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AT&T Hacker 'weev' Demands One Bitcoin For Each Hour He Spent In Jail

Posted by Unknown on from the re-arrested-on-terror-charges-in-3-2-... dept.

Daniel_Stuckey (2647775) writes "The notorious troll and hacker known as Andrew 'weev' Auernheimer spent 13 months in jail for exposing an AT&T security flaw. He was recently released when a federal court overturned the conviction on grounds of improper venue. Now, Auernheimer has penned an open letter to the Department of Justice in which he demands reparations for acts of 'fraud' and 'violence' carried out against him over the past three years. Those reparations must be paid in Bitcoin, he says — 28,296, to be exact. At current market value, that comes out to $13.7 million. The bombastic letter is titled 'Open letter to federal scum,' and was allegedly bcc'd to 'a few hundred journalists.' In it, 28-year-old Auernheimer writes that he calculated the sum owed to him based on his market value:" A gem: "Know that all this wealth will be directed towards a good and charitable cause. I am building a series of memorial groves for the greatest patriots of our generation: Timothy McVeigh, Andrew Stack, and Marvin Heemeyer. You see, In the 'Special Housing Unit,' which is Bureau of Prisons codespeak for 'solitary confinement' and 'torture,' I had enough time to think about the current state of federal government. "

39 of 449 comments (clear)

  1. A fifth horseman by Qzukk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now we can watch our rights be taken away in order to punish assholes, on top of drug users, pedos, terrorists, and hackers.

    Remember folks, what the government does to weev, it can do to everyone else.

    --
    If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    1. Re:A fifth horseman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      No shit? You mean the same country's government who passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, put the Japanese into concentration camps, got people fired and blacklisted for their political beliefs, etc. is more than willingly to abuse its powers? Say it aint so!!!

    2. Re:A fifth horseman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      His "troops" that is, people who think the likes of McVeigh, Stack, and Heemeyer as heroes probably doesn't need any more reason to rally. Most normal law-abiding citizens aren't going to rally behind the banner of McVeigh. He should have played the game and named a couple random founding fathers. Now he's allied himself with only those who find murdering innocent people a valid way to change the federal government (worked well didn't it?). I don't see him gaining much support.

      And why does he include Heemeyer in when speaking of federal government? Heemeyer's problem was with the local town council not the feds. He agreed to sell his property to a cement manufacturer for $250K then reneged and demanded $375K then a million. Obviously, the cement folks said fuck you and petitioned the town council to rezone an adjacent piece of land for their plant. The whole reason for Heemeyer's rampage was his own stupidity and greed. We're supposed to rally around that guy? You really want the law to allow you to go on a rampage if you, by your own greed, refuse a deal then get cut out of the final deal?

    3. Re:A fifth horseman by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The government has created a martyr.

      No, they have created a kook. Anyone that considers mass murders to be "patriots", and thinks that the likes of McVeigh, Stack and Heemeyer are admirable, has lost all credibility. Rather than making the government more accountable, people like this give everyone that opposes authoritarianism a bad name.

    4. Re:A fifth horseman by bhcompy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Honestly, it just sounds like he's picking at random, like in Die Hard.

      Karl: "Asian Dawn?"
      Hans: "I read about them in Time Magazine"

    5. Re:A fifth horseman by spire3661 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Larry Flynt was an asshole i can respect, but not weev.

      --
      Good-bye
    6. Re:A fifth horseman by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

      really??? drug users are in the same class as terrorists and pedophiles?

      How many billions have been spent on the war on drugs?

      Clearly someone thinks so. And has for a very long time.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    7. Re:A fifth horseman by slack_justyb · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeap, this guy had a golden chance to make a cause and blew it by standing by people who kill other innocent people. Having a cause is one part knowing what to do and three parts getting the general public to like your cause. Using people who kill that general public tends to make them not like you all that much.

    8. Re:A fifth horseman by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Agreed.

      Now if he named folks like Snowden, Manning, and similar (where folks could actually go "yeah - they uncovered government badness and were whistleblowers", he could have gotten at least some support.

      I mean, c'mon: he could have even stopped short and not even named anybody. At first I figured okay, he probably got a bad shake and deserves the compensation for his maltreatment. But nooo... he goes on to let his freak flag fly, and name those dumbasses as his heroes. My thoughts immediately became: "fuck that."

      Mind you, the government is still way the hell in the wrong for locking him up if all he did was uncover a security flaw (and didn't sell or exploit it for personal gain), but holy shit...

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    9. Re:A fifth horseman by Bob9113 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      >> The government has created a martyr.

      > No, they have created a kook.

      No, they have created a radical.

      Using the term "martyr" or "kook" is a judgment of merit. I agree with the latter, he's batshit looney, but it's not objective. Casting aspersions is all well and good in the popular media, but aren't we here to try to scratch a little deeper? Fine, he's a shitbag who's trying to get his ten minutes of fame and maybe ought to be back behind bars. But is he really the interesting part of the story in any sense other than lurid sensationalism?

      What we sane and self-aware citizens should be asking ourselves is not whether a lowlife deserves to be treated like scum -- of course he does, like terrorists deserve to be assassinated and child abusers deserve to be beaten. The question for us is whether we should do what we did -- not because he deserves better, but because we may have done something that is beneath us.

      --
      Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
    10. Re:A fifth horseman by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 3, Funny

      So you are saying we need to chose the lesser of the two weevils ? :-)

    11. Re:A fifth horseman by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Informative

      neither of them killed anybody.

      Stack killed one other person besides himself. He seriously injured many more, and intended to kill them.

      stack stole a tank from a military base in san diego ...

      No he didn't. He crashed a plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas.

      You have him confused with Shawn Nelson.

    12. Re:A fifth horseman by NoKaOi · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You see, In the 'Special Housing Unit,' which is Bureau of Prisons codespeak for 'solitary confinement' and 'torture,' I had enough time to think about the current state of federal government. "

      The guy is clearly messed up in the head from his experience (or maybe he was to some degree before, I don't know). They successfully broke him. Most likely with all that time in solitary confinement, in his mind he rallied behind the names of people who are famous for hating the government, regardless of their cause. I wonder if he can find a good psychotherapist willing to accept bitcoins.

  2. Clearly they've broken him and... by Assmasher · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..he's now Weev 2.0 - now with added 'crazy'!

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    1. Re:Clearly they've broken him and... by rahvin112 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Prison does that. Americans are so interested in retribution and punishment that they forget what can happen to someone you treat like an animal, particularly given that said person will be released some day. The ironic part is that death row inmates are treated far better.

    2. Re:Clearly they've broken him and... by timeOday · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Yeah, nobody sane is going to sympathize with Timothy McVeigh.

      His reference to solitary confinement caught my attention. There was a recent Frontline on solitary confinement. It is scary. It is a modern-day dungeon. These guys are so messed up there is nothing to do but lock them up and throw away the key, which messes them up even further. The convicts certainly aren't blameless to begin with, but we are over-doing it. I non-violent hacker (if that's what "weev" is/was) should not be there.

    3. Re:Clearly they've broken him and... by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 3, Insightful

      We all know this, but no one cares enough to actually do anything about it...

      A government powerful enough to give you everything you need is powerful enough to take everything you have...

      That isn't something taught in public schools of course, but it should be...

    4. Re:Clearly they've broken him and... by Assmasher · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That really makes sense. If you're unemployed, instead of getting a job commit a crime, do some time in prison, then decide, ok - now I want to get a job and I bring a tax break, you just have to accept that I'm an ex-con.

      Talk about a straw man...

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      Loading...
    5. Re:Clearly they've broken him and... by digsbo · · Score: 3, Informative

      What rumored experiment? It's well documented: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

    6. Re:Clearly they've broken him and... by Ichijo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Governments should assess the societal cost of each inmate who continues to commit crimes and offer half of that to the prison if the inmate emerges properly rehabilitated, perhaps in lieu of the normal per-inmate payments. This would make the profit motive work for us rather than against us as crime is lowered and our streets become safer.

      Of course it might result in prisons wanting to release some murderers early because they've been rehabilitated, and some prisons may even refuse some shoplifters if they think the cost of rehabilitating them outweighs the societal cost of them stealing a pack of gum every once in a while, but would either of these results really be so bad?

      --
      Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
    7. Re:Clearly they've broken him and... by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We need to stop letting sociopaths run our prisons. We should be giving all candidates psychological tests to make sure they're all compassionate people interested in keeping their prisoners safe and rehabilitating them so they can turn their lives around. Of course if you push for this, there are a ton of right-wing lunatics that will embarrass themselves by calling you "a bleeding-heart liberal." It's hard to reform society when many terrible people vote.

      Not gonna help. We know now from sociological experiments that the environment turns nearly all the guards into sociopaths. It's a structural problem, not a people problem.

      But the most pressing issue with our prison industrial complex is the sheer volume of citizens that are subjected to it. The US has the largest prison population by far in the entire world, both by numbers and proportion of the population. And that is directly attributable to the police-state infrastructure created and perpetuated by the Federal government, just like Weev has stated.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
  3. Bitcoin ? by psergiu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why Bitcoin and not Dogecoin (or any other e-currency) ?

    --
    1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
  4. Timothy McVeigh by berj · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wow.. good role model there.. Timothy McVeigh. I repeat.. Wow.

    1. Re:Timothy McVeigh by drakaan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah...I was borderline sympathetic up until that point. What a douche.

      --
      "Murphy was an optimist" - O'Toole's commentary on Murphy's Law
    2. Re:Timothy McVeigh by PvtVoid · · Score: 5, Informative

      Marvin Heemeyer is the man though..

      "Outraged over the outcome of a zoning dispute, he armored a Komatsu D355A bulldozer with layers of steel and concrete and used it on June 4, 2004, to demolish the town hall, the former mayor's house, and other buildings in Granby, Colorado. The rampage ended when the bulldozer got stuck in the basement of a Gambles store he had previously destroyed. Heemeyer then killed himself with a handgun." (See here.)

      Truly a 'Merkin hero.

    3. Re:Timothy McVeigh by Sperbels · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I just got trolled, didn't I?

  5. Intelligence eclipsed by hate by Stumbles · · Score: 5, Informative

    Really? Those three deserve hommage by Stuckey? Stack intentionally flies his plane into a building kill several. Heemeyer has fun with a bulldozer. And worst of all in some respects, McVeigh detonates a bomb killing a hundred plus people. If those are the types you admire as worthy of a memorial then you have one warped sense of admiration. None of those even come close to fitting the description of a patriot.

    --
    My karma is not a Chameleon.
  6. Um... McVeigh a hero? You lost me pal by Morpeth · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I absolutely detest the state of things right now, the NSA/Snowden revelations, corporations/lobbyists running the gov't, rights being ignored, etc. BUT that said, TImothy McVeigh was a murderer... including 18 children:

    Peachlyn Bradley, 3, Oklahoma City
    Gabreon D.L. Bruce, 3 months, Oklahoma City
    Ashley Megan Eckles, 4, Guthrie
    Baylee Almon, 1, Oklahoma City
    Danielle Nicole Bell, 15 months, Oklahoma City
    Zachary Taylor Chavez, 3, Oklahoma City
    Anthony Christopher Cooper II, 2, Moore
    Antonio Ansara Cooper Jr., 6 months, Midwest City
    Aaron M. Coverdale, 5 1/2, Oklahoma City
    Elijah S. Coverdale, 2 1/2, Oklahoma City
    Jaci Rae Coyne, 14 months, Moore
    Taylor Santoi Eaves, 8 months, Midwest City
    Tevin D'Aundrae Garrett, 16 months, Midwest City
    Kevin "Lee" Gottshall II, 6 months, Norman
    Blake Ryan Kennedy, 1 1/2, Amber
    Dominique Ravae (Johnson)-London, 2, Oklahoma City
    Chase Dalton Smith, 3, Oklahoma City
    Colton Wade Smith, 2, Oklahoma City

    Many people are angry and frustrated, but please read those names and ages and tell me again about his 'heroism'?

    --

    'The unexamined life is not worth living' - Socrates
    1. Re:Um... McVeigh a hero? You lost me pal by spire3661 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Dont use 'children' to prop up your argument. The adults lives in the building were just as valuable. Using 'children' language is News-Speak.

      --
      Good-bye
    2. Re:Um... McVeigh a hero? You lost me pal by TheCarp · · Score: 3

      They were? A lot of them were males old enough to hold a gun, that is good enough to call brown people militants, and murder them in drone strikes. Sorry that turnabout is fair play.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    3. Re:Um... McVeigh a hero? You lost me pal by Morpeth · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I didn't say the adults lives weren't valuable, so don't put words into my mouth. There is NO way an infant or toddler could make ANY choice or cause ANY action that could in any way be a threat to McVeigh. Hence my pointing them out. It's not a prop or news-speak, sorry you're so cynical.

      While I don't in any sense condone ANYTHING he did, he could try to argue adults can make choices or actions that in some whacky way he could attempt to rationalize as a threat -- my point of bringing up the kids, is that they had ZERO, absolutely ZERO to do with whatever beef he had in his twisted mind.

      --

      'The unexamined life is not worth living' - Socrates
    4. Re:Um... McVeigh a hero? You lost me pal by LordLimecat · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Its not murder when nation states with clearly declared intentions are involved. Its murder when its an individual in a non-combat scenario against unarmed civilians. Its terrorism when its non-governmental organizations with that target civilians.

      If you're still not getting it, you may want to re-take that poly sci class.

  7. Im no psychologist by nimbius · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But Mister Weev seems a touch frustrated by the machinations of the american legal system as they pertain to billion dollar monopolies. The US Government has granted retroactive immunity to AT&T for a cornucopia of offenses with such timeliness as to be indistinguishable from an NTP stratum. Given the historical context in which AT&T has consistently operated, it would be no surprise if the government not only categorically refused payment, but retroactively enacted legislation ensuring Weev was guilty.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
  8. Weev always was a piece of shit by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just because his conviction wasn't proper, doesn't mean he's not an asshat, or even that he didn't break the law. Note that his conviction was overturned because of the venue (meaning it was tried in the wrong court) not because of a problem with the charge or evidence. Now that's a good thing, the state needs to do everything properly in a trial, and if they fail to do so, the defendant gets to walk. That is a cornerstone of the American justice system.

    This is just him showing more asshattery, and a pretty good indication that his time free is likely to be only temporary. Anyone with that level of delusion and self grandeur is likely to do something illegal again, and sooner rather than later, and the state will probably make sure to do everything right the second time around.

    Like a friend of mine used to work in the PD's office. He got a client who had been arrested for tagging (graffiti) since a cop stopped him and found sharpie markers in his pockets. The kid had sure as shit been tagging and had used said markers to do it, but the cop hadn't seen that, and had no reason to search him, so my friend got it tossed out. So what happened? Same kid went and tagged again, but this time the cops watched him do it and caught him in the act. The kid was miffed my friend couldn't do anything the second time.

  9. As Oscar Willde said to George Bernard Shaw by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah? Well you're a fucking idiot who knows nothing about everything.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:As Oscar Willde said to George Bernard Shaw by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

      That, sir, is a slanderous insult.

      I can spell it perfectly well, I just can't fucking type for shit.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  10. Timothy McVeigh by geekoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

    was a coward.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  11. Wow, uhm, uh... Jeez... by John+Pfeiffer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Man, having never heard of this guy before, I was rather sympathetic and thinking "Man, finally a use for all those FBI-confiscated Bitcoins" until that last part about Tim McVeigh... Then all I could think was "Uh...wow, screw this asshat."

    --

    Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
  12. i was with him right up until... by Karl+Cocknozzle · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was with him right up until he revealed his love of deranged, hillbilly trash like McVeigh. Weev did get a raw deal, but it is worth mentioning that the people in the justice system (that run it) are in fact people, and people (flawed as they are) love seeing assholes (like Weev) get their comeuppance. And given what an asshole he is, I'd say that comeuppance was a long time coming.

    But hey, good news for him: He now has a legitimate cause to fight for the rest of his life. If this keeps him from discrediting other causes through his support (this manifesto essentially makes Weev completely toxic to any political activism on any topic, forever, period) then we should consider it a net win.

    --
    Who did what now?