🚀 go-pugleaf

This article is from rti-sel!dg_rtp!throopw%mcnc.csnet@csnet-relay.ARPA
 and was received on Tue Aug 26 09:04:36 1986
 
>     From the San Francisco Chronicle, Friday 15 August 1986:
>      POLICE SAY ARRESTS IN MARIN SMASHED HIGH-TECH SEX RING
> anyone have any pithy comments? -- Dave

I don't know about pithy, but I'm thirtenly upthet about all thith imorality!

Actually, I wonder if the "ring" was much injured by this raid.  Following 
normal DP protocols, they should have had a backup computing resource, and 
off-side duplicate records.  They could have been back in operation as soon 
as their field operatives were out of jail, changing the name of the front 
organization and switching to a backup site with new phone jockeys.  The only 
difference from a legitimate computerized operation is that they might also 
need their backup arrangements to be covert to one extent or another.  For 
one example, they might have to be careful of surveillance of the released 
operatives.

The fact that the police have a duplicate set of rapidly-getting-out-of-date 
records shouldn't affect them much, unless the police decide to harrass the 
customer base.  I'd expect such harrassment to fail, since the customer 
base is probably too large and too upper-middle-class to make a handy target.  
But you never know.

I'd really like to see a followup to find out if the operators were
foresightful as I suspect they might be, or if this raid shut them down
for lack of normal database backup.  But I suppose it's wishing for too
much that the news media would follow up competently...

--
You know the great thing about TV?  If something important happens anywhere at
all in the world, no matter what time of day or night, you can always
change the channel.
                                --- Jim Ignatowski
--
Wayne Throop      <the-known-world>!mcnc!rti-sel!dg_rtp!throopw

[anyone know someone in the Marin Police Force?  Perhaps we can get more 
 information on the arrest and what the police plan on doing with the
 confiscated information... -- Dave]