In the meanwhile, Mitnick has been serving out a 14-month sentence for violating his probation in the Digital break-in and eight months for a 1995 North Carolina charge of possession of an unauthorized access device.
Along with a widely expanded Amazon lineup that includes multiple Kindle Fire HD models and a price-cut tweak to the original Fire, two of the largest players in the mobile world now have top-to-bottom device businesses built around selling at break-even prices and recouping their money through content.