HN Explorer

A letter from Weev in prison

8 points by bifrost ↗ HN
Per request, the letter cut+pasted from FB.

--- snip --- Andrew Auernheimer's letter from prison:

5/5/2013

REDACTED,

How are you doing? How are the chops? I am disgusted to have to write an actual paper letter but they took away all my electronic comms methods and put me in the special housing unit where I am under 24/7 lockdown. All this for the high crime of blogging,despite nation B.O.P. officials having made public statements that what I was doing wasn't against the rules. Meredith had a conversation with the guy even.

It has been a week of this and I feel completely alone and abandoned. I don't even have my loved ones or attorney's address (they took most of my papers and I happened to have your address on a property slip they didn't toss). and am unsure when or if anyone will find out about my situation.

I refused to consent to a payment plan for the fine levied against me from my commissary funds, so now I can't buy food I can eat from the prison store anymore. Things are really depressing. Please have people send books. I need them badly in 24/7 lockdown with no library access.

I miss everyone, also food and sunlight. I was hoping people would send m tweets and news articles about me but nobody has. Has the Internet forgotten about me or am I still a hot topic?

Miss you all dearly, Weev #10378-010

18 comments

[ 4.4 ms ] story [ 61.8 ms ] thread
TylerE
Consequences are a real bitch, aren't they? Sucks to be that guy, but maybe you should have thought about that before stealing and release people's personal data.
declan
What personal data did he "steal" and "release?"

My memory may be wrong, but I recall Auernheimer downloaded about ~115K email addresses from a non-password protected portion of AT&T's web site and provided them to Gawker. This may be misguided, and certainly the court system found him guilty. But it's not what most people view as "stealing" and "releasing" sensitive personal information.

hbien
Kathy Sierra's SSN and address.
pasbesoin
This is the first I'm hearing of a connection with Sierra. Was he involved in the abuse that drove her away from blogging? (I guess I'll google that.)

I thought his prison sentence stemmed from visiting publicly available (simple GET) AT&T URL's that exposed their iPad users' email addresses. In which case, he probably did us all a favor in pointing out the sorry state of AT&T's [cough] security and management of customer data.

KSierra
Yes, this is the same person. While it had nothing to do with his AT&T/ CFAA conviction, do not think for a moment that weev cares about your personal privacy. This is, after all, the person whose weapon of choice against individuals is... doxing. For the lulz. We're programmers here, right? So we of all people should be able to decouple the case from the person. This is the last person we should be calling a hacktivist, or... Hero. He didn't do this for us. He didn't do this for public good. Still doesn't mean he should be in prison, though. I hope he wins on appeal, for all our sakes (CFAA). He destroyed a good chunk of my life and took some innocent family members along for the ride. Please, fight the CFAA, but don't think for a heartbeat that when it comes to protecting our privacy, rights, etc. that THIS is the guy who "has our back."
pasbesoin
Thanks for the response and clarification.

I agree with your point about separating the issues.

I also recall (with some vagueness, and with no reference to cite) that Auernheimer may have pondered/vacillated upon what to do with the data, before deciding to take it to a journalist. I don't know whether there is any truth in that.

I'm of torn opinion about Auernheimer. I've had acquaintances and a few friends who deliberately, um... "mess with" "the system", for functional reasons that may be less apparent to many than the "attention" that gets ascribed. OTOH, they tend to draw a pretty sharp (yes, if personally defined) line between the culpable and the innocent (for lack of better terms, and yes in a subjective sense) and to put effort into avoiding harming the latter.

Based upon both your reputation and what you've done for me as well as others (we've emailed briefly once or twice, long ago), I'm inclined to take your point with significance and regard.

At the same time, Auernheimer does seem almost like the perfect... "extreme" counterpoint to the CFAA and its like. On opposite sides, but equal in their obnoxiousness. Almost "made for each other".

I hope he prevails in this case. Putting your customer data at the end of a public URL is the crime, here. And... it fits with my longstanding and poor personal experience with AT&T (à la SBC).

P.S. Given your history, I really hope that my comment and reply are appropriate and not painful.

Best Regards

declan
Thanks for posting this. It's a good perspective to have in these discussions, which can otherwise veer too far in the direction of legal nuance.
runjake
Declan, weev took proprietary information from one source and was not authorized to do so. He then gave that data to the "journalists" at Gawker.

How does this not qualify as stealing and releasing -- especially given Gawker's fiasco with the pre-release iPhone. Am I missing key points here?

shiftpgdn
Because it was published on the internet and available for anyone to see?
TylerE
That's a very twisted definition of "published". If you forget to lock your house when you leave, does that make your living room a public space?
shiftpgdn
No because there is expectation of privacy in my home. Anything published on the internet is fair game.
TylerE
That's exactly my point. It does not appear that the information was "published*, unless your definition of "published" includes "we meant to make this private, but screwed the pooch on security".
ameister14
That's a bad analogy. It's more like you have a big window in your house. Is it a crime for people to look in? What about take pictures from the street?

If you accidentally upload something and it's accessible with a simple URL, is the burden on you to secure it or on the person accessing it?

I would say the burden is on you; that's just my opinion though.

kohanz
"Has the Internet forgotten about me or am I still a hot topic?"

I'm not super-familiar with this case, but there is something unsettling about the mindset behind these words.

phaus
He's doesn't elicit nearly as much sympathy as someone like Aaron Schwartz, but it is pretty fucked up that he's gotten a harsher sentence than people who do things like, I don't know, gang-rape a 16 year-old girl.
runjake
What is weev's current mailing address?

I don't approve of his crimes, and don't want to feed his ego, but I'd like to send him books to pass the time and also express to him that he's virtually not a topic among the public at all anymore. This might help him spend the time on some major introspection and maybe worry less about what people are thinking about him.

DanBC
> Please have people send books.

How illegal is it to send printed screenshots of GNAA-style material to a prisoner?

This (watch out for affiliate links) website seems to be relevant: (http://www.sendbookstoinmates.com/)

He's in New York's Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC).

Here's what they suggest are general rules:

General Rules When Shipping Books to Prisons

Books have to be new. Used books will be returned.

Books have to be shipped from a major bookstore such as Amazon. Books sent by an individual or a small bookstore will be returned.

Books should not contain no nudity.

Books should not contain any inflammatory material such as gang related. racist and books promoting violence

Hardcover books will often be returned so paperbacks are highly recommended.

The books have to be sent by USPS only. Books delivered by courier service or private delivery will be returned

Books should be addressed to the inmate showing their Inmate Number clearly

Ship only one parcel per month and only up to 1o books per shipment.

EDIT:

A "books requested by prisoners" website would be a good idea. The prisoners ask for books. The website has an affiliate link. People buy the books and the website marks that book as bought. (Somehow.)

bifrost
Here is weev's info: http://freeweev.github.io/

Obviously people's opinions of Weev vary, but I am fairly certain that the punishment does not fit the crime in this case.