Its purpose was not necessarily to protect hackers, but to extend the protection of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of expression to computer-based media: bulletin boards, electronic publishing, computer conferencing, and so on. The foundation dedicated itself to six aims, all related to influencing future legislation so that the civil liberties of computer users, whether they were hackers or not, would not be ignored. It attracted the support of a number of affluent technocrats in the computer industry--including $150,000 from Steve Wozniak, one of the Apple founders. (Woz had remained faithful to the original ideals of Apple. He resigned his position at the company in the early 1980s when it became too "corporate" and busied himself promoting music festivals and teaching, among other things.) By the time the Foundation was established, the full force of the federal crackdown had already been felt. The New York hackers Acid Phreak, Phiber Optik, and the Scorpion had been raided; Craig Neidorf had been arrested; the Atlanta Three had been indicted; Loyd Blankenship (the Mentor) and Steve Jackson had been busted and their equipment confiscated; and the nationwide raids had rounded up LoD, MoD, and DPAC members, as well as an assortment of independent hackers.
The catalog of charges ranged from wire fraud to handling stolen property, from unauthorized possession of access devices to misappropriating source codes. There were also allegations of credit card fraud, bank fraud, and altering hospital computer records, and references to specific incidents: dropping computer bombs in telephone switches and stealing the E911 documents. It had all of the makings of a nationwide conspiracy.
The first case the Foundation took on was in Chicago. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Cook, who had earlier successfully prosecuted Kyrie--the "Fagin" of the stolen access code gang--and who had become something of an authority on computer crime, was now in charge of the case against PHRACK editor Craig Neidorf. Neidorf had been indicted for transporting the stolen E911 document across state lines. He finally came to trial in Chicago on July 23rd.
The prosecution's case was opened by Cook, who outlined the government claim of a conspiracy involving Neidorf and members of the Legion of Doom and asserted that the E911 file was "a highly proprietary and sensitive document" valued at $79,449.
Four days later the case collapsed.
The defense demonstrated that the same E911 information was available from local bookstores and in libraries. Furthermore, by dialing a free 1-800 number, two publications could be obtained from Bellcore for $34 which contained even more detailed information. Neidorf's lawyers also argued that, far from being the serious and imminent threat represented by Bellcore, the file had been published in PHRACK nearly a year before the telephone company bothered to do anything about it. Neidorf was cleared of all charges, but though he was helped by the foundation, he was still left with some $100,000 in legal costs.
The E911 file, however, was to come up once again.
On November 16, the Atlanta Three pleaded guilty to a number of charges variously described as computer fraud, wire fraud, access code fraud, and interstate transportation of stolen property--the latter referring to the E911 document.
Because the three agreed to guilty pleas the charges were reduced, but as a result no defense could be mounted. In the sen- tencing memorandum, the prosecution said that Robert Riggs (the Prophet) had stolen the E911 file "containing the program for the emergency 911 dialling system," adding that "any damage to that very sensitive system could result in a dangerous breakdown in police, fire and ambulance services." The file's value, the prosecution added, was $24,639.05--the 5 cents presumably included to indicate that the figure had been very accurately determined. The memo also stated that the three had gained free telephone service and access to BellSouth computers.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation was enraged. Although the plea bargaining precluded a formal defense, the Foundation said the claims about the E911 file were "clearly false. Defense witnesses . . . were prepared to testify that the E911 document was not a [computer] program, that it could not be used to disrupt 911 service, and the same information could be ordered from BellSouth at a cost of less than $20." The foundation also noted that the prosecution had begun its memorandum by detailing the planting of computer bombs. "Only after going to some length describing these allegations does the prosecution state, in passing, that the defendants were not implicated in these crimes [Foundation italics]."
