Hoaxer Behind 2,400 Fake Bomb Threats Caught After Gaming Site Breach (krebsonsecurity.com)

20-year-old Timothy Dalton Vaughn from Winston-Salem, N.C now faces 80 years in federal prison, reports KrebsOnSecurity.com: Federal authorities this week arrested a North Carolina man who allegedly ran with a group of online hooligans that attacked Web sites (including this one), took requests on Twitter to call in bomb threats to thousands of schools, and tried to frame various online gaming sites as the culprits. In an ironic twist, the accused -- who had fairly well separated his real life identity from his online personas -- appears to have been caught after a gaming Web site he frequented got hacked...

[T]he real-life identity of HDGZero remained a mystery...as there was little publicly available information at the time connecting that moniker to anyone. That is, until early January 2019, when news broke that hackers had broken into the servers of computer game maker BlankMediaGames and made off with account details of some 7.6 million people who had signed up to play "Town of Salem," the company's browser-based role playing game. That stolen information has since been posted and resold in underground forums. A review of the leaked BlankMediaGames user database shows that in late 2018, someone who selected the username "hdgzero" signed up to play Town of Salem... The data also shows this person registered at the site using a Sprint mobile device with an Internet address that traced back to the Carolinas.
This week America's Justice Department released an indictment of Vaughn and co-conspirator George Duke-Cohan for spoofed bomb threat emails to more than 2,400 schools, according to Krebs, adding that the government also alleges the two reported a fake hijacking of an airline bound for the United States. "That flight, which had almost 300 passengers on board, was later quarantined for four hours in San Francisco pending a full security check."

The two now face charges of conspiracy and eight additional felony offenses, "including making threats to injure in interstate commerce and making interstate threats involving explosives."

Comments

Good.

[Anonymous Coward]

Good.

Eighty Years?

[waltlaw]

Clearly a horrible person, but life in prison? Many twenty year olds are horrible people but they usually grow up. Maybe it's time to talk limiting incarceration; perhaps five to ten years, for most offenses lacking physical assault.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

He wasn't a boy being a boy. His behavior is not equivalent to a one-time graffiti spree. He consistently and repeatedly broke the law to create significant hardship for others.

I don't want this bastard free on the Internet! I don't want to deal with his bomb threats, nor do I want him hacking websites that I use and exposing my account info to criminals. I want to be protected from him!

He has proven to be a menace, repeatedly, flagrantly, and without remorse. He has lost his right to roam the Internet.

I think it is reasonable to re-assess his sentence after a decade, to see if he should get out of jail on good behavior. But that must include an enforceable stipulation that he not be allowed on the Internet.

Possibly, if the tools and means of enforcement come about, then possibly he can be allowed "fully monitored" access to the Internet....AFTER 20 years of learning how to behave.

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

HA-ha! You forgot the full phrase is federal pound me in the ass prison.
With a tweet tweet here ...

Re:Eighty Years?

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Clearly a horrible person, but life in prison?

He's clearly a psychopath and a danger to society, and should be locked up in a psychiatric institution until he is no longer poses a danger.

Many twenty year olds are horrible people but they usually grow up.

Yeah, but unfortunately . . . sometimes psychopaths are very good at convincing their psychologists that they have been "cured". Some folks like this never grow up.

Re:Eighty Years?

[fahrbot-bot]

Clearly a horrible person, but life in prison? Many twenty year olds are horrible people but they usually grow up. Maybe it's time to talk limiting incarceration; perhaps five to ten years, for most offenses lacking physical assault.

They committed crimes against individuals, corporations and society as a whole, and demonstrated a complete disregard for all three. People like this, along with identity thieves, should, "one by one, taken out behind the chemical sheds... and shot." (to misappropriate a quote)

Re:Eighty Years?

[waltlaw]

Yeah, ten years in prison should turn him into a model citizen.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's leave it to the judge's discretion. It's time to stop limiting their discretion with laws that enforce mandatory minimums and maximums. If there is due cause to put him in prison for life, so be it. If on the other hand the judge feels that 2 years would be appropriate, so be it.

Re:Eighty Years?

[drinkypoo]

He's clearly a psychopath and a danger to society, and should be locked up in a psychiatric institution until he is no longer poses a danger.

Alas, instead of fixing those, we closed most of them. Now he'll go to prison for a while, get trained in more crime and incentivized to commit lots of it by how much harder it's going to be for him to find employment in the future, and then get released on parole long before his sentence is up.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

He's just a step away (if he hasn't already) from SWATting someone, which can lead to all sorts of bad outcomes

Ten years taking it up the ass on a nightly basis sounds just about right, IMHO

Re:Eighty Years?

[Frank Burly]

Though it is unconstitutional, this is the sort of crime I think should be punishable by flogging. Say, one lash per human hour wasted--to be administered at medically-safe intervals over his lifetime at a lot less expense than imprisoning him.

2400 * 100 people inconvenienced for four hours a piece per incident (WAG) is almost a million man-hours wasted because of this guy. A year has just 8760 hours, so he took up 109 man-years of human activity.

This strikes me as both fair punishment and strong deterrence, but I won't be debating the point because I'm trying to finish A Clash of Kings this weekend.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's 80 years in a federal prison. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

It usually goes something like this: He's fine on medication, release him. After a while supervision relaxes. He feels fine too so he doesn't need to take his medication and no one "reminds" him. Surprise, he goes off the rails.

Re: Eighty Years?

[spongman]

Why should it be up to one person? The mandatory min/max represent the will of the people (via their elected representatives in legislature).

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

He is gonna look like a shriveled old man in ten years with the nightly beatings

Re:Eighty Years?

[taustin]

Aside from the usual habit of the news mentioning the maximum possible sentence allowed by the statute as if it were likely, calling in fake bomb threats is a physical assault.

Personally, I wish there were some chance he would get 80 years. Might slow down all the other psychopaths.

Re:Eighty Years?

[haruchai]

He's just a step away (if he hasn't already) from SWATting someone, which can lead to all sorts of bad outcomes

Ten years taking it up the ass on a nightly basis sounds just about right, IMHO

The bad outcomes are from the jacked up glorified security guards who do criminally stupid shit like shooting from across a street at a residence.
Every civilized country has SWAT yet it's only America where SWATting calls turn into civilian fatalities.

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

It isn't up to one person, except in the moment of a single decision being signed off on. They can always be appealed.

Re:Eighty Years?

[murdocj]

The alternative being...

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Spoken like a comfy bubble dwelling techbro.

Re: Eighty Years?

[sound vision]

Plenty of blame to go around for the bad outcome. The police take the most blame, obviously. Next, the citizens who allow the police to behave like they do. Thirdly, people who take advantage of the situation. (As an aside, why is it always "gamers"? I have deliberately excluded myself from that subculture for over a decade, but the stuff I see coming out of those pits today, indicate seriously damaged minds)

Re:Eighty Years?

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

Clearly a horrible person, but life in prison? Many twenty year olds are horrible people but they usually grow up.
Maybe it's time to talk limiting incarceration; perhaps five to ten years, for most offenses lacking physical assault.

Sounds harsh to me too, but on the other hand, some dickweasel just like him named Tyler Barriss got an innocent man (Andrew Finch) killed when he swatted someone. The SWAT team responded and shot Finch the moment he stepped outside. That could have been me or your or your son or father.

And yes, I most certainly DO blame the SWAT team too, but without a shitbag like Tyler Barriss starting the ball rolling, it never would have happened.

Maybe just 20 years in prison to serve as an object lesson to these little fucks who think this kind of shit is funny and no big deal.

Re:Eighty Years?

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

Every civilized country has SWAT yet it's only America where SWATting calls turn into civilian fatalities.

Exactly, and that's why the penalties need to be severe.

SWAT teams here are loaded with trigger-happy nutjobs, so the risk is far greater than in other countries, hence the penalties have to be scaled up too.

Re:Eighty Years?

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

Personally, I wish there were some chance he would get 80 years. Might slow down all the other psychopaths.

Sadly, these assholes never stop to think it through so I'm not sure how much of a deterrent it would be.

They almost never go so far as to think "So I do this, and then what happens?"

I'd be fine with him getting 20 years in prison though. Maybe 30.

Re: Eighty Years?

[l0ungeb0y]

I agree with your sentiment. Clearly this person has made a nuisance of themselves, has caused much harm and actual damage and should pay a price for it. But an 80 year sentence? Have you never heard of rehabilitation? It seems America has become a nation of ignorance and hate, and itâ(TM)s people with attitudes like your which have given us a prison society that houses a full quarter of the worlds prison population â" thatâ(TM)s the cancer thatâ(TM)s killing America. Knock it the fuck out

Re:Eighty Years?

[JaneTheIgnorantSlut]

He should just get 10 days, for each of the 2400 offenses.

Re: Eighty Years?

[phantomfive]

No one knows how to fix a psychopath, don't kid yourself. Psychiatrists are like doctors from the 1800s who had very little understanding of how it worked (but they knew some things that didn't work, like mesmerism). At least we don't do lobotomies anymore, yuck.

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't need, want, or care about his reformation.

Would be fine with execution.

Re:Eighty Years?

[dryeo]

Yet, the penalties for a cop shooting someone seem to be as low as ever.
Start throwing cops in jail when they shoot someone without good reason, and hiding behind a car and shooting at someone on a porch without them shooting first is murder.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Though it is unconstitutional, this is the sort of crime I think should be punishable by flogging. Say, one lash per human hour wasted--to be administered at medically-safe intervals over his lifetime at a lot less expense than imprisoning him.

2400 * 100 people inconvenienced for four hours a piece per incident (WAG) is almost a million man-hours wasted because of this guy. A year has just 8760 hours, so he took up 109 man-years of human activity.

This strikes me as both fair punishment and strong deterrence, but I won't be debating the point because I'm trying to finish A Clash of Kings this weekend.

Yup that sounds about right, "here is my opinion stated as facts but I won't listen to proof against me"

In the US prison is claimed to be a deterrence, yet everyone placed in prison is a data point against such a claim.

In some middle eastern countries flogging is a standard and common sentence also claimed to be a deterrence, yet with the exact same problem that there are plenty of data points showing it isn't.

The person you were replying to was commenting on the extent of the sentence, not so much the type.
More specifically that the extent (80 years aka life, vs 5-10) not to change any deterrence factor but to have a non-zero chance of getting a functional human being out at the end.

I was originally going to mention that your suggestion of 8760 lashes is in essence a death sentence, something we in the US perform already for two specific crimes, so why all the fucking around with torture too?

But I looked it up, and not only has a Saudi Arabian judge sentence two men to 7000 lashes as recently as 2007 and they didn't die from it, but such insane and extended torture sentences are issued pretty commonly over there. They do 100 every week for months or years and there are thousands of such sentences each and every year.

So I guess I'll limit my response to just the deterrence factor. Let's see.

A 1500 lashing sentence didn't seem to deter a doctor from giving a princess a pain killer for an injury who happened to already be a junky drug addict.

A 200 lashing sentence didn't deter a 19 year old girl from being gang raped by 7 men.

A 7000 lashing sentence didn't deter two men from being gay either.

This is really the type of behavior and treatment you are wanting, all in the name of "it would be a good deterrence"

Why not just take the man up north a couple of states where they still refuse to criminalize burning people alive at the stake? Why not cut his feet off with a saw live on tv?
Why not an actual life sentence in prison? Not agonizing enough for your tastes? Even if you throw in the trope of prison rape?
Why not just say fuck it to any semblance of a legal system and suggest anyone should be allowed to torture and kill anyone else as they deem required?

The very fact a single sheet of paper is, as you have stated, the ONLY thing keeping you from torturing others like this is frankly far more terrifying than the abuses that the US prison system has become.

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry your buddy got caught. Haha!

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah i got swatted for trash talking on irc non game related, game related is more dramatic and makes the news.

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

A least we don't do lobotomies anymore

Well, if they ever do a plea bargain, in exchange for eighty years in federal pound-me-in-the-a** prison, this I would find acceptable. Fortunately for all of us, this is /. and, ya know, IANAL.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Danger to society is a stretch. His crime is nonviolent and it sounds like he went for years without a feedback loop. This might be his first time recognizing the disruption of lives on the other end of his pranks. Paying a fine would be lesson enough IMO.

Now if he were to continue despite this feedback loop... that's where the jail time comes in.

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, we are trying to get those numbers down. But one in four of that purported quarter are people who have no business being in the US at all.

Unfortunately progressives love three strikes laws and hate the idea of deporting foreign nationals back to their own countries.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

how much harder it's going to be for him to find employment in the future

I wouldn't worry too much about how he's going to get a job when he's 100 years old.

Re:Eighty Years?

[drinkypoo]

Aside from the usual habit of the news mentioning the maximum possible sentence allowed by the statute as if it were likely, calling in fake bomb threats is a physical assault.

No, no it is not. It is arguably assault, since it threatens physical harm and there is clear intent, but it is not actually physical. It's more like a combination of assault and denial of service. Whatever you call it, though, it can have the result of costing lives. I'm not arguing against taking it seriously.

Re: Eighty Years?

[drinkypoo]

(As an aside, why is it always "gamers"? I have deliberately excluded myself from that subculture for over a decade, but the stuff I see coming out of those pits today, indicate seriously damaged minds)

Over 50% of the American public plays video games...

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

So 80 years then, fine. Until we can fix sociopathy, aren't we better off without criminal sociopaths running around?

They're a detriment to society, if they're irredeemable is anything of value lost?

Re:Eighty Years?

[radarskiy]

"Maybe it's time to talk limiting incarceration"

That *is* a limit. No one could possibly serve more than 80 years for the nine crimes charged. Furthermore, federal sentencing guidelines will also take into account prior criminal history, i.e. if they are young and have the possibility of growing up to act wiser in the future. Your proposal of five to ten years comes to 45 yo 90 years total for nine charges, which is pretty much what the current maximum sentence is.

On the other hand, the nine charges cover 2,400 bomb threats as well as a faked airplane hijacking. That's a maximum of 12 days per bomb threat.

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Whoever you are, rape is not funny or justified. I understand you are a miserable and powerless person to say such things. I hope you can get professional help.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Frank Burly]

My GOT references was a lighthearted reference to the brutality of my modest proposal. More brutal than you comprehended since I was suggesting something like a million lashes over the guy's lifetime.

But leaving aside your poor reading comprehension and AC sanctimony, I'm not sure what your point was: Your observation that crimes are committed despite threatened punishment does not prove that punishment does not deter crime. And your parade of horribles doesn't address whether flogging would be more humane than 80 years in prison (which I think we agree would be a waste of a life).

If you feel that the Constitution is correct in preventing the government from imposing cruel and unusual punishments then we agree on that too. But while I'm glad to live in a country without a Lord High Executioner, I'm forced to lament that because of this, the punishment cannot always fit the crime.

PS: Please post which state has refused to outlaw burning at the stake, and note that the Constitution is more than a slip of paper (more than several, even!). TIA.

Re:Eighty Years?

[ebyrob]

> Start throwing cops in jail when they shoot someone...

Or maybe try training them before making them cops. Like they do in other countries.

21 weeks vs 2-3 years. What could possibly be wrong with that...

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Too fucking bad. When you threaten thousands of people with harm and death, that's what you get.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, ten years in prison should turn him into a model citizen.

No one gives a fuck what an idiot like you "thinks".

Re:Eighty Years?

[dryeo]

Yes training, and in particular the right type of training is a big part though I'll note that here, the RCMP does 26 weeks and doesn't have the problems of America and city police, possibly due to less training, seem worse.
Really it is culture thing, America has always had this culture that included shooting, just look at their frontier justice.
Currently, it seems that in the States, well to quote the Wiki article on murder,

In the United States, in some states and in federal jurisdiction, a killing by a police officer is excluded from prosecution if the officer believes they are being threatened with deadly force by the victim. This may include such actions by the victim as reaching into a glove compartment or pocket for license and registration, if the officer thinks that the victim might be reaching for a gun.[30]

So the problem is at the heart of their criminal system, being legal to kill on the believe of a threat.

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do you think it is rape? Perhaps he will like getting his ass pumped...

Re: Eighty Years?

[astrofurter]

The kangaroo courts, having long since abandoned any pretense of fairness or proportionality, now resort to power-drunk cruelty to terrorize the plebs into compliance. As each new dramatic overreach errodes what little legitimacy the kourts still enjoy, the next outrage of justice must be even more brutal. Such is the regrettable state of the Law in our once great republic.

Re:Eighty Years?

[taustin]

When your victims are locked in an airplane for several hours against their will, it is a physical assault. By proxy, perhaps, but physical nonetheless.

In grownupland, actions have consequences.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Cederic]

Your proposal of five to ten years comes to 45 yo 90 years total for nine charges

Only if you run them consecutively instead of concurrently. What sort of backwards shithole of a nation would impose criminal sentences consecutively?

Re:Eighty Years?

[drinkypoo]

In grownupland, actions have consequences.

It's not necessary to make things up for there to be consequences. Assault is a crime. Also, those who are inconvenienced can sue for damages.

Re: Eighty Years?

[edris90]

Oh come on bomb threat just means everyone gets some time off from the crap they were stuck doing. I mean if you're really going to blow somebody up you don't fucking tell them. But it is a great way to give somebody and their whole building the day off. The key is to cover Your Tracks. Nobody actually gets hurt from a fake bomb threat. And the ones I get scared need to be desensitized anyway, so that if they're ever in real danger they stay calm think critically and do whatever they need to do. Instead of becoming cognitively crippled.

Re: Eighty Years?

[edris90]

Having no direct control over the SWAT team's policies and decisions you can't hold him accountable for the reactions of law enforcement as those are all people capable of making their own choices independent of what they're told to do. he is the one responsible for what he did law enforcement is responsible for what they do. Unless you created a policy you can hardly be responsible for it. Creations on a responsibility of their creators.

Re: Eighty Years?

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

Having no direct control over the SWAT team's policies and decisions you can't hold him accountable

What a load of bullshit.

Hey, if I poison your water supply and you drink it, you can't blame me! After all, YOU made the decision to drink it. I can't be held responsible for the water company not filtering out the poison!

And if I drive drunk and end up killing you or your wife, don't blame me! YOU made the decision to get on the road, you should have known that there are drunks out there.

And if I SWAT you and the SWAT team blows your head off, too bad! I have "no direct control over the SWAT team's policies and decisions", right?

he is the one responsible for what he did law enforcement is responsible for what they do

Yes, and he'll go to prison, as should the trigger-happy fucktard that shot the innocent guy who answered his door. Don't give me your fuzzy-headed blather about "responsibility", you haven't a clue as to what the word means. The SWAT team wouldn't have been there if not for that asshole Tyler Barris.

Re: Eighty Years?

[edris90]

You're not responsible for other people react they are responsible for how they react. Law enforcement are still people . they don't get a for the consequences of their actions just because someone's paying them. Or just because an institution tell them they can. Raleigh law enforcement are the most irresponsible because they follow orders, stead of making personal decisions. It's not about responsibility to others or to society it's about responsibility for your own actions regardless who told you to do it and what rule says anything's okay. Most of the damages from the reaction of others not from the act itself. Those officers are perfectly capable of saying no to their boss. I they just choose not to because it's not worth it to them to do so.

Re: Eighty Years?

[edris90]

A better analog would be I tell you that there are people next door plotting your death, and you foolishly believe me without evidence, preemptively go in and kill the people next door, then blame me cuz you were stupid enough to listen to some dumb-ass talking nonsense, without verifying the situation before rolling in guns blazing, and then blaming me for your poor decisions.. when it comes to responsible observation, you don't make assumptions due to the tendency to cause more damage than you hope to prevent by not having patience and verifying things instead of just believing what you're told.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Old enough to vote, old enough to enlist, old enough to buy anything in jurisdictions with sane laws. By any realistic measure, you're an adult when you're 20 years old.

This isn't some bullshit non-crime with no actual victims like downloading infringing music, it's an actual crime that mobilizes a group of heavily armed murderous trigger happy thugs who roll up looking for a "bad guy" that's planted a bomb somewhere, not to mention disrupting potentially thousands of people. If this person winds up in the US prison system for the rest of his life and winds up with regular mouth and ass reamings, it will be difficult to feel much sympathy.

Re: Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree with you this is my grandson and it is killing me inside but he is so smart he could have had a whole different life if he had had a descent childhood which he didn't and my hands were tied

Re: Eighty Years?

[v1]

This guy regularly seriously abused a system designed to protect people, in a way he knew was hurting large groups of people every time he did it, and to top it off, he was doing it for personal gain.

That's not a bad childhood, that's just plain being an evil person. Sure, a person's circumstances and upbringing influences a person's development, but if they're still left with the ability to tell right from wrong (as the community they are a part of defines it), and they choose to be evil, that's just the person they are.

If hurting people is all you've ever known, then you didn't have a choice, but that does't sound like the case here. He's not a victim of bad upbringing, he's the result of his own bad decisions. Society will be better off with him not continuing to harm it, and hopefully he can serve as an example to others that are considering making the same bad decisions.

Re:Eighty Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope ur not serious, but if you are

Google image or bing(less censorship) image search for
malaysia jail caning
And see the process. Absolutely medically safe, the caner practices frequently to hit a specific are with max force. Spaced out caning intervals with medical treatment.

If you feel 1 hour is worth one caning, i reccomend you try one. Just one.

This isn't your 1cm thick rattan stick caning. Its PRISON caning. And Asia is really good at it. Dont introduce it, its quite something.
(well i personally think say 3 whips is ok.)

How little the authorities cared

[alvinrod]

I think it shows how little the authorities care about things like this. Maybe it's just a jurisdictional mess and no one can really do anything about it at a local or state level, but this guy wasn't particularly difficult to catch from what it seems.

Hopefully now that people are getting pinched for this shit, the rest of the idiots doing it will knock it off. That's almost certainly wishful thinking, but at least maybe it will die down for a while.

Re:How little the authorities cared

[Anonymous Coward]

so to frame anyone, i just need to re-use their username and get a burner phone with an area code near them. got it.

Re: How little the authorities cared

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes. But then there would be probable cause to search your stuff like browser history, call logs... Which would lead to much now evidence that just a username

Not sentenced

[tomhath]

News reports like to say things like "He faces 80 years...". But he hasn't been convicted of anything yet, just charged with hundreds of crimes. When he's actually sentenced it'll probably be a plea bargain for something like 6 months.

Re:Not sentenced

[Anonymous Coward]

Idiotic Tomhath tries to simultaneously assert he'll get "like 6 months" jail AND try to get a jab in at "the ebil media" - Tom's low-information lifestyle can't handle the reality that is law or journalism, either one.

Re:Not sentenced

[Anonymous Coward]

News reports like to say things like "He faces 80 years...". But he hasn't been convicted of anything yet, just charged with hundreds of crimes. When he's actually sentenced it'll probably be a plea bargain for something like 6 months.

Well yes, of course the news can't report on things that haven't happened yet.
I would have thought that was so obvious that they didn't need to explicitly say it like you did.

That or you misunderstand what "faces" means. It's a phrase meaning one possibility of what is to come, it doesn't mean something that is or has happened.

If you look up all the maximum possible sentence terms for all the crimes he is being charged with and add it up, that is the full sentence he is facing. I don't care enough to verify it, but will give the news outlet the benefit of the doubt that it really is 80 years.

If you want the news to report what he ends up being sentenced for, you'll just have to wait until he is sentenced.
At least you should be happy to know they then won't use the phrase "he faces" but the more accurate at the time phrase of "has been sentenced to" :P

Re:Not sentenced

[tomhath]

You should read the GP question before making a fool of yourself again.

Re:Not sentenced

[Anonymous Coward]

California has been releasing murderers and rapists who should be serving decades in prison due to budget constraints. So why isn't it believable?

Jail is too good for this guy

[bobstreo]

No Internet access for life.

Mandatory supervised work at a 911 center for life with no chance at advancement.

Re: Jail is too good for this guy

[Anonymous Coward]

(Creimette Letter Continued...)
After several legs of the zip line we came to the mountain, a peak surrounded by wooden walkways and gazebos with various bars and eating places, small swimming pools, hot tubs, gaming areas.
At one of the bars we replenished our thermoses of margarita. One of the locals told us about the next long zip. Eight miles across the inland sea. He told us to hook to the same line and maybe put some stones in our backpacks (Creimette is light as a feather) so we could get close to the water and see the famous flying fish. We looked at each other quizzically but we took his advice, and, after finishing our picnic lunch we had packed in the boat, put some stones in the basket and repacked. We walked to the far side of the mountain and saw the dazzling inland sea in front of us. The zip line started maybe three hundred feet above the water and slowly got closer as we rode. Fog rose from the sea, and we saw a tugboat as well as a couple with clothing matching our own sleeping on the deck of a small sailboat.
As we got closer to the water, we saw the flying fish. They jumped as high as twenty feet in the air. I started to worry that we might be too heavy and hit the water as I saw the spray from the waterfall at the edge of the sea approach us.
Soon we were so close to the water I could feel sea spray on my ankles. The fish were jumping all around us and one landed directly in Creinettes hands. She stared at the fish and it stared back. put me down it croaked. She dropped it into the sea just before we reached the waterfall.
We were so low our feet entered the water up to our knees as we went over the edge. We passed under a line change and began to fall quite rapidly, as the new line was oriented steeply down across the waterfall.
(Continued...)

Re:Jail is too good for this guy

[gijoel]

At least one person's time is going to be wasted supervising him when their time could be better spent on taking 911 calls, etc. It would also result in this guy getting a better idea of how emergency services work,which in turn would result in him getting better at making false calls look legit.

Re: Jail is too good for this guy

[Anonymous Coward]

Creimette is too busy making YouTube videos and studying for the Windows 10 certification after work.

Re:Jail is too good for this guy

[Anonymous Coward]

As a janitor, nothing more responsible.

Re:Jail is too good for this guy

[Anonymous Coward]

Work for Amazon.

Re:Jail is too good for this guy

[bobstreo]

Work for Amazon.

In the warehouse? That's even worse. and inhumane.

Or 175K a year in their new headquarters building, whenever they decide where to build it,

While possibly still punishment, probably would make the No Internet Access for Life part of the sentence difficult.

Re: Jail is too good for this guy

[edris90]

kill him or let him be. It means so much of a problem then put them down like Old Yeller out of emotionless pragmatism. If it's not worth doing that then let him go. But to keep him alive just to be imprisoned and twisted into a shadow of the person he was it's cruel beyond measure. I'm to teach Society to take pleasure or comfort in the imprisonment of others we'll only condition a lesser quality a people that are more dependent upon the suffering of others to feel good.

Re:Jail is too good for this guy

[sydbarrett74]

Mandatory supervised work at a 911 center for life with no chance at advancement.

I'll do you one better. Mandatory supervised work-release at a meat processing plant for life. If he gets an appendage chopped off, that's par for the course.

Slavery? That's your solution?

[Anonymous Coward]

Forcing someone to work is illegal. You might want to ask a Black person about it.

Re:Slavery? That's your solution?

[Anonymous Coward]

He has the option to NOT work... Don't commit fucking Federal Crimes!

Re:Slavery? That's your solution?

[Anonymous Coward]

Being black is not a crime. Being a sh1tb0i is.

Re:Slavery? That's your solution?

[ScentCone]

Forcing someone to work is illegal. You might want to ask a Black person about it.

Or anyone from any other cultural background, since slavery has been around in every culture, forever. If you're in the US, the only black person you can ask about contemporary slavery is someone who has escaped from the spots in the world that still practice it. Regardless... your point is meaningless. Being kidnapped by slave traders and then sold into a lifetime of slavery, or being born to those who have been, is NOT the same as choosing to commit a long series of crimes and having to suffer the consequences. Why are you pretending you don't get that?

Re:Slavery? That's your solution?

[SuperKendall]

Forcing someone to work is illegal.

Forcing somewhere to stay someplace is illegal also.

Oh wait, unless they have committed a crime and imprisonment is part of the sentence from the state.

Since the state defines law, they can also define exceptions.

Re:Slavery? That's your solution?

[drinkypoo]

Being kidnapped by slave traders and then sold into a lifetime of slavery, or being born to those who have been, is NOT the same as choosing to commit a long series of crimes and having to suffer the consequences. Why are you pretending you don't get that?

Slavery is wrong no matter how you excuse it. It's wrong when convicts only get paid $2/day for working on fire crews, too. (used to be $1/day, they got a 100% raise! woo fucking hoo!)

Don't get me wrong, we have to stop people from committing crimes. But punishing people with slavery is a violation of their human rights. Either we believe in those and give them to everyone, or we don't, and we don't. Punishment only makes assholes feel better. What's needed is rehabilitation. Sometimes some punishment is part of that, but if punishment is the whole goal, then the system is only being a shitlord.

Re: Slavery? That's your solution?

[Anonymous Coward]

Eating without working or contributing, if one is able, is morally wrong. I propose a solution. If convicts are willing to do meaningful and beneficial work on behalf of the society they wronged, they get to eat during their time of incarceration. Why, they may even learn a useful trade or skill, with which they might earn a living, upon returning to society at large.

Re:Slavery? That's your solution?

[ScentCone]

Having to support a criminal by being forced to spend some of YOUR working day to buy him food is slavery. Except you're the slave. Having the criminal work to offset the cost of feeding himself isn't slavery, it's him working to feed himself just like YOU have to.

Monetary damages

[Anonymous Coward]

Estimate 2400 schools with 500 kids each, 1000 parents, 50 teachers each, and 50 cops each incident. $100 per hour is a fair estimate for 1,100 people's time wasted, multiplied by 2,400. Eight hours each school, I get $2 billion of time wasted. Probably high. Then the flight, 300 people plus first responders and investigators, let's call that $1 million in lost hours and time wasted. Fair estimate of damages north of $100 million easily, closer to $1 billion.

Put that on these guys tabs, plus anyone else they collar once these guys squeal. Make them work it off in hard labor for the remainder of their lives. Jail is ridiculous. Ankle trackers and forced labor or indentured servitude. No access to technology at all. I am thinking farm labor, or maybe manufacturing if not high tech. That is what you get for costing society a billion dollars.

Boo hoo

[Anonymous Coward]

So you think the max punishment for 2400 bomb threats should be around 3600 days in prison. That works out to about 1.5 days for a single bomb threat.

I don't know, seems like it wouldn't deter very many other people. On the other hand, you do know there's a whole process for waiting a someone to be in prison for a certain amount of time, then deciding if the person should be let out early, given strict conditions, with the threat to be sent back if they commit crimes again?

Oh you didn't consider any of that? You just figured bomb threats are harmless and 10 years seemed enough punishment to give an adult? Got it.

And who were these mysterious "hackers"?

[Anonymous Coward]

Satan?

The cops probably had a warrant, but the admins didn't want to look like snitches, so, you get a "hacking" story

Re: And who were these mysterious "hackers"?

[astrofurter]

Yup. This story positively reeks of parallel construction. Most likely Twatter and his ISP handed over his surveillance records, then law enforcers made up an imaginative story about "teh haxors!!" to protect their collaborators.

Crazy Conspiracy Theories

[Anonymous Coward]

Duh gubmint arrests thousands of people every year over crazy conspiracy theories like this one. I hope the kid doesnt take a deal and debunks all of duh gubmints nonsense. ae911truth dot org

And Calling it a "justice" department sounds more than a little Orwellian these days. Wont be long before theyre calling themselves the ministry of truth. lol

So apk is gone now?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bye bye!

People like this need some serious help

[Anonymous Coward]

I would hope somebody interviews this person, and his accomplice, to figure out what mental disorder this person has. I mean is it power that what is attractive to doing this? Spite? Or just plain old batshit crazy?

Haha 80 years?

[Anonymous Coward]

He won't last 8 days. He'll be beaten up, brutalized and raped. Again and again. He will become a human toilet. If he's lucky they'll only blood-eagle him.

So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone with an IP in Carolina used a well known online identity on a video game. No way in hell any sane jury would return guilty unless they have way more information. If I play a game in Washington DC with a gamer handle of MasterTrump are they going to then arrest him when I make threats online?

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

The most notable thing about the story for me was exactly this. Next time I pick a new username for any forum, game, account or site on the internet, better hope it doesn't coincide with any random wanted individual who I've never heard of, or that someone with criminal intent doesn't happen to choose that name at any point in the future.

Of course, the surveillance industrial complex love this because it will hopefully convince more people to use their real IDs everywhere. I can see more stories like this magically happening and being widely publicised.

Better idea

[Solandri]

Force him to work in a bomb disposal squad, as the point man assigned to go out and collect the explosive device to put it into a steel container for transport. Once he's successfully collected and defused 2400 bombs, we can consider his debt to society repaid. And maybe by then he'll have a better inkling of the stress and anguish he caused with all his hoaxes.

Re:Better idea

[Anonymous Coward]

At first glance, this seems like a good idea, but it might inspire too many people to create *real* bombs and call them in....

Re:Better idea

[Anonymous Coward]

So we now have increased supply AND demand.

Whats the problem? :P

Airline?

[Anonymous Coward]

"...a fake hijacking of an airline..." Wow...they claimed someone took over an entire airline? Must've been Delta...

Polish this turd all you want

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems like a justification that although 7.6 million accounts were compromised, at least we got one sociopathic psycho off the streets.

When are we going to see the next round of PATRIOT Act style legislation to give governmental agencies more power to warrantlessly surveil the general public using this kind of story as justification?

I don't really give two fscks about this hoaxer and am more concerned that our law enforcement agencies couldn't track down a person accused of sending 2400 bomb threats without using stolen information.

And the hypocritical observation: Hacked e-mails, that's a federal crime -- prosecute! Hacked account details, that's a treasure trove -- drill baby, drill!

Way beyond horrible

[SuperKendall]

Something criminal you do every now and then makes you a bad person.

Something criminal that substantially affects other lives you do over 2000 times? That person will never change, they can no longer be trusted to be around others.

May he will be better... in 80 years or so. I feel like that's about the right amount of time to maybe institute some change, though sadly even if they got that much they would probably get out earlier.

Lock his ass up

[Anonymous Coward]

And throw away the key. Fuck him.

Maybe He Just Had To Go

[Anonymous Coward]

You all need to get out of here because I'm fixin' to blow it up.

Feds

[Anonymous Coward]

He won't be taking anything up the ass unless he's into that. He's going unto the Feds. For a computer crime that does not include little kids. Depending on how badly they hit him on the head at sentencing he is likely to go to a Low or Medium security facility. He will probably wind up at a soft spot like Butner or Allenwood.

Of course, if they give him over 20 years then he might go to a Penitentiary, and none of those are nice.

deciding if the person should be let out early,

[Anonymous Coward]

He's going into the Feds. There is no parole in the Federal system for new offenders. The only two time reductions available I am aware of are good time and Warden's discretion.

Good time is about 13% off of your time if you don't get in bad trouble while inside. This amount off may be slightly higher, I heard they were trying to correct the accrual problem recently, but I am too lazy to go check.

Warden's discretion is being released outside of sentence calculations by your custodial Warden for some amazing good deed. Theoretically, if you save a corrections officer from being murdered by some other inmate, the Warden can decide to release you as a reward. I haven't really heard of a warden doing this recently, though. So... good luck with that.

Re:deciding if the person should be let out early,

[ChrisMaple]

There's also Presidential pardon.

FYI - parole

[Anonymous Coward]

For those who care:

The Feds de-authorized parole in 1987. Inmates sentenced bore that point are still incarcerated under the previous version of the law, so they still have parole. Amazingly, there are still a couple of those old-heads locked up, going to parole hearings every year or two. Also, people under the old law who got out on parole and got violated back inside are also eligible. Crazy.

One other category is military prisoners. They are sentenced under the UCMJ, which apparently still has provisions for parole. Some military prisoners get moved into the Fed (I don't know why) and they attend parole hearings.

Already did

[Anonymous Coward]

The 13th Amendment specifically carves out an exception to the prohibition of slavery for convicts.

Good investigation

[ISoldat53]

Some fed was smart to cross reference the stolen data with NCIS to find a hit. I wonder if that is automated.

Re: Good investigation

[Anonymous Coward]

I am betting it was and I am sure they have other data spills. That is the real fear everyone should have, but remarkably no one realizes the issue here. Governments are using stolen data and obliviously in conjunction with the data they already. Given the telecommunications collision we already know they have that too. It is highly unlikely I am really an anonymous coward.

Re: Good investigation

[scottrocket]

I am betting it was and I am sure they have other data spills. That is the real fear everyone should have, but remarkably no one realizes the issue here. Governments are using stolen data and obliviously in conjunction with the data they already. Given the telecommunications collision we already know they have that too. It is highly unlikely I am really an anonymous coward.

I consider the same thing whenever I post AC - "what is anonymous?" Hell, just browsing with protection and not posting, I consider this.

Is he?

[rsilvergun]

the folks responsible for the Flint, Mi water crisis did it to skim money off the top of the local water utility. They gave their friends a contract they had no business doing.

What I'm saying is, he's not necessarily a psycho, he might just be an opportunist. i.e. this was a money making operation and he figured a relatively harmless one. Annoying as hell, but harmless. Now, we know that swat teams tend to show up to these kind of things and then shoot the place up. But if you haven't been reading /. you might not know that.

In other words, he's not necessarily a complete psycho, just an asshole out for a quick buck. Add a bad economy to the mix and you could see where a guy might not have a lot of sympathy for society at large.

That said, I'd rather leave it to a professional to determine if he's an actual, clinical psychopath and whether he could be cured or not. And either way I am _not_ a psychopath and so would prefer we find a way to make him harmless with the minimal amount of harm. Naive? Maybe. But then again I'm a humanist.

Why stop there?

[rsilvergun]

We've got the pain ray now. Google it. We could keep him in unending agony for years, stopping only to make sure his heart doesn't give out.

Torture isn't a slippery slope, It's the God damn K5. Once you start down that path you've devalued human life on such a fundamental level that anything is possible. Don't let rage blind you.

Re: Why stop there?

[Anonymous Coward]

Meh doesnâ(TM)t bother me.

chain chain chain...

[bugs2squash]

stolen by hackers and posted on underground forums - that's one hell of a chain of custody.Presumably the authorities went back to the source and confirmed it.

Re:chain chain chain...

[Cmdln Daco]

Well, it's possible it could be considered 'parallel construction' but I suspect they went back to the Game website and didn't just rely on a copy of a torrent.

Citation needed.

[Anonymous Coward]

I need proof of this so called "Amendment".

TIMOTHY DALTON Vaughn?

[Chas]

Yep! No wonder the kid's such a sociopath...

It's a miracle the kid hasn't killed and dismembered (and not necessarily in that order) his parents yet.

Can't backup your lies, can you, Zontar?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope - ESPECIALLY on libeling me & an app of mine -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

Libeling me & being TOTALLY wrong? Come on... lol, wrong app 1st of all + BOTH apps had been cleared (no threat on the one you speak of, & none on my APK Hosts File Engine @ all whatsoever - BOTH false positives)

* :)

You also can't show anyone WHERE I alleged said YOU are Barbara, not Barbie (same troll as TomHudson), now can you?

Again NOPE -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

Either YOU are hallucinating from your medications & treatments you take (or, didn't take) for your "delicate conditions" (multiple personality disorder & manic depression http://slashdot.org/comments.p... + manic depression http://slashdot.org/comments.p... ) or, you're just plain losing it, tellling lies & libeling me... take your pick.

(Always a pleasure making trolls like you on /. "eat their words"...)

APK

P.S.=> It's just TOO easy... lol! ... apk

Parallel Construction

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like a great story to cover up the parallel construction. Luckily for us, it got handed over to some think of the children smuck for the good faith exception! 'merica... Fuck yea!

SPH

[pslytely psycho]

So hilarious watching you reply to yourself. That multiple personality disorder is getting worse.

Seek Professional Help.

Define slavery?

[Anonymous Coward]

If they're being paid for that 911 job, then it is merely a job. Not slavery, unless you really want to run with wage slaves, in which case 90% of people in the USA are slaves and you should be demanding that bosses be jailed.

And what is jail other than a slavery that also kidnaps and permanently restrains?

Except it isn't slavery.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're a slave, you are property. Nothing is insisting the kid is property of the state. He has to work, just like everyone else. The ONLY difference is he isn't allowed to leave the job. Yet nearly 50% of people are not able to leave their jobs in the USA because they will lose heathcare and due to preexisting conditions they will no longer be covered ANYWHERE ELSE. More yet have no savings and so cannot afford to move to get another job.

Then again, if he were just jailed, he'd be forced to live in an apartment and forced to do some work and forced to stay there. That sounds like kidnapping. Doesn't it.

Yet somehow you aren't here complaining about kidnappers and how it is against the constitution (right to freedom). Because, for some reason, criminals are punished by kidnap by state forces is 200% fine with you yet slavery that still allows for them to have a life outside that slavery (he's not forced to work there like the stories about Foxcon employees, just that he cannot stop working there) for the same time is not....

Fuck you you stalking little cunt... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

See my subject:I'll kick YOUR FUCKING ASS for stalking & harassing me you unidentifiable little cowardly cunt - tell me your REAL name, address, & phone # so I can verify it's REALLY you & we can settle this once & for all, fucker...

APK

P.S.=> Everyone SEES you constantly stalking & harassing me bitch, so WHO ARE YOU FOOLING but yourself - & IF I ever get to you? You'll WISH you were dead cocksucker... I shit you not! apk

IMPERSONATING me AGAIN? Weak...

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: If all you have is cut/pastes of my old posts bustin' yer balls? You prove 1 thing: YOU WISH YOU WERE ME!

* Imitation IS the sincerest form of FLATTERY after all - except your POOR imitation of me is just that - a paper rose copy of the REAL thing (me).

APK

P.S.=> Be ORIGINAL for once in your WASTED life, ok? Then again, you IMPERSONATING me also proves you have ZERO CREATIVITY of your own too... apk

Zontar the Mindless has a new sockpuppet

[Anonymous Coward]

Zontar the Mindless has a new sockpuppet in pslytely psycho I see & you're STILL cut/paste copying my bustin yer balls proving you wish you were me by IMPERSONATING me, lol!

* You have NO CREATIVITY or ORIGINALITY of your own obviously!

APK

P.S.=> Only troll that uses "SPH" (Seek Professional Help) IS Zontar the Mindless (FAKE NAME LOSER) who has LITERALLY had to have MENTAL HELP (because he's WEAK & knows it, lol)... apk

IMPERSONATING me still AGAIN? Weak!

[Anonymous Coward]

Cutting & pasting a post of mine IMPERSONATING me? Please - you're POOR IMITATION you "paper rose" & you IMPERSONATING me proves 1 thing: You WISH you were ME!

APK

P.S.=> ... & it also PROVES you are a TOTAL Jealous "Lil' Jowie" loser also, lol - wasting your time "trolling" is "such a 'great accomplishment'" (not) for you, lol... apk

IMPERSONATING me yet AGAIN? Weak!

[Anonymous Coward]

Cutting & pasting a post of mine IMPERSONATING me? Please - you're POOR IMITATION you "paper rose" & you IMPERSONATING me proves 1 thing: You WISH you were ME.

APK

P.S.=> ... & it also PROVES you are a TOTAL Jealous "Lil' Jowie" loser also, lol - wasting your time "trolling" is "such a 'great accomplishment'" (not) for you, lol... apk

Nope, I'm here... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject - I'm no bomber/terrrorist/hoaxer & I'm no "hacker" & IF anything work I put out helps stop them!

* See below...

APK

P.S.=> For the best hosts file multiplatform:

APK Hosts File Engine 2.0++ 64-bit for Linux h t t p : / / a p k . i t - m a t e . c o . u k / A P K H o s t s F i l e E n g i n e F o r L i n u x . z i p (remove spaces between chars & download)

APK Hosts File Engine 10++ SR-1 32/64-bit for Windows https://hosts-file.net/?s=Down... (DL link @ bottom)

Soon for MacOS too (I just got a NEW Mac-Mini to port it there too)... apk

Cutting & pasting a post of mine? apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Cutting & pasting a post of mine IMPERSONATING me? Please - you're POOR IMITATION you "paper rose" & Zontar's a nutjob (which my old post you copied & pasted here proves) who went SO 'CRACKERS' after I burnt him NUMEROUS times on tech that he resorted to 'threats' by postal mail (what a joke he is behind his FAKE NAME for his FAKE LIE of a 'so-called life').

* You IMPERSONATING me proves 1 thing: You WISH you were ME!

APK

P.S.=> ... & it also PROVES you are a TOTAL Jealous "Lil' Jowie" loser also, lol - wasting your time "trolling" is "such a 'great accomplishment'" (not) for you, lol... apk

PMITA Prison Too Good?

[jennatalia]

This guy clearly has issues. Making it seem like he was young and dumb and will grow out of it is ridiculous. He may do that, but when you commit crimes, you have plenty of time to think about it while incarcerated.