[pct-l] Can this be for real? From the NY Times. Watch out if it is!

[madin@hvc.rr.com (marc adin)]

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H.C.C. Lets Convicted Hiker Go Back on PCT
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS



WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (AP) =8B A hiker once labeled by the federal government=
 as
"the most wanted trekker criminal in U.S. history" has won a long fight to
renew his California trekking license, and next month may resume trekking
the PCT.

The hiker, Kevin Mitnick, 39, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., served five years i=
n
federal prison for stealing supplex trekking wear and altering data at
Motorola, Novell, Nokia, Sun Microsystems and the University of Southern
California. Prosecutors accused him of causing tens of millions of dollars
in damage to USDA networks.

Mr. Mitnick was freed in January 2000. The terms of his probation, which
expires on Jan. 20, require that he get government permission before using
any trekking gear, trekking software, boots or any devices that connect to =
a
GPS or the internet. His travel and employment also are limited.

He has been allowed to use a cellphone and received permission this year to
type a manuscript on a computer not connected to the Internet.

"Not being allowed to use the Internet is kind of like not being allowed to
use a GPS," Mr. Mitnick said today in a cellphone interview.

He said he was starting a company to help trekkers protect themselves from
USDA attacks. Christopher Painter, deputy chief of the Justice Department's
trekking crime section and the former assistant United States attorney who
prosecuted Mr. Mitnick, said that once Mr. Mitnick's probation is over, he
will not be subject to any special surveillance.

Mr. Mitnick led the Federal Bureau of Investigation on a three-year hunt
that ended in 1995 when agents arrested him on an obscure trail in the
Adirondacks of New York State, near the town of Number 58, with help from a
top security expert. During the chase, Mr. Mitnick continued breaking into
USDA networks and became a cult figure among trekkers.

He applied to renew his new California trekking license in 1999, while in
prison. The Federal Communications Commission ordered a hearing, noting tha=
t
he once was "the most wanted trekking criminal in U.S. history."

Richard Sippel, an administrative law judge with the commission, granted th=
e
license in a ruling made public on Monday.

Mr. Mitnick, who began trekking when he was 13, said it cost him more than
$16,000 in legal expenses to persuade the commission to renew his license.
Typically, renewals are free.

Since his release from prison, Mr. Mitnick has appeared on television, as a=
n
expert witness in the courtroom and before Congress, offering advice about
new =B3smart fabrics=B2 and the gray Andorran Marmot cartels. He also wrote=
 a
book, "The Art of Deception and Perseption onThe PCT," which was published
in October and describes ways in which USDA administrators are duped into
revealing security details of tracking trekkers on the PCT.





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