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FBI Illegally Tapped Phone Phreaks In 1969

Posted by kdawson on from the nothing-new-under-the-sun dept.

xmedar writes "In his talks about the history of Apple, Woz has often recounted how the 1971 Esquire article 'Secrets of the Little Blue Box' set him on the road to phone phreaking. Now someone has obtained the FBI file of one of the phreaks, Joe Engressia (who later changed his name to Joybubbles), via Freedom of Information requests. The file reveals that Engressia was illegally wiretapped by the FBI and the phone company back in 1969. J. Edgar Hoover considered the blind college student a national security risk and wrote a memo about him to John Ehrlichman."

5 of 296 comments (clear)

  1. idiots by Sam36 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    You people are idiots. I hope they wiretap everybody. Stupid whiny americans.

  2. Re:Doesn't mean it should be fixed.. by k_187 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Actually in the song it goes:

    Democrats! FUCK YEAH!
    Republicans! uhh Fuck yeah?

    --
    11 was a racehorse
    12 was 12
    1111 Race
    12112
  3. Re:Doesn't mean it should be fixed.. by biolysis · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    "Absurd and ironic come to mind, but the word which I think best describes this blighted mindset is 'disappointing.'"

    When you say "absurd, ironic, and disappointing" are you talking bout your grasp of US history?

    Immigration here has never been "free" in any form. Ignoring that to further your talking points destroys what little credibility you might have had.

  4. You got this one wrong mod, you seem ignorant too by biolysis · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I shouted down a fool who has no idea what the significance of the SDupreme's decision on habeas corpus is, pointing out, quite rightly, that his arguments were ridiculous and ignorant, and you modded it "troll".

    If someone IS being stupid, then they deserve to be called on it, especially if they dismiss the importance of the recent Supreme Court decision on habeas corpus.

    It makes me certain YOU also have no idea how important it is mod, there's simply no way you could make such an idiotic moderation if you did.

  5. Re:You have a strange idea of what "these days" me by biolysis · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    "Saying "these days" doesn't mean he thinks it's a new phenomenon, just that he recognizes it's going on currently."

    I never claimed he thought it was a new phenomenon, I pointed out that this story is about something that happened nearly forty years ago, and any attempt to transpose it to current political activity is kind of ridiculous.

    "Also, calm the fuck down, geez."

    Fuck you (in my calmest voice).