It's been *40 years* since #EmmanuelGoldstein launched the seminal, essential, world-changing *@2600: The #Hacker Quarterly*. *2600* wasn't the first #phreak/hacker zine, but it was the most important, spawning a global subculture dedicated to the noble pursuit of technological self-determination:
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2600 Hertz was the frequency of the tone that was used on AT&T long-distance trunks to signal an open line. By dialing a toll-free number, then broadcasting that tone on it, a new long-distance connection could be made without incurring charges.
@amiserabilist @pluralistic @2600
it was 2280 Hz in Britain and the Commonwealth, but there was a risk that sending it down the line set off a great big bell in the Telephone Exchange - and by the time I had access to telephone lines that weren't in my home or workplace legit phone calls were already dirt cheap.
You could apparently still blue box via Country Direct circuits, but I had ethical misgivings about targeting developing countries infrastructure when there wasn't any real need to
Cory Doctorow
paul
Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK