Mitnick's ham license ?

[Andre Kesteloot]

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.