--- Begin Message ---
____________________________ Forward Header __________________________________
Subject: Fwd: For aol 4.0 This is very important!!
Author: Flora Windle Bellamy at CCMSPH10
Date: 24.10.97 08:45
Forwarded Message:
Subj: aol 4.0....
Date: 97-10-06 15:12:21 EDT
From: Shovel77
To: DLC 7442, SCHIEB1, RPCURRY
CC: NascarCK
In a message dated 97-10-06 02:19:09 EDT, PegiSuzi writes:
<< From a former AOL employee:
I'll try and cut through the crap, and try to get to the point of this
letter. I used to work for America Online, and would like to remain
anonymous for that reason. I was laid off in early September, but I know
exactly why I was laid off, which I will now explain:
Since last December, I had been one of the many people assigned to design
AOL 4.0 for Windows (AOL 4.0 beta, codenamed Casablanca). In the beginning,
I was very proud of this task, until I found out the true cost of it. Things
were going fine until about mid-February, when me and 2 of my colleagues
started to suspect a problem, an unexplainable 'Privacy Invasion', with the
new version. One of them, who is a master programmer, copied the finished
portion of the new version (Then 'Build 52'), and took it home, and we spent
nearly 2 weeks of sleepless nights examining and debugging the program,
flipping it inside-out, and here is what we found.
Unlike all previous versions of America Online, version 4.0 puts
something in your hard drive called a 'cookie'. (AOL members click <A HREF=
"aol://4344:1047.g334.8411481.532897009">here for a definition).
However, the cookie we found on Version 4.0 was far more treacherous than t
he simple Internet cookie. How would you like somebody looking at your entire
hard drive, snooping through any (yes, any) piece of information on your hard
drive. It could also read your password and log in information and store it
deep in the program code.
Well, all previous versions, whether you like it or not, have done this to a
certain extent, but only with files you downloaded. As me and my colleagues
discovered, with the new version, anytime you are signed on to AOL, any top AO
L executive, any AOL worker, who has been sworn to secrecy regarding this feat
ure, can go in to your hard drive and retrieve any piece of information that t
hey so desire. Billing, download records, e-mail, directories, personal docum
ents, programs, financial information, scanned images, etc. Better start keepi
ng all those pictures on a floppy disk!
This is a totally disgusting violation of our rights, and your right to
know as well. Since this is undoubtedly 'Top Secret' information that I am
revealing, my life at AOL is pretty much over. After discovering this inform
attain, we started to inform a few other workers at America Online, so that we
could get a large enough crew to stop this from happening to the millions of
unfortunate and unsuspecting America Online members. This was in early August
. One month later, all three of us were unemployed. We got together, and fig
ured there was something we had to do to let the public know.
Unemployed, with one of us going through a divorce (me) and another who is a
bout to undergo treatment for Cancer, our combined financial situation is not
currently enough to release any sort or article. We attempted to create a web
page on three different servers containing in-depth information on AOL 4.0, b
ut all three were taken down within 2 days. We were running very low on time
(4.0 is released early this winter), so we figured our last hope to reveal thi
s madness before it effects the people was starting something similar to a cha
in letter, this letter you are reading. Please do the following, to help us e
xpose AOL for who they really are, and to help us and yourself receive persona
l gratification for taking a stand for our freedom:
1. Forward this letter to as many people as you can (not just friends and f
amily, as many as you can)!
2. Tell people who aren't on America Online in person, especially
important people (Private Investigators, Government workers, City Council)
3. If the information about the new version isn't exposed by the time AOL i
s released early this winter, for your own protection, DON'T DOWNLOAD AOL 4.0
UNDER ANY CONDITION !!!
Thank you for reading and examining this information. Me and my colleagues
hope that you will help us do the right thing in this
situation. Enjoy America Online (just kidding!).
Regards,
A former AOL employee
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com</A> >> >>
-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: Casablanca
Date: 97-10-06 02:19:09 EDT
From: PegiSuzi
In a message dated 97-10-05 23:31:58 EDT, ONLCKED writes:
<< DARRELL,,
PLEASE SEND THIS OUT IN ONE YOUR UPCOMING LETTERS YOU HAVE THE LARGEST
MAILING LIST THAT I KNOW OF.
THANKS,
RICH
From a former AOL employee:
I'll try and cut through the crap, and try to get to the point of this
letter. I used to work for America Online, and would like to remain
anonymous for that reason. I was laid off in early September, but I know
exactly why I was laid off, which I will now explain:
Since last December, I had been one of the many people assigned to design
AOL 4.0 for Windows (AOL 4.0 beta, codenamed Casablanca). In the beginning,
I was very proud of this task, until I found out the true cost of it. Things
were going fine until about mid-February, when me and 2 of my colleagues
started to suspect a problem, an unexplainable 'Privacy Invasion', with the
new version. One of them, who is a master programmer, copied the finished
portion of the new version (Then 'Build 52'), and took it home, and we spent
nearly 2 weeks of sleepless nights examining and debugging the program,
flipping it inside-out, and here is what we found.
Unlike all previous versions of America Online, version 4.0 puts
something in your hard drive called a 'cookie'. (AOL members click <A HREF="
aol://4344:1047.g334.8411481.532897009">here for a definition).
However, the cookie we found on Version 4.0 was far more treacherous than th
e simple Internet cookie. How would you like somebody looking at your entire
hard drive, snooping through any (yes, any) piece of information on your hard
drive. It could also read your password and log in information and store it d
eep in the program code.
Well, all previous versions, whether you like it or not, have done this to a
certain extent, but only with files you downloaded. As me and my colleagues d
iscovered, with the new version, anytime you are signed on to AOL, any top AOL
executive, any AOL worker, who has been sworn to secrecy regarding this featu
re, can go in to your hard drive and retrieve any piece of information that th
ey so desire. Billing, download records, e-mail, directories, personal docume
nts, programs, financial information, scanned images, etc. Better start keepin
g all those pictures on a floppy disk!
This is a totally disgusting violation of our rights, and your right to
know as well. Since this is undoubtedly 'Top Secret' information that I am r
evealing, my life at AOL is pretty much over. After discovering this inform a
ttain, we started to inform a few other workers at America Online, so that we
could get a large enough crew to stop this from happening to the millions of u
nfortunate and unsuspecting America Online members. This was in early August.
One month later, all three of us were unemployed. We got together, and figu
red there was something we had to do to let the public know.
Unemployed, with one of us going through a divorce (me) and another who is ab
out to undergo treatment for Cancer, our combined financial situation is not c
urrently enough to release any sort or article. We attempted to create a web
page on three different servers containing in-depth information on AOL 4.0, bu
t all three were taken down within 2 days. We were running very low on time (
4.0 is released early this winter), so we figured our last hope to reveal this
madness before it effects the people was starting something similar to a chai
n letter, this letter you are reading. Please do the following, to help us ex
pose AOL for who they really are, and to help us and yourself receive personal
gratification for taking a stand for our freedom:
1. Forward this letter to as many people as you can (not just friends and fa
mily, as many as you can)!
2. Tell people who aren't on America Online in person, especially
important people (Private Investigators, Government workers, City Council)
3. If the information about the new version isn't exposed by the time AOL is
released early this winter, for your own protection, DON'T DOWNLOAD AOL 4.0 U
NDER ANY CONDITION !!!
Thank you for reading and examining this information. Me and my colleagues h
ope that you will help us do the right thing in this
situation. Enjoy America Online (just kidding!).
Regards,
A former AOL employee
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com</A> >>
From: RonStory _at__ aol.com
Subject: Fwd: For aol 4.0 This is very important!!
---------------------------- Forwarded with Changes ---------------------------
From: RonStory _at__ aol.com at Internet
Date: 10/23/97 4:26PM
*To: jfergu00 _at__ nimbus.ocis.temple.edu (jmf;sr.) at Internet
*To: bgunt _at__ rocketmail.com at Internet
*To: rose23 _at__ futures.wharton.upenn.edu at Internet
*To: abelser _at__ wharton.upenn.edu at Internet
*To: Flora_Windle_Bellamy _at__ rohmhaas.com (florawindlebellamy) at Internet
*To: lyndas.princeton _at__ internetmci.com at Internet
Subject: Fwd: For aol 4.0 This is very important!!
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