Andrew “weev” Auernheimer, who spent just over a year in prison on dubious charges of violating the “worst law in technology,” is now completely free.
His lawyer, Tor Ekeland, tweeted Wednesday that all charges had been dropped.
yo, @rabite court just signed order dismissing indictment and releasing you unconditionally.
— Tor Ekeland, P.C. (@TorEkelandPC) April 16, 2014
Auernheimer left prison Friday, thanks to a judge vacating his charges based on the peculiarities of where he stood trial. Auernheimer was tried in New Jersey, which has stricter hacking laws but nothing in particular to do with his case.
In 2010, he was part of a group who discovered an exploit on AT&T’s website that revealed iPad subscribers’ information. Auernheimer told AT&T about the bug—but he also told the blog Gawker. That was enough to get him convicted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the most controversial hacking law in the U.S.
In order for Auernheimer to face prison again for that case, he’d have to be rearrested and tried all over again, Ekeland told the Daily Dot.
“Indictment dismissed, bail conditions lifted,” he said. “He is completely free.”
Like Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, who on Wednesday found out that his seized fortune will be returned, Auernheimer celebrated his legal win with a poem.
Once a man from IRC Showed the whole world goatse The feds kicked in his door & cuffed him on the floor He’s free cuz he didn’t sign a plea
— Andrew Auernheimer (@rabite) April 16, 2014
Illustration by Jason Reed