Andy Couturier of the Opening and Jane Brunette of flamingseed.com provided invaluable help and coaching with my writing and the book’s organization. I was lucky enough to be part of several outstanding writing groups while working on this book; I would like to particularly thank Katrina Alcorn, Novella Carpenter, Jodi Halpern, Rachel Lehman-Haupt, Martha Snider, and Robin Bishop for their help. Mio Cohen, George Cook, John and Nancy Gilbert, Jake Locke, Charlie and Betsy Pyne, Mary Rowe, Steve Sawyer, and Jason Scott reviewed early drafts of the manuscript and provided thoughtful feedback. Jennifer Eyre White, Katie Hafner, Bobbie Pires, and Dan Shimizu read some of my earliest writing attempts and book proposals.
Don Kennison’s careful copy editing of the manuscript prevented me from committing both atrocities of grammar and errors of fact, for which I am grateful; any errors that remain are, alas, my own. At Grove/Atlantic, Isobel Scott ably assisted in the production of the book. My editor, Jamison Stoltz, brought both enthusiasm and focus to the project. He blends a historian’s eye for detail with a writer’s love for words and an editor’s clarity of thought; his touch can be found on every page.
My ultimate gratitude is to my wife, Rachael Rusting, whose belief in this project and love for me was unwavering.
Thank you all.
INDEX
000–199 exchanges 65, 202–203, 352
052 conference 203, 207, 212, 246, 378
#1 ESS 236–238
121 inward operator code 5, 73, 77, 311
See also: inward operator
127 verification code 249, 256
1343: See laws, 18 USC 1343
211 long-distance access code 32, 49
2111 conference 162–166, 171, 173, 181, 202–203, 206, 246, 335, 378
2,600 Hz 48, 52–57, 61, 73–76, 85, 93–94, 105, 123–124, 140–143, 154, 163–164, 166–167, 175, 219, 222, 227, 249, 273, 297
2600 magazine 330
3,200 Hz 273
331 exchange (Boston, MA) 65–66, 68, 72, 75
#4A crossbar switch 46–47, 53, 55, 174–176, 202, 236–237, 269, 273, 318, 332
4ESS switch 318
#5 crossbar switch 120, 161
502.7: See laws, 502.7 California Penal Code
555-1212: See directory assistance
611 repair service 263, 265–266
73 magazine 388
737 time recording 118, 121
800 numbers 145–146, 153, 175, 202, 228–229, 249, 268, 313
Acker, Bill
052 conference 207
1972 visit by telephone company security 204–205, 207
1976 investigation and arrest 311–312
800 numbers 145–146
Blindness 135, 164
Childhood 135–137
Credit card code 196–197
David, B., meeting 165
Directory assistance, dialing 137
Discovery of blue boxing 137–143
Draper, John, New York arrest 213–214
Engressia, Joe 137, 161–162, 238
Esquire article 169–174
Isolation and meeting other phreaks 155–157, 160–161, 245–246
Mountain Bell job 317–318, 321, 327
Open sleeve lead conferences 202
Secrecy vs. openness 245–246
Social engineering 178–179, 202
Supervision on blue box calls 143–146
Tandem stacking 175–177
Verification 250
Advertisements: See blue box
AFL-CIO 190
Albrecht, Bob 280
Alex, George 248, 289
Allen, Paul 309
Altair 8800 computer 307–309
Amateur radio: See ham radio
American Speaking Telephone 21
American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T)
Antitrust and breakup 27–28, 301–302, 321–322
Competition 22, 26–27, 236, 298–301
Culture, straightjacketed 190–192
Discrimination 189–190
Electronic toll fraud 91
FCC investigations 189–190
Formation and structure 22, 27–28
Hush-a-Phone 158–159
Rate increases 187–188
Scandal 303–306
Service failures 188–189
See also: Bell, Alexander Graham; Bell Laboratories; Bell Telephone; Caming, H. W. William; DeButts, John; Western Electric; and the individual Bell operating companies
Analog circuitry 219–221, 383
Announcements, recorded: See recorded announcements
Anonymity 149–150, 165–166, 218, 265, 320
Antitrust 27–28, 301–302, 321–322
Apple Computers / Apple I / Apple II 221, 281, 309–310, 312–316, 319, 329, 333, 335–336
Area code 43, 47, 49, 55, 72, 137, 175–176, 228, 311, 347
Arrests: See statistics, and names of individuals
Art, telephonic: See joke lines
Ashley-Gravitt scandal 303–306
Atomic bomb plans 321
Automatic Electric 25, 268
Automation 25–26, 41–50, 167, 174, 188, 239, 250, 313, 334
AUTOVON 267–275, 277–280, 293, 301
Bagel, Johnny: See Schoolsky, Adam
Baker, Russell 197
Barclay, Ralph 51–63, 85–86, 123, 141, 199, 327, 333, 338
Beating the system 215–216, 231, 240
Beckley, Gil 101, 106–107, 111, 327
Beige box 320
Bell, Al (YIPL founder): See Fierstein, Alan
Bell, Alexander Graham 17–20
Bell Laboratories
Automated switching 41–50, 55, 167
Barclay, Ralph 59–63
Call waiting 172
Computers 233–236, 306–307
Electronic switching 233–238
Esquire article 182–184
Greenstar 91–95
Part of AT&T 28
Suitcase blue box 87, 355–356
Telephone Crime Lab 182–184, 314–315
Transistor 231–232, 306
Wiretapping via verification 257
Bell Laboratories Record 38, 72
Bell of Pennsylvania 28, 82, 314–315, 322
Bell System: See American Telephone and Telegraph; Bell, Alexander Graham; Bell Laboratories; Bell Telephone Company; Western Electric; and the individual Bell operating companies
Bell System Practices 190–191
Bell System Technical Journal 9–10, 13, 38, 51–57, 60, 72, 87, 168
Bell Telephone Company 19–22, 26–27
Berkeley Blue: See Wozniak, Steve
Bernay, Al 166, 326, 328
See also: Diamond, Al
Bernay, Bob: See Bob Gudgel
Bernay, Mark 150, 154–155, 163, 166, 227–228, 328
See also: Mark Bernay Society
Bernay, Sid 154, 166
Bill from New York: See Acker, Bill
Billing system 43–44, 48, 55, 75–76, 91–93, 143–144, 149, 177, 194, 204, 297
Black box 76, 85, 88–94, 102–104, 113–114, 127, 204, 209–210, 215, 230, 237–238, 286, 305, 320
Blindness 117, 135–136, 149, 164
Blue box
052 conference 202–203
#1 ESS 237–238
Acker, Bill 205–206, 311–312
Advertisements 87–88
Arrests, other 180
AUTOVON 273–274, 278–279
Barclay, Ralph 53–63
Bookmaking 98, 103–115
Celebrities 243–244
Computerized 312–313
Detection 91–97, 105, 115–116, 143–145, 287
Digital 220–221, 383–384
Draper, John 154, 180, 208, 214, 272, 282, 287–290, 309, 315
Engressia, Joe 131–132
Esquire article 170–173
Gilbertson, Al 167–169
Greenstar: See Detection
Guard banding 273–274, 278–279
Jobs, Steve 219–225, 243–244, 333–334, 336
Legality 85–91, 115
Locke, Jake 8, 10–13
MacKenzie, Lewis 86–87
Obsolescence 296–297, 318, 323, 326
Oklahoma, Ray 212
Pyne, Charlie 72–76, 79, 83
Scanning 202–203
Selling 13, 87, 90, 167–169, 173, 215, 222–223, 333
Suitcase 87
Tandem stacking 175–176
Wiretapping via verification 229, 249–250, 253–259
Wozniak, Steve 218–225, 243–244, 333, 335
YIPL/TAP 197, 215
Bomb plans, atomic 321
Bomb threats 264, 271
Bookmaking 98–115
Barclay, Ralph 59
FBI raids, January 1966 106–107
FBI raids, May 1966 107–108
Laws against 100, 104
See also: Beckley, Gil; Cohen, Ben
Bosley, Dr. 264, 286, 293
Bowren, Bill 277–278
Boxes: See beige box, black box, blue box, cheese box
Breakup, AT&T: See antitrust
Bribery 27, 102
British Columbia Telephone 202, 205–206
British Post Office 242
Broken recording conferences: See party line conferences
Bubis, Al 107–116, 288
Busy signal conferences 147–148
Busy line verification: See verification
Busy-out the telephone system 177
California Penal Code: See laws, 502.7 California Penal Code
Call waiting 172, 237, 249
CAMA-C 297
Cambridge Five spy ring 80–81
Caming, H. W. William (Bill) 92–97, 104–105, 113–114, 116, 304–305, 331
Camp Bloomfield 155
Camp Wapanacki 136
Campbell, Duncan 389
Cap’n Crunch whistle 155, 166, 202, 209, 326, 369
Cap’n Software 329
Captain Crunch: See Draper, John
Card translator, 4A crossbar 47, 174
Carson, Johnny 228
Carterfone 298–299
Case Western Reserve University 180
Cat and Canary Bird Call Flute: See Davy Crockett Cat and Canary Bird Call Flute
Catalyst, Cheshire 320–321, 331
Cave drawings 158
CCIS: See common channel interoffice signaling
Celebrities and blue boxes 223, 243–244
Central office
052 conference 207
AUTOVON 269
Barclay, Ralph 58–59
Black box fraud 89
CAMA-C 297
Concept of 20, 23–24
Greenstar 94
Electromechanical 44–48
Electronic 232–238
Engressia 121, 127, 131, 317
Fiddles 242
Line card 265
Loop arounds 148–149
Machine, The, impact of 160
Social engineering 177–179, 202
Simultaneous seizure 226–227
Touch-tone dialing 50, 237
Trunk lines 23–24
See also: crossbar switching system, electronic switching system (ESS), step-by-step switching
Central processing unit (CPU) 234–235
Chappe, Claude 14–15
Charley board 312–315
Cheese box 101–103, 114, 127, 149
Cheney, Bill 265, 268
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company 188
Chicago Seven 199
Churchill, Ray 132–133
CIA crisis line 229
Clarkson College of Technology 180
Coburn, James 191
Cochran, Jay 258, 277–278, 282
Code of conduct 169
Code of silence 144–145
Cohen, Ben 108–110, 327
Coin telephone: See pay phone
Common channel interoffice signaling (CCIS) 296–297, 306, 332
Common control 45–47, 236
Communication Workers of America (CWA) 190
Competition 22, 26–27, 236, 298–302
Computer
Digital circuitry 220–221
Electronic switching 233–235, 296–297, 322
Hacking 306–309, 320
Homebrew/personal 272, 276, 280–281, 306–309
Phone phreaking 313–314, 316
Condon, David 29–30, 35–40, 244–245, 277, 291, 326–327
Conference call: See 052 conference, 2111 conference, busy signal conferences, open-sleeve-lead conferences, party line conferences
Congressional Research Service 96–97
Conners, Earl 305
Conventions, phone phreak 212–215, 319–321
Cordboard: See switchboard
Cornell University 86, 186
Cornfeld, Bernard 243–244
Counterculture 150, 185–200, 209, 241
CPU: See central processing unit
Credit card fraud, telephone 102, 193–197, 204, 241, 293
Crimson, Harvard 1, 6–8, 10, 12, 225
Crossbar switching system 42, 45–46, 49, 120, 161, 232–233
See also: #4A crossbar switch, #5 crossbar switch, crossbar tandem
Crossbar tandem (XBT) 175–176, 371
Crybaby 65
Cummings, Robert 244
David, B. 2–4, 7–10, 126–129, 165
Davis Jr., Sammy 195
Davy Crockett Cat and Canary Bird Call Flute 30, 35–36, 39, 244, 327
Davy Crockett: See Condon, David
Dawson, Floy 282–284, 292
DeButts, John 158, 258
Decibel, Ben 245
Defense Communications Agency 269–270
Demo gods 279
Demonstrator, touch-tone 237, 247
Desmond, John 80, 82–83
Dial, telephone, letters and numbers 32
Dialed number recorder (DNR) 314–315
Diamond, Al 149–150, 223, 328
See also: Bernay, Al
Digital blue box 220–221, 383–384
Direct control 44–46
Direct distance dialing (DDD) 32, 49–50
Directory assistance 53–55, 61, 66, 124, 137, 273, 311, 335, 351
Supervision signal and 143–146
Spoofing 227–228
Discriminatory hiring practices, AT&T 189–190
Distant Early Warning (DEW) line 182, 273
Doherty, Joseph 183, 199, 231, 248, 258
Doorbell, Evan 204, 245
Doyle, Jerry 105–106, 115
Draper, John
2111 conference 163, 206
Apple Computer 312–314
Arrest, California, 1972 201, 205–209, 216–217
Arrest, California, 1976 290–294
Arrest, New Jersey, 1977 315
Arrest, Pennsylvania, 1977 314–316
Avoidance by other phreaks 245, 277, 292
BART ticket forgery 329
Captain Crunch 165–166
Charley Board 312–314
Convention, phone phreak, 1972 213–214
Defense fund 213, 215–216
Draperism 282, 315, 318–319
EasyWriter word processor 319, 329
Esquire article 171–173, 177, 179–181
FBI wiretapping via verification 249, 251–261, 267, 272–274, 276, 281–283, 287–290
Homebrew Computer Club 309
Learns of phone phreaking 150–155
National Public Radio program 230
Parole violation, 1979 318–319
People’s Computer Company 281
Personality quirks 171–172
Piggyback ride 337
President Nixon prank 228–229
Psychiatric evaluation 318–319
Tandem stacking 177
TAP, letters to 276, 319
Wozniak, Steve 221–222, 312–314
DUE (Detect Unauthorized Equipment) 188
Duffy, Thomas 204–205, 383
Dumpster diving 241, 247, 263, 286
DXing, radio 136
EasyWriter word processor 319, 329
Economics 33, 48–49, 231, 269, 297
Edfast, Roger 277–278
Eder, Chic 251–259
Edison, Thomas (inventor) 21, 262
Edison, Thomas (phone phreak) 319–321, 330
Electronic organ 142–143, 153–154, 230
Electronic switching system (ESS) 232–238, 318
Exploding the Phone : The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell (9780802193759) Page 45