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“The AT&T Hacker” Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison

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Re: “The AT&T Hacker” Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison

#71

Post by tzs »

flyinRyan wrote: post #50
numbsafari wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to defend them, because what they did was reprehensible, but they were charged as juveniles. This guy is an adult. If the two guys from Steubenville had been over 18, the sentences would have been considerably higher.

What a horribly screwed up system that seeks maximum penalty for a guy who wanted the public to be able to see the research they actually pay for but charge rapists as juveniles as if rape is less evil if you're less than 18 when you commit it.

If you are referring to Swartz, no one sought anywhere near the maximum penalty. If are referring to weev, none of his actions had anything to do with making public funded research available to the public.

Re: “The AT&T Hacker” Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison

#72

Post by smsm42 »

rtwtlkj wrote: post #59
smsm42 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If he doesn't care why should I? I know many security researchers who aren't trolls and they are doing fine. When it happens to somebody who isn't purposefully self-destructive, then it may be a better case for concern.

You will when its your turn.

Somehow I'm not concerned yet. When I'd feel the urge to take personal data of 100K users from AT&T and publish them and then a day before my sentencing I'd feel it necessary to say my only regret is that I didn't do more harm - then I'd be concerned more. Don't foresee it happening soon, though.

Re: “The AT&T Hacker” Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison

#73

Post by tzs »

analog wrote: post #15

3.5 years for accessing public urls and then forwarding the information on to a media organisation (yes I know it's Gawker, but still). Makes me wonder what Aaron would have got if he'd gone to trial.

Would Swartz have done an AMA the night before sentencing where he would state that his only regret was that he had not harmed enough people, and promise next time to do more harm, and then have the prosecutors bring that AMA to the attention of the judge at sentencing, likely causing the judge to opt for a much longer sentence than he would have otherwise given?

Re: “The AT&T Hacker” Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison

#74

Post by olefoo »

objclxt wrote: post #44
zalzane wrote: post #6

Every time I see a ruling like this, I can't help but think that future historians will view this time period in the same way that present day historians view the crusades/religious persecution/witchhunts of the past millennium. It's amazing how much point of view can change perspective.

I don't think this particular case is black and white. Judging by my Twitter feed, a number of security researchers and white hats feel the same way I do: the law as it stands is not good, but what Weev did was also really, really unhelpful and borderline stupid. Rather than disclosing to AT&T, he leaked it directly to Gawker, and discussed how to potentially abuse the data he had (by shorting the stock, selling the…

The first amendment makes no distinction between someone who says "Hey your shitty website is broken. And I'm telling everybody." and someone who sends a private email, hat in hand, saying; "Excuse me kind sirs, but I can't help but notice that your security procedures are somewhat lacking."

And oddly, if one of those is a crime, so is the other.

Re: “The AT&T Hacker” Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison

#75

Post by DannyBee »

rdl wrote: post #48
DannyBee wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW: I don't think SCOTUS will bother taking the case if he loses his first appeal. IAAL :)

So the most likely route for a case like this to SCOTUS would be split circuit? I doubt this is the last CFAA case.

Assuming he loses, yes, losing elsewhere and having a circuit split is probably the most likely route.

But who knows, maybe scotus would get bored enough to find it interesting.

I'm betting "no" in part because legislative fixes are being considered right now. If one passes, it would reduce the odds SCOTUS would ever take the case.

Re: “The AT&T Hacker” Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison

#76

Post by cube13 »

rdl wrote: post #34
smsm42 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think somebody that publishes this: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ahkgc/i_am_weev_i_may... a day before his sentencing is either completely sure for some reason he gets away with it or is an idiot. Nothing more effective to prove you're not a criminal that saying in public "I only regret I didn't do more harm to whoever they accusing me of harming, next time will be worse". It's like saying "no, I didn't b…

I think the thing is that weev genuinely doesn't care if he gets 41 months vs. 36 months. This is a long troll by him; by being a troll, he brings more attention to the case, maximizing lulz, and bringing bigger guns to bear in his defense. If he'd gotten 3-6 month suspended sentence, even if you thought that was a bit much for essentially incrementing numbers, you'd probably not care much. If he were facing life in…

>If he'd gotten 3-6 month suspended sentence, even if you thought that was a bit much for essentially incrementing numbers, you'd probably not care much.

And to be fair, if he didn't do things like the AMA, he probably would have gotten the 3-6 month sentence.

Re: “The AT&T Hacker” Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison

#78

Post by khuey »

rdl wrote: post #48
DannyBee wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW: I don't think SCOTUS will bother taking the case if he loses his first appeal. IAAL :)

So the most likely route for a case like this to SCOTUS would be split circuit? I doubt this is the last CFAA case.

He needs to win on appeal for this to go to SCOTUS.

Re: “The AT&T Hacker” Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison

#79

Post by analog »

tzs wrote: post #73
analog wrote: post #15

3.5 years for accessing public urls and then forwarding the information on to a media organisation (yes I know it's Gawker, but still). Makes me wonder what Aaron would have got if he'd gone to trial.

Would Swartz have done an AMA the night before sentencing where he would state that his only regret was that he had not harmed enough people, and promise next time to do more harm, and then have the prosecutors bring that AMA to the attention of the judge at sentencing, likely causing the judge to opt for a much longer sentence than he would have otherwise given?

Well he was certainly a much more likeable character than Weev, but he also didn't believe that what he did was wrong.

And really, who did Weev harm with this?

Re: “The AT&T Hacker” Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison

#80

Post by djvu9 »

objclxt wrote: post #44
zalzane wrote: post #6

Every time I see a ruling like this, I can't help but think that future historians will view this time period in the same way that present day historians view the crusades/religious persecution/witchhunts of the past millennium. It's amazing how much point of view can change perspective.

I don't think this particular case is black and white. Judging by my Twitter feed, a number of security researchers and white hats feel the same way I do: the law as it stands is not good, but what Weev did was also really, really unhelpful and borderline stupid. Rather than disclosing to AT&T, he leaked it directly to Gawker, and discussed how to potentially abuse the data he had (by shorting the stock, selling the…

The point is one should not be punished because he is unhelpful or stupid.
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