ar, at warp speed. This "group" (actually, a networking
gaggle of interested parties which scarcely deserves even that loose
term) has almost nothing in the way of formal organization. Those
formal civil libertarian organizations which did take an interest in
cyberspace issues, mainly the Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility and the American Civil Liberties Union, were carried
along by events in 1990, and acted mostly as adjuncts, underwriters or
launching-pads.

The civil libertarians nevertheless enjoyed the greatest success of any
of the groups in the Crackdown of 1990. At this writing, their future
looks rosy and the political initiative is firmly in their hands. This
should be kept in mind as we study the highly unlikely lives and
lifestyles of the people who actually made this happen.

#

In June 1989, Apple Computer, Inc., of Cupertino, California, had a
problem. Someone had illicitly copied a small piece of Apple's
proprietary software, software which controlled an internal chip
driving the Macintosh screen display. This Color QuickDraw source code
was a closely guarded piece of Apple's intellectual property. Only
trusted Apple insiders were supposed to possess it.

But the "NuPrometheus League" wanted things otherwise. This person (or
persons) made several illicit copies of this source code, perhaps as
many as two dozen. He (or she, or they) then put those illicit floppy
disks into envelopes and mailed them to people all over America: people
in the computer industry who were associated with, but not directly
employed by, Apple Computer.

The NuPrometheus caper was a complex, highly ideological, and very
hacker-like crime. Prometheus, it will be recalled, stole the fire of
the Gods and gave this potent gift to the general ranks of downtrodden
mankind. A similar god-in-the-manger attitude was implied for the
corporate elite of Apple Computer, while the "Nu" Prometheus had
himself cast in the role of rebel demigod. The illicitly copied data
was given away for free.

The new Prometheus, whoever he was, escaped the fate of the ancient
Greek Prometheus, who was chained to a rock for centuries by the
vengeful gods while an eagle tore and ate his liver. On the other
hand, NuPrometheus chickened out somewhat by comparison with his role
model. The small chunk of Color QuickDraw code he had filched and
replicated was more or less useless to Apple's industrial rivals (or,
in fact, to anyon