Live data from Hacker News

Weev Needs To Walk

techcrunch.com

11–20 of 66 posts

Re: Weev Needs To Walk

#11

Weev is not a good guy imo. I'm not even sure I prefer him outside of prison walls for some of his past actions (although of course the solitary stuff is outrageous). But: He really must be acquitted for the actions he is now in jail for. There is just no way this should ever be punishable. Otherwise it would set a very bad precedent for corporation bullying of people that uncover negligence when it comes to customer…

Criminal courts should not evaluate whether accused is good guy or a bad guy. The only possible exception is when the guy is found guilty and court is looking for sentence.

Courts should evaluate whether the guy broke the law and whether the law is consistent with constitution. His trolling activities and personality should not play much role when determining guilt.

Re: Weev Needs To Walk

#12
post #5

> The problem, in short, is that the Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Moramarco doesn’t understand what Weev did and instead compared his hacking to “blowing up a nuclear plant in New Jersey.” He said: >> We have a case here where…[the defense] is arguing that this was completely open to everyone. But you look at the testimony of Daniel Spitler and the steps he had to take to get to this wide open Web and I’m flabbergas…

> I don’t even understand what they are.

Should a prosecutor be allowed to prosecute a case if he doesn't understand the actions taken by the prosecuted?

How can he be sure that a crime has been commited?

> He had to download the entire iOS system

I guess the prosecutor has downloaded the entire iOS system to his Iphone. I guess he doesn't know that he has done that.

Re: Weev Needs To Walk

#13
post #5

> The problem, in short, is that the Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Moramarco doesn’t understand what Weev did and instead compared his hacking to “blowing up a nuclear plant in New Jersey.” He said: >> We have a case here where…[the defense] is arguing that this was completely open to everyone. But you look at the testimony of Daniel Spitler and the steps he had to take to get to this wide open Web and I’m flabbergas…

That seems like an unfair extrapolation of one (possibly out of context) quote.

I don't think what Weev is accused of doing should be a jailable offense, but I also don't think the prosecutor (apparently!) not understanding what's involved in scripting a web scraper somehow proves it either way.

Re: Weev Needs To Walk

#14
post #2

The author writes "Weev is a good guy. I know him." Is that true? What about his behavior towards Kathy Sierra? (I agree that it is a problem for unjust things to happen to bad people.)

I couldn't agree more. Weev is in no way, shape, or form a good guy. He's a horrific asshole, and the world is better with him locked up.

Sadly he's locked up for the wrong reason. But he really is a stain on humanity.

Re: Weev Needs To Walk

#15
post #2

The author writes "Weev is a good guy. I know him." Is that true? What about his behavior towards Kathy Sierra? (I agree that it is a problem for unjust things to happen to bad people.)

I couldn't agree more. Weev is in no way, shape, or form a good guy. He's a horrific asshole, and the world is better with him locked up. Sadly he's locked up for the wrong reason. But he really is a stain on humanity.

As abhorrent as his personality may be, there is no reason to lock him up. Prison is not a place to just put in everyone you find disagreeable, although most governments would likely insist against that.

Re: Weev Needs To Walk

#17
post #12
post #5

> The problem, in short, is that the Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Moramarco doesn’t understand what Weev did and instead compared his hacking to “blowing up a nuclear plant in New Jersey.” He said: >> We have a case here where…[the defense] is arguing that this was completely open to everyone. But you look at the testimony of Daniel Spitler and the steps he had to take to get to this wide open Web and I’m flabbergas…

> I don’t even understand what they are. Should a prosecutor be allowed to prosecute a case if he doesn't understand the actions taken by the prosecuted? How can he be sure that a crime has been commited? > He had to download the entire iOS system I guess the prosecutor has downloaded the entire iOS system to his Iphone. I guess he doesn't know that he has done that.

Shouldn't a prosecutor either recuse themselves, or at least consult subject-matter experts before proceeding with a prosecution over a subject about which they admittedly have insufficient knowledge? Is that not part of a lawyer's or at least a prosecutor's code of professional conduct?

Re: Weev Needs To Walk

#18
post #12
post #5

> The problem, in short, is that the Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Moramarco doesn’t understand what Weev did and instead compared his hacking to “blowing up a nuclear plant in New Jersey.” He said: >> We have a case here where…[the defense] is arguing that this was completely open to everyone. But you look at the testimony of Daniel Spitler and the steps he had to take to get to this wide open Web and I’m flabbergas…

> I don’t even understand what they are. Should a prosecutor be allowed to prosecute a case if he doesn't understand the actions taken by the prosecuted? How can he be sure that a crime has been commited? > He had to download the entire iOS system I guess the prosecutor has downloaded the entire iOS system to his Iphone. I guess he doesn't know that he has done that.

This hack didn't rely on doing anything with iOS other than sniffing the traffic iOS sent to AT&T. I think what they were attempting to say was that Xcode's iOS simulator may've been employed.

Another interesting fact: weev did not actually write or run the script that harvested the data, or talk to AT&T's servers. That was all Daniel "JacksonBrown" Spitler, who was sentenced to 18 months of probation. weev simply shared the list of harvested data with Gawker, under the condition that it be redacted if published, as proof that the leak had occurred.

Think about that; the guy who actually did the hacking got probation. The guy who simply alerted the media to the hacking got 41 months.

Source: I am Nick "Rucas" Price, member of Goatse Security, and I am mentioned numerous times in the federal criminal complaint.

Re: Weev Needs To Walk

#19
Weev needs to be in prison for attempting to blackmail and extort a company over private consumer information.

Unfortunately, they put Weev into prison for hacking under CFAA, which on those charges, I agree - He needs to walk because they're utterly bogus.

Post reply on HN