From:	Bruce Ford <shaman@*******.COM>
Subject:	Re: Couple of things...
Date:	Wed, 25 Feb 1998 03:35:40 -0700

On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, Mark L. Neidengard wrote:

> According to Mark Imbriaco:
> >They could if they wanted -- as long as it doesn't do anything overt like
> >trying to trace anyone or alter the system, it won't be squashed. The
> >The deckers for the Nexus and Shadowland are in my opinion the best in the
> >world, and it _is_ their system we're talking about here. If they wanted
> >the Cthulu construct out, it would be. :-)
>
> Have to disagree with you on the notion that their deckers are the best in the
> world...I'd say they're world-class, sure, but they lack the backing and the
> nationalistic/capitalist furor behind their financial sources that the truly
> terrifying corporate or government-sponsered deckers have. As I see it, if
> someone like the UCAS _really_ wanted Shadowland shut down, they could pull it
> off double-quick. In fact, lots of the major players have no reason to go
> after Shadowland and indeed a bit of an interest in its continued operation.
> What Shadowland has to offer is enough security to deter anyone with less than
> major corporate or governmental resources _and_ be a relatively safe haven for
> Shadow business to be conducted.

The deckers of Shadowland and the Nexus are among the best in the world
but FASA themselves have set a precendent for establishing that there are
a few deckers out there that are better. Most notably Fastjack in the
Denver Sourcebook when he knocks Bash off the system and locks him out.

In Prime Runners they set up Michael James Sutherland as another such
decker. I personally rank Dodger in my own games as another decker of
such calibre.

The point in all this is that against the average shadow decker, the
SysOps of these boards can pretty well handle them but like RL, there are
people out there that will always be bigger and better.

As for governments shutting them down. They have the resources to hamper
and cripple them but they would never be able to keep them shut down as
another pirate board would just develop from the survivors. In the end it
would be a continuous battle in which the resources used could be better
spent elsewhere, as well as the fact that these boards do serve a purpose
for the very governments themselves in the long run. It's a good source
for intelligence after all, though they would still have to take them to
research and confirm it.

Bruce Ford.