Bruce Fancher (also known as Timberwolf) (born April 13, 1971) is a former

computer hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

and member of the

Legion of Doom The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in '' Challenge of the Super Friends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Uni ...

hacker group. He co-founded MindVox in 1991 with

Patrick K. Kroupa Patrick Karel Kroupa (also known as Lord Digital, born January 20, 1969) is an American writer, hacker and activist. Kroupa was a member of the Legion of Doom and Cult of the Dead Cow hacker groups and co-founded MindVox in 1991, with Bruce ...

Early years

Bruce Fancher grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. He is the son of Ed Fancher, who founded ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' with Dan Wolf and

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

, in 1955. Fancher attended YIPL/TAP meetings that were taking place on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally ...

. Fancher's peers included several hackers and phone phreaks of the day. The hacker publication ''

Phrack ''Phrack'' is an e-zine written by and for hackers, first published November 17, 1985. Described by Fyodor as "the best, and by far the longest running hacker zine," the magazine is open for contributions by anyone who desires to publish remark ...

'' is filled with out-of-character rants at Fancher's work. Around the time MindVox was first launched, with Phrack's only humor issue (Phrack #36), also called "Diet Phrack". Phrack 36 included the first and last, official publication of an article co-written by Fancher and

Patrick Kroupa Patrick Karel Kroupa (also known as Lord Digital, born January 20, 1969) is an American writer, hacker and activist. Kroupa was a member of the Legion of Doom and Cult of the Dead Cow hacker groups and co-founded MindVox in 1991, with Bruce Fan ...

, called "Elite Access",:: Phrack Magazine ::
which was a cynical and funny expose of the "elite" and private hacker underground of the day. The article was apparently worked on and edited during a 5-year period, and there are at least 3 different versions of it that still remain online,
including a much earlier, hardcore technical revision which has most of the commands to control phone company computers, deleted out of it. Fancher and Kroupa's "games" with the "elite" made it into Kroupa's "Agr1ppa", a parody of

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...

's ''

Agrippa Agrippa may refer to: People Antiquity * Agrippa (mythology), semi-mythological king of Alba Longa * Agrippa (astronomer), Greek astronomer from the late 1st century * Agrippa the Skeptic, Skeptic philosopher at the end of the 1st century * Agr ...

'', which had been leaked to the world from MindVox. The opening verses include a letter dated 1985, from the

SysOp A sysop (; an abbreviation of system operator) is an administrator of a multi-user computer system, such as a bulletin board system (BBS) or an online service virtual community.Jansen, E. & James,V. (2002). NetLingo: the Internet dictionary. Net ...

(System Operator) of a

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

Bulletin Board System A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such ...

which had apparently thrown both Fancher and Kroupa off the system, for uploading cracked software, which they then infected with a virus. Although MindVox quickly became notorious for the escapades of its hard-partying clientele, there is little or no evidence that Fancher was involved personally in the wild lifestyles of its members. However, he was at least indirectly affected, in that by 1995 Kroupa's drug use was fast becoming legendary and his ability to function on a daily basis was diminishing. While the media attention never ended, the development and growth of the system had slowed down and Phantom Access Technologies was taking on consulting positions to help other companies create their own online presence, and Fancher gained growing acclaim as a software architect and member of the dot.com

technocracy Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...

. There are perpetual signs of MindVox coming back to life and opening again, it appears likely that MindVox either went dark, or shut off public access, at some time in late 1997. The two main publications which covered the shutting of the gates, were ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

'', who were apparently unable to arrive at a consensus, with the Times listing the sale of MindVox's client-base and the closing of the system, in 1996. Wired was still covering an apparently open and at least partially operational MindVox circa 1997, more than one year after the Times listed MindVox as being closed. By the late 1990s, Fancher was involved in a series of start-ups where he founded and started companies and then sold after a few years. The best-known of these appears to be DuoCash, a micropayments company made infamous through a series of photographs posted on MindVox, taken from the DuoCash office building, located across the street from where the World Trade Center had stood a few days before.

Media

Books

Rudy Rucker Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best know ...

R. U. Sirius R. U. Sirius (born Ken Goffman in 1952) is an American writer, editor, talk show host, musician and cyberculture celebrity. He is best known as co-founder and original editor-in-chief of ''Mondo 2000'' magazine from 1989 to 1993. Before that he f ...

, (1992) User's Guide to the New Edge () *

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the '' Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's firs ...

, (1993) The Hacker Crackdown : Law And Disorder On The Electronic Frontier () *

J C Herz J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...

, (1995) Surfing on the Internet () *

St. Jude Jude ( grc-gre, Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas Iakóbou) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is generally identified as Thaddeus ( grc-gre, Θαδδαῖος; cop, ⲑⲁⲇⲇⲉⲟⲥ; ...

(

Jude Milhon Judith udeMilhon (March 12, 1939 – July 19, 2003), in Washington D.C., best known by her pseudonym St. Jude, was a self-taught programmer, civil rights advocate, writer, editor, advocate for women in computing, hacker and author in the ...

), (1995) The Real Cyberpunk Fakebook () * Charles Platt, (1997) Anarchy Online () *

Melanie McGrath Melanie McGrath is a Romford-born English non-fiction writer and crime novelist. Early life Born in Romford, McGrath's parents moved several times during her childhood; to Basildon in Essex, then to a village in Germany, to Kent, then north to L ...

, (1998) Hard, Soft & Wet () *

Stacy Horn Stacy Horn (born June 3, 1956 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American author, businesswoman and occasional journalist. She grew up on Long Island, New York and received a B.F.A. from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She rec ...

, (2002) Waiting for My Cats to Die : A Memoir ()

Magazines & Newspapers

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

, William Flanagan (1992)
The Playground Bullies Have Learned to Type
*

Mondo 2000 ''Mondo 2000'' was a glossy cyberculture magazine published in California during the 1980s and 1990s. It covered cyberpunk topics such as virtual reality and smart drugs. It was a more anarchic and subversive prototype for the later-founded ' ...

, Andrew Hawkins (1992)
There's A Party in my Mind... MindVox!
*

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

(1993), CyberHero *

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

, Frank Bajak (1993)
Wiring the Planet: MindVox!
*

Wired Magazine ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San F ...

, Charles Platt (November 1993)
MindVox: Urban Attitude Online
*

Sassy Magazine ''Sassy'' magazine is a defunct, general interest teen magazine aimed at young women. It covered a wide variety of topics, and was intended as a feminist counterpoint to '' Seventeen'' and '' YM'' magazines. ''Sassy'' existed between 1988 and 199 ...

, Margie Ingall (1993)
Hi Girlz, See You in Cyberspace!
*

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

, Jeff Goodell (1994)
Boot Up and See Me Sometime
*

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

, Amy Cortese (1995)
Warding Off the Cyberspace Invaders
*

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

, Therese Poletti (1995)
Hollywood gets into Cyberspace
*

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

, Steve G. Steinberg (1997)
Ex-Hacker Ready for Next Step
*

, Adam L. Penenberg (1997)
Hacking the Corporate Ladder
* Point of View (POV), Tim Barkow (1998)

* ''

'', John Schwartz (2001)
New Economy: Even in Downturn, Sex Still Sells

Film

Jason Scott Sadofsky Jason Scott Sadofsky (born September 13, 1970), more commonly known as Jason Scott, is an American archivist, historian of technology, filmmaker, performer, and actor. Scott has been known by the online pseudonyms Sketch, SketchCow, The Slip ...

(2005
BBS: The Documentary

Television

CNN
(1997)

Music

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

(1993) Cyberpunk, EMI

References

External links

Phantom Access

MindVox

Personal Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fancher, Bruce MindVox Legion of Doom (hacker group) 1971 births Living people People from New York City