Loyd Blankenship
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
hacker
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
since the 1970s, when he was a member of the hacker groups
Hacker groups
Hacker groups began to flourish in the early 1980s, with the advent of the home computer. Prior to that, the term hacker was simply a referral to any computer hobbyist. The hacker groups were out to make names for themselves, and were often spurred on by their own press...
Extasyy Elite and Legion of Doom
Legion of Doom (hacking)
The Legion of Doom was a hacker group active from the 1980s to the late 1990s and early 2000. Their name appears to be a reference to the antagonists of Challenge of the Superfriends...
.
He is the author of The Conscience of a Hacker (Hacker Manifesto)
Hacker Manifesto
The Conscience of a Hacker is a small essay written January 8, 1986 by a computer security hacker who went by the handle of The Mentor . It was written after the author's arrest, and first published in the underground hacker ezine Phrack in Volume One, Issue 7, Phile 3 of 10...
, written after he was arrested, and was published in the underground hacker ezine Phrack
Phrack
Phrack is an ezine written by and for hackers first published November 17, 1985. Described by Fyodor as "the best, and by far the longest running hacker zine," the magazine is open for contributions by anyone who desires to publish remarkable works or express original ideas on the topics of interest...
. Blankenship gave a reading of The Hacker Manifesto and offered additional insight at H2K2
H.O.P.E.
HOPE is a conference series sponsored by the hacker magazine 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. Held biennially in the summer, there have been eight conferences to date with the next scheduled for 13 - 15 July 2012.- HOPE: Hackers On...
.
He also authored the cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
role-playing
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
sourcebook GURPS Cyberpunk
GURPS Cyberpunk
GURPS Cyberpunk is a genre toolkit for cyberpunk-themed role-playing games set in a near-future dystopia, such as that envisioned by William Gibson in his influential novel Neuromancer...
, the manuscript of which was seized in a 1990 raid of his employer's (Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
, SJ Games) headquarters by the U.S. Secret Service. (This was not part of the Operation Sundevil
Operation Sundevil
Operation Sundevil was a 1990 nation-wide United States Secret Service crackdown on "illegal computer hacking activities." It involved raids in approximately fifteen different cities and resulted in three arrests and the confiscation of computers, the contents of electronic bulletin board systems ,...
raids, but rather came months afterward.) In a decision following a subsequent lawsuit filed by SJ Games, the court reprimanded the Secret Service for "sloppy" warrant preparation, suggested that the Secret Service needed "better education" regarding relevant statutes, and found that the Secret Service had no basis to suspect SJ Games of any wrongdoing. The court awarded SJ Games $300,000 (US) in damages and attorney's fees. (For the full article, see Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service
Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service
Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service, 816 F.Supp. 432 , is a legal case that resulted from a raid by the United States Secret Service on the Austin headquarters of Steve Jackson Games in 1990...
).