::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Mar/99
::: The Discordant Opposition Journal ::: Issue 3 - File 3 :::
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 :supporting kevin mitnick: 
  Rue-the-Day


	This isn't going to be amazingly in depth, I know about attention spans. If you want a more in depth treatmeant of Kevin's perdicament go check out www.giveup.com or www.kevinmitnick.com. So maybe you've read 'Takedown' or flicked through 'Cyberpunk'. This Kevin guy sounds like bad news, why the hell would you be interested in spending your time or money on him? The answer to this question depends largely on how you view life. If you believe that helping others is an end unto itself then there's your reason right there. The 80 or 90% of the hacking scene who are laughing at that right now need a better reason though.

	The most obvious way of appealling to those large numbers of people is through an appeal to their urge for self-preservation. Who will the outcome of the Kevin Mitnick/Lewis de Payne trial affect? You can bet it won't have much impact on 'Joe Citizen', it'll be the hacking community that'll feel the impact of whatever precedents this case sets. New legislation is afoot, internationally binding legislation, that'll make arresting hackers much, much easier. The legislation will make it easier for countries that have agreed to it to charge hackers that have attacked compuer systems in another country. Let's say that you live in France and you attack a NASA server, you'd think it'd be too complicated for anyone from the US to bother trying to come after you right? Wrong, under this new agreement it'll be simple. What's motivating governments to agree to legislation like this? Cases like Kevin's. They can point to Kevin as an example of what they have to protect against. If continued vicitimisation of him is allowed to go unchecked it just makes the government's job that bit easier. Now do you see?

	Let's go back to the two books I mentioned earlier. For a start 'Takedown' is biased, pure and simple. Don't even mention 'Cyberpunk', that thing is a joke, 'factually based' my ass. The authors of both books have vested interests, reasons for wanting to see Kevin in prison. With Shimomura the reasoning is obvious, Kevin embarrassed him. With that fuckwit from the New York Times things get a little more complex. He has no particular moral reason for wanting Kevin in jail, no real aspect of revenge. With him the vested interest is purely financial in nature. Book deals, movie deals, security conferances, etc.

	So perhaps now you're feelings have softened a bit, maybe you see that things aren't all black and white in this case. What can you do? Learn as much as you can about the case. Tell others about it. Join the Mitnick list to find out about recent developments. To subscribe to 2600's Mitnick list email majordomo@2600.com with the text 'subscribe Mitnick' in the body of the message, not the subject line. You should then recieve a confirmation email of your subscription with details of how to unsubscribe from the list. Keep this email safe somewhere for future referance. There's also the RC5 Cracking for Kevin team, if they win then the prize money goes to Kevin's defence fund. Details of how to join the team are at http://www.paranoid.org/mitnick - join up today.