tap - technical definition

A popular hackerdom newsletter meaning “Technical Assistance Program.” Before the 1970s, it was known as “The Youth International Party Line.” The publishing partner of Yippie guru Abbie Hoffman—Al Bell—changed the name of the newsletter to TAP—The Hobbyists Newsletter for the Communications Revolution. The newsletter was published in New York City from 1971 until 1984. The premise behind the publication was that phreaking did not hurt anyone because telephone calls emanated from an unlimited reservoir. During the reign of the newsletter, which is no longer in circulation, hackers hoarded the mind-numbingly complex articles on such topics as explosives formulas, electronic sabotage blueprints, and credit card fraud. It was in TAP that peculiar forms of computer underground spelling were implemented, such as substituting “z” for “s,” 0 (zero) for O (the letter) and spelling the word “freak” as “phreak.” The eccentricities introduced decades ago remain in the hacker community today.

Hacker Cheshire Catalyst (a.k.a. Richard Cheshire) was the last editor of TAP. Cheshire says that the title was changed to “Technological Assistance Program” from its original “Technological American Party (TAP)” when the editorial team found it difficult to open a bank account without being a bona fide political party.

See Also: Bell, Al and Hoffman, Abbie Team; Cheshire Calalyst and TAP; Phreaking.