CMCDONALD@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (Chris McDonald) (01/18/90)
William Murray recently asked where John Markoff was when we needed coverage of the Morris trial. Thirty minutes later I read a lengthy article in the Arizona Republic attributed to the New York Times. I am including in quotations only those items which I have not seen previously on Virus-L or Risks Forum. These are direct quotes which I have not independently verified for their accuracy. "Indeed, Morris' lawyer said that to show his client as a proponent of safeguarding computer security, he will introduce as evidence a videotape that shows the defendant giving a lecture at the National Security Agency in 1987 on how to gain access to computers illicitly." "But in its case against Morris, the prosecution also plans to use the videotape." "The videotape of Morris's lecture at the National Security Agency came to light recently when Morris' lawyer filed legal papers to introduce classified material at the trial related to the film." "The lecture, which was not classified, was presented at the security agency at the request of the defendant's father, Robert Morris, the chief scientist of the agency and an internationally know computer- security (sic) expert." "The younger Morris' lawyer, Thomas A. Guidoboni, said the circumstances surrounding the lecture and a similar talk that Morris gave at the Naval Research Laboratory the same year are significant in that they create a view of Morris as someone who has acted responsibly on computer-security issues." "But Guidoboni also said that seen in isolation, without an explanation of the circumstances, the tape could harm Morris' case." "The elder Morris has told lawyers that describing the subject of the lecture and the makeup of the audience, as the defense wants to do, would require the disclosure of classified information, which he said he would not do." "The issue of whether classified data will be used at the trial has not been resolved." Chris Mc Donald White Sands Missile Range - -------