Mitnick's ham license ?

[Hal]

The government conducted a wide scale witch hunt against Mitnick and
now the FCC seems to be infected by the same  loss of perspective.  He is 
not innocent.
Nor is he the computer savvy master criminal bent on destruction made out 
by the government.
Usually the commission's decisions are appropriate and proportional but it
seems, at least in this case, not to be able to tell the difference between
fact and  fantasy. Nor is its act proportionate.
This agency sets the market conditions for emerging
communications technologies and  fortunes are made or lost on its decisions.
One hopes they see more clearly on these matters then they demonstrate in the
Mitnick case.

Hal


At 05:42 PM 2/8/02 -0500, Andre Kesteloot wrote:
>Mitnick to Plead for Ham License
>By Michelle Delio
>2:00 a.m. Feb. 8, 2002 PST
>Hacker Kevin Mitnick will soon be back in court, this time facing
>charges
>that may require him to testify on whether his bad reputation is solely
>a
>media-created myth.
>
>The Federal Communications Commission filed an action in late December
>to
>revoke Mitnick's amateur radio license. The commission does not charge
>(PDF) that Mitnick, who spent four-and-a-half years behind bars on
>various
>hacking charges, has violated any amateur radio rules or regulations. It
>
>is rather that the court fears, based on his past actions, he might
>violate those rules in the future.
>
>Mitnick has wavered on whether he could afford to contest the FCC's
>charges, but late last week he opted to hire a lawyer, and said he
>intends
>to fight for as long as his finances permit.
>
>In order to retain his license, Mitnick now faces a legal battle that
>will
>most likely require him to admit to an FCC court that he was a very bad
>man, according to legal sources who said that Mitnick's "attitude" may
>be
>the determining factor in whether he wins this case.
>
>"He's been high-profile recently, and in some circles he has left the
>impression that he is unrepentant, that he sees himself as a pawn in the
>
>government's war against computer criminals," said an FCC source,
>speaking
>on condition of anonymity. FCC representatives refused to comment
>officially on Mitnick's case.
>
>Mitnick, since his release from prison last January, has publicly said
>he
>is not guilty of every crime that the media and the government have
>accused him of perpetrating.
>
>"But I have never, ever, said that I was totally, or even mostly, a
>complete innocent," Mitnick said.
>
>Clouding the issue is the complexity of Mitnick's case. In trial
>transcripts, the government charges Mitnick with crimes resulting in
>financial damage of widely varying amounts -- anywhere from $1.5 million
>
>to $300 million. Even the lowest figure has been disputed by computer
>security experts.
>
>"It's difficult to know exactly what Kevin did in the way of damages,"
>said Lauren Colby, the lawyer who is representing Mitnick in the FCC
>case.
>"Frankly, he doesn't know how much damage he caused and neither does the
>
>government. The critical point here is that he never intended to do
>damage."
>
>The current problem is further complicated by Mitnick's decision to
>accept
>a plea bargain that would release him from jail in a specified amount of
>
>time, as opposed to taking his chances with a jury. He based that choice
>
>on the advice of his lawyer at the time and after being held in prison
>pending trial for four years.
>
>"I saw it as a way of acknowledging my guilt, as well as a way out of
>what
>seemed to be a never-ending waiting game," Mitnick said. "I think the
>vast
>majority of people placed in my position would have done the same."
>
>Colby believes the outcome of the FCC case will depend on Mitnick's
>attitude.
>
>"He needs to make it clear he has not denied that he committed crimes,"
>Colby said. "He also needs to prove to the FCC that he will not repeat
>his
>past actions, either because he has discovered the error of his ways or
>because he doesn't want to go back to jail. It doesn't much matter why
>he's changed, the point that he needs to make is that he has changed."
>
>Mitnick said that he had hoped to resume a normal life and use his
>technology skills for positive purposes after his release from prison.
>In
>the past year, he has testified before the U.S. Senate and industry
>groups
>on security. And he is authoring a book on how to make information
>secure
>against social engineering hacks.
>
>The amateur radio community appears to be split over whether Mitnick
>should retain his license, according to Bennett Kobb, a journalist who
>covers communications and the author of Wireless Spectrum Finder, a
>guidebook for amateur radio enthusiasts.
>
>"Kevin is a high-profile 'bad guy,' and so I suspect a lot of people in
>the amateur radio community would applaud if his license was pulled,"
>Kobb
>said. "A lot of people only know what they have read in the media about
>Kevin."
>
>Mitnick's friends have created a legal defense fund to help defray the
>costs of his latest court battle.
>
>
>
>
>
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