Tim May <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> At 4:34 PM -0500 6/12/00, David Marshall wrote:
> >
> >
> >The people asking for bomb instructions and such don't make an attempt
> >to use proper English grammar. I doubt that they would be willing to
> >put forth the effort to learn proper procedures for handling chemicals.
> >
> >Brad the clueless wrote:
> >
> >> >hi my name is brad i was to have the anarchy cookbook and such but have
> >> >lost it where did you find the joly roger. this is my friends computer
> > > >email me back at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > >thanx
> > > > brad
>
>
> The fact is that many, even most, of these "can u send me info on how
> to make bombz?" queries have a very similar structure. Coincidence? A
> commentary on 9th grade educational levels? Or high school graduate
> cops trolling?
As I remarked in private discussion with another list member earlier
today, it's pretty obvious that either:
1) It's the same guy.
2) It's a small group of people reading out of the same playbook.
The persistance seems to exclude targetted trolling. The trolling
isn't destroying the list with flame wars or clogging it with junk, so
it doesn't quite fit the profile of a troller. Most of them would have
given up by now, or graduated beyond something which is obviously
idiot-fodder.
The aim would therefore seem to be one of the following:
1) Be annoying.
2) Make a political point somehow.
3) An LEO trolling for idiots.
4) To see how many creative responses the poster can get.
> About a year ago I saw an article about a cop in the midwest somewhere
> who uses his home computer to go trolling for illegal activities.
>
> My hunch is that many of these "can u send me child porn?" and "help
> me make a bomb" queries are by cops.
I think I read the same article. They do this on a routine basis with
child porn. Most of it probably happens in IRC channels. Of course,
since the media *still* hasn't figured out the difference between
USENET, web-based news boards, AOL-based resources and Internet-based
resources (e.g. AOL chatrooms versus Web-based ones), IRC and
chat rooms, and a multitude of other things, any information
they may provide about where these stings take place is suspect.
Then enter people who want to don a perceived "white hat" and call
themselves "hackers." They possess few, if any, technical skills, and
instead sit around in IRC channels trolling for idiots, send trolls to
mailing lists, put up junk all over systems like GNUtella in an
attempt to catch child pornographers (there are errors in that
approach which I won't go into here), and worse. This provides them
with a sense of purpose, and gives them something which sounds
impressive to put on their next employment or graduate school
application.
Both of these groups tend to play the part too well. Anybody who can
write a coherent thought isn't going to be posting to Cypherpunks
asking for porn or bomb making instructions. Instead, they would find
it themselves, or pull out a chemistry book and learn something. So
the authors try to act like complete idiots, but unless the poster is
six years old or possesses a room temperature IQ (on the centigrade
scale) it's obviously a setup.
Therefore I tend to agree with you that many, but probably not all, of
these incompetent requests are from the cops or from such "do-gooder"
organizations. They're probably collecting lists of people that they
can pull an Operation Sundevil on. If they don't have any evidence,
they'll just make sure that "it looked like he was going for a gun."
Either way, they get media exposure and may have a shot at some kind
of personal benefit like a promotion.
Making bombs is fundamentally easy. Making really good bombs is more
difficult. Either way, the knowledge required is available from an
undergraduate-level organic chemistry text. Anybody who has the
intelligence and mental stability to safely handle the chemicals
without blowing themselves up can read and comprehend the chemistry
text and acn go pull synthesis procedures out of some reference like
"Chemical Abstracts." In my mind, there's no doubt that these are
LEO trolls.
Of course, it's always possible that the posters really are morons who
will probably be working at McDonalds' all their lives and will keep
forgetting my fries and screwing up my change. McDonalds' will hire
anybody.
> Personally, I think they ought to be tracked down and dealt with more
> directly. Cops who solicit illegalities need to be dealt with directly.
>
> But that's just my opinion.
I think it should just be considered entrapment and made unusable in
court. That would end the problem right there.
