It took long enough...

January 21, 2003 4:48 PM

Mitnick Free! Kevin Mitnick, a hacker who went without trial in the US for years, has finally been freed from his computer-free probation today. Buy his stuff on ebay, or buy his book. Or don't, it's really up to you.
posted by shepd (5 comments total)

One top security professional wishes you wouldn't read his book. If you really want to learn how a scam artist works, he suggests alternatives that will teach you more, while not enriching a scam artist. To be sure, he was responding to Don Norman, who thought the opposite.
posted by dhartung at 5:53 PM on January 21, 2003

Well, personally I'd buy it not to support a con artist, but to support someone who the US justice system had abused in the most heinous way possible.

Heck, I probably wouldn't even read it. I'm not that interested. I just think it's damn unfair what happened to Mitnick, wether or not he's a con artist (which he mostly was, and may still be).
posted by shepd at 6:20 PM on January 21, 2003

someone who the US justice system had abused in the most heinous way possible.

You're kidding, right? He had it bad, but I think "most heinous way possible" is a bit overly dramatic...
posted by oissubke at 7:29 AM on January 22, 2003

No, I'm not kidding. 3 years without a trial is pretty harsh, isn't it?

Remember, for those 3 years he was innocent. Isn't it pretty serious to put an innocent man in jail for 3 years? AFAIK, in modern times, the US has never jailed an innocent man for that long, never mind denying him vocal contact with the outside world the entire time. But maybe my history is a little rusty.

I suppose you could go back to the bad old days, before women were allowed to vote, and show me examples of people whipped in jail, and forced to work hard labour. But let's stick to the past couple of decades. :-)
posted by shepd at 7:54 AM on January 22, 2003

An Ex-con Logs On (from the New Yorker).
posted by liam at 11:59 AM on January 27, 2003