Def Con/Black Hat: Change of Venue

[B.K. DeLongue]

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