Hackers in the US took a time out from trashing government sites to voice their support for gaol-bird Kevin Mitnick. Courtrooms in the US were picketed by slogan-waving youths eager to make a point about the detention of their hacker martyr. Mitnick has spent the last four years in custody awaiting trial after being arrested in 1995 for a string of offences. Although he coughed up earlier this year he is still awaiting sentence. "We think Kevin Mitnick's suffering has gone on way too long," read a statement on a free Kevin Site. "It's clear that the federal prosecutors feel otherwise, as they want to keep him imprisoned for yet another year and then add another three years of 'supervised release' which would forbid Kevin from even talking about computers." Elsewhere, convicted German hacker Kim Schmitz is in talks with British venture capital companies to raise cash to fund his data protection company. He needs £25 million to give Dataprotect a good start in business life. Schmitz, the man who gave Chancellor Kohl a negative credit reference after breaking into a top German bank, is still serving a two year suspended sentence. ®