Phill wrote:
>I know enough people who were involved in the previous investigations
>of Mitnick to corroborate the points I made, namely that Mitnick is a nasty
>piece of work and a pathetic loser rather than the harmless chap his
>defence attorney would have people believe.
Watching Mitnick yesterday beng queried by US Senators on what to
do about hacker attacks was pretty astonishing in the light of so-called
public revulsion about Mitnick and hackers. There was surprising
deference toward Kevin by the senators, and they even joked with
him about his imprisonment.
What it reminded me of was the way the fathers of Shawn Reimerdes
and John Johansen, two so-called hackers in the DeCSS affair, kidded
with their sons at the foolhardiness of governments which do not know
what to do with they do cannot control and barely understand. Typically,
the fathers explain, first authoritarians demonize then, when intimidation
doesn't work, they criminalize.
It appeared that the Senators wanted to learn from Kevin, as oldsters
must, to avoid being vainly stupid, an occupational hazard of those
who compulsively believe they know what needs to be known. Then
parents grow up and out of that deliberate ignorance and learn to
listen to those kids who ain't kids anymore.
To be sure some parents and some senators, even a few experts,
never succumb to the temptation to abuse their power, to demonize
those smarter, much less criminalize their superiors. That takes guts,
and humilty, attributes in short supply at the top of small heaps.
