Developers of video game about hacking arested?

[RickJ]

I seem to remember a rumor, from many many moons ago,  about video game developers who were arrested as computer hackers.  Apparently the authorities came in to possession of communications and/or manuals describing how to hack into computer systems and didn't realize it was all fiction, a video game plot and not an actual plot.  I've been googling and have only come up with wikipedia references to games called "Hacker" and a sequel "HackerII" but noting about arrests etc.

Has anybody else heard of this story and/or know if it's true or just urban legend?

[blueskirt]

I don't know if it's the same story as yours, but the only story I heard that's remotely similar is the offices of Steve Jackson Games that once got raided by the US Secret Services when they were writing the GURPS Cyberpunk pen and paper RPG twenty years ago.

http://www.sjgames.com/SS/

There is a nod to this event in Introversion's Uplink game.

[LUniqueDan]

What you're looking for was the crowd at Steve Jackson Games.
The sensible material was the Cyberpunk extension for Gurps.



(read the triangle)

In fact this was a tad more complicated than that and the BBS server at SJ games did host some sensible material.
Cyberpunk writer Bruce Sterling wrote a wonderful book about this Era and the whole affair (and the story of Communication / computers / hackers / law inforcement issues). It's free online (by the author wishes)

It's a good reading!

http://pdf.textfiles.com/books/hackcrac.pdf

@blueskirt : grrr (you were too fast)

[blueskirt]

My post was faster but yours was more informative

[RickJ]

Thanks guys, thats exactly what I was looking for.   Did you know that this case was genesis of the Electronic Frontier Foundation?  Here is an account of the incident from the Steve Jackson Games  website.

http://www.sjgames.com/SS/