David “The Eight-Bit Guy” Murray (who is one of my favourites on YouTube) did a fascinating talk on phone phreaking at the Portland Retro-Gaming Expo:

I knew a guy at my prep school who got into this.  He graduated in 1971 (the same year that Tico Vogt, to whom I responded earlier this year, did.)  One of his favourite places to do it were the call boxes on Florida’s Turnpike.  Evidently someone was paying attention, and while he pursued his hobby on the side of the road, the police showed up.  The rest, as they say, was history.

When Murry put the “ILLEGAL” warning on his talk, he wasn’t just kidding.

One thing that surprised me was how easy it was to do.