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Prison Is For Dangerous Criminals, Not Hacktivists

In late 2011, defense contractor Stratfor suffered a cybersecurity breach that resulted in a leak of millions of internal emails. A few months later, the FBI arrested hacktivist Jeremy Hammond and several others for actions related to the breach. Hammond pleaded guilty to one count of violating the CFAA, and today his sentence was handed down: 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He said, [The prosecutors] have made it clear they are trying to send a message to others who come after me. A lot of it is because they got slapped around, they were embarrassed by Anonymous and they feel that they need to save face." Reader DavidGilbert99 adds, "Former LulzSec and Anonymous member Jake Davis argues that U.S. lawmakers need to take a leaf out of the U.K.'s legal system and not put Jeremy Hammond behind bars for his part in the hack of Stratfor. 'Jeremy Hammond has a lot to give society too. Prisons are for dangerous people that need to be segmented from the general population. Hackers are not dangerous, they are misunderstood, and while disciplinary action is of course necessary, there is nothing disciplined about locking the door on a young man's life for 10 years.'"

2 of 337 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Sorry, but not here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Not only is your concept of crime and punishment warped, it is likely you are a sociopath since your post lacks any hint of empathy towards your fellow man. I bet you would have fit in nicely in Rome circa 50 AD.

    In short, we should lock you up since your views appear to be fairly violent in nature!

  2. Re:Sorry, but not here by i+kan+reed · · Score: 1, Troll

    "Any tolerance at all" is an interesting phrasing, because it suggests an absolutist position on morality. I do feel complicit with the crimes of my country, but my approach is to moderate and improve all those failings in every area, rather than throwing up my hands and saying "If I can't fix all of it at once, it's pointless!"

    But your cynical political nihilism totally makes you the coolest one in the conversation. You're too cool for me.