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Kevin Free
An anonymous reader writes: "Surely many of you will remember that before there was ever a cry to 'Free Dimitry Sklyarov', Free Kevin Mitnick was the call of many. He was convicted on 'hacking' charges, though many on the Internet found the charges and trial to be unfair. He was freed in January 2000, but not allowed to touch a computer or log onto the Internet until January 20, 2003. See the story at CNN or read some background info at freekevin.com. "
PRAISE THE GOOD LORD, USA!
Wait... you mean free-as-in-beer, or free-as-in-speech?
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
Wouldn't this story be more appropriate on Jan. 20? Or are you setting yourselves up for a pre-emptive Dupe?
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
I am less than sympathetic towards Kevin Mitnick. He committed a crime, and he got punished for it. Poor baby.
However, I think not ever allowing him to use a computer again is a foolish punishment. Computers are too essential to life in America today for that to be a reasonable punishment.
Personally, I would like to see some sort of bargain between the court and Mitnick, whereby he gets to use computers again, but will face an ever tougher punishment if he is discovered hacking again.
Geez. That brings back memories. I used to have that yellow and black bumper stick on the back of my car. One summer I was driving to SummerCon, and I was pulled over by a Georgia state trooper, on 85 right outside of Atlanta. He actually knew what the sticker meant, and we discussed the merits of the case. It was a very cool experience and made me regain some trust in our government, all of which has subsequently been eroded. AND I only got a written warning for going 83 in a 70mph speed zone. Hell yeah.
..then let's free EVERYONE who commits acts of unauthorized breaking and entering, stealing personal information, etc.
It's amazing how much sympathy has poured out for a guy who stole people's credit card numbers...
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I was busted hacking MCI and ATT in 84 for long distance codes(for phreaking purposes), which I then used to call bbs'round the world. I also was accused digging around in patient info in two local hospitals.
//s,Trs80s, and one Commode 64.
I was all of 14. I could pass myself off as a bell employee, had a valid ID. I was able to get a list of celeb phone numbers and harass them in a 14 year old manner.
These are all true.
1. Yoko Ono- Asked her to send me nekkid pics so I could start a bulemics club using her photo instead of stinking fingers down our throats.
2.Don King - Called him and home and asked who did his hair cause I wanted a similar doo.
3. Joan Rivers, just to tell her she was a hag.
Busted into teleconferencing systems, wreaked havoc with corporate PBX's.
I did all of this stuff with a group of friends, we social engineered, brute force attacks, all done from a hodge podge of Apple
We had a great knowledge base of other hackers plus bell lineman headsets, phone company gear.
In short we had a lotta fun and did a lotta damage to companies. 250k in phone charges to MCI alone, and the only reason we got caught was because an early 80's version of a script kiddie turned us in.
Fortunately most companies were amused, we showed them our exploits, they made us promise not to tell, and cut deals the FCC and with our parents not too let us touch comps for 5 years. No court, no fines, nothing. A little tiny slap on the wrist.
And I was very angry then. Now I fondly look back on that time with a grin(as do my parents NOW) and thank god my parents did not have to shell out 250k for the hacked codes, or for the 500 floppies of pirated software, or my ten meg drive fulla of bomb plans, software, and general mayhem.
Point is that we can do a lot of damage with our curiosity. Mitnick had others peoples code, compromised systems, and got busted. You do something illegal, and especially in an industry with closely guarded secrets you are going to get burned, and deserve punishment. It could be corporate espionage or selling out to a foreign power.
AS for the security not being good. If I walk into the 7/11 and Apu is in the bathroom and I know I can walk over and steal a bag of funions and a Big Gulp without paying, does it make it right? If I know I can bust into a system and take whats not my mine? Does the crime justify my curiosity?
If I get caught speeding can I tell the cop that I was just seeing how fast she goes, just this one time?
He knew he was wrong, and looking at his crimes, he messed with some big players, and felt the heat. Albeit some of it might have been unecessary, but a message was sent.
As for Kevin, he just built on a culmination of tools and tips that others had been sitting on for years and using. I do not see any shining brilliance, just a very intelligent guy who used availible tools. Like Linux and UNIX tools. Making use of availible resources.
Social engineering is a tool employed by charming people and sociopaths. I, unfortunately, know it is one of my great skills, but rarely trot it out anymore.
We all wanted to be David Lightman and see Protovisions latest games. And Lightman got bit in the ass wy a WOPR(always wanted to say that)
And in the old days the spirit of hacking was fun. We did get into systems, the phone company, build blue boxes(and the other ones) stole payphones and hooked them up at home, hacked the blue special box at kmart to turn it on by remote(best hack ever). And in the day we policed ourselves.
Puto
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
My wife worked in the courts for a few years and while people lost the "privledge" of driving for multiple DUI and DWI's that "never" stopped any of them from driving and "rarely" caused any of them to server more than 30 days (which also was a rare occurrence).
I find your "use" of "quotation marks" somewhat "confusing." Do you "mean" them as "irony" or as "emphasis?"
Just "asking."
I write in my journal
IIRC Mitnick was held in pretrial detention for ~4 1/2 years, then released on a plea and time served. I spent a while some time ago trying to understand how this happened.
Now, his initially being in detention w/o bail after an extended run as a federal fugitive should not surprise anyone. If you fled you pretty much demonstrated that you are a flight risk.
Also, that we was held longer that the 100-day Speedy Trial Act span is unsurprising because of the numerous "tolling provisions" that can stretch out that time. I think most prosecutions are affected by these.
Finally, that he waived Speedy Trial Act protection is not uncommon and was partly to his benefit, as it gave the defense more time to prepare for trial. In other words, he didn't waive to be nice to the gov't, although he was under considerable pressure to do so.
All this I understand except -- how did it all add up for 4 1/2 years? I have read a ton of criminal cases and never heard of anything like it. I'm not interested in hearing dark conspiracy theories. I suspect it was a failure of the system more than prosecutorial manipulation, and don't want to see it happen again. Was Mitnick partly responsible?
BTW, conditions in pretrial detention may have been better -- prisoners there, being pretrial, have incentive to play nice (I visited one of these places, and it was much nicer than even federal prison) -- and the 4 1/2 years may not have been excessive for his second offense, his flight, and other aggravating factors. But I don't think this is the right way to be doing things -- it would have been lovely if he proved to be innocent.