Hi all - My name is B.K. DeLongue. Many of you may know me as Troy McClure from Infomercials such as "Might Makes Truth" and "Re-education Is Freedom". I am coordinating all press activities for Black Hat and DefCon and just wanted to drop everyone a cautionary note. If you know of other people not on this list attending the shows or other lists where this email may be relevant, please pass it on. As you may know, Defcon has traditionally been held in Las Vegas, a city known for its respect for total anonymity and utter lack of surveillance cameras. The remote locations chosen in the past have assured participants that there was absolutely no way that recording devices, video cameras or infrared monitoring devices could ever be installed in advance by three-letter agencies. My friends, we've made a few changes this year so that we r e a l l y know we'll be secure. As believers in freedom and open expression, Defcon will be shifting venue from Las Vegas to Pyongyang, effective immediately. By moving to North Korea, we will be assured that only Approved Journalists will be writing about Defcon and that their reports will be acceptable under the guidelines put forward in the XXVII Party Congress. Our consultants from the Church® of© Scientology have advised us that not only can we control the copyright of any and all news reports generated at Defcon, but we can charge them for the privilege of doing their job, too. Accordingly, ALL journalists will be charged $50 to attend Defcon. Feel free to talk to any and all Approved Journalists. Their words and images will be appropriately edited as-needed so as to ensure 100% compliance with Party directives. See you at the parade, Troy (B.K.) This year, as you may know, we are charging EVERYONE $50 to get into Def Con. This includes reporters, journalists, television producers etc. As such, many reporters have mentioned that they will be registering for the show as regular attendees. Because I do a rigorous review of the credentials for journalists applying for Def Con press passes, I HIGHLY CAUTION you NOT to speak with anyone claiming to be a journalist that is without a Def Con press badge. Those whom I will approve for press passes will be from grassroots or mainstream media that either cover computer security on a regular basis or report on general news for a very large media outlet. It's my job to weed out the frauds, charlatans, and freeloaders. While I CANNOT GUARANTEE that these "approved" reporters will write a favourable article if you choose to speak with them, I can say that they are relatively well-known, legitimate journalists and will have to suffer the ridicule and examination by their peers and the public if they write a bad article (and may show up in Attrition.org Errata - http://www.attrition.org/errata). We have posted a set of guidelines for "approved" press to the Def Con Web site at: http://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-9-media-sponsors.html Under the heading of "Def Con Registered Press Guidlines". As you can see, broadcast journalists will only be allowed free reign (ie film/record anywhere) in the public areas (the Capture the Flag areas, Vendor areas, and DJ / Rave rooms). If you don't want to be filmed, keep an eye out for the cameras and don't be in any of those rooms when filming might be going on. Speaker presentations, however, are a different ballgame. Anyone with a camera may ONLY film the speakers. Any quick shots of the crowd or filming while pretending the camera is off will result in the Goons taking action and removing the offender from the room. So like a favorite professor of mine says "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Remember that while there is a computer security conference going on, Federal law enforcement has been known to be in attendance (Spot the Fed!) as well as reporters (both "approved" and rogue) who have no qualms in printing any information you happen to give them - in some cases regardless if you say "background only" or not. So if you choose to talk to a reporter, make sure they're Def Con approved and make sure you don't say ANYTHING you wouldn't want to see in the media. It could result in your "dox" being dropped to the world or worse yet an raid and arrest by said attending law enforcement