Craig Neidorf (born 1969), Knight Lightning, was one of the two founding editors of ''

Phrack ''Phrack'' is an e-zine written by and for hackers, first published November 17, 1985. Described by Fyodor as "the best, and by far the longest running hacker zine," the magazine is open for contributions by anyone who desires to publish remarkabl ...

'' Magazine, an online, text-based ezine that defined the

hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

mentality of the mid 1980s. Craig, along with ''Phrack'' co-founder

Randy Tischler ''Phrack'' is an e-zine written by and for hackers, first published November 17, 1985. Described by Fyodor as "the best, and by far the longest running hacker zine," the magazine is open for contributions by anyone who desires to publish remarkabl ...

(aka Taran King), came up with the concept of ''Phrack'' and published it from 1985 onwards. The ''Phrack'' newsletters were recognized for providing very informative updates of the national scene considering their oblique sources and served as a bible to the hackers of the day. In 1990, Neidorf was facing 31 years in jail after being arrested and charged with receiving a document stolen from

BellSouth BellSouth, LLC (stylized as ''BELLSOUTH'' and formerly known as BellSouth Corporation) was an American telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after ...

, and with publicly distributing it online. BellSouth described the document, on the subject of the inner workings of the

Enhanced 911 Enhanced 911, E-911 or E911 is a system used in North America to automatically provide the caller's location to 911 dispatchers. 911 is the universal emergency telephone number in the region. In the European Union, a similar system exists known as ...

system, as being worth US$79,449CuD Computer Underground Digest issue 2.04
file 4, originally published September 23, 1990; via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

(a figure which included, among other things, the value of the

VAX VAX (an acronym for Virtual Address eXtension) is a series of computers featuring a 32-bit instruction set architecture (ISA) and virtual memory that was developed and sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in the late 20th century. The VA ...

workstation on which the document had been typed). The charges were dropped when it was revealed that the document was not, as initially described,

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...

, but rather a

memorandum A memorandum ( : memoranda; abbr: memo; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered") is a written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviated "memo," these messages are usually brief and ...

, and that more detailed documents could be ordered from BellSouth for $13. The proceedings are formally known as '' United States v. Riggs''. The case was a catalyst in the founding of the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...

.''

The Hacker Crackdown ''The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier'' is a work of nonfiction by Bruce Sterling first published in 1992. The book discusses watershed events in the hacker subculture in the early 1990s. The most notable topic covere ...

: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier'', by

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's first ...

; Bantam Books, 1992

References

External links

Transcript of the opening statements at Neidorf's trial
1969 births Living people {{US-compu-bio-stub