** This is a COPYRIGHTED Project Gutenberg eBook, Details Below ** ** Please follow the copyright guidelines in this file. ** I have donated my book `Underground' to Project Gutenberg's collection in memory of my great aunt, Lucie Palmer. Lucie was an explorer, a naturalist, a keen undersea diver and above all a gifted painter. In the last years of her life, she lost her vision due to macular degeneration. She could no longer do her beloved undersea paintings. But, while she could not travel in person, she continued to travel in her mind through books for the vision impaired. I hope you enjoy your journey to another world as much as she did. -- From Suelette Dreyfus, Author, Underground Underground -- Hacking, madness and obsession on the electronic frontier. By Suelette Dreyfus with Research by Julian Assange. `Gripping, eminently readable.. Dreyfus has uncovered one of this country's best kept secrets and in doing so has created a highly intense and enjoyable read' -- Rolling Stone www.underground-book.net This edition has been specifically adapted for speech synthesis. We recommend using a different distribution with intact type-setting for visual use. First Published 1997 by Mandarin; a part of Reed Books Australia; 35 Cotham Road, Kew 3101. a subsidiary of Random House books Australia. a division of Random House International Pty Limited. Copyright (c) 1997, 2001 Suelette Dreyfus & Julian Assange. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher. Typeset in New Baskerville by J&M Typesetting. Printed and bound in Australia by Australian Print Group. National Library of Australia. cataloguing-in-publication data: Dreyfus, Suelette. Underground: tales of hacking, madness & obsession on the electronic frontier. Bibliography: ISBN number 1 86330 595 5 1. Computer hackers--Australia--Biography. 2. Computer crimes--Australia. 3. Computer security--Australia. I. Assange, Julian. II. Title. 364.1680922 Send all comments to "feedback@underground-book.net". Preface to the electronic edition. Why would an author give away an unlimited number of copies of her book for free? That's a good question. When `Underground''s researcher, Julian Assange, first suggested releasing an electronic version of the book on the Net for free, I had to stop and think about just that question.