From:	Bryan Linn Schuler <schu1545@****.GMI.EDU>
Subject:	Idea to bounce off people
Date:	Fri, 15 Sep 1995 01:00:02 -0400

Here's an idea to bounce off some of you ladies and gents.

In the peice I'm currently working on, I've included a peice of tech
called a fiber-optic tap. This isn't a standard tap as one you attach
across a line and read from it (everybody swears that's impossible, but
read "Shadowplay" by Nigel Findly) but a device where you must cut the fiber
optic, and stick each end into it. The device then filters out the channels
you want to listen to, and sends the data via some means (wire, radio, etc..)
to a computer (...cyberdeck, trid, etc..).

I'd like some discussion on it. For example, would the standard data
protocal used in the SR universe be able to detect the line being cut?
Or would it dismiss it as a "problem" and tempoarly re-route it (much the
same way the internet does). Would the security routines detect the drop
in resonance caused by the tap in the lines, much the same way a bug detector
detects the increased resistance of a bug on a copper line.
Would anything detect the tap if it were to be placed on a line that was
shut down? (Like between a switched off trid and the wall.)

Comments and discussions are welcome.

-Bryan