Pretty much the question. I heard about Usenet a while back but never managed to wrap my head around it.

  • bartolomeo@suppo.fi
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    9 months ago

    That’s very clear, thanks. I remember reading about the original phreakers, one guy had perfect pitch so he could just sing the tone to open a long distance line and then dial away. I think he got sued by one of the American phone companies for stealing.

    • cynar@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      There are some amazing stories about the cat and mouse games regarding phone phreaking. The “captain crunch whistle” is great. All their attempts at security, beaten by a bit of audible brute force, via a cereal box toy.