Biography
Edward Cummings was a computer science expert who frequently spoke as a panelist for the WBAI radio show, "Off the Hook." During these appearances Cummings frequently defended fugitive hacker Kevin Mitnick who was a topic of conversation while criticizing the FBI. Pennsylvania police working a patrol detail at a swap meet discovered Cummings purchasing pyrite crystals which radio hobbyists use to build armature radio receivers. Despite these crystals not being illegal to buy or sell, police confiscated them claiming they could be drugs along with more of Cummings property, including novelty cold war era spy books he owned that police claimed to be suspicious. After the United States Secret Service inquired about the seized property they informed local police that some of the items could be used for, "illicit purposes." Cummings was then charged with being in possession of a Radio Shack Tone Dialer and Thinkpad Laptop which violated a vague law that prohibited owning objects that could be used for unauthorized telecommunications access. This law effectively made owning a computer a crime regardless of if the computer was used for criminal activity. He pled guilty to this charge and was sent to prison. While awaiting a parole hearing, he was charged by Bucks County, Pennsylvania prison officials with misuse of the telephone system for receiving a call from a reporter who wanted to interview him regarding his case. Cummings was then moved to a high-security facility, where he was brutally beaten by a fellow inmate who broke Cummings jaw and arm.
