Mitnick and Me

January 12, 2003 9:34 AM

Mitnick and Me. Kevin Mitnick's girlfriend, TechTV producer Darci Wood, blogs their lives and defends his activities in anticipation of Kevin's return to the Internet later this month. Mitnick anticipates the end of his probation in today's NY Times.
posted by PrinceValium (9 comments total)

After hearing about Kevin being this evil hacker for decades, when I finally saw him on TV I was surprised at how much of a harmless geek he was. I can't imagine how he survived in jail so long.
posted by mathowie at 9:52 AM on January 12, 2003

If memory serves me right, he spent his time in minimum security.

The only cellmates who'd bother him in there would be the silverfish scuttling between the cafeteria trays.
posted by Smart Dalek at 10:12 AM on January 12, 2003

He spent the better part of a year in solitary confinement. He was in jail without a trial for almost 4 (5?) years.

Alleged software thief Kevin Mitnick has been in solitary confinement at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center since Friday apparently for hoarding 74 cans of tuna in his cell, his lawyer said.

Later,

Officials at the LA detention center said Monday only that Mitnick was placed in solitary confinement for "security reasons."

and later again (this time media opinion),

He served eight months of that time in solitary confinement as authorities apparently feared he could still manage to hack into some device and cause the end of the world.

The thing about the Mitnick case, I think, is that there were people who didn't understand what was possible, so they locked him up out of fear of what he might do. The reaction was over the top because they thought he was doing more than what they knew about, and they punished him accordingly.

I've been brainwashed by the movie Freedom Downtime [stills] so just pay for the postage and a blank CD (copying is encouraged) and I'll send one out.
posted by holloway at 11:13 AM on January 12, 2003

Interesting... I had a feeling the two of them might be a couple. Shortly after Kevin guest hosted The Screen Savers it was announced that Darci was leaving to become his manager/agent (or something to that affect). Afterwards, any time Kevin made an appearance on the set, Darci was always seen by his side... even if it was a spur of the moment pop-in to say hi kind of thing.

So is this the geek version of a soap opera? ;)
posted by rogue at 11:15 AM on January 12, 2003

TechTV has some employees left?

(Actually, from Darci's profile, linked above:
What is the quality you most like in a man? Unfortunately, that bit of a bad-boy streak. Now, now, I'm just kidding. Seriously, I would say, honesty and sincerity.)
posted by Vidiot at 5:17 PM on January 12, 2003

from the weblog:

One thing I did like, and will be interested in seeing when it debuts in March, is a USB camera by Trek. It's a little camera, that part of slides outs, and connects to the USB drive on your computer for download. No more dealing with memory cards and adapters. YAY! That's an idea whose time has come.

I think my buddy spent a little money on one of those a couple of years ago. Where's she been?
posted by angry modem at 5:20 PM on January 12, 2003

can't imagine how he survived in jail so long.

He probably was in a minimum security, white collar crime facility. That would make sense. A hacker in the same cell with with gang murderers doesn't.
posted by matteo at 8:39 PM on January 12, 2003

The register has what is supposed to be an autobiographical first chapter left out of his new book. Interesting stuff.
posted by golo at 12:40 PM on January 13, 2003

He probably was in a minimum security, white collar crime facility. That would make sense. A hacker in the same cell with with gang murderers doesn't.

Minimum security means they have access to radios and phones and televisions... do you let a computer hacker, or someone that uses ham radio, have access to electronics? I think you're assuming too much knowledge from the legal community, and certainly the prison staff. Can a hacker get online with a radio? Can they monitor phone calls? When they don't know what's possible, they put them in maximum security to be safe.

Here's some stuff that happened to hacker Bernie S. (Ed. Cummings), in maximum security

"Right now he's actually in the cell known as "the hole" which is supposed to be used for solitary punishment. Because of overcrowding, he's been put in there with two other inmates, one of whom is a convicted child molestor serving time for DWI."

"Currently Cummings is imprisoned in the maximum wing of the prison where people with the highest bail are kept. He's with murderers and rapists. Conditions are appalling. One of the prisoners is on death row - his name is Joseph Henry and he bit off a woman's nipples and clitoris before strangling her with a slinky. These are the kinds of people the Secret Service has condemned Cummings to be with."

"he kicked Ed in the face. Ed used his previously-shattered left arm to try to protect his face. The result? He's lost several teeth, his jaw is shattered, and his arm is also completely shattered. He had surgery on both his arm and his jaw. He said "I look like Lou Albano". His jaw was so shattered, they had to "slit my throat in two places" to put the metal in to hold it back together as it mends"

Ed's cell is shaken down two more times in the next week, although no other inmates seem to be receiving this treatment. He receives an unofficial write-up for having excess paperwork and is made to remove it from the prison the next time he has visitors. The papers in question are bound transcripts of Ed's court appearances and appeals.

There are times when they're in minimum security, but over the years I've always read that they aren't allowed to do what other minimum security prisoners are, so although "minimum" it emulates maximum and the paranoia remains.
posted by holloway at 2:40 PM on January 13, 2003