From an article at the San Jose Mercury News web site, "Computer whiz pleads guilty to federal hacking charges"
Heckenkamp, who was set to go on trial in March, admitted first hacking into eBay and Qualcomm computers in February and March 1999 while living in dormitories at the University of Wisconsin. At the time, he was pursuing his master's degree in computer science. In addition to installing programs that allowed him to get user names and passwords, Heckenkamp defaced the eBay web page using his computer name, ``MagicFX.''Federal prosecutors allege that Heckenkamp's conduct cost the companies as much as $350,000.
Until recently, Heckenkamp had insisted he was being unfairly targeted by the government, and a ``Free Jerome Heckenkamp'' Web site had been operating. It was no longer accessible on Thursday. Heckenkamp has gone through a succession of lawyers, and at one point represented himself at a hearing in which he told a judge that the person charged in the case must be someone else because the government's complaint listed his name in all capital letters.
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