TAP/YIPL Issues

[DIzzIE]

Before Phrack, before 2600 & Blacklisted, there was was YIPL/TAP.

This newsletter was dedicated to collating and spreading Yippie rip-off techniques, especially of phones, to the joy of the freewheeling undergound and the insensate rage of all straight people.
-Bruce Sterling

First published in June, 1971 by Abbie Hoffman and Al Bell, the Youth International Party Line was usually released on a monthly basis (with the occasional bi-monthly issues and other temporary disruptions of service) and featured articles on ripping off the phone company, scamming the post office, monkey wrenching, and similar beat the system topics.

After the first 20 issues, with Abbie dropping off the radar and going underground, Al Bell renamed the zine to TAP, standing for the Technological American Party (or the Technological Assistance Program). While TAP was predominantly focused on publishing articles about fone phreaking (and later, in the early 80s, on computer hacking) it also continued to include the occasional scam advice on obtaining free books, beating speeding tickets and exploring radar detection, and of course more post office fraud.

In the late 70s Tom Edison (along with Cheshire Catalyst) took over editorial/publishing duties and the zine continued publication up to the spring of 1984, with issue 91 being the last 'official' issue.

In 1983 Tom Edison's home was burglarized and then burned down in an (apparent) attempt to hide the burglary (note the use of passive here, as there is much speculation as to the perpetrator(s) of the burglary/arson, popular theories include it being a phone company employee bitter at the zine's publication of Ma Bell's trade secrets, as well as the FBI).

1984 saw the end of TAP and the first publication of 2600, while the first issue of the e-zine Phrack was released in the following year, on November 17, 1985.

In 1990 TAP was restarted for a short time by Predat0r, with the initials now standing for the Technological Advancement Party.

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About the PDF

The 27.6 Mb PDF containing high-resolution images of YIPL/TAP issues 1-91, 99 & 100 can be downloaded here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=288HA9WL

!!! Please make and share mirrors !!!

If anyone has issues 92-98 (either treeware copies or in digital format) please email me at xcon0@yahoo.com.