Released in January afterserving nearly five years in prison for hacking-related crimes, Mitnickis selling his prison identification card and autographed "Free Kevin" bumper stickers on start-up auction site Dutchbid.com.
Forbidden by the terms of his release from using a computer or theInternet, Mitnick is selling the items through his father.
Although Mitnick has already sold a mobile phone and a TRS-80 pocketcomputer through eBay, the leading auction site canceled his auction of the ID card, Mitnick said Thursday. After Yahoo.com and Amazon.com canceled similar auctions of the card on their sites, Mitnick moved the auction to Dutchbid.com.
Insisting that the auction is legal, Mitnick called the actions of theleading auction sites "ridiculous and absurd."
"I'm insulted by it," Mitnick said. "If there was a law against it, then I wouldn't blame them."
Singling out eBay, Mitnick accused the site of canceling his auctionbecause "they didn't like the idea that I'm profiting off the fact thatI went to prison."
Representatives from Yahoo and Amazon confirmed that the sites canceled the auctions, believing the sale of the ID card was against the law. eBay representatives declined to comment.
"It's illegal to sell something that's owned by the federal government," said Amazon spokeswoman Richele Craveiro. "If he wants to relist the item, he has to have written proof from the government that he can sell it."
A spokesman for the federal Bureau of Prisons, which issued the IDcard, did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment. ButDutchbid.com founder Eric Rosenberg said he had no concerns that thesite was doing anything illegal by allowing the auction.
"We have contacted our attorneys and asked them to research it,"Rosenberg said. "They found no laws that said we were doing anythingagainst the law. We are not concerned that we have legal liability onthis."
Mitnick has been no stranger to controversy. Convicted of stealingcomputer manuals as a 17-year-old in 1981, Mitnick has bounced in andout of the court system since then, primarily on hacking-relatedcharges. After eluding authorities for three years, he was arrested in1995 after being tracked down by computer security expert TsutomuShimomura.
More recently, Mitnick fought against a speaking ban imposed by hisprobation officer. The ban, later rescinded, would have prohibited himfrom speaking or writing about computer-related topics. As part of theconditions of his release from prison, Mitnick is prohibitedfrom using a broad range of computer and electronic devices.
Earlier this month, Mitnick's Motorolla StarTAC phone fetched a $355winning bid on eBay. His TRS-80 computer sold for $510 on another eBayauction.
But the ID card may far outpace both of those sales. Bidding on the card, which started last week, has already reached $2,000. The auction will close December 9.
An auction for Mitnick's ham radio was canceled Thursday. Mitnick denied that he had closed the auction, which was scheduled to end Sunday, and blamed eBay for the auction's closure. Bidding on the radio had reached $237.50.
Mitnick and his father have used the auction to take a swipe at leading auction sites.
"Next month, Kevin will be hosting a talk radio show discussingeverything about the Internet," the item description reads. "Among thefirst show topics, Kevin will discuss the unfair practices of certainonline auction sites that engage in questionable practices. It hasrecently been brought to Kevin's attention that online auction sites can indiscriminately pull items at will and without justification. Staytuned--further details to follow."