[ale] Re: neon Fw: Warning against AOL (fwd)

Mon Nov 24 17:01:16 EST 1997

Doh!  :)  Ohwell... this seemed to be characteristic of AOL, since they
have already been burned about "counting AOL users' clicks" earlier this
year.  Definitly a hoax, and sorry for the bandwidth  ;)

My apologies.

Josh Murrah, jmurrah at salug.org, http://www.salug.org/~jmurrah, ICQ 4613433
------------------------~~~===<[^]>===~~~----------------------------
This mail is a natural product.  The slight variations in spelling and
grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to
be considered flaws or defects.

On Mon, 24 Nov 1997 clegros at rd.qms.com wrote:

> 
>      Josh,
>      
>      I can't believe that you actually sent this to everyone.  Especially 
>      ALE.
>      For anyone else who hasn't heard yet, this is a hoax.  A virus itself 
>      (think about the definition of a virus).
>      Check out these sites for more info (don't just take my word for it).
>      
>      http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
>      http://kumite.com/myths/
>      
>      clint
>      
>      P.S.  all that crap on ICQ about viruses and account cancellation is 
>      the same, a hoax.  E-mail mirabilis if you would like verification, or 
>      check out their page on it.
>      http://www.mirabilis.com/urge.html
>      
> 
> 
> ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
> Subject: neon Fw: Warning against AOL (fwd)
> Author:  Josh Murrah <jmurrah at spaceghost.salug.org> at Internet-Mail
> Date:    11/24/97 12:07 PM
> 
> 
>      
>      
>      
> Josh Murrah, jmurrah at salug.org, http://www.salug.org/~jmurrah, ICQ 4613433 
> ------------------------~~~===<[^]>===~~~----------------------------
> This mail is a natural product.  The slight variations in spelling and 
> grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to 
> be considered flaws or defects.
>      
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- 
> >>---------------------
> >>Forwarded message:
> >>Subj:    Warning against AOL
> >>Date:    97-10-24 16:49:39 EST
> >>From:    Want8Inchr
> >>To:      Rubyourite,LrgHRDdisk
> >>
> >>rom a former AOL employee:
> >>>
> >>>I'll try and cut through the crap, and try to get to the point of this 
> >>>letter.  I used to work for America Online, and would like to remain 
> >>>anonymous for that reason.  I was laid off in early September, but I 
> >>>know exactly why I was laid off, which I will now explain:
> >>>Since last December, I had been one of the many people assigned to 
> >>>design AOL 4.0 for Windows  (AOL 4.0 beta, codenamed Casablanca).  In 
> >>>the beginning, I was very proud of this task, until I found out the 
> >>>true cost of it.  Things were going fine until about mid-February, when 
> >>>me and 2 of my colleagues started to suspect a problem, an 
> >>>unexplainable 'Privacy Invasion', with the new version.  One of them, 
> >>>who is a master programmer, copied the finished portion of the new 
> >>>version (Then 'Build 52'), and took it home, and we spent nearly 2 
> >>>weeks of sleepless nights examining and debugging the program, flipping 
> >>>it inside-out, and here is> what we found.
> >>>
> >>>Unlike all previous versions of America Online, version 4.0 puts 
> >>>something in your hard drive called a 'cookie'.  (AOL members click 
> >>>here for a 
> >>>definition).  However, the cookie we found on Version 4.0 was far more 
> >>>treacherous than the simple internet cookie.  How would you like 
> >>>somebody looking at your entire hard drive, snooping through any (yes, 
> >>>any) piece of information on your hard drive.  It could also read your 
> >>>password and log in information and store it deep in the program code. 
> >>>Well, all previous versions, whether you like it or not, have done 
> >>>this to a certain extent, but only with files you downloaded.  As me 
> >>>and my colleagues discovered, with the new version, anytime you are 
> >>>signed on to AOL, any top aol executive, any aol worker, who has been 
> >>>sworn to secrecy regarding this feature, can go into your hard drive 
> >>>and retrieve any piece of information that they so desire.  Billing, 
> >>>download records, e-mail, directories, personal documents, programs, 
> >>>financial information, scanned images, etc ... Better start keeping all 
> >>>those pictures on a floppy disk!
> >>>
> >>>This is a totally disgusting violation of our rights, and your right 
> >>>to know as well.  Since this is undoubtably 'Top Secret' information 
> >>>that I am revealing, my life at AOL is pretty much over.  After 
> >>>discovering this information, we started to inform a few other workers 
> >>>at America Online, so that we could get a large enough crew to stop 
> >>>this from happening to the millions of unfortunate and unsuspecting 
> >>>America Online members.  This was in early August.  One month later, 
> >>>all three of us were unemployed.  We got together, and figured there 
> >>>was something we had to do to let the public know. Unemployed, with one 
> >>>of us going through a divorce (me) and another who is about to undergo 
> >>>treatment for Cancer, our combined financial situation is not currently 
> >>>enough to release any sort or article.  We attepted to create a web 
> >>>page on three different servers containing in-depth information on AOL 
> >>>4.0, but all three were taken down within  2 days.  We were running 
> >>>very low on time (4.0 is released early this winter), so we figured our 
> >>>last hope to reveal this madness before it effects the people was 
> >>>starting something similar to a chain letter, this letter you are 
> >>>reading.  Please do the following, to help us expose AOL for who they 
> >>>really are, and to help us and yourself recieve personal gratification 
> >>>for taking a stand for our freedom:
> >>>
> >>> 1.  Forward this letter to as many people as you can (not just friends 
> >>> and family, as many as you can!)
> >>>
> >>> 2.  Tell people who aren't on America Online in person, especially 
> >>> important people (Private Investigators, Government workers, City 
> >>> Council)
> >>>
> >>> 3.  If the information about the new version isn't exposed by the time 
> >>> aol is released early this winter, for your own protection, DON'T
> >>> DOWNLOAD AOL 4.0 UNDER ANY CONDITION !!! 
> >>>
> >>> Thank you for reading and examining this information.  Me and my 
> >>> colleagues hope that you will help us do the right thing in this 
> >>> situation.  Enjoy America Online (just kidding!).
> >>>
> >>> Regards,
> >>> A former AOL employee
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>The Purpose of the universe may be expression itself. 
> >>>-galactic
> >>>
> >>>"Isn't it a possibility for global consciousness to 
> >>>   evolve out of the internet?"
> >>>                        - galactic 
> >>>
> >>>galacticstudios.com
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>Join us - you are just as important. 
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>      
>      
> 
> 