Thirty Years On

With this issue of 2600, we have begun our fourth decade of publishing.  It's rather hard for us to believe, but that's what the start of our 31^st year means.  If there's any theme that's accompanied every aspect of this whole project and the world we're a part of, it's that life is always a whole lot more unpredictable and strange than anything that was ever predicted.

That's not to say the many people who have been involved in our previous 152 issues didn't anticipate a lot of what today's world has become in their visions.  These, after all, are the pages that held many of the ideas and values that helped to define the Internet.  The very notion of security was outlined repeatedly right here, with endless examples of what constituted bad practices on every level imaginable.  And technology of all sorts, ranging from devices of mischief to tools that made serious strides in improving lives was discussed, theorized about, and demonstrated year after year in nearly every edition of 2600.

That, perhaps, is the strangest part of this entire evolution: that we have been there to witness it, comment on it, and even help it along in various ways.  We never guessed that the things those of us found interesting in the beginning would ever be relevant to anyone else, let alone such a huge part of the world.  We enjoyed playing with telephones because they linked all parts of the world together in what seemed like a magical accomplishment.  Today, of course, the whole world knows this and connections to other parts of the planet are routine.  We used Blue Boxes and routed calls on our own to expand the possibilities and eliminate the costs, which by definition was stepping outside the boundaries of legality.  Now, reaching out like that is not only permitted, but encouraged.  We explored computers of all different networks because there was so much to learn but precious little in the way of opportunities to do so.  Being told that we weren't allowed to learn about UNIX, for example, wasn't something that we as hackers took kindly to.  If the only access to such a system was by breaking in and exploring, then that was what had to be done.  And now we are deluged with UNIX-derivative systems for people to run on their own devices, devices that are a tiny fraction of the size of the cumbersome mainframes of the past with infinitely more potential and capacity.

It's easy to predict that technology will improve; what's hard is knowing how society and individuals will change as a result.  It wasn't so hard for us to assume back in the early days that things would get faster, smaller, and cheaper.  What we didn't know was that it would mean so much to so many others.  This was just something we were interested in because it was cool and because we were curious and a bit mischievous.  Sure, there was always a bigger picture looming in the background for some of us: the extension of First Amendment rights to digital outlets like BBSes, opposing the abuse of power by authorities in search and seizure activities, battling the irrational fear of what hackers could do, and getting more access to technology for the mainstream.  But the true mystique here was in that sense of adventure and the feeling that we were embarking on a quest that few understood and that many more feared.  Contrary to much of what we've all been taught, unbridled fun can often lead to far more meaningful accomplishments.

That adventurous spirit is something we need to make sure isn't lost in the shuffle.  While it's great to see improvements in technology and access, it would be a misfortune to lose sight of the wonder of it all.  For instance, when hackers of the past would make a long distance connection, there was a real sense of accomplishment and appreciation at what was actually taking place.  The same was true of making a computer perform a task that it hadn't necessarily done before.  Realizing that all of this interaction was taking place in a tiny electronic environment felt like a bit of magic.  One thing to worry about today is that this magic has become so routine that the excitement has been drained out of it, and all of these things we're playing with have become commonplace and even boring.  That might be how it turns out for people with little imagination, but in the hacker world, even the most common bits of technology continue to inspire and captivate us.  Many decades ago, the thought of human voices being carried over wires seemed a true marvel.  Well, it still is.  And as with anything else, just because it's now commonplace and exponentially faster doesn't make it any less amazing.  When that fact is forgotten, we lose the excitement factor which is what traditionally has propelled us forward.

As we reflect on all of this, it's also fascinating to see how much hasn't changed:

• We still see hackers being demonized every time something goes wrong with technology.  The difference is that there's a lot more technology today - and a lot more people willing to define themselves as hackers.
• The powers that be continue to want to get more personal info on all of us.  Thirty years ago, we were talking about credit reports, isolated surveillance cameras, and pen registers.  Today, it's a whole lot more insidious: many of us want to help add to the databases for the sake of convenience and better social lives.  And, of course, the all-encompassing nature of the data that is collected dwarfs anything we used to be worried about.  What hasn't changed is our overall concern and suspicion, as well as the desire of the authorities to push ever further into that which used to be out of bounds.
• The media continues to miss the story.  Even with all we've learned from WikiLeaks, Bradley/Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden, the mainstream continues to be told that they are what constitute a threat, not the egregious violations they've uncovered.  And, like we've seen so many times over the decades, every time a security hole exposes private information, it's hackers (sometimes even theoretical hackers) who get the blame, not the poorly designed systems and lack of accountability.

On nearly every level, today's technology is virtually unrecognizable from what we would have been working with 30 years ago.  But the desire for exploration, the threat of oppression, the fight for freedom, and the specter of ignorance are all pretty much in the same positions we found them in 1984.  That doesn't mean significant progress hasn't been made.  It's precisely because those who care haven't given up that we can still have these conversations and reach more people than ever.  In a world with such rapidly and dramatically changing technological abilities, the threats from those who wish to control, subvert, and abuse them are always going to be present, no matter how forcefully they were turned back previously.  If, say, we succeeded in completely dismantling the NSA's ability to violate our privacy, they would simply return in some other form down the road.  Historically, these things just don't go away.  But then, apparently neither do we.

The hacker spirit is one of those traits of humanity that cannot be suppressed.  It's in our nature to push back when told we're being restricted, whether that is being applied to what we're allowed to know about, what software we're permitted to use, what rules we're expected to accept without question.

This coming year also happens to be when our Hackers On Planet Earth conference series marks its 20^th anniversary.  Our tenth conference (HOPE X) will mark the occasion this July in New York.  We expect to have an unparalleled selection of talks and activities devoted to new technology, free speech, surveillance, dissent, and all kinds of other issues of interest to hackers.  We hope to see you there.

We'll undoubtedly be facing all sorts of challenges in the next year and the next 30 years.  Without the spirit and skill that this community is constantly building upon, the roads ahead would indeed be dark ones - for all of society.