in april 1990, barlow had been visited by a u.s. federal bureau of investigation agent in relation to the theft and distribution of the source code for a series of macintosh roms. barlow described the visit as "complicated by [the agent's] fairly complete unfamiliarity with computer technology. i realized right away that before i could demonstrate my innocence, i would first have to explain to him what guilt might be." barlow felt that his experience was symptomatic of a "great paroxysm of governmental confusion during which everyone's liberties would become at risk".