Computer Hacker Is Going to Court To Get Plugged In to Lecture Circuit

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http://cryptome.org/kevin-gag.htm

May 25, 2000

Computer Hacker Is Going to Court To Get Plugged In to Lecture Circuit

By TED BRIDIS

After completing nearly five years in prison, computer hacker Kevin
Mitnick doesn't want a probation officer to run him off the lucrative
lecture circuit.

He is working with First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams to seek
clarification of his three-year probation agreement, which states that
he is barred from consulting or advising anyone "in any
computer-related activity."

Mr. Mitnick, who was released from California's Lompoc Federal Prison
in January and is 36 years old, no sooner tasted freedom than the
media came calling.

His probation officer, Larry Hawley, had allowed him to testify before
a Senate panel on protecting government computers.

Prior to his March testimony, news outlets asked Mr. Mitnick to
comment on the spate of attacks on e-commerce sites and the arrest of
"Mafiaboy," the nom de net of a Canadian teenager.

As the spotlight shone brighter, generous recruitment offers began
rolling in.

In April, Mr. Hawley put his foot down. The appearances and articles,
he said, violated probation terms forbidding Mr. Mitnick, who had
pleaded guilty to computer crimes, from consulting or advising on
computers.

"I'm basically out of work," Mr. Mitnick said in an interview from his
home outside of Los Angeles. "The bottom line is, I'm sorry for what I
did. Now I just want to move forward and help people, make a living
for myself."

Just last year, however, it was a different story. Mr. Mitnick argued
that he shouldn't be responsible for reimbursing victims more than
$4,125 because the ban on computer employment meant he would never
make more than minimum wage.

The victims were technology companies which alleged that Mr. Mitnick
broke into their computer systems and took proprietary codes and data.

Mr. Mitnick said Mr. Hawley jokingly suggested a different business --
perhaps working at an Arby's fast-food restaurant.

Mr. Hawley acknowledged telling him to find another career, but denied
pointing him in the direction of Arby's.

Mr. Mitnick turned to Sherman M. Ellison, his pro bono criminal
lawyer, to ask U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer, to clarify the
probation conditions. But soon afterward, unexpected help arrived from
Mr. Abrams, who among other prominent First Amendment cases, argued
newspapers' rights to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971.

Mr. Abrams is actually working for New York publisher Steven Brill,
who wants Mr. Mitnick to write a column on computer magazines for a
coming e-commerce Web site, "Contentville."

There could be an e-book contract, too, Mr. Brill said.

Mr. Brill won't disclose how much is at stake. But he said his hiring
of Mr. Abrams amounts to "spending money out of all proportion to the
business value" of Mr. Mitnick's work. Mr. Brill said the fees are
warranted because of the principle involved.

Mr. Brill believes the probation officer's ban on Mr. Mitnick's
writing is "ridiculous" and "not even a close call, legally." Mr.
Abrams said he will urge Judge Pfaelzer within days to permit Mr.
Mitnick to write the column. The prohibition, he added, is "unduly
rigid and unconstitutional." A hearing is expected next month.

"It's one thing for Mr. Mitnick to be prohibited from teaching others
how to hack," Mr. Abrams said. "It's quite another to broadly bar him
from speaking or writing on any topic touching on computers."

Even if he persuades the judge to allow him to write articles for Mr.
Brill's Web site, he won't be able to read his work online.

Other conditions of his probation bar him from using any computer or
logging on to the Internet until January 2003.

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