Judge leaves Mitnick work offers in hands of probation officer

LOS ANGELES - A judge on Monday said Kevin Mitnick's probation officer must decide whether the master hacker barred from using computers could launch a media career critiquing the industry for magazine publisher Steven Brill or as a radio host.

U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer said blanket decisions by the probation officer were unacceptable without consideration of the specific offers, but she gave no indication of easing any of the conditions of his 36 months of supervised release.

''We've had a terrible, terrible time with this defendant,'' said Pfaelzer, recalling Mitnick's three-year flight from justice while hacking into computer systems of major corporations. ''But he should not be treated differently than anyone else.''

Under terms of his release, Mitnick is prohibited from having any contact with computers, cellphones, computer networks, personal information assistants, and televisions that can be used for online access. He's also barred from working as a consultant to computer companies or any firms with access to computers.

Mitnick, considering the offers, sought court approval because he could be jailed if he violated terms of his probation by taking the jobs. The probation officer had sent him a general notice of disapproval of such work.

Mitnick's lawyer, Sherman Ellison, said the onetime hacker is a changed man since spending five years in federal prison and wants to speak out on computer-related issues to deter others from cyber crime.

''He seems to be a valuable asset both to government and to the private sector,'' said Ellison. ''If Mr. Mitnick speaks out, he will be a deterrent.''

But Pfaelzer was clearly concerned about what Mitnick would do if given free rein.

''We couldn't find Mr. Mitnick for a very long time,'' the judge said, refusing to approve his latest travel request to appear before a governmental committee in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century, chaired by former Sens. Gary Hart and Warren Rudman, invited Mitnick to address questions of national security in the information age. The judge suggested they could take his testimony in California.

Mitnick became an icon to some hackers after leading the FBI on a three-year manhunt that ended in 1995 when investigators traced his electronic footprints to a Raleigh, N.C., apartment.

Mitnick, who was released from prison in January, is said to have cost companies and institutions millions of dollars by stealing their software and altering computer information. Victims included such companies as Motorola, Novell, Nokia and Sun Microsystems, and the University of Southern California.

Ellison said that Brill wants to hire Mitnick as a columnist for his new Web venture, Contentville, an extension of the magazine Brill's Content, which offers critiques of the media.

Mitnick, 36, said outside court his job would be to write critiques of computer magazines.

In addition, he said that Los Angeles radio station KFI wants him to host a talk show on computer topics.