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Stratfor Hacker Could Be Sentenced to Life, Says Judge
dgharmon writes with this excerpt from rt.com: "A pretrial hearing in the case against accused LulzSec hacker Jeremy Hammond this week ended with the 27-year-old Chicago man being told he could be sentenced to life in prison for compromising the computers of Stratfor. Judge Loretta Preska told Hammond in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday that he could be sentenced to serve anywhere from 360 months-to-life if convicted on all charges relating to last year's hack of Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, a global intelligence company whose servers were infiltrated by an offshoot of the hacktivist collective Anonymous. Hammond is not likely to take the stand until next year, but so far has been imprisoned for eight months without trial. Legal proceedings in the case might soon be called into question, however, after it's been revealed that Judge Preska's husband was a victim of the Stratfor hack."
8 months with no trial has completely violated his constitutional rights, therefore the state should not be able to charge him.
do it
Why should the sentence be any different than the very same crime committed in meat space.
His crime is taking advantage of poor security to gain access. This would be the same as kicking in a flimsy door to gain physical access.
Murderers don't always receive life sentences. I wasn't aware the "life" of a corporation was more important than the rest of us.
meanwhile rapists and murders get off in 5-10
truly is a corporate run government.
Then don't do the crime.
A pretrial hearing in the case against accused LulzSec hacker Jeremy Hammond this week ended with the 27-year-old Chicago man being told he could be sentenced to life in prison for compromising the computers of Stratfor. Judge Loretta Preska told Hammond in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday that he could be sentenced to serve anywhere from 360 months-to-life if convicted on all charges relating to last year's hack of Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, a global intelligence company whose servers were infiltrated by an offshoot of the hacktivist collective Anonymous. Hammond is not likely to take the stand until next year, but so far has been imprisoned for eight months without trial. Legal proceedings in the case might soon be called into question, however, after it's been revealed that Judge Preska's husband was a victim of the Stratfor hack.
and get bailed out. Maker some intelligence company look like chumps and get life in prison. I know its the states but what happened to the punishment should fit the crime?
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Crabtree notes that Hammond ... has also since been added to a terrorist watch list.
So hacking into a Corporation will now get you labelled as a Terrorist and could land you life in prison.
Seems that being a plain ol' armed robber and/or murderer would net you far less severe a punishment.
Seems that if a crime happens on the internet, the punishment is automatically increased 10 fold from it's brick and mortar counter-parts.
It's only copy infringement !! (2 MILLION DOLLAR FINE !!) I mean, it's only unauthorized computer access !! (360 MONTHS !!) I mean, it's only murder !! (2 YEARS, 1 SUSPENDED, time served) !!
The moral is, don't try !! I mean, if you are going to commit a crime, GO BIG !!
When all the treasonous rot that Stratfor has engaged in comes to further attention, they'll soon be getting some heavy-duty sentences themselves. It says a lot about the character of the company that they'd not come out and directly discourage such a gross penalty. If they really had anything to do with security or "intelligence", they'd not try so hard to destroy people who aren't significant threats. They would also do things to empower society -- not sociopathic plutocracies.
Anyway, Stratfor, I hope the worst is yet to come for you. You are charlatans and parasites and don't give a damn about what you profess to protect.
And PS to all replies: I'll not be responding.
Forward! -- Emperor Norton, 2012
proving two things; "smart" people can say the dumbest things, and she shouldn't be a judge.
Did you hear her "view" on religion in schools? obviously she didn't listen, or understand, while she was learning to be a judge.
She should be removed. Both from the case, and the bench.
Think about it, they NEED to keep him in jail for at least 10 years : this is the only way to be sure that his "dangerous" knowledge about the interwebs will be obsolete enough to be harmless !
JUSTICE !
Again, the government is trying to make the hackers look like overwhelmingly dangerous guys.
Is a person like this so dangerous so he has to be kept away from the rest of us, the good working honest citizens, for the rest of his life?
The last sentence is alarming, "[...]after it's been revealed that Judge Preska's husband was a victim of the Stratfor hack.". So, this is what justice is about.
Oh I murdered a couple of families on the eastern seaboard, luckily all I got was life. You?
I uh..hacked a computer network..
Aw Frell this
nepotism
plain and simple
stratfor is a den of well-connected douchebags engaging in questionable activities and charging way too much for their "services"
prosecute them
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Couple interesting things from the article:
- the judge's spouse was a victim in the credit cards that this scumbag stole
- the article says if convicted on all counts, it's a 360 month sentence (30 years)
- he was denied bail
- he has been added to a terrorism watch list
If none of this makes any sense, then the article also points out that:
- he was part of group that stole the emails published on wikileaks including those that revealed the existence of the Tripwire program (secret anti-terrorism surveillance on high value targets all over north america [includes face recognition and behavior analysis]).
I have no sympathy for thieving scumbags and I look forward to him spending a good long time in jail for the cc thefts, but let's keep things in perspective a little. he's not Jeffrey Dahmer.
This would give the government a very scary legal precedence to scare script kiddies with.
Bow before me, for I am root.
http://stephan.sugarmotor.org
Had this happened in the old Soviet Union he would have gotten life in prison as well. A short life, punctuated by a bullet to the back of the head.
But because this is America, my tax dollars are going to spent keeping him alive for the next several decades. Either kill him, or deliver a cost-effective but brutal punishment such as will discourage anyone else from pulling the same crap he did.
Seems to me that the best punishment would be a year or so in prison with the most violent and vicious criminals our society has to offer. If that doesn't discourage him from his black-hat activities then nothing will. A few before and after pictures (of both his face and anus) posted online should do the trick.
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
It is almost universal that the defendant waives their right to a speedy trial on the advice of their attorney. Otherwise, their attorney would have to put on a defense far sooner that they would be ready.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
give him community service or make him work work off the damage
Is that really too much to ask?
Corporations are virtual entitty. He tried to fuck with "priveledged" people, so he must be severely punished in order to demonstrate the power to other peasants. Sending a message is more important than any peasents' business.
And I'm not being sarcastic.
So when the U.S government hacks into foreign government servers and causes damage it's patriotic but a u.s citizen it's criminal. What about government monitoring every aspect of the web including your emails(email and mail same shit) without a court warrant. Anyway, the judge violated parts of the Title 28 of the United States Code, The judge by law cannot take a case where his own family member is involved in which it might affect his decision making he/she no longer impartial, and it showed. The hacker was held for that long with no bond or speedy trial, decision made by the judge, it's illegal. If this is the fault of the patriot act or ndaa for holding him without trial we are all fucking screwed. Unfortunately, when high officials abuse human rights they get fired and never see jail time. This whole government is acting like a fucking monarchy, like they are all kings or fucking special. Government will never work because people are corrupt by nature this is why we should build machines with impartial behavior built in their cpu to rule us all.
Dude, people keep talking about life: Do a little math, 360 months is 30 years.
That shits outrageous.
to a speedy trial?
For in politics, as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at making proselytes by fire and sword. - Publius
little bullies with their toys have their panties in a bunch over being exposed for what they are?
When is the US going to have one? Here's another political prisoner the angry public needs to break out.
360 months (30 years) to life? Who the fuck has seen the inside of a jail cell, for any of the numerous unending scandals behind the financial crisis, that have impoverished and will impoverish many more people still? Who has seen the inside of a jail cell for engaging in war crimes, in a war of aggression, that after WWII was enshrined as one of the principle most evil acts a country can undertake? Who has seen the inside of a jail cell, for illegally spying on their citizenry, or for sanctioning that? For murdering other countries citizens (and even some of their own) in drone strikes?
Fuck off with this utter bullshit; this guy was caught and should spend time in prison for what he did, but the length of the sentence they are going after is hideously gratuitous; this is the totally unaccountable elite trying to make an example out of someone, for giving enough of a shit to fight back, and reveal information that embarrasses that elite.
I don't pretend that this guy or Anonymous in general work with noble intentions, it's plainly obvious many of them do it just because they like the attention and drama of high-profile hacks, and useful information gained is often incidental, but there's a lot to be said for the civil disobedience aspect of these attacks on establishment institutions; much of the information gained from Stratfor provided a valuable service to the public interest, and this guys attack should be treated as an act of civil disobedience, meriting the same level of outrage defense, of someone getting a similarly gratuitous sentence for trespassing while protesting.
This is a government that already massively invades everyones privacy through surveillance, and is trying to gratuitously expand their attacks on peoples privacy through massive expansions on monitoring the whole Internet in the US, with the legal ability to invade anyones online and personal lives.
If they're going to try and invade peoples privacy to such a huge degree, people should fucking fight back and legitimize digging dirt on government and connected establishment institutions through hacking, as an act of civil disobedience; if they want to invade peoples privacy and lives, but try to remain opaque and unaccountable, people should fucking well force transparency onto them, and be ready to face the legal consequences, and defend those that get caught up in gratuitous cases such as these.
So the judges "husband" is a client? why or was it a corp he worked for?
Get up!
It happened to Mitnick It happens every day
The prosecution certainly has as much time as it wants. It can gather evidence indefinitely, gaining as much of a head-start against the defense as it would like, before filing charges. In essence, when the prosecutor files charges, that's saying "OK, I'm ready, let's go."
To allow the defense to have as much time as it would like, but not require the defendant to give up their right to a speedy trial at the same time, would only make sense. It's already impossible for the defense to have as much time to prepare a case as the prosecution has. There's no reason someone should have to give up their right to not sit in jail waiting for a trial indefinitely just because their defense needs a little more time to prepare a response, when the prosecution essentially had all the time in the world. ...but then, making sense isn't all that common, so who knows...
Intelligence:
Noun
1. A collusive process whereby otherwise public information is made proprietary, assimilated and either (a) retained, or (b) reconstituted by the few for purposes of affecting the many.
2. The art of making something seem more intelligent by obscuring the details necessary for thorough evaluation.
3. A politically-correct synonym for propaganda (America, UK).
4. A private precursor to public ignorance (America, UK)
5. An expendable and valuable resource thought by oligarchs to produce results at a significantly-faster rate than wisdom, but with greater consequences and less predictable results on long-term scales. (America, UK)
6. An industrialized, highly refined form of data-processing specially tailored for those deficient of intellect.
7. A misnomer, popular amongst pun enthusiasts
Forward! -- Emperor Norton, 2012
Why isn't this corporation held accountable for their failures?
First, do we know for certain that it is the prosecutors who are delaying this?
MANY defendants in the U.S. chose to slow-walk things for strategic reasons. Sometimes they are advised (by their own lawyers) to do this to allow the public to cool-off a bit and hopefully make the trial easier to win with less public attention and a less "tainted" jury pool, and sometimes it is to get more time for the defense team to locate some favorable evidence or "expert" witnesses. Defense teams also often lie about this tactic... although in the racially-charged shooting case in Florida the defense team has admitted they are doing this (it's perfectly legal and ethical). Do we KNOW for certain whether the defense team in the StratFor case has actually filed the proper motions to speed things up? There actually have been cases in the U.S. where defendants filed the proper papers to speed things up and this trapped the prosecutors who had been dragging their feet to finish putting their case together... the defendant generally wins in efforts to speed-up the action.
One other caveat: The story linked is from "Russia Today"... and Commisar Putin's people are not generally friendly to the U.S. It's fine to read stories on RT that put things in the U.S. in a negative light... but it's always a good idea to verify the facts someplace else that's less-likely to be grinding an axe.
People who actively commit criminal acts are not "political prisoners"
Political prisoners get jailed for saying or writing things the government does not like; they are jailed for having and/or promoting the "wrong" political views
Nasty, foul, obnoxious twits do not get to commit crimes against other citizens and lawful businesses they do not like and then claim to be political prisoners when arrested By the standards of this guy's supporters, I guess a cop who beats somebody up and then gets prosecuted would be an innocent political prisoner, right? I guess the American guards who were prosecuted for abusing prisoners at the Iraqi prison were, themselves, political prisoners right? If Mitt Romney is angry at Democrats after the election and decides to get revenge by robbing a store run by a Democrat or burning-down Democrat part headquarters and he is caught and prosecuted, does he become a "political prisoner"? In the real world, the answer would be "no" he would just be another criminal... but in lefty-world he apparently would be (but only if he was a liberal and had attacked something he thought was right-wing).
If the politics of the StratFor hack were reversed... if this was some right-wing "hacktivist" and he had gone-after things like move-on or daily Kos, or maybe some entity that was part of the Obama campaign's internet activity would you be on his side and calling him a political prisoner? I'd bet more than a nickel that you'd be calling for his execution. You know, there were once some "hactivists" who broke into a Democrat office to try to pry loose some dirty hidden secrets... it was called "Watergate" and the left in the US still hisses about it... people on both the left AND the right called for jail time for the crooks (who did indeed go to jail). Yeah, Nixon never went to jail, but there was no evidence he ordered the break-in or knew about it before it happened... his crimes were the political ones of trying to cover it up and he paid the political price of being driven from office and having his reputation destroyed...but that's a separate issue... his "hacktivists" who broke into a "site" run by people whose politics they opposed were, irrespective of their politics or political motivations, just plain crooks... same as this jerk
That sounds like the judge is seriously trying to push him into a plea bargain.
I'm guessing that wasn't on their radar screen...
She is derelict in her duties.
A more appropriate sentence would be to lock him in a room with the Vista operating system.
Husband ? conflict oops Change of venue Eights months in jail no trial, what happened to due process and right to speedy trial. Breakdown all the way around
If Jeremy Hammond actually did commit the crimes of which he is accused (and remember he is legally entitled to the presumption of innocence), then he deserves to be punished. But it's very difficult to think of any situation where life in prison would be appropriate for what is basically a small-scale hack of the type that happens dozens if not hundreds of times every day. Stratfor is a company with 70 employees. The local library where I work has more employees than that, and probably more patrons than Stratfor has customers. If someone hacked our databases, do you think the authorities would investigate the complaint as seriously, much less try to sentence the hacker to life in prison? If someone hacked into the poorly-secured credit card data from a small restaurant and did the same amount of damage, would the authorities be treating him or her as Public Enemy No. 1? It's hard to avoid the conclusion that Hammond is being pursued with such vigor not because he broke the law, but because he committed offenses against politically powerful people, the clientele of Stratfor. (According to Wikipedia, "the company's publicity list includes Fortune 500 companies and international government agencies.") While this may not be surprising, it's a clear violation of the Constitution and needs to be fought against.
The call it "global intelligence" because a real news service has more staff. They were a newspaper clipping service FFS! Your local supermarket probably employs more people just putting boxes on shelves than these guys did it total.
National security is irrelevant when the apparent felony was a computer based attack committed against a tiny clipping agency that didn't even have a full time guy to look after their computers.
Typo above - "company" not "machine".
..has been used by people suffering the NKVD for decades.
This was not at all "national security" related. It was a private company being pwned. You are defending the rich&powerful in their attempt to destroy a person and then lock him away until he dies.
You deserve to die in a KGB Gulag, as you obviously have shit at the place where others have a spine.
This was a private company with some links to the rich&powerful being pwned. It is really astounding how subservient and stupid you Americans can be. You really deserve the Soviet Union Of America.
You will be put on the Too-Reasonable-To-Be-Harmless Watchlist of the Department Of Hobo Security !
..and I can tell you "funny" things happened in my life. All sorts of military/intelligence people show up and they are normally the opposite of friendly. Only strong people really survive this. These days I make sure most things are done with a high degree of anonymity - that keeps at least the non-government "shit" away.
You can play the hero if you are ready to accept the serious downsides. That's why most are Obedient Sheeple and like to go to movies to watch heros, but of course they would never even seriously open their mouths.
..is that you have lost any decency, if you ever had that. This guy and Bradley Manning deserve *some* punishment. But what they do and contemplate to do to this guys if just way over the top. Torture, life imprisonment for hacking a corporation, what the hell is that ? United States of Uganda ??
..being the excessive jail terms. This case demonstrates this. In any sane country a hacker would not have received more than three years. They are contemplating "life".
That's the easy explanation for a huge prison population - kneejerk justice.
..the subjects even defend the actions of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, errm - the "President".
Life in prison for "hacking". and it didn't involve an axe?
Considering this was a government directed attack, isn't this a little much. If he was selling massive amounts of drugs he would have been safer.
..and get yourself removed from the face of earth. Thank you.
Mr Nixon was removed from office so as to not having him Kennedy-ed. Look up "Giant Lance".
The guy did something wrong. He fucked with an IT system. He needs to be punished. But certainly NOT as hard as a murderer, rapist, lethal arsonist etc. Your argument supports any NKVD-style state crime. Or Saudi-style state crime. "We chopped off his hand as an example to everybody who thinks they can steal candy". "We shot him in the back as an example for all who come five minutes late to work".
..better than the Soviet Union ? That's very reassuring. I always knew the US cancer must be contained.
..after all they threaten all the cosy, corrupt arrangements between Washington, NY and the MIC. Mr Fuld of Lehman Brothers could actually indicted for book-cooking if these Nasty Nerds don't stop telling everybody what actually happened. These people are, well, Information Terrorists !
So, Make And Example Of One. Lock him up forever, so that O'Bomba's and Richard Fuld's financial future is not being threatened !
Can't You Think About The Prison Industry ? Don't be so selfish; these people need "work", too. Replenishing that 1% of America Population is not so easy !!
+5
..because YOU Advocate Excessive Punishment. This guy fucked up and deserves one or two years jail, not life.
Couple of issues ago. Sorry, no link, read it in the paper edition.
Make love, not reality television.
Break into some idiotically secured defense contractor website and try to donate some money to charities and have life in prison swinging over your head. Bankrupt millions of people and sabotage the world economy to pillage billions of dollars, get a series of bailouts and golden parachutes.
..because YOU Advocate Excessive Punishment. This guy fucked up and deserves one or two years jail, not life.
Reread what I said. In no way, shape or form do I "advocate excessive punishment" (you don't really need to capitalize every word in the phrase).
I said he deserves a fair and impartial trial with no taint of impropriety.
As to "he fucked up".
The man is a SERIAL fuckup. He's already fucked up and been charged for his "fuckups" multiple times. He keeps doing it.
He didn't go into this blind. Not knowing the consequences of his actions.
He ALREADY spent TWO YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON for a similar hack (again, breaking into a site of someone with a political ideology other than his own and stealing financial info).
So arguing that somehow didn't know the consequences of his actions is flat-out bullshit.
At best, he misjudged the MAGNITUDE of his consequences.
As a serial offender, he requires something a bit more significant than a two year vacation at Club Fed.
Does he deserve life?
Probably not. But his return to society should be protracted enough to insure he understands the consequences of his actions (two years in prison weren't enough to keep him from doing it again) and never, EVER wants to do something this stupid again.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
> I think you've just described how 80% of the people who call themselves libertarians on slashdot see themselves. Thankfully they are too timid to put their deluded "tough talking" into practice.
Don't assume to speak for slashdot and don't assume that slashsdotter equates to libertarianism. In my opinion libertarianism presents a false argument, eg freedom versus big government. When in actual fact the danger originates in a form of corporate-feudal-corporatism. What these authoritarians types don't seem to realize is that WE are the government - they work for US.
AccountKiller
People who smoke pot in the privacy of their own homes. NOT a problem.
This is what happens when I type too quickly.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Last democratic president to occupy the White House: President John F. Kennedy (murdered, 1963)
Last progressive national leader: Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (murdered, 1968)
Last authentic democratic presidential candidate to get close to the presidency: Sen. Bobby Kennedy (murdered, 1968)
Last senator to almost accomplish economic democracy for American workers with his legislation towards universal collective bargaining rights: Sen. Paul Wellstone (died in suspicious aircraft accident, 2002 --- last minute substituion of co-pilot)
The brief BBC audio clip --- featuring a rare and short clip of Lee Harvey Oswald, articulating intelligently on the differences between Soviet-style communism and real Marxism is below (please ignore the author's remarks pertaining to Oswald's CIA-fabricated military record --- claims him to be have been an ATC, so he could pass on false coordinates to the Sovs, instead of a Russian linguist, which he actually was) --- sure doesn't sound like a looney lone guman, in fact, sounds like a CIA agent and FBI informant set up to be the patsy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p010jyv1
Recommended reading: Donald Gibson's Battling Wall Street: the Kennedy presidency, and David Talbot's Brothers
There are people who have only spent a few years in prison for murder!!! Were their deaths attributed to these hacks? I don't care if he is a good person or not, his character doesn't mater. The man deserves a FAIR trial based on his actions, not a kangaroo court where the judge's impartiality has been compromised to it's core. Whats next, the death sentence for hackers??
The rest is just PR.
Most of your points are not criminal issues at all. My guess is that you army types are offended by him being against the war your nice Muppet In Chief has started. Big money, big advanture in war. He is against it and that offends you dumbasses.
The Greeks had Sparta, who were the opposite of liberty. Lots of people left and right are deep down ready and willing to give up the last scrap of freedom for all sorts of "security". Mid-age and Old Women are the worst of that sort of people. "Why do you complain they monitor your computer and telephone - they just make sure you don't rob me".
All the shit they call "civilization" has been conceived by some perverts of Greece, Babylon, Israel, Asia, Arabia and the like. In reality it's full of hypocrisy when the rich&powerful are pissed off. I'll take the Freedom Of Germanic Barbarians ANY TIME over that bullcrap.
All the establishment parties are deeply corrupted by NY, London finance, by the MIC, by Big Pharma. There is very little difference between Obama and Bush. Obama even called himself being "part of the 1%", when the truth of course is that he is just their puppet. Did he deport Richard Fuld of Lehman Bothers to Guantanamo ? No, not even questioning by the FBI. Instead they nailed a minor guy.
But of course he expands the "war on terror" to half of Arabia and half of Africa.
At the same time they are sliding into deeper levels of debt every day and the Day Of Default is quite close. There is indeed a need for a radical alternative to these incompetent and corrupt people.
..could very well be a G-man who is still pissed he opposed an illegal war
If someone offends your shitty overlords, he must be locked away forever. Land of the Free etc.
Should we now proceed to discuss Jewish Theft Of Arab Land since 1949 to the present day ? Jailing People in Gaza "for fun" ? Assassinations by Jewish State Terrorists ? You better crawl back into your cave, cave-man.
..he would by now be in a supermax "terrorist" jail.
The words you quoted said what they said, and in no way indicate "slashsdotter equates to libertarianism". If you are getting bullshit like that out of the text I suggest discarding whatever baggage you have and instead just read it as written.
A slight off-topic - but how do people who have the skills to realize complex attacks manage to fail to cover their tracks and get caught?
The fact that you can commit 1st degree murder and get out in 4yrs on good behavior and yet computer crime comes with a minimum 10yr without possibility of parole is literally insane. This news has taken it to a whole new level of retardedly gay stupidity. (Note: retardedly gay added because it is funny how it will piss people off more than murder does)
That judge should remove herself from the case as it will NOT be an unbiased ruling, that is for sure! Women tend to get emotional about things, especially taking their husband for a ride....I think there needs to be a governing body that watches over judges in such instances, ....I am sure she is not the ONLY judge in that state!
Stratfor is a corporate spying and enforcement organization, just completely anti-democratic. If you've got money and want people investigated or even destroyed, they'll do it. They're criminals hiding behind the vestige of being a legitimate corporation. Rest assured, groups like Stratfor want to usher in fascism.....
Having said that, I'm not a fan of "hackers" either, in fact many of them are complete wastes of intelligence and talent. While this guy should be punished, I think it's completely fair to say that the system is judging him way too harshly. Any person or group that calls for increasingly draconian punishments and/or using the system to entrap people they find unappealing is in fact a dangerous extremist (regardless of where they sit politically or socially).