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Kevin Mitnick Free Today
Well, today is the day Kevin Mitnick is supposed to be released from prison. But many people feel sites like this one aren't obsolete quite yet, because it's hard for ex-cons to make their way in society, and it may be especially hard for Kevin because he isn't allowed to use computers - and that's what he's good at, right? A 60 Minutes interview with Kevin is scheduled to run this Sunday. Hemos comments, "One wonders if having a microphone near violates his Draconian parole computer restriction orders." An interesting - and scary - thought.
Well, I personally am not that interested in Mitnick himself, but the various factors surrounding his imprisonment and trial do interest me quite a bit.
He spent four years in jail without being convicted of a crime. This is partially because his lawyer was forced to waive his rights to a speedy trial. There were several million pages of evidence presented by the government, and Mitnick was given one part-time lawyer (whom the court refused to pay extra to give him more time to sift through the pile of evidence) and extremely limited access to a law library (and no access to computers). If he didn't waive his rights to a speedy trial, he'd have to waive his right to a fair trial. Forcing him to give up one or the other of his constitutional rights is obviously not something that should be allowed.
The damages claimed by the various companies also raises the issue of the financial cost of piracy, an issue discussed on slashdot in the past in other stories. Several companies claimed that since Mitnick obtained the source code to their operating systems and software, they had sustained a loss equal to the entire cost of development of the software and any future projected sales. This is obviously extremely innacurate (but common practice among the various anti-piracy groups). There's also the interesting fact that these millions of dollars of supposed losses were not reported to stockholders, as required under SEC regulations.
Finally, there's the issue of computer-use restrictions on parole. Many people, including myself, feel that these are wrong, and certainly counter-productive. Rather than keeping him from engaging in computer-related crime again, they will be more likely to remove his chances for employment and force him into crime to make money. His skills are computer-related, and even if he were to go for a job that wasn't directly computer-related, nearly all jobs these days use computers in one way or another.
Anyway, these, and some other assorted reasons, are why I, and I suspect many other slashdotters, care about Mitnick, despite the fact that he's a relatively uninteresting hax0r d00d in and of himself.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
I'm no Mitnick expert, but didn't his lawyer waive his right to a speedy trial?
I think this is an excellent point of view. Lots of private information can be exploited for profit, but the acquisition of it is not necessarily theft.
By this logic, if I inform someone that their house is on fire, I should be charged with arson.
...as long as he doesn't use a computer to do it? I'm just curious since I remember seening a book containing a complete printout of the 2.2.5 linux kernel last time I was over in Border's. For a guy who had developed such a "penchant for cracking systems in search of proprietary source code," wouldn't it be just great to see some Mitnick-contributed code to the linux kernel? (Perhaps regarding security...) Afterall, the article clearly identifies Mitnick as a "Hacker"... (c: --Cycon
Your Brain + EEG + LEGO Robots = Brainstorms
Whether you consider him to be a script kiddie punk, or a political martyr, the fact remains that the man has been incarcerated longer than some who are sentenced for rape, kidnapping, agrravated assault, battery, grand theft auto...
Surely I wasn't the only one in this thread that remembers hearing WGO radio giving thier 'Mitnick
Manhunt Updates', and thought something like,
"What if that was me?".
*shiver*
Hey Kevin, let me buy you your first beer in four years. It's the least I can do.
Isn't that kind of like telling a con-man who used fake ID to con people that he may not use an ID or a razor blade, ever?
Or a B&E artist that he may not posess a crowbar, hammer, or any rope?
Or... a white-collar money launderer that he can't have any money?
Or... well, the list goes on.
The exception, of course, is guns... but we, as a society, prevent those who committed 'violent' crimes with guns from being allowed to legally posess guns, as they have demonstrated that they are a threat. A *violent, life-endangering threat*
Many things you might not consider today constitute theft under state law. In particular, Kevin's own analogy, "joyriding" is, at least here in Florida, theft. Likewise the use of computers in various ways to manipulation of information legally constitutes theft. As does the use or disclosure of trade secrets of another.
Not for years has the legal definition of theft been limited to the "taking and asportation of personal property of another with the intent to deprive permanently." Modern statutes have liberalized or deleted virtually every element of the crime, largely because of hypertechnical arguments used by criminals to avoid justice.
Many words have both common and legal meanings, that may differ. Such differences, even if present, do not factor into whether the man is a criminal. By his own words, he was "like James Bond." Great, so instead of being a mere thief, he committed a capital crime!
So, this "argument" is really down to p.r. or sophistry. Sure, it may not be Kevin-Theft, or Slashdot-Theft, whatever those words might mean but if it is Legal-Theft (read the statutes) guess what? He goes to jail and deals with his probation.
For my part, this man's conduct was both wrongful and illegal, whatever it might have been called. He has not manifest great insight or technical skill in his admittedly routine cracking. He has offered nothing of value to the society which he has harmed. And so, he has done nothing to justify the martyrdom status bestowed upon him, and reflects poorly upon us all.
In modern life, computers are _everywhere_. Even a digital watch has a 4bit computer, probably more powerful than an IBM 1130.
Telephones, TVs, elevators, cars, ATMs, POS, VCRs, CD players and the list goes on. Even fastfood joints use computerised cooking equipment. Oddly, an old reel-to-reel tape recorder has no computer, so Kevin could use one to reprogram credit card magnetic strips. So maybe he shouldn't use credit cards either. If he could even get one.
Now the Judge probably didn't mean to prohibit these devices, or even know that they could be considered computers. But Parole Officers have a bad reputation for capriciousness, especially with high-profile parolees they want to take down a peg-or-two. So Kevin will have to watch is back, perhaps worse than in prison.
-- Robert
Yes we all fuck up at some time in our life, but we don't all blatantly break the law like he did.
Trying to excuse his behaviour because he was addicted is like excusing a drunk from holding up a liquor store because he's an alcoholic. It just doesn't fit.
Adam
Why should we be interested in this guy? He's a cracker, and a pretty poor one at that.
He's the computer equivalent to the shaking junkie who sticks a gun in the face of a 7-Eleven clerk to get money for a fix, then waves to the security camera on the way out. He left a trail a mile wide, and couldn't stop his illegal activities even when he knew the authorities were after him.
Why is he being portrayed as some kind of Digital Martyr?
"Kevin Mitnick has been imprisoned by the U.S. Government for:
4 years, 11 months, 6 days, 12 hours, 12 minutes, 55 seconds
Kevin Mitnick will be released from prison in:
11 months, 30 days, 19 hours, 14 minutes, 8 seconds"
Y2K bug still alive and well huh?
All opinions are my own - until criticized
Can't hurt to try. ;-) I'll write to Kevin's grandmother - who seems to be his point of contact with the outside world - and ask.
Thanks for the idea.
- Robin "roblimo" Miller
that Kevin won't be able to read...
ZDNet's got a Kevin Poulsen-written article on the Mitnick release here.
(Most of what I know of the Mitnick story comes from Jonathan Littman's book "The Fugitive Game" (which is about as Kevin sympathetic as "Takedown" is self-congradulatory), and the article sounds like Lewis DePayne's pretty Anti-Kevin now -- of course, he's got his own legal problems and probably wants to avoid some of the attention that a former accomplice might bring)
ABC News has (at least as of midnight thursday) a poll on whether hackers should go to jail on their front page. (Not many options though.) They've got the Associated Press story on it here.
Salon's got the same AP story here. (in case you want to look at different banner ads, I guess)
A decent summary of the Miramax flick is here. (interestingly, it lists the Project phase as "In the can" which sounds worse than "On the shelf" as the other articles mention-- which is too bad. I kinda wanted to see the story with a fistfight between Mitnick and Shimomura and everyone on rollerblades and constantly saying "What is the Matrix?")
-transiit
I seem to recall NTK (http://www.ntk.net) suggesting that with all these restrictions on using, associating with or learning about high-tech stuff, the only job Kevin will be able to get is a judge :-)
60M: Mister Mitnick, do you believe that your computer restriction orders will limit your hacking activities?
KM: SKREEEEEEEEAWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
GONNNNNNG GONNNNNG
KSSHHHHHHHHHHH
Ahh - My eye!
The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
First off, I'm all in agreement with everyone who said that Kevin's treatment by the Justice System was a shambles. Alot of the system got trampled in the rush to prosecute, and I'm not happy with the way the whole thing went at all.
That said, I'm really tired of people bitching and moaning about how Kevin really didn't do anything, and how his sentance was soooooo long, and now he has all these nasty restrictions, etc...
Some facts and a reality check here, folks.
So please, stop with the bitching about the sentance length. It's not atypical, nor unreasonable.
Bottom line here, folks, is that Kevin broke the law bigtime. I don't condone how he was prosecuted, but he IS a criminal.
And, if you look at things in the big picture, white collar crime is seriously UNDERPUNISHED in the US. White collar crime is generally far more damaging to society that violent crime (whose affect is more focused), in that white collar undermines the economic system itself. A couple of years washing dishes in a minimum-security facility doesn't even come close to being either a deterent or reasonable punishment.
One last thing here. The terms of his parole are neither onerous, nor atypical. Yes, for most of us, living without a computer would be unpleasant, but it is VERY easy to live a life without coming into contact with computers (or at least, in ways that Kevin's parole stipulate he not use them - and the ATM argument is bogus. He should have no problem using an ATM, if I read the parole terms right). Sorry, Kevin, you're just going to have to go be something other than an IT worker. That still leaves lots open. And plenty of non-menial jobs, too.
An old aphorism hold here:
If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
I have no sympathy for Kevin himself. None at all. I'm still mad that prosecution handled itself the way it did, and I think they need to be taken to task for it, and heavily chastized. But I still don't feel for Kevin one iota.
And, I'm sorry, but /. shouldn't be interviewing convicted felons.
-Erik
There are always four sides to every story: your side, their side, the truth, and what really happened.
... See subject.
60 minutes may not get the questions that we want to hear. Ok, so we'll find out on Sunday.
Steven Rostedt
Steven Rostedt
-- Nevermind