Even though journalist and activist Barrett Brown won't face charges of identity theft for sharing a link to hacked "records documenting improper and potentially illegal activities by the U.S. intelligence contractor, Stratfor Global Intelligence," his prosecution on other charges still threatens press freedom, the Electronic Frontier Foundation argues. Brown apparently shared the link to the Stratfor files with a team of other journalists to crowdsource the review of the records, EFF says.
Federal prosecutors may have decided to press charges against Brown because "Brown admitted to being a heroin user and threatened an FBI agent and his children in a semi-coherent video posted to YouTube. (This happened after the FBI charged Brown’s mother with obstruction of justice for failing to produce Brown’s laptop.) Brown still faces charges for this threat in a separate criminal case, as well as charges of obstruction of justice for concealing evidence. However, Brown’s arguable lapse of judgment does not excuse the government for bringing specious identity theft charges against him for the simple act of sharing a link," EFF further argues.
Brown's continued prosecution threatens press freedom because journalists may not pursue stories on government and corporate wrongdoing out of heh fear that they could be prosecuted for crimes based on newsgathering, EFF concludes.
Lawyer and Legal Journalist
