Documentary idea

[Arya]

Hello, I have recently been considering making a documentary on the state of security on the net. Topics ranging from the ethics of hacking, what the average net user is facing, all of it. Personaly I am advanced for the average user but as far as say your average hacker goes I know more than nothing. I know enough to know that basicaly most people on the net are bent over holding their cheeks. This project is in it's bare bones infancy and would take a couple of years to get funding for (grants etc.) and to complete. Any recomendations as to where to start would be helpfull; books I might read, sites etc.

Thanks for any help.

[Grifter]

This has been done so many times it's not even close to original anymore. If you want to do a kool documentary, do one on pirates. Like with parrots and wooden legs not software.

[Arya]

Yea, it's been done but...

Yes it's been done. What I have seen to be honest has not been that great. No production value nothing seriously explained with diagrams : "This is you, this is you. This is you getting boned." That kind of thing. Also most of what I have seen has always been based on corporate stuff or hacking big companies. I am more interested in showing your average soccer mom that anyone with a bit of training and softwear knows she has been looking at lesbian porn. A bit about me, this isn't my first doc. I work in television in Canada.

[Arya]

Ok, what would YOU guys like to see a doc about?

[pc-0x90]

Soccer mom pirates.. yarr.. grifter be right on the money

[phobal]

do one on gun control! no one has been greedy enough to the point of where they embelish the facts in order to promote their own hidden agenda!

or go on a diet of eating mcdonalds 3 times a day for 30 days and then blame big business for the fact that american's can't make their own healthy choices! that one would really sell.

oh, shit, wait...

[TheCotMan]

Yes it's been done. What I have seen to be honest has not been that great. No production value nothing seriously explained with diagrams : "This is you, this is you. This is you getting boned." That kind of thing. Also most of what I have seen has always been based on corporate stuff or hacking big companies. I am more interested in showing your average soccer mom that anyone with a bit of training and softwear knows she has been looking at lesbian porn. A bit about me, this isn't my first doc. I work in television in Canada.

(Old) "The KGB, The Computer and Me" (PBS) has a number of things described, from security hole to exploit, and they are described in very simple language for the mainstream. (It is based on a true story, and is very mainstream.)

A Frontline piece was done last year (2003) for PBS which covered Slammer, Nimda, network security, risk and exposure. This one does play of the evil hacker thing, and depicts corporations as innocent victims but does cover risks and tries to link security risks in some domains to national security. (It is mostly a FUD piece with some truth, but has some technologically accurate information.)
This piece did much of what you describe... A listing of risks for the general public with video diagrams and people beating the big-ol' drum of Fear. (Yes, it's the end of the world as we know it.... (but I feel fine))

There was another one which was similar to the Frontline piece but used FUD against moms, dads and their kids. (Don't recall this title.)

There are also several which have been made and sold at cons. Like the really old, "Unathorized Access" which was more of a collection of interviews with people and trendy music (of the time) but several cameos from people who have recognized names today. There are others too, but the names escape me ATM.

I seem to recall a section on either DefCon.org or on these forums on what to do if you want to make a documentary. It warns that this is not a new idea, but if you are dead set on it, you should contact the DC organizers and ask them for consideration, and also email a "press" address for special consideration.

Ok, what would YOU guys like to see a doc about?

One of the better "Documentaries" I have seen was a really easy to understand (made for the mainstream) look at the history of computing in "Triumph of the Nerds" and "Nerds 2.0.1" but these are not specific to "hacking" and security. It was entertaining and is something I lend to people who are not quite "tech-know-nothings" (techno-nothings) but close, who also want to know something about how we made it to have the technology we do today.

I'd suggest making a project like these two (both parts of "Nerds"), but they have been made.

Revolution OS was another entertaining project, but plays up the "Evil Microsoft Corp Baddie" and is more of a cult film for Linux zealots than a documentary. I like the message, but it is not actually balanced. This also is not a hacker film, but has some people many will consider hackers* offering interviews.

*= By the older definition

I own copies of all of these and a few others which I have collected over the year. (They are like miniature time capsules.)

And then, from what I hear there was some sort of "HaXXXor" thing where (token?) computer security information was provided with/by (?) women wearing little in the way of clothing which was made available last year. (I won't be collecting this. General feedback on the forums is comperable to a quote Kuni from UHF: "Soooooo STUPID!")

If you want to do a kool documentary, do one on pirates. Like with parrots and wooden legs not software.

If you go this route, make sure that you include a reference to A Pirate's Keyboard

R r r r r ! (Arrrrrrrr!)

[alklloyd]

Soccer mom pirates.. yarr.. grifter be right on the money

I second that. But they have to listen to Warren Zevon.

Al

[Arya]

Arrrr matey! Hmm the PBS one sounds very good. I have not seen it. O.K. what about a doc on future problems, speculation on whats comming next or what is unavoidable, problems, advances and the like? I read an article about a year ago and this guy who was one of the creators of the first protocals used at the conception of the internet was saying it was totaly not made for what it is being used for and it will go down eventually. It must. Any ideas?

[TheCotMan]

O.K. what about a doc on future problems, speculation on whats comming next or what is unavoidable, problems, advances and the like?

Speculative stories of a future with risks as told with FUD spin? Gah. Documentaries should be educational, and not be a springboard for political agendas through manipulation of people by application of stereotypes.

I read an article about a year ago and this guy who was one of the creators of the first protocals used at the conception of the internet was saying it was totaly not made for what it is being used for and it will go down eventually.

There is an on-screen interview in either "Triumph of the Nerds" or "Nerds 2.0.1" where one of the early DARPA/ARPA people who was working on a telnet/remote login system was commenting on the early instability and how the first time they tried to log in to a remote server, the service daemon faulted. They discuss what they see as problems to be solved in the future.

TCP/IP with IPv4 has problems. There are papers which include discussion on how it won't work as an interplanetary protocol due to the time restrictions and timeouts (even if we assume light-speed propagation of bits between earth and other planets in our solar system.) I would bet there is some PBS or "TheTech" (etc) presentation which discusses this too.

2 or 3 cons back, we had a presentation where 2 or 3 people were on a panel who discussed risks that could exist with backbone relays and destruction of segments of the internet (temporary loss of service) may eventually be as easy as visiting a web page with a button, "to bring down the Internet click here." There was a lot of joking, and some truth to their topic, and this is not new. This presentation is probably on video, and if it is, then this idea has been presented on media too.

You will have a tough time finding something to cover which has not been covered before.

[Arya]

Maybe a love story! No one has done that. A love song! I agree docs should be educational. Technicaly there are two types the objective or classical style with naration explaining the majority of content, history of the topic off the top. It's formulaic and works well. Then you get the Micheal Moore stuff, while entertaining... tends to be an opinion with loose facts. I am not a journalist and don't claim to be so anything I make has me all over it. I can't help it. I wouldn't lie or bend the truth though. My last doc ended with me being totaly wrong regarding my opinions.
Hmm, so maybe hacking is not a good topic. If anyone thinks of one leave a post! They usually tend to be topics that "have" to be told. Those are ones I like anyway. Thanks for the input.

[bascule]

Ok, what would YOU guys like to see a doc about?

Radioactivity in cigarettes. Virtually all cigarettes worldwide are contaminated by radioactive polonium-210 which is absorbed by tobacco plants from fertilizers which contain potash for potassium enrichment. Potash is found in a layer of rock directly above one which contains radon. Nuclear emissions from radon gas produce radioactive isotopes of both polonium-210 and lead-210 which are found in the same rock layer as potash. As fields are fertilized year after year, the polonium content increases drastically. In the early '90s C. Everett Koop, the US surgeon general, came on national TV with the news that 90% of the carcinogenic effects of cigarettes can be attributed to radiation (the other 10% is attributed to chemicals like nitrosamines which arise from improper production methods and used to be found in beer until alternative means of firing barley were found) Despite the fact that it has been known for over 20 years that cigarettes contain an alpha emitter and despite the fact that the EPA is supposed to regulate the use of alpha emitters, especially those which can be ingested internally and cause cancer, and even listing polonum-210 specifically as an alpha emitter, yet the EPA does nothing to prevent the use of chemical fertilizers containin polonium-210. Conspiracy theorist blame under-the-table deals that took place as part of the tobacco lawsuit, in which high level politicians were paid off to ensure the EPA didn't prevent the use of potash enriched fertilizers.

The other would be the CIA's experimentation with LSD as a truth serum, following a similar procedure developed in Nazi germany. This occured in a number of different CIA projects, most notably MK Ultra. The primary issue of concern would be Eli Lilly's violation of Sandoz's international patent on LSD, manufacturing it in quantity after they had cracked the formula for the CIA, and also introducing into the black market the two primary formulas for LSD currently utilized. Perhaps high level CIA operatives who created the acid culture such as Captain Al Hubbard, who turned one Timothy Leary onto LSD, could be profiled.

[IcEbLAze]

Ok, what would YOU guys like to see a doc about?

I wanna see a doc about the Zapatistas. For such a different-minded militant group, they sure haven't gotten much publicity. GET ON IT!! :) (By the way, a couple of my friends went to defcon last year trying to do a "documentary" but it didnt really work out because #1. they got too shit-faced they forgot to film, and #2. When they were filming, people kept saying "FEDS!" and wouldn't give them much, at least thats what they're excuse was..)

[ttickzz]

Ok, what would YOU guys like to see a doc about?

Monitoring and control of peoples privacy in all forms, made in a way that average people understand that this is a fact and not paranoia.
Covering most In this field from law-level down to how BigBrother follow you private. You can with success include the computerpart in this

[Arya]

I don't recomend getting shit faced while shooting. Also if you wanted any interviews with people that are in a position that requires them to trust you might want to get the ball rolling long before you point a camera at them
I do like the topic of information;how much is really out their how easy is it to accsess etc. Does real privacy even exist? I had an ex gf who wouldn't even put here corect address on her drivers licence. Any other ideas? Just trolling here.