Reporter who wrote story on hacker group ‘Anonymous’ is sentenced to prison as accessory

The “hacktivist” group Anonymous has always been controversial and journalists have covered their exploits. Now a reporter is going to prison for writing about the group and sharing the group’s hacked information from websites.

Barrett Brown was sentenced to five years in prison accessory to hacking charges, transmitting threats, and interfering with the execution of a search warrant. A Dallas federal district court judge also ordered Brown to pay $890,000.

Brown started wrote about Anonymous for many publications, including Huffington Post and Vanity Fair. Prosecutors said that Brown was an accessory for helping an Anonymous member hack into Stratfor, an intelligence firm. Brown linked to a file from the hack that included personal data of Stratfor subscribers.

Brown was also charged with evading authorities and threatening a federal officer. He apologized for the threats and blamed his medical condition.

“I made them in a manic state brought on by sudden withdrawal from Paxil and Suboxone, and while distraught over the threats to prosecute my mother, that’s still me in those YouTube clips talking nonsense about how the FBI would never take me alive,” said Brown in court.

Judge Samuel A. Lindsay said Brown was aiding and abetting the Anonymous hackers by sharing the link.

“Mr. Brown collaborated with and supported the hackers,” said Lindsay. The judge also said the case won’t affect First Amendment rights of reporters. “What took place is not going to chill any 1st Amendment expression by Journalists,” added Lindsay.

However, civil libertarians and technology experts say the sentencing will curb the freedom of speech of reporters. Some say the “government here undermined and threatened news organizations,” said Hanni Fakhoury, a senior attorney with the Electronic Freedom Foundation.

Brown had a sense of humor about his sentencing in an online statement.

“Good news! – The US government decided today that because I did such a good job investigating the cyber-industrial complex, they’re now going to send me to investigate the prison-industrial complex,” said Brown in his statement.