----- Original Message ----- From: "Subcommander Bob" To: Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2001 11:20 AM Subject: Re: [free-sklyarov] Re: Rallies on Monday Black Unicorn Scribed:

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Adobe- owing to the kidnapping of its big wig some time ago- is very paranoid.

Please be aware and be cautious as they may be prone to overreact to taunting.

(Do not taunt happy-fun-acrobat).

Someone answered:

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This looks like a joke. If so, it is really hilarious, but otherwise sorry.

I replied:

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Unfortunately it's not.

At 10:03 AM 7/21/01 -0700, Morlock Elloi replied:

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So Adobe thugs will pour out of the building sprayng crowd with machine-gun fire ? Corporate commandos will make arrests and cart them to software sweatshops ?

What exactly peaceful banner-carrying demonstrators on the public grounds should be afraid of ?

Quite a lot actually. This is why I like most cypherpunks. They have the most charming naiveté about the real world. It's quaint. I see it most often in their propensity to argue to most obscure technical-legal points with the full expectation that a judge isn't just going to say "that's specious counselor, have any real arguments?" I love hearing things like: "Well if I just have the micromint transfer all its money to itself first then that's legally a transaction, right?" or "I'm not transferring the e-gold to the user, I'm transferring it to his key, so there are no taxes!" or "Sorry your honor, I used key splitting to put the key in 4 jurisdictions so I can't recover the critical financial data under subpoena. Now you have to send me home. Hee hee!" The second most frequent expression of this kind of sheltered thinking is in the political-societal belief that there is no such thing as "street justice" in the United States and that officers aren't prone to poke the odd protestor with a nightstick in any country except Mexico or India or the Middle East or some other far away and out of sight place. "But this is AMERICA!" or "But I'm an AMERICAN!" Good morning. How was your sleep? I would be amused to see one of these cloistered techies in a real encounter with police, who recognize that the best legal argument they have on the street is a good whack to opposing counsel's head and that about the most serious ramifications of this might be that the protestor gets off scott free after 48 hours in holding with the gang bangers. It's pretty easy to get arrested in a protest situation. Life is manifestly unfair to arrestees. You decide what you want to do about it. Adobe is a large and influential company in the Valley. It may very well be responsible for getting the Commissioner of Labor in California removed from office simply because they disagreed with his ruling on forced vacations for their employees. Adobe's co-founder is easily spooked and Adobe has had it's run-ins with violence before. This event is well publicized and Adobe knows its coming. Draw your own conclusions about how Adobe might prepare. What would you do in Adobe's place? (I know you are suddenly tempted to come up with a witty reply. It's a rhetorical question, smartass). Here is an article on the kidnapping of Adobe co-founder Chuck Geschke: http://www.losaltosonline.com/latc/arch/9742/Exclusiv/1adobe/1adobe.html An excerpt: It was supposed to be a normal day at the office for Adobe Systems president Charles "Chuck" Geschke when he pulled into the parking lot of his Mountain View headquarters on May 26, 1992. Instead, his kidnapping at gunpoint by two Arabic men began a five-day nightmare in which Geschke was blindfolded and unaware of his location. His frantic family, in the meantime, enlisted the help of the FBI in a search that was the biggest of its kind since the kidnapping of Patti Hearst. Chuck's rescue was triggered by daughter Kathy's drop-off of ransom money and her negotiations with the captors. The news of the kidnapping made headlines all over the world. The family, still, has not fully recovered from the emotional harm. [...] To this day, [Chuck] still has flashbacks when he drives into a parking lot void of cars or people. And he has replayed his capture dozens of times, both during and after captivity, questioning his decision to obey the armed stranger. The nightmares, which continue to this day, were just the start of a whole new deck of fears the family had to deal with once they returned to Los Altos after their month retreat. Chuck's insecurities about his safety invaded all aspects of his life. The 6-foot, 1-inch, 220-pound Chuck now scares easily. "I see someone walking or parking in front of the house and I try to notice if there is anything suspicious about it. I never, never had that feeling ever in my life before. I've always been a very open person, never felt any physical fear of any kind," he said. end excerpt. Following the kidnapping Adobe made such substantial changes to security that employees jokingly, and not so jokingly, refer to it as "Fortress Adobe" now. I think you're going to have to decide if it's a wise idea to provoke these people. Peaceful protest is a good thing. Still, be careful. Mr. Geschke and the FBI are awfully tight now.

M.E. is too conservative. Our psych-history-simulations reveal that you'will make a point by using the specific term "kidnapping", as in, Adobe Kidnapped Dmitri or Adobe Kidnaps Fair Use.

A clever and subtle tactic. Exactly what I would expect from the more clever cypherpunks. (Even more clever to suggest its use to others, rather than using it yourself). Please use it carefully. It might send entirely the WRONG message. Exercise your right to free speech. Do it carefully.