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DP28 The Robin Hood hacker Mark Abene
The Great Hacker War sparked a lot of controversy. It was overinflated at the time and many people panicked, despite the fact the war was between two groups and only targeting the members therein. The factions involved were Legion of Doom (LOD) and Masters of Deception (MOD).
That being said, there were ripple effects from the events of this dispute. One that I want to discuss specifically was the imprisonment of five members of MOD. One amongst them was Mark Abene.
If you listened to my episode on the Great Hacker War, Abene was one of the members who talked to Chris Goggans, and refused to meet Goggans demands for personal information on MOD members.
That didn’t sit very well with Goggans clearly and by December 1991, Abene and four other members were arrested and indicted by a Manhattan federal grand jury on July 8th, 1992. This indictment relied heavily on evidence that was gathered through wire tapping. The conversations in question were between MOD members. This was the first instance of wire tapping being court-authorized as evidence in the United States.
Since the law wasn’t being kept up with, technology and hacking were in a sort of grey area in terms of punishment. Abene and the four members were faced with an 11-count charge. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the newsletter reported that Abene and the members with him could face up to 50 years in prison and $2.5 million in fines.
In Abene’s case, he was a minor at the time and they settled a plea arrangement that was still rather harsh: a year in prison with three years probation and 600 hours of community service.
This entire event sent a shockwave through the hacker community. Some considered it harsh at the time while others worked past it. Nevertheless they see Abene as an underground Robin Hood of sorts and some strive to live up to his values and ideals.
Today, Abene is still a hacker, but he talks about the positive aspects. He provides an inside look at a hackers motivation and morals through various forms of public media. He even does lectures revolving around telecommunication technology amongst other things.
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By dpappThe Great Hacker War sparked a lot of controversy. It was overinflated at the time and many people panicked, despite the fact the war was between two groups and only targeting the members therein. The factions involved were Legion of Doom (LOD) and Masters of Deception (MOD).
That being said, there were ripple effects from the events of this dispute. One that I want to discuss specifically was the imprisonment of five members of MOD. One amongst them was Mark Abene.
If you listened to my episode on the Great Hacker War, Abene was one of the members who talked to Chris Goggans, and refused to meet Goggans demands for personal information on MOD members.
That didn’t sit very well with Goggans clearly and by December 1991, Abene and four other members were arrested and indicted by a Manhattan federal grand jury on July 8th, 1992. This indictment relied heavily on evidence that was gathered through wire tapping. The conversations in question were between MOD members. This was the first instance of wire tapping being court-authorized as evidence in the United States.
Since the law wasn’t being kept up with, technology and hacking were in a sort of grey area in terms of punishment. Abene and the four members were faced with an 11-count charge. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the newsletter reported that Abene and the members with him could face up to 50 years in prison and $2.5 million in fines.
In Abene’s case, he was a minor at the time and they settled a plea arrangement that was still rather harsh: a year in prison with three years probation and 600 hours of community service.
This entire event sent a shockwave through the hacker community. Some considered it harsh at the time while others worked past it. Nevertheless they see Abene as an underground Robin Hood of sorts and some strive to live up to his values and ideals.
Today, Abene is still a hacker, but he talks about the positive aspects. He provides an inside look at a hackers motivation and morals through various forms of public media. He even does lectures revolving around telecommunication technology amongst other things.