Life for this seems absolutely insane.
I don't think the kid will actually serve it out in prison though. The primary issue here seems to be that the kid is actively saying they will commit more crimes. No matter the crime, you can't really give a light sentence to someone telling you, in a court of law, that they will do it again.
The ideal would be that they rehabilitate him until he's able to be safely released with no fear of repeat offense, or at the very least, until the kid is smart enough to lie.
It's not prison, it's some sort of prison hospital. But still, life is the exact opposite end of the spectrum compared to a light sentence. Like you said, rehabilitation should be the goal, and imposing life sentences on 18 year olds is not how you make that happen.
He only got a life sentence because he made corporations look bad IMO. Not because of him saying he'd do it again.
I mean, he didn't even get a life sentence. That's in the headline, I know, but it's just not true.
He's in the hospital indefinitely, not sentenced to life. There's a big fat or clause that completely undermines the "life sentence".
He’s required to stay in the hospital prison for life unless doctors determine that he’s no longer a danger.
I'm not really sure what anyone thinks WOULD be just and proper in this kind of situation. I don't know many details of this particular case, but if there has been due process that determines someone is unsafe to release into society because they lack social capacity, releasing them anyway hardly seems like justice.
I'd like to believe -- though I know it basically isn't true -- that the justice system exists for the sake of justice. That it is primarily concerned with making whole the victims and making sure the criminals are rehabilitated such that they can safely rejoin society and even contribute to it in the future. I think that's how the justice system should work in a fair and just world. But if you have someone who is actually incapable of rejoining society, what are you supposed to do?
If we want to focus on the awfulness of this situation, I don't think the sentence is the issue. I think the focus would need to be on whether or not the hospital treatment has any chance of being effective -- because if it doesn't, THAT'S the story that matters.
No matter the crime, you can’t really give a light sentence to someone telling you, in a court of law, that they will do it again.
Dude's unfit to stand trial.
During Thursday’s hearing, the court heard Kurtaj “had been violent while in custody with dozens of reports of injury or property damage,” the BBC reports. A mental health assessment also found that Kurtaj “continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible.” He’s required to stay in the hospital prison for life unless doctors determine that he’s no longer a danger.
Sounds like dude has some stuff to work out mentally
He has autism. It affects the brain in very specific ways for each individual, but in general Executive function is the first thing to go when in stressful situations. You know, emotional regulation and self control? And I also guarantee that the cops and guards were treating him like shit. They LOVE picking on disabled people. I have no doubt most of the charges and incidents were exacerbated by the people in charge.
If he's unfit for trial doesn't he wait until he can? That is beyond unjust on every which side unless he is that level of fucked up. What is life like in an NCR-type deal hospital for life?
Is it like a decent group home or where is he being sent to exactly?
You might try reading the article you posted then, because it says very plainly:
He’s required to stay in the hospital prison for life unless doctors determine that he’s no longer a danger.
A danger of commiting cyber crimes. You forgot that part. This could be solved with a probation officer and a restriction on technology use. Instead, he's in a mental hospital. This is ridiculous and a way to weaponize his disability as a warning to others.
The use of "sentenced to life" here is one of the most blatant click/ragebait headlines I've seen in a while. And looking at the comments, people are eating it up.
He has not been sentenced to life. He's in a hospital until deemed fit to release, because he's destroying property, injuring people, and declaring a desire to return to crime.
Yeah, it's funny when it's Rockstar, less so when it's your social media or bank. If he can't bring himself to at least commit to saying he won't do something illegal just to get through court, then his lack of self control speaks to someone who's going to do some shit and wind up arrested again.
If the staff can get him to calm down enough to stand trial, he's out.
Also, remember he was already put on bail once:
A mental health assessment used as part of the sentencing hearing said he "continued to express the intent to return to cyber-crime as soon as possible. He is highly motivated."
The jury was told that while he was on bail for hacking Nvidia and BT/EE and in police protection at a Travelodge hotel, he continued hacking and carried out his most infamous hack.
Despite having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj managed to breach Rockstar, the company behind GTA, using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV and a mobile phone.
The dude hacked Rockstar while in police custody for hacking other companies. They were transporting him and stopped for the night. They locked him inside a hotel room after clearing out anything that he could potentially use to hack. But they missed an Amazon Firestick in the back of the TV. Using that and his room phone, he hacked Rockstar, then when he was caught he told police he’ll do it again as soon as he’s released.
Yeah, the dude is compulsive. It’s an obsession for him.
But think of the talent…the potential
Yeah isn't this the part of the movie where he gets recruited from jail by James Bond or something? That's literally a plot point in at least one Mission Impossible movie, isn't it? Lol
They won't be able to stop him. He literally needs that cube they put magneto in.
This sounds like something out of a movie plot holy cow
because he’s destroying property,
Hold on while I dig out the world's smallest violin for the property of billionaire parasites.
Although he stayed at a hotel under police protection during this time, Kurtaj still managed to carry out an attack on Rockstar Games by using the room’s included Amazon Fire Stick and a “newly purchased smart phone, keyboard and mouse
Lol. If this was in the plot of a movie, I would say that this is implausible.
Jesus. Don't lock this guy up, give him a computer and point him at Russia.
To be fair, that mobile phone is basically just a computer. I could my dayjob from a mobile phone too if I plugged it into dock with mouse, keyboard and a screen. Just a bit inconvenient
The part I don't get that no-one has mentioned is that Rockstar stated in court that it cost them $5million to recover from the attack. What does that even mean? They spent $5mil on lawyers to recover the video footage? They spent that on upgrading security (which arguably should have been in place already if they could be hacked with a fire stick and a landline). Or have they been selling $5mil less of Shark Cards than they were expecting?
I think some of these evil corporations just throw up a number and expect people to believe they spent that kind of money.
I don't even buy games at release anymore. I wait for a sale or GOTY edition. I wish people would stop pre-ordering and wait for YouTube reviews and Twitch streams.
I didn't pre-order GTA V and watched it on Twitch. After about 2 weeks, went and bought it on PS3 with money I won from a football pool.
First off: it’s a hospital until he’s fit to stand trial. Same for the crazy serial killers who can’t comprehend that what they do is wrong.
Second: the dude is autistic and violent without his connection to the internet. He need professional help.
Third: respect where it is due, he was already banned from having a computer, hacked rockstar with a phone and a fire tv stick
The NSA is about to buy him his freedom...
Jesus, man. He hacked Rockstar with a fire stick and a phone, lol. Put this kid to work hacking enemy governments. Why waste that talent?
According to the article he was also found to be extremely violent while in custody, with several reports and issues. A lot of that is likely related to his Autism and should be noted. I also absolutely expect the reports are at least partially exaggerated in their wording.
That said: I do agree. Get the kid some therapy and coping skills and give him a nicely colored hat to choose from.
If they are going to go that way, no one will ever know.
How could this 18 year old have hacked your government website while locked up in a hospital? Are you admitting your cyber security is that bad?
conversation ends
Life? That's bonkers. For leaking GTA crap? Egad.
Guess a billion dollar company bought the legal system...
Rockstar: 'Lock him up and throw away the key. Also, play our game and go shoot some civilians, cops, and feds in a hacker terrorist bank heist online with friends!'
The use of "for life" here is extremely misleading and rage baiting. People around here shit on the media all the time, but fall for this clickbait hook line and sinker.
He's not been imprisoned "for life". He's been put in a hospital until deemed fit for release or to stand trial. Because he's literally destroying shit and hurting people/himself.
During Thursday’s hearing, the court heard Kurtaj “had been violent while in custody with dozens of reports of injury or property damage,” the BBC reports. A mental health assessment also found that Kurtaj “continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible.”
And yeah, we all like cybercrime around here when the kid does it to Rockstar, but he can just as easily do more damaging things to regular people, and that's a serious concern. If he can't control himself long enough to get through a trial, then there's no reason to assume he won't do more shit.
Although he stayed at a hotel under police protection during this time, Kurtaj still managed to carry out an attack on Rockstar Games by using the room’s included Amazon Fire Stick and a “newly purchased smart phone, keyboard and mouse,” according to a separate BBC report. Kurtaj was arrested for the final time following the incident.
I say let him out, unconditionally. When you reach this mix of genius and shamelessness, you breach into the territory of art. Rockstar having to pay $5.000.000 in "damages" is a sacrifice I'm willing to have them make.
When you have a kid like this you fucking recruit them to work for the government and let him hack their enemies to his hearts content.
Imagine what the MI6 or CIA could make out of him. He hacked Rockstar using a firestick, imagine what he could do when given the right tools. This is a terrible waste of skill.
Yeah but it makes mega corporations look like the complete idiots that they actually are...the rich can't have their stupidity on clear display like that so they need to punish whoever.
This isn't about their shitty game anymore, they want to attempt to stop other smart individuals from again showing the world that this giant companies shouldn't exist and how utterly pathetic they are when it comes to security
Here's a better source with more information. He is a career criminal already who has hacked a lot more than just Rockstar. I'm not saying that a fucking life sentence is justified, but the Verge isn't doing its due diligence in reporting all the facts on why they gave him such a drastic sentence. The fact that he has already done a lot of damage and says that he will do so again isn't great for him.
What the FUCK?!
this is fucking alarming.
"This kid is super smart and managed to get somewhere he wasn't supposed to be. The people protecting that place have billions of dollars, so this kid must suffer. What he didn't was kind of illegal but no one got hurt except the billionaires who want him to suffer. Well, they didn't measurably get hurt, they just are upset about it. What do you say? Life in the Looney bin?"
That's a very distorted description of what's actually happening. The person (he's 18 so no longer really a "kid") had been violent while in custody with dozens of reports of injury or property damage, and continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible. Furthermore, the "life" sentence is only until the doctors think he's no longer a danger. It sounds like this guy is a real piece of work and the sentence is rooted in the goals of rehabilitation and protecting the public rather than some kind of retribution.
Life in prison to protect corporate/government profits and secrets.
Humanity makes being a misanthrope mighty appealing.
Welcome to the News community!
Rules:
1. Be civil
Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.
2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.
Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.
3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.
Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.
4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.
Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.
5. Only recent news is allowed.
Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.
6. All posts must be news articles.
No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
7. No duplicate posts.
If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.
8. Misinformation is prohibited.
Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.
9. No link shorteners.
The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.
10. Don't copy entire article in your post body
For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.