Re: Steve Mentzer: Pirate. You are no longer welcome.

[smentzer@pacbell.net (Steve Mentzer)]

THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN!


>
>Note: the following is a fairly long posting, but I and many others
>feel that this is relevant to the Apple II community at large.
>
>In article <55ojr1$48i@client2.news.psi.net>,
>Steve Mentzer <smentzer@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>Check on my FTP site... follow the links at 
>>http://home.earthlink.com/~smentzer to access my FTP site at home..
>
>   Well, if you can spell 'earthlink.net', that URL used to head off
>to your home WinNT3.5 box. [It doesn't anymore, for reasons that'll be
>very apparent in a minute.]
>


Actually, the account wouldn't have existed in about a week anyway.
I had no intention of paying for the service.... I started the 
service for a reason...


>   I dropped by this ftp site, and the contents were most interesting.
>For someone claiming to "support" the Apple II, Steve Mentzer's ftp
>site had copies of JUST ABOUT EVERY COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE GS
>SOFTWARE.  The latest stuff from Shareware Solutions II
>(Convert.3200), the complete line of the Byte Works products, a lot of
>Softdisk and Softdisk GSs, most of the GS+ Magazines, AWGS, ProSEL,
>Proterm, and the like. Plus, a few of the more popular PC games in
>their commercial (not shareware) versions: Quake, Abuse, Duke Nukem
>3D, etc.


Actually, Abuse *is* the shareware version, and Quake and Dukem Nukem 3d were
zips of my CD that I purchased *legally*.. I thought I was entitled to a copy of
them, right nathan?  Oh, the softdisk GS stuff? Yes, I have it. Never even
looked at it though. I got it off of a pirate site quite some time ago and have
picked up the most recent versions here and there. I dont even know what it 
contains, since I dont have a GS to run it on.... 

>
>   As I said before: those who pirate stuff from 10+ years ago are
>damn likely to pirate the latest software. How much revenue has he
>deprived Joe Kohn or The Byte Works of? [Tip: if there's to be any
>support by programmers, they need tools. And the person doing a heroic
>job producing these tools needs to earn a living.] There is no excuse
>to pirate stuff from 10+ years ago, and there is certainly NO EXCUSE
>WHATSOEVER to pirate what you can _BUY FROM THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR_.
>


Actually nathan, I have deprived *no one* of any revenue. My transfer logs
only show two people (Joe Klein/EARTHLINK) downloading some software. The site was
never open to the public. 

As I recall, the person who I gave the address to was asking for prince of persia disk 
#2. 
That was my bait and hook, nathan. I didn't have prince of persia on my FTP site. 
And the /pub directory on my local drive is where I keep all of my archives, pirated
or not. 

Once again, this was a bait and hook. Ill tell you why later.



>   Email was sent out to the earthlink sysadmins, and the companies
>with products on your site. [A copy of this email is attached below.]
>Softdisk, Crack dot com, Joe Kohn, and Mike Westerfield of the Byte
>Works responded within hours, irate. The sysadmins of 'pacificnet.net'
>responded that an account that Steve Mentzer had there had been axed
>due to activity concurrent with account cracking. [Turley can give
>folks a description of what a broken into account feels like... it
>ain't fun.]
>


Thats kind of funny that you talked to pacificnet.  The system administrator (Tom 
Bortels)
shut down my account for "hacking root". Kind of funny considering that I have a signed 
document from Richard Elliot, Dave Pennells and Tom Bortels stating that their decision 
to
shut down my account was a mistake. I also had the co-operation of NetCom who located the
individual and I am in the process of bringing suit against the person for loss of 
business
due to my account at pacificnet being shut down. 

Read this...


        ===========================================================================

        Return-Path: nc0252@netcom.com
        Date: Mon, 23 Sep 1996 15:15:43 -0700 (PDT)
        From: Jannot <nc0252@corp.netcom.com>
        To: "Steven W. Mentzer" <smentzer@pacbell.net>
        Subject: Re: security breach on another ISP

        On Wed, 31 Jul 1996, Steven W. Mentzer wrote:

        > 
        > 
        > Hi there...
        > 
        > I am an end user who is not a current subscriber to your service. However, it
        > appears that one of your users "hacked" my account on my ISP, and proceeded to
        > "hack root".
        > 
        > Indeed, i have lost my access rights on that server, and I also lost
        > approximately $2,500.00 in business revenue due to the lack of internet access.
        > I have also lost all of my .html documents (which were located on the remote
        > server). The sysadmin will not let me have them back.
        > 
        > My complaint is definately not with your service. Your reputation is
        > outstanding. What I am asking for is some assistance in locating the individual
        > who committed this crime. I have some clues as to why I think the user 
        > accessed my ISP via your service.
        > 
        > According to the sysadmin at pacificnet.net, whose name is Tom Bortels
        > (818-717-9500 .. bortels@pacificnet.net), the server tracks where the last
        > "login" occurred from. It appears that the last login using my name and 
        > password occurred on July 14th at 11:10pm via sdx-ca12-10.ix.netcom.com.
        > 
        > I understand that ix.netcom.com is commonly used throughout your system. I
        > am wondering if sdx-ca12-10 is a static ip or partial domain that an individual 
        > user has aquired with your service.
        > 
        > That is the only real clue I have to go on. However, i do know that most
        > ISP's keep activity logs. If you could possible locate any activity to
        > pacificnet.net
        > via telnet or FTP between july 10th and 14th by your users, we can possibly 
        > eliminate a great deal of possibilities.
        > 
        > I understand that I am not a paying member of your service, but my hands are 
        > tied at this point. I know that I am not guilty of any security breach, and 
        > all the arrows point to a user on your system. Please help me locate
        > the person(s) responsible for this. I would really like to clear my name
        > with pacificnet.
        > 
        > smentzer@pacbell.net
        
 
        Thanks for informing us of this situation.  We've located the account
        responsible for the connection above, and have suspended it pending
        further investigation.

        The address the culprit was connected to is a dynamic ip address. I am
        sorry to hear that your ISP decided to cancel your account and disallow
        you access to your materials.  While we understand your wish to contact
        this user, Netcom's policy with regard to accounting information is one
        of strict confidentiality.  We are unable to release the name or
        accounting information of any past or present user without the
        appropriate legal procedures.

        If you intend to bring suit against this user and need confidential 
        information in order to do so, please have your legal
        representatives draw up the appropriate documents and contact us
        directly.  

        If you have further questions or concerns, or if there's anything we
        can do to assist you within our policies, please let us know.

        Jannot
        Netcom Security

        ====================================
        |            Jannot                |
        |      security@netcom.com         |
        |  NETCOM Online Communications    |
        ====================================


        =================================================================================


If you are going to make a point nathan, make sure your ass is covered by facts!


>   Earthlink has apparently suspended his account for now; he's
>reduced to posting messages from psi.net, but with a return address of
>pacbell.net. He tried changing the link that used to go to his home
>machine to my home page, a trick that fooled nobody since I took down
>the original html source code, and the pirate site was accessed by
>many when it was still pointing to his home machine.
>


Wrong, only 2 people of the FTP site downloaded ANYTHING (logs tell me this).
Joe Klein (CRL.COM/JOKO) and YUGO.IT.EARTHLINK.NET (OREO). Once again, the site was never 
open to the public. It was a hook and bait nathan, and you and your cronies fell for it
hook, line and sinker.


>   Only the truely _STUPID_ would advertise themselves as a big pirate
>with the latest stuff and their name on it. Only the stupid would get
>themselves kicked off one ISP after another, and resort to cracked
>accounts to steal, not pay for internet access. Only the stupid would
>give random ftp users access to most of their PCs hard drive and say
>"please don't try to crack this machine." I believe we now know who
>that is: Steve Mentzer.


Actually, I made it a point to give *anonymous* access to only the /pub directory. 
And the pub directory contained *lots* of things, many of which were legal
archives of things that I have bought.




>
>   I and many other developers who have had their work BLATANTLY
>stolen by this pirate urge you, the Apple II community to reject this
>asshole, to harass him at every sign of his pirate activities, and
>to make him pay for the lost revenues to the developers who are still
>supporting him. [Other folks who saw and verified this act of piracy,
>feel free to join in.]
>


I haven't stolen anything. I haven't distributed anything. I haven't hacked
any accounts. I haven't blatantly tried to steal the "candy" from the hands
of the remaining apple // developers. This is kind of funny because I am 
supposedly "stealing" apple //gs software, but have no way to use it,
and I have never distributed it...



>   I and others have facts and evidence. I urge you to consider it,
>and make a choice how to deal with someone charged with these items.
>Once again, I remind others that piracy for the hardcore unrepentant
>pirate does not stop at 10 years ago; they'll do their best to suck
>the lifeblood out of this community. The Apple II spirit is NOT in
>piracy or division; it's in supporting the legal, moral, and ethical
>efforts of others, and purging disease.
>

Legal, moral, ethical efforts of others, and purging disease... Are you reading
this from the bible nathan?  This sound like the same "I am right, you are 
wrong" dribble that you put on the usenet all the time.

The only evidence you found of anything nathan is what was planted for you and the
rest of your idiots to find. Im getting to the good parts now.



>Nathan Mates
>
>
>--- Begin copy of email sent to others:
>
>From nathan@visi.com Tue Nov  5 19:26 CST 1996
>Received: from thumper.visi.com (nathan@thumper.visi.com [204.73.178.3]) by 
mixer.visi.com (8.8.2/8.7.5) with ESMTP id TAA16974; Tue, 5 Nov 
>Received: (from nathan@localhost) by thumper.visi.com (8.8.2/8.6.12) id TAA18333; Tue, 5 
Nov 1996 19:25:49 -0600 (CST)
>Received-Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 19:25:50 -0600 (CST)
>From: Nathan Mates <nathan@visi.com>
>Posted-Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 19:25:49 -0600 (CST)
>Message-Id: <199611060125.TAA18333@thumper.visi.com>
>Subject: Pirate site with commercial A2 software
>To: root@earthlink.net, postmaster@earthlink.net, info@softdisk.com,
>        internet@softdisk.com, joko@crl.com, mikew50@aol.com,
>        diz@chattanooga.net, root@idsoftware.com, root@apogee1.com,
>        nathan@visi.com, ddt@crack.com, root@crack.com
>Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 19:25:48 -0600 (CST)
>Priority: Urgent
>X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL25]
>Content-Type: text
>Content-Length: 4387
>Status: OR
>
>   Sorry for the big to: list on this email, but I figured that this
>needed to get to most of you. Basically, a user with a earthlink.net
>account, Steve Mentzer, is pirating a lot of _commercially available_
>and supported Apple II software, NES/SNES games, and the like. I
>figured I'd cc this email to as many relevant parties as possible so
>that they can get in contact with Earthlink if they want.
>


NES/SNES games? Where?  I dont even have a working emulator yet, the only
NES/SNES software I had on my site was a demo for an emulator..  As far
as commercially available apple // software, yes, there was a pretty complete
image of Asimov there.. 




***ANYWAY***



Nathan, lets look at the facts....


  1 - My account with earthlink was less than a month old. It was put there to 
      screw you the way that I did. I dont care if I lose that account. I had 
      no intention of keeping it. Earthlink is the *worst* internet provider 
      on earth. But they allow nearly instant access and web page creation.

  2 - There were quite a few files on the server that may or may have not been
      pirated software. Either way, the site was never public. It was never 
      intended for anyone to even log in (except for you of course). 

  3 - The message I posted about price of persia was a hook. Why would I tell someone
      to go to my site, if I didn't have the software up there?  Because I knew you
      would read the message and respond. You all responded. Perfectly.. Just like I 
      wanted.

  4 - The account that I wanted to keep (smentzer@pacbell.net) is active and will
      remain active. I have committed no crime, or violated my subscriber agreement 
      with them..

  5 - No-one except for your cronies downloaded *anything* and I have the transfer
      logs to prove it. I have a 2 megabyte event log detailing every file handle
      access on my NTFS partition by the ANONYMOUS account. I also have IP addresses,
      login times etc etc etc... Nathan, I protected myself very well here...

***??WHY DID I DO THIS??***

I went through all of this mess to prove a point. 

Nathan, you and your cronies have attempted to paint Charles Turley, Myself and many 
others as evil men who are seeking to destroy the apple // community. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. 

It is *you* who seek to gain complete control of what we can say, what we can hear and 
what we can see in regards to apple // software and material. Your track record of 
lambasting anyone who doesn't subscribe to your beliefs is proof of this. Every person 
who has disagreed with you or the rest of your parrotheads has met a strong wall of 
resistance from a morally high-strung group of bible thumpers who seek to set a new 
standard of what is right and wrong.

And to prove my point, I took it upon myself to show the rest of the apple II community 
exactly what you are all about. You never once attempted to contact me, analyze the 
contents of any files that were supposedly on my site, or resolve the situation in a 
manner that would
best suit the needs of the apple // community. 

You saw something that you didn't like, and instead of being a rational person, you went 
ahead and proceeded "paint a person black" without even covering your own ass or 
considering another possible solution.

You are the equivalent of a nazi. You seek to "snuff out" anything that is questionable 
without reason or regard to the effect of your own actions. Did you ever stop to think 
that
the site could probably serve as a "benefit" to the apple // community. And did you ever 
stop
to think that the software that generated the dynamic HTML files would be useful to many 
users in the internet community? 

No, of course not. You are blinded by your own arrogance and desire to have things "your 
own way". 
 
And then you have the gall to ask the apple // community to chose between us. You ask 
them
to "black-list" me. What kind of dribble is that nathan? Who said you were the "town 
leader".


THEREFORE- 

   I am *not* asking the apple // community to chose between myself and nathan.
   Nathan has provided a service to the apple // community that I cannot deny.
   
   You may not agree with my actions, but they have caused *no harm*. I can prove that.

   My actions may have been questionable, but there were there to prove a point.

   
   NATHAN... PLEASE DO US ALL A FAVOR AND STOP THE WITCH HUNT THAT YOU ARE ON.
             STOP TRYING TO PAINT ALL THOSE WHO DO NOT AGREE WITH YOU AS EVIL MEN
             WHO ARE TRYING TO KILL THE APPLE // COMMUNITY. WE ARE NOT. WE JUST HAVE
             A DIFFERENT VIEW OF THE ISSUES THAN YOU DO. 

             NOT EVERYONE WILL AGREE WITH YOU. NOT EVERYONE WILL AGREE WITH ME.
             BUT I DONT ASK FOR AGREEMENT FROM ANYONE. YOU METHODICALLY ATTEMPT TO
             DESTROY THOSE WHO OPPOSE YOU. WHAT KIND OF APPLE // SPIRIT IS THAT?

FINALLY - 

  People, I have meant no harm. I didn't distribute software illegally. No-one
  accessed my FTP site except for nathan and the other cronies. I am not here to
  take away the last shreds of development. But the apple // community is like the
  internet in a way. It is a free spirit. People do things for the apple // because
  they love to. 

  This was all a demonstration of the "witch hunt" that nathan has pursued over the
  last several months. I am not the only person to be a victim of his ravenous
  thirst to defile liberal opinions. But the apple // community doesn't need a 
  policeman to control everything we do.



smentzer@pacbell.net