pretty freaky stuff. Also, what was the attacker so interested in the @N for anyways? future investment in case some big company/celeb comes along wanting the username? Seems so crazy to go after it...... if Twitter can't sort this out, can't we all just shame the acct into inactivity...
Is squatting on it worth all this Mitnick-attack-work?
Well, if this story is true ( I put the if because it seems silly to have that account be the target ) then access to the account is proof of a crime (this is why it seems silly)
If they sell it to someone I guess that is a reason to take it, but it also seems like some enterprising DA would want to use it as an example of receiving stolen property ( because News! Hacking! Fame!) So if anyone buys this name they might be in trouble at some unspecified point in the future.
