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On hearing about these offers, however, my Probation Officer, Larry Hawley, informed me that I could not write articles about computer technology or participate in any other kind of work in which the topic was even discussed. He insisted that the Probation Office considered all such work to be “computer consulting,” which I was not allowed to do without his express permission. I countered that writing about a subject didn’t mean I was a consultant. The articles were intended for the general public. I was doing essentially the same type of work that former hacker Kevin Poulsen had done while he was on supervised release.

Undeterred, I sought out legal counsel. Sherman Ellison, an attorney friend, agreed to represent me pro bono. Naturally, this meant that I would have to plead my case before Judge Pfaelzer. Our more recent three-year-long judicial relationship had not done much to improve our mutual regard. Neither of us was glad to see the other.

“The Court had no doubt that we would be getting together with Mr. Mitnick again,” Judge Pfaelzer said. What she meant, of course, was that she had been expecting me to be brought in on new charges, or for violating the terms of my supervised release. But in the end, she made it clear that the attorneys would have to work it out among themselves and stressed that she did not want to see me back in her courtroom. She was obviously tired of the Mitnick case.

The Probation Office got the message: “Be a bit more flexible in the Mitnick case so he doesn’t end up on calendar again.” The Probation Office started being more reasonable and accommodating toward me.

In the fall of 2000, just after I finished an interview on Bill Handel’s very popular morning show on Los Angeles radio station KFI-AM 640, I spoke with the station’s program director, David G. Hall. He explained that internationally syndicated talk-show host Art Bell would be retiring soon and wanted to suggest me to the syndicator, Premier Radio Networks, as his possible replacement. What an amazing compliment! I was stunned. I admitted that I had no experience in hosting talk radio and in fact had hardly ever listened to those shows myself, but I said I was willing to give it a try.

A few days later, I auditioned as a guest host on the Tim & Neil show, and David offered me my own show, to be called The Darkside of the Internet. Later I brought in my close friend Alex Kasperavicius to cohost with me. We exposed the dark corners of the Internet, telling listeners how to protect their privacy, and answering listeners’ call-in questions on how to best secure their personal computers, among other things, and talked about all kinds of cool sites and services that were appearing online.

David Hall, a recognized leader in radio programming, gave me only three words of advice: the show must be entertaining, relevant, and informative. Right away, I invited on guests like Steve Wozniak, John Draper, and even porn star Danni Ashe, who took her top off in the studio to show us all how hot she was. (Listen up, Howard Stern, I’m following in your footsteps!)

Because I still wasn’t allowed to use a computer, the station was kind enough to provide me with a producer/screener who would go beyond that job’s typical duties and help me with my Internet research. The hour-long show aired every Sunday. During that hour, the station went from being fourteenth in the Arbitron ratings to second. And defying the assumptions that Judge Pfaelzer had used to calculate the dollar amount of my restitution, I earned $1,000 for each show.

During my stint as a talk show host, J. J. Abrams, the famous film and television producer, contacted me. He said he was a fan and had even placed a “Free Kevin” bumper sticker on a set in his hit television series Felicity. After we met at a studio in Burbank, he invited me to do a small cameo as an FBI agent on his show Alias, as an in-joke. In a script change, I ended up as a CIA agent working against the treacherous SD6.

The Federal