press" is limited to those who own photo-offset
lithographic presses.

	The fact is that freedom of the press would be
mean~ngless if it were limited to a narrow interpre-
tation such that the State cannot seize a orintin~

press without a court order. Telecommunications
and desktop publishing are the active express~ons of
what Ben Franitlin had in mind 200 years ago.
What, after all, is a "newspaper?" Consider that the
Wall Street Journal is typeset electronically and
broadcast via satellite to several printing plants
around the world. How is this different from a
homobrew bulletin board system? In Michigan's
capital city, The I=nsing State Jor~rnal gets its state
government report~ng from the Associated Press
wirc service. Il they hsve a right to gather news
electronically, then so do you. You have every
reason to go beyond the narrow limits impostd by
the powers that bc.

	"Auto~ialer" programs enable your computer to
search for other data processing machines. The
Computer Undergro'ind, wntten by M. Harry
(Loompanics, 1986) has a 1~sting for an auto~ialer
program for Apple computers. MegaSoft (PO Box
1080, Battle Ground, WA 98604) selis an "auto-
dialer" for Commodore computers; the "War
Games Auto-Dialer" costs about S30.

	In order to realize the fnllest possible benefits
from the computer rovoiution, it is necessary to
adopt an attitude which is open and expansive in
regard to data processing. A feudalist world of
ultra-secare computers and data fortresses is
contrary to the spirit of data processing.

	Every era has its ru}ing class, and the nature of the
ruling class is deten.lincd by the technology of the
era. Formerly, men on horses wcanng armor ruled.
Later it was poople who could design and produ~c
industrial goods. Today people who own or can use
electronic data processing equipment are the new
rul~g class. Call them the "Datalords."

	In each age, the ruling class tallors the law to suit
its own ends. During times of transition, the

"Today people who own or can
use elec~ronic data proressing
equipment are ihe new raling
c~ass. Call them 'Datalords ,~'

_ _ _ ___

innovators must f~ght against an established order
as they develop their own worldviews. The best
example in Western Civilization is the existence of
real estate laws. Land is called "real" estate because
you can't put it on a horse and carry ~t out from
under the control of the king. It is called real "estate"
because title to it comes "ex-state," z.e., from the
state. The king can grant titles; the king can revoke
tilles.

	The advent of capitalism brought about a legal
system that recognized the ownership of a drop-
forge without a deed certified by a goverumental
unit or a title scarch perfonned by a goverumcnt
licensee.

	The cybernetic revolution w~ll require a legal
system wh~ch supports the view that while ~
machine is still property in the capitalist sense, thc
da~a in the machine is regulated by new laws that
better suit its nature.

	Consider that silver and gold are "static~
commodit~es. There is a f xed and known amonnt of
each on Earth and the matenals are universally
useful to humans. Wheat and lumber are "dynamic"
commodit~cs. The amonnt of each is determ~ned by
the demand. The demand is universal-and the supply
~s limited by economic factors which contro} the
amount of land and human cffo~t availabie to

produce wheat and lumber. No one will refuse a free
loaf of bread. Data is a "fluid" commodity. It can be
produced ~n super-abundance ~t can be cop~ed.
Copying data does not destroy it. (Therc is no way
to copy gold or wheat.) Moreover, urdike bread and
gold, data is no' universally usefnl.

	In the Christian Bible, therc is a story about a
shepherd boy named David who defcats a giant
named Goliath. At one point in the story, the king
offers David his royal armor to wear into bettle. Thc
Bible te]ls of how the boy David trudges back and
forth, trying the burdensome metal plate. David
respectfully declines the offer, trusting in his god
to protect him. Now you ~cnow this cute story. Can
you use the data?

"The cybernetic revolution will
require a ~egal system w*ich
supports ihe view tAat whi~ a
machine is still property in the
capitalist sense, ihe data in the
machine ~s regalated by new
laws tAat beffer sait its na~we. "

	On Thursday, October 9, 1986, Nissan Motors
over-the~counter stock was bid at 7'h while the
asking price was 7'~4. Can you use that information?

	Consider the E.F. Hutton economist who in late
1982 relied on his old Federal Reserve System
computer password to discover money supply
figures. The Fed annaunces these figures weekly and
the amount of paper in circulation has a direct effect
on interest rates. Knowing in advance what the
money supply would be announced to be, the man
from E.F. Hutton was abJe to trade profitably on
behalf of his employers. Tfme magezine for
3anuary 13, 1983, called this"Filching Figures."
However, it is clear that nothing was "filchod;" the
figures still resided in the machines. What the
government (and 7ime) o~jected to was the fact
that this individual didn't wait for some lackey to
read the data from a cue card at a press conference.

	In his book Electron~c Life, author and screen-
writer, Michael Crichton, states that it is inherent in
the technology of both computing and video to copy
and transfer information. Himself a big earner of
copyright royalties, Crichton says that~the present
system is archaic. In his novel ~e Shockwave
Rider, John Bruuner makes a case for opening all
government data files.

