Progress (Autumn, 1998)
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The announcement of the Takedown movie in our last issue and in other forums
produced a strong reaction, the likes of which we have not seen in our entire
publishing history. It was bad enough knowing Kevin was still in prison after
more than three years of waiting for a trial that never seemed to come. But
now, a film that would portray him as a truly evil person and at the same time
line the pockets of those who helped put him in the position he now faces? Even
people who thought he was guilty of something came out strongly opposed to
this.

It started in July with a demonstration outside Miramax offices in New York by
around two dozen of us. That doesn't sound like much but whenever you can get
that many people to stand in front of a building with picket signs in this day
and age, it's a very significant statement. Sad but true. And the impact of
that demonstration was clearly felt throughout the industry. Even the press
took notice, although it took most of them a few weeks to get around to
covering it. But in the end, our demonstration achieved everything it set out
to do: Raise awareness, begin a truly organized campaign, and show support for
someone who was unable to defend themselves against a host of really powerful
entities.

Miramax, to their credit, had the script rewritten several times, addressing
nearly all of our objections to the original version. The infamous garbage can
scene has been scrapped. Kevin is no longer portrayed as a violent racist. And,
in a nod to reality, serious questions are raised as to just how involved Kevin
actually was in the hacking of Tsutomu Shimomura s machine and, even more
importantly, just why the FBI was targeting Kevin in the first place. But we
can't say we support the film until Kevin himself feels that he's being treated
fairly. As of this printing, that has still not happened.

We found a lot of the cause and effect to be really inspiring, so much so that
we decided to do something more. So, for a good part of the summer, a group of
2600 people drove through the entire country (unlimited mileage rental car)
searching for answers in the whole Mitnick affair and filming as much of it as
possible. We spoke with dozens of people on all levels of involvement in the
case and came away with nearly 100 hours of footage. What we do with it now
depends on what kind of editing equipment we can get our hands on but, suffice
to say, we ve got a fascinating story to tell and a most interesting
counterpoint to the major motion picture that will be out in a year.

Considering the weakened state 2600 was in at the time we began this project,
such an endeavor could best be described as foolhardy. Nevertheless, we knew
this was the right time, and the only time, we could cover the story in this
way. The "Free Kevin" movement has been growing with every passing month and
the news of the Takedown movie only served as a catalyst. Again, good has come
out of bad and all of us emerge from the darkness with more strength and
determination.

We're certainly not the only ones getting the word out. All over the country,
kids are handing out leaflets in their schools and malls, spreading awareness
and adding to the movement. While we ve heard many of them say they were
inspired by 2600, the real truth is that nothing makes all of this seem more
worthwhile than hearing what they re doing. People in high schools and colleges
are realizing they can make a difference, just by standing up for what they
believe in. It seems like such a simple thing to do but so few of us actually
take the trouble to go and do it. In the end, we believe this will be shown as
one of the major reasons why the battle was won.

One of the most dramatic incidents in recent memory was The New York Times web
page hack. On Sunday, September 13 (an extremely busy news day due to the
Clinton scandal), hackers replaced the usual page with a rambling text, the
entirety of which may have been hard for some to understand. But one section
quite clearly told of the injustices of the Kevin Mitnick case as well as the
culpability of The Times in his capture and the ensuing cashing in of the
story. For many, this was their first exposure to any of this.

The message from Kevin and his attorney was very clear: this kind of thing is
bad as it sends the wrong message and somehow makes it appear as if he's
responsible for net chaos. However, we have mixed feelings. While doing
something destructive in Kevin s name certainly won't help his case, we're not
entirely sure that's what happened here. The Times is not claiming that there
was any destruction to their original page. A glance at the many forums on the
subject reveals that most people don't think the hack itself is a serious
matter and that The Times had it coming, both for their lack of security and
their apparent lack of journalistic integrity. And most everyone began to
express an interest in the Kevin Mitnick story. On the www.kevinmitnick.com
site (which was linked from the hacked site), our counter went from 13,534 hits
the day before The Times hack to 62,582 hits the day of the hack and 98,116 the
day after! Since then it seems to have leveled off between 20,000 and 30,000 a
day but it's clear that a lot of interest was generated and many of those new
people have been checking in for updated info. Yes, working within the system
is preferable. But we cannot control the way everyone spreads the message, nor
should we. When the system doesn't respond to continued injustice, people who
have any spirit at all will find some way of getting the word out. The net is a
far more level playing field than many of us realize. And The Times once again
missed an opportunity to get it right by merely vowing to prosecute the hackers
to the fullest extent of the law instead of looking at themselves to see what
might have spurred this.