| Phreaking is a slang word that refers to | | | | then - as they found each other and phreaking |
| people who tamper with, play around with, | | | | became more popular - they began to work in |
| experiment with, and study systems of | | | | groups to maximize the efficacy of what they |
| telecommunication such as the public | | | | have learned and the methods they employed. |
| telephone networks and various phone system | | | | |
| audio frequencies. Phreak - from which the | | | | When a controversial article came out in June |
| verb phreaking is derived - is a combination | | | | of 1972 in Ramparts Magazine, called "How to |
| of the two words phone and freak. A person | | | | Build a 'Phone Phreaks' Box", phreaking truly |
| who participates in phreaking is referred to | | | | took off. The article was suppressed as |
| as a phone phreak or a phreaker. | | | | heavily as possible - Bell sued Ramparts |
| | | | Magazine, forcing it to take remaining |
| These days, the term's definition has | | | | magazines from the shelves - but the damage |
| broadened to include people involved in | | | | had been done. It detailed the schematics |
| computer hacking - sometimes referred to as H | | | | plans of a kind of "black box" which could be |
| P culture (hacking and phreaking culture). | | | | employed in order to make long distance phone |
| | | | calls for free. Its parts list was very |
| Nobody really knows how phreaking got going, | | | | short and the construction was quite |
| but phreaking as it is known today, can be | | | | simplistic. |
| traced back to the 1950s in the U.S. when | | | | |
| AT&T started to utilize automatic direct-dial | | | | In the 1980's, phreaks became more tech savvy |
| long distance as well as other forms of | | | | with the growing popularity of personal |
| carrier trunking which used in-band | | | | computers and modem-accessed bulletin boards. |
| signaling. Just as on the internet there are | | | | These were popular areas for phreaks, |
| hackers and crackers, at that time, there | | | | hackers, and others interested in tampering |
| were people experimenting with the phone | | | | and experimenting with technology to share |
| systems. | | | | their knowledge and improve their schemes. |
| | | | This has continued with the internet and the |
| As technology changed, so did the phreaks and | | | | world wide web to an extremely complex level. |
| the techniques that they employed. Each | | | | Phreaks are no longer simple tinkerers, but |
| started with their own independent tests and | | | | are individuals with a multifaceted |
| experiments over the telephone network, and | | | | understanding and practice in phone systems. |