Computer Activists Take Over Sentencing Commission Website

Anonymous, the aptly named anonymous collective of hackers, hacked into the United States Sentencing Commission’s website on January 23 to protest the government’s prosecution of Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide last month. The group initially hacked the site on Friday January 22, replacing the contents of the site with its own video. In the video, which has since been taken down, but still exists elsewhere on the internet, Anonymous denounced the government’s prosecution of Swartz. According to Anonymous’ statement in the video, “a line was crossed” when Swartz, facing ‘a twisted and distorted perversion of justice,’ decided to kill himself.” According to Anonymous, it was time to do something, now that “several more of our brethren now face similar disproportionate persecution.” The website was taken offline and restored to its proper formatting, but by Sunday, Anonymous had hacked the site again, replacing it with a game of Asteroids which the visitor must play to reveal the message, “We do not forgive, we do not forget.”

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