FC: Kevin Mitnick now unmuzzled, from Online Journalism Review (fwd)

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 02:13:35 -0400
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
To: politech () vorlon mit edu
Cc: fouts () rcf-fs usc edu
Subject: FC: Kevin Mitnick now unmuzzled, from Online Journalism Review


Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 15:41:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Joshua S. Fouts" <fouts () rcf-fs usc edu>
To: declan () well com
Subject: Mitnick Free to Speak

Hi Declan.

Thought you might be interested in Doug Thomas' minutes-old report
that Kevin Mitnick's probation officer has reversed their initial
ruling and will now allow him to write, speak and report on tech
issues for the media.

http://ojr.usc.edu/content/story.cfm?request=398

Mitnick Free to Speak

By Douglas Thomas

Kevin Mitnick was informed today by the United States Probation Office
that he will be permitted to pursue several offers of employment
including speaking engagements, security consulting work and writing
for Steven Brill's online magazine Contentville. The approval
represents a reversal of the probation office's earlier position that
Mitnick was not to speak publically or write about any technology
related issue. (See "Free Kevin (to speak!)".) In April, the probation
office had sent Mitnick a letter denying all requests for employment,
recommending instead that he "seek employment in another field." As a
result of that letter, Mitnick returned to court hoping to get US
Federal Judge Marianne Pfaelzer to provide guidelines regarding what
employment opportunities would be considered "reasonable."

Although Judge Pfaelzer set no such guidelines, her insistence that
each of Mitnick's employment opportunities be reviewed seems to have
had an effect. Moving from what Mitnick's defense attorneys deemed a
"blanket denial" of Mitnick's right to speak or write, the probation
office appears to be loosening up their restrictions to allow Mitnick
to make a living.

Mitnick expressed relief regarding today's decision, "I was in limbo,"
he said, "it was really hard not knowing what was going to happen."

Writing for Contentville, Mitnick will be critiquing Internet and
computer-related articles, providing his perspective and analysis.
Other opportunities include speaking engagements, security consulting
and possibly a position as a talk show host for Los Angeles radio
station KFI.

Mitnick's probation office, Larry Hawley had positive comments about
Mitnick following the May hearing, calling him a "nice guy" who was
"doing very well" under the terms of his supervised release.

Since his release from prison in January, Mitnick has already made
full restitution to the victim companies and is now concerned with
getting on with his life and making a positive contribution. According
to attorney Sherman Ellison, "a lot of maturation has happened in
prison," and since that time, Mitnick has become a "valuable asset to
the government and the private sector" because of his expertise.


++++++++++++++++++++++++
Joshua S. Fouts
Managing Editor, OJR.org
Online Journalism Review
Tel:  +1-213-740-1786
Fax:  +1-213-740-3772
++++++++++++++++++++++++

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