Life in Cyberspace
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By Matthew McAllester

   Film of Jailed Hacker Sparks Web of Protest

   IF, BY ANY CHANCE, you've seen a bumper sticker
   or any other kind of sticker that reads ``Free Kevin,'' you may be
   wondering who Kevin is and what did he do to get locked up.

   As any self-respecting hacker knows, there's only one Kevin: That
   would be Kevin Mitnick, 34, perhaps the most famous hacker in the
   short history of nosing around phone lines and computer networks and a
   current resident of a federal prison in California. The government is
   spending a good deal of time and energy prosecuting him on a large
   number of hacking charges, including stealing proprietary software.

   This is all ancient history, well chronicled in two books and numerous
   newspaper and magazine articles. But two events are bringing Mitnick's
   name to the fore again. After being behind bars for nearly 31/2 years,
   Mitnick has a court date - Jan. 19. And as his attorney prepares for
   trial, a division of Miramax films - the division that brought us
   ``Scream 2'' - is about to start filming one of the accounts of
   Mitnick's story. Skeet Ulrich, one of Hollywood's hottest young actors
   and a star of ``Scream'' and ``As Good As It Gets,'' will play
   Mitnick.

   Some of Mitnick's hacker friends and his attorney say they have
   versions of the script. They say Miramax has distorted the facts in a
   case that has not yet come to trial.

   ``I personally have not read the script,'' said Mitnick's attorney,
   Donald Randolph, who is based in Los Angeles. ``My staff has, and
   we've discussed it, and we have sent a letter to the legal department
   at Miramax asking them to desist given the current state of the
   script. And to not conduct any distribution or advertising until the
   trial is over. I'm his criminal-defense attorney. I have one interest
   - to get my client a fair trial. If they prepare the movie the way it
   looks like they will, it will cast my client in a poor light and that
   will likely have an impact on the general public who are the makeup of
   the jury panel.''

   Randolph said he would seek an injuction to prevent the movie's
   release if his concerns were not addressed. He said Miramax had
   acknowledged receipt of his letter.

   Andrew Stengle, a spokesman for Miramax Dimension Films, declined to
   speak about the hackers' complaints or Randolph's letter.

   ``As policy we don't discuss scripts of films in development or
   preproduction,'' he said.

   According to a leading hacker, Emmanuel Goldstein, the script, which
   is based on the 1996 book ``Takedown'' by New York Times reporter John
   Markoff and computer expert Tsutomu Shimomura, who helped catch
   Mitnick, offers up a very different version of events from the version
   many in the hacker community ascribe to.

   Goldstein, the Middle Island-based publisher of the hacker magazine
   2600, is leading the charge. On his site at http://www.2600.com, he
   gives a detailed review of the script he says he has seen.

   Goldstein writes on his site: ``mitnick clubs shimomura on the head
   with the top of a metal garbage can in seattle. `shimomura, dazed,
   blood flowing freely from a gash above his ear, raises himself to his
   elbows and watches mitnick disappear, into the night.' shimomura has
   to get nine stitches and a neck brace. probably the most blatant lie
   of the film as the two had never met.''

   ``The rest makes him out to be cheater and liar,'' Goldstein said in
   an interview. ``That's fine and good for a story but we're talking
   about a real person. You can't make up lives.''

   Goldstein, whose real name is Eric Corley, said he came by the
   different drafts of the scripts thanks to Miramax employees
   sympathetic to the complaints about Mitnick's portrayal.

   Stengle confirmed that filming will begin in early August somewhere on
   the Eastern seaboard. Joe Chappelle, who directed ``Phantoms'' and
   ``Halloween 6,'' will direct. Stengle said there is no release date
   for the movie.

   Goldstein, who has known Mitnick since 1989, and other Mitnick
   supporters held a protest outside the Miramax offices in downtown
   Manhattan on July 16 and tried to speak to someone in the company
   about the movie. They have also made several attempts to contact the
   filmmakers by telephone, Goldstein said. So far, they have been
   unsuccessful in securing a meeting with any Miramax representatives.
   So they intend to continue their protest.

   ``We went to theaters in New York City and handed out leaflets,''
   Goldstein said. ``We were surprised at how supportive the public were.
   We even met a screenwriter who wanted to do it the right way.''

   The Mitnick supporters plan to organize further demonstrations at the
   filming location, which they claim to know.

   ``We have contacts in various Miramax areas that are sympathetic,''
   Goldstein said. ``That shows something about what our cause is all
   about. We know where they're filming, when they're filming. We know a
   lot of things.''

   Being hackers, of course, one has to wonder if they've come across
   this information by breaking into Miramax's computer system.

   ``Everytime their phones go down they think it's us,'' Goldstein said,
   referring to Miramax. ``It's just typical of the way hackers are
   perceived.''