
Confession of a C0dez Kid (2001) - tux
http://readtext.org/history/confession-of-codez-kid/
======
vezzy-fnord
This is cDc #395 and it actually dates to 2004:
[http://www.cultdeadcow.com/cDc_files/cDc-0395.html](http://www.cultdeadcow.com/cDc_files/cDc-0395.html)

It is indeed one of their best.

~~~
tux
Looking at original text file form
[http://textfiles.com/history/c0dez.txt](http://textfiles.com/history/c0dez.txt)

    
    
       From: Dark Sorcerer
       Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 17:35:57 -0000
       Subject: Confessions of a C0dez Kid
    

Looking at [http://textfiles.com/history/](http://textfiles.com/history/)

    
    
       c0dez.txt ... 63056 ... (February 20, 2001)
    

Now looking at curl head "curl -I
[http://www.cultdeadcow.com/cDc_files/cDc-0395.html"](http://www.cultdeadcow.com/cDc_files/cDc-0395.html")

    
    
       Last-Modified: Mon, 09 Aug 2004 07:20:54 GMT
    

So unless original author can verify, the publish date is February 20th, 2001
:-)

\- Thank you HN-Mods for fixing the titles.

------
justanother
Nice read. I being somewhat younger than the author, didn't get into the scene
(such as it was) until after the dust settled from Operation Sun Devil. There
was a lot of what he describes, excepting less emphasis on long-distance codes
(understandable in our 5ESS LATA) and greater emphasis on hacking nearby
universities to get onto the somewhat nascent Internet, as well as the
occasional Tymnet/X.25 NUI. Almost none of us 'carded', although there was an
epidemic of nice modems being stuffed down pants at the local Comp-USA. But
for a few years, if it was connected to a local phone line or was on the
Internet with a security vulnerability, one (or more) of us had root access.

I did get receive modest interest from local law enforcement, but I owe a
sincere debt of gratitude to university staff (who I hope recognized something
of a kindred, non-malicious spirit) who begged district attorneys not to
proceed with my prosecution. Between that scare and somehow raising modest
capital to start a local ISP with a Sprintlink T1 line, I eventually graduated
from 'the scene' and found myself a straight-laced system admin (later
software developer).

I like to think 'the scene' didn't disappear; Most people can buy fast
Internet access somewhat cheaply (or hack a wireless network) and install
Linux for free. For a couple nickels more, you can operate your own IN-WATS
PBX with help from Twilio or a cut-rate SIP provider. In short, much of what
was forbidden to us became easily and/or cheaply within reach. Welcome to
utopia.

------
jakejake
Really interesting story. I wonder if I myself might have gotten into trouble
were it not for the fact that I couldn't make that many phone calls. I seem to
recall that there was no such thing as unlimited calling - even for local
numbers. Not to mention I wasn't allowed to hog our one phone line. Calling a
long-distance number for 30 minutes probably would have resulted in at least a
$10 phone bill - which was totally out of the question.

I was resigned to call one local BBS and do a direct 1-to-1 modem connection
with my only other friend who had a modem!

~~~
fred_is_fred
Local calls were unlimited in the 1970s and 1980s, like the are now. I think
that this was true everywhere in the US but with different RBOCs perhaps some
had different rules.

~~~
function_seven
Yeah, but there was the concept of intraLATA toll calls. Or "local-toll"
calls. These weren't long-distance, but they weren't free, either.

I remember calling my grandparents in Arizona cost 5¢ a minute, but calling
relatives in the next city over—about 10 miles away—cost something crazy like
29¢ a minute.

This was in California. I'm sure the rate structures varied from state to
state.

~~~
jakejake
That's how I remember it too. Most local calls perhaps were included with the
service, but a call to the other side of town might be considered long-
distance. I do remember that the rates varied wildly. My parents would
occasionally question me or my sister about a specific call on the bill that
cost a lot.

------
i336_
I got the Internet in 2006. I feel like I missed out on so much :(

Invest anti-establishmentarianism and experiment with psuhing your own
boundaries, and get rewarded with access to this totally new new _thing_ \-
technology - that was everywhere, powering the world, and Important(TM)...

I can totally understand how that would be quite attractive :)

That said, this author seems to have had a bit of a lucky break with the
authorities, and I can't say I (or my family) would be particularly
enthusiastic to have to deal with this side of things.

But I guess the fact that it was a two-sided coin added to the attractiveness
in a way.

