ice fraud: Section 1029 of
Title 18, the section from which the Secret Service drew its most
direct jurisdiction over computer crime.

Neidorf's alleged crimes centered around the E911 Document. He was
accused of having entered into a fraudulent scheme with the Prophet,
who, it will be recalled, was the Atlanta LoD member who had illicitly
copied the E911 Document from the BellSouth AIMSX system.

The Prophet himself was also a co-defendant in the Neidorf case,
part-and-parcel of the alleged "fraud scheme" to "steal" BellSouth's
E911 Document (and to pass the Document across state lines, which
helped establish the Neidorf trial as a federal case). The Prophet, in
the spirit of full co-operation, had agreed to testify against Neidorf.

In fact, all three of the Atlanta crew stood ready to testify against
Neidorf. Their own federal prosecutors in Atlanta had charged the
Atlanta Three with: (a) conspiracy, (b) computer fraud, (c) wire fraud,
(d) access device fraud, and (e) interstate transportation of stolen
property (Title 18, Sections 371, 1030, 1343, 1029, and 2314).

Faced with this blizzard of trouble, Prophet and Leftist had ducked any
public trial and had pled guilty to reduced charges--one conspiracy
count apiece. Urvile had pled guilty to that odd bit of Section 1029
which makes it illegal to possess "fifteen or more" illegal access
devices (in his case, computer passwords). And their sentences were
scheduled for September 14, 1990--well after the Neidorf trial. As
witnesses, they could presumably be relied upon to behave.

Neidorf, however, was pleading innocent. Most everyone else caught up
in the crackdown had "cooperated fully" and pled guilty in hope of
reduced sentences. (Steve Jackson was a notable exception, of course,
and had strongly protested his innocence from the very beginning. But
Steve Jackson could not get a day in court--Steve Jackson had never
been charged with any crime in the first place.)

Neidorf had been urged to plead guilty. But Neidorf was a political
science major and was disinclined to go to jail for "fraud" when he had
not made any money, had not broken into any computer, and had been
publishing a magazine that he considered protected under the First
Amendment.

Neidorf's trial was the ONLY legal action of the entire Crackdown that
actually involved bringing the issues at hand out for a public test in
front of a jury of American citizens.

Neidorf, too, had coopera