There’s another part to the story which I have told to the folks at SJG, but to which they never responded.
In late 1990, I was working in the basement of the Pentagon, supporting the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the J4 Logistics Readiness Center, inside the National Military Command Center. I was a gamer, but I also had a TS/SCI security clearance. I had heard about the SS raid on SJG, and I was pissed off. So, I decided to spend a lot of money and go out and buy one copy of every GURPS book that I could find at my friendly local gaming store (FLGS).
I had a copy of GURPS CyberPunk, and didn’t think very much of it. I was already in a CyberPunk game, and the GURPS version was a pale imitation. But there was another book that drew my attention. It was oriented towards espionage, and among other things it gave a very accurate description of how satellite surveillance worked. It also happened to use an actual classified military code word in the context of explaining what a classified military code word was and how they were used.
The latter was a clear violation of the law, and as soon as I saw it, I reported it to my security officer. He confirmed that this was a legitimate leak of a classified military code word, and he said he would report it further up the chain of command.
I never heard anything more about it from inside the government, but I have to believe that the SS and the FBI would use a coverup like pointing at a different book, if this was the actual reason that they were doing a raid on SJG.
So, there you go — almost 30 years later, yet another clue as to what might have been the real reason for the raid.
NB: When a classified military code word is leaked, they have to go through a huge process to reclassify all the documents that were covered under the old code word. This is a massive undertaking, and would cost millions or possibly even billions of dollars. And then there is the cost of the damage to National Security by all the documents which might already be in enemy hands but where they didn’t know what the code word covered or what compartment those documents were in. So, a leak of this type would be ... a really big deal.
I find this highly unlikely for a couple of reasons, but the primary reason is that GURPS Cyberpunk was not published until _after_ the SS raid on the company as a part of operation SunDevil.
The actual chronology is closer to something like this: feds target a bunch of hackers, one such hacker is also working on a game for SJG, during raid on his house feds notice all of the galley drafts and docs for GURPS Cyberpunk (some of which may have been internal phone company docs and manuals that would look very suspicious to a non-technical agent who signed up to look cool standing next to the president and has no idea about most of this stuff) and so they ask him about it, he happens to mention all of the other docs are just down the road at the SJG office, some fed gets a bright idea and a bunch of them head over to SJG to make a very big mistake...
Source: Straight from the mouths of Steve and Loyd. I was hired by Steve to start Austin's first real ISP with the money he won in this case and my future brother-in-law worked for SJG at the time of the raid.
I don't see what you're getting at here: if the raid was about stopping the publishing of a gurps mod of "top secret" or something ; it'd be a pretty poor job as you bought the book after raid.
Second, I believe it's a matter of record that SJG got caught in "operation sundevil" - a massive crackdown driven by a couple of high profile hacks, mixed in with paranoia driven by such authorative sources as the fictional move "war games"...
[ed: whops, no - that's one of the top ten false facts; apparently sundevil was limited to credit card fraud]
"It also happened to use an actual classified military code word in the context of explaining what a classified military code word was and how they were used."
Was the true meaning of the code word described, or might it just have been a coincidence? Like, if I used the words "CASE NIGHTMARE PINK" as an example of a military code word, and it just so happened to be a real military code word? Because stuff like that is probably bound to happen.
How likely is it that the game was really the first outing of a leaked secret name? A random name clash or copying from another source seem just as likely.
Also, making names secret under threat of criminal punishment sounds quite problematic. A name itself after all doesn't convey information, and you have to be able to name something to, for example, contest its secret status through legal channels available to a citizen.
In 2011 (2010?), at the Origins convention in Columbus then VP Biden was conducting a fundraiser at the same time at the same convention center. It was hilarious to see the secret service agents walking around. At first I thought it was some kind of MIB LARP or something. Seeing Secret Service agents trailing behind the (armed with swords and maces and such) entourage of a minotaur was hilarious.
Sadly, no one got the joke when I asked if anyone had warned the Steve Jackson Games crew.
Scheduling at the Columbus Convention Center really seems to be done without any regard for neighboring events. An Ohio Linuxfest a couple years ago was done right alongside a youth cheerleading competition, which had made some parents seem noticeably uncomfortable. And other weekends have mixed conventions like Wizard's World Comic Con and Origins, where I'd guess there's an overlap of people who'd like to go to both but not pay for a split experience. The expansion which has been under construction for a couple years is finally done, and the "As We Are"[0] art installation was added including a decent chunk of event space.
The Hacker Crackdown of 1990 by Bruce sterling was the first long form e book I read. It foretold the future in many ways. 1st, it was a bright shining line between the old world of govt doing this stuff in shadows, buried in a blurb on of 10 of the newspaper, and it being in the open for millions to read all the details, about plain as day. As long as you knew bbses... it was there. Second, it was distributed for free so I payed the author nothing, which felt weird. Like a piece was misssing. Third it introduced me to brutal fatalism, which is a cousin of realism but also a neighbor of depression. There was no happy ending, people did not learn from their mistakes, bad deeds were not apologized for not punished, and laws did not change. Law enforcement are still, largely, uneducated and technically illiterate, and they are still going after harmless nobodies for no good reason.
For those who are unaware, the money made from Lotus 1-2-3 (which was game changing spreadsheet software of the early 1980s) eventually went on to found the EFF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Kapor
I remember reading that the Secret Service was investigating an Austin game company because they were one of the first companies to buy CD duplicating equipment so were suspected of piracy by the Secret Service. For some reason I remember that as being Origin Systems but it may have actually been Steve Jackson Games.
Off-topic: I seem to recall Steve Jackson Games had a magazine during the 1980s? Does anyone recall the name of it? I remember seeing a few copies of it and really liking it. They had some good sci-fi.
This was when I started getting into role playing. I remember buying their Cyberpunk addendum book and being doubly intrigued by the Secret Service raid.
Also: GURPS cyberpunk was a great expansion to a great game. I have good memories of being 10 years old and playing that with an older neighbor friend.
>And we won. The judge gave the Secret Service a tongue-lashing and ruled for SJ Games on two out of the three counts, and awarded over $50,000 in damages, plus over $250,000 in attorney's fees.
You know, this really sounds like a "win" only in the sense it's the "win" we're "allowed" to have.
Everyone's lives were ruined for years. They almost lost their business. They lost a product they had poured countless hours into. They had to pay up front for attorney's fees (even though they were completely in the right), and spent years in court.
And all the Secret Service lost was some "sharply worded comments" and a tear-drop amount of taxpayer money that wouldn't even register on their budget and had zero affect on their future budgets.
The only brightsides were indirect ones. The EFF was founded, and their case law would likely be used for future cases and possibly future government actions (before they act) since they know they wouldn't be able to get away with it.
bradknowles|8 years ago
In late 1990, I was working in the basement of the Pentagon, supporting the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the J4 Logistics Readiness Center, inside the National Military Command Center. I was a gamer, but I also had a TS/SCI security clearance. I had heard about the SS raid on SJG, and I was pissed off. So, I decided to spend a lot of money and go out and buy one copy of every GURPS book that I could find at my friendly local gaming store (FLGS).
I had a copy of GURPS CyberPunk, and didn’t think very much of it. I was already in a CyberPunk game, and the GURPS version was a pale imitation. But there was another book that drew my attention. It was oriented towards espionage, and among other things it gave a very accurate description of how satellite surveillance worked. It also happened to use an actual classified military code word in the context of explaining what a classified military code word was and how they were used.
The latter was a clear violation of the law, and as soon as I saw it, I reported it to my security officer. He confirmed that this was a legitimate leak of a classified military code word, and he said he would report it further up the chain of command.
I never heard anything more about it from inside the government, but I have to believe that the SS and the FBI would use a coverup like pointing at a different book, if this was the actual reason that they were doing a raid on SJG.
So, there you go — almost 30 years later, yet another clue as to what might have been the real reason for the raid.
NB: When a classified military code word is leaked, they have to go through a huge process to reclassify all the documents that were covered under the old code word. This is a massive undertaking, and would cost millions or possibly even billions of dollars. And then there is the cost of the damage to National Security by all the documents which might already be in enemy hands but where they didn’t know what the code word covered or what compartment those documents were in. So, a leak of this type would be ... a really big deal.
evgen|8 years ago
The actual chronology is closer to something like this: feds target a bunch of hackers, one such hacker is also working on a game for SJG, during raid on his house feds notice all of the galley drafts and docs for GURPS Cyberpunk (some of which may have been internal phone company docs and manuals that would look very suspicious to a non-technical agent who signed up to look cool standing next to the president and has no idea about most of this stuff) and so they ask him about it, he happens to mention all of the other docs are just down the road at the SJG office, some fed gets a bright idea and a bunch of them head over to SJG to make a very big mistake...
Source: Straight from the mouths of Steve and Loyd. I was hired by Steve to start Austin's first real ISP with the money he won in this case and my future brother-in-law worked for SJG at the time of the raid.
wolco|8 years ago
But your story could be the reason behind the raid.
e12e|8 years ago
Second, I believe it's a matter of record that SJG got caught in "operation sundevil" - a massive crackdown driven by a couple of high profile hacks, mixed in with paranoia driven by such authorative sources as the fictional move "war games"...
[ed: whops, no - that's one of the top ten false facts; apparently sundevil was limited to credit card fraud]
See also: Bruce Sterling, hacker crackdown.
_0ffh|8 years ago
Was the true meaning of the code word described, or might it just have been a coincidence? Like, if I used the words "CASE NIGHTMARE PINK" as an example of a military code word, and it just so happened to be a real military code word? Because stuff like that is probably bound to happen.
fulafel|8 years ago
Also, making names secret under threat of criminal punishment sounds quite problematic. A name itself after all doesn't convey information, and you have to be able to name something to, for example, contest its secret status through legal channels available to a citizen.
Jtsummers|8 years ago
Sadly, no one got the joke when I asked if anyone had warned the Steve Jackson Games crew.
kregasaurusrex|8 years ago
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt6dyWT4Cms
katastic|8 years ago
cityofghosts|8 years ago
pronoiac|8 years ago
walrus01|8 years ago
itronitron|8 years ago
mtgex|8 years ago
notaspider|8 years ago
gesman|8 years ago
lkrubner|8 years ago
syntheticnature|8 years ago
protomyth|8 years ago
dang|8 years ago
preinheimer|8 years ago
jMyles|8 years ago
walrus01|8 years ago
mwexler|8 years ago
katastic|8 years ago
You know, this really sounds like a "win" only in the sense it's the "win" we're "allowed" to have.
Everyone's lives were ruined for years. They almost lost their business. They lost a product they had poured countless hours into. They had to pay up front for attorney's fees (even though they were completely in the right), and spent years in court.
And all the Secret Service lost was some "sharply worded comments" and a tear-drop amount of taxpayer money that wouldn't even register on their budget and had zero affect on their future budgets.
The only brightsides were indirect ones. The EFF was founded, and their case law would likely be used for future cases and possibly future government actions (before they act) since they know they wouldn't be able to get away with it.