Judge Sentences Hacker to 6 Years Without Computers

[klaynexas3]

He committed a crime and got caught doing it, and can now only have restricted access to the internet. While this would be hell to me, it makes sense and I'd prefer it to jail time(though, I've always wanted to spend maybe like a week or so in there simply for the experience), and he got off damn lucky if you ask me, considering he was hacking sites that the government was involved in.

Aside from the "he broke the rules and got nailed, no biggy" judgement of the situation, I must say I applaud the kid for his protest either way. Yes, he broke the rules, and him going after paypal accounts was sketchy, but all in all, I see this kid as a bit more of a tragic hero, brought down by his own faults. If he hadn't gone after the paypal accounts, I'd go as far to see this kid as a martyr.

 

[Evil Smurf]

It's like that crappy 1990s Hackers movie was real.

Greg, me and you are gonna have words.
Stern words, mostly involving your taste in movies.

Next thing you know we're gonna have a Plague on our hands, and this kid will be the only one who can save the day.

But...I liked Hackers.

The only thing wrong with hackers is the fact that the Internet is a series of cats in tubes not skyscrapers made of LEDs.

Can you imagine what he feels? Is he allowed to play online with his friends? On the other hand he is a criminal, that means he should be rehabilitated.

Stealing things is bad m'kay.

Also this kid is not pirating anything XD

 

[Beautiful End]

So...they're saying it should be like Catch Me If You Can? Where the criminal is given a second chance to redeem himself and work for the government? No...

This kid is smart. 15 year olds nowadays are way smarter than 15 year old about 15 years ago (Do the math). This is was smart enough to learn how to hack big sites. he knew what he was doing; it's not like he just turned his computer, typed Google and site were hacked.

He might be incredibly talented but he used his talents selfishly and irresponsibly. So he must be punished. Like when heroes in comic books go rogue and do a lot of damage and kill people. You don't see superheroes go "Oh...well, you're still pretty strong and killing you will be a shame. Aw, what the hell. You learned your lesson, right? Come join the Justice League once again! All is forgiven!".
Simple as that.

if the kid still wants to redeem himself after his sentence is over then more power to him.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Cosmo the God?

PUNY GOD!

Also he still has internet access, just restricted to educational use. Not having unrestricted internet until you're 21 really sucks, but the crap he pulled was maliciously destructive, and he was experimenting with ways to actually defraud money from people online. That he still can go about his day freely is more than lenient.

Anyway, who actually believes that the government isn't monitoring and cataloguing all internet usage? Half of that ridiculous $400 billion America is spending on their 'military' is actually being poured into giant server farms in the Nevada desert to store everyone's movement, I don't know if they have a way to actually navigate it or search for anything on there, but you can bet your ass all that internet history is being stored. Nice to know.

 

[RicoADF]

Dont most countries have a law against Cruel and Unusual punishments?

Wouldnt that fall under unusual punishments? You could probably make a case for cruel too, considering how much of peoples lives (especially if he goes to a standard school) revolves around computers and online research.

Just sayin...

If you drink and drive you lose your licence to drive, if you kill someone (outside what the law allows) you lose the right to a gun in areas their allowed, and if you hack and steal credit card information, commit fraud and ruin other people's lives, you lose the right to use the internet. it seems like it fits the other punishments, heck he got off lightly as the others would include prison time. Also note, he is still allowed to use computers (just not networked) and can use the internet while under supervision for educational reasons. Seriously its a piss poor punishment but atleast it fits the crime.

 

[Erttheking]

Cruel and unusual? I'm pretty sure that if he wasn't in prison, he couldn't use computers anyway, so frankly he's getting off easy. Some people honestly see this as a violation of Human rights? I really don't see how, it's a slap on the wrist really.

On a side note, getting porn is going to be awkward for him.

 

[TKretts3]

Like taking away Mozart's Piano? This is more like taking away an assassin's favourite gun. Yes, they may be astoundingly talented with it, but that doesn't change the fact that he uses that gun to break the laws. That's exactly what this person did and deserves day of those six years that he gets.

It's not cruel or unusual to take away someone's means of crime. Next time he should think before he acts.

Get the hell off my internet.

Next we'll be hearing about how it's ok to tell someone they can't read books anymore because they learned how to create makeshift weapons in some novel they read.

That book gave them the information on how to make a weapon, it was not used as a weapon. The person in question used a computer as the weapon against these sites, and as a possible crowbar into people's personal lives and details.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I would talk about how this is unjust and how things like LOIC shouldn't be illegal in the first place and how my tax dollars are paying some asshole to look over this kid's shoulder while he does his online homework, but I won't for one reason:

They will NEVER be able to fully enforce this.

The ease that someone can get a networked device and hide that network from authorities is laughable just like this ruling.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Denying someone access to the greatest repository of human knowledge in existence is deplorable, and anyone who says otherwise should be ashamed of themselves.

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time bro.

 

[clippen05]

I doubt any of you guys would be so lenient if he stole some of your personal information... Just a thought.

 

[w9496]

It's not at all like taking away Mozarts piano. Mozart wasn't being an asshole with his piano, while this kid was with his computer.

6 years is a little long. Should probably be resentenced to maybe a year.

 

[Catrixa]

...I feel like this is 100% better than tossing him in prison for 3 years. Theoretically, if he's a real genius, he'll be able to continue his supervised studies, get a high school degree with a significant GPA, get some awesome SAT scores, go to MIT, get a job working on internet security somewhere, and make many more digits of money than I ever will. Like, I don't understand how not being able to abuse people over the internet will really stop him--it's not the actual implementation that will help later down the road, it's the theory. Establishing and improving upon good learning skills will keep him competitive while he spends those 6 years not hacking webpages, which will make him easily able to transition to Hacking of the Future. Really, for everyone who is actually worried about his ability to destroy webpages when he's 21, if he's smart (which it sounds like he is), he won't have any issues. Lets hope he uses those powers for good (making a jillion digits of money saving hapless webpages from the ravages of criminals) instead of evil.

Honestly, out of every possible punishment, this is probably one of the better options. Languishing in jail helps literally no one, and letting him know that he can do whatever he wants while he's a teen does him a disservice. Community service might have been more productive, but maybe that's too irrelevant? Either way, I sincerely doubt he will be crippled for life, especially if he's still able to use the tubes for education.

 

[manic_depressive13]

Don't see how they would enforce this, unless they have someone constantly supervising him.

 

[6SteW6]

Mozart couldn't steal personal information leading to theft of funds with a freakin' piano could he? This lawyer...

I dunno man, have you seen that guy play piano? He was pretty good...

 

[Signa]

I thought internet had turned into a human right over the years?
Apparently not

No, not in the Land of the Free.

 

[mrhateful]

a fate worse than death!

 

[Woodsey]

I thought internet had turned into a human right over the years?
Apparently not

They struggle with tying that phrase to healthcare, probably a while to go before many people in the States associate it with the internet.

 

[Baneat]

Who bets he'll finally hack the gibson by coding C in a texas instruments scientific calculator?