LAS VEGAS -- For nine years, Defcon has been known as the world's most exuberant party for hackers and hacker hopefuls who gather in sin city for a rollicking good time.
Conference organizers call it the "annual computer underground party for hackers," and Defcon is known as much for its technical content as its beer-tinged hijinks. Pranks such as smoke bombs in hotel pools, portions of telephone trucks mysteriously appearing in the convention hall and concrete dumped in toilets have earned Defcon a reputation as a kind of annual hacker bacchanalia. |
Instead of taking a laissez-faire approach to underage drinking -- over a third of the attendees seem to be under 21 -- the Defcon website now stresses that the bar is only "for those of you over 21."
For the convenience of the television crews, who descend on the conference hoping for images of pink-haired hacker girls, Defcon has mimicked government agencies and now features daily press conferences. To obtain press credentials, members of the media must sign a two-page form listing rules and regulations that journalists agree to follow.
But the stealthy corporatization of Defcon has irked some hackers who are particularly anti-authoritarian -- even if the authorities are fellow geeks.
A photocopied flyer distributed anonymously at the conference likens Defcon to an event organized by hacker arch-enemy Microsoft. It urges attendees: "don't pay for DC registrations ... steal a badge ... reclaim your culture ... hack the exploiters ... ignore the rules ... don't buy anything."
I like the last part of the story hehehe
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Source: Wired
