Teen Hacker Banned From The Internet For Six Years

from the that's-extreme dept

A teenaged hacker known as Cosmo the God, who was involved in a number of big site takedowns earlier this year, and who is considered a "social engineering mastermind" has been sentenced to probation. The terms include a ban on internet access until his 21st birthday, six years from now, according to a Wired article by Mat Honan. For many years, we've questioned whether or not it's reasonable (or even practical) to ban people from the internet for computer related crimes. It seems not only stupid and counterproductive, but just plain bizarre. The internet is so integrated into our lives these days that taking the internet out of your life is a lot more complicated than some might imagine.

Can you still use a voice over IP phone system to make a phone call? What about using an internet-connected kiosk at a store to order something? The terms here seem particularly broad and overreaching -- the kind of requirements that people who don't really live on the internet would think are reasonable without realizing what they're doing to him:

However, according to Cosmo, the terms of the plea place him on probation until his 21st birthday. During that time, he cannot use the internet without prior consent from his parole officer. Nor will he be allowed to use the Internet in an unsupervised manner, or for any purposes other than education-related ones. He is required to hand over all of his account logins and passwords. He must disclose in writing any devices that he has access to that have the capability to connect to a network. He is prohibited from having contact with any members or associates of UG Nazi or Anonymous, along with a specified list of other individuals. He had to forfeit all the computers and other items seized in the raid on his home. Also, according to Cosmo, violating any of these terms will result in a three-year prison term.

Since this is a plea bargain, it sounds like he's accepted those terms, but it seems fairly crazy. Honan talks with an attorney who finds the situation ridiculous:

“Ostensibly they could have locked him up for three years straight and then released him on juvenile parole,” Jay Leiderman, a Los Angeles attorney who has represented alleged members of Anonymous and LulzSec, told Wired. “But to keep someone off the Internet for six years — that one term seems unduly harsh. You’re talking about a really bright, gifted kid in terms of all things Internet. And at some point after getting on the right path he could do some really good things. I feel that monitored Internet access for six years is a bit on the hefty side. It could sideline his whole life–his career path, his art, his skills. At some level it’s like taking away Mozart’s piano.”

Furthermore, we've seen numerous such internet bans tossed out for being rights violations. Sure, the guy broke the law, and should be punished for that. But banning him from the internet for six years seems to go way beyond what's reasonable