Kevin Mitnick is facing his fourth Christmas in a US prison without trial. An unavoidable imposition on a dangerous convicted hacker, according to the authorities, an abuse of the judicial process according to his supporters. There are similar sharp divisions over every aspect of his case.
His accusers say 35-year-old Mitnick is so dangerous he cannot be allowed access to a phone, let alone a computer, and he is subject to a range of other restrictions in custody. Before his arrest by the FBI on February 15th, 1995, they saw him as one of America's most wanted cyber-felons.
The US government alleges Mitnick stole computer files from Motorola and Apple, and 20,000 credit card numbers from a Californian Internet service provider. He already had two convictions for computer and telephone-related crime, one occurring when he was a teenager. Although he was the main suspect in a series of crimes, it seems the Feds couldn't find him. Not until he hacked the files of computer security official Tsutomu Shimomura, that is. Mitnick allegedly took cellular phone and Internet monitoring software in the attack and infuriated Shimomura. For two weeks, the hacker and the security official played cat and mouse before Shimomura led federal agents to Mitnick's apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The high-octane media coverage following Mitnick's arrest has resulted in three books and now a film. The script is based on the novel Takedown by Shimomura and John Markoff, a New York Times technology journalist. Estimates on the book and movie deal range from $700,000 to $2 million.
Mitnick's supporters believe he has been demonised and denied due process and that profiting from this is reprehensible. Repeated delays in bringing him to trial and the denial of bail hearings have created sympathy for him outside hacker circles. Websites such as www.kevinmitnick.com have sprung up. Some selectively record the twists and turns of the case while others sell t-shirts and virtual "Free Kevin" bumper stickers, with the proceeds going towards his legal defence fund.
Postings on these sites claim Mitnick is forced to spend unreasonable amounts of time in solitary confinement for reasons as trivial as having too many cans of tuna stored in his cell. Prison authorities claim to fear the outcome if Mitnick gets his hands on any electronic equipment, including personal stereos, say the sites. However, access restrictions such as these are not unusual in US criminal hacker cases.
A few supporters have expressed their outrage by hacking high-profile sites. The New York Times was an obvious target because of the Markoff connection and in September, a group calling itself Hacking for Girliez (HFG) trashed the site and took it off the Net.
The best-known site calling for Mitnick's release belongs to 2600, the Hacker Quarterly. It says: "How can Kevin Mitnick's case affect you? It is quite simple: federal law enforcement can arrest you and jail you indefinitely without a bail hearing or a trial. It's ironic that the United States Government complains of human rights violations in countries such as China, when they don't even respect the fundamental rights of their own citizens. Welcome to the new America!"
A branch of 2600 has been formed in Ireland, and organisers say 16 people showed up for the October meeting. An Irish hacker who helped organise the meeting says: "It's mainly social, we discuss technical issues. We don't do website hacking, it's negative publicity. You can't dispel fear by making people more afraid."
Only a handful of people in Ireland are involved in the Kevin Mitnick campaign. "There's a lot of ignorance about it, even in the hacking community. We're not hacking sites, we just want to get people talking about it," he said.
In March and August this year, Mitnick was denied a detention hearing and refused bail on two occasions. The latest date which has been set for his trial is next month.