Music

Hacker who took down Gene Simmons' website for five days faces up to 15 years in prison

by Tyler Munro

Computer hacker Kevin Poe could be facing 15 years behind bars—an eternity in geek years—after the FBI linked the 24-year-old to the recent hacks on GeneSimmons.com

The FBI alleges that Poe is part of Anonymous, a network of hackers that prides themselves on equal parts protest and internet-anarchy. The group is considered to be responsible for crashing the KISS frontman’s website last year after he went on a controversial tirade against music downloading.

“The music industry was asleep at the wheel and didn’t have the balls to go and sue every fresh-faced, freckle-faced college kid who downloaded a clip, so now we’re left with hundreds of people without jobs,” said Simmons at an entertainment marketing conference in France.”Sue everybody.  Take their homes, their cars.  Don’t let anybody cross that line.”

A DDoS attack crashed Simmons’ website shortly after. It was down for five days.

Poe has been charged with two federal counts of conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. Digital Music News reports that he’s currently out on a $10,000 bond.