Date   : Tue, 22 May 1984 10:57:17 PDT (Tue)
From   : Jerry Sweet <jsweet@Uci-750a.ARPA>
Subject: Re: BBS Confiscation

Although it's probably useless to speculate on the exact nature of the
message that caused the phone company to file the complaint, one may
still make some guesses.  The telecom discussion list once had an
interesting discussion on the subject of blue boxing and the legal
implications thereof.  Someone pointed out that it was a violation
of federal law to have such a discussion (at the technical level),
and the moderator promptly suspended the discussion, with the wry
note, "let's not have any more felonies on telecom, okay?"  I trust
that I'm not doing a disservice by bringing that discussion (which was
a while ago) under public scrutiny, but it does serve to point out
that CENSORSHIP IS ALIVE AND WELL UNDER OUR DEMOCRACY!  If it
were to come to a legal test, it is quite possible that the first
amendment would win out, but one never knows.  If it's legal to
publish plans for building a thermonuclear device, I suspect that
the crime of describing the workings of a blue box pales by
comparison.

-jns