Problem with /dev/ttyp? devices

[Nolan Darilek <nolan_d@bigfoot.com>]

I've recently encountered the following problem on my potato system. I
decided to try to run biff and see what it was like. When attempting
to run it, though, I receive:

ethereal:~> biff y
/dev/ttyp2: Operation not permitted
Exit 1

As I understand it, the /dev/ttyp devices are supposed to be chowned to
the user who logs in under them? Mine aren't. The permissions on all
are as follows:

crw-rw-rw-    1 root     tty        3,   2 Jan  7 23:36 /dev/ttyp2

According to strace, both biff and mesg fail in chmod calls, thus
increasing the likelihood of my problems being caused by the lack of
chowning. Can anyone possibly point me in the right direction? This
problem confuses me.

Also, please CC me with any replies; I'm not subscribed to the
list. Thanks.