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( from http://cause-for-alarm.com/flash/mitnick.html )


[updated Saturday, 29-Mar-97 00:55:54 PST]

2600 magazine and Jonathan Littman have both reported
that a Wired News story from late December about Kevin
Mitnick was inaccurate. According to 2600 and Littman,
Mitnick was placed in solitary confinement on December
27 for being a "security concern," not for hoarding cans
of tuna fish, as reported by Wired.

Littman, author of The Fugitive Game, quotes Mitnick
from another of their many phone conversations: "They
believed I had the knowledge or the know how to modify a
normal Walkman radio to be a transmitter." A transmitter
which authorities claimed they feared might be used to
bug prison officials.

Mitnick confirms that version of events in a letter
dated March 24, written from the Metropolitan Detention
Center in Los Angeles where he is being held without
bail. "The excuse the associate warden gave is
ridiculous," he writes. "The scenario...was converting a
Walkman into an FM transmitter and surreptitiously
placing it in one of the administrative offices. Sounds
interesting. I would still like to know how I would gain
access to their offices since I [am] locked in a cell
block 24 hours a day."

Some of the materials seized in the raid of Mitnick's
cell were related to his defense, and they are no longer
confidential nor available to him. "I believe MDC
officials threw me in the 'hole' so they would have
unfettered access to my attorney-client-privileged
material," he continues. "All my magazines on amateur
radio, electronics, computers and the Internet were
confiscated and have yet to be returned. My attorney has
made several requests to the Warden to return my
property to no avail. All my back issues of 2600 and
Phrack were also taken. I was in the process of
highlighting certain information relevant to my case for
my attorney. All my work went to waste."

This incident was just more hardship to heap on Mitnick,
who already faces a steep, uphill battle in his case.
Yet Mitnick, who has been misrepresented and demonized
in the media, somehow seems to remain optimistic.

In his letter Mitnick mentions a decision by the First
Circuit Court of Appeals last month, which, he writes,
"decided...a very important issue: whether unauthorized
browsing or obtaining confidential information to
satisfy one's own curiosity is a Federal crime. The
First Circuit said, 'NO!'. If the Ninth Circuit adopts
the First Circuit's analysis, my case should be
dismissed with prejudice."

"I am pleased with the decision," he adds. "The justices
had the courage to do the right thing and use common
sense. Now the Government has to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt the individual intended or made some
gainful use of the information. It appears that a hacker
cannot be convicted of wire fraud or computer fraud {18
USC 1030(a)(4)} unless the Government proves a purpose
other than thrill seeking or curiosity."

As for the Wired story, Mitnick writes, "It's nothing
new. Most stories written about me aren't accurate, so
what's one more? MDC officials made the decision to
throw me in the hole before they found the 74 cans of
tuna. It's pretty funny -- 74 cans of tuna. But if you
sampled the food they give you at MDC, you would do the
same thing."


====
Rich Burroughs, rich@cause-for-alarm.com
Editor and Publisher, cause for alarm
A web zine about electronic freedoms
http://cause-for-alarm.com/


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