Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Eric Lundgren Case and Similar High-Profile Plea 'Bargains' (Aaron Swartz and Marcus Hutchins)

Overview



Microsoft's Declaration of War on Recyclers



The Legal Aftermath



Pending review and research




Innocence Is Irrelevant
Reference: Innocence Is Irrelevant



Summary: Unjust and at times fatal plea 'bargain' tricks are being leveraged against people who fight 'the system'; Eric Lundgren has come to realise he's one of these people

The other day we saw Eric Lundgren replying to Marcus Hutchins; it wasn't long after Hutchins had said:

Me: "Now my case is over the stress should subside and i can fina..." My Lawyer: "Just a friendly reminder that you need to pack up your entire apartment, say bye to all your friends, then move across the fucking sea. Sometime this week would be good."


Hutchins will be walking around for the rest of his (long to go!) life with a "felony" crest/emblem/badge/mark/stamp/livery. It's a stain. It'll never go away. It's hard to find employment as in some cases it is not legal to hire people with a conviction/criminal record/felony. He's on the record as admitting guilt only after he had been blackmailed into it with the plea 'bargain' trick/machinations. We mentioned this many times in our daily links over the past couple of years.

“I was watching a documentary called "The Internet's Own Boy - The Story Of Aaron Swartz" - I wish he was still with us... I was glued to the documentary in hopes of gaining some insight that might help my plight. Then the narrator says, "And then he hung himself" and I just sat there dumbfounded...”
      --
Lundgren and Hutchins have that problem in common now. "Before I went to prison," Lundgren told me the other day, "I was watching a documentary called "The Internet's Own Boy - The Story Of Aaron Swartz" - I wish he was still with us..."

"I think I mentioned the similarity to you already," I told him, as "legal bills burdened his family, so he 'saved' them" (by killing himself).

"It was crazy," Lundgren continued, "he got hit with the exact same level of Federal Charges that I was facing and I was so eager to hear how he was going to get out of it! I was glued to the documentary in hopes of gaining some insight that might help my plight. Then the narrator says, "And then he hung himself" and I just sat there dumbfounded..."

And "they do this to other people," I interrupted him to say. "Chelsea Manning is the latest..." (they impose massive daily fines on her and her family for merely refusing to testify against Julian Assange even though she rightly sticks to her Constitutional rights).

"Assange [may] still have some savings," I said, "so I think he can cope with legal bills..."

And "then comes the plea "bargain"," I said. And "the US did this to a Brit too [...] he was released 1-2 weeks ago ("MalwareTech") [...] he has felony now [but] they gave him a "bargain" [of] time served (2 years) [...] after he helped stop the damage caused by Microsoft/NSA back doors (WannaCry)" (this is based on our latest informal conversation).

Here's a report about it, "Marcus Hutchins, malware researcher and ‘WannaCry hero,’ sentenced to supervised release" (NSA and Microsoft officials -- not Hutchins -- should have been sentenced to prison, at the very least for their WannaCry culpability; it's them who made the back doors that caused hospitals to be shut down; their actions actually killed a lot of people).

"How dare this young British man 'interfere' with WannaCry, which was mostly developed by the NSA? Stay out, little fella'! Adults only here!"The above article (from one and a half weeks ago) was written by a former Microsoft UK staffer/intern who had blocked me in Twitter. So it's not likely he'll explain the back doors nature of it all (or Windows). The state wants to 'bury' it all and 'make an example'...

How dare this young British man 'interfere' with WannaCry, which was mostly developed by the NSA? Stay out, little fella'! Adults only here!

WannaCry is an exploit, a back door(ing) facility; it was leaked from the NSA and Microsoft knew about it as it's telling the NSA about zero-days without even fixing them. WannaCry is an SMB-level exploit. It killed lots of people, shut down hospitals worldwide, and caused billions of dollars in financial damage. And guess who was threatened with life in prison for it... the man who stopped it!

“No good deed shall go unpunished, especially if it hurts profit. This world be damned, we'll pollute it if there's a coin to be made outta this.”
      --Anonymous
In the case of Lundgren, who got arrested and was threatened with life behind bars? Not the people responsible for deadly pollution but the person who combats this pollution. As someone put it in response to our article yesterday (Microsoft employees have already 'infiltrated' these comments): "No good deed shall go unpunished, especially if it hurts profit. This world be damned, we'll pollute it if there's a coin to be made outta this."

The following old (but still viral) meme comes to mind as a rather appropriate and apt analogy:

Facebook vs WikiLeaks



There's lots more coming in the series, so stay tuned. The exact structure (outline) hasn't been determined yet. We're thinking along the lines of: 1) Silencing Media (how Microsoft gagged publishers). 2) Court Mischief (how Microsoft possibly 'bought' the outcome). 3) Legal and Financial Ramifications (the dangers of this precedent). Expect photos and legal documents (copies of them).

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

EPO People Power - Part XXX - New Year Starts, Cocainegate Still Discussed a Lot, António Campinos Desperate for Distraction From It
Why the sudden change or 'generosity'? [...] Actual cocaine addicts caused nervous breakdowns among sober people
IBM and Microsoft Hiding Layoffs in Similar, Overlapping Ways
Performance Improvement Plans aplenty
IBM is a Cancer That Attaches Itself to Everything
Red Hat should have remained an independent company
Plot Twist: Microsoft MSN Relays Articles Hinting at or Pointing to Mass Layoffs Soon, Other Gossip
the narrative from Microsoft's "PR bunny" (Shaw) is showing mold already
'Vibe Coding' is Not "AI", It's a Sewer, It is Junk
Linus Torvalds was wrong. 'Vibe coding' isn't good for anything.
GNU/Linux May be Approaching 10% "Market Share" in Montenegro
The surge started around 2021
 
Links 10/01/2026: "Abolish ICE or GTFO", Calls to Ban X/Twitter From Apple/Google App Stores (or Implement National Blocks) Over MElon Turning It Into Non-consensual Deepfake Porn Site
Links for the day
2026 Might be the Year Microsoft Replaces Layoffs With Mass Firings (No Severance Payments to Dismissed Staff)
It's hard to "see" PIPs unless insiders blow the whistle
Links 10/01/2026: STV Layoffs (Scottish TV), “CBS Evening News” in Chaos (Culls and Censorship by the US Regime)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 09, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, January 09, 2026
Gemini Links 10/01/2026: Blackout, E-Waste, and Secondary Smartphone
Links for the day
Links 09/01/2026: Google and Character.AI Implicitly Accept Chatbots Kill Kids and GLP-1 ‘Slimming Pens’ Turn Out to be a Lot Worse Than Advertised
Links for the day
At IBM, "Employee Reviews" (or Appraisals in the UK) Are a "Trojan Horse" for RAs (Mass Layoffs), a Waste of Time
comments from IBMer serve to suggest that appraisals can be precursors
Links 09/01/2026: Technical Blogging Lessons Learned and Google's Gmail Getting a Lot Worse
Links for the day
More IBM Layoffs in India
If IBM cannot afford to retain workers in India, then something is truly "out of control" at IBM
Escaping GAFAM Colonialism Requires Homegrown Free Software
GNU/Linux now measured at 3% in Zambia
Dr. Richard Stallman Has Done No Harm to the GNU Project or the FSF (He Had Benefited Both, Always, Even After the Attacks on Him Began)
Some people try to prevent Dr. Stallman from speaking or having a platform where many people can hear him
GNU/Linux at 4% in Saudi Arabia, Says statCounter
Some years ago Windows fell to a "market share" of just 11% there
Microsoft Isn't Denying the Mass Layoffs
Still silence from Microsoft
In Western Africa GNU/Linux Flirts With 5% Market Share
there's a gradual increase in GNU/Linux usage there
Gemini Links 09/01/2026: Pro1 X Repair and the Mercury Protocol
Links for the day
Links 09/01/2026: Cambodia and China Extradition, "NATO’s High-risk Patrols Near Ukraine"
Links for the day
No, Microsoft Did Not Deny the Q1 Mass Layoffs (Microsoft Can Delay These)
Maybe they disperse or delay the layoffs (changing plans), but the layoffs are going to happen
Only One Person in Charge of Fedora is Not IBM Staff
This is not a community project, it's just a way for IBM to onboard unpaid volunteers
This Is Not a Drill, GNU/Linux is Really Going 'Mainstream' on Laptops (and Desktops)
It is important to explain to people software freedom
IBM Albany Layoffs
not only did many in the site lose their job; there's more to come "and likely another one in February" (weeks from now)
EPO Workers' Industrial Action to Include Many Strikes, to Last Several Months
In some ways, The Hague and Bavaria are becoming almost indistinguishable from Moscow
EPO People Power - Part XXIX - Getting DER SPIEGEL, FAZ, Deutschlandfunk and Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) to Cover EPO Scandals
We kindly ask our readers to contact their local media and urge it to cover the scandals
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, January 08, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, January 08, 2026
Gemini Links 08/01/2026: "New Year, Old Plans" and Alex's "Butlerian Jihad"
Links for the day
LLM Slop About "Linux" Scarce and of Very Low Quality
At this rate, we reckon there may be one (or zero) per day by year's end
IBM's "Forever Layoffs" (to Bypass Warnings or Notices as Required by WARN Act)
There is a bunch of speculations about when the next "major round" of RAs will be
Attempts to Undermine This Site's Latest Series Using Intimidation, Threats, and Presumptuous Accusations
threatening language is less effective when everyone is an alibi
Links 08/01/2026: "Golden Smartphone" Scam and Riseup Account Issues
Links for the day
Links 08/01/2026: Possible "Collapse of NATO Over Greenland"; Journalistic Malpractice and "US Voters Hate Slop"
Links for the day
EPO People Power - Part XXVIII - A Sensitive Issue for Germany and The Netherlands
If Germans who read this series can communicate this to public officials or to their media, maybe they can strike a nerve and get the ball rolling
Age Discrimination at IBM Discussed Amid Mass Layoffs (Especially in the United States)
Workers are anxious. Are they next to face the axe?
Gemini Links 08/01/2026: Potentiometer Calculator, Power Outages, Why You Should Abandon Discord for IRC (e.g. Ergo), and Formatting Gopher Posts
Links for the day
Links 08/01/2026: More Software Patents Squashed, White House Repeats Misinformation From the Kremlin
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 07, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, January 07, 2026