hackers." Was EFF a genuinely
important political development--or merely a clique of wealthy
eccentrics, dabbling in matters better left to the proper authorities?
The jury was still out.

But the stage was now set for open confrontation. And the first and
the most critical battle was the hacker show-trial of "Knight
Lightning."

#

It has been my practice throughout this book to refer to hackers only
by their "handles." There is little to gain by giving the real names
of these people, many of whom are juveniles, many of whom have never
been convicted of any crime, and many of whom had unsuspecting parents
who have already suffered enough.

But the trial of Knight Lightning on July 24-27, 1990, made this
particular "hacker" a nationally known public figure. It can do no
particular harm to himself or his family if I repeat the
long-established fact that his name is Craig Neidorf (pronounced
NYE-dorf).

Neidorf's jury trial took place in the United States District Court,
Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, with the Honorable
Nicholas J. Bua presiding. The United States of America was the
plaintiff, the defendant Mr. Neidorf. The defendant's attorney was
Sheldon T. Zenner of the Chicago firm of Katten, Muchin and Zavis.

The prosecution was led by the stalwarts of the Chicago Computer Fraud
and Abuse Task Force: William J. Cook, Colleen D. Coughlin, and David
A. Glockner, all Assistant United States Attorneys. The Secret Service
Case Agent was Timothy M. Foley.

It will be recalled that Neidorf was the co-editor of an underground
hacker "magazine" called Phrack. Phrack was an entirely electronic
publication, distributed through bulletin boards and over electronic
networks. It was amateur publication given away for free. Neidorf had
never made any money for his work in Phrack. Neither had his
unindicted co-editor "Taran King" or any of the numerous Phrack
contributors.

The Chicago Computer Fraud and Abuse Task Force, however, had decided
to prosecute Neidorf as a fraudster. To formally admit that Phrack was
a "magazine" and Neidorf a "publisher" was to open a prosecutorial
Pandora's Box of First Amendment issues. To do this was to play into
the hands of Zenner and his EFF advisers, which now included a phalanx
of prominent New York civil rights lawyers as well as the formidable
legal staff of Katten, Muchin and Zavis. Instead, the prosecution
relied heavily on the issue of access dev