Anonymous Hacker Jeremy Hammond Handed 10-Year Jail Sentence
Released emails related to intelligence firm Stratfor
Jeremy Hammond, the Anonymous hacktivist who released millions of emails relating to the private intelligence firm Stratfor, has denounced his prosecution and lengthy prison sentence as a "vengeful, spiteful act" designed to put a chill on politically-motivated hacking.
Hammond was sentenced on Friday at federal court in Manhattan to the maximum 10 years in jail, plus three years supervised release. He had pleaded guilty to one count under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) flowing from his 2011 hack of Strategic Forecasting, Inc, known as Stratfor. In an interview with the Guardian in the Metropolitan Correction Center in New York, conducted on Thursday, he said he was resigned to a long prison term which he sees as a conscious attempt by the US authorities to put a chill on political hacking.
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I always find it entertaining that people who are really only egotistical jackasses, like computer hackers, get on par or much greater sentences than people that do substantive and lasting harm, such as rapists (typical sentence, 11 years) and congresscritters (typical sentence, resign with full retirement benefits).
It just gives me this warm, happy feeling. Like the government really knows where its priorities are, and is doing the right thing.