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Journalist Barrett Brown is free, but will continue to pay

Journalist Barrett Brown was released from a Texas federal prison yesterday after serving over four years behind bars.

Brown was convicted after taking a plea bargain that admitted a role in the alleged hack of Stratfor—which he had nothing to do with until after the fact. He will continue to pay Stratfor some $200 a month for accessing data that had been independently hacked and available online for months by the time he saw it. 

Nov 30, 2016
Anonymous. Credit: Anna Tsuyuri.

You have to remember, we’re the Freemasons. Only, we’ve got a sense of humor. You have to wield power with a sense of humor. Otherwise you become the FBI.

A profile of Brown pre-arrest, when he was still known (paradoxically) as the "spokesman for Anonymous." The piece shows what a intrepid, dangerous force Brown could be against authority.
↩︎ D Magazine
Nov 30, 2016

The marvel that was Barrett's "Review of Arts and Letters and Prison"

Barrett Brown's "review of arts and letters and prison" column, first published by D Magazine and then the Intercept, is one of the very best inside-prison looks at the horrors of the criminal justice system.

On ersatz Dungeons & Dragons, reading Gaddafi in "the hole," eating mouse, and Kissinger's biography, Brown's dispatches are lucid, funny, and terrifying, especially given the weakness of the federal case that convicted him.

Nov 30, 2016

We live in a sort of silly cultural hell where the columns are composed by Thomas Friedman, the novels are written by Jonathan Franzen, the debate is framed by CNN, and the fact-checking is done by no one.

Barrett Brown did not enjoy receiving Jonathan Franzen novels while he was in prison.
↩︎ The Intercept
Nov 30, 2016
More Headlines
A room wallpapered in (presumably unread) New Yorkers. Credit: lars_o_matic.
A very stupid thing begins again. Credit: TMN.
The other White House, Moscow's Kremlin. Credit: Andrey Korzun.
Al Wadj Bank, Saudi Arabia. Credit: NASA.