Hacker Admits To Scientology DDoS Attack

lbwbl writes with news that a New Jersey man will plead guilty to one felony count of 'unauthorized impairment of a protected computer' for his distributed denial of service attacks on Scientology websites as part of 'Anonymous' earlier this year. From Wired: "He faces a likely sentence of 12 to 18 months in prison based on stipulations in his plea agreement, which also obliges him to pay $37,500 in restitution. ... Friday's case, in US District Court in Los Angeles, marks the first prosecution of an Anonymous member for a series of attacks against the Church of Scientology that began in mid-January. The secretive religious group strayed into Anonymous' sights after trying to suppress the publication of a creepy Tom Cruise video produced for Scientology members."

Comments

Unauthorized impairment of a protected computer

[TheLink]

Yep no tears for him.

But what counts as "Unauthorized impairment of a protected computer"?

DRM that stops your OS or drives from working properly?

Re:Unauthorized impairment of a protected computer

[nightfire-unique]

But what counts as "Unauthorized impairment of a protected computer"?

DRM that stops your OS or drives from working properly?

No, because DRM is installed by corporations, not a person.

Re:Unauthorized impairment of a protected computer

[Idiomatick]

1~1.5 YEARS in prison for a relatively minor script kiddie DDOS? Thats way way WAY too harsh. He would have got less if he went their climbed up the pole and manually cut their connection. Thats WITH a plea. Totally not fair.

Re:Unauthorized impairment of a protected computer

[nightfire-unique]

Corporations are persons in the legal sense.

No they aren't; corporations cannot vote and they have an unlimited lifespan. They cannot be jailed.

The corporation is a legal entity to shield shareholders from some liability (both criminally and from civilly), and provide a common entity to direct. Nothing more.

Re:Unauthorized impairment of a protected computer

[lysergic.acid]

maybe corporate crimes should be prosecuted using the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act.

people use corporations to protect themselves against legal liability in case they are sued or otherwise break the law. this is similar to how mafia bosses distance themselves from the criminal activities they profit from in an attempt to buffer themselves from potential legal repercussions.

the military chain of command and other hierarchical organizations also have a similar effect of absolving personal responsibility. but when people are not held accountable for their own actions (including ordering unethical actions or authorizing criminal activities) this encourages corruption and has facilitated many injustices and atrocities in human history.

Re:Unauthorized impairment of a protected computer

[sfraggle]

Script kiddies are still script kiddies. I don't feel any sympathy for him just because it was Scientology he attacked. It's good to see that anonymous have put their initial tactics behind them (ie. attacking websites) in favor of organised protests instead. Global protests with hundreds of people holding placards is both more effective *and* lets them keep the moral highground.

Re:Unauthorized impairment of a protected computer

[Digital End]

The only difference between that and cutting the line would be the bandwidth costs, which would be countered by line repair costs.

If you honestly believe a person deserves 1.5 years in prison for this you're damaged. It was some kid doing what amounts to vandalism. ANY amount of prison is overkill and more damaging to society then helpful. He should get probation at worst, a fine and community service.

You honestly have no grasp of justice if a year and a half of your life is the price to pay for shutting down a website for a day. I'm guessing you're the kind who would put a highschool kid in jail for a year for taking a bat to a mailbox too eh?

Punishment must fit the crime.

Re:Unauthorized impairment of a protected computer

[gad_zuki!]

>ANY amount of prison is overkill and more damaging to society then helpful.

No. This is a felony and he easily deserves the time. Most likely whats going to happen is that he'll get the one year minimum and serve six months. I see that as entirely reasonable for computer crimes. I dont see any difference between this as breaking into the CoS datacenter and kicking over a server or two.

He's actually very, very lucky that he wasnt charged for a hate crime, which would have added a couple of years more to this case. He and his friends are attacking a religion, which in America is an attack on speech and freedom to worship.

In civil society, protesters shouldnt be causing any harm, real or virtual. They should be pushing out their message and letting others decide. Look at how much the catholic church has fallen with their child molestation scandals, without anyone ddosing anyone or anyone blowing up a church.

Once your ideology makes you a criminal and justifies it, then youve become the bad guy. Expect jailtime.

Anonymous

[Hatta]

I guess they're not as anonymous as they thought. This anti-scientology campaign is well meant, but they should really try harder not to get caught.

Re:Anonymous

[alvinrod]

Or they could just stay on the legal side of the line. I know a guy who protested outside of a scientology center and as far as I'm concerned there's nothing illegal about that. You could go around handing out flyers explaining to people who you view Scientology as dangerous and still not get arrested. Encourage televised debates about it in a public forum and take it to them there.

You don't need to try and not get caught if you're not doing anything illegal to start with. If the CoS tries to get you arrested for peaceful protesting they'll be the ones that end up looking like assholes.

Re:Anonymous

[Anonymous Coward]

If the CoS tries to get you arrested for peaceful protesting they'll be the ones that end up looking like assholes.

Judging from their past behavior, I'd say they don't give a damn if they look like assholes.

Your Rights Online?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just because you disagree with a group (as I do, in this case) does not mean that you can DDoS them. That is not your right, and the law says that you should be punished. If you want to take the moral high ground (in your opinion), prepare for the legal consequences.

my take on anonymous vs scientology

[gadabyte]

a bunch of foolish kids with nothing better to do than form a mob, and be outraged at the freedom to be foolish and join another mob.

irony floats off, unnoticed.

Re:my take on anonymous vs scientology

[Mesa MIke]

Yes, but if you don't have the freedom to give up your freedom, then that's not freedom!

Re:This anti-scientology campaign is well meant

[RiotingPacifist]

Erm last time i checked anonymous didnt:
*use copyright law to prevent any embaresing details being released about them
*get its members to discomuniacte from others who disagree with their teaching/methods
*get tax discounts for being a registerd church
*break into federal offices
*get people arrested for crimes they didn't commit
*not have cake

Infact while anonymous may act like a bunch of twats (although they often use the slogan "one of us, isn't as dumb as all of us" or something like that to cover there asses) other than breaking the law they are nothing like Scientology.

Re:This anti-scientology campaign is well meant

[Dan541]

Some members of Anonymous are just assholes this guy is one example. allot of asshats are jumping on the Anonymous bandwagon just to do things like this.

As an enemy of this vicious cult im glad this asshole got caught, You can't say you oppose something due to it's opposition of free-speech, morals, illegal activity ect by committing the exact same offences against it.

Re:Scientology...Bad. Pentagon...Good?

[Zibri]

Scientology is bad compared to...?

Sanity.

cruel and unusual?

[wakingrufus]

fair enough that this guy is being convicted, but is a prison sentence really fair for a DDoS attack?

Re:This anti-scientology campaign is well meant

[lysergic.acid]

i guess you could say Joe McCarthy meant well in the same sense that the church meant well during the Spanish Inquisition or Salem witch trials.

Re:business practices

[John Hasler]

> scientology is not a religion, it's a business. if you want to drive them out of
> business, compete with them. make up a story that is even crazier...

How about one that involves priests who can magically transform cookies into human flesh which the followers then eat? Think that would fly?