CHOKE (U.S.A.) Choke 1997
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Monday, 1 August 2011
Scotland Yard Identifies (Alleged) LulzSec Hacker
The teenage hacker arrested last week in the U.K. for his alleged involvement with Anonymous and LulzSec is reportedly an 18-year-old named Jake Davis.
Scotland Yard on Sunday revealed that the hacker known as "Topiary" is actually Davis, from the U.K.'s Shetland Islands, according to security firm Sophos and Daily Mail crime reporter Chris Greenwood.
Davis will appear in a London court on Monday morning, Greenwood tweeted.
Scotland Yard has not yet posted any new information about the case since the Wednesday arrest. In a Sunday blog post, however, Sophos' Graham Cluley said Davis has five charges against him:
- Unauthorized access to a computer system, contrary to Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
- Encouraging / assisting offences, contrary to S46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007.
- Conspiracy with others to carry out a Distributed Denial of Service Attack on the Web site of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency contrary to S1 Criminal Law Act 1977.
- Conspiracy to commit offences of section 3 Computer Misuse Act 1990, contrary to S1 Criminal Law Act 1977.
- Conspiracy between the defendant and others to commit offences of section 3 Computer Misuse Act 1990 contrary to S1 Criminal Law Act 1977.
Last week, Scotland Yard said it had arrested a man who "is believed to be linked to an ongoing international investigation in to the criminal activity of the so-called 'hacktivist' groups Anonymous and LulzSec, and uses the online nickname 'Topiary' which is presented as the spokesperson for the groups."
The day after that announcement, the LulzSec Exposed blog said Scotland Yard had arrested the wrong person because its evidence suggested that Topiary was actually a 22-year-old Swedish man named Daniel Sandberg. That, however, has not been confirmed.
As PCMag pointed out in a recent overview of the key LulzSec players, Topiary is reportedly second-in-command within LulzSec, though he is thought to be the least tech-savvy in the group. As a result, he acted as a PR liaison for Anonymous before moving over to LulzSec.
He recently deleted posts from the @atopiary Twitter account; it now only has one tweet from July 21: its new "You cannot arrest an idea" tagline. The bio on that Twitter page says Topiary is a "simple prankster turned swank garden hedge [who] worked with Anonymous, LulzSec, and other such paragons of intense cyber victory. You are free."
The @LulzSec Twitter feed has not been updated since July 27, the day of Davis' arrest. A recent tweet from the @AnonymousIRC feed encouraged officials, in all caps, to free Topiary and other hackers who have been arrested in recent weeks, including "tflow."
Members of Anonymous and LulzSec have been arrested throughout the world in recent months, including Spain, Turkey, the U.K., the Netherlands, and the United States. In retaliation, Anonymous recently organized a boycott of PayPal, though the company said that effort had little effect.
Chloe Albanesius @'PC Mag'
Sunday, 31 July 2011
downesy Stephen Downes
Rod Stewart to play Hanging Rock in mid-February? If any teen schoolgirls disappear, at least the cops will have a prime suspect
Louisiana’s Angola 3: 100 Years of Solitude
Thirty nine years ago, three young black men were put in solitary confinement. Two are still there.
Collectively they have spent more than 100 years in isolation, most of it at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.
The “Angola 3″ maintain they were targeted for speaking out against inhumane treatment and racial segregation in the prison, and are now fighting for justice and recognition of their cruel, endless years in the hole.
Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, originally convicted of unrelated cases of armed robbery, were convicted of the murder of a prison guard in 1972. Robert King, locked up for robbery, was also convicted of murder once he was in the prison. The most fortunate of the three, his conviction was overturned in 2001, and he was released after 29 years of isolation.
Meanwhile, the continued detention of Woodfox and Wallace showcases the failing of the Louisiana justice system. In a new report, Amnesty International notes that no physical evidence links Woodfox and Wallace to the murder. On top of that, potentially favorable DNA evidence was lost. The convictions were based on questionable inmate testimony. Best of all, it seems prison officials bribed the main eyewitness into giving statements against the men. Even the widow of the prison guard has expressed skepticism, saying in 2008,
Woodfox and Wallace watch life pass them from spaces barely larger than my bathroom. Eventually moved from Angola to two other prisons, they are allowed outside three hours a week in a small cage. For four more hours they can shower or walk alone along the corridor. Visits and telephone calls are few. According to their lawyers, this has contributed to a host of health problems, including osteoarthritis, hypertension and insomnia.
Woodfox’s murder conviction has been overturned twice, once by a U.S. district judge, and a State Judicial Commission recommended that Wallace’s conviction be reversed — but appeals and a refusal to see the light have kept the men in hell. As they fight their murder convictions, the Angola 3 are suing Louisiana authorities, asserting that their prolonged isolation is cruel and unusual punishment and violates the U.S. Constitution.
We can support their fight. Write LA Governor Bobby Jindal and, if he doesn’t act, contact U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Remind them that the United States has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention against Torture, and that this insane confinement also contravenes the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
This is not a hopeless case. As Robert King said,
Collectively they have spent more than 100 years in isolation, most of it at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.
The “Angola 3″ maintain they were targeted for speaking out against inhumane treatment and racial segregation in the prison, and are now fighting for justice and recognition of their cruel, endless years in the hole.
Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, originally convicted of unrelated cases of armed robbery, were convicted of the murder of a prison guard in 1972. Robert King, locked up for robbery, was also convicted of murder once he was in the prison. The most fortunate of the three, his conviction was overturned in 2001, and he was released after 29 years of isolation.
Meanwhile, the continued detention of Woodfox and Wallace showcases the failing of the Louisiana justice system. In a new report, Amnesty International notes that no physical evidence links Woodfox and Wallace to the murder. On top of that, potentially favorable DNA evidence was lost. The convictions were based on questionable inmate testimony. Best of all, it seems prison officials bribed the main eyewitness into giving statements against the men. Even the widow of the prison guard has expressed skepticism, saying in 2008,
“If they did not do this – and I believe that they didn’t – they have been living a nightmare for 36 years!”I’m not sure what is most disturbing: that Louisiana has allowed these men to languish on seemingly-fabricated charges? That Woodfox and Wallace, now senior citizens with clean conduct records, are characterized as potential threats? Or that by holding the men under such tight quarters, the state has been in breach of its own prison policies for the past 15 years? The so called “nature of the original reason for lockdown” is no longer allowed to hold a prisoner in isolation, yet it has been invoked more than 150 times for these men.
Woodfox and Wallace watch life pass them from spaces barely larger than my bathroom. Eventually moved from Angola to two other prisons, they are allowed outside three hours a week in a small cage. For four more hours they can shower or walk alone along the corridor. Visits and telephone calls are few. According to their lawyers, this has contributed to a host of health problems, including osteoarthritis, hypertension and insomnia.
Woodfox’s murder conviction has been overturned twice, once by a U.S. district judge, and a State Judicial Commission recommended that Wallace’s conviction be reversed — but appeals and a refusal to see the light have kept the men in hell. As they fight their murder convictions, the Angola 3 are suing Louisiana authorities, asserting that their prolonged isolation is cruel and unusual punishment and violates the U.S. Constitution.
We can support their fight. Write LA Governor Bobby Jindal and, if he doesn’t act, contact U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Remind them that the United States has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention against Torture, and that this insane confinement also contravenes the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
This is not a hopeless case. As Robert King said,
“I do believe that there is something that can be done and a pro-active position in the case can help… The ripples in the pond are increasing and we need to see some waves… and these are the things that keep me going. I can see the waves coming from the ripples.”Wende Gozan Brown @'Human Rights Now'
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