As the US State Attorney published, "Dmitriy Guzner, 18, of Verona, New Jersey, has agreed to plead guilty to computer hacking for his role in the distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack against the Scientology websites. A DDOS attack occurs where a large amount of malicious Internet traffic is directed at a website or a set of websites. The target websites are unable to handle the high volume of Internet traffic and therefore become unavailable to legitimate users trying to reach the sites.

According to the criminal information filed in United States District Court in Los Angeles, Guzner participated in the attack because he considered himself a member of an underground group called "Anonymous." "Anonymous" has led protests against the Church of Scientology at various locations across the country, and in January 2008 posted a video on YouTube which announced a new offensive against Scientology.

Once he pleads guilty, which is expected to take place in the coming weeks in federal court in New Jersey, Guzner faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force in Los Angeles. The agencies involved in the investigation were the United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Bureau of Investigation."

It is expected that more Anonymous members are turning themselves in now.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac/pressroom/pr2008/140.html

They've used the system to suppress dissent. It's well known that people who spread negative information about Scientology become targeted for harassment by the church.

Boston Anonymous owned by Church of Scientology

The Massachusetts Lawyer blog reports today that "On Oct. 22, Judge Thomas C. Horgan imposed a one-year CWOF (Continuance Without a Finding) against Gregg Housh, who had been charged with disturbing an assembly of worship and disturbing the peace. As part of the plea, Housh was ordered to stay away from the Back Bay headquarters of the Church of Scientology and its new headquarters in Boston’s South End."

Gregg was presented just recently in The Phoenix as "an Internet activist and provocateur, is not an easy guy to characterize. A member of a group that calls itself “Anonymous,” Housh is pitted in what appears to be an escalating rift with the CoS." Looks like he lost it.

I wonder what made him admitting enough facts to warrant a finding of guilt on charges. Probably the fact that he faces jail if he doesn't?



Source: http://blogs.masslawyersweekly.com/news/2008/10/22/scientology-protesters-case-continued-without-a-finding/

Housh photo: http://cache.thephoenix.com/secure/uploadedImages/The_Phoenix/News/News_Stories/GuyFawkes1.jpg