[wallace_f]

I am pleased they might move forward with this prosecution. Keep in mind the legal costs incurred to do this, in addition to the already employed 12-15 FBI agents who were probably paid overtime to heroically rescue that poor family from this monster was already well worth the cost. Spending more money and resources here is obviously the right thing to do. Really, the resources expended to handcuff this man in his boxers in front of his 9-year-old daughter were a very well allocated by one of our most important government agencies, the FBI.

I'm also very much glad to see the incredible foresight and knowledge that the FBI is displaying here. What better way to show us why we should not responsibly disclose data vulnerabilities than to arrest and raid someone's home for doing so?

Stories like this really influence me to put my faith in the capabilities of law enforcement. What that means for our individual rights and freedoms, and for the future of the US economy is sure to be nothing but excellent! I would never think about moving away from such a country!

[goodplay]

Other places aren't much better either. In my country, you don't get to reach the courts. If some official doesn't like you, and you aren't a descendant of a well-known lineage and don't have connections, you will accidentally fall down a couple of flights of stairs, repeatedly.

And should you by some miraculous series of events manage to get your case heard in a court (have $$$ to burn), they'll just appeal the verdict (and win).

There is no escaping this shitfest.

[wallace_f]

Western Europe and especially Scandanavia are better. That is my opinion based on the observations I have gathered.

I am not sure where you are from, but I agree that it can also get worse.

[ryanl0l]

Not necessarily. I've spent the last few years fighting various hacking charges in Finland and will most likely continue to do so for several years to come.

The law enforcement here will consistently take anything the FBI tells them as a fact, even when the information provided by them has been consistently shown to be false or even maliciously fabricated.

I spent 3 months in jail in 2014 because the FBI emailed the Finnish NBI and alleged that I had perpetrated various attacks against large US tech companies, they provided some information vaguely connecting me to the crimes and claimed to have further evidence they'd deliver shortly. They requested that the Finnish police arrest me and seize my equipment, they did so without question.

Based on that single contact from the FBI the Finnish NBI held me in jail for 3 months and banned me from using the phone or in any manner communicating with anyone outside the jail. After the 3 months had passed the FBI had still failed to deliver any evidence, and the Finnish police had failed to discover any. In fact, they had unquestionably discovered heaps of evidence against the aforementioned allegations since the very day they arrested me. Just a few days before Christmas they were forced to very reluctantly release me.

Now it's 2016 and I just recently got a letter stating that most of those charges have been dropped as the FBI has failed to deliver the promised evidence. I've also received letters informing me of various covert surveillance techniques utilized against me after my release. These are supposed to require an even higher standard of proof than keeping someone in investigative custody, but obviously they're hard to contest when you aren't told about them.

Incompetent fucks desperately hoping to score big wins for their careers or with personal vendettas are hardly an US only problem, but at least in the US I could've fought the FBI in court. That's hardly an option here. The only thing that's better here are the sentencing policies.

[wallace_f]

That's sounds like quite an interesting story if what you are saying is taken as true and at face value. Have you tried contacting press, or lawyers in the US who would want to take on your case?

[ryanl0l]

Honestly, going after the FBI for lying to the Finnish police would probably be a pretty hard case to win. Especially considering how blatantly unreasonable the behaviour of the .fi authorities has been.

It's possible that I could win. But that wouldn't really achieve anything, it wouldn't make the .fi authorities stop.

The best option I have available is to keep fighting my charges in Finland, as no matter whether I win or lose it'll be significantly harder for any other country to prosecute me for those same crimes. The courts here are fairly reasonable, while they require ridiculously low standards of proof, you essentially have to kill someone to actually go to prison here. Perhaps that makes it easier to say "guilty" just to play safe, keep the LE and prosecutors happy.

[wallace_f]

If your story is true, then you were, as it appears, wrongfully and unlawfully imprisoned. I think you should at least try contacting press and some lawyers -- if what you are saying is a true story.

It sounds pretty interesting to me -- I imagine someone in the press would pick it up.

[joering2]

> Other places aren't much better either.

You haven't been in many countries, have you?

Majority of Europe you will see SWAT team on TV once a year when they do a huge bust of over 100 drug dealers or terrorist. It would be a public shame, heads with rolls and never ending phone-calls from constitutes asking and demanding answers why their money was spent on performing a raid on a hacker who broke into publicly open computer.

I will also bet (as long as we are somewhere legal to do so like LV) a $100 that you won't find an example in Europe when SWAT team killed a dog or threw a flash grenade into a crib with a baby in it... something that happens in US and that noone can be reasonably held accountable.

[umanwizard]

You are cherry-picking Western Europe -- the most peaceful and developed part of the world -- to make your point.