Barrett Brown Sentenced To 63 Months In Jail For Daring To Do Journalism On Hacked Info
from the bad-and-dangerous-precedent dept
We've written a few times about the ridiculous case against Barrett Brown, a journalist who took a deep interest in Anonymous and various hacking efforts. As we noted, a key part of the initial charges included the fact that Brown had organized an effort to comb through the documents that had been obtained from Stratfor via a hack. The key bit was that Brown had reposted a URL pointing to the documents to share via his "Project PM" -- a setup to crowdsource the analysis of the leaked documents. Some of those documents included credit card info, so he was charged with "trafficking" in that information. Brown didn't help his own cause early on with some immensely foolish actions, like threatening federal agents in a video posted to YouTube, but there were serious concerns about how the government had twisted what Brown had actually done in a way that could be used against all kinds of journalists.While the feds eventually dismissed the key "linking" claim (equating linking to trafficking), they still got Brown to agree to a plea deal on other charges. After many months, he was finally sentenced today to 63 months in prison, more than double the 30 months that his lawyers asked for (30 months being the time he's already served in prison). He also has to pay $890,000 in restitution. For linking to some files he didn't have anything to do with leaking.
Before the sentencing, Brown made a statement to the judge that is well worth reading. He admits that the threatening videos were "idiotic" and apologizes for it, but delves more deeply into what's really at stake in his case. Here's just a tiny bit:
Every journalist in the United States is put at risk by the novel, and sometimes even radical, claims that the government has introduced in the course of the sentencing process. The government asserts that I am not a journalist and thus unable to claim the First Amendment protections guaranteed to those engaged in information-gathering activities. Your Honor, I’ve been employed as a journalist for much of my adult life, I’ve written for dozens of magazines and newspapers, and I’m the author of two published and critically-acclaimed books of expository non-fiction. Your Honor has received letters from editors who have published my journalistic work, as well as from award-winning journalists such as Glenn Greenwald, who note that they have used that work in their own articles. If I am not a journalist, then there are many, many people out there who are also not journalists, without being aware of it, and who are thus as much at risk as I am.The judge didn't seem to care, however. Judge Sam Lindsay claimed that Brown was "more involved than he wants the court to believe" despite no such evidence being presented. Furthermore, it appears that even though the charges related to the link sharing were dropped and the plea was over other charges, sharing that link is part of why his sentence was so high.
Your Honor, it would be one thing if the government were putting forth some sort of standard by which journalists could be defined. They have not put forth such a standard. Their assertion rests on the fact that despite having referred to myself as a journalist hundreds of times, I at one point rejected that term, much in the same way that someone running for office might reject the term “politician”. Now, if the government is introducing a new standard whereby anyone who once denies being a particular thing is no longer that thing in any legal sense, then that would be at least a firm and knowable criteria. But that’s not what the government is doing in this case. Consider, for instance, that I have denied being a spokesperson for Anonymous hundreds of times, both in public and private, ever since the press began calling me that in the beginning of 2011. So on a couple of occasions when I contacted executives of contracting firms like Booz Allen Hamilton in the wake of revelations that they’d been spying on my associates and me for reasons that we were naturally rather anxious to determine, I did indeed pretend to be such an actual official spokesman for Anonymous, because I wanted to encourage these people to talk to me. Which they did.
Of course, I have explained this many, many times, and the government itself knows this, even if they’ve since claimed otherwise. In the September 13th criminal complaint filed against me, the FBI itself acknowledges that I do not claim any official role within Anonymous. Likewise, in last month’s hearing, the prosecutor accidentally slipped and referred to me as a journalist, even after having previously found it necessary to deny me that title. But, there you have it. Deny being a spokesperson for Anonymous hundreds of times, and you’re still a spokesperson for Anonymous. Deny being a journalist once or twice, and you’re not a journalist. What conclusion can one draw from this sort of reasoning other than that you are whatever the FBI finds it convenient for you to be at any given moment. This is not the “rule of law”, Your Honor, it is the “rule of law enforcement”, and it is very dangerous.
This is a very dangerous ruling for those who believe in freedom of the press. Rulings like this put anyone reporting on any hacked or leaked info at risk. While some don't like it, reporters need to be free to report on things, from the Stratfor documents to the Sony Hack documents to the Snowden revelations. A sentence like this puts a massive chill over journalism and the First Amendment in general.
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Filed Under: anonymous, barrett brown, free speech, hacks, journalism, linking, sam lindsay
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"You've got a friend"
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Re: "You've got a friend"
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they are merely our proxies, NOT SUPERIOR CITIZENS with superior rights: EVERY citizen should have such rights and privileges, NOT just journalists...
WE ALL HAVE THOSE RIGHTS and protections, NOT just a korporate-paid lackey of Empire who has a laminated ID from BigMedia Korp...
i don't get it...
(well, okay, i 'get it' in relation to Empire wanting to make them a separate CONTROLLED subclass; but i don't get why journos and citizens go along with that false notion...)
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It has to do with the meaning of press, and how it has changed over time. In the constitution it meant the printing press, that is the means of producing printed material. In modern times it means new organizations, and that also suits professional journalists, who are finding that bloggers offer severe competition.
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http://raphaelgolbtrial.wordpress.com/
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THEN WHAT THE FUCKITY FUCK IS THE POINT OF THE ENTIRE FUCKING COURT SYSTEM!?
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Re: head in the crosshairs
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Good idea, I'm sure they'll let you continue to assassinate the head of the NSA over and over again.
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It could be argued that most government agencies would operate much more effectively when the director dies and the position is left vacant.
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Why, punishment of course. Please try to keep up.
Oh, and all those purported rights you believe you possess, don't get uppity about them either. You have been warned. Have a nice day.
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Step 1: Limit Free speech to Journalist
Step 2: Limit Journalist to only big business
Step 3: Ensure no one qualifies as a Journalist
Step 4: Profit.
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said the same along those lines above, before i saw your post...
i sincerely don't get it: WE ARE ALL our own 'journalists' as citizens (IF we so desire); it is just that -practically speaking- we MUST have proxies doing OUR research, reporting, etc; because NO ONE INDIVIDUAL can have the time/resources to report on EVERYTHING without having proxies to do so for us...
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You'd think so, but the US legal system has been bent over a barrel so many times by so many sleazy actors, it hasn't a clue what it is that it's supposed to be doing these days.
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What, snitching?
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Judge should have to recuse themselves...
Because of that statement about believing him to be more involved that he would want us to believe.
That's showing the judge to be prejudicial to the defendant when making assumptions that are contrary to the "real" evidence provided and not the puss-covered spewings of the plaintiff trying to throw anything it can hoping something sticks.
To my mind that makes the Judge ineligible to make a fair and unbiased ruling on this case.
His appeal is most certain due this predisposition on the corrupt judge's part.
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Re: Judge should have to recuse themselves...
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Working as intended
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I believe that's what's really at the heart of these abusive computer crime laws. Politicians and CEO's aren't smart enough to know what to do about the loss of control computers are causing them. So they're over compensating for their lack of intelligence with draconian computer crime laws in an attempt to intimidate people into submission.
I don't think it will work. It'll just cause the computer literate people to become even more skilled and educated in the craft. I predict these draconian computer laws will end up having the opposite of their intended effect.
If I had to equate such draconian computer laws to something. I'd equate them to the MAFIAA's war on sharing. MAFIAA has been fighting a desperate battle to maintain control over the free flow of information. How's that been working out for them? I predict the business leaders and politicians war against computer leakers with end in similar fashion as the MAFIAA's war.
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From the Latin.
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Now laws are ignored if those in charge don't like someone or want to make an example of them. They do what they want when and how they want to, dam any rights or laws that get in their way.
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I'm pretty sure that was the point.
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Consider, for instance, that I have denied being a spokesperson for Anonymous hundreds of times, both in public and private, ever since the press began calling me that in the beginning of 2011.
I'm no expert, but I'm fairly certain that "decentralized leadership around a general philosophy" is one of the core aspects of the Anonymous group. In other words, there aren't really "spokesmen" or really leadership. I'm extremely skeptical when anyone says "I'm speaking on behalf of Anonymous".
Great to see someone going to jail for years because of people arguing over stuff they don't understand.
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By punishing people for exposing security holes we're arresting the good people while the bad ones are just keeping their mouth shut and using it for their own gains. It doesn't make sense.
So don't complain when your crap gets stolen when you start arresting all the people who would have told you it was unsecured.
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"Do what we say, report on what we tell you to or this will happen to you"
A police state and a tyranny all in one
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Must remember
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_al-Hajj
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I don't see the problem
While I don't believe there should have been an investigation in the first place, he does not have the right to obstruct it if there is one. A reasonable person would know better than to mess with a federal investigation. 5 years in prison is a long time, but would you expect any less for a federal obstruction charge?
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Re: I don't see the problem
Thankfully the United States is not a country I live in or even have to deal with. Your government has other plans and is insisting that Japan must koolaid. Unfortunately, everyone who drinks the American koolaid dies in some horrible way. Did you drink the koolaid?
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Re: I don't see the problem
He does. I think what you meant to say is he should have expected that they'd retaliate.
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Re: I don't see the problem
I would agree to this, only if the people holding high office were also held to these same rules against obstruction. They are not.
Obstructing justice is now a major part of the job description of most elected officials, and federal employees, who are, as a rule, not held responsible for their actions, because its considered to be their duty, by the DOJ, the Whitehouse and the courts.
Its like the USG is at war with the US public and so any and all breaking of the law by members of the USG is acceptable and expected when dealing with the adversary and any twisting of the law in order to deal as much damage to members of the public as possible, is also seen as simply a necessary and patriotic part of the war effort by the member-soldiers of the government.
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Post cold war? You must be from the distant future. Either
that, or you've managed to overlook the fountain of lies papering over
US sponsorship of the Ukraine's Fascist Spring.
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Misinterpretation of the word PRESS
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A "journalist" is nothing more or less than someone who is engaging in the act of journalism. Whether or not they are connected with a news or media outlet couldn't be less relevant.
Remember having to write factual essays in high school? When you were doing that, you too were a journalist. Nearly everyone has been a journalist at one time or another, even if the journalism consisted of nothing more than writing something in an annual family newsletter.
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Spanking the small person
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Re: Spanking the small person
But, no worries we all know where Snowden is. Send him a card care of Lefortovo Prison. He'll get it. I'm sure.
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The Founding Fathers of the Union Should Smile At Their Handywork
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Re: The Founding Fathers of the Union Should Smile At Their Handywork
Actually, its not so much that We The People (and the rest of the world pretty much) have been allowed to keep some of their freedoms.
Its more along the lines of "enjoying the freedoms they still have left", because the crooks in power plan to eventually take away all of them.
Its like the frog in the pot of water. Bring it slowly to a boil and the frog just sits there and dies before it realizes the water has become deadly.
With humans, you can't just take away their freedoms, because then they rebel and kill their oppressors.
You need to create a "fear", or "threat" that convinces them to offer up their freedoms to the authorities in return for a promise of safety and security, but this method can only remove freedoms one or two at a time.
Some freedoms are simply more difficult to take away in this fashion, so there are still a few left that have not been offered up.
But, by taking them away only one or two at a time, people react exactly like the frog in water - unaware of the pending threat.
You can bet your last dollar however, that the authorities are working diligently day and night - (or at least their hired think-tanks are) - to come up with new ways and means to wrest those last few freedoms from We The People (and the rest of the world pretty much), as soon as possible.
You see, the only security that those in power actually seek, is security from consequences - they seek the ability to legally exploit the human race without fear of reprisal.
Their tool to accomplish this, is the tool that has always been used for exactly this purpose throughout human history.
The Law.
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How often must the Thief steal before folks stop calling him a Guard.
In other words, the whole gambit was a complete success.
And another judge earns his minion's yacht silver.
Chalk up another easy win for the forces of fascism.
Note one more event where the American Public's general reaction to being screwed over by its own rewritten laws, was, "Huh! What? errrr....."
Will America ever realize the hard lesson that the enemy, dressed as a friend, is still an enemy and that you will know him only by his actions and not by his words?
Tune in next week for more deception and subterfuge by the leaders of America. And the week after. And the week after that, and the following week, and...
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nothing witty to add, but...
article are a goldmine of hope.
Clearly, there are people who recognise tyranny when they see it.
Lots of them.
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How to stop this trend
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Re: How to stop this trend
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Faux News calls him a journalist. He's expendable. His public assassination by NYPD uniform wearing thugs would upset the likes of Glenn Beck, Al Franken, Rush Limbaugh et al and bring all the rightwing crazies from the KKK to the John Birch Society out of the woodwork.
And as we all know massive amounts of roadkill and overkill would be the order of the day.
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