Jesse Hirsh on Sun, 5 Jan 97 21:45 MET |
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nettime: mcluhan: don't believe the hype (fwd) |
wow this jesse hirsh spin is going crazy here is the response i sent after being acused of rape (for doing a majordomo command no less) http://www.tao.ca/~jesse ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1997 14:12:45 -0500 (EST) From: Jesse Hirsh <jesse@tao.ca> To: freemcluhan@tao.ca Subject: mcluhan: don't believe the hype Holy Spins Batman, the McLuhan Project declared Information Warfare! Well I reply with peace. I did not steal the mcluhan-list, I did not rape anyone. I am a lover, not a fighter. This is public space, I walked into the room, and invited the friends of mcluhan to the seminars continued in his name. My name is Jesse Hirsh, I am 22, and I am the Director of the New Media Unit at the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto. The program is a not-for-profit organization in the University of Toronto. I am both a volunteer and student at the program. The seminars are free and open to the public. There are no commercial interests associated with the seminars or these postings. We have brought back the Monday Night Seminars as a free gift to the people. McLuhan Scholars of past generations have in-fought over the orthodoxy of McLuhan. Factions have arisen like a childish techno-clergy. I am the new generation, and I come in peace and unity. I organize the seminars with the help of Eric McLuhan, Derrick de Kerkchove, Liss Jeffrey, and any other member of the McLuhan Community who wishes to revive the spirit of life and innovation inherent in the name. In fact my friend Nelson Thall, even had this to say: >Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1997 20:01:21 -0500 >From: Nelthall@aol.com >To: jesse@tao.ca >Subject: Reply > >Best regards on your seminars. And I thank dear Nelson for his kind words, as he is someone who I deeply respect and admire. In fact it was my intention this morning (before this attack) to invite him to be a speaker for one of the seminars. (Interested Nelson?) I am the digital generation. I know not walls or barriers, privacy or property. We are redefining public space, and an email list is as much a room, as it is for one and all. I am 'McLuhan in Action', the existential hacker of the datashpere who lives the medium as message. I have taken the teachings from 1964 Understanding Media and have integrated them into 1997 life. I am the living probe that explores the externalized global brain. I am the generation that will truly 'hack the planet'. I did not steal this list. I did not break into any computers to get it. As a longstanding member of the mcluhan-list I had access to the list membership just like everyone else. All I had to do was send an email to majordomo@astral.magic.ca with the command 'who mcluhan-list'. I then received an email with all the members of the list. I didn't even leave my email program. My new friend spencer had this to say: >Date: Sun, 05 Jan 1997 08:11:40 -0500 >From: spencer cosmos <spencer@his.com> >To: jesse@tao.ca >Subject: re: "theft" of McLuhan" > >Go, Jesse, Go! Someday, someone is going to convince somebody that >thought is not property and needn't be "authorized." > >spencer Cosmos >scosmos@usa.net The person who runs the mcluhan-list is named Robert. Robert I believe you owe any woman (or man) who has been raped an apology. Claiming that I raped the list is absurd, and detracts from the seriousness and severity associated with the word. Only a man would use it in such a way. Your response was childish and reactionary. You cannot own a list of subscribers, and you cannot control what is posted to it. When a group of people converge in a room you cannot control what they talk about. When I logged into my server this morning (I own and run tao.ca) I had a 250mb collection of mail bombs. My server was effectively shut down, and my account sabotaged. This is contrary to the federal criminal code, section 462.2, computer mischief, with a maximum penalty of 10 years and $10,000. I am at this point debating whether I should call my friend, the computer crime speicalist at 52 Division here in Toronto, and ask him to press charges. My server logs have full records of all involved. I have broken no laws, but instead I have been subject to libel and attack. I'd appreciate hearing what others think of this course of action. I had only intended to use this list once. I greatly enjoy the mcluhan-list and do not want to hamper its continued operation. After this message I will not use this list again. Although all of you may be certain that you will hear from me again, as I am very active, vocal, and involved in the continued development of 'McLuhan Scholarship'. All requests to be removed have and will be ignored, as this list 'does not exist'. In the short while that this incident has been going on I have been contacted by a number of media outlets. Please consider this my formal statement, and I can be reached for further comment at either jesse@tao.ca or at the McLuhan Program at 416-978-7026 As for those folk still interested in the seminars, I have set up a new list called seminars@tao.ca. To subscribe send an email to majordomo@tao.ca with the message subscribe seminars in the body of the message. Folk interested in participating via videoconference are encouraged to resend their request as many were lost during the attack. Anyone interested in obtaining a copy of the members of the 'mcluhan-list' are invited to send email to majordomo@astral.magic.ca with the command: 'who mcluhan-list' in the body of the message. I apologize for any inconveniences of any sort. Peace and Happy New Year to All Jesse Hirsh http://www.tao.ca/~jesse ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1997 20:56:08 -0500 (EST) From: Project.McLuhan@astral.magic.ca Reply-To: mclr@astral.magic.ca To: McLuhan-List.Subscribers@astral.magic.ca Subject: McLuhan-List "Raped" -- Your Name "Stolen" Dear "McLuhan-List" Subscriber: Since its inception in 1994, this list (run by the non-profit and charitable CENTER FOR MEDIA SCIENCES, McLuhan Research Division) has used "Majordomo" sofware, one of the two currently popular mail list packages. Majordomo allows for large list managment (over 3,000 names on our main list, currently) but lacks state-of-the-art "security" features. In other words, if you want to ATTACK our server and STEAL our list, and if you have the time and the inclination, you probably can. It appears that this has, in fact, been done. Most of our list has received a communication from "jesse@tao.ca", (also known as "mcluhan@tao.ca" and "mcluhan-list@tao.ca") announcing some so-called McLuhan "seminars" to take place shortly in Toronto. We did NOT authorize this transmission!! We have no connection with these people. We cannot speak for the quality of the seminars they are conducting. (After Marshall's untimely death in 1980, the original "McLuhan evening seminars" were conducted by our very own Nelson Thall at the University of Toronto. Nelson has no connection whatsoever with these new seminars, however.) What's more, we think the electronic "theft" of our list -- a list we took three years to build -- is REPREHENSIBLE. If you agree, you can direct your comments directly to <jesse@tao.ca>. If you receive any more communications from these people, consider that these also are "unauthorized". These are no better than junk mail or SPAM. Worse, they are designed to give the IMPRESSION they are part of a list you are already subscribed too. At present the ONLY way you can be sure you are receiving a VALID message from THIS list is : * return URL states "mclr@astral.magic.ca"; OR * "astral.magic" in the sending ID; OR * direct quotes from NELSON THALL in the body of the message We regret the inconvenience. We are as shocked and amazed by this as you are. Probably moreso. -- * distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission * <nettime> is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, * collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets * more info: majordomo@is.in-berlin.de and "info nettime" in the msg body * URL: http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@is.in-berlin.de