Back in 2011, when Anonymous splinter group LulzSec was blasting its Lulz Cannon all over the Internet, one of their number became the mouthpiece on Twitter and, presumably, their Pastebin communiques. That spokesman was Topiary, whose real name is Jake Davis, self-described “simple prankster turned swank garden hedge.” All of 18-years old at the time and living in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, Davis had the wit and verve of a seasoned comedian, with the occasional surreal stream of consciousness of William S. Burroughs. One by one, however, LulzSec’s numbers thinned, until it became publicly known that reputed leader Sabu (Hector Xavier Monsegur) had turned stool pigeon, helping the FBI and foreign law enforcement officials bring down various LulzSec members. Davis was one of them.
Yesterday, Davis was released from prison after serving 37 days of a two-year sentence at the Feltham Young Offenders Institute. The 21 months spent monitored by an electronic tag were taken into consideration in his release.
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The 20-year old Davis is once again allowed to use computers and the internet, but is restricted from contacting any members of Anonymous. And, according to BBC News, Davis is “forbidden from creating encrypted files, securely wiping any data or deleting his internet history.” This, however, didn’t stop Davis from pledging his support to NSA leaker Edward Snowden—so the man hasn’t beaten all the rebel out of him.
That Davis’ days of lulz are over is something of a shame. While there was certainly a political bent to his hacktivism, Davis seemed to have also delighted in the pranskterism of the whole LulzSec enterprise. His humorous moments were many, and a constant source of entertainment to observers in the halcyon days of Anonymous, circa 2011.
And though Davis wasn’t a prolific hacker like Jeremy Hammond (Anarchaos), how could we forget the time he hacked the Westboro Baptist Church webpage with an Anonymous message during an on-air debate with church member Shirley Phelps-Roper? (Peruse a complete timeline of LulzSec’s hacks and DDoS attacks over at The Washington Post.)
With that in mind, I’ve selected some of Topiary’s funniest tweets. This should hold fans and supporters over until Davis publishes his prison diary and, as promised, writes a film about the internet.
Connections:
The Self-Proclaimed LulzSec Leader Was Arrested in Australia
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