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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Strange Case of Barrett Brown
In early 2010, journalist and satirist Barrett Brown was working on a book on political pundits, when the hacktivist collective Anonymous caught his attention. He soon began writing about its activities and potential. In a defense of the groups anti-censorship operations in Australia published on February 10, Brown declared, I am now certain that this phenomenon is among the most important and under-reported social developments to have occurred in decades, and that the development in question promises to threaten the institution of the nation-state and perhaps even someday replace it as the world's most fundamental and relevant method of human organization.
By then, Brown was already considered by his fans to be the Hunter S. Thompson of his generation. In point of fact he wasnt like Hunter S. Thompson, but was more of a throwbacka sharp-witted, irreverent journalist and satirist in the mold of Ambrose Bierce or Dorothy Parker. His acid tongue was on display in his co-authored 2007 book, Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism, Intelligent Design and the Easter Bunny, in which he declared: This will not be a polite book. Politeness is wasted on the dishonest, who will always take advantage of any well-intended concession.
But it wasnt Browns acid tongue so much as his love of minutia (and ability to organize and explain minutia) that would ultimately land him in trouble. Abandoning his book on pundits in favor of a book on Anonymous, he could not have known that delving into the territory of hackers and leaks would ultimately lead to his facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison. In light of the bombshell revelations published by Glenn Greenwald and Barton Gellman about government and corporate spying, Browns case is a goodand underreportedreminder of the considerable risk faced by reporters who report on leaks.
Read more: The Strange Case of Barrett Brown | The Nation http://www.thenation.com/article/174851/strange-case-barrett-brown#ixzz2Wk1yndKF
Interesting Read
octoberlib
(14,971 posts)the legal persecution of Barrett Brown just before he died.
magellan
(13,257 posts)It's very upsetting to read what goes on, and the lengths these monsters will go to protect themselves. Knowing that our government and corporations are this entwined in an unholy alliance freaks me out every time.
I only feel badly for Barrett Brown and his mother.
annabanana
(52,791 posts)that it will not end well for anyone. On either side.
cali
(114,904 posts)everyone here who isn't a mindless partisan should read this. Yes, it's complicated, even byzantine and there are a lot of players you'll never have heard of, but this should be a huge story.
And this op should be on top of the greatest.
k&fuckingr.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)I'm reminded of Kafka's books 'the trial' and "The Castle" rather than an Orwell or Huxley dystopia
cali
(114,904 posts)Some journalists are now understandably afraid to go near the Stratfor files. The broader implications of this go beyond Brown; one might think that what we are looking at is Cointelpro 2.0an outsourced surveillance statebut in fact its worse. One cant help but infer that the US Department of Justice has become just another security contractor, working alongside the HBGarys and Stratfors on behalf of corporate bidders, with no sense at all for the justness of their actions; they are working to protect corporations and private security contractors and give them license to engage in disinformation campaigns against ordinary citizens and their advocacy groups. The mere fact that the FBIs senior cybersecurity advisor has recently moved to Hunton and Williams shows just how incestuous this relationship has become. Meanwhile the Department of Justice is also using its power and force to trample on the rights of citizens like Barrett Brown who are trying to shed light on these nefarious relationships. In order to neutralize those who question or investigate the system, laws are being reinterpreted or extended or otherwise misappropriated in ways that are laughableor would be if the consequences werent so dire.
Read more: The Strange Case of Barrett Brown | The Nation http://www.thenation.com/article/174851/strange-case-barrett-brown#ixzz2WkUM3S4j
Follow us: @thenation on Twitter | TheNationMagazine on Facebook
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)Brown began looking into Endgame Systems, an information security firm that seemed particularly concerned about staying in the shadows. "Please let HBGary know we don't ever want to see our name in a press release," one leaked email read.
One of its products, available for a $2.5 million annual subscription, gave customers access to zero-day exploitssecurity vulnerabilities unknown to software companiesfor computer systems all over the world.
Business Week published a story on Endgame in 2011, reporting that Endgame executives will bring up maps of airports, parliament buildings, and corporate offices. The executives then create a list of the computers running inside the facilities, including what software the computers run, and a menu of attacks that could work against those particular systems.
For Brown, this raised the question of whether Endgame was selling these exploits to foreign actors and whether they would be used against computer systems in the United States. Shortly thereafter, the hammer came down.
http://www.thenation.com/article/174851/strange-case-barrett-brown#ixzz2Wk1yndKF
The obvious possibility is that firms with gov't intelligence contracts can mine data to extort entire countries and governments for private profit.
Even more horrifying is that when brown brings up this possibility the feds go after *him*.
ReRe
(10,597 posts)... into the "Cyber-War" arena, which Chief Snoop has been putting all of his time over the past few years.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)NSA Chief Keith Alexander
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)xchrom
(108,903 posts)malaise
(269,172 posts)for tonight
fasttense
(17,301 posts)Capitalists have bought off our justice system too. The whole economic/political system is rotting and dysfunctional. We have abandoned democracy a long time ago.
"While the media and much of the world have been understandably outraged by the revelation of the NSA's spying programs, Barrett Browns work was pointing to a much deeper problem. It isnt the sort of problem that can be fixed by trying to tweak a few laws or by removing a few prosecutors. The problem is not with bad laws or bad prosecutors. What the case of Barrett Brown has exposed is that we confronting a different problem altogether. It is a systemic problem. It is the failure of the rule of law."
The Nation http://www.thenation.com/article/174851/strange-case-barrett-brown#ixzz2WkfiQ9k5
cali
(114,904 posts)Here's a link to Project PM which Brown created:
Project PM operates this wiki in order to provide a centralized, actionable data set regarding the intelligence contracting industry, the PR industry's interface with totalitarian regimes, the mushrooming infosec/"cybersecurity" industry, and other issues constituting threats to human rights, civic transparency, individual privacy, and the health of democratic institutions.
http://wiki.echelon2.org/wiki/Main_Page
liberalla
(9,262 posts)struggle4progress
(118,350 posts)According to the US attorney "he possessed stolen credit card account numbers and CVVs without the knowledge and authorization of the card holders"
And maybe there's motive: considering that he seems to have posted on youtube about his heroin addiction problem, one might wonder whether he planned to (or did) traffick in stolen credit card info for cash to support his habit
He's entitled to a fair trial, of course, before society-at-large believes these charges. But the fact, that folks like Glenn Greenwald claim this to be an unwarranted prosecution, doesn't mean squat to me
Savannahmann
(3,891 posts)He copied a link from one message, and posted it in another. At that link, in addition to the email messages he was interested in, were credit card information. That is according to the Federal Complaint against him. So his transfer of the credit card numbers was by copying a link from one place, to another.
Let's say I read an article that is brilliant. I copy the web address of the article, and post it here. The article contains text that the author cut and pasted from another article, stealing the intellectual rights of the original author without giving him credit. The original author sues me for distributing the plagiarist's work. that is what we are talking about with the credit card numbers according to the article.
From the article http://www.thenation.com/article/174851/strange-case-barrett-brown#ixzz2Wk1yndKF
The Stratfor data included a number of unencrypted credit card numbers and validation codes. On this basis, the DOJ accused Brown of credit card fraud for having shared that link with the editorial board of ProjectPM. Specifically, the FBI charged him with Traffic in Stolen Authentication Features, Access Device Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft, as well as an Obstruction of Justice charge (for being at his mothers when the initial warrant was served)
All because he shared a link hoping to crowdsource tens of thousands of emails that had been hacked by somebody else in an effort to expose corruption and serious problems with the Intelligence and Security Contracting companies.
He snapped, why wouldn't he feel persecuted, and if his mental abilities were diminished when he made that asinine video, that should be taken into consideration. However, the charges related to that sharing of a link are far more asinine IMO. It is sending a message to Journalists, examine this stuff at your own peril, we shall not be trifled with.
struggle4progress
(118,350 posts)that Mr Brown himself personally possessed at least 15 credit card numbers and their CVVs without authorization of the credit card account holders. You can find the grand jury indictment here:
New federal indictment lists 12 more charges against Barrett Brown ...
By Robert Wilonsky
11:58 am on December 7, 2012
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2012/12/new-federal-indictment-lists-12-more-charges-against-barrett-brown-once-the-self-proclaimed-spokesman-for-anonymous.html/
Savannahmann
(3,891 posts)The hacker's who got the information was sentenced to ten years, while he faces a century in prison. We know who the main focus of the investigation was don't we?
Hydra
(14,459 posts)I found this section very relevant to current discussion climate:
Other plans targeted social organizations and advocacy groups. Separate from the plan to target Greenwald and WikiLeaks, HBGary was part of a consortia that submitted a proposal to develop a persona management system for the United States Air Force, that would allow one user to control multiple online identities for commenting in social media spaces, thus giving the appearance of grassroots support or opposition to certain policies.
Things that make you go "hmmm..."
deurbano
(2,895 posts)struggle4progress
(118,350 posts)The indictment can be found here:
Feds indict .. Barrett Brown on retaliation, conspiracy charges
By Avi Selk
4:26 pm on October 4, 2012
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2012/10/feds-indict-self-proclaimed-anonymous-spokesman-on-retaliation-conspiracy-charges.html/
cali
(114,904 posts)is a flawed character and that he did some illegal things, but this story is really about the overcharging for those crimes. I think you're not looking at the full story and what's really going on.
struggle4progress
(118,350 posts)and for collecting some stolen credit card numbers and their CVVs!
Oh! 'tis such an obvious and tragic miscarriage of justice, b'gosh and b'gorra! that indeed it brings tears to m'rheumy old eyes!
idwiyo
(5,113 posts)based on possession of credit card numbers and CVVs is very fishy one indeed.
Here, you are guilty too:
4506 3780 1356 2745 152
9783 2398 1234 5325. 171
3772 1345 2654 1378. 453
PS the numbers above are just random numbers. It would be damn easy to be "in possession" of real ones if one reads Anonymous' websites or goes to chat rooms.
Lunacee_2013
(529 posts)EVERYONE needs to read this!