Even though I have stated this before, it's about time to say it again.

There are many people who still believe that their communications on IRC are safe from interception from, well, those who care to know what you are saying. Some believe that by creating a channel where everyone is known then your communications are safe. That is not the case.

L. Ron Hubbard designed Scn'gy to the point where it would pull withholds of its own members, and the member had no choice in complying with those orders, else they be punished or banished. I contend that the model of auditing is how he created his empire. In the "wog" world, withholds are "pulled" in a different manner. And that manner is any way they see fit; either by hiring PIs or eavesdropping, or like during the GO years, wiretapping. Do you think that they have changed because critics are now on the internet?

I believe I have established the fact that it is being done if it can be done. And certainly unencrypted packets travelling over the net are unprotected. But how one might ask can it be done? It's pretty simple, IMO.

Let's look at how IRC works to begin with. What you have is an server using the IRC protocol and people are connected to the server via their client while having access to the internet. When you type a message from your client you send it to that server from your entry, which is your ISP. That message goes to the server and then it is downloaded from that server to everyone else's client automatically. Why do you think there's a time lag? Really, every single message that is sent there must wind up at each and every person's entry on to the net, which is their ISP. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it.

I am on AOL, every message has to go through my ISP in order for me to see it. Yes, you can claim that there are dozens of other servers along the way that your message gets sent to and for anyone to pick them all up would be impossible. That's certainly true. But if you look at it the right way it isn't a very hard thing to compromise.

All Scn'gy would have to do to get any and all of our messages is to have a few plants and one of the big ISPs. It might be hard work, yes, but that is what these people do; that's commit themselves to finding out what you don't want them to know.

Even if what I say isn't true, and there is a much more complicated way to find out what is being said on IRC, replete with some kind of "back door,"

what limit do you think Scn'gy would go to to find it?

Most people don't talk about much on IRC, which is good. But anything can give you away. And I *have* heard some people talk openly about things that they shouldn't have, like legal strategy and personal issues. The point is that some people follow along and believe that interception on IRC has to be something sophisticated and near impossible to do. It is not, as I have just shown, I believe.

There was a person who came onto IRC last night who got a near third degree grilling as to who he was and where he came from. If #ScientologyLies is going to be like that, then make the channel password protected and leave #Scientology open for anyone to come, and for anyone to debate things without being _interrogated._ I can't stand but to feel embarrassed by the idea that there are probably lots of people out there who would otherwise be critics, but won't because of something that is so misunderstood; namely that what you say on IRC is a little more safe than posting to Usenet. (DCC may be different).

Until there comes a day when an IRC encryption program comes along -- an open source, satisfactory one -- then you are just wasting a lot of energy in the belief that you are in a private room. And there are many (smart) people who know better and don't come to IRC for that reason. But there are also many followers who tag along and believe that by eliminating those they don't trust, they are OK to say whatever they want.

Thank you for listening.

I hope some day people will wake up and realize how incredibly stupid they act on IRC and even Usenet sometimes. Paranoia is good, but only when you it is warranted. A person who is paranoid about being listened to in an auditorium on the podium would be deemed insane. I suggest that is the way most look like when they claim "privacy" on IRC, all for the sake of abusing others they suspect of being OSA. What is really happening more than anything is that certain people are using privacy concerns to rationalize keeping others out of the "in crowd."
-- Web page summary:

http://members.home.net/jmwood1/arsweb.html The best overall site: http://www.xenu.net Chris Owen's well researched site:

http://www.demon.co.uk/castle/audit/index.html.

The name says it all: http://www.ronthewarhero.org Co$ book list: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library Real player files of Co$, pickets, LRH, etc:

http://www.xenutv.com

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