Russian porn hacker sentenced

GlobalPost

In January 2010, Igor Blinnikov thought it would be fun to hack into one of the video billboards around Moscow and shock rush hour drivers with a blast of good ol’ hardcore porn. Authorities were not amused and the 41-year-old hacker from Novorossiisk was swiftly detained. And then tried and sentenced … for allegedly selling drugs (a court in his hometown of Novorossiisk gave him five years in May for allegedly selling 20 grams of weed).

Today he was on trial for the hack itself. Blinnikov reportedly hacked into the server of an advertising agency operating a billboard next to the Interior Ministry building in central Moscow. Traffic, predictably, crawled to a near halt while the clip played for just a couple of minutes. Prosecutors asked for a total of six years from which, according to Russian law, the current five year sentence he is serving must be subtracted. On Wednesday, Moscow’s Zamoskovoretsky Court handed down the full sentence.

Six years for a couple minutes of porn – fair?
 

This blogpost has been updated.

Will you support The World with a monthly donation?

Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you. We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

Make a gift today, and you’ll help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000!