Hackers and Heroes: A Tale of Tech Communities In Two Countries

szczys writes: "Hackers" — people who non-maliciously test the limits of technology — have a very different societal standing depending on the country they live in. To illustrate the concept, consider the history of hackers in the United States versus those in Germany. Both communities have their genesis with the telecom systems of the 1980's, when hackers were called Phone Phreakers and traded secrets on telephone system exploits. These groups were the earliest to test the security and vulnerability of the burgeoning Internet, but their paths diverged. Hackers in Germany formed political parties while in the US they were targeted by law enforcement. The result is two very different communities filled with highly skilled individuals, but one must fly under the radar while the other enjoys much wider open acceptance.

silly premise

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> Hackers in Germany formed political parties while in the US they were targeted by law enforcement

Can we mod the article as +1 Funny? Hackers ARE also targeted by law enforcement in Deutschland...

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=german+ha... [lmgtfy.com]

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[Zero__Kelvin]

You don't seem to know the difference between a hacker and a cracker. Off to digg you go now ...

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[Zero__Kelvin]

Oh. Isn't it cute. Two ACs fellating each other.

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[stephanruby]

Also in the US, I don't think that people like Steve Wozniak or Richard Feynman were targeted for very long by law enforcement officials.

Now don't get me wrong, I am sure that the FBI kept a file on both those individuals. It's just that they both became part of the establishment (even they chose not create their own political party).

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[invictusvoyd]

Also in the US, I don't think that people like Steve Wozniak or Richard Feynman were targeted for very long by law enforcement officials.

Aaron Swartz was

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[AHuxley]

Re "the gumment hacks you"
Yes the "turned by entrapment" is a huge tool in the West. You are let out, free to create a network, forum, chat site, huge front company over decades to attract and bring in a lot more people globally.
Big bands with tainted leadership pushing broken junk encryption, total logging or never comment on government/mil optical allowed to run deep behind any brand listed protections, deep into the plain text networks of their "secure" servers.
Get to the next generation of emerging

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[Big Hairy Ian]

Wow Germany has political parties for script kiddies??

I suppose there were no hackers prior t the 1980s

[A nonymous Coward]

MIT Railroad Club?

Thomas Edison?

Probably Zog the Wheek Maker too.

Someone has lost a lot of history.

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[AHuxley]

Networking as a computer function was more an elite educational project that had to be granted per seat access too. Vetting, an academic feel to well educated students ensured only the people with trust would be allowed near emerging, advanced networks.
To upset that trust would be to remove or risk the access granted after years of good grades and study. Security clearances also acted as top down academic gate keepers. The university could lose funding, grands and staff access to advance projects with n

Sigh....

[deerpig]

Hackers were not called Phreakers. Hackers were called hackers, which had nothing to do with malicious activities. It was the mainstream media that twisted the term because they didn't understand the difference between hacking, cracking and whatever the idiot script kiddies thought they were cutting and pasting at the time.... When I was starting out in Unix in the 80's you weren't allowed to call yourself a hacker unless someone who was a master of their craft called you that first. I'll never forget t