UPDATE: check out this video
SVT1.Rapport.-.US.threatens.Sweden.with.trade.sanctions.Cust

Swedish government departments have been put on alert after hackers shut down several official websites.
The country’s crisis management agency urged state bodies to ensure that their websites could withstand attack after media reports of hacking.
The furore began after police shut down The Pirate Bay file-sharing site on Wednesday. The recording industry says says that it is a key source for downloading pirated music and films.
A day after the raid, the police force’s own website went down. The main government site went off line in the early hours of Sunday.
Local media said hackers attacked the sites, now functioning again, after the clampdown on The Pirate Bay.
Steffan Karlsson, head of the Emergency Management Agency, said: “We are responsible on a government level for IT security in Sweden, we have to see why has this happened and what can society do about it.”
His agency urged all 31 bodies involved in emergency management, such as the police and rescue services, and all 21 local authorities to ensure that they were safe from attacks on their sites, which are sources of information in a crisis.
Karlsson said he did not know what caused the government website to close, but the newspaper Aftonbladet quoted a group called World Wide Hackers as saying that they had arranged an attack on it.
Last year Sweden banned the downloading of copyright protected music and films after being singled out for criticism by Hollywood. The raid on The Pirate Bay was the latest of several actions against suspected online piracy.
Critics have said the police are heavy handed and that people should have access to free information via the internet, including file sharing.
Several hundred people demonstrated in Stockholm on Saturday in support of Pirate Bay, which is open again.

Is there a Hacker Ethic for 90s Hackers?

Introduction

The goal of this text analysis project was to take the texts of the
computer underground and to analyze them for the presence of a)
knowledge about the Hacker Ethic and b) evolution of that Ethic. Many
writers, such as Steven Levy, bemoan the fact that modern-day hackers
(the computer underground) are not worthy of the name because they do
not live up to the principles of the original Hacker Ethic, and as
unethical individuals, should simply be called “computer terrorists”
or “juvenile delinquents.” I sought to examine whether 90s new hackers
knew of the old Hacker Ethic, if they had added anything to it, and
the reasons why they felt they acted differently from their
predecessors. I broadened my text analysis to look at what they saw as
ethical violations, and reasons why some might repudiate the Hacker
Ethic or the idea of having an ethic.

As my text project evolved, I found that after discovering the
existence of a new hacker ethic for new hackers, I was wondering if
people expressing the principles of the new ethic also expressed the
old. I expected that the adoption of a new set of ethics would not
necessarily mean the complete abandonment of the old. This would
establish some continuity between both groups of hackers, and some
familiarity by new hackers with the old ideals. If the hypothesis of
continuity turns out to be true, then new hackers are not as different
from old hackers as authors like Levy (or certain computer security
professionals) might claim. They would then not only have their own
ethics, but also utilize some ethical principles of their
predecessors.

I coded 29 documents from the computer underground online using the
NUD*IST text analysis system. I allowed new codes to emerge from other
codes, based on the sort of interactive text-searching and
investigation process that NUDIST makes possible. I decided to code a
few factors that were not directly relevant to my tests, but could
provide avenues for future investigation. Finally, after coding, I
came up with two tests to look at evidence for continuity between the
old and new hacker ethics.

Who is the Computer Underground?

I define the computer underground as members of the following six
groups. Sometimes I refer to the CU as “90s hackers” or “new hackers,”
as opposed to old hackers, who are hackers (old sense of the term)
from the 60s who subscribed to the original Hacker Ethic. See below.

1. Hackers (Crackers, system intruders) – These are people who
attempt to penetrate security systems on remote computers. This is
the new sense of the term, whereas the old sense of the term
simply referred to a person who was capable of creating hacks, or
elegant, unusual, and unexpected uses of technology. Typical
magazines (both print and online) read by hackers include 2600 and
Iron Feather Journal.
2. Phreaks (Phone Phreakers, Blue Boxers) – These are people who
attempt to use technology to explore and/or control the telephone
system. Originally, this involved the use of “blue boxes” or tone
generators, but as the phone company began using digital instead
of electro-mechanical switches, the phreaks became more like
hackers. Typical magazines read by Phreaks include Phrack, Line
Noize, and New Fone Express.
3. Virus writers (also, creators of Trojans, worms, logic bombs) -
These are people who write code which attempts to a) reproduce
itself on other systems without authorization and b) often has a
side effect, whether that be to display a message, play a prank,
or trash a hard drive. Agents and spiders are essentially
‘benevolent’ virii, raising the question of how underground this
activity really is. Typical magazines read by Virus writers
include 40HEX.
4. Pirates – Piracy is sort of a non-technical matter. Originally, it
involved breaking copy protection on software, and this activity
was called “cracking.” Nowadays, few software vendors use copy
protection, but there are still various minor measures used to
prevent the unauthorized duplication of software. Pirates devote
themselves to thwarting these things and sharing commercial
software freely with their friends. They usually read Pirate
Newsletter and Pirate magazine.
5. Cypherpunks (cryptoanarchists) – Cypherpunks freely distribute the
tools and methods for making use of strong encryption, which is
basically unbreakable except by massive supercomputers. Because
the NSA and FBI cannot break strong encryption (which is the basis
of the PGP or Pretty Good Privacy), programs that employ it are
classified as munitions, and distribution of algorithms that make
use of it is a felony. Some cryptoanarchists advocate strong
encryption as a tool to completely evade the State, by preventing
any access whatsoever to financial or personal information. They
typically read the Cypherpunks mailing list.
6. Anarchists – are committed to distributing illegal (or at least
morally suspect) information, including but not limited to data on
bombmaking, lockpicking, pornography, drug manufacturing, pirate
radio, and cable and satellite TV piracy. In this parlance of the
computer underground, anarchists are less likely to advocate the
overthrow of government than the simple refusal to obey
restrictions on distributing information. They tend to read Cult
of the Dead Cow (CDC) and Activist Times Incorporated (ATI).
7. Cyberpunk – usually some combination of the above, plus interest
in technological self-modification, science fiction of the
Neuromancer genre, and interest in hardware hacking and “street
tech.” A youth subculture in its own right, with some overlaps
with the “modern primitive” and “raver” subcultures.

The Documents

These 29 text files come from the following sources: the WELL (Whole
Earth ‘Lectronic Link) BBS, the MindVox BBS archives, various other
hacker boards, the Usenet newsgroup alt.2600, World Wide Web HTML
documents, the gopher.eff.org hacking ‘zine archive, the
cypherpunks.org ftp site, and a netwide search on documents containing
the search term “hacker ethic.” Documents were selected for this study
for relevance, and thus do not constitute a fully randomized sample of
electronic text.

1. Discussion begins
2. An unwritten manifesto?
3. Government ethic
4. Hacker theory to practice
5. The Manifesto
6. The MetaForum
In 1990, the online bulletin board system (BBS) known as the WELL
(Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) co-hosted a conference with Harper’s
magazine to discuss the future of hacking. Old and new hackers
were invited to participate. These are transcripts of the various
postings to the topic headings in the conference.
7. Cracker subculture
8. Hackers wanted
These are transcripts of postings to two other topic headings in
the WELL Hacker Conference forum.
9. Assert your rights
10. Defense of Piracy
11. Revolt
These are three “propaganda” text files by hacker Subvert, where
he attempts to make the moral case for hacking.
12. From Crossbows to Cryptography: Thwarting the State via Technology
13. The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto
These two documents from the cypherpunks ftp archive attempt to
make the case for strong encryption and cryptoanarchy.
14. Pirate
15. Pirate Newsletter
These are two e-zines for pirates.
16. Ethics of Hacking by “dissident”
17. Hack Ethics — A definition of the hacker ethic from the MIT
“Fishwrap Gallery”
18. Jargon File hacker ethic — Definition of “hacker ethic” from the
Hacker’s Jargon File (online companion to Hacker’s Dictionary) 3.0
19. The Hacker’s Code of Ethics by “Darkman”
These are four texts which deal directly with ethical issues
pertaining to hacking. Two are simply definition files.
20. CDC — Cult of the Dead Cow description file
21. Digital Free Press — a hacker e-zine
22. Emmanuel Goldstein testimony– Testimony of the 2600 leader before
a Congressional hearing on hacking
23. Hacker Manifesto — “The Conscience of a Hacker” by Mentor
24. Hacker vs Cracker — ” The Difference between Hackers and
Crackers” by CandyMan
25. Novice’s guide to hacking — A guide by Mentor and the Legion of
Doom (LOD), circa 1989
26. Phrack- Declaration of Grievances of the Electronic Community –
An imitation of the grievances clauses from the Declaration of
Independence, updated for the cyberspace era, containing
complaints about current technology policy.
27. Rebels with a Cause — A 1994 honors essay by Anthropology student
Tanja Rosteck, containing some transcripts of hacker interviews
and statements.
28. What is hacking? — Definition file from Hacker’s Haven Website
29. The Anarchist’s Guide to the BBS — a description of using BBSes
for CU purposes.

Other miscellaneous files.

The Original Hacker Ethic

Every profession or trade tends to have an ethical code which suggests
that it is capable of self-regulation of its members. The code
demonstrates the shared core values necessary for people to practice
within the professional community. And it enables the public and the
government to have some degree of trust for the profession. Some of
these codes may be very ancient and formalized, such as the
Hippocratic Oath sworn by physicians. Others may be very modern and
legalistic, like the code of ethics for applied or academic
anthropologists. Some ethical systems may be “underground,” (such as
the Pirates’ Code of 18th century buccaneers or Mafia oaths of
loyalty) enabling members of subcultures or groups to survive,
cooperate, and escape outsiders. Yet others like the original Hacker
Ethic are very informal and simple – rules of thumb to live by.

Groups employ different means of enforcing their ethical systems. Some
provisions are often recognized as simply being archaic and are
ignored. This is why most doctors do not heed the prohibitions in the
Hippocratic Oath against abortion or euthanasia, yet most (but not
all!) believe in the ethical principle of not refusing critical
treatment to a patient who is unable to pay. Other groups (such as
anthropologists) often devise ethical codes simply because they are
forced to by the bad behavior of some of their members in the past,
and their provisions are specifically tailored to probems that have
arisen. Violating some ethical codes can get you banned from the
profession or worse, when professional associations exist to enforce
the regulations; with hackers, breaking the Hacker Ethic seems to
result mostly in anathema or social ostracization, a time-honored
method of social control.

The original Hacker Ethic was sort of an impromptu, informal ethical
code developed by the original hackers of MIT and Stanford (SAIL) in
the 50s and 60s. These “hackers” were the first generation of
programmers, employing time-sharing terminal access to ‘dumb’
mainframes, and they often confronted various sorts of bureaucratic
interference that prevented them from exploring fully how
technological systems (computers, but also model trains, university
steam tunnels, university phone systems, etc.) worked. The ethic
reflects their resistance to these obstacles, and their ideology of
the liberatory power of technology. The six principles of the Hacker
Ethic are listed below, with some text samples showing where it
appears within these documents.

A concise summation of it can be found in Steven Levy’s 1984 book
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Levy suggested that
because of their Ethic and their unconventional style, hackers like
Jobs and Wozniak were able to launch the “computer revolution,”
resulting in the first personal computer (the Apple) which was easy to
use and which put programming power in the individual’s hands. Here I
cite documents from my sample which reiterate some of its principles.

1. Hands On Imperative: Access to computers and hardware should be
complete and total. It is asserted to be a categorical imperative
to remove any barriers between people and the use and
understanding of any technology, no matter how large, complex,
dangerous, labyrinthine, proprietary, or powerful.

As we can see, this has not been the case. The computer system has
been solely in the hands of big businesses and the government. The
wonderful device meant to enrich life has become a weapon which
dehumanizes people. To the government and large businesses, people
are no more than disk space, and the government doesn’t use
computers to arrange aid for the poor, but to control nuclear death
weapons. The average American can only have access to a small
microcomputer which is worth only a fraction of what they pay for
it. The businesses keep the true state of the art equipment away
from the people behind a steel wall of incredibly high prices and
bureaucracy. It is because of this state of affairs that hacking
was born. (“Doctor Crash”, 1986)[1]
2. “Information Wants to Be Free” “Information wants to be free” can
be interpreted in three ways. Free might mean without restrictions
(freedom of movement = no censorship), without control (freedom of
change/evolution = no ownership or authorship, no intellectual
property), or without monetary value (no cost.) Some hackers even
take this to mean information is alive, free to act on its own
agency, as viruses, genetic algorithms, ‘bots and other software
programs do. Most hackers seem to advocate this principle in
different senses of the word “free” at different times. In any
case, when asked about the content of the Hacker Ethic, most
people assert this as the key principle.

There is much knowledge that is disallowed, hidden. Government
activities, corporate crime, and “illegitimate” information needs
to be disseminated. People without access to technology need it -
they can contribute to the world. Distributing this information is
illegal, potentially dangerous. This, in my humble opinion, is the
best use of hacked accounts. Obtaining information, disseminating
information needs anonymity. This protects your hide. This is
important. Whistle blowers are only silenced when their identity is
known…
_____________________________________________________________

Access to information

Yes, access is a right you have. You need to know when the
government is killing people, radiating them, listening to them,
lying to them, lying to you. You have a right to gain access to
information about OUR government. This government is supposedly of
the people, by the people, power granted by a social contract.[2]
3. Mistrust Authority. Promote decentralization. This element of the
ethic shows its strong anarchistic, individualistic, and
libertarian nature. Hackers have always shown distrust toward
large institutions, including but not limited to the State,
corporations, and computer administrative bureaucracies (the IBM
‘priesthood’). Tools like the PC are said to move power away from
large organizations (who use mainframes) and put them in the hands
of the ‘little guy’ user. Nowhere is this ethos stronger than
among the anti-statist cypherpunks and extropians.

In fact, technology represents one of the most promising avenues
available for re-capturing our freedoms from those who have stolen
them. By its very nature, it favors the bright (who can put it to
use) over the dull (who cannot). It favors the adaptable (who are
quick to see the merit of the new (over the sluggish, who cling to
time-tested ways). And what two better words are there to describe
government bureaucracy than “dull” and “sluggish”?[3]
_____________________________________________________________

The State will of course try to slow or halt the spread of this
technology, citing national security concerns, use of the
technology by drug dealers and tax evaders, and fears of societal
disintegration. Many of these concerns will be valid; crypto
anarchy will allow national secrets to be traded freely and will
allow illicit and stolen materials to be traded. An anonymous
computerized market will even make possible abhorrent markets for
assassinations and extortion. Various criminal and foreign elements
will be active users of CryptoNet. But this will not halt the
spread of cryptoanarchy.[4]
4. No Bogus Criteria: Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not
by “bogus criteria” such as race, age, sex, or position. Nowhere
is this ethos more apparent than in the strong embrace by most
hackers of the levelling power of the Internet, where anonymity
makes it possible for all such ‘variables’ about a person to
remain unknown, and where their ideas must be judged on their
merits alone since such contextual factors are not available.

The Internet is one of the best hacks the world has to offer. It
has continually shattered deeply ingrained social prejudices
concerning characteristics such as age, race, wealth, and sex. In
fact, it is common to find 14 year olds arguing philosophy with 41
year olds on America’s computer networks![5]
5. “You can create truth and beauty on a computer.” Hacking is
equated with artistry and creativity. Furthermore, this element of
the ethos raises it to the level of philosophy (as opposed to
simple pragmatism), which (at least in some quarters) is about
humanity’s search for the good, the true, and the beautiful.

Without question, good/great programming (hacking) is art and as
with art each person has their own signature and style (which
changes over time). Quite a few years ago I was reviewing some
derivative works of one hacker, and found the lack of signature and
style of the original.[6]
6. “Computers can change your life for the better.” In some ways,
this last statement really is simply a corollary of the previous
one. Since most of humanity desires things that are good, true,
and/or beautiful, the fact that a computer can create such things
would seem to mean that axiomatically it can change peoples’ lives
for the better. However, this is merely a declarative statement,
which like the previous one reflects a deep-felt love of
technology. It does not state explicitly that computers should
always change peoples’ lives for the better, or the principle that
would follow from that, which is that it is unethical to use them
to make peoples’ lives worse. .. Many hackers see the Internet as
an immense positive force, and this reiterated again by hacker
Emmanuel Goldstein –

The future holds such enormous potential. It is vital that we not
succumb to our fears and allow our democratic ideals and privacy
values to be shattered. In many ways, the world of cyberspace is
more real than the real world itself. I say this because it is only
within the virtual world that people are really free to be
themselves – to speak without fear of reprisal, to be anonymous if
they so choose, to participate in a dialogue where one is judged by
the merits of their words, not the color of their skin or the
timbre of their voice. Contrast this to our existing “real” world
where we often have people sized up before they even utter a word.
The Internet has evolved, on its own volition, to become a true
bastion of worldwide democracy. It is the obligation of this
committee, and of governments throughout the world, not to stand in
its way.[7]

Thus, the ethical principles of the Hacker Ethic suggest it is the
ethical duty of the hacker to remove barriers, liberate information,
decentralize power, honor people based on their ability, and create
things that are good and life-enhancing through computers. It remains
an open question (of interpretation) as to whether it advocates the
free distribution of software (the GNU/Richard Stallman position), the
injunction against using computers for malicious purposes (the
Clifford Stoll position), or the need for secure networks based on
trust (the Steven Levy position.) Each of these document samples show
that new hackers are aware of, and advocate (whether intentionally or
accidentally) elements of the original Hacker Ethic.

New Hacker Ethic

From my documents, I found that there is a new hacker ethic which 90s
hackers live by. There are fragments of continuity from the old hacker
ethic, as one can see. The new ethic appears to have developed like
the old one, informally and by processes of mutual reinforcement. The
new ethic seems to contain some ambiguities (like the old one) and a
few contradictions. This may be due to the fact that its practicioners
are more numerous and more dispersed than the original 60s hackers.

1. “Above all else, do no harm” Do not damage computers or data if at
all possible. Much like the key element of the Hippocratic Oath.

According to the “hacker ethic,” a hack must: * be safe
* not damage anything
* not damage anyone, either physically, mentally or emotionally
* be funny, at least to most of the people who experience it
[8]

_________________________________________________________________

It is against hacker ethics to alter any data aside from the logs
that are needed to clean their tracks. They have no need or desire
to destroy data as the malicious crackers. They are there to
explore the system and learn more. The hacker has a constant
yearning and thirst for knowledge that increases in intensity as
their journey progresses.[9]

_________________________________________________________________

2. The belief that system-cracking for fun and exploration is
ethically OK as long as the cracker commits no theft, vandalism, or
breach of confidentiality.[10]

Of course, the key problem with this ethical position is its stance on
intent. One should not damage data deliberately. But what if, as often
happens in hacking attempts, one accidentally erases or alters data
while trying to alter system log files or user records? Is that an
ethical violation? Also, the question of what constitutes “harm” is
left open. Most hackers seem to see pranks and practical jokes as
harmless, regardless of their psychological impact. Yet their victims
may not feel these are so ‘harmless,’ especially if this causes them
to lose valuable time or effort.

Protect Privacy People have a right to privacy, which means control
over their own personal (or even familial) information. Privacy rights
are notably missing from the U.S. Constitution, but they have been
brought to the forefront of modern legal argument due to the growing
surveillance power of technology. There still is no codified right to
privacy for U.S. citizens, although the Supreme Court has ruled that
it is contained implicitly in its judgements legalizing the
distribution of birth control and the right to first-trimester
abortion.

How far do privacy rights go, however? Do people also have an
intrinsic right to online anonymity? Do I have the right to conceal my
health status, criminal record, or sexuality from my employer? Are
some people (politicians, celebrities, etc.) entitled to less privacy
than others? Does my social security number, credit history, or
telephone number belong only to me? Further, the strange thing about
hackers asserting a right to privacy is that it declares a certain
kind of information to not be free. Thus, in some ways this is a
contradiction to the original hacker ethic.

Your right to Privacy

Privacy is a right we beleive we have. Unfortunately privacy is not
explicitately protected in the constitution. Our consitution is
dated in that respect, there weren’t the threats to privacy then as
there are now. Technology is truly a double-edged sword. The
abscense of privacy provisions in the constitution does not make it
any less important. Indeed, the lack of constitutional protections
have allowed our privacy to be gravely threatened.[11]

_________________________________________________________________

The concept of privacy is something that is very important to a
hacker. This is so because hackers know how fragile privacy is in
today’s world. Wherever possible we encourage people to protect
their directories, encrypt their electronic mail, not use cellular
phones, and whatever else it takes to keep their lives to
themselves. In 1984 hackers were instrumental in showing the world
how TRW kept credit files on millions of Americans. Most people had
never even heard of a credit file until this happened. Passwords
were very poorly guarded – in fact, credit reports had the password
printed on the credit report itself.[12]

The second argument is an interesting one. The problem most hackers
had with TRW is not they kept files on most peoples’ credit histories
without their knowledge (thus they couldn’t see if they contained any
errors), and it was on that (unknown) basis that they were denied
loans, credit cards, mortgages, etc. It was that those files were
insecure.

“Waste not, want not.” Computer resources should not lie idle and
wasted. It’s ethically wrong to keep people out of systems when they
could be using them during idle time. This is what some people call
the “joy riders’ ethic.” If you borrow someone’s car, and return it
with no damage, a full tank of gas, and perhaps even some suggestions
for improved performance, have you not done them a favor? Especially
if they never know you borrowed it in the first place for a few road
trips? Isn’t it wasting that precious engine power to leave the car in
a parking spot while somebody else could be using it for a grocery
trip? (Is it an ethical violation to borrow the car and make a set of
keys for yourself so you can borrow it whenever you feel like? This
is, after all, what most hackers do when they give themselves sysadmin
privileges.) Yet most are possessive over the use of their own
personal computer.

The hacker ethics involves several things. One of these is avoiding
waste. Over the internet, we have about a quarter million computers
each of which is virtually unused for 10 hours a day. A true hacker
seeing something useful that he could do with terraflops of
computing power that would otherwise be wasted might would request
permission to use these machines and would probably go ahead and
use them even if permission was denied. In doing so, he would take
the greatest possible precautions to not damage the system.[13]

Exceed Limitations Hacking is about the continual transcendence of
problem limitations. Some old hackers assert this principle, as an
informal seventh addition to the original Ethic. Telling a hacker
something can’t be done, is a moral imperative for him to try.
“Extropians” believe there is a universal force of expansion and
growth, inverse to entropy, which they call “extropy.” Hacking is seen
as extropian because it always seeks to surpass current limits.
Technology is seen as a necessarily exponential force of growth.
Limitations must be overcome. For some hackers, these limitations
might be unjust laws or outdated moral codes.

To become free it may be necessary to break free from medieval
morality, break unjust laws, and be a disloyal employee. Some may
call you an disloyal, sinful criminal. To be free in a room of
slaves is demoralizing. Free your fellow man, give him the tools,
the knowledge to fight oppression. Do not infringe on others’
rights.[14]

The Communicational Imperative People have the right to communicate
and associate with their peers freely. The United Nations
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has stated in many
conferences that this should be a fundamental human right, with which
no nation should ever interfere. The sweeping freedoms given to
amateur radio hobbyists internationally reflect this belief. Globally,
it remains a significant moral problem, in that most developing
nations lack the infrastructure to grant this right. Various UN
reports have shown that despite the rhetoric, many Third World nations
do not have access to the “global” information superhighway because
they lack “onramps.” Their telecommunications infrastructure is
lacking.

Most hackers strongly support the 1st amendments’ rights to
communication and assembly, since these are necessary for the free
flow of information. Phreakers take this a step beyond, however, in
asserting that people should have the right to communicate with each
other cheaply (thus poor people have as much right to talk on the
phone long distance as the rest of us) and easily . When
telecommunications companies are an obstacle to this right to
communicate, phreaking (blue boxing the phone system, making
unauthorized ‘bridge’ conference calls, using empty voicemail boxes,
etc.) is said to be the answer.

The Right to communicate

Communicate!
This is our strongest right, and our most crucial. There mere fact
that this page is allowed to exist is proof that our 1st amendment
has not crumbled completely. Despite the governmental protection,
there are threats to our freedom to communicate.[15]

Leave No Traces Don’t leave a trail or trace of your presence; don’t
call attention to yourself or your exploits. Keep quiet, so everyone
can enjoy what you have. This is an ethical principle, in that the
hacker follows it not only for his own self-interest, but also to
protect other hackers from being caught or losing access. Such a
principle can be found among various criminal or underground
organizations. Of course, there is a contradiction between asserting a
need for secrecy (as well as privacy), and the need for unrestricted
information.

The rules a Hacker lives by:
1. Keep a low profile.
2. If suspected, keep a lower profile.
3. If accused, deny it.
4. If caught, plea the 5th.[16]

Share! Information increases in value by sharing it with the maximum
number of people; don’t hoard, don’t hide. Just because it wants to be
free, does not mean necessarily you must give it to as many people as
possible. This principle can be seen as an elaboration on an original
ethical principle. The Pirates’ ethic is that piracy increases
interest in software, by giving people a chance to try it out and
experiment with it before paying for it. So sharing software with your
friends is a good thing.

Pirates SHARE warez to learn, trade information, and have fun! But,
being a pirate is more than swapping warez. It’s a life style and a
passion. The office worker or class mate who brings in a disk with
a few files is not necessarily a pirate any more than a friend
laying a copy of the lastest Depeche Mode album on you is a pirate.
The *TRUE* pirate is plugged into a larger group of people who
share similar interests in warez. This is usually done through
Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs), and the rule of thumb is “you gotta
give a little to get a little…ya gets back what ya gives.”
Pirates are NOT freeloaders, and only lamerz think they get
something for nothing.[17]

Self Defense against a Cyberpunk Future Hacking and viruses are
necessary to protect people from a possible 1984/cyberpunk dystopian
future, or even in the present from the growing power of government
and corporations. It’s a moral imperative to use hacking as the
equivalent of ‘jujitsu,’ allowing the individual to overcome larger,
more impersonal, more powerful forces that can control their lives. If
governments and corporations know they can be hacked, then they will
not overstep their power to afflict the citizenry.

I believe, before it’s all over, that the War between those who
love liberty and the control freaks who have been waiting for to
rid America of all that constitutional mollycoddling called the
Bill of Rights, will escalate.

Should that come to pass, I will want to use every available method
to vex and confuse the eyes and ears of surveillance. Viruses could
become the necessary defense against a government that fears your
computer.[18]

What’s interesting is that this principle recognizes and asserts that
it’s not only possible but also likely for computers to have a dark
side and to be used for purposes other than truth and beauty, and that
we need to be wary of technology, or at least technology in the wrong
hands.

Hacking Helps Security This could be called the “Tiger team ethic”:
it is useful and courteous to find security holes, and then tell
people how to fix them. Hacking is a positive force, because it shows
people how to mend weak security, or in some cases to recognize and
accept that total security is unattainable, without drastic sacrifice.

Sense 2 is more controversial: some people consider the act of
cracking itself to be unethical, like breaking and entering. But
the belief that `ethical’ cracking excludes destruction at least
moderates the behavior of people who see themselves as `benign’
crackers (see also samurai). Based on this view, it may be one of
the highest forms of hackerly courtesy to (a) break into a system,
and then (b) explain to the sysop, preferably by email from a
superuser account, exactly how it was done and how the hole can be
plugged — acting as an unpaid (and unsolicited) tiger team.[19]

Many software companies today, including Lotus, regularly use tiger
teams to test their security systems. So, this ethical principle seems
to be agreed upon by some members of the industry — to a certain
extent. Even Lotus does not want its systems being tested by hackers
who are not under its employ or control.

Trust, but Test! You must constantly test the integrity of systems
and find ways to improve them. Do not leave their maintenance and
schematics to others; understand fully the systems you use or which
affect you. If you can exploit certain systems (such as the telephone
network) in ways that their creators never intended or anticipated,
that’s all to the better. This could help them create better systems.
One of those systems that may require constant revision, testing, and
adjustment, apparently, is constitutional democracy.

Democracy is always being tested — it’s an inherent part of what
it stands for. whether it’s flag burners, gay activists, klansmen,
or computer hackers, we’re always testing the system to see if it
holds up to pressure. i stress that this is NOT an end iwe do
because it interests us, but in the bigger picture we’re actually
testing the sincerity of the democratic system, whether we’re aware
of it or not.[20]

One of the most important manuals for British hackers was called
“beating the system.” The essential argument is that as systems (like
the phone network) become more and more complex, they become
impossible to manage from a centralized office. Hacking at the edges
of the system not only becomes possible, in some cases it becomes
necessary. It becomes an ethical imperative to test the system, lest
it fail when it is most needed (like the AT & T phone switches did in
1990.)

So, in short, the new hacker ethic suggests that it is the ethical
duty of new hackers (or the CU), to : 1) protect data and hardware 2)
respect and protect privacy 3) utilize what is being wasted by others
4) exceed unnecessary restrictions 5) promote peoples’ right to
communicate 6) leave no traces 7) share data and software 8) be
vigilant against cyber-tyranny and 9) test security and system
integrity of computer systems.

Violations/Transgressions

These could be considered the “thou shalt nots” of the new hacker
ethic, as opposed to its affirmative “you shoulds.” Some of these
transgressions of the hacker ethic are already implied by some of its
basic affirmative principles. We can get an idea of what hackers
believe they should do, based on what they reject as unsuitable
activities of their peers.

1. Bootlegging Commercialism; selling pirated software; hacking for
profit; selling out. Bootlegging violates the new ethic of sharing
and the original hacker ethic which eschewed profit (and embraced
personal satisfaction) as a reason for creating software (hence
the existence of Richard Stallman’s GNU Free Software Foundation.)

On occasion the possibility of making a profit from these advances
tempts hackers into commercialism. On other occasions, they see
commercialism as the only way to get their work into the hands of
the masses. When they succeed they become rich, and usually get
moved further and further from hacker life and more and more into
paperwork and then don’t live happily ever after.[21]
_____________________________________________________________

Bootleggers are to pirates as a chop-shop is to a home auto
mechanic. Bootleggers are people who DEAL stolen merchandise for
personal gain. Bootleggers are crooks. They sell stolen goods.
Pirates are not crooks, and most pirates consider bootleggers to be
lower life forms than child molesters.[22]
Bootlegging seems to contradict new hacker ethic 7, share!
2. Freeloading Always taking and never contributing. Profitting from
other peoples’ efforts without adding to them. “Warez d00dz” and
“Codez d00dz” who are hunting for free software or phone codes
without offering anything in return (a hack, a number, whatever)
are looked down upon. Hoarding and refusing to tell others about
your hacks are seen as wrong. This also violates the new ethic of
sharing.

In fact, pirates may be one of the best forms of advertising for
quality products, because sharing allows a shop-around method for
buying warez. Most of us buy a program for the documents and the
support, but why invest in four or five similar programs if we
aren’t sure which best suits our needs? Nah, pirates aren’t
freeloaders. We are against freeloading.[23]
3. Trashing Crashing systems; destroying hardware; hurting other
users; malicious vandalism; irreversible damaging or destroying of
data; unleashing destructive viruses, Trojans, logic bombs.
Prankful (non-harmless) games with users and sysops and systems is
acceptable… This is seen as the obvious corollary of the new
ethic to “do no harm.”

I. Do not intentionally damage *any* system. Trashing BBSes is
wrong, plain and simple.
II. Do not alter any system files other than ones needed to ensure
your escape from detection and your future access (Trojan Horses,
Altering Logs, and the like are all necessary to your survival for
as long as possible.)[24]
_____________________________________________________________

The one thing I hate, is the way some self-appointed hackers find
there way into a system, and ruin the name of the rest of us by
destroying everything they can find. Now that is pathetic. First of
all, as I said, it ruins the name of the rest of us. Thus, once
again, the “Destructive Computer User” Stereotype… A board
crasher is no more a “hacker” than my grandmother is.[25]
4. Excessive Selfishness Self interest overrules any concern for
other hackers whatsoever. This violation implies others… once
again, we run into the strange divide at the heart of the Hacker
Ethic, which is deeply individualistic, yet also fiercely
communal. Individuals are expected to be highly self-motivated,
but not selfish.

I think you’d be less agitated if you define your categories as
hackers and criminals. The former are in it to explore and the
latter are in it for themselves and nothing else. Of course, some
hackers do break laws on occasion but I don’t think that
necessarily turns them into criminals, at least not in the moral
sense.[26]
_____________________________________________________________

Also, some hackers have this massive ego problem… I must name one
here, for that problem, and he is Corporal Punishment… I have had
numerous run-ins with this guy. He seems to think he is a God,
constantly running everyone into the ground. He even went as far as
saying “PHRACK sucks!” But he isn’t the only one with that
problem… Some feel that if they put others down, they will
elevate to a higher level. Sorry to burst you bubble guys, but your
only viewed as massive ego-maniacs that deserve nothing less than
being run down yourselves…[27]
_____________________________________________________________

Let us not forget that hackers, crackers, chippers, crunchers, and
whatnot all have ego, and one thing that bothers me about using the
Hacker Ethic to describe people is that ego and self-interest are
not accounted for. How else can you explain crackers selling
pirated software, otherwise intelligent people distributing viruses
to the general public in hope of causing maximum damage to other
users, or hackers breaking into some system and erasing files for
laughs? People break into computers because it’s fun and it makes
one feel powerful, not because there is untapped power waiting to
be used if only the right programming “wizard” comes along.[28]
5. The (Selective) Anti-Stealing Ethic Information, services, and
software are not property; hardware, physical property, money, and
monetary services (credit cards, digital cash, phone card numbers)
are. Theft of these is still wrong. Also, the target makes a
difference. Stealing phone service (say, voicemail boxes) from a
large institution like a corporation or the government is OK.
Stealing it from an individual or a small nonprofit is not.
Thus the new hacker ethic, according to its propagandists, does
not embrace theft; instead it simply defines certain things (like
information) as not being personal property, or certain actions
(using phone service) as “borrowing” rather than theft.

So where is the boundary between the hacker world and the criminal
world? To me, it has always been in the same place. We know that
it’s wrong to steal tangible objects. We know that it’s wrong to
vandalize. We know that it’s wrong to invade somebody’s privacy.
Not one of these elements is part of the hacker world.[29]
6. Bragging Calling too much attention to oneself. It is acceptable
(‘elite’) to brag in private hacker circles, unacceptable to brag
or make taunts and dares to sysops, law enforcement, or
authorities, or in any public forum where they tend to listen.
Some hackers even consider the first unacceptable, since hacker
boards are monitored by the Secret Service as well. Bragging and
boasting to the media or other non-hackers violates the ethic of
‘leave no trace’ and keeping a low profile.

Bragging after a neat hack may seem like the natural thing to do.
But just remember that it can only call attention to yourself, and
not everyone who pays attention to hackers are admirers. You may
jeopardize your friends and anyone else who ever accesses the same
system as you.[30]
_____________________________________________________________

True hackers are quiet. I don’t mean they talk at about .5 dB, I
mean they keep their mouths shut and don’t brag. The number one
killer of those the media would have us call hackers is bragging.
You tell a friend, or you run your mouth on a board, and sooner or
later people in power will find out what you did, who you are, and
you’re gone…[31]
7. Spying Snooping, monitoring of people, and invading their privacy
is wrong… so therefore is reading private e-mail, etc. This
follows from the new hacker ethic which sees privacy as a
fundamental right. However, part of the hacker praxis is about
finding out passwords and security holes from users, whether
through “social engineering” or simple snooping and “sniffing.”
This is the contradiction, once again, of embracing privacy but
also insisting on unrestricted information.

Some crackers are using computers in the exact *opposite* way that
the first hackers intended them: first, by restricting the
unimpeded and unmonitored flow of information through the computer
networks and phone lines; and second, by using computers to monitor
people, by intrusive methods of information-gathering.[32]
8. Narcing It is wrong to turn other hackers in. This part of their
ethical code is not different from many other criminal
organizations or subcultures, such as prison inmates, drug
addicts, prostitutes, etc., or even ‘above-ground’ subcultures
such as police departments. (“code of silence.”) However, this
code has special meaning for hackers, since many ex-hackers often
decide to become computer security personnel later in life. Many
of their peers consider this ‘selling out.’

There’s no lower form of life than the narc. Hackers who go and rat
on other hackers are scum. They get lots of promises of immunity
and stuff if they turn in all their friends. Some hackers get back
at other people by turning them into the feds. This is wrong, and
it only damages the hacker community. We need to stick together,
because nobody else is really on our side.[33]
_____________________________________________________________

The last thing I will mention, will be hackers turning in other
hackers to federal crime agencies, or to the PhoneCorp security
offices, or any other type of company that deals with computer
related phraud. This activity, refered to as Narcing, is getting to
be too popular for a hackers good… You may be saying, ” Come on,
no hacker in they’re right mind would turn another on in “. And
your right… It’s once again those self proclaimed hackers, or the
ones who think they are who will do this to get “Even”…[34]

We can then see that new hackers do believe certain things are wrong -
and people who commit these actions are frowned upon and often
prevented from being recognized by the hacker community. Many of the
things new hackers reject, would also be rejected by the community of
old hackers.

Reasons for Change

I coded various “emic” explanations in these texts for why some people
felt the Hacker Ethic had changed. These could potentially provide the
basis for looking for some interesting etic, measurable variables.

1. “More Stuff” Computers are more numerous, more powerful, more
networked, more distributed, more important, more widespread. More
power over society = more corruption, more incentive.

So the process of society adopting a new technology BY DEFINITION
must include the removal of all idealistic motivations originally
present in the promoters of the technology. Computers are power,
and direct contact with power can bring out the best or the worst
in a person. The Hacker Ethic is simply the ideal case: it’s
tempting to think that everyone exposed to the technology will be
so grandly inspired, but alas, it just ain’t so.

The “hacker ethic” was unnoticed before because fiddling with large
complex systems was so difficult until recently. There have always
been basement tinkers and young pranksters but their explorations
were very local. Once we are all connected, the work of these
investigators ripple through the world we have constructed and
affect us.[35]
_____________________________________________________________

We live in the age of computers. Everything is controlled by
massive mainframes; Our water distribution system, rail-road
control, airline control, electricity control, telephone companies,
etc, etc, etc… Imagine the fun someone can have in one of those
systems!!! Just the fact of getting in them can sometimes be a
major accomplishment. But my point is, what people do once they are
in…[36]
2. Society Society has changed for the worse. Either the old hackers
lived in a more sheltered, supportive, rewarding environment (the
MIT lab where they had access to everything they could ever want,
plus recognition from their mentors and peers), or they simply
lived in a larger society (the U.S. of the 50s) which was more
based on trust, honesty, etc., and that is why their behavior was
different. This might be the sort of sociological explanation
found in a sociology textbook.

PANTY RAIDS: When panty raids meet biotech it may be time to adapt
new rituals; or the cracker phenomena is more complex then that and
has at least something to do with increased levels of social
alienation and how the street finds its own use for things.[37]
_____________________________________________________________

It is my contention that hackers did not change. Society changed,
and it changed for the worse. The environment the early hackers
were working in rewarded them for their mischief and their desire
to experiment and try new things.[38]
3. The Computer Industry has Sold Out
The computer industry sold out; no commercial software developers
today believe in the Hacker Ethic either. They patent software,
copy-protect programs, lock up data and algorithms. New hackers
are merely responding to the times. They wouldn’t have to do what
they have to do if the computer industry believed in open
standards and systems and free source code.

And yet, in practice, I can’t help but conclude that the computer
revolution is over, and that the people lost. The computer
community is driven now not by a lust for knowledge but by a lust
for money. What were fledgling companies of wild-eyed programmers
sharing knowledge and feeding on each other’s ideas have become
corporate behemoths, run by suits and ties, and copyright lawyers,
and the bottom line.[39]
4. Generational Change Hackers, like other youth of their generation
(“generation X”), are more alienated, more pessimistic, more
self-centered, more thoughtless, more careless, more pragmatic,
etc. It’s not that society, technology, or computing practices
changed; it’s just that new hackers come from a generation which
was raised differently from its predecessors and was exposed to
different influences.

It’s like you sometimes see in the media – ‘GenX’ is more in it for
themselves, more likely to try and get ahead through using
information from any which way, and more often see themselves as
getting screwed over by their elders … so it’s not surprising
that they don’t have the same attitudes as Baby Boomer hackers.[40]

A future research project might be to try and turn these into etic
variables. If one could operationalize and measure “level of
alienation” for the authors of these texts, it might turn out to be a
causal factor for “level of adherence to the Hacker Ethic,” which
would be the degree to which the person espouses the old or new Hacker
ethics. Or one could try and correlate changes in the Hacker Ethic
with changes in computing practices or level of intensification of
computer use.

Repudiations

It’s interesting to examine the ways in which 90s hackers often
repudiate the original Hacker Ethic, or the possibility of embracing
any Ethic at all. These are based on some items I coded in the texts,
and other mentions found on the Net.

1. Fraud “The hacker ethic is a fraud” perpetrated by the original
hackers. It’s too idealistic to possibly work in the real world.

But the Hacker Ethic is also a fraud. It is a fraud because there
is nothing magical about computers that causes one of its users or
owners to undergo religious conversions and devote themselves to
use of the computer for the betterment of the public good. Early
automobile enthusiasts were tinkerers, inventors, people with a
dream building motorized transportation. Then the new invention
became popular and the elite used it to drive around in luxury.
Then the new invention became accessible, and for many, necessary
for survival. Now we have traffic jams, drunk drivers, air
pollution, and suburban sprawl. Whatever magic still present in the
use of the automobile occasionally surfaces, but we possess no
delusions that it automatically invades the consciousness of
everyone who sits behind the wheel.[41]
2. Individualism Individualistic loners don’t tend to subcribe to
communal ethics. Many hackers argue that hacking is by nature
oriented toward individualism rather than “groupthink,” and thus
the community of hackers is one of mutually reinforcing
self-interest rather than any true form of fellowship or common
ideology.
3. Many, not one There is no one single hacker ethic; in the extreme
position, every hacker has their own ethic.

I think the problem we’re all having is the fact that everyone is
deluding themselves thinking there is only ONE ‘hacker ethic’. The
truth of the matter is, everyone has their *OWN* hacker ‘ethic’. To
say that we all think the same way is foolish.[42]
4. Anti-professionalism Ethics are usually professional standards; by
their very nature hackers are anti-professional and tend to make
up the rules as they go along. Creating a professional, formalized
code for hackers would mean the end of hacking.
5. Natural Evolution The hacker ethic, like any belief system, must
evolve over time; it’s foolish to assume anyone could maintain the
same ethics when everything else (especially technology) changes
so rapidly.

In exploring some of the factors that lead to rejection of the
original Hacker Ethic, we might be able to understand better why
certain hackers do embrace either the old or new one or a combination
of both.

Investigations of Patterns

I did two index tree searches of the NUDIST tree-index to examine my
hypothesis of continuity between the 60s and 90s hackers.

Report 1

This was simply an index search where I told NUDIST to identify the
number of documents which contained codes from both the old and new
hacker ethics’ subcodes. Any document which contained one or more
codes from both sets of ethical codes was considered a ‘hit,’
indicating knowledge of (if not practice) of both systems. The results
were: retrievals in 15 out of 29 documents or 52 percent. This seems
to be statistically significant, and it is unlikely that hackers would
express elements of both ethical systems purely by chance unless they
were aware of both.

Report 2

I generated a matrix of overlapping documents for the Hacker Ethics
(old and new). This identifies where codes co-occur within the same
text units (as opposed to elsewhere in the same text) and in which
documents.

1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6
2 1 24 24, 18
2 2
2 3
2 4
2 5
2 6
2 7
2 8 27 27
2 9
2 10

In document 24, “hacker vs. cracker,” we see the co-occurence of the
old hacker ethic of “total access” and the new hacker ethic of “do no
harm,” as well as the co-occurence of “information wants to be free”
with “do no harm.” In document 18, “Hacker ethic jargon file,” we see
the co-occurence of these same sentiments. And in document 27, “Rebels
with a cause,” we see the co-occurence of “self defense” with
“information wants to be free” and “computers can change your life for
the better.”

Apparently, while hackers may express principles of both hacker
ethics, they are unlikely to do so at the same time or within the same
thought. Co-occurence within the same text unit did not occur very
often – only 3 out of 29 documents.

Conclusions – areas for future research

I feel it safe to say that I can conclude a few basic facts from this
early effort at text analysis. Mostly, I have a basis for a good deal
of future research. I might be able to state more, if I had access to
more documents or more information about their authors beyond their
“handles.”

1. New 90s hackers are not unethical. They are not unaware of the
original Hacker Ethic. They have their own ethical system which
combines elements of the old 60s Hacker Ethic with some new
innovations (the new hacker ethic.) The fact that ethics are
important to these hackers is suggested by the fact that they
anethematize “crackers” and “dark side” hackers for transgressions
which violate the spirit of their ethics.
2. There are four interesting areas of investigation for looking into
the changes between the old and new Hacker Ethic. Measurement of
changes in computer technology, social indicators, computer
industry practices, and generational demographics might provide
variables which covary with, and possibly even explain, the
changes in this ideological system.
3. Some new hackers do repudiate the original Hacker Ethic or the
possibility of having an ethic at all. It would be interesting to
find out what aspects of their profiles (age, background,
experience, gender, social class, etc.) correlate with whether or
not they repudiate it and why. There should be some way to predict
whether or not a hacker is likely to embrace the ethic, and how
much they fidelity to it they will demonstrate.
4. The (old and new) Hacker Ethic is not totally idiosyncratic.
Elements of it are similar to principles advocated by American
culture and its “democratic” constitutional and informal ideals;
the ethical codes of professional organizations such as academics,
doctors, and lawyers; the ethical systems of “underground” and
marginalized groups such as addicts, prostitutes, homeless people,
etc.; and traditional ethical precepts of philosophy (such as the
Golden Rule or Kantian categorical imperative.) Hackers are not
alone in wanting privacy, knowledge, or community.
5. The similarity between the old and new hacker ethics suggest that
the new hackers did not emerge out of a distinct “tradition” from
the old hackers. Ethical continuity suggests some demographic
continuity. The 60s and 90s hackers may not be all that different,
despite the fact that the 60s hackers consider the 90s hackers to
be less deserving of the mantle of the term “hacker.”

Text Sources

1. Rebels with a Cause
2. Revolt
3. From Crossbows to Crypto
4. Cryptoanarchist Manifesto
5. Declaration of Grievances of the Electronic Community
6. The Manifesto
7. Emmanuel Goldstein Testimony
8. Hack Ethics
9. Hacker vs. Cracker
10. Jargon file – hacker ethic
11. Assert your rights
12. Emmanuel Goldstein testimony
13. Discussion begins
14. Revolt
15. Assert your rights
16. What is hacking?
17. Pirate Newsletter
18. Government ethic
19. Jargon file – hacker ethic
20. The Manifesto
21. Discussion begins
22. Pirate Newsletter
23. Pirate Newsletter
24. Novice’s guide to hacking
25. The Hacker’s Code of Ethics
26. Cracker subculture
27. The Hacker’s Code of Ethics
28. The Manifesto
29. Emmanuel Goldstein testimony
30. What is hacking?
31. Ethics of Hacking
32. Government ethic
33. What is hacking?
34. The Hacker’s Code of Ethics
35. Discussion begins
36. The Hacker’s Code of Ethics
37. Cracker subculture
38. Digital Free Press #2
39. Discussion begins
40. Anarchist’s Guide to the BBS
41. Discussion begins
42. Discussion begins

Copyright 1997, Steve Mizrach
Permission granted to publish on www.infowar.com

seeker1@anthro.ufl.edu

[Bomb2]

Infowar.Com & Interpact, Inc. WebWarrior@Infowar.Com
Submit articles to: infowar@infowar.com
Voice: 813.393.6600 Fax: 813.393.6361

As she speaks, the camera pans across the court, panning
down and stopping on the defendant: eleven year old Dade
Murphy.

Fast forward to the sentencing.

Many thanks:
In Cooperation with http://www.freeinfosociety.com/ & Jonathan Dunder
be sure to checkout their irc at irc.freeinfosociety.com

Rev.97/10/01 21:27

“Hackers” Movie Script
Typed by Lo Wang

UNITED ARTISTS PICTURES

presents

an IAIN SOFTLEY film

“HACKERS”

JONNY LEE MILLER

ANGELINA JOLIE

FISHER STEVENS

and LORRAINE BRACCO

music by SIMON BOSWELL

edited by CHRISTOPHER BLUNDEN MARTIN WALSH

production designer JOHN BEARD

director of photography ANDRZEJ SEKULA

executive producer IAIN SOFTLEY

co-producer JANET GRAHAM

written by RAFAEL MOREU

produced by MICHAEL PEYSER RALPH WINTER

directed by IAIN SOFTLEY

SEATTLE 1988

EXT. FRONT YARD. DAY.

Slow motion. Armed troops in black uniforms pour out of
unmarked vans and swarm across a lawn in a middle class
residential neighborhood. Yuppie neighbours look on in
shock, confused. Two of the troops carry a battering ram
to the front door of a white two-storey house. A leashed
Rottweiler snarls and barks. In position, their comrades
point M-16s into first-floor windows, ready to be
ambushed. Pan into a window in the kitchen. An
attractive woman in her thirties is making breakfast.

Now, in regular motion, the battering ram breaks open the
front door. The woman, startled, drops her spatula.

INT. MURPHY RESIDENCE. DAY.

WOMAN
(screams)
Oough! Ahhh!

SECRET SERVICE AGENT
(to others)
Upstairs.

Troops pour into the house.

WOMAN
What’s going on? What’s the matter?
Who are you?

The troops, and one or two trenchcoated agents, continue
entering the house and heading upstairs, still with rifles
ready.

WOMAN
Hey!

Upstairs, crowded in the narrow hallway, the troops
descend on a bedroom.

WOMAN
(off camera)
Dade! Dade!

AGENT
Knock it down.

The battering ram knocks down a bedroom door.

INT. COURTROOM.

The prosecutor, a woman of about forty, gives her closing
argument blandly. She’d rather be somewhere else.

PROSECUTOR
The defendant, Dade Murphy, who calls
himself “Zero Cool”, has repeatedly
committed criminal acts of a malicious
nature. This defendant possesses a
superior intelligence, which he uses to a
destructive and antisocial end. His
computer virus crashed one thousand five
hundred and seven computer systems,
including Wall Street trading systems,
single handedly causing a seven point drop
in the New York Stock Market.

As she speaks, the camera pans across the court, panning
down and stopping on the defendant: eleven year old Dade
Murphy.

Fast forward to the sentencing.

JUDGE
Dade Murphy, I hereby fine your family
forty-five thousand dollars…

The court gasps, Dade’s father winces

JUDGE
…and sentence you to probation, under
which you are forbidden to own or operate
a computer or touch tone telephone, until
the day of your eighteenth birthday.

Now Dade winces, in fact we almost expect him to cry.

Opening credits roll to a backdrop of Dade and his family
and lawyer fighting through a gaggle of journalists and
photographers, in slow motion, and driving away.

SEVEN YEARS LATER.

Aboard a jetliner, Dade Murphy is staring blankly out the
window, wearing headphones. Exterior view from the
aircraft of approaching New York City. The view becomes a
direct overhead of the buildings and streets of the city,
which then metamorphoses (through animation) into chips
and digital signals on a stylised computer board. The
title logo.

INT. DADE’S ROOM.

Segue to Dade Murphy, now 18, wearing mirrorshades indoors
and at night, working on his new computer. His mother
calls him.

MRS. MURPHY
(off camera)
Dade?

DADE
Yeah, mom?

MRS. MURPHY
What are you doing?

DADE
(after a semi-pregnant pause)
I’m taking over a TV network.

MRS. MURPHY
Finish up, honey, and get to sleep. And happy
birthday.

INT. OTV STUDIOS.

In the OTV Studios security department, a phone rings, a
man answers nervously.

NORM
Security, uh Norm, Norm speaking.

DADE
Norman? This is Mr. Eddie Vedder, from
Accounting. I just had a power surge here at
home that wiped out a file I was working on.
Listen, I’m in big trouble, do you know
anything about computers?

NORM
Uhhmmm… uh gee, uh…

DADE
Right, well my BLT drive on my computer just
went AWOL, and I’ve got this big project due
tomorrow for Mr. Kawasaki, and if I don’t get
it in, he’s gonna ask me to commit Hari
Kari…

NORM
Uhhh.. ahahaha…

DADE
Yeah, well, you know these Japanese management
techniques.
(pause)
Could you, uh, read me the number on the
modem?

NORM
Uhhhmm…

DADE
It’s a little boxy thing, Norm, with switches
on it… lets my computer talk to the one
there…

NORM
212-555-4240.

Dade goes to work on OTV. He closes his eyes and a flurry
of half-second video clips from old TV shows flashes by.
He opens his eyes. His screen says ENTERING ARPS 331 and
then wipes to another screen. Automated Record Playback
System. There is a graphic representation of the
station’s automatic videotape changer. Dade turns on his
TV set and turns to OTV. It is running a Rush-Limbaugh
type TV show.

COMMENTATOR
(on TV)
…so-called American Indians, Latinos and
Blacks come from a genetically mediocre
stock…

DADE
Yak yak yak. Get a job!

Dade presses a key on his keyboard. The Video Changer
diagram lights up in red. At the station, a robotic arm
selects a videotape from a huge rack of thousands of
tapes. The “America First” tape slides out of the VTR and
is replaced by an episode of “The Outer Limits” as Dade
watches, drinks Coke and smiles, full of himself.

TV
You are about to experience the awe and
mystery, which reaches from the inner mind,
to… The Outer Limits.

DADE
Yesssss!

Suddenly, the ARPS screen is replaced by an ominous
message:

U HAVE TREAD
UPON MY DOMAIN &
MUST NOW SUFFER
WHO R U?

DADE
Hey! What?

He starts to type ZERO…

DADE
No, wait.

Dade types:

CRASH OVERRIDE.
WHO WANTS TO KNOW?

Dade’s screen dissolves into:

ACID BURN

DADE
Unbelievable. A hacker!

Then the screen changes again:

ACID BURN
SEZ LEAVE B 4
U R EXPUNGED

“The Outer Limits” suddenly flashes off.

DADE
Yeah, okay “Acid Burn”, that’s enough.

Dade starts hacking. Apparently so does Acid Burn. The
tape changer machines at OTV are swamped, sometimes
fighting over the same tape. The program on TV keeps
changing.

The message comes up on Dade’s computer screen:

I WILL
SWAT U LIKE
THE FLY U R

More dueling tape changers, more half second video clips.
Another message.

I WILL
SNAP YOUR BACK
LIKE A TOOTHPICK

As the duel continues, Dade types back a taunt of his own:

MESS WITH THE BEST
DIE LIKE THE REST

One last from Acid Burn:

YOU ARE
TERMINATED

Then his own computer confirms for him that the connection
is terminated.

DADE
Shit on me!

Next morning. Mrs. Murphy is unpacking. Dade emerges
from his room in a housecoat. He makes a beeline (dodging
moving boxes) for the fridge.

MRS. MURPHY
Good morning. You unpack your stuff yet?

DADE
Mm-hmm.

MRS. MURPHY
Up all night again, huh?

DADE
Can this wait until both my eyes are open,
please?

Dade’s mom picks up the phone, mocking a call to the
building superintendent.

MRS. MURPHY
Can I cut the electricity to his room so he’ll
sleep normal hours? He’s been playing with
his computer all night for a solid week.
(pause)
Well yes, he could be playing with himself.
Mmm hmm. Yes I’ll ask. Dade, you like girls,
don’t you?

DADE
Well, yeah, I just haven’t found one as
charming as you yet.

MRS. MURPHY
You haven’t been doing anything stupid, right,
Dade?
(louder)
Right, Dade?!

DADE
Right, mom. And I’m still a virgin!

Dade slams the bathroom door. Mrs. Murphy quickly checks
his room. Dade is showering.

MRS. MURPHY
(angry, through the bathroom door)
You hooked it up to the phone, didn’t you?
Dade! Turn the shower off! You screw up
again and you won’t get into college!

She pauses and regains some of her cool.

MRS. MURPHY
I’m sorry we had to move in your senior year.
I didn’t want to sell the house but I had to
take this new job, you know that. You’re
going to love New York, it’s the city that
never sleeps!

EXT. NEW YORK CITY.

We enjoy several views of New York, the morning sun
shining between skyscrapers, neon signs that stay lit day
and night. Dade emerges from the ground-floor apartment
on rollerblades and skates down the street to school.

INT. HIGH SCHOOL.

At school, hundreds of teenagers converse, move around,
head to class. Dade looks lost among them. He walks up
to a skinny latino kid in a faux leopard-skin muscle
shirt. The kid is on a pay-phone, speaking in Spanish.

DADE
Excuse me.

KID
Yo, chill man, I’m talking to Venezuela.

DADE
Yeah, I’m sorry, I was just looking for the
principal’s office.

KID
Sorry, I can’t help you, okay?

Now Dade really looks lost. He heads off in search of the
office.

INT. OFFICE.

Dade is filling out a form.

GIRL
Do you have your transfer forms?

Dade stares at her, stunned. The girl has a decidedly
unconventional appearance, yet is a first-rate beauty.

GIRL
It’s a relatively straightforward question.

Dade notices her lips, and in his imagination launches
into a flurry of half-second video clips and art bites,
all involving lips and kissing.

GIRL
Do you speak English?

DADE
Sorry, you wanted…?

GIRL
I wanted transfer forms.

He gives them to her.

GIRL
Thank you.

She starts leaving. He doesn’t.

GIRL
Are you coming?

Dade clues in, gets up and follows her. She takes him on
a brief tour.

INT. HIGH SCHOOL CORRIDOR.

GIRL
The gym is through there, and the cafeteria is
through there.

DADE
Great. Cool.
(pause)
What’s your name?

GIRL
Kate. Kate Libby.

They arrive at a classroom.

KATE
Here’s your class.

DADE
My… class. You mean I’m not in your class?

KATE
No, you’re not in my class.

Kate starts away.

DADE
Give me time!

A guy in the halls notices Dade.

GUY

Hey, you new?

DADE
Yeah.

GUY
Tell him about the pool, Kate.

DADE
Pool?

KATE
Yeah, there’s an Olympic size swimming pool up
on the roof. Take the stairs over there.

DADE
Yeah! Sure.

Kate starts away again.

DADE
Thanks!

EXT. SCHOOL ROOFTOP.

Dade enters, and lets the door slam behind him. Across the
roof, a dozen or so geeky looking kids are looking over
the edge, apparently trying to get someone’s attention.
One of them notices Dade.

GEEK
Hey! Hold the door!

He’s too late. The geeks look pretty angry. There is no pool.

Dade
(realizing he’s been had)
No pool.

Dade tries the door but it’s locked. He hammers it with
his palm, furious. Above, thunder roars and it begins
raining.

INT. SCHOOL CORRIDOR.

Dade is soaking wet, and trudges among his classmates
leaving a muddy trail. A three-second video clip rolls
through his mind: it is a screaming woman being strangled
in an old movie. He walks past Kate, who giggles.

KATE
Oh my God! He found the pool.

INT. SCHOOL COMPUTER LAB.

The kids are all seated at computer workstations. Dade
is hacking, the latino kid who was on the phone to
Venezuela is running a demo involving dirty-dancing
skeletons.

TEACHER
I’m Mr. Simpson. And I’m subbing for Ms.
Bayliss who was arrested at the anti-fur
rally. I know some of you kids got computers
at home. But these are school property,
people, and I don’t want to see any gum stuck
to ‘em. Chapter 1. Designing graphical
interface…

Meanwhile, the latino kid notices that Dade has been
looking up Kate Libby’s school records. And hacking
himself into her advanced English class.

EXT. SCHOOL QUAD.

It’s after school, kids are heading home, Dade too. The
latino kid notices Dade and catches up with him.

KID
So, um, what’s your interest in Kate Libby,
eh? Academic? Purely sexual?

DADE
Homicidal?

KID
What’s up, man? I’m the Phreak!

The name rings no bells with Dade.

PHREAK
The Phantom Phreak? The king of Nynex? I
know you play the game.

Another kid, younger and a little geeky looking, runs up
to Dade and The Phantom Phreak.

JOEY
Phreakphreakphreakphreakphreak,
dudedudedudedudedudedude… I gotta…

PHREAK
(slaps Joey)
Joey, Joey…

JOEY
What? whatwhatwhat?

PHREAK
One more “dude” out of you and I’m gonna slap
the shit outa you, okay? Now I’m trying to
save you from yourself but you gotta stop
letting your mama dress you, man!
(To Dade):
Check it…

Phreak starts to hand Dade a flyer.

JOEY
(interrupting)
I need a handle, man. I don’t have an
identity until I have a handle.

PHREAK
You know, you’re right about that.
(to Dade)
Check it, Friday.

Phreak hands Dade a flyer for Cyberdelia.

JOEY
Alright. How about the Master of Disaster,
huh?

PHREAK
You’re hopeless, man, utterly hopeless.

Phreak walks away.

JOEY
Ultra Laser.
(desperate)
Doctor Doom!

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREET VILLAGE. NIGHT.

Dade rolls in on rollerblades. Street vendors hawk
computer parts and bootleg software. A bootleg music
vendor catches Dade’s attention.

CEREAL
Check this out, each and every one of you.
Compilation tape, of my own making. I call
this the “Greatest Zooks Album”. Featuring
artists like, well I got some Hendrix on
there, some Joplin, Mama Cass, Belushi… all
great artists that asphyxiated on their own
vomit!

The small crowd around him finally gets the joke.

CEREAL
Can’t get this in stores, man, I made it!

Dade wheels into Cyberdelia, which just happens to be
equipped with a ramp down to its main floor for the
benefit of skaters. The place pounds with loud, bassy
techno music and coloured light. Video monitors with
psychedelic patterns complete the atmopshere. There is a
video game with a huge screen. Phreak is at a pay phone.

OPERATOR
(on phone)
Please deposit five dollars for the first
minute.

Phreak holds a small box up to the receiver, presses a
button, and the box emits a series of tones.

OPERATOR
Thank you.

PHREAK
Nonono, thank YOU!

Dade checks out the scene. Kate is playing the big video
game. Dade skates up to her. She loses her last man.
She’s got the high score, in fact her name dominates the
top-10 list.

DADE
That’s a nice score for a girl.

KATE
(irritated by Dade’s presence)
Think you can do better?

DADE
I’ll give it a shot.

Kate yields the controls to Dade, who begins playing.
Kate’s boyfriend looks on from a mezzanine several feet
above.

CURTIS
Is this kid bothering you, Kate?

DADE
Sorry, can I get some room here?

CURTIS
Yeah.
(to Kate)
Why don’t you come up here?

Kate obliges and joins Curtis. Dade continues playing.
He plays brilliantly. The game is a flashy 3-D high-speed
chase game with lots of surprises. Dade loses, but his
high score is about to come up.

CURTIS
He’s good!

Dade’s score comes up. He’s in the #1 position. Phreak
is amazed.

DADE
(to Kate)
Well, it looks like I’m on top.

Kate, defeated, leaves. Curtis follows.

PHREAK
Congratulations. No one’s ever beat her
before. You just made an enemy for life.
(to someone else)
Boy meets world. Let’s go?

EXT. OUTSIDE CYBERDELIA. NIGHT.

Kate and Curtis are sucking face, oblivious to the busy
world around them. Dade and Phreak watch, more than a
little disgusted.

DADE
Who’s that?

PHREAK
Curtis.

DADE
And what’s he do?

PHREAK
That’s it, you’re looking at it, he just looks
slick all day.

Kate and Curtis start to take off on Curtis’ motorcycle.
Kate and Dade make eye contact briefly. The motorcycle
speeds off into the night.

INT. DADE’S ROOM.

The clock says it’s 4:16. As the camera pans up to Dade,
it changes to 4:17. Dade is hacking again. It’s the
school’s administration system. Dade schedules a test of
the school sprinkler system for 9:30am.

INT. HIGH SCHOOL CORRIDIR.

Dade stands alone in the hall, watching the time closely.
Phreak rounds a corner and meets Dade.

PHREAK
What’s up?

Dade doesn’t answer. He watches the time a couple of more
seconds, then opens an umbrella. Immediately the fire
sprinklers turn on. Phreak starts getting drenched. He
realizes what is happening.

PHREAK
(amused and highly impressed)
Oh my God. You…

A bell rings and students pour out into the halls by the
hundreds. They’re all being showered on. A tall
cheerleader bounces by Phreak, pushing her pom-pom in his
face.

PHREAK
Way cool!
(to Dade)
You saw that?

Dade nods in the affirmative.

Kate walks up to Dade, also understanding what has
happened.

KATE
What the hell is going on?

DADE
Pool on the roof must have a leak.

Kate gives Dade a look that could kill and skulks away.

Dade walks away under his umbrella, smug and dry.

PHREAK
Man, oh man, this is gonna be good.

INT. HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM.

Dade, Kate, and a couple of other students are writing on
the chalkboard. Kate finishes first.

KATE
If God gave men brains bigger than dogs’,
they wouldn’t hump womens’ legs at cocktail
parties.

The class giggles.

KATE
Ruth Libby.

TEACHER
I’m not so sure your mother qualifies as a
significant author of the twentieth century.

KATE
Her last book sold two million copies.

CLASS
(almost in unison)
Woooooo!

The teacher reads Dade’s quotation.

TEACHER
“Angel-headed hipsters burning for the ancient
heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in
the machinery of the night.”

DADE
That’s Ginsburg.

TEACHER
Nice. Very nice.

KATE
He’s not in this class.

DADE
I said give me time.

KATE
He’s not enrolled in this class.

TEACHER
Well, he’s on my list.

Kate leaps across a desk and snatches the list from the
teacher. Dade is on it. She gives Dade another filthy
look, both Dade and the teacher just shrug. The teacher
moves on to Cereal.

TEACHER
“Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind
the most?”

CEREAL
Ozzy Osbourne!

TEACHER
You. What is your name?

The teacher grabs the list back from Kate.

CEREAL
Uh, Emmanuel Goldstein, sir?

TEACHER
You, however, are not on my list.

CEREAL
(in mock shock)
Whoa, this isn’t wood shop class?

The class cracks up. Kate and Dade exchange looks as the
teacher escorts Cereal to the door.

INT. DADE’S PLACE.

MRS. MURPHY
How was school?

DADE
(eating)
Hmmm.

MRS. MURPHY
What did we learn in school today?

DADE
Revenge.

MRS. MURPHY
Aaaah. Did we meet someone special?

DADE
No. No one special.

MRS. MURPHY
Okay, I gotta get back to work. I’m gonna be
home late. And would you try and please fill
these out?

She indicates a pile of college applications.

MRS. MURPHY
Oh don’t worry, it’s only the rest of your
life.

She starts to the door.

DADE
Right. Anything else, you want me to mow the
lawn? Oops, forgot. New York. No grass.

MRS. MURPHY
And unpack.

She leaves. Dade looks over the college applications for
a second, and pushes them away. He’d rather not do this
now.

INT. CYBERDELIA.

Dade, Phreak and Joey are sitting at a table. Joey is
giving a dull account of his hacking adventures. Enter
Cereal.

CEREAL
FYI, alright man, you can sit at home, and do
like absolutely nothing and…

Cereal pauses, notices Dade, whom he has never met
formally but seen around, and then continues.

CEREAL
…and your name goes through like seventeen
computers a day. 1984, yeah right man, that’s
a typo. Orwell’s here and now, he’s living
large. We have no names, man, no names. We
are nameless. Can I score a fry? Thanks.

PHREAK
Meet Cereal Killer. As in Froot Loops? But
he does know things.

Dade and Cereal acknowledge each other.

JOEY
Anyways, guys, guys, listen, listen to me.
I’m in this computer right? So I’m looking
around…

PHREAK
(to Cereal)
D’you bring those Crayola books?

CEREAL
Oh yeah, technicolor rainbow.

Cereal brings a book out of his bag.

CEREAL
Green one.

JOEY
What is that, what is that? Lemmie see. What
are these?

DADE
International Unix Environments.

Cereal pulls out another book.

CEREAL
Luscious orange?

Cereal hands the orange book to Phreak.

DADE
Computer security criteria, DOD standards.

Another book comes out.

DADE
The Pink Shirt Book, Guide to IBM PCs. So
called due to the nasty pink shirt the guy
wears on the cover.

Another one.

CEREAL
What’s that?

DADE
Devil book. The Unix Bible.

Another one.

CEREAL
What’s that?

DADE
Dragon book. Compiler design.

Cereal brings out a large red book.

CEREAL
Oh yeah? What’s that?

DADE
The Red Book. NSA Trusted Networks.
Otherwise known as the Ugly Red Book that
won’t fit on a shelf.

By now Phreak has made a pile of the books, and the Red
Book looks wholly out of place on the top of the pile.

JOEY
Anyway, anyway, guys guys guys, come on. I’m
in this computer, right. So I’m looking
around, looking around, you know, throwing
commands at it, I don’t know where it is or
what it does or anything. It’s like, it’s
like choice, it’s just beautiful, okay. Like
four hours I’m just messing around in there.
Finally I figure out, that it’s a bank.
Right, okay wait, okay, so it’s a bank. So, this
morning, I look in the paper, some cash
machine in like Bumsville Idaho, spits out
seven hundred dollars into the middle of the
street.

CEREAL
That’s kinda cool.

JOEY
That was me. That was me. I did that.

DADE
You did this from your house.

Joey takes a drag from his cigarette and just nods, with a
big grin on his face.

PHREAK
What are you, stoned or stupid? You don’t
hack a bank across state lines from your
house, you’ll get nailed by the FBI. Where
are your brains, in your ass? Don’t you know
anything?

CEREAL
Stupid, man. It’s universally stupid.

JOEY
You guys always think I should know
everything, and you never tell me anything.
Am I right?

PHREAK
Alright, what are the three most commonly used
passwords?

JOEY
Love, secret, and uh, sex. But not in that
order, necessarily, right?

CEREAL
Yeah but don’t forget God. System operators
love to use God. It’s that whole male ego
thing.

PHREAK
Look, you wanna be elite? You gotta do a
righteous hack. None of this accidental shit.

CEREAL
Oh yeah, you want a seriously righteous hack,
you score one of those Gibsons man. You know,
supercomputers they use to like, do physics,
and look for oil and stuff?

PHREAK
Ain’t no way, man, security’s too tight. The
big iron?

DADE
Maybe. But, if I were gonna hack some heavy
metal, I’d, uh, work my way back through some
low security, and try the back door.

CEREAL
Yeah but oh man,
(starts rubbing one of his
own nipples in mock sexual
excitement)
wouldn’t you just love to get one of those
Gibsons, baby? Ooooh!

PHREAK
Yo, who ate all of my fries?

Cereal pauses a second.

CEREAL
(pretending to be enraged)
Joey?!

JOEY
What, no, nonononono, I didn’t touch your
fries. I did not touch your fries.

PHREAK
Cereal, man, you owe me a pack.

CEREAL
It was him, man!

PHREAK
You’re psyched. You need to lay off of that
shit.

CEREAL
(to Joey)
I’m gonna hit you!

INT. JOEY’S ROOM. NIGHT.

Joey is hacking. A Gibson. He gets in. Using GOD as a
password. Nice graphics represent the machine’s vast
systems.

JOEY
YES! Home run, home run. You and me Lucy.
We’re gonna show em baby.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.

A system operator at Ellingson Mineral Corporation, a
large oil company, notices the intrusion. He gets on the
phone.

INT. PLAGUE’S LOFT.

The place is a mess, typical of the hacker bachelor pad.
Empty chinese food boxes and Jolt Cola cans litter the
place.

Plague’s phone is ringing, waking him.

HAL
(on phone)
Mr. Belford?

PLAGUE
(sleepily)
My name is the Plague.

HAL
Uh, Mr. The Plague, uh, something weird’s
happening on the net.

PLAGUE
As in what, you hapless techno-weenie?

HAL
Uh, the accounting subdirectory in the Gibson
is working really hard. We got one person
online, the workload is enough for like ten
users. I think we’ve got a hacker.

INT. JOEY’S ROOM.

JOEY
Okay, okay, we need proof that we were here.
Right, uh…

Joey starts looking for something to download as proof he
was there.

JOEY
Yeah, Garbage, okay, give me Garbage.

He selects a Garbage file and starts the download. His
screen becomes a psychedelic mind trip.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.

The Plague glides in on a skateboard. Short and thin,
bearded, about 35 but still trying to be a teenage
anarchist, yet not consciously realizing he sold out that
ideal years ago.

PLAGUE
Never fear. I is here.

HAL
I’ve narrowed the activity to terminal 23.

PLAGUE
Let’s echo 23, see what’s up.

The huge monitor lights up with the display of the
Gibson’s resources. Hal and the Plague watch. Plague
starts “surfing” around.

PLAGUE
“God” wouldn’t be up this late.

He sees what Joey is downloading. A file called
“Garbage”.

PLAGUE
Shit! Get me the switching control center.

He puts on a telephone headset. Hal dials for him.

PLAGUE
(into the headset)
I need to trace a call that’s in progress.

INT. JOEY’S ROOM.

Joey is sneaking a cigarette while his computer downloads.
There is a knock at the door. It’s his mother.

JOEY
(whispering)
Shit!
(loudly, panicked)
Uh yeah… hold on, mom. Hold on one second.

He puts out the cigarette and sprays the room with air
freshener.

JOEY’S MOM
I mean it! Open the door, Joseph.

JOEY
Yeah, uh, yeah, okay.

He unlocks the door. Joey’s mom bursts in. He’s still
clambering into bed.

JOEY
There you go.

JOEY’S MOM
Bed. Sleep. Now!

She turns off the computer. It wasn’t finished
downloading.

JOEY’S MOM
Sweet dreams, Joey.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.

HAL
He’s gone!

PLAGUE
Did you get a trace?

OPERATOR
(on phone)
Yeah, we got him.

PLAGUE
(smiling)
Good.

INT. JOEY’S ROOM. DARK.

Joey takes a disk out of his computer and stashes it in an
air vent in the cieling.

INT. TENEMENT HALLWAY.

Phreak, Dade and Cereal are rollerblading through the
halls of an apartment building that is filled with
graffiti. It appears that most of the spray-bomb art was
created by the residents.

CEREAL
Nice place, huh.

Cereal knocks on a door spray-painted “Hackstock”

DADE
You heard of a hacker called Acid Burn? You
know who he is?

PHREAK
(surprised)
No, don’t know who he is.
(to Cereal)
Do you?

Cereal shrugs.

A hooded black man in his early twenties answers the door.

PHREAK
Nikon! Lord Nikon this is…

Phreak motions to Dade.

DADE
(finishing)
Crash Override.

NIKON
Never heard of you. Done anything?

DADE
No.

Nikon slams the door.

PHREAK
Come on!

Phreak knocks the door again. Nikon opens again.

NIKON
What, your mom buy you a ‘Puter for Christmas?
(to Phreak)
Does he know anything?

PHREAK
Sure man, he’s elite.

NIKON
(pausing, checking Dade out)
Come in.

CEREAL
Uh… Nikon, can I… can I crash at your
place tonight?

NIKON
(removing his hood)
Again?
(pauses, then grins broadly)
Yeah sure.

Nikon and Cereal do a fake Kung-fu move together.

BOTH
Ooka-pow!

INT. NIKON’S PLACE.

Later, the four are watching TV. On TV is a secret
service agent giving a news interview.

GILL
(on TV)
Hackers penetrate and ravage delicate public
and privately owned computer systems,
infecting them with viruses, and stealing
materials for their own ends. These people,
they are terrorists.

CEREAL
Agent Richard Gill, You’re hacker enemy number
one, man. You’re a boner!

NIKON
Yo, showtime, showtime!

DADE
What’s going on?

ALL BUT DADE
(in unison)
4…3…2…1…

Cheesy music plays. Razor and Blade, androgynous asian
brothers, have a community access TV show. “Wayne’s World”
in eye liner.

RAZOR
Welcome to our show!

BLADE
Hack the Planet!

ALL BUT DADE
Hack the Planet!

RAZOR
For those late night hacks…

BLADE
Jolt Cola! The soft drink of the elite
hacker.

DADE
Who are these guys?

NIKON
That’s Razor and Blade.

DADE
Razor and Blade.

Now Razor and Blade have a disconnected payphone in their
studio.

RAZOR
That’s right, this IS a payphone.

RAZOR AND BLADE
(in unison)
Don’t ask.

BLADE
As you can see, this is just a simple
microcassette recorder. (shows the
microcassette recorder) Hook it up to the
phone and drop in five bucks in quarters.

RAZOR
Record the tones that the coins make. And
hang up and get your money back!

BLADE
And never again have to pay for a service that
would be dirt cheap…

RAZOR
…IF it weren’t run by a bunch of
profiteering gluttons!

BLADE
Remember, hacking is more than just a crime.
It’s a survival trait!

INT. JOEY’S PLACE.

Joey is taking a shower, wearing walkman headphones,
singing along with the music. Joey finishes, turns off
the shower, still singing. He draws open the shower
curtain to find two secret service agents with shotguns
pointed at him.

SS AGENT
FREEZE!

JOEY
What? What? What did I do? What?

The agents drag Joey, still naked and wet, out of the
shower and into the living room. His mother is
hysterical..

JOEY’S MOM
Joey!

AGENT
Get in there! Sit down!

ANOTHER AGENT
Stay down there. Don’t move.

Joey is pushed into a sofa. He sees his computer, “Lucy”,
being carried away.

JOEY
Lucy!

Joey dives onto the agent carrying Lucy away, losing his
towel. His mother, seeing his exposed buttocks, is
shocked.

JOEY’S MOM
JOEY!!!

EXT. OUTSIDE JOEY’S PLACE.

A police-type vehicle pulls up. It’s Agent Richard Gill
of the Secret Service. He stops a young agent for an
update.

GILL
How’s it going, Ray?

AGENT RAY
It looks good, sir. We’ve got an uncorrupted
hard drive.

GILL
In English, please. I didn’t spend ten years
protecting the president so I could finish my
career feeling like an idiot.

AGENT RAY
I’m sorry, sir. We caught him by surprise, so
we don’t think he had time to erase his
computer files.

GILL
Good. Good man. Alright, let’s finish up
here, and take him in for interrogation.

AGENT RAY
Alright sir.

They split up. A reporter and her sound man run up to
Gill.

REPORTER
Agent Gill, can you spare a moment of your
time?

GILL
Why of course, Jennifer.

While Jennifer conducts the interview, agents lead Joey
into an unmarked car. His mother is behind him, still
hysterical.

JOEY’S MOM
Joey!

JOEY
Mom…

JENNIFER
Just how dangerous are hackers?

GILL
Well, hackers penetrate and ravage delicate
public and privately owned computer systems,
infecting them with viruses…

JOEY’S MOM
Joey!

GILL
…and stealing sensitive materials for their
own ends. These people, they’re terrorists…

JOEY’S MOM
Joey!

INT. ELLINGSON MINERAL CORPORATION.

A tall, impressive building. A cavernous atrium filled
with busy people.

INT. ELLINGSON BOARDROOM.

A handsome looking woman in her late thirties walks in.

MARGO
Good morning, Gentlemen. Please be seated. I
see we’re still dressing in the dark, Eugene.

PLAGUE
(to Margo)
Once again, don’t call me Eugene.
(to the board)
A recent unknown intruder penetrated, using a
superuser acount, giving him access to our
whole system.

MARGO
Precisely what you’re paid to prevent.

PLAGUE
Someone didn’t bother reading my carefully
prepared memo on commonly used passwords.
Now, as I so meticulously pointed out, the for
most used passwords are love,
(gesturing lewdly)
sex, secret and…
(eyeing Margo)
…God. So would your holiness care to change
her password?

Margo just blinks prettily.

PLAGUE
A hacker planted the virus.

MARGO
Virus?

PLAGUE
Yesterday, the ballast program for a
supertanker training model mistakenly thought
the vessel was empty, and flooded its tanks.

MARGO
Excuse me?

PLAGUE
(as if to a child)
The little boat flipped over. A virus planted
in the Gibson computer system claimed
responsibility.

MARGO
What, it left a note?

Plague hits a button on a remote control, and the virus -
a long haired male model – appears on a large screen, in
psychedelic colors. The virus speaks in a hammy Italian
accent.

VIRUS
Unless five million dollars are transferred to
the following numbered account in seven days,
I will capsize five tankers in the Ellingson
fleet.

BOARD MEMBER
Is that…

PLAGUE
(interrupting)
That is the virus. Leonardo da Vinci. The
problem is we have twenty six ships at sea and
we don’t know which ones are infected.

DUKE ELLINGSON
Well then, put the ships’ ballasts under
manual control.

PLAGUE
There’s no such thing anymore, Duke. These
ships are totally computerized. They rely on
satellite navigation, which links them to our
network, and the virus, wherever they are in
the world.

MARGO
So what are we supposed to do?

PLAGUE
Well luckily, you have a gifted and talented
security officer. I traced the hacker’s call.
The secret service picked him up this morning.
I’ll just search his files for the original
virus code, and then I can eliminate it.

INT. ELLINGSON MINERAL ATRIUM.

Plague, Margo and two suits from the boardroom are riding
down an escalator.

SUIT #1
Now look, now we expect you to get onto this
right away, yeah?

PLAGUE
Yeah!

SUIT #1
Well, how soon?

PLAGUE
Well, we’re working on it as fast as we can.
This is a very common occurrence in
corporations as large as ours. You have
nothing to worry about.

SUIT #2
Yeah, right.

SUIT #1
Now, you’re sure about that, Mr. The Plague?

PLAGUE
Yeah, the Secret Service is helping us out 100
percent. Okay?

SUIT #2
Yeah.

SUIT #1
Okay.

PLAGUE
We’ll be in touch. Talk to you later.

The suits get off the escalator, Plague and Margo take the
next one down.

MARGO
What the hell was that all about?

PLAGUE
I had to move fast. The hacker copied my
garbage file.

MARGO
What?

PLAGUE
I created Mister da Vinci so we could call in
the Secret Service. So they’d arrest the
hacker, sieze his equipment, things that we
can’t do on our own.

MARGO
I don’t want to go to jail for this.

PLAGUE
Relax. Think about the 25 million dollars.

MARGO
But you’ve created a virus that’s going to
cause a worldwide ecological disaster, just to
arrest some hacker kid?

PLAGUE
Basically, uhmm, yeah. Mmm hmmm.

MARGO
Jesus. You know, you’re sick, Eugene. You…

PLAGUE
Sh, sh sh sh sh.

Plague stops a passing secretary and snatches a piece of
paper from her hand.

PLAGUE
I’ll take care of this.

SECRETARY
Alright, sir.

PLAGUE
I can cancel it any time. I don’t need any
program code. But it’s the perfect cover, to
confiscate the disc and find out how much of
that garbage file has been copied.

MARGO
Get it!
(walking away)
Why did I ever trust you?
(going back up the escalator)
Get the file. Otherwise you’ll lose all your
toys.

INT. SECRET SERVICE INTERROGATION ROOM.

Joey is distraught over the dismantling of Lucy. Agent
Ray examines the Mac’s innards.

GILL
Did you find the program for the virus on any
of the discs we confiscated?

PLAGUE
No. He’s either very smart or very stupid.

GILL
Then he stashed it somewhere, or he has an
accomplice. We’ll release him until his
indictment, keep tight surveillance, and see
if he leads us to your disc.

EXT. OUTSIDE JOEY’S PLACE.

Joey’s apartment building is an L-shaped skyscraper about
30 storeys high, unimpressive by New York City standards.
Two Secret Service agents are staking Joey out in a car
outside.

SECRET SERVICE AGENT BOB
Unit 3 outside suspect Joey Pardella’s
apartment. Nothing to report. Suspect still
grounded… by his mother.

His radio crackles.

AGENT BOB
Listen to this bullshit.
(he reads)
“This is our world now. The world of the
electron and the switch, the beauty of the
baud. We exist without nationality, skin
color, or religious bias. You wage wars,
murder, cheat, lie to us and try to make us
believe it’s for our own good, yet we’re the
criminals. Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is
that of curiosity. I am a hacker and this is
my manifesto.” Huh, right, manifesto? “You
may stop me, but you can’t stop us all.”

AGENT RAY
Now that’s cool.

AGENT BOB
Cool?

AGENT RAY
Yeah, cool.

AGENT BOB
You think it’s cool?

AGENT RAY
(not caring for where Bob is going
with this)
It’s cool!

AGENT BOB
It’s not cool. It’s commie bullshit!

INT. HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ ROOM.

Dade, Cereal and Phreak check their faces. Cereal brushes
his teeth.

CEREAL
(to Phreak)
So what do you think, can I crash at your
place tonight?

DADE
What is it with this guy?

PHREAK
His parents missed Woodstock and he’s been
making up for it since. Hey, you hear about
Joey’s bust?

CEREAL
Yeah. Probably had something to do with that
bank in Idaho.

PHREAK
Do you think he could hack a Gibson?

DADE
Did you talk to him?

PHREAK
Nope. His mom said he’s grounded for his next
three lifetimes.
(imitating her)
He isn’t to consort with his computer friends.
(himself again)
The secret service is really out to get him.
(changes the subject)
Hey there’s a big party tonight, you wanna go?

Dade shakes his head.

PHREAK
It’s at Kate’s…

Dade just smiles.

PHREAK
Thought so!

Cereal and Phreak leave, Cereal dancing.

INT. PLAGUE’S OFFICE.

Plague is wearing a VR helmet and gloves, playing some
sort of action game. He is unaware that Gill has just
entered the room.

GILL
What the hell are you doing? Plague!

He thumps the VR pedestal.

GILL
PLAGUE!

Plague finally notices, and takes off the helmet.

PLAGUE
Gill.

GILL
I think we’ve got something.

Gill hands Plague a folder. It has the logo of Stanton High.

PLAGUE
Uuugh, hard copy.

Plague looks it over and recognizes a name.

PLAGUE
Dade Murphy.

INT. DADE’S PLACE.

It’s after school. Dade’s just unlocking the front door,
only to find a Secret Service agent behind it. And one
behind him in the hallway. Both point pistols at him.

AGENT RAY
Secret Service!

AGENT BOB
Don’t move!

They slam Dade against a wall and start frisking him.

DADE
Christ! What is the…

AGENT BOB
Shut up!

DADE
What are you doing, man? Get off me!

They lead him into his room and throw him down on the bed.
Plague is there.

AGENT BOB
Just sit in the bed and keep your hands where we can see
them.

PLAGUE
The year was 1988. And this nasty virus
crashed fifteen hundred systems in one day.

Dade has a flashback.

DADE
Fifteen hundred and seven.

AGENT RAY
(astounded)
Wow, huh!

GILL
It got you seven years probation. No
computer, couldn’t even use a touch tone
phone.

PLAGUE
Must have been hell, huh? Zero Cool?
(getting to the point)
A virus has been planted in the Ellingson
Mineral computer system. You were our prime
suspect, till we trashed your stuff and found
no trace of it.

GILL
However, we have come to believe that one Joey
 Par@ella is involve@ in thiC EllingCon virus.
HA or per`aps his accomplAce has A disk that
Ar. BelfCrd needc to disAble tha@ virus. We
Cant you to help us find it.

PLAGUE
Gill.

The threA secret service agents @eave PlAgue and Dade
alone. PlAgue shu@s the dCor behiBd them.

PLAGUE
(of Gil@)
LCser.
(cCntinues)
I Can’t be@ieve yoA were oBly elevAn when you
Crote thAs. It’s quite aB impresCive virus.
@ade, I cnow how you mig@t feel About narking

on youB friendC, but, Ce’re haCkers. For us,
theres no suCh thing as fami@y and friends.
We’rA each oAr own cCuntry, Cith temporary

allieC and enAmies. I
d like @o make a treaty
wit@ you.

@ADE
I’m sorBy. Who Are you?

PLAGUE
I’m the one who undArstandsyou. NoC, can wA
be allies?

DADE
Nah. I don’t @lay wel@ with o`hers.

@lague iC holdinC Dade’s basebal@ bat. HA shrugs turns
Around, And smas@es Dade’s stereC to smi@hereens

DADE
Shit
Come oB!

PLAGAE
WAtch whiCh frien@s you dC play with. A
recor@ like yCurs cou`d land Aou in jail, get
you kicked Cut of sChool, nC colleges would
takA you. NG future
Exiled from everyone aBd

eBerythinC you loBe.

Plague replAces the basebal@ bat.

PLAGUE
I’ll Be in toich.

PlAgue leaBes.

PLAGUE
(toagents)
I’m fine.
(@o Dade)
Oh, and DadA, try tC stay oAt of trGuble, oCay?

DA@E

B@ow me.

PLAGUE
smiles)
ThaBk you!

INT. DA@E’S ROOa. LATER

Dade Es lying in bed. A door Cpens. I`’s Kate
She opAns

her Aotorcyc`e jacke@, revea@ing her bare brAasts. DAde
star@s to ge@ up, shA pushes him bacC own on the bed and
staBts kissAng him @assiona@ely. He respondc in kin@.
Then, Gill, ACent Ray and AgeBt Bob bArst intC the roCm,
handCuff him break @he two Ap and hAul them away as
Plague @ooks on
smugly.

Then DAde wakeC up in A sweat. It was only a @ream. HA
regainG his coAposure. The soAnd of NAw York City at
bight suBrounds @im. He Coes bacG to sleAp.

IN@. KATE’C PLACE.

The paBty. A lArge, we@l-furniChed apaBtment iB an
eleCant old skyscra@er in t@e fashiCnable pArt of tCwn.
Teebagers dAnce and writhe @o loud, bassy mAsic. Da@e and
P@reak arBive.

P@REAK
Her moA makes Big buckC writinC self-hAlp
Books foB women. Stuff lAke “WomAn Who LCve
Aen Who Are Emotaonal AmCebae”

@hreak s@ows DadE the boGk.

DADa
ThQt explaAns a lo@.

Kate the loBely and graciouG hostesC, minglAs and gbeets
heB many gAests, nCt noticAng Dade or PhreEk. CereEl

offerC Dade a drink fFom a plAstic bo@tle. Da@e, not
Cnowing Chat he’C in for drinks
Nikon As the DAejay.

@HREAK
(@oudly)
Yo, Chat’s uH Nikon!

NIKON
( Yo P@reak! DIde, man, you made it.
(to Cereal)
Houston, we have liftoff, 3 o’clock,
check it… don’t look right away, what’s
wrong with you! Look at her man…

Nikon and Cereal are checking out a truly fine babe.

NIKON
(concentrating)
Look out, man. Lisa Blair, 26 East 7th St.,
apartment 16, 555-4817, BOOM!

DADE
How did you know that?

NIKON
I got photographic memory.
(Smiling)
It’s a curse!
(Into the crowd)
Lisa!

LISA
Hey, how do you know my name?

Cereal and Phreak move through the crowd. Cereal notices
something.

CEREAL
Oooo, look at that pooper man. Spandex, it’s
a privilege, not a right!

INT. MEETING HALL.

A 12-step recovery group. Addicts, including Joey
Pardella, sit in a semi-circle.

VICKIE
Hi, my name is Vickie, and I’m an addict.

HANK
Hi, my name is Hank, and uh, I’m an addict.

JOEY
(smoking)
Uh, my name’s Joey but, uh, I’m not an addict.

Joey takes a drag. The group reacts indignantly.

JOEY
Nono, really, really, listen, listen to this.
I got in trouble with my computer, right,
okay, and my lawyer told the judge that I’m an
addict, but I’m not addicted to my computer!
No really, really,

Joey takes another drag.

JOEY
I’m not an addict. I’m not, I’m not.

Joey downs his coffee.

JOEY
Can I get some more coffee?

INT. KATE’S BEDROOM.

Phreak is checking out Kate’s computer.

PHREAK
Yo. Check this out guys, this is insanely
great, it’s got a 28.8 BPS modem!

DADE
Yeah? Display?

CEREAL
Active matrix, man. A million psychedelic
colors. Man, baby, sweet, ooo!

NIKON
I want it.

PHREAK
I want it to have my children!

CEREAL
Yeah, I bet it looks crispy in the dark.

PHREAK
Yo, hit the lights.

Dade hits the lights. The four ooo and ahh at
its graphics. Kate and Curtis walk into the
room and hit the bed, unaware of the hackers
in the corner by her laptop.

DADE
(whispering)
Shit!

CEREAL
Shh!

DADE
Was that her top?

PHREAK
One-handed!

CEREAL
Difficulty rating?

NIKON
Seven. Wow! Burn’s wetware matches her
software!

DADE
(loudly)
Burn!

Their cover is blown.

NIKON
What the f…

Cereal hides under the desk.

KATE
Hey! What are you guys doing in here?

PHREAK
I’m sorry, we’re sorry, just checking out your
fly laptop!

NIKON
Yeah, it’s hyped, you know… you’re in the
butter zone now, baby.

PHREAK
(smiling)
Uh-huh!

KATE
(her tone changing)
Yeah, it is…
(she comes over to it)
I wanna triple the RAM…

CURTIS
Oooh, Leopard Boy… AND the Decepticons. Uh,
Kate, Kate, you’re not going into that
computer shit now, right?

Kate barely acknowledges him.

CURTIS
(cynically)
Humm, yeah.

Curtis leaves.

CEREAL
(mockingly)
Right.

DADE
The sensitive type.

Kate finally notices that Dade, whom she didn’t invite, is at her
party and in her bedroom.

KATE
What is he doing in here?

PHREAK
Relax, Burn, he’s my guest.

DADE
Burn. You’re Acid Burn. You booted me out of
OTV!

KATE
What?

DADE
I’m Crash Override.

KATE
You’re the moron that’s been invading my turf?

CEREAL
Whoa, whowhowhowhoa.
(motioning to Dade)
Crash…
(motioning to Kate)
and Burn!

Cereal breaks into hysterics.

INT. PLAGUE’S LOFT.

Plague is hacking.

MARGO
Murphy kid turn you down?

PLAGUE
(in a hammy southern accent)
I disguised myself as an Alabama State Trooper
and penetrated the FBI NCIC.

MARGO
Pervert! What are you talking about?

She turns her back to him. He does up the zipper on her
dress. Their relationship becomes apparent.

PLAGUE
The FBI computer holds files on twenty million
Americans. I just hacked into it.

MARGO
Congratulations.

PLAGUE
From here I got access to every piece of data
ever stored on Dade Murphy’s parents. His
parents separated five years ago, reconciled
two years later, filed for divorce last year,
custody battle, boy chose to go with his
mother. Hmm.

MARGO
So?

PLAGUE
So, we get the mother, we get the boy.

INT. KATE’S ROOM.

Kate’s room is empty, and Dade can’t resist going back in
to play with her laptop, which far outclasses his own,
some more. On the balcony, Kate notices and comes back
in.

KATE
What the hell are you doing?

DADE
It’s cool, I’m just looking.

KATE
It’s too much machine for you.

DADE
Yeah?

Dade starts working furiously on it.

KATE
I hope you don’t screw like you type.

Dade slows to a two-finger keypoke, not missing a beat.

DADE
It has a killer refresh rate.

KATE
P6 chip. Triple the speed of the Pentium.

DADE
Yeah. It’s not just the chip, it has a PCI
bus. But you knew that.

KATE
Indeed. RISC architecture is gonna change
everything.

DADE
Yeah. RISC is good.

They uncomfortably exchange glances.

DADE
You sure this sweet machine’s not going to
waste?

KATE
Crash Override. What was it. “Mess with the
Best, Die Like the Rest?”

DADE
Yeah.

KATE
Are you challenging me?

DADE
Name your stakes.

KATE
If I win, you become my slave.

DADE
(intrigued)
Your slave?

KATE
(realizing his mind is in the
gutter)
You wish. You’ll do shit work, scan, crack
copyrights, whatever I want.

DADE
And if I win?

KATE
(giggles)
Make it my first born.

DADE
Make it our first date.

KATE
You’re not gonna win.

DADE
And you have to smile.

KATE
I don’t do dates. But I don’t lose either, so
you’re on.

MONTAGE: Scenes of Dade and Kate preparing for the challenge.

PHREAK
(voice over)
So here’s the deal. The chosen contest: To
hassle Secret Service Agent Richard Gill, and
get one back for Joey.

Dade spray paints camouflage onto his keyboard.

NIKON
Our decisions are final, by a vote of 2 to 1.
No appeals.

Kate rifles through her address book.

CEREAL
The duel will last until we declare a winner.

Dade plays quick-draw with disks.

PHREAK
Use only the dialups, access codes and
passwords in your collection. Can’t ask for
any help from us.

Dade, having mastered the quick-disk-draw in the mirror,
looks satisfied.

DADE
(into mirror)
Talking to me?

All five are together at the beginning of the challenge.

PHREAK
Any questions?

KATE
Yeah. Whose gonna notify his next of kin?

Dade and Kate shake hands and the challenge begins.

EXT. NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC PHONE.

At a public phone, Kate hacks into Concourse Bank, looks
up Richard Gill, and has his credit card maxed out.
“Destroy Card” is the final instruction. The other
hackers look on.

INT. RESTAURANT.

A waiter runs a credit card through a validation machine,
sees the message and returns to the patron’s table. It is
Richard Gill. Right there, the waiter chops the
MasterCard in two with a pair of scissors, to Gill’s
horror.

EXT. NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC PHONE.

Dade hacks into an electronic personal ads system and
changes an ad.

KATE
Alright, he’s in the personal ads.
(reading Dade’s ad)
“Disappointed white male, crossdresser, looking
for discreet friend to bring dreams to
reality. Leather, lace, and water sports.
Transvestites welcome.”

INT. GILL’S OFFICE.

At his office, Gill is on the speaker phone with someone
responding to the ad.

GILL
I… I… I know where you can stick it… I
know where you can stick it…

Gill punches a button on the phone, another caller comes
on.

CALLER
…wanna lick your earlobes… I wanna lick
your lips… I wanna lick your toes… I
wanna lick your ankles…

GILL
Awww, yeah, you wanna lick something? Lick this.

Gill punches another button, another caller comes on.

CALLER
That’s why they call me Stallion…

GILL
Aw, that’s disgusting!

Gill punches another button.

CALLER
My heart is steaming for you…

Gill punches another button. He is becoming quite flustered.

CALLER
…spank you with my…

GILL
Aww, Spank your ass…

He punches another button.

Another caller comes on, and Gill hangs up the phone,
disgusted, offended, and distraught. The Plague is there,
witnessing the whole thing.

PLAGUE
Animal!

EXT. EMPIRE STATE BULDING OBSERVATION DECK.

It’s Kate’s turn. Kate is hacking into the Department of
Motor Vehicles. She adds 113 traffic violations and DUI
offender status to Gill’s record.

EXT. NEW YORK CITY, BUSY STREET.

Gill is being arrested quite forcefully by a NYC police
grunt. He is thrown onto the hood of his car and
handcuffed.

GILL
Hey! Hey, ow! Do you know who I am? Do you
know who I am?

EXT. CHINATOWN, PUBLIC PHONE.

Dade’s turn. He hacks into the Secret Service’s personnel
file, and changes Gill’s status to “Deceased.”

INT. GILL’S OFFICE.

EMPLOYEE
(on phone)
This is accounting, sir. You enquired about
an employee of ours, an Agent Richard Gill?

GILL
Yes.

EMPLOYEE
Our records indicate he’s deceased.

GILL
I’m what?

INT. CYBERDELIA.

The five are playing pool.

DADE
Dead.

PHREAK
Dead?

DADE
Yeah. Like Rigor Mortis, Habeas Corpus.

NIKON
Very impressive.

CEREAL
Super hero like even.

KATE
Yeah, whatever. What’s the score?

Phreak clicks the pool scoreboard so it says 60 – 60.

PHREAK
Tie.

The other four protest.

PHREAK
Due to Mr. Gill’s untimely demise and
everything, I guess you two will have to
improvise the next round.

DADE
Right. If I win, you wear a dress on our
date.

KATE
And if I win, so do you.

Dade thinks about it a second.

DADE
Deal.

Kate gives Dade a look that says “I’m going to hold you to
that.”

INT. KATE’S BED. NIGHT.

A shapely figure wearing a red leather legless suit with a
zipper that goes all the way around the crotch. Hands
caress the sultry figure as the camera pans up. The body
belongs to Dade Murphy.

Kate wakes up gasping. It was only a dream. She pants
and regains her breath. Then she smiles. She enjoyed
that dream.

KATE
Oooohhhh…

INT. HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY.

Kate, at her locker, stops Dade.

KATE
Dade. I didn’t know your size, so I guessed.

She opens her locker to reveal a red leather bustier and
bikini bottom.

KATE
You are man enough to stick with the deal,
aren’t you?

Dade walks off.

INT. DADE’S PLACE.

Dade signs an electronic pad for a package from UPS. He
takes the package.

DADE
Thanks.

He closes the door and opens the package. It is a laptop
computer, clear plastic shell, full colour screen. Very
high-end, perhaps the equal to Kate’s machine. He turns
it on. The Plague’s face, distorted, appears. It speaks.

PLAGUE
You wanted to know who I am, Zero Cool? Well
let me explain the New World Order.
Governments and corporations need people like
you and me. We are samurai. The keyboard
cowboys. And all those other people out there
who have no idea what’s going on are the
cattle. Mooo! I need your help, you need my
help. Let me help you earn your spurs. Ahh,
think about it. Enjoy the laptop, “Cool”!
Tell me where the disk is.

Plague’s face vanishes.

INT. JOEY’S ROOM.

Joey lies on his bed with a comic book, looking
despondent. His mother enters.

JOEY’S MOM
You look pitiful. Okay, okay, you’re not
grounded anymore.

She kisses his forehead and leaves. He springs back to
life, gets up and gets the disc from where he stashed it
in the air vent.

EXT. PARK.

Joey is nervously waiting on a park bench. Phreak arrives.
Agents Ray and Bob still have Joey staked out.

PHREAK
Yo, what’s up?

JOEY
Dude dude dude, I gotta talk to you a minute,
listen listen listen. I copied a garbage file
from…

PHREAK
Big deal. A garbage file’s got shit in it,
Joey, come on.

JOEY
Nono, it’s like hot or something. I don’t know.

PHREAK
Joey, a garbage file holds miscellaneous data.
Junk. Bits of stuff that’s been erased, man.

JOEY
I copied it from Ellingson, okay? They’re
asking me about it, alright? Will you take a
look for me?

Joey hands Phreak the disc. Agent Bob is taking pictures,
and Phreak notices.

PHREAK
Oh shit, Joey, you’ve got a tail.

Joey sees, and runs for it.

JOEY
Shit!

The agents split up, one runs after Joey, the other after
Phreak.

INT. HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ ROOM.

Phreak has lost his tail. He puts Joey’s disc behind a
condom machine in the boys’ room at school, and sticks it
there with gum.

INT. PHREAK’S ROOM.

Phreak frantically destroys all records of his hacking
career. He knows he’s about to be busted.

DREAM SEQUENCE.

The Secret Service is about to burst in on Phreak. He
still hasn’t destroyed any records, and starts manically
going through everything. Gill is on his laptop screen.

GILL
I’m watching you…

INT. PHREAK’S ROOM. MORNING.

A knock on the door. Phreak awakes. It’s his mother.

PHREAK’S MOM
Ramon? Wake up. Ramon! Wake up! Vamano.
Time for school, come on.

The secret service bursts in through the window just as
Phreak’s mom opens the blind. She screams, Phreak leaps
to his feet.

AGENT
Secret Service, don’t move!

PHREAK
Deja vu!

AGENT BOB
Ray Sanchez, you are under arrest, under the
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.

Phreak’s mom becomes very angry and starts slapping
Phreak, cursing in Spanish.

PHREAK
What are you waiting for, arrest me already!

INT. POLICE STATION LOCKUP.

The undersized Phreak is just a morsel to the hardened
thugs behind these bars and they taunt him viciously as he
is led to his one phone call.

COP
You get one call. Uno. Understand?

The cop locks the dial on the phone.

Phreak waits for the cop to leave, and hangs up. He
starts rapidly pushing the hangup hook, and he hears a
ringing tone.

OPERATOR
Hello, operator services.

PHREAK
Hello, operator? I’m having trouble dialing a
number.

OPERATOR
What number please?

PHREAK
555-4202.

OPERATOR
Just one moment.

PHREAK
Thank you.

Kate answers.

KATE
Hello?

PHREAK
Hey, it’s me.

KATE
Phreak?

PHREAK
I’m freaking! Joey wasn’t making it up! He
really hacked into Ellingson! He gave me the
disc with a file he copied and now I’m in
jail! They’re charging me with some serious
shit! And there’s stuff I didn’t even do,
like inserting some virus called Da Vinci, and
they keep asking about you guys.

KATE
You think they’re going to bust us?

PHREAK
Yeah! You better figure out what’s on that
disc, cause we’re being framed. It’s in that
place where I put that thing that time?

He hangs up just as the cop returns.

INT. SCHOOL BOYS’ ROOM.

Kate is entirely out of place in the boys’ room, as the
boys look on amusedly. She finds the disc behind the
condom machine and pockets it. Then she buys a condom from
the machine and struts out, smiling sweetly, hot as fire.

INT. DADE’S PLACE.

Kate knocks. Mrs. Murphy lets Kate and Cereal in.

MRS. MURPHY
Hi!
(looking Kate over)
Well, now I see what all the fuss is about.
(she shows them to Dade’s room)
Dade… you have company.

CEREAL
It’s a nice room.

KATE
We need your help.

DADE
Do my ears deceive me?

Kate starts to leave.

CEREAL
Nonononono. Truce, you guys. Listen, we got
a higher purpose here, alright? A wake up
call for the Nintendo Generation. We demand
free access to data, well, it comes with some
responsibility. When I was a child, I spake
as a child, I understood as a child, I thought
as a child, but when I became a man I put away
childish things.
(pause)
What… It’s Corinthians I, Chapter 13, verse
11, no duh. Come on.

KATE
Phreak and Joey are being framed. We need
your help to figure out what’s on this disc.

DADE
I can’t. Everybody who touches that thing
gets busted, I can’t afford to get arrested,
I’m sorry.

CEREAL
Maybe I should just go to the bathroom or
something.

Cereal leaves the room.

KATE
What is it with you? I know we’ve been
playing games, but, we’re supposed to be on
the same side and we really need your help. I
really need your help.

DADE
I’m sorry, I can’t.

KATE
Well, could you just make a copy of the disc?
And just hide it in case we get busted, so we
have something to give our lawyers, something
that hasn’t been tampered with? Can you do
that?

A knock on the door. Dade’s mom peeks in.

MRS. MURPHY
Listen you guys, help yourself to anything in
the fridge. Cereal has.

She leaves.

KATE
(to Mrs. Murphy)
Thank you.

DADE
Okay. I’ll copy it.

KATE
Okay, thank you.

Later. Plague phones Dade. Plague has Lauren Murphy’s
records on his screen.

PLAGUE
The girl. The girl has the disc I need.

DADE
I told you, I don’t play well with others.

PLAGUE
Turn on your laptop. Set it to receive a
file.

Dade does.

An extensive criminal record with a strange woman’s
picture comes up. The strange woman transforms into
Dade’s mother.

PLAGUE
Lauren Murphy is now a wanted felon in the
state of Washington. Forgery, Embezzlement,
two drug convictions, plus she jumped parole.
When she’s arrested, she will not have a
trial, she will not pass go, she will go
directly to jail. Then I change this file
back to the original, and your mom disappears.

DADE
That’s bullshit.

PLAGUE
What can I tell you. Computers never lie,
kid. Your mom will be arrested at work,
she’ll be handcuffed, and later, strip
searched.

DADE
You lay a finger on her and I’ll kill you.

PLAGUE
Kid, don’t threaten me. There are worse
things than death and, uh, I can do all of
them!

Dade emerges from his room. His exhausted, overworked
mother is asleep on the couch. He pulls a blanket over
her.

EXT. PUBLIC PHONE, WET STREET, NIGHT.

Shortly after, Dade is outside on a payphone.

PLAGUE
Talk to me.

DADE
I got it. But listen, Kate didn’t know what’s
on it. I mean, she came to me to figure it
out. She’s not the one who planted the virus.
You leave her alone.

PLAGUE
Hey, don’t worry, kid. If she’s innocent,
she’ll be fine. Your mommy’s safe now, okay?

Dade hangs up and waits for some time. A limousine drives
by, with a skateboarder tailing. Plague grabs the disc,
jumps in the limo and speeds away. Dade tries to chase
but gives up quickly.

INT. KATE’S ROOM.

Dade shows up. Kate, Nikon, and Cereal are working on the
disc.

DADE
Kate, listen.

KATE
Uh, hold on…

DADE
I have to tell you something.

CEREAL
Hold on a second!

NIKON
Look at this, it’s so lean and clean.

CEREAL
Looks like a hacker wrote it.

KATE
Come here, look at this. This thing is dense.

Nikon points out part of the code.

NIKON
But that’s ill, man. It’s incomplete. This
is taking forever and a day to figure out.
I’m gonna make some coffee.

Dade takes Nikon’s place.

CEREAL
Tag, you’re in.

Hours pass. Dade studies and reverse engineers the
garbage file. The other hackers watch, and do just about
anything but be hackers. Finally, over boxes of
half-finished pizza, Dade makes an announcement.

DADE
This isn’t a virus. It’s a worm!

NIKON
What’s this one eat?

DADE
It nibbles. You see this?

Dade indicates a rapidly scrolling data display.

DADE
This is every financial transaction Ellingson
conducts, yeah? From million dollar deals to
the ten bucks some guy pays for gas.

KATE
The worm eats a few cents from each transaction.

DADE
And no one’s caught it because the money isn’t
really gone. It’s just data being shifted
around.

KATE
Right. And when the worm’s ready, it zips out
with the money and erases its tracks.

DADE
Joey got cut off before he got to that part.
Check it out. By this point, it’s already
running at, what, twice the speed as when it
started.

KATE
Right, and at this rate it ends its run in…

NIKON
Two days.

DADE
And judging by this segment alone, it’s
already eaten about…

CEREAL
21.8 million bucks, man.

Nikon whistles.

KATE
Whoever wrote this needs somebody to take the
fall. And that’s Phreak, and that’s Joey, and
that’s us. We’ve got to get the rest of the
file, so we can find out where the money is
going before the worm disappears, so we can
find out WHO created it.

DADE
I know, I know who wrote it.

KATE
What?

DADE
This Ellingson security creep. I gave him a
copy of the disc you gave me.

KATE
You what?

DADE
I didn’t know what was on it.

CEREAL
(agitated)
Oh man. That’s universally stupid, man!

NIKON
Yo, man, you an amateur, man.

KATE
Why did he come to you?

DADE
I got a record. I was Zero Cool.

NIKON
Zero Cool? Crashed fifteen hundred and seven
systems in one day?

Nikon closes his eyes and access his photographic memory.

NIKON
Biggest crash in history, front page, New
York Times, August 10th, 1988. I thought
you was black, man! Yo, man, this is Zero
Cool! Oh, shit!

CEREAL
That’s far out!

NIKON
This is Zero Cool, man! Whooo, haha!

KATE
(coldly)
Well that’s great. There goes MIT.

DADE
I’ll make it up to you!

KATE
How?

DADE
I’ll hack the Gibson.

NIKON
They’ll trace you like that
(snaps his fingers)
man, cops are gonna find you, they’re
gonna find you with a smoking gun.

DADE
Fucked if I care, man.

NIKON
Look, even if you had the passwords, it’ll
take you ten minutes to get in, and you’ve
still gotta find the files, man, I mean, the
cops will have you in… five minutes.

CEREAL
Oh wow, we are fried.

KATE
(suddenly lighter-hearted)
Never send a boy to do a woman’s job. With
me, we can do it in seven.

CEREAL
You’re both screwed. I help, we can do it in six.

NIKON
Jesus, I gotta save all your asses. I help,
we can do it in five minutes, man.

DADE
Okay. Let’s go shopping.

CEREAL
Woo hoo! Boom!

EXT. OUTSIDE ELLINGSON BUILDING.

Dade and Kate cut through a chain link fence and jump into
a dumpster at Ellingson. Kate lands on Dade.

DADE
You know, if I didn’t live by a strict code of
honor, I might take advantage of this
situation. Erotically, as it were.

Kate fishes around in her pants, never breaking eye
contact with Dade. She pulls out a flashlight. They
start trashing. They get up to leave and are spotted by a
security guard.

GUARD
Alright, hold it right there!

Kate pulls out a flare gun and fires it at the security
guard. He ducks.

DADE
Shit!!

KATE
It’s my subway defense system.

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREET.

Nikon is staring down a manhole, Cereal is fishing through
an adjacent phone company truck.

NIKON
He’s way down there.

Cereal emerges with a beltload of equipment and a hard hat.
But he forgot the most important thing.

CEREAL
Ta-da!

NIKON
Yo, brain dead, the manual!

Cereal goes back to the truck and gets a thick manual. The
phone company technician comes up from the manhole.

PHONE COMPANY TECH
Hey!

CEREAL AND NIKON
(in unison, pointing down the street)
TRUCK!!!

The phone company tech jumps back in the hole, Cereal and
Nikon take off.

INT. SECRET SERVICE BULDING.

A woman is seated at the desk. Agent Gill walks by.

WOMAN
Find it?

Cereal emerges from the desk, between her legs. His tool
belt dangles obscenely from his crotch.

CEREAL
Phone’s alright. The problem must be
somewhere else.

Cereal walks away with his buttcrack seriously showing.

INT. ELLINGSON MINERAL OFFICES.

Nikon poses as a flower delivery boy. He winds his way
through the offices of Ellingson Mineral, “shoulder
surfing”, watching the workers entering passwords. His
photographic memory captures everything. The Plague walks
past him, noticing briefly but not making the connection.

INT. PLAGUE’S LOFT.

The Da Vinci virus’ launch/cancel prompt is up.

MARGO
(pacing)
They had a large chunk of the garbage file?
How much do they know?

PLAGUE
Not everything. But enough to implicate us.

MARGO
You said the worm was untreaceable!

PLAGUE
Yeah. To civilians. But they’re hackers.
But don’t worry. All we have to do is launch
the Da Vinci virus, and then they’ll all be
put away.

MARGO
Launch the Da Vinci virus? You can’t do that!

PLAGUE
No one believes the guilty. Besides, by the
time they realize the truth, we’ll be long
gone with all of our money.

Margo starts to protest.

PLAGUE
Look, there is no right and wrong. There is
only fun and boring. A thirty year prison
sentence sounds pretty dull to me. Who do you
prefer serves it, us? Or them?

Plague clicks on “Launch”. The virus repeats its demand.

VIRUS
Unless five million dollars are transferred to
the following numbered account in seven days,
I will capsize five tankers in the Ellingson
fleet.

EXT. OPEN SEA.

As the virus speaks, a supertanker sails on a choppy sea.

INT. PLAGUE’S LOFT.

Plague leaves a message on Gill’s answering machine.

PLAGUE
(sternly)
The virus goes off tomorrow morning at 10:30,
and those hackers tried to get into our system
again. At this point I insist you take more
strenuous action, or Ellingson Mineral will
hold the Secret Service responsible.

Gill gets on the phone.

GILL
(grimly)
Get me arrest warrants on Kate Libby, alias
Acid Burn, Emmanuel Goldstein, alias Cereal
Killer, Dade Murphy, alias Crash Override,
also known as Zero Cool, and Paul Cook, alias
Lord Nikon. We pick them up tomorrow morning
at nine o’clock.

As Gill gives the order, a mysterious device under his
desk blinks. Cereal put it there.

INT. NIKON’S PLACE.

Nikon and Cereal taped Gill’s orders.

CEREAL
Snoop onto them…

NIKON
…as they snoop onto us.

Nikon calls Kate.

KATE
Yeah, it’s Kate.

NIKON
Hey, Burn. We got a little problem here.

INT. SUBWAY.

Cereal, Nikon, Dade and Kate skate through a run down
subway platform and get on the “A” Train. They go over
the results of their password gathering spree.

KATE
Alright, so what have we got?

DADE
Well, we have fifty passwords, plus whatever
Polaroid head here got inside Ellingson.

NIKON
Well, I got a lot, alright? I don’t know how
many but… my head hurts.

CEREAL
Yo, everyone check this out. Hey, what’s the
Da Vinci virus?

DADE
What?

CEREAL
Check this out. It’s a memo about how they’re
gonna deal with those oil spills that happened
on the fourteenth.

KATE
What oil spills?

NIKON
Whoa, whoa. Yo, brain-dead, today is the
thirteenth.

CEREAL
Well this hasn’t happened yet.

KATE
Wait a minute, the fourteenth, that’s the same
day the worm ends its run. I mean… Da Vinci
virus, didn’t Phreak say that’s what he was
being charged with? Look…
(quotes the memo)
“Infecting ballast programs of Ellingson
tankers” – they blame hackers!

NIKON
(angry)
Damn!

CEREAL
A worm AND a virus? The plot thickens.

Kate gets ready to get off the subway.

NIKON
Whoa, whoa whoa whoa, where are you going,
huh?

KATE
I got an idea. We’ve got a few hours, right,
till we get arrested. So just stay low. I’m
gonna go get some help. I’ll beep you, okay?
(to Dade)
Are you coming?

Dade gets up.

CEREAL
May the Force be with you, man.

INT. INDUSTRIAL DANCE CLUB.

Weird music plays, lots of weird people dance. Razor and
Blade are on stage, dancing in front of a huge speaker.

KATE
There they are!

DADE
Razor and Blade! They’re flakes!

KATE
They’re elite! Let’s get ‘em.

Dade and Kate push through the crowd. The song changes to
a fast industrial rap number, Razor and Blade leave the
stage, and Dade starts getting moshed. He climbs on the
stage to follow Razor and Blade. For his trouble, he is
thrown back onto the crowd, who pass him around overhead.

Finally the crowd lets him go. He catches up with Kate.

KATE
I lost ‘em. Where were you?

Dade tries to explain, but is at a loss for words.

They make their way to the entrance to Razor and Blade’s
lair. Video monitors are everywhere.

DADE
I don’t like this.

A robotic arm with a revolver swings around to point at
Dade.

DADE
AAAAAUGH! I definitely don’t like this!

BLADE
(through video intercom)
What do you want?

DADE
Ummm… we come in peace?

Dade winces at his own corniness.

KATE
We need your help. If you’re up to it.

RAZOR
She’s buff. Ballsy.

BLADE
Let’s keep her.

RAZOR
Waste the dude.

The gun goes off. It’s only a cigarette lighter! No one
can accuse Razor and Blade of not having a sense of humor.

INT. RAZOR AND BLADE’S PLACE.

KATE
A virus called Da Vinci will cause oil spills
at 10:30 AM Eastern Time tomorrow.

DADE
It’s somehow connected with the worm that’s
stealing the money.

KATE
We need your help to overload the Gibson so we
can kill the Da Vinci virus and download the
worm program.

RAZOR
She’s rabid, but cute.

BLADE
See, we’re very busy. A TV network that
wishes to remain nameless has expressed an
interest in our show.

DADE
(noticing the stench of sellout)
Let’s go, Kate.

RAZOR
Wait. Nobody said no. But you are going to
need more than just two media icons like us.
You need an army.

BLADE
That’s it! An electronic army! If I were us,
I’d get on the internet, send out a major
distress signal.

RAZOR
Hackers of the World, Unite!

BLADE
How are you going to take care of the cops?

Dade just smiles.

INT. DADE’S ROOM.

Dade hacks into the city traffic light control system.
Suddenly there is gridlock on the streets of New York
City.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK.

Nikon is playing chess against two Hassidic Jews.
Cereal’s beeper goes off. It displays the message:

GRAND CENTRAL
HACK THE PLANET

CEREAL
Yo. I’m blowing up. It’s Kate, Grand
Central. Let’s hit it!

Nikon checkmates his opponent and the two leave.

Dade, Cereal, Nikon, and Kate skate through the streets.
Dade’s program to freeze all the traffic lights on green,
runs on schedule at 9:00:00 precisely. Picture New York City in
morning rush hour, and every traffic light is green. Instant
gridlock ensues. The four skate through the traffic easily, while
the Secret Service, now pursuing them, is stuck. Gill punches a
parked car in frustration. Its alarm goes off.

INT. GRAND CENTRAL STATION.

The four hackers skate into Grand Central Station and head
to the lowest level. They meet up with Joey.

CEREAL
Hey Joey, you made it!

INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.

The hackers are now setting up laptops at a bank of pay
phones. Dade is wearing a “Pirate Eye” eyepiece.

KATE
Now listen up, use your best viruses to buy us
time, we have to get into Plague’s file and
copy the worm.

Cereal screams.

CEREAL
Ai! Boom boom aiaiaiaiaee! Alright, that was
a little tension breaker, that had to be done,
alright?

KATE
Cereal.

CEREAL
Yeah?

KATE
Go fix the phones.

CEREAL
Roger.

Cereal takes off to fix the phones.

KATE
Joey, take his place.

JOEY
What, me?

KATE
Take his place, man, do it. You can do it.

Joey takes Cereal’s place.

KATE
Ready?

DADE
Yeah.

KATE
Alright, let’s boot up.

The four boot up their machines. Various vanity screens
come up on the laptops. They begin to hack. We see the
inside of the Gibson. Viruses of all kinds begin to pour
in. In the offices and data processing rooms, the
Ellingson staff are in pandemonium. Happy faces with eye
patches appear on their screens. “Sit on my interface.”
“Shit for Brains.” “Arf Arf Arf!” Cookie monsters.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.

The big monitor shows the attack in progress.

MARGO
What is it? What’s wrong?

PLAGUE
Nothing, it’s just a minor glitch.

MARGO
“Minor glitch” with you seems to turn into a
major catastrophe.

The main screen is filled with:

I WANT A COOKIE. GIVE ME A COOKIE NOW!

HAL
There’s a new virus in the database.

MARGO
What’s happening?

HAL
It’s replicating, eating up memory. What do I
do?

PLAGUE
Type “Cookie”, you idiot. I’ll head ‘em off at
the pass.

Another virus appears.

HAL
We have a Zero Bug attacking all the login and
overlay files.

PLAGUE
Run anti-virus. Give me a systems display!

The systems display comes up. Red flashes everywhere,
signifying new attacks. Plague presses a key.

PLAGUE
Die, dickweeds!

HAL
The rabbit is in the administration system.

Rabbit icons start to fill the systems display.

PLAGUE
Send a Flu-shot.

MARGO
Rabbit, Flu-shot, someone talk to me.

HAL
A rabbit replicates till it overloads a file,
then it spreads like cancer.

MARGO
Cancer?

The Da Vinci Virus sings “Row Row Row Your Boat”.
Tanker ballasts start filling – for real.

INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.

KATE
It’s the Gibson, it’s finding us too fast.

DADE
Man, there’s too many garbage files, I need
more time.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.

PLAGUE
They’re at Grand Central Station, lower level.
Don’t screw up.

EXT. GRIDLOCKED STREETS.

The Secret Service and NYPD are stuck. They turn around
and head for Grand Central Station.

INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.

The public phone next to Dade’s rings. Dade answers.
It’s The Plague.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.

PLAGUE
Game’s over. Last chance to get out of this
without a prison sentence. You’re not good
enough to beat me, you little shit.

INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.

DADE
Yeah, maybe I’m not. But we are, you asshole.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.

PLAGUE
Give it up! Just give it up.

INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.

Kate’s phone rings. It’s Razor.

RAZOR
Are we fashionably late?

Hackers in England, Italy, Japan, Russia, everywhere
mobilize and start attacking the Ellingson Gibson. The
English hacker looks and talks suspiciously like Annie
Lennox’s husband. Our heroes relentlessly search for
the right garbage file.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.

SYSOP
We have massive infection. Multiple GPI and
FSI viruses.

HAL
They’re coming in from remote nodes. They’re
going after the Kernal!

MARGO
Colonel who?

HAL
The System Command Processor, it’s the brain.

MARGO
Cancer, brain… Brain Cancer?

Duke Ellingson arrives.

DUKE ELLINGSON
Belford, what’s going on?

PLAGUE
In short, Duke, a shit storm.

INT. GRAND CENTRAL STATION.

Dozens of armed Secret Service and SWAT troops push
through the crowded station looking for the hackers.

INSIDE THE COMPUTER.

The garbage file lights up. The familiar psychedelic
swirl of equations and fractal graphics returns.

INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.

DADE
I found it! I found it!

INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.

PLAGUE
This is the end, my friend.
(smiling sickly)
Thank you for calling!

INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.

Dade is disconnected.

DADE
Oh, shit! He got me.

NIKON
Joey’s getting stupid busy.

The SS and SWAT are still closing in on the hackers.

DADE
Joey. I need you to drop your viruses, go
after the worm. You’re the closest.

The SS and SWAT push through crowds.

DADE
It’s root slash period workspace slash
period garbage period.

The SS are nearly there.

Joey has found the file.

The SS arrive. Gill himself has his .357 drawn.

GILL
Freeze!

It’s an empty bank of payphones, the receivers are linked
together and taped up. No hackers. They keep going.

GILL
(pissed off but determined)
Ahhh Come on!

Joey completes the download.

KATE
(to Razor and Blade)
Kill the Gibson.

RAZOR
Roger that.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.

PLAGUE
Come on you son of a bitch, is that all you
got, huh? Come on, let’s see what else you
can do! You talking to me? Huh? Hahahaha.
Are you nuts? Come at me!

Margo and Duke are awed by Plague’s imminent failure and
total unprofessionalism.

HAL
They’re in the kernal.

DA VINCI VIRUS
Help… me…

The Da Vinci virus dies. The tankers stop capsizing and
right themselves.

WOMAN
(off screen)
The tankers have stopped capsizing.

SOMEONE ELSE
(off screen)
Ballast tanks are emptying. It’ll be okay.

The main screen lights up:

ARF ARF!
WE GOTCHA!

MESS WITH THE BEST
DIE LIKE THE REST

PLAGUE
Little pissant!

The Gibson dies in a flash of light.

INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.

The hackers cheer and congratulate each other.

NIKON
Yes!

DADE
We did it!

KATE
Let’s get out of here!

GILL
FREEZE!

The SS have caught up with the hackers. Agent Bob seems to
be choosing which pore on which hacker’s face to blow away
first. Only Joey thinks to put his hands up.

As they are led away, a handcuffed Dade surrreptitiously tosses the
disc with the worm into a trashcan.

EXT. GRAND CENTRAL STATION.

Outside, he notices Cereal, who wasn’t present to be
arrested. He yells to the crowd, but really is
addressing Cereal.

DADE
They’re TRASHING our rights, man! They’re
TRASHING the flow of data! They’re TRASHING!
TRASHING! TRASHING! HACK THE PLANET! HACK
THE PLANET!

GILL
Shut up and get in the car!

CEREAL
(understanding the hidden message)
HACK THE PLANET! HACK THE PLANET!

INT. GRAND CENTRAL STATION.

Later, Cereal is trashing through the garbage cans in
Grand Central Station. Eventually he finds the disc.
To Cereal’s disgust, it has gum stuck to it.

INT. GILL’S OFFICE.

Gill phones The Plague to report the successful takedown.

PLAGUE
Hello?

GILL
We caught ‘em.

PLAGUE
Good.

GILL
Red handed! You won’t be having any more
trouble from them.

INT. PLAGUE’S LOFT.

At Plague’s place, Plague and Margo toast with champagne,
giggle, and then scurry off to bed…

INT. GILL’S OFFICE.

Dade and Kate are there.

DADE
Me, alright? I did it. She knows shit about
computers. She… she’s just my girlfriend.

GILL
(laughing)
I suggest you modify your attitude. Because
you are floating. And I’m about to flush your
ass.

The intercom beeps.

AGENT
You’ve got a Mrs. Murphy to see you, sir.

Gill leaves.

KATE
Are you crazy? What are you doing?

DADE
I’m trying to help you.

She pauses, realizing his gesture.

KATE
Dade.

DADE
What?

KATE
Thanks for your help.

Dade turns on the intercom. Gill can be heard through it.

GILL
(grimly)
Your son is in big trouble. He has violated
his probation and he has engaged in criminal
activity.

MRS. MURPHY
My son happens to be a genius. He understands
something happening today that you won’t
comprehend if you live to be a hundred, and he
would never use what he knows to harm a living
soul.

Agent Bob enters.

AGENT BOB
The news crew you requested is here.

MRS. MURPHY
Oh good. Cause I have a few things to tell
them.

GILL
Your son is facing thirty felony counts in an
ongoing investigation. You face possible
arrest if you do that.

MRS. MURPHY
Mister, I don’t care if I face certain death.

GILL
Mrs. Murphy stays right here.

KATE
Oh, wow, she’s great.

DADE
Yeah.

INT. SECRET SERVICE OFFICES.

The news crew interviews Gill.

REPORTER
…and attacked the Ellingson’s computer
network. Is the last we’ve seen of this type
of high-tech espionage?

GILL
Well, I’m afraid not. Hackers are a grave
threat to the national security. This
incident just proves without a doubt that we
need increased funding to stop…

Nikon and Joey are led in.

The monitors cut into static, then Cereal appears.

SOMEONE
That kid cut him off!

CEREAL
Hold on, boys and girls. It is I, the Cereal
Killer, making my first coast to coast, world
wide, global television appearance. Yes,
that’s right, I’m here to tell you about this
heinous scheme hatched from within Ellingson
Mineral.

Razor and Blade busily work on keeping him on the air.

CEREAL
But for what, you ask? World domination?
Nay. Something far more tacky. A virus called
Da Vinci, that when launched, would cause
Ellingson Mineral tankers to capsize was to be
blamed on innocent hackers. But this virus was
really the smokescreen, right. What could be
so vitally important to protect that someone
would create such a nasty, antisocial, very
uncool virus program?

Cereal is now seen and heard on the big screen in Times
Square.

CEREAL
But why? Could it be to cover the tracks for
this worm program? A worm that was to steal 25
million bucks. The password for this hungry
little sucker belongs to Margo Wallace, head
of public relations at Ellingson Mineral…

INT. PLAGUE’S LOFT.

Margo watches this and sits bolt upright in bed.

MARGO
Oh my God!

CEREAL
(continuing)
…and Eugene Belford, Computer Security
Officer.

INT. SECRET SERVICE OFFICE

GILL
(finally understanding what’s been
going on all along)
Son of a BITCH!

CEREAL
(continuing)
What’s this? Is this the unnamed account in the
Bahamas where the money was to be stashed? I
think so!

An account number scrolls below Cereal’s chin.

CEREAL
Yo. I kinda feel like God!

His voice echoes across the earth and among the
satellites.

MARGO
Plague?
Eugene?

Almost supernaturally, Plague is already gone. He was
right next to her, stark naked in bed a second ago.

INT. SECRET SERVICE OFFICES.

The hackers embrace and congratulate each other again,
Lauren Murphy hugs her son.

INT. POLICE STATION, WOMEN’S LOCKUP.

Margo Wallace has been arrested, and is being led into the
women’s lockup. Some of the other women grab at her
expensive Italian leather jacket as she is led to her cell.

MARGO
I don’t even know how to work a VCR, let alone
a computer! Get off! Look, listen, I’ll make
a deal. Eugene Belford! I know where his
mother is, I promise you. Get offa me! I need
a lawyer!

INT. AIRLINER CABIN. IN FLIGHT.

STEWARDESS
Here you are, Mr. Babbage. Flight time to
Tokyo should be about 14 hours today. Can I
get you anything else?

“Babbage” is The Plague in disguise; he now appears about
60 years old.

PLAGUE
Just a pillow please.

The pillow slides in behind his head, he reaches up to
adjust it.

PLAGUE
Thank you.

A handcuff snaps onto his wrist. It’s Gill.

GILL
You’re welcome.

PLAGUE
What’s going on? Let go of me! Stewardess!
I’ll never fly this airline again!

EXT. NEW YORK CITY SIDEWALK. NIGHT.

Dade and Kate are on their date. Dade is smartly,
somewhat androgynously dressed. Kate is heavily made up,
and yes, she is wearing a dress.

DADE
You look good in a dress.

KATE
You would have looked better.

DADE
Wanna go for a swim?

EXT. ROOFTOP SWIMMING POOL.

Dade and Kate swimming, fully clothed, in a pool on a
roof.

KATE
I can’t believe they decided you won.

DADE
They didn’t. The guys felt it was the only
way I’d get a date. Anyway, you’re pretty
good. You’re elite.

KATE
Yeah? You know if you would have said so in
the beginning, you would have saved yourself
a whole lot of trouble.

They look out at the skyline. Suddenly, the lights in
three buildings change. They spell out:

C B
R A U
A N R
S D N
H

Kate laughs, honestly impressed.

DADE
Beat that!

Kate continues laughing.

DADE
You know, I’ve been having these really
weird..

KATE
(finishing his sentence)
Dreams?

They kiss passionately.

The credits roll.

Associate Producer
Selwyn Roberts

Penn Jillette as Hal

London Casting
Michelle Guish

Unit Production Manager
Selwyn Roberts

First Assistant Director
Simon Hinkly

Second Assistant Directors
Jerry Daly
Steve Robinson

Music Supervisor
Bob Last

Visual Effects Supervisor
Peter Chiang

Supervising Sound Editor
Glenn Freemantle

Re-Recording Mixer
John Hayward, A.M.P.S.

Dade and Kate emerge from their underwater kiss, the view
rises above the pool and into the night. Fade to black.

CAST
—-
Dade Jonny Lee Miller
Kate Angelina Jolie
Joey Jesse Bradford
Cereal Matthew Lillard
Nikon Laurence Mason
Phreak Renoly Santiago
The Plague Fisher Stevens
Lauren Murphy Alberta Watson
Razor Darren Lee
Blade Peter Y. Kim
Curtis Ethan Browne
Margo Lorraine Bracco
Agent Dick Gill Wendell Pierce
Agent Bob Michael Gaston
Agent Ray Marc Anthony
Hal Penn Jillette
Laura Liza Walker
Mr. Ellingson Bob Sessions
S.S. Agent, Seattle Blake Willett
Young Dade Max Ligosh
Attorney Felicity Huffman
Michael Murphy Paul Klementowicz
Judge Richard Ziman
Norm Bill Maul
Jock William DeMeo
Denise Denise George
Freshmen on Roof Jeb Handwerger
Mitchell Nguyen-McCormick
Mr. Simpson Gary Klar
Joey’s Mom Terry Porter
1st Sysops Technician Johnny Myers
2nd Sysops Technician Kevin Brewerton
English Teacher Sam Douglas
1st V.P. Kal Weber
2nd V.P. Jeff Harding
2nd S.S. Agent Tom Hill
Reporter Jennifer Rice
Addict Hank Douglas W. Iles
Addict Vickie Annemarie Zola
Tow Truck Driver Michael Potts
Phreak’s Mom Nancy Ticotin
Ellingson Guard Mike Cicchetti
Phone Repairman Mick O’Rourke
London Hacker Dave Stewart
Tokyo Hacker Naoko Mori
Italian Hacker Roberta Gotti
Russian Hackers Ravil Isyanov
Olegario Fedoro
News Technician Eric Loren
Flight Attendant Kristin Moreu
Second Reporter Ricco Ross
Jail Guard Tony Sibbaldi
Talk Show Host Richard Purro
Da Vinci Virus Enzo Junior
3rd V.P. Yoshimori Yamamoto
4th V.P. Ralph Winter
Receptionist Kimbra Standish
Rollerblader Steven Angiolini

STUNTS – U.K.
————-
Glen Marks Andreas Petrides
Nick Powell Tony Lucken
Jim Dowdall Peter Pedrero
Tom Delmar Seon Rogers

STUNTS – U.S.
————-
Stunt Coordinator Jerry Hewitt
Stunt Performers
Mike Cicchetti Danny Downey
Mick O’Rourke Don Picard
Jennifer Lamb Mark Webster

“CYBERSPIRITS” and SKATERS
————————–
Jennifer Badger Melissa Barkan
Don J. Hewitt Christo Morse
Felix Santiago Christopher Walker
Joseph Lloyd

Hacking Consultants Jack Hitt and Paul Tough

Art Director John Frankish
Set Decorator Joanne Woolard
Assistant Art Director Ben Scott
Camera Operator Mike Proudfoot
Focus Puller David Morgan
Clapper Loader John Ferguson
Camera Grip Tony Turner
2nd Camera Assistant Andrew Banwell
Still Photographer Mark Tillie
Script Supervisor Diana Dill
Production Coordinator Jo Bunn

Chief Lighting Technician John “Biggles” Higgins
Assistant Lighting Technician Kevin Edland
Rigging Gaffer Wayne Leach

Location Manager Richard Sharkey
Assistant Location Manager Piers Dunn

Visual Effects Coordinator Tim Field
Senior Visual Effects Technicians Andrew Eio
Justin Owen
Joe Bruton
Visual Effects Assistant Matthew Kok

Visual Effects Editor Martyn Robinson
First Assistant Editors Steve Maguire
Fabienne Rawley
Second Assistant Editors Christian Wheeler
Julian Pryce
Third Assistant Editor Jonathan Mann

Dialogue Editor Philip Alton
Sound Effects Editor Peter Baldock
Assistant Sound Editors Timothy Vine
Keith Lowes
Ed Stabile
Foley Editor Polly Aitken

ADR Editor Peter Elliott
Assistant Re-Recording Mixers David Anderson
Richard Pryke
Foley Mixer Nic LeMessunier A.M.P.S.

Sound Mixer Peter Lindsay
Sound Maintenance Mervyn Moore
Sound Assistant Steve Finn

Music Editor Paul Rabjohns
Post Production Coordinator Jo Human
Post Production Music Coordinator Gale Wright

Assistant Costume Designer Kate Forbes
Wardrobe Supervisor Anne Gorman
Wardrobe Assistant Abigail Hicks
Hair and Make-up Stylists Christine Blundell
Liz Danauer
Assistant Make-up Stylist Marese Langan

Production Buyer John O’Shaugnessy
Property Master Keith Vowles
Prop Storeman Brian West
Changehand Dressing Prop John Moore
Dressing Props Kevin Wheeler
Marion Cole
Changehand Standby Prop Joe Dipple
Standby Prop Stanley Torbett
Props Carpenter Paul Lawlor

Construction Manager Craig Hillier
Standby Carpenter Richard Jones
Standby Painter Roy Martin
Standby Rigger Peter Hawkins
Standby Stagehand David Jones

Storyboard Artist Jane Clark

Visual Effects Cameramen Ingrid Domeij
Mark Gardiner
Peter Field
Focus Puller Alex Howe
Clapper Loader Mark Millsome

“City of Text” Model by Artem, Ltd.
Modelmakers Robert Thomas
Adam Howarth
Bob Thorne
Julian Eyres
Motion Control Operator Martin Kelly
Motion Control Assistant John Duffy

Computer Screens and Graphics by
Research Arts
Art Direction and Design Simon Staines
Consultant Neville Brody
Animation Mike Williams
Tony Campbell
Shamshul Rosunally
Toby Inwards
Office Manager FWA Richards

Digital Film at
The Moving Picture Company
Computer Animation Paul Franklin
Keith Roberts
Nigel Hardwidge
Jane O’Callaghan
Programmers Peter Grecian
Simon Robinson
Digital Visual Effects Charlie Noble
Production Matthew Holben
Alex Hope
Arthur Windus

Optical & Digital Effects
The Magic Camera Company
Effects Producer Antony Hunt
Effects Coordinator Brenda Coxon
Optical Cameramen Andy Jeffery
Alan Church
Optical Effects Animation Helen Ball
Digital Effects Supervision Alan Marques
Digital Effects Animation Evan Davies
Richard Scarlett
Philippe Montagny

Matte Paintings by
Matte World Digital
Marin, CA
Visual Effects Producer Craig Barron
Executive in Charge of Production Krystyna Demkowicz
Visual Effects Supervisor Chris Evans
Digital Compositor Paul Riviera
Motion Control Camera Cameron Noble
Effects Editorial Martin Matzinger
Key Grip Todd Smith

Opticals by
GSE

Unit Publicists Graham Smith
Julia Jones
Production Accountant Tony Miller
Assistant Accountants Sarah Miller
Justin Miller
Assistant to Iain Softley Gale Wright
Assistants to the Producers Jo Human
Trip Pierson
Production Assistants Donal Heath
Nick Cornwell
Paul Ellison
Jo Sexton
Kenny Stewart
2nd Second A.D. Pippa Harrison
2nd Unit A.D. Cordelia Hardy
2nd Unit Director of Photography Zoran Djordjevic
Casting Associate Barbara Collins
Casting Assistant Michelle Arthur
Crowd Coordinator James Fowlds
Draughtsman Andrew Nicholson
Junior Draughtsman Ray Chan
Assistant to Set Director Eliza Solesbury
Art Department Assistant Hannah Coupland
Video Assist Penny Skuse
Catering Anglia Catering Services
Unit Nurse Sophie Rayner
Security Lew Morgan
Unit Vehicles Micky Webb
Facilities Luna
Drivers Phil Allchin
Maurice Newsome
Jeff Oldman

NEW YORK UNIT
————-
Unit Production Manager/
1st Assistant Director Joel Tuber
2nd Assistant Director Glen Trodiner
Art Director Chris Shriver
Set Decorator Alyssa Winter
Camera Operator John Sosenko
First Assistant Camera Gerrard Sava
Second Assistant Camera Pamela Rittelmeyer
Still Photographer Jim Bridges
Video Howard Weiner
Michael Neil Fallon
Script Supervisor Martha Pinson
Production Coordinator Michael Boonstra
2nd Second Assistant Director Dean Garvin

Chief Lighting Technician Michael Palmer
Assistant Lighting Technician Kevin Janicelli
Key Grip Billy Miller
Dolly Grip David Lowry, Jr.

Location Manager Nick Bernstein
Assistant Location Manager Isabelle Kostio-Crosby
Assistant Locations Laura Barnett

Boom Operator Tommy Louie
Cable Alexandra Baltarzuk

Assistant to Costume Designer Dean Bright
Wardrobe Supervisors Anne Gorman
Marcia Patton
Make-up Artist Bernadette Mazur
Hair Stylist Judith Goodman

Property Master Jeff Butcher
First Assistant Prop JoAnn Atwood
Assistant Set Decorator Chandra Kochie
On-Set Dresser Rochelle Edelson
Art Department Coordinator Crocus Bever
Scenic Artist Elizabeth Linn
Draughtswoman Patricia Woodbridge
Lead Man Timothy Metzger
Construction Coordinator Tom Costabile
Construction Foreman/Key Carpenter Rudy Pelikan
Special Effects Steve Kirshoff
Transportation Captain Jimmy Nugent

Unit Publicist Reid Rosefelt
Assistant Production Coordinator J. Lauren Buckley
Accountant Margaret Ann McCourt
Assistant Accountants Ron Wahl
Holly Rymon
Extras Casting Judy Fizler
Dialect Coach John Tammi
Computer Hacking Consultants Dave Buchwald
Emmanuel Goldstein
Pete Hoyes
Omar Wason
Rollerblade Coach Christo Morse
Craft Service Kitty Witwer
On Set Nurse Carolyn Baxter

The Producers Wish to Thank
Apple Computer Inc.
AT&T
Radius Inc.
Jay Presson Allen
William Latham

Wipeout Game from Sony Psygnosis
for Playstation & Computer PC CDs

Title Design by Richard Morrison
Plume Productions, Ltd.

Title Opticals by Capital FX
Color Timer Tom Gibson
DTS Consultant John Taylor

Cookie Monster is a Jim Henson Muppet
Featured on Sesame Street
A production of Children’s Television Workshop

“Conscience of a Hacker”
quoted with permission
of Loyd Blankenship
mentor@blankenship.com

Sound Re-Recorded at
Pinewood Studios
London, England

Lighting Equipment by AFM Lighting, Ltd.

Film Processing
Rank Film Laboratories, London, England
Duart Film Laboratories, New York

Motion Control Equipment by
Granada Television Ltd.

Filmed in PANAVISION

Color by deluxe

Produced on Kodak Film

Production Services by United Artists Corporation Ltd.