The Los Angeles Times reports Kevin Poe, of Manchester, CT, was taken into custody without incident by FBI agents at the federal courthouse in Hartford.
The FBI alleges that during a five-day period in October 2010, Poe and others linked to the hacking group Anonymous allegedly conducted a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against Simmons’ computer systems, sending tens of thousands of electronic requests designed to overload the computer server and render the website useless.
Poe was charged in a federal grand jury indictment in Los Angeles with one count each of conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. If convicted on both counts, Poe would face a statutory maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison.
Poe made his first appearance in U.S. District Court, where a judge ordered him released on a $10,000 bond and required Poe to come to Los Angeles at a date yet to be determined.
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned an indictment last week that accused Poe of being affiliated with the Anonymous hacking group.
Last October, Anonymous launched “Operation Payback,” a coordinated series of attacks on opponents of internet piracy. The group was motivated to provide ‘payback’ to denial of service attacks on torrent sites that shared copyrighted material by attacking piracy opponents, pro-copyright organizations, legal firms and individuals who spoke out publicly on the issue.
Simmons was specifically targeted for his comments at MIPCOM in Cannes last October, where he spoke against copyright theft during a panel discussion, saying “Make sure your brand is protected. Make sure there are no incursions. Be litigious. Sue everybody. Take their homes, their cars. Don't let anybody cross that line."
"The music industry was asleep at the wheel," Simmons continued, "and didn't have the balls to sue every fresh-faced, freckle-faced college kid who downloaded material. And so now we're left with hundreds of thousands of people without jobs. There's no industry."
Once his site was targeted and taken offline, Simmons upped the verbal ante against the people involved, posting a statement on his site on October 16, 2010 that read as follows:
“Some of you may have heard a few popcorn farts re: our sites being threatened by hackers. Our legal team and the FBI have been on the case and we have found a few, shall we say "adventurous" young people, who feel they are above the law.
And, as stated in my MIPCOM speech, we will sue their pants off.
First, they will be punished. Second, they might find their little butts in jail, right next to someone who's been there for years and is looking for a new girl friend.
We will soon be printing their names and pictures. We will find you. You cannot hide. Stay tuned.”
Interestingly, at some point after publishing this statement, it was removed from Simmons’ website.
See also:
VIDEO: KISS talk ‘Archie Meets KISS’ comics
KISS Kruise 2012 announced
KISS remember Eric Carr
KISS: Archie Meets KISS comic book signing announced
Gene Simmons tops the hennemusic Hot 10
VIDEO: Paul Stanley, Lita Ford do KISS at Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy Camp
Ace Frehley debuts on New York Times Best Sellers List
Gene Simmons says ‘a good beating’ would have helped Axl Rose
VIDEO: Ace Frehley New York book-signing event
VIDEO: Ace Frehley on The Today Show
Former KISS guitarist brands Gene Simmons a sex addict
VIDEO: Ace Frehley falls off stage in New York
KISS: Paul Stanley undergoes vocal cord surgery
VIDEO: Ace Frehley rocks NYC
KISS: First look at Ace Frehley autobiography
KISS: Ace Frehley book-signing tour announced
VIDEO: Gene Simmons gets married
VIDEO: Watch full KISS acoustic set from KISS Kruise (Part 1)
VIDEO: Watch full KISS acoustic set from KISS Kruise (Part 2)
KISS rock KISS Kruise Day 3
VIDEO: KISS rock KISS Kruise Day 2
VIDEO: KISS Kruise Day 1
VIDEO: Archie Meets KISS preview
VIDEO: Preview CNN’s KISS Inc. special
Gene Simmons, Shannon Tweed top the hennemusic Hot 10 for 2nd week
Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed wedding photo
VIDEO: Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed’s wedding reception
VIDEO: First look at Gene Simmons’ wedding
KISS to work with Lady Gaga?
Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed top the hennemusic Hot 10
KISS performed at Gene Simmons' wedding
KISS: Gene Simmons marries Shannon Tweed
KISS: Gene Simmons to marry Shannon Tweed
VIDEO: Gene Simmons proposes to Shannon Tweed
