Intellectual Property Law

Prosecutor Decries YouTube User as 'Dumbest Criminal'

By Ryan Singel, Kevin Poulsen, Sarah Lai Stirland, Kim Zetter, and David Kravets

On Tuesday, THREAT LEVELer Kevin Poulsen handed the "Caper of the Year" award to a Northern California man. He allegedly bilked online brokerage institutions out of $50,000 by using an automated script to open 58,000 accounts, linking each of them to a handful of bank accounts, and accumulating thousands of dollars in micro-deposits.

In contrast, a continent away in the United Kingdom, a prosecutor is declaring a YouTube user "Leeds' dumbest criminal."

Andrew Kellett, 23, has received an Anti-Social Behavior Order in Leeds Magistrates' Court, barring him from posting any more allegedly illegal activity on the internet.

The man, according to out-law.com, is accused of posting dozens of brazen videos on YouTube. Some show him not paying for gasoline at a station, shorting a taxi driver and, among others, driving dangerous and blowing up stuff.

The local prosecutor, Les Carter, said ?Kellett must be in the running to be Leeds? dumbest criminal. He has handed us the evidence against him on a plate."

Kellett objected to the order, saying it imposed on his right of speech.

Here are some of the vids shown in Magistrates' Court.

See Also:

• Surprise! Student Superdelegates Endorse Obama via YouTube
• Obama Uses YouTube To Lobby The Public After Losing Pennsylvania
• Video Shows How Pakistani YouTube Censorship Spread
• Pakistan's Accidental YouTube Re-Routing Exposes Trust Flaw in Net
• Lights, Camera, Action -- YouTube As Political Storytelling Platform
• Republican Presidential Candidates Unleash YouTube Ad War
• Matt Drudge Starts Posting on YouTube

Full post as published by Threat Level on May 28, 2008 (boomark / email).