Anonymous Hackers - Friend (Barrett Brown), Snaps at FBI Over-reach; Resulting in Prison Time

[laserhaas]

As noted by Democracy Now's story that the journalist activist (Barrett Brown) who reported for Huffington Post, Vanity Fair, the Guardian and more, was also working (apparently too) close to the activist community known as Anonymous.. Mr. Brown has been held in custody since September 2013 and will do a couple more years. The - purported (original) offense - was Barrett plinking down a link that was already public - into a chat room. Then, when the feds went after his mother too, Barrett Snapped and threatened an FBI agent and the agents family.

He does deserve time - for being stupid!

Barrett's also ordered to pay a $900,000.00 fine! Mr. Brown is accepting his time in prison, in stride. He has sarcastically stated it is a new mission, to investigate the Bureau of Prisons. As per Democracy Now's "Barrett Brown Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison After Reporting on Hacked Private Intelligence Firms", - Barrett Brown has the following to say;

"Good news! —

The U.S. government decided today

------- that because I did such a good job investigating the cyber-industrial complex,

----------------------------they’re now going to send me to investigate the prison-industrial complex."

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[center][font size=6]UPDATE[/font][/center]
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Fellow DU'r pointed out that Barrett Brown plead guilty to threatening an FBI agent. (In actuality, Barrett also threatened the FBI Agents family). This was a HUGE - NO - NO and Barrett has to pay the price. As per "The Nation" story "Strange Case of Barrett Brown" - it reflects that

By his own admission, the FBI’s targeting of his mother made Brown snap. In September 2012, he uploaded an incoherent YouTube video, in which he explained that he had been in treatment for an addiction to heroin, taking the medication Suboxone, but had gone off his meds and now was in withdrawal. He threatened the FBI agent that was harassing his mother, by name, warning:

“I know what’s legal, I know what’s been done to me.… And if it’s legal when it’s done to me, it’s going to be legal when it’s done to FBI Agent Robert Smith—who is a criminal.”

“That’s why [FBI special agent] Robert Smith’s life is over. And when I say his life is over, I’m not saying I’m going to kill him, but I am going to ruin his life and look into his fucking kids…. How do you like them apples?”

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Democracy Now has a Transcript of conversations (here); which contains this following excerpt -

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: A journalist accused of working with the hacking group Anonymous has been sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $900,000 in restitution and fines. Barrett Brown, held in custody since September 2012, pleaded guilty to charges of transmitting threats, accessory to a cyber-attack, and obstruction of justice, for interfering with the execution of a search warrant. After his sentencing on Thursday, Brown released a satirical statement, saying, quote, "Good news!—The U.S. government decided today that because I did such a good job investigating the cyber-industrial complex, they’re now going to send me to investigate the prison-industrial complex."

AMY GOODMAN: Before Barrett Brown’s path crossed with the FBI, he frequently contributed to Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, The Guardian and other news outlets. In 2009, Barrett Brown created Project PM, which was, quote, "dedicated to investigating private government contractors working in the secretive fields of cybersecurity, intelligence and surveillance." He was particularly interested in the documents leaked by WikiLeaks and Anonymous. In the documentary We are Legion, Barrett Brown explains the importance of information obtained by hackers.

BARRETT BROWN: Some of the most important things that have been—have had the most far-reaching influence and have been the most important in terms of what’s been discovered, not just by Anonymous, but by the media in the aftermath, is the result of hacking. That information can’t be obtained by institutional journalistic process, or it can’t be obtained or won’t be obtained by a congressional committee or a federal oversight committee. For the most part, that information has to be, you know, obtained by hackers

.

Emphasis is mine.
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Barrett Brown's prosecution seems to be a way to scare those anywhere near Snowden or Juliann Assange cases. The issue being that the Government has the right to protect itself from hackers; but hacking appears to be the only way to get information.

That - or whistle blowers!
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Hang in there Barrett - An exposed - Anonymous warrior - paying a price for freedoms!

[center]We thank and commend you for being a knight during dark days![/center]
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[tammywammy]

1. He pled guilty to three charges.

He was sentenced "to 48 months on one count of threatening an FBI officer, 12 months on one count of "accessory after the fact" and three months on one count of obstruction."

The bulk of his sentence was for threatening a FBI agent and his family.

[laserhaas]

2. thanks..,Updated accordingly..n vhanged title

Weird how D Now omitted thay part

Shpuld at least note he pled guilty

[Blue_Tires]

3. Have a tidy, convenient explanation for the obstruction charge?

along with why he plead out instead of fighting for exoneration?

And please don't lump Assange and Snowden with Brown -- Although by every account he's a generally odious person, at least he's owning up and taking his punishment like a man instead of making backroom deals with the Kremlin...

But who cares? Let Brown do the couple of years and he'll be a HUGE celebrity once he gets out...Even if he goes full Neo-Nazi like Auernheimer (remember when he was the Jesus-on-the-cross of the anon crowd?)

[Vattel]

4. One thing I don't understand about this case.

I don't know how the relevant statute is written, but it wasn't clear that Brown threatened to do anything illegal to the asshole FBI agent. Sometimes it is possible to "ruin a life" without acting illegally. So why would his threat be criminal?

[laserhaas]

5. more research is needed...

And I will do so

[laserhaas]

6. it was a bad line to cross, threatening a family

Just stupid