlights of some of the email that was world readable, a major scandal is revealed as Emmanuel demonstrates a hospital dictation system with no passwords that allows anyone to hear private information on patients through a toll-free number, a challenge to the mass media to actually cover this story, information on name.space, how the phone companies rip people off on local payphone calls.
  34. The only news outlet to cover last week's scandal is ZDTV, the hospital system is tracked down and identified as one made by Dictaphone, an Intuit security hole, Emmanuel registers a whole series of domain names using four-letter words through a new registrar, Emmanuel and Izaac debate monopolies, a caller has an interesting perspective on the New York City mosquito crisis, a caller is "pulled back" to AT&T after not paying a bill, rumors of a merger between Sprint and MCI, Emmanuel tries to make a call to the future 631 area code on Long Island.
  35. Emmanuel challenges Izaac to name the new New York City area code (347), testing numbers in the new area code, MCI announces that it will buy Sprint, a new Giuliani website goes online to tackle the New York City museum controversy, excerpts from Kevin Mitnick's mail, prosecutor David Schindler announces a career change, a security hole in the new Sam Donaldson website, talk of expanding the $2600 meetings to every mall in America, yet another radio merger, talk of another Dictaphone system, an explanation of the differences between long distance, regional, and local, a new regulation on E-Z Pass.
  36. An intense critique of the recent MTV feature on hackers, how the producers seemed to have the story written in advance, the complete lack of any mention of Kevin Mitnick, how the entire hacker community was hurt by the program, letters from the public on the MTV show, a listener reveals that his remarks were completely taken out of context.
  37. An Election Day, Emmanuel expresses marvel on the mechanical voting machines, a severe windstorm outside the studio causes havoc, a test of the new 631 area code for the $2600 office, a "hacker" attacks weather sirens and Kentucky officials attempt to figure it out, the ominous features of the Emergency Alert System, private medical records found in a dumpster, an Omnipoint customer service number that hangs up on rotary callers, Emmanuel has a frustrating experience trying to buy a new Sprint phone, Real Networks is implicated in a privacy violation concerning Real Jukebox, Emmanuel plays a cruel trick on Rebel, a caller is prevented from making long distance calls on any carrier.
  38. Microsoft suffers a setback in the courts, a clarification on when $2600 meetings occur, MTV is reported to have a low power radio station in New York City, Xail explains the conditions and technology of his ankle bracelet which monitors his whereabouts, what happens when the unit makes a call, Carnegie Mellon allegedly tries to hack into student machines, a caller has a microchip imbedded in his skin, Emmanuel gets a new Sprint PCS phone that can browse the web and generates an RSA key on the air.
  39. Chinese "hacker" sent to prison, January 21 is proclaimed as Hacker Liberation Day, Seraf analyzes the White House's stand on encryption, a Canadian intelligence agency has an embarrassing breach, how things have changed since Off The Hook began, Emmanuel gets DSL and discovers that access to the router is restricted, Patrice offers a Dutch perspective, a preview of what may happen when Y2K hits, a review of Takedown after it plays at a Chicago film festival, a listener plays a recording of a cop questioning someone about $2600.
  40. More listener outrage at the MTV special, Emmanuel tries to get Izaac to call the MTV show garbage, more info on EAS and how it can be used to suppress freedom of speech, Bernie S. expresses unease at the idea of black boxes for cars, an update on Emmanuel's DSL saga, a warning about Bell Atlantic's supposed relaxation of the data surcharge over ISDN, listener feedback on the Takedown movie, a hacker named Zyklon is sentenced to more than a year in prison and a $40,000 fine simply for putting messages on some high profile websites, the ethics of imprisoning web page hackers.
  41. At literally the very last minute, the regularly scheduled edition of Off The Hook was thrown into disarray by massive civil unrest in Seattle during the meeting of the World Trade Organization.  Reporter Amy Goodman phones in live from the streets of Seattle and describes the rapidly deteriorating situation as tear gas and rubber bullets are fired by the police.  While this is not a show related to the usual subject matter, much of the material is riveting, as Amy is seriously affected by the gas and constantly approached by the police.  All of this takes place as a curfew is imposed on the entire city.
  42. A lawsuit is filed against NSA by EPIC concerning monitoring U.S. citizens, more Y2K hysteria, the Kyl bill is introduced which calls for suspending net access in certain cases as if it were a privilege, an overview of last week's coverage of the Seattle riots including a 15 minute sound collage of pieces obtained over the Internet containing some very dramatic firsthand accounts (listen for the sound of a NGO representative being grabbed by the police while he's explaining things to a small group of people), most of which came from www.indymedia.org, all of which demonstrate the value of firsthand access to technology and the net.  Also: an interview with Zai of etoy, a group of artists being attacked by a large company with a similar name that has succeeded in shutting down their web page.  (This same group put out the Kevin Mitnick song that was played on the 7/23/96 show.)
  43. Emmanuel refuses to pay an AT&T bill for no service and is tricked into paperless billing on another line, a call to AT&T to try and clear up the mess, Sprint PCS apparently charges customers for failing to connect to the web browser on their phones, E-Z Pass makes access to information harder for their customers, Emmanuel gets a class settlement from NYNEX for screwing up Caller ID Blocking, the absurdity of a form required to visit Kevin Mitnick, a prison newsletter spotlights satellite tracking technology, $2600 opens an online store, the etoy mail server is shut down, callers compare phone charges, Rebel claims to have ended the touch tone fee in New Jersey, the ongoing battle against advertising.
  44. Technical problems cause a delay in the theme, only ten days to go until 2000, why this isn't the end of the century, the Federal Reserve doesn't raise interest rates because of Y2K, preparations for the date change from governments to rebel groups, a Y2K memo at a local university is good for a laugh, how hackers are already being blamed for anything that may go wrong, a plea from the White House for hackers to show restraint, legislation is introduced to prohibit payphones from existing near establishments that sell malt liquor, a review of a 20/20 piece on hackers, the politics of hacking web pages, more advances in global monitoring of individuals, shuttle astronauts have email problems, a town is renamed to half.com, Harvard sues a man for cybersquatting, companies are raided for selling common electronic devices, CNN misrepresents the etoy story.
  45. The last show of the year and the last show before Y2K, a disclosure of who the Y2K theme is performed by, the anticipation of a terrorist attack on Times Square, Emmanuel tries to get Izaac to predict disaster on New Year's, a cartoon from Canada features a $2600 meeting, an official Y2K song, $2600 is threatened with a lawsuit along with many others by the DVD Copy Control Association, Tom Vogt and Matthew Pavlovich tell their stories as codefendants in the lawsuit, an appeal to mirror files on other sites.

Off The Hook - 2000

  1. This was a two hour Saturday morning fill-in on New Year's Day, 2000.  Emmanuel goes into detail on what is wrong with wishing people a Happy New Millennium, a full accounting of the various Y2K non-events, Emmanuel and friends manage to sneak into the very front of the Times Square celebrations, Izaac argues about the potential for terrorism, Emmanuel and Macki reveal their secrets for gaining access to a restricted area, talk of oppressive security measures that may not be removed after New Year's, comparing Times Square to Woodstock, an unusual cover of the New York Times, what to call the new decade, the $2600 voice BBS is reported to be non-Y2K compliant, the exception to the leap year rule, companies that have changed their names because of the new year, bomb-sniffing dogs versus drug-sniffing dogs.
  2. The aftermath of Y2K, Emmanuel berates Izaac because nothing seemed to have happened, Cheerios introduces Millenios with predictions for the future, Bernie S. has a banking misadventure on New Year's Eve, a rundown of the various Y2K snafus that took place from the RISKS Digest, Emmanuel relates the adventure of New Year's Eve in Times Square, a case of computer mischief makes headlines in Germany, Xail is sentenced to a year of "Visionquest Wagon Train," Kevin Mitnick's prison term nears an end, Macki gives an update on the DVD lawsuit against $2600, looking forward to being served with papers, advice to the process servers, an interview with Arthur Kopit, author of Y2K, a play currently running in Manhattan, Bell Atlantic expands into the long distance business.
  3. The last show until February, nine days until Kevin Mitnick's release, an upcoming piece on Mitnick to air on 60 Minutes, a new phone system at the prison that has some scary features, a story about a "hacker" who captured thousands of credit card numbers, a recruitment drive for hackers by the government, Pacific Bell has a major system compromise, an alternative method of making prison calls, Emmanuel continues his battle with AT&T, a discrepancy in AT&T's overseas rates, $2600 is semi-served in the DVD lawsuit, Macki reads selected highlights from the lawsuit that show how unfamiliar with the net the plaintiffs are, the hearing is postponed until next Tuesday - the same day as a local RSA conference, Staples invades its employees' privacy, AOL and Time Warner announce a merger sparking a debate between Emmanuel, Izaac, Macki, Bernie S., and Lister.
  4. A combination of technical blunders, the first show in three weeks with a great deal of ground to cover, a report on the release of Kevin Mitnick on January 21, the weirdness of Lompoc, what it was like to visit Kevin on his last day of prison, Bernie S. discusses what it's really like inside, Kevin to do his first live interview on next week's show, Macki describes how $2600 people wound up ushering the press around Lompoc on the day of Kevin's release, the difficulty of finding a place to read a statement to the media, why Kevin didn't take questions on that day, the difficulty of not violating supervised release and the quest to find Kevin a job, a new mailing address for Kevin, a new lawsuit is filed against Emmanuel in federal court in New York concerning the DeCSS program, what it was like being served with an injunction, the owner of escape.com is also served with an injunction, how the defense was only given one day to prepare their entire case, the threat of imprisonment and how a distant Kinko's came to the rescue, what the major motion picture corporations and the Motion Picture Association of America want from this lawsuit, a flyer is drawn up to educate the masses, the overwhelmingly positive support from the public, Jack Valenti of the MPAA calls Emmanuel a pirate and threatens to file a thousand lawsuits a day, the danger of the civil case turning into a criminal case any day because of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, etoy is victorious in their fight against Etoys, a listener reports the existence of pirated DVDs in Asia for at least five years, recruiting to take place at Linux Expo in New York later in the week with a massive flyer handout scheduled for every $2600 meeting on Friday.
  5. A momentous show as Kevin Mitnick is interviewed live for the first time anywhere, ominous news from the FSB in Russia, Emmanuel is hit by a parking injustice, the latest on the DVD lawsuit and comments from Linus Torvalds, hackers are blamed for the latest Yahoo! outage, Kevin gives his impressions of the Yahoo! incident, how the New York Times and John Markoff spread false stories about Kevin, the Netcom credit card incident, the cellular fraud aspect of the Mitnick case, why he wanted a copy of VMS, how an informant targeted him, how he violated supervised release, the $300 million price tag claimed by the companies affected, the difference between stealing and copying, the effect of the Mitnick case on future hacker cases, Kevin's eight months of solitary confinement, how people have shown support, Kevin's wish list of videos and music.
  6. The theme gets garbled, an analysis of the Denial of Service attacks and the ignorance the media has shown in blaming the whole mess on hackers, parallels to the DeCSS case, Kevin Mitnick media appearances, Northwest Airlines has the homes of its employees raided and their computers searched for email related to an illegal sickout, federal judges who seem to have lost their minds, President Clinton is the victim of an impostor on a cnn.com web chat, an interview with Christopher Petro (the imposter) who explains how changing a nickname on IRC was defined by Fox News as a hacker attack, a person loses his job due to the DeCSS controversy, a call for comments on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Emmanuel's DSL woes, some ham radio news.
  7. Emmanuel tries to analyze a phone problem connecting to Bernie S., a rash of frustrating problems involving DSL connectivity, more media coverage of evil hackers, how Bell Atlantic completely screwed up an installation, new legislation that changes the rules of agreeing to a software license, the Leonardo Network is told to stop using their own name, Emmanuel finally gets a collection notice for his unpaid AT&T invoice, a demonstration of how AT&T rips customers off which winds up proving that there are still nice operators, Connectix wins a lawsuit that challenged their reverse engineering of Playstation, Lazlow visits from commercial radio, a call for MPAA members to stand up and be counted, a caller has a problem buying a crystal at Radio Shack.
  8. Bernie S. tries to infiltrate a Secret Service security briefing on the upcoming Republican Party convention in Philadelphia live on the air, a disappointing piece about Echelon on 60 Minutes, Kevin Mitnick is scheduled to testify in front of a Senate subcommittee on Thursday, more anti-hacker rhetoric from the administration, a look at some testimony about hackers on Capitol Hill, problems related to today's unusual date, a resolution to the $2600 DSL problem and a similar tale of woe in Philadelphia, Emmanuel describes the symptoms of Internet withdrawal, some alternative ways to describe people who commit crimes on the net, a new law mandates that as of April 21, email websites cannot offer services to anyone under 13, Forbes unwittingly reprints a $2600 cover.
  9. Kevin Mitnick testifies before a Senate subcommittee, Emmanuel describes what it's like behind the scenes in Congress, a Court TV appearance allows Kevin to be in New York and attend the $2600 meeting there, Bernie S. testifies at a hearing in Philadelphia to challenge laws prohibiting convicted felons from voting and explains the loophole he has been using over the past few years, Izaac debates the issue of race, Emmanuel manages to get the bills from AT&T to stop but has long distance service shut off by them on an unrelated line, Bernie S. finds a taxi with a webcam, the danger of Proposition 21 being voted on in California, Kevin Mitnick to appear on the show next week.
  10. Kevin Mitnick to appear next week instead, "cybercrime" is added to the dictionary, a new government site on electronic crimes opens with a plagiarized privacy statement, a quiz on which governmental agencies handle which crimes, the first Internet related insider trading case, the battle against anonymity on the net, a brokerage firm retracts an accusation of a "hacker attack," a hacker named Coolio is targeted by the authorities solely because of his name, the Secret Service wants to infiltrate schools, an explanation as to why shows haven't been appearing on the site, H2K registration issues, ways of detecting a tap on a phone, Bernie S. talks about other forms of electronic surveillance, a call for more mirrors of the DeCSS code, rumors of the 666 area code prove unfounded, a call from Scotland.
  11. The theme malfunctions, a bizarre tale seems to be unfolding in Philadelphia as the Secret Service once again targets Bernie S., Izaac debates the wisdom of Bernie S.'s actions, Macki gives an update on the week's legal developments which includes the hiring of renowned lawyer Martin Garbus to defend $2600 in the DeCSS case, Mattel sues people for decrypting Cyberpatrol and showing people the many sites that are being wrongfully blocked, brand new "Stop The MPAA" and "H2K" bumper stickers are introduced, Kevin Mitnick gives details on an upcoming presentation by New York Times reporter John Markoff entitled "Kevin and Me" and how he was banned from attending it, Takedown is released in France with the title of Cybertraque, Kevin addresses criticism of his testifying before the Senate, Kevin takes calls for the very first time.
  12. Some dead air, thoughts go out to Errol Maitland - a WBAI reporter who was put in the hospital by New York City police, Emmanuel demonstrates his new Omnipoint phone, a new lawsuit threat against $2600 by NBC, an update on the DeCSS case, Bernie S. gives an update on Xail and the "Wagon Train" program, restrictions include not being allowed to read books and magazines, corporate prisons found to have tortured juveniles, a review of Takedown from France, Macki confronts John Markoff during a panel discussion, the "White House long distance calling code" is given out, some critical words on Bell Atlantic from an employee, upcoming hacker panels at I-CON this weekend.
  13. The 516 area code is officially split, Bell Atlantic announces a new name after the merger with GTE is completed: Verizon, a look at some of the sites that have and haven't been reserved by Verizon, reply comments concerning the Digital Millennium Copyright Act are published on the net, Shana talks about her published comment, Bernie S. votes in the primary, a summary of the I-CON convention, how the MPAA lawsuit is adversely affecting $2600 and the unfairness of individuals being targeted, why large corporations like Microsoft don't have to worry, a DVD player for Linux is introduced, new anti-MPAA shirts and bumper stickers are introduced, an appeal for well-connected people to speak out, Sony recalls its Playstation 2 discs because they enabled playing DVDs from around the world, the MPAA is likely to go after $2600 to get links to other sites removed, the Weekly World News reports on hacker tools that can make computers explode, H2K planning continues, an update on the Child Online Protection Act.
  14. The MPAA tries to get links on the $2600 site outlawed, why this move is ultimately flawed, some of the comments filed regarding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act appear on the net, Jack Valenti and the MPAA hurl personal attacks at Emmanuel, Emmanuel's phone turns itself on, Sprint PCS invades the privacy of its customers by sending phone numbers to websites, some of the real issues in the MPAA case, a critique of the MPAA FAQ on "hyperlinking," the new issue of $2600 is released along with H2K and anti-MPAA bumper stickers, suggestions on how to use the stickers, "deep" linking is ruled legal in federal court.
  15. The links remain up, an update on the Secret Service interest in Bernie S., Emmanuel realizes that nobody knows the name of the Secretary of the Treasury, a recap of the IMF protest in Washington DC, how 600 people were tricked into getting arrested, the frustration of streets in Washington, Emmanuel accidentally finds the MPAA building on I Street, microbroadcasting is on the verge of being stopped by Congress, a staggering increase in wireless data is predicted, Metallica takes Napster and several universities to court, some of the benefits of Napster and the hypocrisy of the music industry, the new 631 area code on Long Island continues to confuse residents, Balkan web pages are attacked, a listener's phone mystery, a proposal to add a tax to long distance bills to subsidize Native Americans, Izaac and Emmanuel argue over the effectiveness of demonstrations.
  16. The anti-MPAA shirts come out, the MPAA accuses hackers of taking down its website, Mafiaboy is tracked down in Montreal and blamed for the denial of service attacks in February, interesting IRC logs are released by $2600 that cast doubt on the validity of the Mafiaboy story, Michael Eisner of Disney addresses the DeCSS issue in a company memo, some harsh words for Thomas Edison, a study shows record sales have increased despite MP3s and Napster, Limp Bizkit comes out in support of Napster, Emmanuel and Izaac continue the discussion on the WTO and IMF, some alternative perspectives available on satellite TV, Claude tries to escape early.
  17. Limp Bizkit is featured as promised, Metallica identifies over 300,000 fans who have downloaded their music without paying, Linux user groups participate in a joint demonstration against the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Time Warner and Disney nearly go to war, Jello Biafra is announced as the keynote speaker for H2K, Emmanuel to appear on the front page of the Village Voice, Emmanuel accidentally hacks into a voice mail box on the air, Clinton allows consumer GPS to be enhanced, Alex reveals a lawsuit involving religious groups that may have some bearing on the MPAA case, the New York Times links to the $2600 list of DeCSS sites, listener suggestions on ways of trafficking DeCSS, Red Balaclava offers new Metrocard tips, Kevin Mitnick is restricted from speaking, a plea for a good picture of John Markoff for the upcoming film, Izaac continue the discussion on the WTO and IMF, some alternative perspectives available on satellite TV, Claude tries to escape early.
  18. The show is preempted next week but a three hour fundraising program is scheduled for the week after, the first show that both Kevin Mitnick and Bernie S. appear on although they do not break the law by talking to each other, Bernie S. reports an ominous potential change in federal sentencing guidelines, a 60 Minutes report airs on California's three strikes law that is sending people to prison for life for nonviolent offenses, Verizon threatens $2600 with a lawsuit for registering verizonreallysucks.com and $2600 responds by registering verizonshouldspendmoretimefixingitsnetworkandlessmoneyonlawyers.com, the ILoveYou virus causes hysteria worldwide, Kevin Mitnick discusses his latest speech restrictions and the battle to get back his ham radio license, a mock DeCSS trial is scheduled for H2K.
  19. The theme is missing as the CD player malfunctions at the beginning of a three hour fundraiser, Lazlow tells of the commercial radio experience, the new Jello Biafra CD recorded at the WTO protest is featured with 2600 hertz tones replacing all the four-letter words, why commercial radio would never air something like this, preparations for H2K continue, Emmanuel misses the Hamvention in Dayton, an update on the film which will debut at the conference, the truth about the corporate nature of NPR and how they opposed LPFM, Ed Hernstadt discusses his role as one of the lawyers defending $2600 in the MPAA case, Macki explains the technical aspects of the case and summarizes the anti-DMCA demonstration that took place at Stanford, the attempts by the other side to disqualify the $2600 lawyers, $2600 is now facing five lawsuits, Izaac messes with the microphones, Alex registers verizoneatspoop.com, why people don't realize the power of the individual, Lazlow explains how the corporate world really works, why there are no accents on the radio, Bernie S. summarizes his story and how WBAI helped, Cheshire Catalyst tells the story of the new 321 area code and how he helped make it possible, talk of launches from Cape Canaveral, what the old TAP meetings were like, a famous payphone in the Mojave Desert is disconnected, Kevin Mitnick is allowed to use a cell phone and describes how the federal authorities continue to harass him, an excerpt from a show in 1988 played through a computer, opening to Nuff Said follows.  This show is three hours long and includes fundraising.
  20. Alex gives an update on verizoneatspoop.com, Emmanuel tries to find out who has 1-800-VERIZON as well as the 888 and 877 versions but runs into trouble with the Z key, an analysis of remarks by Edgar Bronfman of Seagrams/Universal about intellectual property rights and the evils of anonymity, a debate on the merits of Napster, Izaac tells of a new proposal that would allow federal authorities to enter a house without a warrant, complaints from a new Verizon customer, new legislation seeks to limit the rights of artists to get royalties for their music, Jello Biafra loses his lawsuit, a computerized message is delivered.
  21. Emmanuel barely makes it to the show, a court hearing is held in the MPAA case to decide whether depositions can be made public, Declan McCullagh and John Young report on the day's decision which results in the Jack Valenti deposition being made public against the wishes of the MPAA, Emmanuel calls the MPAA Anti-Piracy Hotline and gets a directory of all employee names, the MPAA's definition of a video piracy lab, a ruling on cybersquatting involving Julia Roberts, listeners offer differing perspectives on the Napster issue.
  22. Emmanuel is scheduled for a deposition in front of the MPAA lawyers, the preliminary list of speakers for H2K is released, theory as to how the stenography machine works, more pre-registrants for H2K than for the other two HOPE conferences combined, a new email "virus" is sent out with $2600's web address, the LOVE Bug case is dropped in the Philippines, a visit to the show's IRC channel at irc.2600.net, archived shows will soon be available in MP3 format which will allow people to listen to old shows on portable MP3 players, yet another hacker threat is reported on by the Associated Press with very dubious sources, an article on privacy from Playboy, Emmanuel and Izaac argue over the effectiveness of civil disobedience.
  23. A recording of Jack Valenti repeatedly saying he doesn't know and isn't aware as the transcript of his deposition is released, serious questions are raised as Valenti reveals that he doesn't even know who the defendant is after he had supposedly released statements with Emmanuel's name in them, Emmanuel is scheduled to be deposed in a week, a good response to the new MP3 format, Courtney Love publishes a piece on salon.com attacking the music industry and redefining piracy, Emmanuel uses Napster a second time, Shana tells how politicians accuse themselves of hacking web pages, the Bell Atlantic/GTE merger is approved leading to a debate on monopolies between Emmanuel and Izaac, more details on how a virus was transmitted through a video file, volunteer meetings for H2K are announced, discussion over the differences between cable and satellite, a retro-computing panel for H2K is suggested.
  24. Emmanuel describes what the first day of his deposition was like, Michael Eisner of Disney is scheduled to be deposed and the trial is set to begin on July 17, Emmanuel tells what it's like to see the MPAA lawyers, Kevin Mitnick tells the story of his latest appearance in court to try and clarify the conditions of his supervised release, why Kevin isn't being allowed to succeed, how this goes beyond what supervised release is.
  25. Mayhem in the streets outside WBAI as a fireworks celebration gets underway, a tribute to WBAI's film critic - Paul Wunder - who passed away the previous week, an update on Emmanuel's battle with AT&T, hackers are said to endanger astronauts and NASA quickly denies the report, Izaac is mysteriously missing, a listener calls in with some inside information about Verizon, a preview of what's being planned for H2K, trouble with the live streaming.
  26. The pre-H2K show brings a large number of guests to the studio.  Emmanuel, Cheshire Catalyst, Ross, Izaac, Mojo, Macki, Porkchop, Shana, Sirsyko, Chris, and Bernie S. preview the conference, Bell Atlantic in danger of fouling up H2K's T1 connection, problems with authentication and Internet registrars, the FBI is linked to a controversial program called Carnivore that intercepts private email, a preview of the retro-computing panel, Kevin Mitnick gives an update on his thwarted attempt to attend H2K.
  27. More people attend the show than ever before, a review of the many events of H2K, Andy from CCC compares H2K to the Chaos Communication Congress, Jon Johansen tells the story of what happened to him in Norway as a result of his involvement in the DeCSS case, Emmanuel's deposition is set to be posted on the net at last, Bernie S. makes a rare appearance in the studio, Zap and Crypt offer a British perspective on the political flavor of H2K, Autojack talks about the premiere of Freedom Downtime, a report of the first two days of the DeCSS trial including the mood in the courtroom and the street, how Marty Garbus obliterated one of the MPAA's witnesses, Billy Donahue of the New York Linux Users' Group talks about the protests outside the courtroom, a review of Judge Kaplan, the mock trial, the cDc panel, Jello Biafra, and the social engineering panel.
  28. The trial comes to an end and the waiting begins for a decision, Patrick and Robin from EFF describe the final day's events, Emmanuel describes what it was like to testify, the significance of the many spectators who came to the trial, Dave Touretzky of Carnegie Mellon University describes the testimony he gave which seemed to open the judge's eyes, Ed Hernstadt describes some of the legal tactics of the case, Matt Pavlovich tells what it was like being a witness, Wendy Seltzer of the OpenLaw Forum outlines the public's interest, John Gilmore gives reasons for his getting involved and making the fight possible, the EFF raises thousands of dollars from H2K attendees to help fund the case, lead attorney Marty Garbus explains why this is a very significant case, Ole Craig talks about some of the technical issues, attorney David Atlas tells what there is to look forward to in future weeks and years.
  29. Official campaign to introduce Verizon begins, Emmanuel and Bernie S. attempt to connect to a Bell Atlantic operator, Napster is almost shut down by a court order, WIPO rules against Sting in a case of alleged cybersquatting, Emmanuel gets in the middle of a demonstration at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, readings from a sensitive document on possible trouble at the convention issued by FEMA, a reference to a mysterious federal act known as Operation Garden Plot, a list of radio frequencies and demonstrations, Bernie S. has another run-in with the Secret Service, Delchi describes what it's like to be on a hijacked plane, Emmanuel explains why Defcon sucked this year, a call to focus on smaller conventions, why Freedom Downtime wasn't shown in Las Vegas.
  30. The aftermath of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia hits close to home as $2600's layout artist, ShapeShifter, is arrested and held on half a million dollars bail while walking down a street talking on a cell phone.  A description of the many developments that took place in the past week including the criminalization of cell phones, mass arrests, abuses in prison, and various hearings in court, as well as recent abuses by the police in Philadelphia.  Bernie S. reports live from the prison where a reduced bail amount was raised.  In addition, Verizon workers go out on strike less than a week after the company started its national recognition campaign.
  31. Reports from Los Angeles at the Democratic National Convention seem to indicate a continuation of the disturbing events in Philadelphia, an update on ShapeShifter as he is released from prison, a front page story on his situation appears in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, the advantage of keeping in touch with good reporters, an appeal for cable TV and satellite subscribers to get the new Free Speech network, the lack of diversity in the broadcast world, Bernie S. has a humorous encounter with Verizon apparently related to the continuing strike, new charges are filed against Mafiaboy, a restraining order is granted against striking Verizon workers in New York restricting where they can stand and how they can express themselves, comments on Emmanuel's audio deposition with the MPAA lawyer, the lack of public access in various cable TV markets, the wait for a verdict in the DeCSS case continues.
  32. The decision comes in on the DeCSS case and $2600 loses, how $2600 responds to a surprising order to remove all links to DeCSS, what points the judge missed as well as the nasty comments, Bernie S. and Alex discuss how books of the future will be restricted electronically, the DVD version of The Sixth Sense reportedly prevents people from skipping over the advertisements, how the media has distorted the story, $2600 isn't found liable for the huge legal fees of the MPAA but will be responsible for "taxable costs," plans for the appeal, how EFF made it all possible, Emmanuel urges people not to vote for the lesser of two evils, the $2600 policy on copying and copyright.
  33. Emmanuel makes another visit to Philadelphia and has a baffling experience in the subway, how MSNBC is deceiving the public with viewership statistics, a USA Today article focuses on $2600's response to the ban on linking to DeCSS, Time/Warner's CNN links to DeCSS for a brief period, how the Verizon strike helped the company, Madonna goes to WIPO to claim madonna.com, a DeCSS art contest is announced, Emmanuel calls AT&T operators to prove the insanity of payphone rates, Freedom Downtime to be shown at this weekend's Toorcon in San Diego, Emmanuel uses Priceline to defeat the airlines, WIPO goes after more domain names.
  34. Massive UN events in New York this week, Emmanuel reports on Toorcon and the second showing of Freedom Downtime, more thoughts on the DeCSS case decision, Emmanuel and Izaac debate what is wrong with the United Nations, abuses of WIPO, Radio Shack's Cuecat causes controversy with reverse engineering, Phiber Optik explains the story behind his not being hired at @stake, revisionism at Hacker News Network, how Black Hat and Defcon contribute to this attitude, Kevin Mitnick gives his impressions of Freedom Downtime after the Los Angeles screening, the future of the film, word of Phreaknic in Nashville on November 3rd, the MPAA sends out more threatening letters to people who merely have links to other sites with DeCSS, the need for more people in the hacker community to get involved with projects.
  35. A song featuring the DeCSS code is featured, a spoken word version is also available, increasing reports of DVDs that don't permit viewers to skip advertisements and FBI warnings, Verizon backs down from its lawsuit threat against $2600, Phiber gives an update on @stake and HNN retracts part of its story, a critique of a letter that criticizes $2600 in the DVD case, Izaac debates with a Columbia student over the corporatization of college campuses, a look at the threat of electronic textbooks, corporations engage in military-like recruitment on college campuses.
  36. The theme music is missing as Emmanuel is delayed getting into the station, the RSA patent is set to expire, problems with PGP, the DeCSS song is banned from mp3.com for "offensive lyrics," Emmanuel imposes a three month moratorium on calls from Rebel, a new warning from CERT, the National Association of Broadcasters meets in the Bay Area, a debate on the upcoming presidential debates, a call to the Commission on Presidential Debates and Anheuser-Busch, the FCC mandates copy control for future broadcasting, Verizon plans to double rates in some areas, a special on KPFA is scheduled to air on PBS.
  37. Technical difficulties, the Rebel ban is extended, a ban on driving with cell phones is considered in Suffolk County, a juvenile is sent to prison for hacking NASA, Emmanuel explains why he hacked into NASA in the early 80s, how the media blacked out a massive political rally for Ralph Nader, Emmanuel calls for licenses of radio and TV stations to be challenged, Mike from Columbia tells how students in New York are being denied the right to vote, comments on the elections in Yugoslavia, some talk on ICANN, new top level domains, ICANN's $50,000 fee scam.
  38. Emmanuel confronts Jack Valenti in person at a debate in Boston, another Ralph Nader rally draws more than 10,000 with virtually no media coverage, the Napster trial begins, a new website focuses on greedy TV stations, the $2600 website is taken down by Verizon for five days, Guinness threatens $2600 with legal action for its www.guinessrecords.com parody site, the Nader campaign is sued by Mastercard for a parody ad, Harper's reprints some of the Valenti deposition.
  39. Corporate rip-offs are the theme.  Examples include Cisco and Microsoft not paying a penny of federal income tax, AT&T wanting to charge a commission for sales on its broadband network, phone companies that sneak fees into low long distance rates, Verizon charging customers rent on long obsolete equipment, the recording industry wanting to collect fees for Internet broadcasting without benefiting musicians.  Ralph Nader to appear at Madison Square Garden, New York Senate candidates Rick Lazio and Hillary Clinton both fall for a fake Internet tax bill during a debate, a microbroadcasting station is shut down, a five cent a minute long distance plan is scrutinized.
  40. Emmanuel is stuck in Mets traffic during the Subway Series, leftover H2K material is offered, Lazlow details the massive ownership of radio stations by Clearchannel and Infinity, an excerpt from Jello Biafra's keynote address at H2K, Phiber appears out of nowhere, Emmanuel describes a Ralph Nader rally at Madison Square Garden and a midnight march to the post office by over a thousand people that went completely unreported in the mainstream media, a call to challenge commercial radio licenses, an excerpt from the H2K social engineering panel, Emmanuel explains why it's necessary to support the station even as controversy is raging within Pacifica, an excerpt from Robert Steele's question and answer session at H2K, preliminary plans for the next HOPE conference in 2002.  This show is in two parts and includes fundraising.
  41. A Halloween contest, the DMCA gains even more power as it becomes illegal to even write a program like DeCSS, a recording of the confrontation between Jack Valenti and Emmanuel, the fallacy of the MPAA argument, WIPO makes a ruling concerning misspelled names, General Motors threatens $2600 over a critical domain name, the touch tone fee is finally voted out in New Jersey, Verizon tries to double New Jersey phone rates, ominous legislation from Europe, the legality of port scanning, the possibility of licensing fees being charged for MP3s, the story of Microsoft being hacked is spun in different ways, Ralph Nader speaks out in support of Low Power FM, ShapeShifter trial set for November 14, a $2600 hat appears on Felicity, an interesting choice on a company's phone number, $2600 asks hackers who they want to be president, Phreaknic is set for next weekend.
  42. Izaac calls in from Las Vegas and the Comdex convention, apologies for the last minute cancellation of last week's show, reflections on the continuing election crisis, Emmanuel appeals to the UN for help, a potential security hole involving absentee ballots and postmarks, some dirt on the Florida Secretary of State, the future of electronic balloting, what it was like having George W. Bush as president-elect for a few minutes, results from the $2600 presidential election poll, some thoughts on Libertarians, the ShapeShifter trial takes place in Philadelphia amidst some very bizarre testimony, President Clinton calls into WBAI and faces some hard questioning from Amy Goodman.
  43. Both Izaac and Lazlow return from Las Vegas, some interesting experiences when their $2600 affiliation is revealed at Comdex, Emmanuel and Izaac share observations of a recent trip to Tennessee and the Phreaknic conference, the sad state of radio in the South, observations on the continuing election crisis spark a spirited debate, Emmanuel brings back assorted items from a Nashville Christian store, Emmanuel gets Caller ID from Germany, Andy Mueller-Maguhn from the Chaos Computer Club talks about his recent election to the ICANN board and what he hopes to accomplish, a preview of the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin.
  44. The election insanity continues and has an unfortunate side effect, how television dictates the process, a possibility of an extra hour, how the election relates to technology, another spirited election debate between Emmanuel and Izaac, a suggestion for a new title for the winner, how computers can improve the existing system, Freedom Downtime is one syllable away from a final version, a listener writes in debating the theory of evolution, listeners join in the debate.
  45. A proposal for online voting in California, a major crisis envelopes WBAI as its general manager is fired by Pacifica and fears abound as to what will happen to the station as a result, Anthony Sloane gives an update on the situation and an upcoming demonstration, what listeners can do, an update on Amy Goodman's position in Pacifica, how corporations continue to threaten critical websites.
  46. An analysis of the Iridium satellite controversy and the recent 250-1 odds given of someone being hit by one of them, an ominous piece of mail from the IRS, a call to Verizon's automated blocking service, a demonstration of completely automated 800 directory assistance, a Walmart critic wins a battle for an Internet site, problems viewing DVDs in other countries, why $2600 is blocked by certain web rating software, guidelines for law enforcement officials who need to seize computers, Emmanuel makes plans to go to the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin and has another Priceline experience, a listener gets served with papers for having the same name as a California cafe, why $2600 registers offensive and critical site names, a new massive Internet cafe opens in Times Square, Emmanuel challenges the logic of the new law in Suffolk that bans cell phones while driving.
  47. A brand new Simplex lock comes to the station, the future of Low Power FM is crushed by the NAB and NPR, persistent questions as to why Viacom is allowed to have a low power FM station in New York, an adventure involving web filtering at EasyEverything and the unfairness of blocking $2600's site, unwitting people continue to blame $2600 for a computer virus, junk mail from NSI tries to get people to pre-register for new top level domains, British Telecom tries to sue ISPs who use hyperlinks, an update on the Pacifica situation, questions as to whether the new Simplex lock has something to do with a station lockout, Emmanuel is headed to the Chaos Communication Congress, Voicestream sends a SIM update which changes Omnipoint's name, the difficulty of using an American GSM phone overseas, more feedback on the unfairness of the ICANN process in selecting new top level domains.
  48. Emmanuel calls in from Berlin on the eve of the German premiere of Freedom Downtime at the Chaos Communication Congress, how the European train system puts America to shame, an overview of the differences in GSM service overseas, a copy protection scheme known as DFAST is introduced for digital cable, Australian authorities express doubt on region encoded DVDs, cultural differences between the United States and Denmark, Emmanuel visits a commune in Copenhagen known as Christiania, Freedom Downtime premieres in Amsterdam, Pacifica changes the locks at WBAI and fires key people at the station, an overview of what listeners and producers are doing to fight the takeover, security guards are reported to be inside the station, large amounts of listeners cancel subscriptions to the radio station.

Off The Hook - 2001

  1. Emmanuel reports on the Chaos Communication Congress and the reaction there to Freedom Downtime, the cultural differences between Europe and America with regard to censorship, police, and trains, Emmanuel and Autojack manage to get into the same restricted area as last year for the New Year's festivities in Times Square, a musical piece based on the DeCSS case is released by Autojack, WBAI producer Chet Jackson dies, an update on the crisis at WBAI, the WBAI website is erased by the management, criticism of the opposition websites for not being updated, 1100 people show up to a meeting on the radio station, a demonstration outside the station is planned for Saturday, how listeners are being abused on the air while fighting back, Grandpa Al Lewis is accused of racism after his Saturday WBAI broadcast for not letting a management official interrupt his show, Czech television reporters go on strike, an appeal for screenings of "2001: A Space Odyssey."
  2. A report on Saturday's demonstration outside WBAI and how it represented the station's diverse listenership, Alex reports on a similar gathering at the same time on Long Island, Juintz explains the process of Internet simulcasting, more media coverage of the station's problems, why this is more than an internal matter, Emmanuel bypasses region coding on a DVD player to see the European release of Eyes Wide Shut, a story of a virtual massacre as characters in a game are wiped from existence.
  3. An international "zombie" conspiracy involving hackers is reported in the mass media loaded with inaccuracies, QVC threatens an amateur radio operator for using their letters in his call sign, police in Chicago regain the power of the "Red Squad," the absurdity of the Freedom of Information Act, new hard drives proposed to contain copy protection ability, more on DVD region codes, a local police department goes after a New Hampshire individual for putting up a satirical website, regulations on how to use sex offender information, Emmanuel comments on the attacks on Amy Goodman during another program, update on the listener lawsuit, another demonstration outside the station is scheduled along with one in Washington DC over the weekend, the WBAI website is recovered and mirrored elsewhere, what the fight is really about, Mike begins to record all programs on WBAI in MP3 format, an attempt to leave feedback at the White House, a call from a listener at the heart of the controversy.
  4. A song about the phone company from 1915, Emmanuel explains the importance of covering the WBAI crisis, live coverage as events reach a boiling point when the Local Advisory Board tries to meet at the station and is refused entry, police enter the radio station, an informative article on the crisis in Time Magazine, an appeal for calm from Emmanuel, Leslie Cagan from the Pacifica National Board discusses the current situation, Emmanuel points out that nobody has been told not to discuss these subjects on the air, Alex reports live from the protest in the hallway, a quote from an earlier show that accuses the protesters of being racially driven, reports from some of the demonstrators, the police issue a statement, reports of denied access for the making of public service announcements at the station, arrests are imminent as the show ends.
  5. An amusing announcement reflecting the current chaos at WBAI, Emmanuel thanks the listeners for their courage and reflects on events of the past and how they relate to the current situation, what it's like to challenge authority, $2600 has yet to be sued in 2001, the value of freedom of speech and how this has influenced decisions, a "dark tale" from the world of commercial television, a gag rule is imposed at WBAI forbidding discussion of the problems at the station, why it's important to support WBAI in the upcoming fundraiser, Emmanuel gets copies of Takedown on DVD and VHS from Amazon in France and discusses the hassle involved in viewing them, an activist on his way to a meeting in Canada in preparation for an April event is turned away after being searched and having political papers copied, a website that traces IP addresses, 188 people are reported to be listening online.
  6. Technology refuses to cooperate with the opening of the show, Emmanuel appeals to listeners to support the station in the upcoming fundraiser and gives certain scenarios that could unfold, lyrics of "The Internationale" carry special meaning, Bibleman is in the news, a scary bit of technology is employed for the Super Bowl where people's faces were compared with a central crime database as they passed through turnstiles, dramatically expanded security measures are put in place near courtrooms in New York as a terrorism trial begins, a global hacker ring allegedly finds private info and credit card numbers of world leaders, more investigation is done on the mysterious commercial station at 88.1 MHz in New York City, balloons arrive at the station, some George W. Bush quotes from the last 15 days, more on websites that trace IP addresses, Emmanuel's Voicestream bill has a pleasant surprise with international roaming.
  7. The show is given an additional hour at the last minute for fundraising, Emmanuel has a misadventure with a CD and a Mac, an excerpt from Steve Rambam's talk on privacy at H2K, a special offer of all $2600 back issues from 1984 on, an excerpt from the hacktivism panel at H2K featuring Reid Fleming, Oxblood, and Shapeshifter, some talk of Napster's future, Kevin Mitnick gives an update on his progress including his new radio show on KFI and his views on Napster, Emmanuel opens the phone lines to listeners to talk about whether or not they will be pledging to WBAI, Freedom Downtime is officially finished and ready to be submitted to film festivals, Emmanuel issues a challenge to the listeners and offers a matching fund for the listener lawsuit against Pacifica, Bernie S. reflects on what WBAI meant to him during his ordeal in prison, Phiber Optik also offers some historical perspective, the Department of Justice gets involved in the DeCSS appeal and sides with the MPAA, the show is preempted next week.  This show is in two parts and includes fundraising.
  8. Emmanuel is stuck on a train during the first part of the show and tells the Long Island Railroad horror story that put him there, mixed reviews of The Lone Gunmen, Izaac talks about the latest FBI spy scandal, the comic strip Boondocks focuses on the DeCSS controversy, talk of a service called Aimster which bypasses some of the problems of Napster, a report of a credit card denying "parental advisory" CD sales to people under a certain age, Emmanuel finally arrives at the studio, the matching fund for the listener lawsuit brings in $9060, more terrorist hysteria that ties into pornography, a new $2600 news site is launched.
  9. Emmanuel's first full show in a while, a farewell to Mir, how to view satellites in the sky, a tribute to some courageous people at WBAI, the latest chapter in the Pacifica controversy makes it to the floor of the House of Representatives in a speech by Rep. Major Owens, Rep. Rick Boucher criticizes the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Emmanuel reads a warning about Bill 602P which allegedly proposes to bill people for email delivery, the facts on this net legend, changes are in store for Napster, Emmanuel and Izaac argue over money versus altruism in the music business, Emmanuel starts to encode his entire CD library into MP3s, an appeal to make MP3 jukeboxes in diners, a call from Scotland, Radio Shack discontinuing tone dialers.
  10. Izaac starts to read an illegal number related to DeCSS, 26 other organizations join in the lawsuit against $2600 including the NFL and the NHL, more legal action in the recording industry, the Digital Agenda Act in Australia makes it possible to be fined for forwarding email without permission, a website gets charged thousands of dollars for increased traffic, a preview of HAL 2001, a busboy steals the identify of rich people, a lawsuit is filed by librarians against the Children's Internet Protection Act, why filtering pornography in public libraries is a bad idea, why the website hasn't been updated recently, the future of Napster, space-related news on Mir, a missing spacecraft, and a millionaire buying a ride to the space station, Emmanuel spots ISS in the sky, ten digit dialing is now mandatory in Connecticut, Emmanuel still isn't billed for overseas roaming from December, a caller complains about Dell computers, more talk of an MP3 jukebox leads to a challenge, a promotion for Atlantacon and I-CON.
  11. Tickets are made available to HAL 2001, Freedom Downtime to be shown twice at I-CON, how to get copies of Takedown from overseas, the DeCSS reply brief is filed, May 1 is the date for the appeal, a new PBS program called Cyberchase is set to portray hackers in a negative light, Izaac gets into an argument with Australians on the region coding issue, ways to not get spied upon while using a computer, talk of people who sell software in plastic bags on street corners, debate on banning cell phone use in cars, an update on premiums from the fundraiser, blue laws in Tennessee, a listener writes in with info on how a web filterer works from the inside, a Verizon calling plan proves deceptive, how to get unlimited regional calling for a very low price, rip-offs the phone company engages in, ways of saving live audio streams, a caller has problems with busy circuits.
  12. A review of the I-CON conference where Freedom Downtime was shown twice, Freedom Downtime is accepted at a film festival in Ohio, how the film should be released on DVD, the dean of the Stanford Law School, Kathleen Sullivan, joins the $2600 legal team and will argue the appeal on May 1, why the other side will have ten extra minutes, the conflict between artists and the RIAA, Emmanuel's feelings on the Eagles, some history of a similar conflict involving Frank Zappa in the 60s, preregistration scams for new top level domains, a poll on Internet crime raises more questions than it answers, automation on the Long Island Railroad causes problems, Emmanuel demonstrates an exercise in frustration with American Airlines and their non-human technology, a disturbing new policy from Microsoft claims ownership of any copyrighted material sent through their systems.
  13. New windscreens arrive in the studio, Emmanuel relates an adventure he had in his neighborhood while spying on people, a parallel between this and the spy plane crisis in China, Emmanuel offers his own personal apology to China to help end the crisis and extends it to the entire world, a debate with Izaac ensues, an exercise in frustration involving CompUSA on the phone, the debate over electronic textbooks, a clarification on an unlimited Verizon calling plan, a Verizon three-way calling scam, all the lights go out on the switchboard, a caller has an interesting problem with blocking.
  14. The death of Joey Ramone and how it's still hard to hear his music on the radio, the new issue of $2600 is out with an interesting cover, the phone lines make mysterious noises, a new game entitled "Find The Operator" targets Priceline, Emmanuel tries to extend an Off The Hook winning streak of positive influence on world affairs by confronting the Pacifica crisis, the parallels to B92 in Yugoslavia as well as the differences, the need to establish dialogue, the hypocrisy of not speaking out, a look at a conflict inside a commercial station, an AP story on Amy Goodman, a call for volunteers and WBAI's unlocked door, an upcoming march over the Brooklyn Bridge for WBAI, reports of difficulty getting into Canada on the eve of the April 20 protest, the significance of that particular date, Emmanuel demonstrates the wide diversity of opinions that are tolerated at the station, an article in the Washington Post about the positive influence of $2600 meetings, an upcoming demonstration against the Children's Internet Protection Act, a proposal for banning certain "nonproprietary" names as domain names, $2600 registers a site to protest WIPO.
  15. Emmanuel and Izaac are missing, Paul Williams, Mike, and John try to carry on with the show, FBI hacks into Russian computers allegedly for retribution, talk of upcoming conferences, an update on the live streaming of WBAI, speculation on Kevin Mitnick's restrictions, WBAI issues are discussed with listeners, Paul tries to bring the WBAI Interim Station Manager in on the discussion, Patty from wbai.net talks about being threatened with a lawsuit by Pacifica, the upcoming appeal of the DeCSS case next Tuesday, Macki reports on rumors of a new lawsuit facing $2600 concerning General Motors, commercial radio stations facing problems simulcasting on the net, Emmanuel reported to be dealing with an emergency, Bill Gates no longer the richest man, a listener reflects on what WBAI was like 30 years ago, debate on criticism of the station, a reason why there are so many empty payphone booths.
  16. Emmanuel explains what happened last week and how a DSL outage started a chain reaction resulting in a missing cat and a major crisis that affected last week's show, Saturday's march across the Brooklyn Bridge as part of a WBAI rally, why Wall Street is such a great place for WBAI to be, who now occupies the old WBAI space on 8th Avenue, how an Altoids box could pose a significant security risk, Autojack tells how he was ambushed by DEA agents while on a domestic flight, Amtrak supposedly working with DEA to fight drug trafficking, the DeCSS appeal is heard before a three judge panel, Cindy Cohn, John Gilmore, and Robin Gross from the Electronic Frontier Foundation talk about the significance of the case and how the appeal went, an analysis of some of the other side's points and analogies, Emmanuel comes up with scenarios where fair use is called into question with DVDs, what future implementations of the DMCA might mean, more briefs filed in the appeal, details on a new lawsuit involving Ford, what Ford could do to easily bring the conflict to an end, advice on what to do when accosted by federal agents.
  17. Good news from the Philadelphia courts as ShapeShifter is acquitted on all counts, ShapeShifter tells the story of the trial, how the evidence against him was presented, Bernie S. gives his impressions as he tries to stay connected in the streets of Philadelphia, the possibility of the authorities actually keeping a sizable chunk of the bail money, upcoming protests in Philadelphia target the prison industry, audio of last week's DeCSS appeal hearing is now available online, Bernie S.'s voice mail takes his place, a new bill in Nassau County targets cellular phones in cars and raises Emmanuel's ire, a bill for Rockland County would have included 10 days in jail, a move to save another radio station in New York, Emmanuel's efforts to settle the Ford lawsuit, an idea of how much Ford is demanding from $2600, the hearing is rescheduled for May 18, the idea of a caravan to the hearing is introduced, $2600 responds by registering fordreallysucks.com, why this is an important fight, Emmanuel gives the keynote address at the Trenton Computer Festival, audio problems, update on premiums for the last two marathons, a strange fact is uncovered about the lawsuit, a listener makes it to the Athens Film Festival showing of Freedom Downtime.
  18. An extra 30 seconds to kill, the Ford hearing looms, the $2600 site is hijacked, how such a thing became possible because of a weird computer error, how disruptive this kind of a move can be, new fordreallysucks.com bumper stickers come out, plans for the caravan are finalized as Emmanuel collects a huge amount of music, selections from the soundtrack to Freedom Downtime, Universal asks to use $2600 Magazine in the upcoming K9-3 Private Eye release, the listeners decide whether or not to grant permission, a three hour fundraiser is scheduled for next week, Talking Call Waiting and Call Intercept are introduced by Verizon, an example of the Metrocard being used to catch a criminal, the new "Evil 6" train that has automated announcements, a 13-year-old kid in New Jersey commits suicide after being threatened with prison for hacking his school computer, how this kind of thing isn't uncommon, another student is threatened for writing a sexually explicit song about a teacher, a caller questions Izaac's value on the show, a caller is targeted by the MPAA, a story involving "terroristic threats" with animated stick figures.
  19. The full version of the intro song, Lazlow joins in an extended three hour fundraising show, Emmanuel's challenging trip in, a history of the General Motors/Ford conflict with $2600, a report on the caravan and the trip through various cities in New York State, some of the differences between United States and Canadian culture, a new $2600 shirt is on the horizon, a significant amount of the total Ford legal fee is raised in a single day, what it was like to be in court in Detroit, a "Report from the Listeners" is scheduled for later in the show, exploring the Ford campus, how the auto industry destroyed mass transit in Detroit, how the city has been devastated, Dan Morgan tells the story of how Satellite Watch News was lost and the prosecution against him, Lazlow tells of new horrors from ClearChannel, an appeal to listeners to not give up on the station, an argument on who controls the electoral process, how George W. Bush got to be a front-runner, new attacks on privacy, how parents are able to monitor their children in school, listener mail, anti-Semitism from Henry Ford, why Ford's evil past is relevant to today's events, problems with the phone system, listeners explain the philosophy behind the boycott, the problems with a specific listener survey to WBAI producers, a school computer malfunctions and calls parents in the middle of the night, a plea to not harass the volunteers, debate on the right way to handle the crisis, more than $5000 is raised.  This show is in three parts and includes fundraising.
  20. First show in three weeks, the transmitter goes off the air earlier in the evening, no verdict yet in either of the cases, the fourth HOPE conference is officially announced as H2K2, how the new conference will differ from previous ones due to the fact that there will be four times as much space, a call for keynote speaker suggestions, more information on HAL, how the Dutch conferences inspired American hacker conferences, the death of Timothy McVeigh and the lack of a hacker connection, Emmanuel reacts to media propaganda concerning the Chinese hacker "threat," Sony manufactures a fake movie critic, a huge sign in the studio claims that WBAI has been saved, a toll-free hotline provides a service that violates privacy, advice for people starting zines, more delays getting premiums out for the fundraisers, reasons the DEA stops people at airports, the phone system appears to be completely broken, a program apparently is able to detect objectionable pictures on private computers, some listeners protest the temporary removal of Democracy Now! during the fundraiser, how to obtain old phone vans at auctions.
  21. Emmanuel takes offense at an anti-drug PSA at the station, Izaac starts working on the Expert Witness show, the theme is rip-offs, Emmanuel's unpleasant history with Sprint phones, the horrors of a local Sprint PCS store, Sprint's scheme to charge people extra for defective phones, wading through Sprint customer service, the Sprint PCS Equipment Replacement service, Emmanuel gets charged for three-way on his Verizon bill, NSI tries to get people to register multiple times for new .biz domains, the list of names for previous fundraisers is finally obtained, Bernie S. shares his Sprint horror tale, ShapeShifter doesn't get his entire bail amount returned despite his acquittal, Izaac speaks out against police brutality, Mr. Ohm makes a personal appearance, why criticism is vital to improvement and how this relates to the radio station, bank stories, Emmanuel's interpretation of the gag rule, a caller has concerns over the WBAI crisis.
  22. Emmanuel almost misses the beginning of the show due to heavy traffic, the BBC plans to stop broadcasting to North America, the magic of shortwave, the elimination of CBC stations on the AM band, more laws set to go into effect banning the use of cell phones while driving, feedback from last week's Sprint story, why it's OK to lie in certain cases, calling WorldCom tech support in Canada to test the response time, trying the same thing in the United States, Gary Null begins a series on the Pacifica crisis, an allegation of hacking, how to prevent unwanted calls from getting through, a petition circulates to change the suspension policy at the New Jersey school where a student killed himself because he was threatened with going to jail, feedback on shortwave, how to avoid telemarketers, alleged threats to notify the FBI every time critical mail is sent to Pacifica National Board members.
  23. The day before Independence Day, clarification on the BBC World Service, surveillance cameras are being installed at WBAI, face identifying cameras now in operation in Tampa, the surprising lack of imagination in naming things in Tampa, no fireworks tonight, the annual Ronald Reagan deathwatch and an explanation of its history, Emmanuel goes to Mexico for the weekend, the hypocrisy of immigration policy, the new top level domains, more on the Gary Null series on the Pacifica crisis, vandalism follows a fundraiser for WBAI listeners, what's actually involved in adding a new top level domain.
  24. Izaac is away in the desert somewhere, notices about sewer lizards appear all over the city, new color monitors appear in the studio showing a camera view from outside the station, more news about surveillance cameras from around the country, a call for dramatic presentations over the surveillance cameras, more on the Mexican scene, the problem of "illegal Mexicans" on Long Island, Emmanuel is targeted for a search on a flight back from California, news on HAL and how it inspired the American hacker conference scene, more talk of H2K2, Bernie S. tells of an upcoming documentary on the NSA, a video store in Sweden is raided for selling Region 1 DVDs, more on the presidential curse, how much things have grown in the past few years, ten digit dialing now mandatory in New Jersey, an appeal to an international listener whose address wasn't compatible with the WBAI computer, Emmanuel gets a new tri-band GSM phone and discovers that Voicestream disables all foreign language features, a motorist is fined by a car rental company who used GPS to discover that he was speeding, suspicion that the Tampa cameras have been active for at least a few months.
  25. Emmanuel runs into a problem with the downstairs security people who decided he looked suspicious, next week the show will come from Hell, an update on the sewer lizard scandal, people start to react to surveillance cameras in Florida, the Afghan government bans the Internet, a USA Today story predicts where hackers will strike next, Emmanuel hits Izaac dead on with a new issue of $2600, news on the $2600 IRC server, Izaac's trip to the desert, problems with Defcon, a strange claim on a Defcon flyer concerning H2K2, a Defcon speaker is arrested apparently for violating the DMCA, more on the BBC, a media piece that ties $2600 to DVD piracy, the story of someone prosecuted for recording the police in his own car, Izaac has a misadventure while driving in the desert, Emmanuel explains the references to Hell, Izaac to handle the show for the next few weeks while Emmanuel wanders around Europe.
  26. Emmanuel, as promised, does the show from Hell, what northern Norway is like, the WBAI phone system refuses to cooperate in dialing to Norway, a demonstration of GSM hold music, the many capabilities of GSM that remain unused in the United States, the phone number of the payphone, the longest day of Emmanuel's life, a description of Tromso, more than 100 people demonstrate for Dmitri Sklyarov and against Adobe in California as well as other cities, why it's frustrating being an American in Europe, how life in Europe is more relaxing, examples of how people are treated with more trust and respect, laws in Norway forbid hitting children, the differences in vacation time and television, how CNN is better overseas, environmental differences, why it was important for Pacifica to challenge the seven dirty words regulation, one week left to pre-register for HAL, the Thomas Cook train book, Izaac gets corrected on a "Hacker Jeopardy" question, the Code Red worm targets the White House, the cost of streaming WBAI on the net, an explanation of how the system works, a hacker documentary is set to air on The Learning Channel, Alex reports on the New York protest against Adobe, Adobe reverses its opinion on the case, Emmanuel marvels at not being harassed at all overseas as he was last week in the lobby of the station, night eludes Emmanuel once more.
  27. Izaac calls Emmanuel in Gothenburg, Sweden, the Code Red worm is set to disable the entire Internet at this very moment, Mike gives an update on the latest Dmitri Sklyarov demonstrations, this week's $2600 meetings will also serve as flyer handouts for the case, why it's particularly important for people to understand what this case is all about, Emmanuel plans to go to the Aarhus $2600 meeting in Denmark, the deadline has arrived for HAL preregistration, Emmanuel visits the DVD shop in Gothenburg that was raided for selling Region 1 DVDs, the differences in law from Denmark to Sweden concerning selling Region 1 DVDs, Emmanuel does an interview for CNN International which is markedly different from the CNN aired in the United States, a computer warns Mike that he's going to be cut off, Porkchop analyzes the Code Red worm from a hotel bathroom, how people can prevent this sort of thing, conditions under which system administrators should be held liable, the death of Wau Holland, a case involving a mobster and a government key logger, how to decode DTMF tones, how the Sircam virus is annoying people, a call to have some intelligent scripts written to combat spam, lack of content at the WBAI website, a pre-HAL show is scheduled for next week.
  28. Trouble reaching Emmanuel thanks to Voicestream problems, how Voicestream is an embarrassment to the GSM network, more trouble at WBAI involving longtime radio hosts, an appeal to reason in the crisis, HAL 2001 begins setting up, Emmanuel reports on the hacker scene in Denmark, more on the differences in cultures between the United States and European nations, Emmanuel to give the keynote at HAL, specific directions on how to get to the conference by train, stage manager Greg Newby and network operations chief Aldert Hazenberg give updates on the preparations and upcoming events at HAL, Porkchop offers perspective on the organizational effort, problems reaching Mike in California, Dmitri Sklyarov is finally released on bail, Emmanuel and Izaac debate the future of the case and the most effective tactics, a new version of Code Red creates back doors into systems, Emmanuel's idea for a positive use for the new Code Red, Izaac chastises Rebel, Mike reports on what it was like in the courtroom during the Sklyarov hearing, plans for future demonstrations, uniting with librarians, Emmanuel challenges Izaac's methods of fighting the DMCA, service report from 1016868.
  29. Emmanuel is in Paris, a summation of HAL, the surprising lack of any problems, Rop from Amsterdam joins the conversation from his bathtub and gives details on what the main concerns of the conference were, some of the major accomplishments, attempts by the authorities to shut HAL down before it started, some media coverage, Emmanuel chastises Izaac for not showing up, Autojack gives his impressions of the event including the outdoor urinals, Bernie S. tells of his experience at the conference and marvels at the difference of attitude in the Netherlands, the lockpicking tent, how the main tent was actually a building constructed by hackers, the HAL network to the outside world was never completely full, cooperation with the University of Twente, Geoff talks about "HAL cash" and "power pong," the speakers and the topics, the Internet broadcast of the event, NSA proposal for an advanced encryption cypher, NASA flies a "solar plane," the Tampa cameras are already misused by the authorities, Emmanuel runs out of time on a hotel phone, how to take out a surveillance camera, judges react to surveillance of themselves, the 6th District Court of Appeals denies Matthew Pavlovich's argument that the court lacks jurisdiction in the DVDCCA case and makes some astounding comments, a listener spots a "Free Dmitri" shirt at a baseball game, WEVD in New York is lost to Disney, demonstrators are camped outside WBAI, Emmanuel loses his Voicestream service, the lack of competition in the United States, more on the FBI's attempt to tap the keyboard of a mobster.
  30. Emmanuel has difficulty staying connected while he and Autojack are on a train to Amsterdam, Porkchop tells the story of Brian K. West who is being prosecuted for finding a security hole on a web server, Macki provides an analysis of an amendment in Judge Kaplan's opinion in the DeCSS case, the possibility that this indicates an imminent ruling in the appeal, the train arrives in Central Station, EasyEverything blocks access to $2600 worldwide, a freight train passes, the refreshing lack of Starbucks in Europe, how EasyEverything is part of something much bigger, how England is radically different in attitude from all the other countries Emmanuel visited, Autojack gets stopped by Customs in England, Porkchop is detained in a London airport, Emmanuel theorizes on how England appears to be broken, hanging out with Don Letts (singer of the Off The Hook theme), a BBC documentary on Little Kim underscores the major differences in British and American television, Emmanuel appeals for GSM competition in the United States and argues with Izaac over the future of GSM and 3G, Porkchop offers contrast between American and European GSM service, a caller from the tub, questions about satellite phones and prepaid wireless, Izaac now doing full time engineering at WBAI.
  31. The whole studio is broken and the theme is missing, a last minute fundraiser, a new CD is released by Autojack for the HAL conference, Emmanuel's nightmare trying to return to the States, what not to do on an airline, a "broken computer" on Sabena Air, audio of a technician pleading with passengers not to abandon the plane, Emmanuel's return via Washington DC, the differences between European and American trains, how news reporting differs overseas, Emmanuel encourages everyone to get their cable company to carry BBC World, Izaac has been doing a full time engineering shift at WBAI, no vigilers are seen outside the station, a hearing is upcoming in the Dmitri Sklyarov case, Izaac implies that there's more to the case, Borders caught planning to use face scanning on its customers, the moral justification for using such software, MCI violates Emmanuel's request to stop calling him with offers, funny mail from various phone companies, a story of courage from Norway and how it relates to ongoing battles involving the hacker world and WBAI, Izaac is accused of being a Quisling by a caller, a recounting of last year's hijacking adventure involving Delchi, a mystery ring that will be explained next week, updates on various WBAI "things" that are occurring, a call from Wales.
  32. The theme is returned, talk of the new "W" train and other subway changes, talk of the new XM satellite radio service, a review of the latest Bob Fass show on WBAI, how WBAI was brought up on a train in Belgium, an excerpt from a show of the past and related sad news concerning a regular listener, the need for healing and communication, clarification of the "gag rule," WEVD is taken over by Disney, Mike returns from California and tells how schools in the Bay Area use blocking software, a call to EasyEverything concerning blocking and use of the WebSense software, a call to arms against the EasyEverything policy, deceptive practices by PayPal, an update on the quest for BBC World, Dmitri Sklyarov and his company now face long prison terms and heavy fines, views on the conflict within WBAI, the Unix time interval scheduled to hit one trillion seconds.  Mighty Sparrow feature follows.
  33. The shock of last week's events hits hard.  Emmanuel tells what it was like heading into the station on the 11th, the changed mood of the city, how everyone's perspective on things has changed, Izaac recounts where he was at the moment of impact, Ken Gale from Nuff Said recounts the state of the station on the 11th, how the station's temporary broadcast location was kept secret from the staff, a parallel to Ireland, fear of extreme reaction on the part of the United States, how American disregard for events in the rest of the world led to the warning signs being missed by most, Bernie S., Terrence (ShapeShifter), and Alex offer perspectives on new legislation being pushed through, the makeshift memorial at Union Square Park, the different ways people are reacting, former WBAI program director Andrew Phillips offers commentary, questions on the coverage of Palestinian celebrations, a demonstration of what happens when you try to call WBAI, how the various phone networks fared, a new phone number for the radio station, who the upcoming battle will be against, how people can help.
  34. A new policy by Amtrak requires passengers to have photo identification, thousands of bodies remain buried down the block at the World Trade Center site, new policies and regulations are already in place, Mike gives perspective from Columbia University, a lot of the conflicts in the city appear to have disappeared in the wake of the disaster, the massive amount of pictures of missing people in the streets and subways, Emmanuel praises Mayor Giuliani and criticizes George W. Bush, how the Expert Witness radio show actually told people several weeks ago not to be surprised when the World Trade Center explodes, Jim describes what it was like close to the scene near the moment of impact, how the subway system fared, how Verizon acted to preserve voice mail messages from those who perished, why Emmanuel rejects the statement that Palestinian footage actually came from 1991, continuing questions concerning media coverage and the lack of evidence presented to the public, how security at airports is still full of holes, the parallels to computer security, some shocking quotes from leaders and the media, the Anti Terrorism Act threatens many - including hackers - with life imprisonment, Cindy Cohn from the Electronic Frontier Foundation explains the dangers of the ATA and the many ways someone can get prosecuted under it, the increased surveillance powers the ATA would allow, some disturbing polls are released, a caller accuses African-Americans of being insensitive, a quote from Babylon 5.
  35. Objections to tourists at the World Trade Center site, the many different types of people who are acting as opportunists, Mike tells of an advertisement for the NSA in the Columbia student newspaper, the Office of Cyberspace Security is announced, why it's still easy to hijack a plane, the various hypocrisies now taking place, a test of urban legends concerning the events of September 11, the need for context in relation to the coverage of Palestinian celebrations, a new controversy involving ClearChannel, encouragement to come to the meeting this week, fear of flying, encouragement to make donations, people who may never get counted, a misguided call to arms for hackers, whether revealing security holes to the public is a good idea, speculation on Dick Cheney's whereabouts, new security restrictions at the Citigroup Center and a call for meeting attendees to be patient.
  36. Emmanuel's phone proves to be distracting, the bombing raids begin in Afghanistan, how Wall Street has become an armed fortress, the pointlessness of most of the shows of security, new names for the Anti Terrorism Act, the concept of brain fingerprinting, Zero Knowledge stops offering anonymous net access, the effectiveness of anonymity and encryption, a FAIR report on media coverage of the peace movement, Emmanuel calls for an uncensored version of the recently released Bin Laden tape, Mike gives examples of media distortion, some critical analysis of a report from the Jerusalem Post, the Union Square memorial is dismantled, a message from Reverend Billy, phone company recordings give confusing messages when calling WBAI, problems getting an outgoing phone line because of incoming calls, some of the weird things that happened to the phone system in the wake of the disaster, two digital switches are operating in the West Street central office, what should happen to the World Trade Center site and whether or not the towers should be rebuilt, a listener tests security in airports, announcement of whatweretheirnames.com which lists the victims of September 11.
  37. Emmanuel is a victim of a "rail condition" on the subway, Emmanuel drives to France in a rental car, Izaac's misfortune with a rabbit, a rental car, and a rock, the interesting border adventures that Terrence and Emmanuel experienced, Bernie S. gives information on a special kind of radio that can be obtained for cars that permits expanded reception of the shortwave band, how radio in Canada differs from radio in the States, the ICOM R3 scanner which is technically illegal in the United States, Emmanuel tells how the legal way of using a cell phone in a car is actually more dangerous than the illegal way, radios being dropped in Afghanistan, the FCC makes a move to regulate the Internet, the RIAA moves to exempt itself from a criminal law involving hacking, a wrestling website equates its being hacked with an act of terrorism, the WBAI phone system is restored, Bernie S. announces the assassination of a federal prosecutor, the balance of opinions on Canadian talk radio, how to tune into video on a scanner, the need for people to listen to different sources of information.
  38. A three hour fundraising show.  Lazlow, Mike, and Chris lend a hand, talk of the old Brain Damage days, the importance of contributing to causes, Lazlow tries to tune in a shortwave radio, the theme of the first hour is shortwave radio, Larry Magna from Passport to Worldband Radio explains the phenomenon of shortwave, the concept of jamming and how it ultimately proved futile, why Americans don't listen to shortwave as a rule, why the BBC decision to stop broadcasting to North America is widely viewed as a mistake, why shortwave is better for broadcasting than the Internet, Emmanuel sees a huge shortwave facility in New Brunswick, clarification on the law forbidding the Voice of America from being broadcast to people in the United States, pro-Taliban people involved in the VOA, the Taliban has chosen not to broadcast on shortwave, Bernie S. tells how shortwave influenced him in his early years, the shortwave car radios arrive from the United Arab Emirates, why the radios flopped in the United States, a dramatic increase in shortwave radio sales in the United States since September 11, an explanation of what Passport to Worldband Radio is and how listeners can pledge for a copy, Bernie S. makes a pledge, shortwave during the Falkland Islands war, propaganda broadcasts beamed into Afghanistan, a call for listener involvement, broadcasts from North Korea, the magic of interval signals, recommendations on good radios to start with, how small shortwave radios have gotten, the differences between shortwave radio and ham radio, shortwave pirate broadcasts, the annoying bell used for new subscribers, comparison of pledge drives and commercials, Big Audio Dynamite and Dread Zone, an additional pledge level, commenting on listener names, how commercial stations often have nobody in the studios, Rush Limbaugh's hearing problem, trying to reach 800 information, demonstrating voice recognition technology with Amtrak, the FBI develops a new way of spying on computer users, further restrictions on the media broadcasting uncensored information, how the Anthrax scare is affecting the mail and speculation on what kind of person could be behind it, the WBAI phone number in MF tones, Emmanuel predicts Tom Ridge will become vice president, a warning from the ACLU, the story of a man kept from boarding a plane because of the book he was reading, how random checks at airports aren't actually random, the push from the Bush administration for a national ID card, Izaac decides to leave the show and explains why in a prerecorded announcement, comments from the listeners, strange feedback from the phones, Emmanuel responds to some of Izaac's words, Lazlow explains why the show can't always be strictly about technology, Bernie S. solves the feedback problem, Emmanuel tells of the threat of the station moving to a less desirable part of the dial, how to listen to CBC on the net.  This show is in three parts and includes fundraising.
  39. Emmanuel expresses concern over his growing involvement with criminal behavior and appeals to the listeners to help get him back on track, talk of illegal scanners, shortwave car radios, Canadian DBS systems, and code-free DVD players.  A call to Amtrak, federal authorities ask schools for information on foreign students, sophisticated ID cards to be issued to military personnel, the Justice Department intends to eavesdrop on conversations between certain prisoners and their lawyers, the difference between being arrested and "detained," what the USA Patriot Act actually stands for, how search warrants can now be avoided, attempting to call Osama Bin Laden on his satellite phone, how airlines now have plastic knives but still give out metallic forks, the futility of recent National Guard and police activities, how every article in the new edition of $2600 seems to be a DMCA violation, a Green Party activist is prevented from boarding an airplane in Maine, Emmanuel tries to prevent people from getting shortwave car radios, the $2600 IRC network is temporarily off-line, why some people are selected for searches or interrogations, getting involved in CB and ham radio, questions about Monday's plane crash in Queens, certain words are banned on CNN's chat site.
  40. A song about sickness, the Leonid meteor shower proves to be spectacular, how astronomy proves that nothing at all matters, Mike gets a form letter from President Bush, Emmanuel gets a 3.5 cents a minute prepaid calling card and uses it to call Bernie S., some weird WIPO logic in the awarding of vivendisucks.com to Vivendi Universal, an update on the Nancy Oden Green Party story and how it's been represented, more instances of airport security stupidity, questions as to just who the National Guard answers to, the specter of secret military tribunals, criticism of Al Jazeera and how to get that news network in the United States, the evils of the Patriot Act, libraries are ordered to destroy information that could be used by terrorists, a member of the National Guard calls in with concerns over their lack of training, a story of National Guard abuse in New York.
  41. More on librarians being forced to destroy material because of government action, more restrictions on speech, a student in North Carolina is investigated for having an anti-Bush poster in her apartment, foreign hackers could be prosecuted in the United States, Somalia's Internet access is cut off by the United States, British youngsters to be profiled for future criminal activity, Hollywood leaders confer with government officials, an accidental security breach at an airport in Atlanta, hearings in the Dmitri case, how privacy can easily be breached using simple search engines, Safeweb shuts down its anonymous web surfing service, Emmanuel explains the Grey Cup and why Americans don't seem to care, how to get foreign media broadcasts, a listener has some VCR problems, checked baggage isn't screened for explosives.
  42. The decision comes down in the DeCSS appeal and $2600 loses, how the media continues to get the story wrong, how the DMCA is inconveniencing people, new powers sought for agents seeking wiretaps and information on individuals, the USA Patriot Act forces merchants to report "suspicious" transactions, defaced web pages cause controversy, a major invention is announced and Emmanuel expresses doubts over it, the Telezapper is scrutinized, a librarian explains the process of destroying certain pieces of information at the request of the government, some suggestions for last week's VCR question, Robin Gross and Cindy Cohn from the Electronic Frontier Foundation analyze the DeCSS decision, the strange contradictions in the court's logic, the Felten case against the RIAA is also lost, update on the Dmitri case, a summation of the different challenges against the DMCA, problems with the phones, question concerning the legal update of people who put DeCSS on t-shirts, a question from New Zealand, a musical George Harrison tribute.
  43. Emmanuel demonstrates a feature using a Sprint phone, Claire the voice recognition lady from Sprint, Emmanuel explains the coming doom due to area code confusion, Emmanuel demonstrates what callers hear when their call is picked up, possible future behavior of the 212 area code, Emmanuel's wrong number nightmare and what it foretells, Emmanuel predicts that there will be mandatory 10-digit dialing in New York City within five years, the lost opportunity for four digit area codes, Seraf tries to guess an area code, how the European system works, a new Bin Laden videotape is set to be released, why asking questions about this and everything else is so important and why it's frequently discouraged, things to watch out for in the tape, the $2600 IRC network returns, what makes this network so unique and dangerous, Lebanese hackers, Emmanuel is heading back to Scandinavia for all day darkness over the holidays, the upcoming Chaos Communication Congress, Google expands its Usenet archive, Emmanuel finds a message he posted from 1987, "dasys1" and the Big Electric Cat public unix, a petition circulates to release an expanded version of Hackers, the entire Department of the Interior is cut off from the Internet due to a court order, feedback on the Telezapper, ways telemarketers detect live people, phone service near Ground Zero is still far from normal, more airport snafus, the upcoming anniversary of Marconi's trans-Atlantic broadcast, an upcoming article in $2600 focuses on what happens when people go to web pages with advertising, how call forwarding to doctors was affected by the implementation of mandatory 10-digit dialing.
  44. Emmanuel is in Tromso in northern Norway, how there is no more than two hours of dim light a day, the upcoming Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin, the CET time zone, how traveling has become more stressful, the presence of the National Guard at airports, Bernie S. speculates on the effectiveness of security measures, Emmanuel's frustration trying to mail a letter at JFK Airport, the different reaction to September 11 in Europe, Mike gives an update on a positive development in the Dmitri case, how the United States legal system has made provisions for justice on other planets, rethinking the use of cellular phones in emergency situations, prioritizing phone calls via Autovon and the GETS system, an explanation of the access override class system, Emmanuel sees a shocking sight in the streets of Tromso, triggering Echelon, analyzing the new Bin Laden tape, why the fact that the tape was made digitally could be very significant, what information has yet to be revealed, the reaction of the Department of Defense to the call for a digital copy, Emmanuel reveals the shocking sight he saw.
  45. Emmanuel is on from Copenhagen, a special guest is missing, the introduction of the euro approaches, how an E-Z Pass type of system may be used in currency, Emmanuel finds out what happens when trains are late in Europe, new security measures focus on shoes in light of the latest airplane incident, more talk of the Bin Laden tape and digital video, Zappo from Denmark talks about a "billing hazard" with the Danish phone system, Seraf and Porkchop compare this to the touch tone fee in the United States, how everyone in Europe seems to have their own GSM phone, the Ford lawsuit against $2600 is dismissed, attorney Eric Grimm reveals what happened in court, the bad precedent that losing this case would have set, some history on other Ford cases, the significance of this victory, how the DMCA will be used in future similar cases.

Off The Hook - 2002

  1. Emmanuel is on from Amsterdam, Porkchop's bad handwriting causes a wrong number to be dialed while trying to reach Bernie S., Dmitri Sklyarov is said to be back in Russia, the first day of the euro, Rop from Amsterdam joins the conversation, the Chaos Communication Congress, a hacker film called Codes, the CCC takes over an entire building in Berlin with blinking lights, some examples of the messages appearing on the building, Europeans seem to be afraid to come to the United States for H2K2 because of new laws, Lucky Green talks about GSM protection measures, Seraf talks of a news story that has disappeared, Emmanuel tries to get euros out of an ATM, what euros are like, what New Year's was like in Amsterdam and the dramatic differences in culture, a description of the buildings in Amsterdam.
  2. Emmanuel is back in New York, how Europe is inspirational, Emmanuel's odyssey getting back home involving the Long Island Railroad, a CD player nightmare, voice recognition technology used in a bad way, the pointlessness of skip stop service on the subway, the badly designed LIRR machines, a year has gone by since the takeover of the station, an interim national board meeting is scheduled for New York, long time broadcasters Bob Fass and Mike Feder are kicked off the air, how things may change at the station and why it would be a mistake to make a new list of banned people, Seraf has problems downstairs, a look at euros, a move to fingerprint people renting cars, Rep. Rick Boucher shows that he has a clue, more on face scanning technology, something strange is happening with the phones, a warning to Rebel, Emmanuel continues not to be charged for incoming GSM calls while overseas, the need for forgiveness at the station, why mass transit systems are so inferior in the States, questions as to why Democracy Now! hasn't been returned to the air, a slow version of the theme.
  3. A different intro for a show commemorating the victory at the interim Pacifica National Board meeting where the station was restored to the previous administration, Anthony intros a piece from Democracy Now! that reports on the changes, the fired and banned are returned, an excerpt from the national board meeting vote which got rid of the old regime, Errol Maitland returns to the WBAI airwaves, Mimi Rosenberg talks of being fired and banned, how the entire network will be affected, how Off The Hook managed to stay on the air throughout the crisis, the challenge of the debt facing Pacifica, Emmanuel's history during the events of the last year, what the station used to be like in the past and how it's been during the last year, Ken Gale describes the security system that's still in place, thanks to the people who have kept the stream going throughout, some of the shows that will be coming back, Bob Fass calls in, remembering Samori Marksman and others at the station who have died, Ray LeForest from the local advisory board gives perspective and tells what's ahead.
  4. An error tone, a look back at the turbulent events of a year ago at the station, an example of why Sprint really exists, live coverage of the first Local Advisory Board meeting at the station in over a year, Errol tells what's going on at the meeting, a screening of Freedom Downtime is scheduled for New York City, Emmanuel gets into an accident right before the show, trying to sell the WBAI security system, a news story about "terrorist hackers," a tale of horror from a co-op community, wireless hacking at airports, conditions that would allow Rebel to call in again, Alex has an update on a Verizon lawsuit threat, a caller sounds like a computer.
  5. The State of the Union address is about to begin, Ford decides to appeal the lawsuit verdict, the World Economic Forum conference is about to come to town, raisethefist.com is raided, the Daily News threatens violence against WEF demonstrators, shortwave hate speech from the United States, the first live webcast of the State of the Union address on whitehouse.gov, an effort to cover nude statues, more anti-terrorism efforts, Family Guy is canceled, a plea to get tickets sold for the upcoming screening of Freedom Downtime, Keith from Theta Wave State talks about the soundtrack for the film, $2600 is once again accused of sending a virus, how switches can be programmed to send fake Caller ID info, how to battle telemarketers, what countries are most hospitable to hackers, a call for old phone sounds, a denial of service attack is planned for WEF.
  6. The first fundraiser since the station was liberated, the World Economic Forum meets in New York, what it was like after the show last week, the unprecedented police buildup, how Emmanuel was unwittingly caught up in the middle of events, the "frozen zone," Emmanuel and ShapeShifter get behind the barricades, the "Evil 2" subway trains, how the Waldorf Astoria was breached, the attack by the police on the protesters, Mike tells how the media tried to infiltrate the protest movement, Autojack tells of his experience listening to KPFK right before the liberation, new $2600 t-shirts are being made with a lawsuit theme, the problem with the police, a matching fund from $2600, Claude returns to the station, the loss of other local radio stations, an update on raisethefist.com, Mike puts on a mask.  This show includes fundraising.
  7. The first show in several weeks, questions and controversy concerning how audio tracks are catalogued, some John Perry Barlow soundbites, a debate on the DMCA sponsored by NPR is upcoming in Philadelphia, the ICANN board moves in an ominous direction, listener mail, $6000 raised in a single hour last show, more ClearChannel evil, why XM is no alternative to FM, the controversial practice of "voice tracking," a New Zealand phone customer gets a surcharge for being an "arrogant bastard," Starbucks threatens the author of "Lowest Common Denominator" for a parody picture, amendments to definitions of commercial terrorism that could redefine acts of protest, criminal acts at a commercial boot camp, more negative attention is focused on PayPal, Adam talks about plans for the network and the expanded space at H2K2 in July, the big Bell logo at Pearl Street has been replaced with a Verizon logo, some Off The Hook people were on the air briefly during last week's fundraiser, H2K2 coordinating meetings begin, a mathematical palindrome is disputed, the new .coop domain and its disturbing practices, the fight for media.coop, Jim gives an update on his indictment and arrest at the hands of the New York City MTA, volunteers needed to help in the case.
  8. A challenge to figure out what the theme is, Jim goes into detail on his problems with the MTA, Autojack is still in New York, a review of Asobi Seksu's recent performance, more on corporate abuse of radio, the media.coop battle appears to be won, a "tech toolbox action camp" is announced by the Ruckus Society, an upcoming radio conference, update on a VOA radio show, Rebel is allowed to call in again, a suggestion on what to do with "God Bless America" signs, the annoyance of pop-under ads, how Metrocards work in buses, a listener writes in about the lack of experience of the National Guard, rumors of a new GSM provider, bad design in the SEPTA system, revelation of what the theme is.
  9. The "towers of light" are lit in memory of the World Trade Center, questions about Staten Island Rapid Transit, how Metrocards are used in Staten Island to exit the subway rather than enter, a scam to capitalize on the World Trade Center tragedy with .usa addresses is shut down, news about ICANN, a new terror threat warning system is introduced, what the different colors mean, calling the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, payphone rates in New York have doubled to 50 cents, free information at payphones is eliminated, Autojack goes out to a payphone to see if the new unlimited time for local calls at the new rate is in effect, what the SSSCA is, $2600 is accused of invading someone's computer, Autojack gets lost in the street, a Voicestream scam, a report from the DMCA debate sponsored by NPR, a revelation on what the current color is, Autojack returns after leaving the payphone off the hook, Rebel calls from Nebraska.
  10. A Freedom Downtime showing in Las Vegas, controversy in court surrounds an "eBay hacker," New York City tries to install fake traffic cameras, GSM is coming to AT&T, a new plan by AT&T that requires called parties to also subscribe, calling AT&T, Autojack receives a muddy voice mail from Sprint PCS, connecting with "Claire" at Sprint PCS, Emmanuel's nightmare contacting Amazon customer service, more on BBC World and its musical theme, some clarification on last week's payphone experiment, equating computers and guns, a listener says that protesting no longer works, Autojack goes out to a different payphone to test the new Verizon rate, a listener question regarding a three-way call, the evil "L" train, phone companies that cut people off during rings, problems with the outro.
  11. Emmanuel is late, subway problems are to blame, the Children's Internet Protection Act, Verizon phones seem to have been converted, an experiment with more reasonable rates, reports on BBC World from out of the country and the inability of anyone inside the United States to get that network, a company wants to advertise on tombstones, a listener feels that hackers and their advocates should be locked up, Douglas Thomas' talks about his new book Hacker Culture, the Chris Lamprecht ("Minor Threat") case, problems with hackers and the legal system, the full attendance list for Summercon 1987, how large crowds make it harder to keep the hacker spirit.
  12. A major battle between cable companies centers on the new YES network, new developments in the first criminal DMCA case against Elcomsoft, NASA tries to keep the details of space shuttle launches secret, the absurdity of keeping such things secret, the strange building policy regarding identification, Delchi talks about security checks, Mike gets on a train without showing ID, calling Amtrak to hear the security warning, a deceptive practice by Yahoo!, Spam Assassin, an upcoming discussion on events at Pacifica, more on BBC World, a call for yet another audio format, the reaction to yesterday's change in the website, an update on the encoding of Brain Damage, how the MTA entraps subway clerks, the changes in the phone system over the years, a security flaw involving SNET's DSL service, a listener runs into problems mailing books, more on Ogg Vorbis, Rebel promotes the upcoming tenth anniversary of calling into the show on June 24, 1992, a listener has ideas on dealing with spam.
  13. Claude has trouble getting into the building, Emmanuel gets a much dreaded letter from Voicestream, the history of Voicestream's free international roaming feature, Jim reports on a local Voicestream store that threw private customer information into the street, a story in Wired links $2600 to a "cyanide anarchist" in Chicago, the DMCA may require webcasters to pay a fee for every song and every listener, the CBDTPA, why Emmanuel is reluctant to identify the music played on the show, more mail about BBC World, NewsWorld International, an easy way to figure out when space shuttles will launch, unfairness with 800 numbers, digital photos will be on all U.S. passports along with other security features, the Lincoln Visa, the National Guard will soon be out of the airports, Israeli troops are reported to be broadcasting pornography over Palestinian television stations, ten digit dialing comes to New York City effective February of 2003, Reba Vartanian (Kevin Mitnick's grandmother) tells what it was like at the Las Vegas screening of Freedom Downtime, stories behind the film, why the BBC cut shortwave broadcasts to North America, a nonsensical caller, what's involved in getting a table at H2K2 as well as volunteering and speaking, how filtering is keeping people from listening to the online stream.
  14. Richard Stallman is the guest, a positive court ruling for hackers in Argentina, what the CARP recommendations will mean to net broadcasters, the amount of bureaucracy involved in the proposed fees, the DMCA and IEEE, hacking versus cracking, the problem with massive amounts of people wanting to be hackers, the proper way to pronounce Gnu, Stallman to appear at this weekend's I-CON convention, how the DMCA has affected the free software world, the parallels with the real world, the evils of eBooks, Stallman's take on copyright, an interesting analogy by a caller.
  15. Problems with the intro, a report from the I-CON convention, a flurry of connectivity problems plague $2600, why denial of service has nothing to do with hacking, how the media seeks out people who fit their perception of hackers, Freedom Downtime is finally available on video, how free distribution of the video is encouraged, trying to find out what the Homeland Security color is, Macki has an operation, another famous hacker is in the hospital, a hospital phone system that turns off incoming calls to patients after a certain hour, more on the $2600 April Fool's joke, how the FBI almost got involved, an update on the Chicago incident, Dutch speed cameras are protected with security cameras, Macki talks about various satellite networks available on the KU band, a religious figure attacks Macintosh computers.
  16. Problems getting to the studio on time, Emmanuel wonders if he broke the law by intentionally parking at a broken meter, the local contact for Homeland Security, a mysterious car marked "internal intelligence," the latest with Jim and the MTA, feedback on Freedom Downtime, bad news from Canada in the DSS world, how the April 1st redirect was accomplished, thoughts on noncommercial radio, how the FM dial could be greatly expanded, a question about the allocation of digital television channels, a demonstration of how phone companies trick customers who misdial, how people can easily steal Sprint PCS service, calling Sprint PCS to verify this, the religious figure featured in last week's show is rumored to be a hoax, a trick that may work at Kinko's, why Appleby's can't turn up the audio on their television sets, $2600 meetings this Friday.
  17. A three hour show is scheduled for next week followed by two hours with the people at Nuff Said, the $2600 van visits Cambridge, Massachusetts, the upcoming Dayton Hamvention, Mike is involved in a strike, the creator of the Melissa virus is sent to prison, more theories on Sprint PCS, a question as to whether Caller ID info is passed along on cellular calls, a secret Sprint rate plan, more on digital television, weird channel allocations, questions and feedback on Freedom Downtime, information on MCI's "The Neighborhood" plan, calling MCI to ask questions, a Turner executive refers to people who skip commercials as thieves, fun with Rebel, calling 800 information to find out about automation, comparing different cellular plans, Autojack and Emmanuel try to get Claire to transfer them to an operator.
  18. Announcements of what's coming up in this night of fundraising, a scheduling snafu prevented the show from being on last week, a "terrorist threat" closes off streets in lower Manhattan, the color remains yellow, Autojack is back in San Diego, H2K2 promises to be bigger and more coordinated than previous conferences, Geoff comments on last weekend's Dayton Hamvention, the CARP recommendations are rejected by the Librarian of Congress, a magic marker can be used to defeat new copy protection on CDs, Porkchop talks about Macintoshes that can be disabled by inserting copy-protected CDs, a list of CDs that carry this protection, what should be done to stores that carry these things, the theme of the show is the recently released film, feedback from people who have seen it, an excerpt from Freedom Downtime that discusses why Kevin Mitnick became a fugitive, the portrayal of the mass media in the film, the use of the 2600 hertz tones in the clips, an excerpt from the film on how it all got started, Autojack will be performing some of his music at H2K2, some celebrities who wound up in the film, Freedom Downtime wins an award, Uzi Nissan tells the story of nissan.com and the fight he has been waging with the Nissan Motor Company, tactics that Nissan has used, support from Internet users, the history of Nissan, Uzi Nissan will appear at H2K2, how $2600 is losing money because Ford is appealing the lawsuit, Ken Gale talks of a lawsuit involving the old Gimbels chain, encounters with the $2600 van on the Interstate on the way back from Dayton, how people discover WBAI, the noncommercial ghetto of the FM dial, Ken talks about Nuff Said, what it was like at the station during the coup, the importance of comics, Bernie S. reveals something scary that he found at the Dayton Hamvention, an excerpt from the film on the Bernie S. story, Mercy Van Vlack joins Ken for the Nuff Said collaboration, nuffsaid.net, a malfunctioning cart machine, an odd standard of cassette tape seen at Dayton, how nuffsaid.net got hijacked, how difficult it can be to renew a domain name, experiences in Afghanistan, an introduction of all the people in the room, the Nuff Said news, the start of the Internet and what it stands for, the real cost of commercial radio, the monopoly of distribution in the comic book world, how comic books may be responsible for the smiley face, stupid Google tricks, the abundance of pornography on the net, how Boss Tweed was brought down by a cartoonist, how drawings are more powerful than words, how going to Afghanistan can change one's life, how WBAI may have influenced the independence of East Timor, Politically Incorrect is canceled, Emmanuel's experience seeing the new Star Wars movie in Ohio, a caller debates the amount of progress made at the station.  This show is in five parts and includes fundraising.
  19. More than $5000 was raised last week, an update on premiums, a speaker list for H2K2 is imminent, one listener who will be going to tremendous trouble to get to H2K2, a parody White House site, terrorists fail to blow up the Statue of Liberty, a plan to install cameras in airplanes, Interview Magazine seeks hackers, clarification on the copying policy with Freedom Downtime, a listener writes in about a secret project called Quantum Harmony, yottabits, more on MCI's "The Neighborhood" plan, more on Caller ID with cell phones, the true definition of theft, disturbing trends with Tivo, why it's important to not walk away from television, commercial skipping technology, responding to an email accusation, how things work inside a TV network, Emmanuel gets a weird Tivo update that interferes with a recording, how viewing habits can be used to invade privacy.
  20. A flurry of program changes affects Off The Hook, Nuff Said is canceled altogether, October 3, 1995 was the first show in the current timeslot, the new slot will be Wednesdays at 7 pm, the lack of communication at the station regarding the new schedule, Emmanuel explains why he turned down the 5 pm drive time slot, Max tells when Old Time Radio will be on, Emmanuel confesses his fascination with the World Cup Finals, the speaker list for H2K2 is announced, Aaron McGruder and Siva Vaidhyanathan are keynotes, Mark Hosler from Negativland will also be appearing, Robert Steele will be returning, The Mentor - author of "Conscience of a Hacker" - will also be speaking along with Steve Rambam, Uzi Nissan, Mike Levine, along with many others.  The FBI is given broad new powers, Chris explains how robots on the net could be used to abuse freedom of speech, polls indicate that most people don't view the FBI's new powers as a threat, cybercrime is listed as one of the three main focuses of the FBI, theories on commercial skipping VCRs, Magic Lantern, a listener criticizes the way the program changes were brought about, another reminder from Rebel on his upcoming tenth anniversary, coin service at payphones is being phased out, an overview of some of the programming changes.
  21. Emmanuel is late for the first show in the new timeslot, the problems getting to the station during rush hour, a remix of the theme, the recording people now hear when using coins at some payphones, Verizon lowers its rates back down to 25 cents at payphones, the prospect of ten digit dialing, Sprint PCS now charges a fee to have a human process a payment over the phone, Emmanuel's run-in with Sprint PCS billing, the United States Army website links to a violent video game, the password to an historical database in Norway is lost and then recovered after a public plea, more on the World Cup, how the United States doesn't seem to fit in, how a statue of Thomas Jefferson was torn down in the village of Port Jefferson and replaced with a warlike eagle, Mr. Ohm gives an update on the retro-computing panel, a final call for speakers at H2K2, The Personal Computer Show now follows.
  22. The show was preempted last week, bad news concerning Internet broadcasting, identifying the Librarian of Congress, what the new fee structure could mean to Off The Hook and typical stations, how it's going to be impossible to monitor all the listeners, the panels for H2K2 are announced, preregistration for the conference is closing, more on retro-computing, the Canadian military and RCMP are given permission to jam phone signals during the G8 summit and the Pope's visit, the FBI begins to search library records to find terrorists, a panel discussion on the FBI is scheduled for H2K2, Javaman talks about his panels, incidents of hacking into military secrets, Rebel calls in on his tenth anniversary of calling the show, an excerpt from ten years ago, Kevin Mitnick gives details on his testimony in Las Vegas demonstrating insecurities in the Sprint phone system, details on his testimony in Washington DC to save his amateur radio license, Javaman shares an exploit, an update on Jim's case with the MTA.
  23. A different version of the theme, H2K2 draws closer, Rop reports on the Ruckus camp, over 70 panels are scheduled for H2K2, memories of the first HOPE conference, inspiration from the Dutch, trying to come up with a name for the 2005 Dutch conference, the annual Reagan deathwatch, paranoia over terrorism in the United States, update on the alert system, New York City changes its color independently, the end of the World Cup and how American TV coverage differed from the rest of the world, the "other" World Cup final, Eric Grimm and Robin Gross give updates on the legal cases $2600 is involved in, Ford concedes defeat, how losing this case would have set a bad precedent, how the DeCSS case was distorted by the press, what has changed over the past couple of days, $2600 announces that it won't pursue the DeCSS case to the Supreme Court, how public perception has changed, lessons learned on how to dress in court, the Sonic Blue/ReplayTV case, skipping commercials is compared to theft, upcoming panels at H2K2 will feature Grimm and Gross, some strange laws governing the playing of music in commercial establishments, possible problems with parents controlling what their children are exposed to, a strange question about fiber optic cable.
  24. The final show before the H2K2 conference, Cheshire Catalyst reminisces about the registration desk at the first HOPE conference, Emmanuel and Ben reveal how the original name was conceived, Barry the Key talks about an adventure in his airplane to the States, Porkchop talks about the crazy building situation downstairs, Bernie S. talks about the monumental adventure with FedEx trying to get the registration badges delivered, Emmanuel's experience with a maxed out credit card that almost led to disaster for the conference, strange reactions to September 11, Autojack and Trash 80 talk about their upcoming shows at the conference, the full schedule of panels and performances is completed, a film lineup and unscheduled speakers are also planned, how the film Swordfish got its name, Adam discusses the network situation, figuring out how to get Roadie's U-Haul parked in the city as it continues to approach, Renderman and Porkchop tell how many wireless networks were found in a recent scan, how people offer free access to the net using their cable modems, Chris gives an update on the A/V situation, a massive H2K2 banner has been made along with smaller NSA-themed ones, more logistical information, the saga of the subway maps, Rebel has a question concerning what number shows up on his cellular phone, an explanation of how the $2600 streaming of the WBAI signal works, clarification on where the Martians landed, NRO people to attend the conference, dogs and Caller ID, Mr. Ohm talks about the retro-computing panel.
  25. The aftermath of the H2K2 conference, Greg Newby gives an overview of the various activities, review of The Mentor's talk, trying to reach Lazlow, a look at some press reports, how a BBC report was corrected, Lucky225 tells how social engineering was used to get inside information about AT&T, what happened during the social engineering panel, problems caused by AT&T, Bernie S. talks about the various hassles with the phone company, the effectiveness of Aaron McGruder's keynote address, Hanneke tells of her first experience at a New York conference, Autojack gives his impressions of the conference, the inspiration of the various European conferences, plans for a German hacker conference in the summer of 2003, an increase in female attendees, Mike claims that women were uncomfortable at the conference, Geoff gives his views of the highlights, how a shortwave radio show was broadcast over the Internet at the conference, a new bill will give life imprisonment to "malicious" computer hackers, an increased penalty for listening in on wireless phone calls, the security perspective of the conference, the Gameboy music performance.
  26. An invitation for pictures and feedback from H2K2, Kevin Mitnick's true freedom day is less than six months away, Jim reports on an article from Time Out New York on the conference, feedback on the conference from attendees, more on female presence at H2K2, a reading of a memo concerning the social engineering panel, a ruling against anti-abortion websites, searching for Bin Laden on the net, Al Qaeda accused of hiding messages via steganography, the beginning of Operation TIPS, the parallel of current events to Babylon 5, the current alert level, WorldCom goes bankrupt, Cingular accused of frightening WorldCom customers into changing their phone company, the value of keeping old phone books, a phone story concerning Wally Cox, clarification on the Cingular GSM situation, Freedom Downtime is shown in Los Angeles, Mayor Bloomberg's phone number is supposedly in the 1999 phone book.
  27. How everyone can participate in the new Operation TIPS program, a list of local citizen corps groups, suspicious activities on Wall Street, more on the dangers of supermarkets monitoring their customers' buying habits, more on Babylon 5 parallels to real life events, an online debate with the author, a congressman supports giving the MPAA and RIAA broad new powers to attack computers of people suspected of piracy, Emmanuel reports Jim for suspicious statements, Yale accuses Princeton of breaking into their website, ways of invading student privacy, Mr. Ohm tries to turn himself in for smuggling a dangerous object onto an airplane, MCI refuses to stop calling Emmanuel with sales calls, a Sprint relay call, the real dangers of a program like Operation TIPS.
  28. A minithon show, more encouragement for listeners to report suspicious activity, the worrying changes that have been taking place on Wall Street, the coming of digital television, the broadcast flag mandate, more on the Berman bill legalizing attacks on computers by the MPAA and RIAA, why the minithon is important, how people are virtually asking for bad legislation, the danger of allowing governments to do too much, the uniform blandness of radio stations, Seraf is warned not to take pictures under the Brooklyn Bridge, the stupid ways terrorists are profiled, the White House is unreachable from WBAI, a case of fraud allegedly linked to September 11, sensitive laptops disappear, the potential for internment camps in the United States, TIA (Total Information Awareness) is announced, some of the projections of this plan, the futile yet effective influence such programs have on populations.  This show includes fundraising.
  29. Still getting used to the new timeslot, Mike has a successful Amtrak experience, Emmanuel will be on the French islands off Canada again next week, the Neverlost system on rental cars and how it can malfunction, how receiving Canadian TV enables people to learn more about specific regions, a sex offender list in California, new speaking cameras in Watts, Jim reveals why Seraf was harassed for trying to take pictures under the Brooklyn Bridge, the hypocrisy of barricades being built around certain buildings, Operation TIPS is scaled back after a massive negative reaction, the prospects of an Al Qaeda cyber attack, the origins of the "electronic Pearl Harbor" phrase, the effectiveness of spam, the power of telemarketers, Emmanuel gets stuck in Spanish mode while calling Sprint PCS, trying to reach a human at Sprint PCS to find out about a new $3.50 charge for live assistance, a question concerning the legality of redistributing the radio show, the importance of understanding secret societies, why so many streets seem to have the same names, upcoming portability of cellular phone numbers, the unfairness of the toll-free number listing service, a new low cost prepaid phone card.
  30. Emmanuel doesn't make it to St. Pierre after all, Canada's strange policy that bars entry to people who were arrested in the past, what is required to get around this, issues of illegal immigration, high tech is used to keep Moroccans out of Spain, monitoring brain waves, major record labels sue major providers over access to a Chinese music site, Mike gets threatened for using the word "anonymizer," clarification on the Sprint PCS charge for talking to human operators, a college survey that asks political questions, some interesting corporate addresses, the purpose archive.org serves, competition for local phone service, strange behavior involving telemarketers, a caller's experience at the Canadian border in the past.
  31. Uncertainty as to the schedule over the next couple of weeks, the importance of doing a show on September 11, Ken Gale reminisces about what it was like a year ago, an article on the DeCSS case in the current edition of Playboy, why some magazines come out far in advance of their published dates, a company fights back against threats from the RIAA, commercials designed to "cherish freedom" airing on CNN, Jim's experience trying to use a computer anonymously in a library, regulations prohibiting packages over a certain weight from being dropped in mailboxes, a secretive federal court rules against further privacy invasions, Wilmington, Delaware tries to compile a database of people who are likely to commit crimes in the future, the difficulty getting into the United States from Canada and other countries, a listener composes a piece of music inspired by Off The Hook, Phil Kaplan of fuckedcompany.net tells of his bad experience with the Ford Motor Company, daily operations of the site, callers can't hear the feed over the phone, an engineer fixes the problem, the dangers of GPS.
  32. The show was preempted for the last two weeks, why this was especially frustrating, listener feedback on the preemptions, how airtime isn't being shared fairly at the station, why moving to the Internet isn't the answer, the color code for the nation changes to orange, speculation as to whether there was previous knowledge about the World Trade Center attacks, Emmanuel's experience on the first train to the rebuilt stations, Metrocard tampering is now considered forgery, information on the CAPPS 2 program designed to identify potential terrorists, banks that require fingerprints as identification, the Facelab system, ineffective methods of achieving security, the upcoming military action against Iraq, a book by Kevin Mitnick is set to be released next week, a parent is concerned over a school's treatment of his son.
  33. Kevin Mitnick will be live in the studio on October 16, the color code for the nation changes back to yellow, the absurdity of the color system, the FCC is set to relax more restrictions for large owners, an update on raisethefist.com, the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA), the case of a mother caught abusing her child on a parking lot video camera, a debate over strict enforcement of speed limits, a parallel between public restrooms and public bandwidth, Voicestream is now T-Mobile, Cable and Wireless is changing to Primus, Verizon announces a strange new billing plan involving wireless phone numbers, mandatory eleven digit dialing is coming to New York City, questions as to why it's necessary to dial a one, criticism of a story that focused on Israel's cutting off of an ISP, defending criticism of Operation TIPS, bathrooms in New York.
  34. The news runs late again, more on Metrocard fraud, a story about the RIAA discovering that music can be played over the radio, questions about BBC World, the Chaos Computer Club puts a graphical display on a building in Paris, Tim from the CCC explains the project, how people can submit artwork, $2600 currently being displayed on the building, the upcoming Chaos Communication Congress, listener feedback on Freedom Downtime, fundraising to begin next week, the threat of building lights turning into advertising, why the display isn't in color, Kevin Mitnick's laptop is on eBay.
  35. The fundraiser is postponed due to the war hearings, Kevin Mitnick will be on next week, more on the upcoming eleven digit dialing plan in New York, some new and stupid features from T-Mobile, why Emmanuel probably won't be with Sprint PCS much longer, the frustration of DSL service going down, some retail stores will soon require fingerprints from their customers, a high price for a $2600-related domain name, a lawyer offers to start a $2600-related cybersquatting lawsuit, a new way record companies are keeping CDs from being copied, extending the period of time works remain copyrighted, an appeal for the full video of the recent space shuttle launch from a camera mounted on it, more on fingerprint identification in stores, clarification on when merchants are responsible for fraudulent transactions, how to get BBC World Service, a caller claims to be ripped off by Verizon, how to use the callback features, a caller has their domain name stolen.
  36. Kevin Mitnick is in the studio on the eve of a book tour, what media training is, the many media outlets Kevin has appeared on recently, the amount of time that has gone by since Kevin has actually been free, Kevin won't be allowed to tell his story for another seven years, Kevin tells why he ran in 1993, why he pleaded guilty, the many different social engineering techniques outlined in Kevin's new book (Art of Deception), how Kevin became a victim of identity theft, the revelation that Kevin has been allowed to use a computer since January, a letter from Bulgaria tells how telemarketers are at work there making calls to the United States, a story of a beeper company secretly moving its operations to Mexico, "quality of life" offenses in New York City are processed in Ghana, perceptions of American culture from overseas, spy planes are deployed in the United States to search for the DC sniper, the potential of life sentences for hackers, Jello Biafra gives a talk in Brooklyn, clarification on rebroadcasting the show, System of a Down apparently supports Kevin Mitnick, more on T-Mobile's apparent lack of support for Caller ID on voice mail, the new AT&T unlimited GSM plan, Emmanuel tries to scan for GSM networks on his phone, Kevin reveals how to use social engineering to beat a traffic ticket, special items offered for this week's fundraiser, how the Kevin Mitnick story has been covered on WBAI since the beginning of Off The Hook, the magic of what Phil Hendrie at KFI in Los Angeles does on the air, Kevin talks about the commercial influence that can affect a station like KFI, Kevin's various auctions on eBay, the specific information that makes Kevin's book stand out, The Personal Computer Show will continue with Kevin later, how the "Free Kevin" movement helped prepare the hacker community for activism, the new issue of $2600 is about to be released with an "Operation TIPS" cover, Kevin reveals what happened inside the prison after the scene from Freedom Downtime was filmed across the street, Alex Kasper talks about what happened on the inside with Miramax during the filming of Takedown in North Carolina, Kevin runs into an actor from Takedown during an episode of Loveline, how an interview with Kevin showed up on the foreign DVD of Takedown without his permission, a new film project Kevin and Alex are involved in, Kevin's appearance on Alias, how Kevin's grandmother is an inspiration, finding a volunteer to put quarters in Emmanuel's parking meter downstairs, new parking meters in Los Angeles can detect when cars drive away so there isn't any leftover change, the amount of $2600 is passed, a message to anyone who didn't get premiums during the last marathon, more comments on the Takedown movie, Jon Littman's connection, the books for the marathon are depleted, Joe King from The Personal Computer Show stops by, the upcoming Kevin Mitnick book signing in New York City, what Kevin isn't allowed to do, how Caller ID can be forged, Kevin's future public appearances, Kevin's amateur radio license is recommended for renewal by the FCC, Kevin talks about the TechTV show he co-hosted with Steve Wozniak, the missing chapter in Kevin's book, uncertainty as to whether the show will be on next week, trying to hit the $5000 mark.  The final hour is actually part of The Personal Computer Show and includes other topics and guests.  Kevin talks about what it will be like to read email again, various spam ploys, and the importance of backing up.  Alex talks about the Telezapper, problems with spam and telemarketers, and the accuracy of John Markoff's articles.  Kevin tells the story of Cyberpunk and how he deliberately blew a film deal, why hacking into NORAD is next to impossible, why Kevin wasn't able to tell his story, why any computer is vulnerable to attack, Kevin will be appearing on Art Bell, Alex gives an example of how to infiltrate a company with a floppy disk, the hassle of fraudulent bids on eBay, three steps to protect computers.  This show is in two parts and includes fundraising.
  37. Another long period of time has passed between shows, introducing people who are at the show, a story of more confusion at WBAI concerning preemptions, Jim gives an update on his case, an appeal for a lawyer, the aftermath of Election Day, the weirdness of having Republicans controlling everything, Emmanuel tells of his experiences at the polls, suspicion that library computers are being bugged by the FBI, Chinese authorities take action to block certain sites, Emmanuel appears in "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," police are looking for a man who has been taking pictures in Massachusetts, an appeal to people who listen on the radio, Kevin Mitnick's book tour is winding down, the missing chapter of The Art of Deception appear on the net, an accusation that www.2600.com uses "secret cookies," discussion of roaming on GSM, a quiz on the GSM country code for the United States, clarification on who uses what network, news on premiums from marathons, over 20,000 Germans are billed for having their phones tapped, listeners write in about the frequent preemptions, why it's important to not abandon WBAI, why an hour a week just isn't enough time for all the issues that need to be covered, Seraf talks about intelligence.gov and their definition of a "threat," a story about Panamanian Internet Service Providers, a call from Zephyr of the Clash days, rumors of new charges from Verizon, an update on the WKCR broadcast situation, a caller's daughter has an announcement.
  38. A malfunctioning button, Jim is missing, Emmanuel ponders the subways, Geoff spends the day battling traffic, the beginning of the Illegal Art Show at CBGB's 313 Gallery, the dwindling number of people who listen to radio in their homes, Emmanuel's problem receiving shortwave in his car, Emmanuel has to give another deposition related to DeCSS, an appeal to save student station WCWP from NPR, the importance of college radio, the Homeland Security Act will make it easier for ISPs to disclose personal information on their customers, Freedom Downtime to air on Free Speech TV, a listener encourages the show to remain on WBAI, $2600 isn't blocked in China, Vietnamese restrictions on the Internet, the GSM country code for the United States, Geoff reports the U.S. Army is recruiting in the subway, a British citizen is accused of hacking into all kinds of U.S. military systems, debate over whether or not someone is "stuffed," a caller reports a strange pulse over the FM signal, Off The Hook people will be at the Illegal Art Show immediately following the broadcast.
  39. Dead air, Emmanuel's CD is held captive by the CD player, Jim spends time in jail, Mike has a new website but won't say what's on it, the strange TIA logo, a list of terrorist suspects winds up in public hands, Emmanuel has another bad experience on a train, a William Safire piece on Total Information Awareness, new potential penalties for hackers, surgically implanted tags in pedophiles, a secretive appeals court makes a ruling, results of a GSM experiment, a case involving the name of Bill Wyman, more methods of "protecting" DVDs, Geoff tells how to get in trouble inside a BlockBuster store.
  40. A track from the Illegal Art Show featuring Dan Rather, some telling words from John Ashcroft, the biggest reshuffling of the federal government in 55 years, $2600's Homeland Security Holiday Specials, the danger of getting used to the way things are, talk of satellite TV and radio, the negative aspects of XM and Sirius, disabling pop-ups, a connection between IAO and a secret group named Golden Dawn, ways terrorists are tracked, a Canadian official calls Bush a moron, a review of a Canadian TV show called "Talking To Americans," another update on the DeCSS case, a new offer from AT&T proves confusing, problems signing up with a new phone company called Z-Tel, how buying music can sometimes cause problems.
  41. How sides are uniting against current trends, a listener writes in with an experience of harassment in Denver while Dick Cheney was in town, a chronology of events, Mike Maginnis tells his story, intimidation tactics, how the story can be verified, a call to publicize the whereabouts of the vice president, the possibility of this being a bias crime, how existing laws make such actions possible, the CIA announces their intention to kill suspected terrorists in foreign countries, a listener's prediction for the future.
  42. Positive and negative feedback to last week's show, the frustration of not having any physical evidence, other similar incidents, how it's extremely easy to cover up the facts when such things occur, why it's important to let people judge the facts for themselves, Mike Maginnis chooses not to pursue the case any further, the responses given by the Denver police department, some corrections to the facts, the lack of substantial statements by people who dismiss the story, Dmitri Sklyarov testifies in a United States court, Mike's website is threatened because of its mirroring of raisethefist.com, a man who made a comment about "burning Bush" is sentenced to a lengthy prison term, speculation on Trent Lott's controversial statement.
  43. Emmanuel tries to reach a mystery guest, victory in the Elcomsoft case, why going to a jury resulted in a positive outcome, the positive and negative implications of the verdict, Jim discovers the origin of the Homeland Security colors, the Chaos Communication Congress is approaching, Geoff makes travel plans with Bernie S., Emmanuel will be away for the next few weeks for the convention and the Kevin Mitnick Freedom Tour, more attempts to find out the location of Vice President Cheney, more questions and debate on the Mike Maginnis story, reports that it's now illegal to take pictures of bridges, other stories of injustices, a call from one of Rebel's friends, why it's difficult to know if your phone is being tapped, getting phone service without giving out a Social Security Number, reports from a transit employee that it may be illegal to take pictures of subway cars, some inside information on the transit system, what would have happened if the recently averted transit strike had occurred.
  44. Confusion reigns for 15 minutes as contact is established with Emmanuel, a musical tribute to Joe Strummer, Emmanuel is in Amsterdam, the Chaos Communication Congress is set to begin in Berlin, the changing technology that allows massive amounts of music to be stored on small devices, Bernie S. is on his way to the airport in a driving snowstorm, the different way Christmas is celebrated in Europe, Jim is missing with the show's theme, Alex talks about Jello Biafra's appearance in Vermont, an appeal to listeners for a cassette copy of the show, Jim tells of his problems getting to the station, a pornographic film is shown in the Senate, a law is overturned forbidding inmates from any kind of Internet contact, how Disney is able to control who becomes a musical star, outbound buses from Manhattan are suspended, the upcoming Kevin Mitnick Freedom Tour, the TIA logo disappears from their website, cameras in Washington DC are designed to keep an eye on protesters, Bernie S. makes it to the airport, how weather is dealt with differently in Europe, how existing technology can be used to achieve a degree of Total Information Awareness, the masquerading law in New York is struck down, Bernie S. is finally reached at the airport, feedback.

Off The Hook - 2003

  1. Emmanuel is on from Amsterdam again, Geoff has been to Germany and back since the last show, how New Year's in Amsterdam is radically different than anything in the States, an overview of the Chaos Communications Congress, how German hackers get things done, cultural differences, the fear factor for Europeans visiting the United States, Kevin Mitnick's upcoming freedom from supervised release, the unique architecture of Berlin, next year's conference will be held in the original "blinking lights" building, tentative dates for this summer's CCC Camp are announced, a unique date in history, Bernie S. calls in from the sky, Bernie S. tells the story of his ill-fated flight which dumped its fuel into the North Sea and made an emergency landing, more analysis of the conference, Bernie S. gives advice on a radio transmitter for Emmanuel's upcoming trip across the country, Bernie S. describes the phone he's using on the airplane, the outrageous cost of this phone call, more impressions of Amsterdam on New Year's Eve, differences in technology, this week's upcoming $2600 meeting.
  2. Emmanuel is in Atlanta in the CNN Mall, update on the Mitnick Liberation Tour, Emmanuel switches from a Sprint phone to a T-Mobile phone due to sound problems, an update on Bernie S.'s KLM adventure, who will pay for last week's phone call, how the media bought into the human cloning story without any evidence, Emmanuel's experience flying home on a propeller plane, the large number of security checkpoints, Bernie S.'s experience transporting tulips, how federal probation laws are changing, Kevin Mitnick's history, a strange experience in a motel room in Virginia, a good outcome in the Jon Johansen case, how the media continues to get the story wrong, the importance of people taking a stand, an update on the DVDCCA lawsuit, legal questions arise on the issue of receiving foreign satellite signals, Stormbringer calls in from federal prison, word of corrupt prison guards.
  3. Emmanuel is in Bisbee, Arizona, how people around the country have become educated to hacker issues, Eldred vs. Ashcroft is decided, how this will affect copyright, a funny quote from Jack Valenti, the prevalence of new American plants in Mexico, what it's like to drive in Monterrey (Mexico), a demonstration of the GPS system in Emmanuel's rental car, theories on how the system actually works, the magic of traveling with an iPod, the large amount of religious broadcasters in the noncommercial part of the FM dial throughout the country, GSM coverage comes to Mexico, a mystery as to how time gets transmitted on a Sprint phone, Bernie S. talks about an intelligent billboard, the GPS system begins speaking Dutch, questions as to why Interstate 19 in Arizona uses the metric system, why the United States continues to resist converting to metric, caller discussion on the metric system.
  4. Some confusion as a connection is established, Emmanuel is in Monterey (California), Kevin Mitnick is finally free of restrictions and can use the Internet, Jon Johansen faces a second trial as an appeal is announced, Kevin Mitnick joins the show from San Francisco, Kevin talks about the different sites he's visited in the past day, Steve Wozniak gets Kevin a present, clarification on what constitutes good and bad hacking, what it was like to live under the supervised release restrictions, questions are raised about overly broad federal sentencing, Kevin's travel plans, bringing Kevin and Bernie S. together for the first time, comparing experiences in the federal system, how Kevin has been unable to attend any of the HOPE conferences, whether California's "three strikes" law could ever apply to Kevin, discussion of the federal sentencing system, the Illegal Art Show will be opening in Chicago, Kevin's prohibition from telling his story for profit, thanks from Kevin for the support over the years.
  5. Emmanuel is on a land line in San Francisco, wondering what technology will be like in ten years, Emmanuel is trying to get back to New York as quickly as possible, the advantages of traveling by road, comments on the State of the Union address, how opposition to the upcoming war is manifesting itself around the country, several hundred thousand people attend rallies across the country, Emmanuel sees an antiwar rally in Las Vegas, additional rallies are set for February 15, how KPFK in Los Angeles has improved, how Pacifica seems to be reaching a large part of California, Emmanuel tells what he found out about the mystery of Interstate 19, why so few Americans seem to know the names of states in Mexico, the scary story of Mexico's Route 2, a denial of service attack against the RIAA, EasyEverything is convicted in England of copyright infringement, a computer begins to overheat at Emmanuel's location, a new worm spreads throughout the Internet using an SQL vulnerability, how certain ATMs can be shut down with a bank card, South Korea's level of connectivity, Jim is forced to plead guilty to a felony, a question as to whether convicted felons can vote in New York, Emmanuel tries to find the answer live on the Internet, a local 911 error costs lives, Emmanuel winds up in San Diego on Super Bowl Sunday, local police try to incite trouble.
  6. The GPS computer goes berserk, Emmanuel is just outside Buffalo, what it was like driving across the northern section of the country in the middle of winter, no show next week, a special fundraiser is scheduled for two weeks from now, suggestions for new 2600-related merchandise solicited, eleven digit dialing comes to New York City, results of various dialing experiments, ways of dealing with number exhaustion, it is now possible to send SMS messages between GSM and CDMA phones, Emmanuel and Mike exchange messages, theories about new encrypted radios used by police, Jim gives an update on his case, questions as to whether Jim is allowed to talk to Bernie S. anymore, the Chicago subway system, an invisibility cloak, Emmanuel appears in the New Yorker, suggestions on where Emmanuel should go in Buffalo, a caller talks about a company named Vonage.
  7. A special two hour fundraiser, the demonstration and the snow cause chaos in the city, people begin to hoard duct tape because of the fight against terrorism, the alert color has changed to orange, a new website called ready.gov makes its debut, an Internet-ready computer is now in the studio, Emmanuel hacks into the system on the air, a message from Tom Ridge on the phone, an excerpt from the website that uncovers a major spelling blunder, some of the problems encountered by demonstrators at the weekend's antiwar rally, Jim takes issue with the demonstrators, how the evidence never seems to be forthcoming from the Bush administration, how WBAI had a real presence at the demonstration, comparing coverage of the snowstorm to coverage of the demonstration in the mass media, a brand new t-shirt is being designed for Off The Hook, more stories from the demonstration, how Citigroup turned into a staging area, $2600 hooded sweatshirts are in the works, plans for expanding telephone number length, Juintz gives an update on the $2600 streaming of the WBAI signal that goes on around the clock, what is needed to keep things going, the importance of local voices on radio, how local radio played a part in Emmanuel's cross country trip, a new radio show called Off The Wall debuts on WUSB and will be heard on Tuesday evenings, Seraf gives details on how a fake story concerning terrorists was circulated, an 11-year-old kid gets arrested for hacking into a computer at his school and changing his grades, Bernie S. appears out of nowhere, the police are seen cutting phone lines at the demonstration, Bernie S. tells how the radio station made a big difference to him while he was in prison, Kevin Mitnick talks about his appearance on CNN earlier in the day, the threat of recurrent billing on credit cards, millions of credit card numbers are compromised, Kevin reveals that Data Processors International is the company affected, Kevin's company is the victim of a denial of service attack, Kevin tries to organize a hacker celebration, Emmanuel and Kevin compare their number of emails, some facts about the Patriot Act and its successor, the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, some of the scarier things we have to look forward to.  This show is in two parts and includes fundraising.
  8. The first show in two weeks, an arrest at a mall involving a peace t-shirt, Emmanuel demonstrates a conference call service that can create feedback, the alert condition returns to yellow, a strange plane appears over the city of Bloomington, Venezuela's clocks run slow because of power problems, Jim arrives late, a mystery involving a videotape from the doomed Columbia space shuttle mission, last week's fundraiser brought in just under $5000, listener comments on the Neverlost system, WBAI introduces a new website, a follow-up on the typo discovered last week at ready.gov, Seraf reports on the CAPPS 2 system, an attempt to ask Delta about their monitoring policy, a call to the TSA, the perils of traveling with large amounts of money, a Scottish student turns in a paper written entirely in "texting" language, a bug in Sendmail is somehow dealt with by the Department of Homeland Security, a call from a SEPTA employee, the potential of other stations simulcasting the show, more information on the peace shirt incident, the question of whether or not a mall should be considered private property, a call to action against Delta, various websites are redirected by the U.S. government, a visit to stolemy.com, more info on Delta, a reminder about $2600 meetings.
  9. Geoff is on from San Diego, Emmanuel calls various AT&T foreign language services, Geoff has an adventure with the TSA while flying, more discussion of the Delta passenger surveillance system, how it's possible to lose large amounts of money to the government even when no crime has been committed, Japanese bank cards are defrauded, the transit rates in New York are substantially hiked as of May, Emmanuel has a theory on what might happen to old Fun Passes when the rates change, a call to the MTA to settle the question, Mike gets an excessive bill for text messages on his Sprint phone, a test of a button on the console to mute output to the phone, callers have more airport stories, a caller who works in airport security shares some facts, a fundraiser is upcoming on next week's Off The Wall.
  10. The final hour of the countdown to war, what the upcoming war will mean to the program and the station, a sense of occupation in New York, an encounter with the military in the subway, Bernie S. observes changes in Philadelphia, the oddness of Bush's ultimatum to Iraq, Emmanuel admits that there was indeed a difference between Bush and Gore, an antiwar march is planned for Saturday in New York, the alert system is now at "Orange Plus," what could happen under a "Red" condition, Operation Atlas is implemented in New York at a cost of $5 million a week, some of the increased security measures now in effect, questions as to what the National Guard can do, the United States is caught spying on various allies, why a quick victory wouldn't solve anything, a key bit of evidence against Iraq is found to be an obvious forgery, some Iraqi citizens in the United States are being detained, a way to receive CBC Newsworld over the net, an airline passenger has a nasty note inserted into his luggage by airport security, an example of the bias of CNN, an update on CAPPS 2, how the concept of cyberterrorism has been exaggerated, Iraq's top level domain, information on where to get shortwave radios, some shortwave radio frequencies, Geoff describes what happened when he tried to take a picture of Bernie S. being searched at an airport, a listener has a story about a mural downtown, a parody of ready.gov.
  11. End theme missing from Free Speech Radio News, a special two hour edition of the show as the war continues, the up close coverage of the mass media, how the war is being treated more like a football game, some of the alternative coverage that's available, trouble reaching Bernie S., the various slogans of the media, how the international feed of CNN is much more intelligent than the domestic one, the call for hackers to join in the war, memories of the spy plane incident in China, bias in the mainstream against Arab reporters, Al Jazeera is taken off the net by unknown parties, how people can see the video that's not being shown in the United States, ways that Al Jazeera can be received, what kind of information can be received on shortwave, CNN is kicked out of Baghdad, a reporter from Free Speech TV is given substantial time on CNN, differences in coverage between BBC and CNN, info on WorldLink TV, how particular news stories are censored, the antiwar stance of the Daily Mirror in London, changes in the domestic scene, the distinction between war and terrorism, a large military presence in the Union Square station in New York, speculation on how many people attended the march on Saturday, Emmanuel's "The War" stickers from 1991, a Free Speech Radio News update, the logo of a military unit is dominant on CNN's screen, rules of war, the issue of denial of service attacks, Mike tells of problems Indymedia is having with massive traffic, differences between the march on Saturday and the demonstration on February 15, how things changed on Saturday after the permit expired, Mike talks about attacks on members of the crowd by police, an example of dialogue between police and demonstrators, MTV refuses to air any antiwar spots, how mainstream views aren't subjected to the same scrutiny, comments on Michael Moore's statement during the Academy Awards, a full reading of his words, pro-war demonstrations being organized by ClearChannel, Emmanuel gets an ACLU card, how BBC America is being destroyed by the Discovery networks, the importance of getting alternative news to the American populace, how to stream Al Jazeera.  This show is in two parts.
  12. Bernie S. tries to track down a representative of Al Jazeera, what people at that network are enduring, trying to connect to the Al Jazeera website, how the Al Jazeera website was redirected, a fairly accurate piece on the subject appears in Wired, how not showing the video of dead soldiers could desensitize Americans to the horrors of war, a move to force CDMA instead of GSM technology on Iraq after the war, Peter Arnett criticizes the war effort and is fired by NBC, how pro-war advocates tear down antiwar stickers, an offensive banner appears at a San Francisco antiwar march, how such slogans are bad for the entire movement, the pro-war attitude that often exists among antiwar activists, Bernie S. reports on a battle between the city and federal authorities in Philadelphia, the police state that now exists on Wall Street, updates on National Guard troops in the subways, teachers are disciplined for not taking war-related student posters down from their classroom walls, an update on a Newsday reporter missing in Iraq who reported on $2600 in the past, Mike reports on a "die-in" in midtown Manhattan, clarification on yesterday's web page "hack" of $2600 as well as Tuesday's edition of Off The Wall, Seraf spots an NYPD cruiser with federal plates.
  13. A special announcement from the peace movement, contacting Bernie S. in Philadelphia, missing people in the studio, how people are reacting to the sights of the Iraqi public welcoming U.S. troops, Emmanuel and Jim debate the distinction of war and invasion, speculation on what will happen in a few years, another false alarm for the detection of chemical weapons, the English Al Jazeera site is now online, an Al Jazeera reporter is killed in an American attack, the challenge ahead of keeping the Iraqi infrastructure stable, more calls to shut down Al Jazeera, what's happening in Afghanistan, callers comment on the dramatic news of the day, comparisons to the uprising in Romania, a caller points out the number of customer support centers that are actually in foreign countries, calling American Express to find out where their representative is located, Geoff notices the constant replays of the Saddam Hussein statue toppling on CNN, how the same names seem to be involved in what's going on in the world, Jim clarifies his position as devil's advocate.
  14. The national alert level goes back down to yellow, Mike and Seraf are off doing "religious things," a "B" team is in place, Redhackt describes his run-in with a computer after turning 18, trouble on Bernie S.'s phone line, how the alcohol buying system is used to invade privacy in Pennsylvania, the poor quality of New Jersey licenses, Singapore installs cameras in the homes of people with SARS, a big coincidence and new questions surround the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue, looting and pillaging destroy priceless artifacts, authors of an article on a system called CampusWide are prevented from talking about it at the Interz0ne conference, a move to make permanent the extended government powers granted after September 11, Steven McGeady talks about the Mike Hawash case, details on his arrest, the conditions of Hawash's captivity, decent turnout at a "Free Mike Hawash" demonstration, tracking down static on the phone line, a caller points to a Zionist conspiracy.
  15. Board confusion, Bernie S. goes to the Homeland Security Solutions Conference and Exhibition, some observations from inside, Bernie S. is forbidden by law from possessing body armor, info on how to attend the conference, Bernie S. talks about some of the conversations he overheard, what we can look forward to in the world of homeland security, Seraf reports on border patrol technology at the Canadian border, the latest Hollywood action to thwart piracy has people walking through theaters with night vision goggles looking for video cameras, Emmanuel comes up with a suggestion for an industry obsessed with preventing digital copying, Mike talks about the "privacy czar's" connection with Doubleclick, the government wants to expand DNA profiles to include juveniles, a proposed law in Pennsylvania would make it illegal for kids to gather publicly, the BBC Monitoring Service finds a recording distributed by the CIA that uses rap to put down Saddam Hussein, airing the song, questions as to whether the song constitutes a copyright violation, CNN accidentally releases fake obituaries for people who are still alive, responding to listener mail, criticism of all the war talk, the bigger picture, Bernie S. gives info on how to subscribe to a Homeland Security magazine, a listener gets it right.
  16. Seraf talks about how the DMCA is about to get worse, what "super DMCA" is, potential restrictions that could be faced by everyone, Verizon is told by a federal court that it must release the name of a subscriber being investigated by the RIAA, the massive amount of warnings sent out, how peer-to-peer software is used for non-piracy, states that are in danger from the new DMCA laws, how Madonna has gotten involved in the peer-to-peer software controversy, Mike Hawash is indicted, an analysis of some of the charges against him, the New York City transit fare hike is set to go into effect next weekend, what will happen to old Fun Passes after the increase, the show won't be on in two weeks, Jim talks about how the MTA was cooking the books, new MTA projects, Seraf reads a really weird Donald Rumsfeld quote, an update on the CIA radio station beaming into Iraq, a problem with a checkout machine, the annoyance of supermarket clubs, an idea on how to subvert the system, review of a PBS special, Emmanuel reveals an annoying trait on his Sprint phone, Off The Hook t-shirts are arriving and the $2600 sweatshirts are in production, a report on Nextel's coast to coast feature, questions on how easy it is to listen in on a Nextel phone, a caller from Belgium talks about a new identity card, a preview of the CCC Camp this summer.
  17. Problems with a Randy Newman ID, all kinds of technical problems, Bernie S. describes a new charge appearing on Sprint PCS bills, Emmanuel calls American Express to find out where the representatives are, finding out where in India representatives can be found, Emmanuel has had a real saga with American Express, Emmanuel tries to use an old Fun Pass after the subway rate increase, a report on the new iTunes pay service, how people have always traded music, steps the RIAA is taking against individuals, a question about the themes, more on supermarket discount clubs, questions on whether the authorities monitor what people are buying, a school board president blames hackers for a controversy, the difference between downloading music and real theft, the blindness of people who insist on punishment for any transgression, a caller wonders how trojans got onto her computer, a two hour special is scheduled in two weeks.
  18. A three hour show tonight, a rare Roger Waters piece from a film called When The Wind Blows, a large number of people are missing tonight, Bernie S. and Geoff return from the Dayton Hamvention, Dan Morgan will be on the show later, Bernie S. uses the refunded ticket from last year's Dayton showing of Attack of the Clones for The Matrix Reloaded, Lin stops by to talk about the Atlanta Freenet project, VCDs are being made of H2K2 panels, an excerpt from the 802.11 panel at H2K2, lots of support from Iowa, the threat level is now orange, Juintz explains how the whole streaming process works, how the radio station streaming is in danger because of a new policy at Live365, presents for Emmanuel from Dayton, the sound of a CD in pause, an excerpt from the social engineering panel at H2K2, trying to reach AT&T, stories from Alex and Cheshire, Emmanuel social engineers Starbucks, Alex talks about playing with Encore operators, a partial list of some of the videos that will be available, why supporting the station is important and what happened a couple of years ago, how people can help with the streaming, getting onto PA systems in retail outlets, an appeal to people in Dayton, Bernie S. talks about a new piece of technology that can monitor people's driving habits, Dan Morgan talks about the shape of the world and his personal battle with DirecTV, how print media is in danger, what hackers do, an excerpt from the "Abuse of Authority" panel at H2K2, how the Dixie Chicks have been blacklisted for speaking their minds, how the ShapeShifter case turned out, Lin gives more information on the Atlanta Freenet project.  This show is in three parts and includes fundraising.
  19. The WBAI phone system suffers an outage in the middle of last week's fundraising drive, Mike graduates from Columbia, the show brought in nearly five thousand dollars during the fundraiser, some details on the phone outage, Lazlow talks about the newest FCC decision that takes away almost all restrictions on broadcasting ownership, the extent of ClearChannel's power, some classic quotes, what the new rules actually mean, the media situation in Italy, how Lazlow gets his perspective across on XM, how people can make a difference, giving radio stations back to the community, Emmanuel misses a color change as the country goes back down to yellow, calling the White House to verify the color, proving that New York City is actually at orange, Arizona considers not following future color changes, questions about local decisions, the presence of troops in Manhattan, the possibility of metal detectors on the Staten Island ferry, a listener has old videotapes to give away, Emmanuel is recruited by the Army Reserves thanks to Rebel, Emmanuel's problems with XM, the possibility of carrying Pacifica over the XM or Sirius satellite services, the need for controversy over the radio, how the government process in the United States doesn't seem as exciting as those of other countries, the simulcast of Off The Hook on shortwave, a Google cookie that lasts until 2038, the advantages of Mozilla, a website with a listing of codes to enable region free features on DVD players, how the radio business sets itself up to stagnate, media ownership in Venezuela.
  20. Dialing Bernie S. on the air, reports on new levels of paranoia in Philadelphia and New York, the various types of soldiers now on Wall Street, Bernie S. discovers a hidden MCI facility that's afraid of terrorism, how BillSF managed to inadvertently infiltrate an MCI building in New York years ago, a New York City website that reveals the terror alert status color, the status in Hawaii, more information on foreign call centers, trying to find out the location of a Verizon call center, how the Freedom Downtime DVD will be encoded, the $2600 IRC network returns, how car dealerships now check FBI databases for "terrorism flags," buying a car without a license, a theory on why the WBAI phone system went down during the pledge drive, why some people who pledged during the February drive may not have gotten their $2600 sweatshirts, a listener reports that mtv.com is banning any mention of $2600, Emmanuel gets a weird message from the past on his Sprint PCS phone, Bernie S. has a similar experience with multiple messages, what a Sprint "pocket call" is, what really happens during blank voice mail messages, new info on cellular portability, Verizon loses its appeal in the case of customer names sought by the RIAA, a student is targeted and forced to pay a huge sum to the RIAA, a story concerning the acquisition of the FCC by ClearChannel, a letter from Stormbringer in prison on the Nextel system, Bernie S. startles a DEA employee, previewing the Republican National Convention scheduled for September 2004 in New York, some appeals for help from the New York Indymedia Center, assorted transit news, how the Citigroup Center subway station is one of the very few that offers free transfers for Metrocards used within two hours, an anonymous person talks about how to hack messages on road signs, how an ill-advised "terror alert" traffic blockage in Brooklyn was defeated by certain individuals, a call from China, a question on GSM technology.
  21. An apology for a Spike Lee message starting late, a skeleton staff tonight, the show won't be on next week because of an emergency fundraiser, a Spike Lee controversy involving a television network, other examples of name controversies, Emmanuel demonstrates a new feature with Sprint PCS that cuts out another annoying feature, T-Mobile phones are reported to be able to use the AT&T GSM network under certain circumstances, "intelligent seats" on airplanes are being developed to help find potential terrorists, consumers receive a small settlement from a lawsuit against the recording industry, the "David Nelson" airline story, help from a Verizon information operator, the advantages of talking to a human over a machine, more on the mtv.com situation involving users with $2600 in their profiles, why MTV's position makes no sense, new DMCA-like legislation comes to Europe, Mike appears in a USA Today article about texting, how the text message system worked at the New York IMC during a demonstration on March 22nd, the possibility of Cingular developing its own service in the New York area, the advantages of GSM, a caller with the name of Jehad encounters difficulties, riots in Benton Harbor, more on "Super DMCA."
  22. Last week was George Orwell's 100th birthday, Bernie S. has a misadventure with Lazlow at a Dead show, a number of people are planning on going to the Chaos Camp in Germany this August, Emmanuel's travel plans for the summer, some geographical issues in Eastern Europe, Jim's eligibility for being on "Jeopardy" again in the future, questions on how to get into Russia and Belarus, Emmanuel has issues with the newly announced Do Not Call Registry, attempting to call the registry, the lack of any real security in the system, some of the abuses that are possible, Emmanuel attempts to deregister Geoff from the system, methods are suggested to get around the MTV ban on $2600, an intellectual property issue in Japan centers on telephones that can take pictures of magazines, libraries are now required to install filtering software in order to get federal funds, the ineffectiveness of filtering software, how to unlock a SIM on T-Mobile, AT& drops its opposition to number portability, an advantage in the Virgin Mobile system, a New York anti-spam registry, a listener reports on how Sega was affected adversely by piracy, a battle against Wal-Mart in a local community, a warning about a hacker contest this Sunday that will target web pages, more complaints about number portability charges, some $2600 meetings are postponed for a week due to the Independence Day holiday on Friday.
  23. An extra minute because of yet another preemption next week, the frustration of frequently not being on the air, Bernie S. has an update on Sprint PCS, the sheer amount of money being scammed, Verizon is the nation's number one phone company, Geoff is attending a conference in New York, an update on the Do Not Call registry, changes that were made to the system since last week's show, the risks still inherent in the system, how Google can draw a map to your house, a live attempt to register the New York Times for the Do Not Call registry, how Parliament is going after Tony Blair, another Reagan deathwatch day passes, still more on the MTV blocking of $2600, a shopper in France names his own price at a store, attempting to make a phone call to Germany to speak with Andy, Tim, and Frank from the Chaos Computer Club, trying to resolve echo problems, some info on the CCC Camp, attempting to make a new connection, information on conference registration, highlights of the last camp, German attitudes towards Americans, Emmanuel will be in Europe for over a month, participation from Eastern Europe.
  24. The show isn't preempted after all, various travel plans, Emmanuel's attempts to get a visa from Russia and Belarus, an appeal to listeners from various countries that Emmanuel will be visiting, Emmanuel will be at the Paris meeting in August and the Prague meeting in September, a strange situation in Kaliningrad once Lithuania joins the European Union, an update on the attempt to register the New York Times for the Do Not Call registry, an article from The Wall Street Journal details how hard it is to get a live operator at various companies, a live demonstration, a theory on T-Mobile rings, an interesting method of making cheap phone calls overseas, a question about mysterious vehicles, a Department of Homeland Security surveillance van is spotted in Philadelphia, a website that posts personal information about police officers, a debate on the merits of this, a funny result from a Google search involving weapons of mass destruction, the recent scandal involving the New York Times, a similar scandal involving The New Republic back in 1998, a conspiracy theory involving the phrase "off the hook" and MTV, a $2600 shirt is spotted on a TV show called Everwood, how to receive Canadian television in Kansas, Bernie S. has an update on low power FM and an FCC cover-up, what this could mean to low power FM, how more frequencies can be made available, stories of crosstalk on Sprint PCS and T-Mobile, France comes up with a new name for email, the existence of duct systems for transporting messages, Geoff has a brand new deck of "Iraqi hero" cards, Emmanuel tries to give Noam Chomsky the original Iraqi war deck of cards, more talk on how MTV influences the culture.
  25. A very hectic day in New York City as a shooting takes place inside City Hall, why the increased security presence on Wall Street makes no sense, the danger of exempting certain people from security, how the media helped started a panic in the city, the insensitivity shown to the victim's brother, this is the last show before Emmanuel leaves for Europe, Geoff will be driving a truck across country next week, Emmanuel suspects his visa to Belarus has come through, details on the CCC Camp, Mish reports on a bill before Congress that would bring the FCC ownership limits back to 35 percent from 45 percent, the power of speaking out, Mike reports on an incident involving EFF cofounder John Gilmore who wore a "Suspected Terrorist" button on a plane and wound up getting kicked off the flight, the meaning behind the button, Emmanuel takes exception to the motives behind this action, possible better examples of free speech denial, how a passenger was harassed because of a $2600 article they were reading on a plane, airline requirements that force people to identify themselves, whether this should be a government policy or airline policy, Emmanuel argues for the need for common courtesy between passengers, comparing a person's skin color to wearing a button, where the line is drawn, why people shouldn't be surprised when they get a reaction in certain situations, Emmanuel tells of an experience involving a radio and a flight attendant, encouraging people to wear the button if they believe this is an important story, Emmanuel tells the story of a bookstore employee who was questioned by the FBI for reading an antiwar publication, Geoff refuses to believe the story has any truth to it, theories on why Amtrak asks for passenger names, callers weigh in on the button issue and the importance of the FBI story, an appeal to verify the authenticity of the FBI story, reports of a suspicious books list run by the government, the importance of librarians, the FBI article appears on another site with a picture, a radio station that carries Pacifica programs in Costa Rica is taken over by hostile forces, a caller talks about abuse of the child welfare system, the ineffectiveness of the FBI, a tally of listener opinions on the button issue, what will be happening on the show over the next few weeks.
  26. Attempting to reach Emmanuel in France via a toll-free number, the time difference catches Emmanuel by surprise, Geoff is traveling cross country in a truck, next week's show will have multiple people overseas, Emmanuel's impressions of Paris, tourism by Americans is down by up to 80 percent, no shootings at City Hall this week, a bizarre story of a proposed Pentagon online futures market that would speculate on acts of terrorism and assassination, Jim explains how such a system could be useful, a Bahraini telephone company is ordered to cut off service to Iraq by the United States, the possibility of GSM not even being allowed into Iraq, Mike comments on an editorial by FCC commissioner Michael Powell, some listener feedback to the controversy of last week's show, how Emmanuel was treated after disagreeing with people around him, a clarification of Emmanuel's position and how he got there, how the incident caused a major security hole, Emmanuel gets disconnected, a listing of government 800 numbers to report suspicious people is in the current edition of Playboy, reconnecting to Emmanuel, the importance of sticking to the issues in an argument and not trying to define people, some more information on the case in Atlanta involving the FBI, GSM interference, listener feedback on the terrorism futures market, some theoretical scenarios, a funny story involving the Department of Homeland Security's level of preparedness, suspicious airline stock sales prior to September 11, some more cultural differences between the United States and Europe.
  27. Emmanuel is reached at the camp field near Berlin where the Chaos Communication Camp is about to begin, the chaotic hour that lies ahead, a new way of reaching people overseas at low rates through call forwarding, attempting to three-way to another phone at the camp located in the Cypherpunk tent, interesting hold music, Bernie S. reports on a shooting star that appeared over the camp, how Bernie S. used celestial navigation to find the camp, reports on how the camp is wired, Geoff and Mike give their impressions of the site, Geoff rides on the Autobahn for the first time, the connection is lost, Jim gives an update on how to report fellow citizens to the authorities for free, Emmanuel is apparently unaware that he's been cut off as the phone line remains busy, theorizing on how the camp is being wired, Ken leaves a voice mail message for Emmanuel and appeals to anyone at the camp listening to the show to let him know the connection is lost, Redhackt reports on his unsuccessful attempt to hear the show via shortwave last week, the connection is reestablished, Emmanuel theorizes on how the phone system may have failed, how everyone in the tent gave an interview that wasn't heard, Barry talks about the Lockpick Village at the camp, BillSF talks about whether it's still possible to blue box, a listener from Holland tells how he was convinced to go to the camp through Off The Hook, Thijs talks about driving with Geoff on the Autobahn, Hanneke encourages Europeans to come to the camp, Tim admits he's not a listener and talks about what he did at HAL, Rop addresses the technical specifications of what's set up at the camp, there is a Thai restaurant on the premises, a spinning device is in place, some details on the workings of the camp phone system and how easily features were set up for attendees, what DECT phones are and how they work, a description of the main tent, Bernie S. reports on the panel discussions set for the conference, details on the camp radio station, details on the IP range, Emmanuel encourages everyone to look at Mars tonight, a caller reveals how much electricity is wasted by coffee pots, where Emmanuel will be next week.
  28. Emmanuel is in Warsaw, the show is preempted next week, how the time zones will be changing for Emmanuel in the next few weeks, Geoff's bags are missing after his return to the United States, how Geoff and Bernie S. got trapped in the lobby of an apartment building in Amsterdam on their way to the airport, some of the attempted solutions to the problem, a report on the Chaos Camp, the interesting people it's possible to meet at these gatherings, the possibility of future conferences, Europe is in the middle of one of the worst heat waves ever, what it was like on the campground, the various insects at the camp, Bernie S. talks of bees and wasps, the lack of ego in the German hacker world, why such a project would have difficulty in the States, the American obsession with rules and regulations, Geoff talks about the "Heart of Gold," the element of trust throughout the camp, a card system for buying alcohol in Europe, the radio station at the camp, the references to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Geoff describes the 3D printer that was working throughout the weekend, the "art waterfall," how Mars added to the event, a particularly spectacular look at Mars and the moon tonight, Emmanuel asks people to guess what he saw for the first time in Paris, Jim sees the same thing in the subway, emergency numbers in other countries, some strange phone numbers in Poland, the different numbering schemes that exist, the phone call isn't disconnected this week, the various GSM providers in Poland, Emmanuel's next stop is Kaliningrad, the decimation of the Jewish community in Warsaw, how the city was destroyed during World War Two, Mike is on a train to Amsterdam from Prague, critique and explanation of the Segway, the artificial collect call market, the prevalence of bicycles in Europe, Mike Hawash agrees to plead guilty to reduced charges of providing services to the Taliban.
  29. It's three in the morning where Emmanuel is in Russia, a disclaimer from Emmanuel concerning any potential rumor that he is waging war against the United States from abroad, a massive blackout hit the Northeast two weeks ago, how it was almost impossible to reach anyone in the States from overseas, where people were when the lights went out, some of the technical issues that developed as a result of the power outage, Mike's experience flying back into the area during the blackout, how New Yorkers handled themselves, Emmanuel issues a challenge to guess what the old piece of technology in his hotel in St. Petersburg is, how it's very easy to find blueprints for major structures, more power outage tales, a blackout in Helsinki at the Leningrad Cowboys concert, the ease of communication using a GSM phone while traveling, the use of SMS for all kinds of things, flash mobs and smart mobs, the many news reports about various email viruses and worms, how the CSX rail system was affected, the need for isolated systems that won't be affected by events on the Internet, the New York Times is also affected by viruses, some oddness and overly dramatic ingredients in the reporting of the story, Tampa scraps their controversial face recognition camera system, FCC Chairman Michael Powell reacts to the public outcry against the recent FCC ruling on media consolidation, restriction of junk faxes is postponed to 2005, Spike TV goes on the air at last, mapping cellular prefixes to carriers, strange phone numbers on some incoming cellular calls, Mike has another bad Sprint PCS experience, Geoff has an interesting experience on a domestic flight involving a cat, some reminders from Ken, a tribute to Wesley Willis.
  30. Emmanuel is in Krakow, the intro isn't being transmitted to Poland, how cheap it can be to travel around Eastern Europe, the satellite delay, the system being used to make the overseas phone calls for the radio show is given high marks and will be revealed next week, the incredible cheapness of some overseas calls, the phone system in Belarus, more on the advantages of having a GSM phone, demonstrating an error message on the system used to make overseas calls, new rules for Canadian passport photos, face recognition scanners are in the future for airports, Bernie S. discovers that his local meeting for Patriot Act support is taking place this evening in Pennsylvania, Bernie S. is at the meeting, Mike talks about the "Ashcroft Tour" and the attempts to find out about a New York "town hall" meeting, the Department of Homeland Security is urged not to use Microsoft software by an advisory agency, the Blaster worm may have had an affect on the blackout after all, Ken's upcoming program on the cause of the blackout, a suspect is named in the writing and distribution of the blaster.b worm, Emmanuel's experience crossing borders, the excessive amount of times passports are asked for in Russia, Mike and Geoff both have their passports stamped upon reentry to the United States, where to put the blame for things like Blaster, facts about the Freedom Downtime DVD, SBC warns employees of a scam involving the Do Not Call registry, Redhackt tells how easy it was to catch the blaster.b suspect, the donotcall.org site is reported to be charging money to add names to a Do Not Call registry, a call from a 91-year-old listener, a live report from Bernie S. at the Patriot Act meeting, no input from the public was allowed.
  31. Emmanuel returns from overseas, the latest on John Ashcroft and a demonstration against his policies in New York, a large police presence in Krakow, the overt slant of the Department of Justice website, the "tinyurl" service, a flashmob gathering is set for later in the show, questions about how such mobs work, a 12-year-old girl is sued by the RIAA, how people in Eastern Europe don't seem to have commercial CDs, Emmanuel wonders if he can download music that he already owns on vinyl, calling the RIAA to ask, Jim identifies the 12-year-old, a man is accused of luring minors to sex sites by registering misspelled domain names, a new law (the Truth in Domain Names Law) forbids forwarding to a porn site on a misspelled domain, Al Jazeera starts another English language website, an update on the blaster.b worm and a letter from someone who knows the suspect, an arrest warrant is issued for Adrian Lamo for hacking the New York Times, questions as to what was actually done, Kevin Mitnick calls in, a report from Leo on the flashmob event, a piece from a popular Russian band.
  32. The news runs late, a change in the way the color-coded terror alert system works, more on what John Ashcroft has been saying on his tour, the threat of proximity technology, the Patriot Act is revealed to have been used more against common criminals than terrorists, the RIAA fails to respond to last week's question, Verisign begins a controversial policy that affects the resolution of nonexistent domains, an ad from Computer Associates targets hackers, AOL Time Warner is reported to be dropping AOL from their name, the Senate votes to overturn the new media rules set by the FCC, comments on the Swedish election, Emmanuel's problems with his GSM phone since the carrier name change, more on the Adrian Lamo case, Adrian Lamo describes what has happened to him so far, a real world hacking story, what the response has been like so far, more on Lexis/Nexis pricing, discussion on whether appearing on the radio is good for Lamo's case, response to criticism.
  33. The Do Not Call list is ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, the author of the Melissa virus is reported to be helping federal authorities track down other virus writers, a contrast in sentencing between the United States and other countries, the CNN website still lists itself as part of AOL, a hotel is sued for using the Dewey Decimal System, some words on MP3s from the RIAA, more commentary on the Adrian Lamo interview, more info and advice on GSM, how Emmanuel's Sprint phone managed to charge him while he was away, info on the phone service that allows calls to be forwarded overseas, ways of tracking people down, more on the coming portability for cell phone numbers, AOL shuts down their free chat rooms, bank tricks, debate on the effects of Internet music sharing on artists, a call from Pieman, Emmanuel's experience with copyrighted music at a wedding.
  34. The show is four minutes late, the on-air computer is missing, a computer smashing contest in the Ukraine, Emmanuel debates Macintoshes with Geoff, an update on the Do Not Call registry, how easy it is to get numbers of people on the list, Verizon bills change their design, CNA service is now offered by Verizon, memories of old CNA numbers and Coles directories, pictures of the Homeland Security truck, questions and facts about the truck, questions about a contest that uses GPS in a Coke can, a complaint about a previous fundraiser, facts about RFID chips, some of the potential risks, Geoff tries to pick good phone calls.
  35. The Merriam-Webster word of the day for October 4 was "phreaker," more on the Coke contest that's using GPS, a new student tracking system begins operating in Japan, RFID controversy in libraries, a problem with a microphone, a warning about exploding cell phones, Iraq chooses GSM technology for its wireless network, new $20 bills are scheduled to be rolled out, a surprising FCC comment on using indecent language, the telemarketing response to the Do Not Call list, how easy it is to listen in on phone calls, concern over radiation and cell phones, the Verizon three-way rip-off, a call for pictures from bridges where photos are now forbidden, some simple questions from a listener, questions about the quality of Vonage.
  36. A two hour fundraising show.  A strange recording, Emmanuel's hassle with his phone company, Emmanuel is able to download more than 145,000 numbers from the Do Not Call registry with no verification, how people can do this for themselves, the H2K2 VCD project comes to an end, an excerpt from the Mark Hosler of Negativland talk at H2K2, how the media was hacked, the Illegal Art Show is taking place in Philadelphia, there's no way of knowing how many phone calls are coming in, words from a listener who's come in for the fundraiser, looking forward to cellular portability, how Off The Hook has remained relevant over the years, Bernie S. describes his participation in a panel on abuse of authority at H2K2, an excerpt from the Aaron McGruder talk at H2K2, why McGruder's talk was so relevant to the world of hackers, Mike reports on a list of foreign terrorist organizations that includes websites, an excerpt from the Jello Biafra talk at H2K2, the prospects of another conference next year, the way record companies rip off artists, the high price of CDs, an update on the latest method of bypassing CD copy protection software, an accused hacker claims his computer was hijacked, a problem with the calculator that exhibits the total amount pledged, a call from Cheshire Catalyst, info on a phone rate increase plan in Florida.  This show is in two parts and includes fundraising.
  37. The bridges of New York are lit in honor of Off The Hook's return, the show is preempted for yet another fundraiser in two weeks, a theory on why the Empire State Building has been lit all night lately, legislation is approved that will allow digital television to be copy protected, some of the implications, analysis of the Diebold election software that's causing controversy all over the world, the possibility of back doors and security hazards, a weird story involving E-Z Pass, listener input on RFID, the concept of "dusting the homeland," Wal-Mart schedules a meeting to decide on the future of RFID, more details on the method of bypassing CD copy protection using the shift key, a method of hacking Sprint PCS.
  38. The show won't be on next week, live radio coverage of the recent eclipse doesn't take place, some more observations on the Empire State Building light changes, Bernie S. is in a cab in Philadelphia, Mike reports on an oddity in electronic voting in the recent election, questions about the whole election process, plans for ID cards in England, risks involved in mandatory ID cards, fighting "cyberterrorism" in Singapore, how defacing a website is being equated with terrorism, pictures of the Homeland Security truck mentioned several weeks ago are now online, microchips are inserted into fish to track poachers, AT&T is fined for abuse of telemarketing rules, how to download a list of telephone numbers of people who don't want to receive telemarketing calls, hacker movies, a wearable phone that uses fingers, cellular portability will be in place before the next show, the large amount of people throwing phones into landfills, using cellular phones on subways, broadcasting signals inside tunnels, another potential threat to the music industry.
  39. A special emergency fundraising show as the station is in the midst of a financial crisis, problems reaching Bernie S., a special announcement from program director Bernard White, problems are already being reported with cellular portability, Bernie S. talks about how Sprint PCS has ripped off its customers on the portability issue, an extremely complicated flowchart documents how portability works, theories on how to actually go about changing your phone company, the reliability of wired service versus wireless, sentencing in relation to the hacking of the Al Jazeera website, how the sentencing was fair but for the wrong reasons, a huge URL, the word "hacker" makes the New York Times crossword puzzle, Emmanuel and Mike conduct an experiment with E-Z Pass, a DVD of all editions of Off The Hook will soon be available, an excerpt of The Best of WBAI, an excerpt from the Say It Loud: New Songs For Peace CD, Congress passes a useless anti-spam bill, the dangers this could pose, Geoff tries to pick a call, a caller explains why he won't pledge to the station.
  40. The news runs late again, Dell cancels their Indian tech support, Bernie S. describes how Wackenhut security guards are now in front of Independence Hall, more problems reported with cellular portability, the possibility of getting telemarketing calls and spam on cellular phones, how prepaid accounts are affected by portability, a new Vodafone service in Australia claims to be able to answer any question, a listener complaint about a new CD, trying to make an overseas call to tonight's guest, Frank from the Chaos Computer Club discusses the newly released cryptophone, the vulnerability of current day GSM phones, Bernie S. describes the GSM monitoring device he saw at a hamfest, how law enforcement intercepts calls, the free cryptophone software and source code for Windows is due to be released later in the evening, the kinds of people who order cryptophones, how standard phones may be able to be used for secure calls, the potential for use by terrorists, government reaction, the likelihood of organizations like the NSA being able to crack the encryption scheme, encouraging customers to find security flaws.
  41. Emmanuel finds an incredibly annoying ring on his phone, a challenge to turn Emmanuel's ringer off, a thank you card from Sprint PCS, another card from DirecTV and the Hallmark Channel, Kevin Mitnick explains his former nickname, good hacker films, Kevin describes his new Nokia phone, Emmanuel's plans to get a new phone, Kevin's plans for a new book, a call for stories from hackers, what cybercrime.gov does, Bernie S. and Kevin converse legally, how Kevin unknowingly met up with Phiber Optik while on supervised release, Kevin will be giving one of the keynote addresses at the upcoming HOPE conference in July, why Kevin can't tell his own story for a few more years, what Kevin Poulsen had to go through, the effectiveness of social engineering, how the military protects itself, where Kevin has traveled to since his release, fear of flying, defining terms, how technical the show should be, Bernie S. talks about a new film that focuses on a reporter who lied about hackers, the threat of computerized voting, problems with the left, voting schemes.
  42. Some interesting phone recordings from Sprint PCS, Emmanuel learns when his date of liberation from Sprint PCS is, a misadventure on a bus is caused by the way the Metrocard system works, Jim talks of the intricacies of the MTA, ideas for new Metrocard systems, the Airtrain to JFK Airport begins operations, how the new system is a rip-off, comparisons to systems in Europe, Bernie S. talks about an expanded NCIC database at the behest of Homeland Security, risks to foreign students, an update on the cryptophone, Emmanuel and Redhackt will be attending the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin later in the month, the president of Pakistan is saved by a radio jamming device, remembering the cell phone jammer at H2K2, how such a device could be used, the issue of phones in theaters, the difference in volume between cell phone users in the United States and Europe, the intelligence difference between domestic CNN and CNN International, discussion on how much punishment for defacing a website is appropriate, Mike talks about last week's World Summit on the Information Society conference and the problems it posed to various reporters, the prospect of the United Nations taking control of the Internet, a caller has difficulty obtaining a money order without showing identification, Emmanuel's experience with an 18 wheel truck on the Northern State Parkway, communications breakdowns involved with the resulting accident, a prepaid call from Stormbringer in prison, some particulars of the case and what listeners can do.
  43. Emmanuel is on from Amsterdam, a preview of this year's Chaos Communication Congress, the nation moves to orange alert, some Air France flights to the United States are canceled without obvious reasons, how people seem to be taking the color coding system more seriously, the adventure after last week's show involving the Airtrain, the system malfunctions on the first day, trying to figure out why the theme didn't make it out over the phone lines, Rop from Amsterdam is conferenced in, an update on the cryptophone project, what Christmas is like at Rop's house, Emmanuel won't be at a $2600 meeting in January, a demonstration of the sound of GSM, Jon Johansen wins his case for DeCSS in an appeals court, the differences between the cases in Norway and the United States, the differences in media coverage, Jim reports on a new product called MoveMask, more analysis of the DeCSS case, the amount of programs released on DVD in Europe that aren't available in the United States and can't be played because of region code differences, how Family Guy may have been saved due to DVD sales, Verizon wins an appeal in its battle with the RIAA, the RIAA reaction, the record labels are victorious in a case brought against them, questions on the control Hollywood has over the content of movies, the need for more choices, Emmanuel describes the major differences in movie selection on Virgin Atlantic, another call from Stormbringer in prison, the need to stay sane in times of stress, how boycotts can backfire, some confusion on the whereabouts of the next show, a new Windows XP security alert, what next week's show will be like.
  44. Sounds of mayhem in the streets of Amsterdam right after the New Year's celebrations, how things have changed in the United States in recent days and years, the unprecedented security in Times Square this year, a review of the Chaos Communication Congress, a story of heightened security in the airport on the way to Europe, authorities keep an eye on people who carry almanacs, the subway token in New York City officially comes to an end, how mass transit in Amsterdam was shut down on New Year's Eve, Emmanuel's views of 2004 so far, $2600 meetings this Friday, a call for electronics recycling this weekend, BellSouth gets into the business of selling old payphones, conditions on the balcony in Amsterdam, the air marshal controversy, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone reach an agreement on sending text messages overseas, the head of Blockbuster Video calls for an end to DVD region codes, a story of "cyber ransom," Redhackt and Mish give their impressions of New Year's in Amsterdam, low audio from the radio station, a close call with a bottle rocket, what the Blinking Lights building in Berlin was like this year, some words of optimism for the future.

Off The Hook - 2004

  1. Emmanuel, Redhackt, and Mish return from Europe, Bernie S. is lost on the phone, a new fingerprinting system is in place for foreigners entering the United States, the U.S. VISIT program, exemptions to the program, the backlash against U.S. citizens that will ensue, the U.S. government reaction to a similar program in Brazil, the poor security at Heathrow, how motorcycle jackets can trigger security alerts in airports, Emmanuel loses his GSM phone in Amsterdam, how T-Mobile makes it very difficult to report a lost phone overseas, Emmanuel vows to switch from Sprint PCS on January 11, Bernie S. reports on a disturbing development in the Stormbringer case, a reading of the incident report, an apology to Ronald Jones, trying to figure out what actually happened, an update on premiums from the last fundraiser, a report of an oddity from someone who used cellular portability, how Emmanuel's and Bernie S.'s voices wound up on a couple of video games, Emmanuel used to do a radio show called Chatterbox, Emmanuel tries to get Rebel to admit to how many lines he's calling in on, Bernie S. explains GPRS chips, a call from a Boeing engineer explaining why certain electronic devices are banned on airplanes, the Off The Wall theme.
  2. Emmanuel gets a new Verizon phone, a demonstration of one of the rings, what it was like to switch companies using portability, The Fifth HOPE is officially announced and its website is unveiled, why Bernie S. won't switch from Sprint PCS, the Book of HOPE, how to avoid being fingerprinted when entering the United States, a controversial new policy involving Qantas flights to the United States, reports of Burger King radio mischief in Michigan, Bernie S. explains how easy it is to interfere with fast food communications, an additional scene in the Freedom Downtime DVD will include more fast food fun, a potato-filled computer story from Germany, a kid in Texas gets in trouble for saying "hey" on a network, Adrian Lamo pleads guilty to hacking into the New York Times system, facts in the Lamo case that don't add up, an Associated Press phone list of contacts is accidentally sent out to affiliates all over the world, RFID tags in casino chips, a Photoshop version is able to detect money images, the ease of getting personal information on college campuses, a caller wants to change the direction of WBAI, more on the Stormbringer case, the tenth anniversary of the Metrocard, facts about laser pens.
  3. A fundraising edition of the show, the MikeRoweSoft.com story, Northwest Airlines is being sued for sharing passenger data with the government, memories of Bernie S.'s eventful flight last winter, the Off The Hook DVD is offered as a premium, excerpts from old shows, the loss of WLIR, what commercial radio really cares about, Bernie S. talks about ClearChannel "DJ farms," Emmanuel is able to keep a phone signal through the tunnel under the river while riding a train, playing more clips from old shows, a list of some Verizon features from their monthly newsletter, a method of protecting your identity while using a cell phone, how funds are raised on commercial stations, distinctive ring technology, the additional numbers service offered by Verizon, more old show excerpts from the Off The Hook DVD, Cingular may be interested in buying AT&T Wireless, Jim was a caller to the show in 1994, the show won't be on next week.  This show includes fundraising.
  4. The show was preempted for the last two weeks, the marathon has just ended, Bernie S. gets an obnoxious demand-for-money call from Sprint PCS, Emmanuel's first days with Verizon Wireless, Emmanuel also gets a new T-Mobile phone, Emmanuel's problem with Chase and revolving charge theory, some strange interference, Mike talks about the Swipe Toolkit which allows people to translate the bar code on their driver's license, a town in Canada bans the use of cell phone cameras, Bernie S. uses the SunPass system in Florida and tells how much better it is than E-Z Pass, Redhackt has a bad transit experience on the way to the station, a way that people can get ripped off using transfers in New York City, Jim tells how customers can no longer get money off recently expired Metrocards or find out how much value the cards have, Emmanuel reports low ridership on the JFK Airtrain, some malfunctions involving Airtrains, controversy involving a tracking system called MATRIX, a MATRIX FAQ, how the Janet Jackson incident has revealed a privacy invasion issue involving Tivo, consumer satellite dishes that now have uplink capabilities, how Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork's video rental habits became public years ago, Caller ID is now required for telemarketers, Verizon continues to sign people up for three-way calling without their knowledge, a telephone scene on last night's episode of 24, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of spy cameras in public areas, Canadian payphones.
  5. The number to call to complain about the constant late starts of the show, music from 386DX, Cingular is officially buying AT&T Wireless, testing the speed of Verizon Wireless, cell phone companies that have cell sites in their stores, the Do Not Call list is upheld by an appeals court, the story of the famous 867-5309 phone number, Geoff demonstrates the Great WBAI Bird, calling 867-5309 in the 212 area, memories of "gold" numbers, alternate fake numbers that can be used for movies and TV shows, a trivia question concerning telephones and The Dick Van Dyke Show, New York City police are training for "catastrophic" terrorism, the FBI raids an Internet Service Provider in Ohio because of activity on an IRC network, memories of the Steve Jackson case, a local TV station reports on a website that reveals the names of undercover police officers, reports on a possible law requiring New Mexico drivers to take a breathalyzer test every time they start their cars, an idea for fast food scanner fun, methods of protecting the public from anthrax, how AT&T Wireless being sold will affect existing calling plans, a song from Rebel, news on the goatse.cx site.
  6. The news runs late again, Mike reports on Grey Tuesday, an excerpt from the Grey Album, wondering how music can be declared illegal, a court decision involving 321 Software and DVDs, the RIAA is sued for racketeering, a trick involving a Pepsi contest, an update on last week's ISP raid story, how information can be extracted from a phone without your knowledge, more on the use of RFID tags, a law enforcement agency is found to not be qualified to install wiretaps, an update with specific info on the undercover police officer tracking website, Bernie S. reveals how undercover cops in Philadelphia blow their cover every morning, a listener asks for help in destroying opposing websites, how unauthorized phone charges can appear through someone's home computer, Emmanuel's unlimited nights and weekends idea for mass transit, a call from a SEPTA employee, a listener's reaction to the news running late, news of a restriction on editing articles from forbidden countries, a CD malfunction.
  7. Questions about expiring Metrocards, the 100th anniversary of the New York City subway, appealing for bandwidth for The Fifth HOPE, looking for the network coordinator, Redhackt reports on attempts to protect children from adult content on the Internet, the master terrorism watch list, a harmless federal employee is caught in the terrorist watch list, changes in Caller ID and telemarketers, a Verizon employee is accused of harassing customers using spoofed email, Bernie S. cooks a twenty dollar bill, dispelling the myth of RFID detectors in money, what AT&T stands for, an update on the Freedom Downtime DVD and an appeal for help, how to find out what your phone number is, what various corporate initials stand for, debate on electronic voting.
  8. The news runs late yet again, more music from 386DX, an example of human music, more on potential terrorist lists, a Washington Post story on problems with electronic voting systems, Mike argues against mechanical voting systems, the Piggly Wiggly grocery chain starts a program that allows customers to pay for their groceries with fingerprints, a new law that battles all kinds of piracy and allows companies to take part in raids, an attempted use of a one million dollar bill, how fake money can be used legally, a cell phone service that helps callers to lie about where they are, bikes with GPS are used in Amsterdam to thwart thieves, a case involving someone interfering with police radio broadcasts who is being charged under the Patriot Act, how getting a counterfeit bill is a no-win situation, ways of bypassing connectivity restrictions, purchasing $2600 with a credit card, chastising the Daily News on its lack of investigative journalism, Bernie S. announces SWL Fest, a Russian 386DX song.
  9. Computer problems force an early end to the news, Mike claims that today is Evacuation Day, Emmanuel was in Montreal over the weekend, Emmanuel considers joining the Selective Service board, a bill that could imprison protesters for many years by defining them as terrorists, Jim gives a preview of police activity during the Republican Convention this summer, the move to monitor online traffic, the controversy over VoIP, Verizon discontinues voice dialing, Redhackt shows up with a big green hat, what GSM stands for, a report from a listener on electronic voting, dialing strange 555 numbers, trying to find out the phone number from directory assistance, verifying what phone companies WBAI uses, the annoyance of Nextel phones, a reported security hole in Nextel voice mail, a possible way to get your phone number when calling a Sprint phone, an example of how research via the web can lead to misinformation, more on privacy threats through Tivo, Showtime installs a delay system for a live event, a listener has an experience with a counterfeit bill.
  10. The power is out forcing everyone to climb ten flights to the station, Emmanuel decides to darken the remaining lights in the studio, Geoff goes through hell to get to the station, Bernie S. returns from overseas, Geoff has an interesting security experience in an airport, Bernie S. describes the CeBIT conference which supposedly had 600,000 attendees, citizens from countries labeled as terrorist regimes will get free admission to The Fifth HOPE, Bernie S. teaches a Dutch airport security officer about frequency counters, some of the technology that was on exhibit at the conference, word of listeners in the Christiania commune in Copenhagen, recent police action against the people of Christiania, biometric technology at CeBIT, word of RFID tags in future passports, cell phone directory assistance will start this year, why many customers may have inadvertently agreed to be listed, a story about $2600 in bookstores, considering a hacker conference in Australia, Richard Clarke's remarks on cybersecurity, weirdness involving a computerized contest, the I-CON convention is this weekend.
  11. Emmanuel continues to have Sprint PCS problems even after dumping them, Mike gets a weird phone call, dialing "The Loyalty Group," Bernie S.'s "courtesy call," AT&T imposes an unannounced monthly fee for long distance on Emmanuel's phone line, a way of resetting Nextel users' passwords on voice mail, Motorola announces a new "world phone" that will work between networks with incompatible standards, a clarification on the attendance of the CeBIT conference, a proposal for a secure computerized voting machine, a blow against the legal efforts of the music industry in Canada, the PIRATE bill is introduced in Congress, Mike explains his objection to the phrase "intellectual property," questions as to whether or not parody is protected speech, description of a New Zealand "Metrocard," working with RFID tags, Social Security Numbers and truck rentals, a caller's name matches one on a terrorist suspect list, a billing problem with AT&T, a tank greets Bernie S.'s plane in Switzerland, $2600 meetings this week.
  12. A special two hour show, Adrian Lamo is the guest, developments with the ACLU and the Do Not Fly list, a listener has a bad experience with immigration in Atlanta, Bernie S. recalls an interrogation he went through in Morocco, an update on citizens required to give fingerprints when visiting the United States, the implementation of RFID tagging in airports, a call for a device that would notify people of an E-Z Pass sensor in the area, the camera system in Las Vegas, Lin sets up a live camera feed of the show, another tank sighting in Switzerland, the threat of cell phones being used as timers for explosives, cell phone blockers, Bernie S. describes the jamming equipment that travels in the presidential motorcade, Adrian explains the crimes that he's being sentenced for, how the New York Times site was accessed, the parallels to the Kevin Mitnick case, questions as to whether the Lexis/Nexis account Adrian is accused of using was an unlimited use account, how the old E911 document was portrayed as having a much greater value than it really had, the parallels between hackers and journalists, how to block WiFi, dueling cameras in the studio, questions on wireless connectivity, an update on speaker submissions for The Fifth HOPE, more advice for Adrian, clarification on states that use Social Security Numbers on driver licenses, a caller is unable to be fingerprinted, other stories about being processed, why Adrian isn't blaming anyone else for what happened to him, a caller asks about a transmitter being used by the local water company, a high utility bill gets a house raided by cops searching for drugs.  This show is in two parts.
  13. A new long distance code makes it harder to call Bernie S., Emmanuel calls George W. Bush to task for his choice of words, Jim debates the importance of Bush's grammatical problems, Emmanuel gets a letter from the Bush/Cheney campaign that has a significant statement hidden within, the Pentagon scraps its plan for Internet voting for soldiers overseas, calling Diebold to get the correct pronunciation of the company name, more on electronic voting, an update on the Adrian Lamo sentencing, the number of wiretaps approved in the country, unauthorized traffic light changers cause problems, more on the website providing names of undercover New York City police officers, info on cell phone diversion, definition of phishers, a volunteer meeting for The Fifth HOPE is coming up this Friday, clarification of the legality of third party turnstile swiping, listener reaction to the Bush speech.
  14. A dispute involving Verizon and New York City concerning the right to run wires underground, a mobile phone explodes, the threat of sparks at gas stations, electronic voting in India, more info on Republican mailing lists, clarification on Bush's bad grammar of last week, analyzing more Bush speech, opposition to the extension of the Patriot Act, Lin explains the concept of a "soft phone," some features of Vonage, a demonstration of VoIP, doing taxes via SMS, testing the network delay, a request to rebroadcast the show on another station, an appeal for listeners from the Queen Mary 2, the delay is three minutes and eleven seconds, first editions of The Puzzle Palace, a nuclear scientist is released from an Israeli prison for telling the world about their nuclear program 18 years ago, why the $2600 online store doesn't accept PayPal, the 867-5309 number in New York City is hacked, why Verizon cuts off calls that aren't answered, theories on why there's a slight delay in cell phone calls, more on the Internet delay.
  15. Emmanuel has a bad bus experience on the way to the station, Lin is on from Switzerland using a Vonage connection, cellular antennas in Europe, Mike has switched to AT&T from Sprint PCS, demonstrating the delay, a graduate student is on trial in Idaho for helping certain Islamic websites to operate, the dangerous precedent this sets, the Secret Service questions a high school student about antiwar drawings, more on the mysterious tank in the Swiss airport, the extra penalty involved for having technical skills, Al Qaeda is reported to be looking on the web for hacking tools, some catchy slogans, an international Internet piracy sweep by the Department of Justice, Mike tells the story of Covance and their intimidation tactics, the possibility of a global injustice system, a demonstration of Homeland Defense Radio, the roundabout way of contacting a human at PayPal, what is wrong with PayPal, various phone numbers for PayPal, a question about meat, a caller has methods of protecting oneself against PayPal, the different quality settings of Vonage, Emmanuel's attempt to get a Canadian phone number through vonage.ca, the Trenton Computer Festival is this weekend.
  16. Mike's ISP won't force him to take down the Covance material, the Trenton Computer Festival doesn't take place in Trenton, an overview of the $2600 panel at Trenton, Disney blocks Miramax from distributing Michael Moore's new film, the hypocrisy of Disney, Al Gore acquires NewsWorld International, the danger of losing a source of foreign news, the Metro newspaper makes its debut in New York City, Mike demonstrates the gibberish printed within the paper, the Sasser worm causes havoc, a computer problem affects airlines, new security measures at the New Carrollton train station, clarification on use of the $2600 name, $2600 meetings are coming up this Friday, some amusing directories in the robots.txt file on the White House site, Emmanuel defends his criticism of George W. Bush, critique on the Bush administration, looking ahead to the Republican National Convention in August, the absurdity of asking permission to protest, conservative opposition to Bush policies, Emmanuel trains Redhackt on the phones, clarification on New Jersey history, an eBay forgery, the various scams that are found on the net, a political scandal in Canada involving redirected phone calls, a setback for Diebold.
  17. Bernie S. is listening to the show on shortwave while driving to Ohio for the annual Dayton Hamvention, Emmanuel and Redhackt will be attending this year as well, terrorist tourism in Pennsylvania, an update on the Covance situation, a two hour fundraising show tonight, the show won't be on again until June, a list of offerings for tonight's fundraiser, Kevin Mitnick, Steve Wozniak, and Jello Biafra will all be speakers at The Fifth HOPE in July, the Freedom Downtime DVD will soon be available, the large list of languages that the film has been translated into, some of the other features that will be on the DVD set, Bernie S.'s story of his encounter with the mob in prison is one of the pieces of extra footage on the DVD, the allure of middle America, Geoff's issue with the lack of butter at Waffle House, a plan that would jam all cell phone traffic in the area of the Republican National Convention this August, some of the interesting things that will be happening over the summer, volunteers are needed to answer phones, a humorous story of a GPS sniper rifle, Mastercard introduces PayPass which allows consumers to pay by tapping their card, a large number of contributors from New Jersey, Bernie S. arrives in Wheeling, West Virginia, a report of a license plate with a single number, the entire Off The Hook theme, how the theme was born, what commercial radio stations do in order to get listeners, the sound of a reorder, how it's possible to listen to Internet streams while driving, how Emmanuel was able to listen to one of Bernie S.'s streams from an adjoining car, the pledge amount jumps faster than expected, a reported glitch in the T-Mobile voice mail system that forces users to enter a default password, Emmanuel's problem getting access to his T-Mobile account, some of the other features available on the Freedom Downtime DVD set, Emmanuel will be up all night driving to Dayton later in the week, a Rolling Stones song especially for Off The Hook.  This show is in two parts and includes fundraising.