Australian who boasted of hacking to plead not guilty to charges stemming from raid

A 17-year-old Australian who in February claimed to have breached networks at Microsoft and Sony will plead not guilty to charges stemming from a police raid on his home.

Interestingly, none of the charges lodged against Dylan Wheeler relate to his claims to have breached the networks and extracted software tools used to develop games for the XBox One and PlayStation systems.

According to documents shared by Wheeler, he is charged with possession of child exploitation material, dishonestly obtaining credit card information, possession of identification information with the intent of committing an offense, and disobeying a data access order to reveal his passwords.

Wheeler said Friday he also faces a weapons charge related to a stun gun that police seized from his family's home, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He told Perth Children's Court on Friday how he intends to plead, and said he will formally plead not guilty in a hearing scheduled for Nov. 11.

Wheeler maintains he is innocent, and believes the charges are in part retribution.

The police "were pissed off at the fact that I went to the media," Wheeler said.

Western Australian Police in Perth declined to comment on the case.

Eventually, Wheeler said, he expects hacking charges to be filed against him. He has been open about his probes into Microsoft's and Sony's networks, and said he told Microsoft about weaknesses in its network.

"To my knowledge they [Microsoft] fixed up a lot of the problems they had," he said, while Sony "did try and fix the issues."

But Wheeler did provoke Microsoft. In August 2012, he posted an eBay listing for a "Microsoft Xbox Durango Development Kit." That same month he was visited by an investigator with Microsoft's IP Crimes Team.

In February, he placed another eBay auction listing for a "Durango" PC. The listing expired on Feb. 19, the same day police raided his family's home, seizing three Apple computers, a 1TB hard drive, credit cards, his mobile phone and a stun gun, among other items.

Wheeler's lawyer, Marc Saupin, said Friday that Australian legal rules prevent counsel from commenting about an ongoing case.

Australian Politics Are A Full-Contact Sport

Kevin Rudd, the incoming prime minster, and Julia Gillard, the outgoing prime minister, in happier times.

While Americans often lament the state of politics in Washington, spare a thought for Australians, who will wake up Thursday morning under a different prime minister than the one they went to bed with.
Just as Australians were preparing for national elections in September, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took back the reins of power from Julia Gillard, the woman who had deposed him three years before.
Gillard became Australia's first female prime minister by challenging Rudd for the leadership of the ruling Labor Party, as Rudd was floundering in the polls. It was the first time a sitting first-term prime minister had been deposed in Australia.
"Knifed in the back" was how some commentators described it.
Such is the system in Australia, where people don't vote directly for the prime minister but for local members of Parliament; the majority party elects its leader and thus the prime minister.
The U.S. Electoral College has its critics, but at least it provides a certain amount of stability. Love him or hate him, Americans know that, barring any high crimes and misdemeanors, a sitting president will be around until the next election.
In Australia, things can be a bit more abrupt and dramatic.
Rudd might have been down, but he never went out. In a script Machiavelli couldn't have written better, Rudd remained in Parliament, gaining sympathy from the public over his surprise ouster and biding his time until he could once again take the reins of power.
His detractors in Parliament blamed him for leaks that undermined Gillard's government, and the ever-present specter of Rudd's possible return to power was blamed for Gillard's slow decline in popularity.
With an election just two months away and polls showing Labor set for a historic defeat, Rudd's opportunity for a return was at hand. Those same polls showed that if he was in charge, Labor would at least have a fighting chance at the election.
And so, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, "it was déjà vu all over again." Rudd moved against Gillard in a late-night leadership challenge, and Gillard went out the same way she came in. Having broken through the glass ceiling for women in Australia, Gillard says she's now quitting the political arena.
Australian politics have often been described as a full-contact sport. There is little sense of the decorum and respect usually seen in the U.S. House or Senate.
While two members of Congress may wildly disagree on an issue, on the floor it's always "the gentleman from Ohio" or the "gentlewoman from California." When Rep. Joe Wilson called President Obama a liar during a 2009 speech to Congress, the rebuke by the House of Representatives was swift.
But on the floor of Australia's Parliament it's not unusual for the party leaders to call each other "liars," "brain-damaged," "gutless," "vermin" ... and worse.
During a fiery debate last October, Gillard labeled the leader of the opposition a misogynist.
The state of Australian politics even led one of the country's most famous exports, actor Russell Crowe, to speak out. During a recent interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Crowe complained:

"It's just a lack of gallantry that has crept into not just politics but the way politics is reported, and I think it gives license to a type of hater that will only further reduce the quality of our lives, you know? The better politicians we have in place, the better our society is going to be, the better all of our lives are."

It's a view Rudd appeared to accept in his speech announcing his return to power:

"In recent years, politics has failed the Australian people. There has just been too much negativity all around. There has been an erosion of trust — negative, destructive personal politics has done much to bring dishonor to our Parliament but done nothing to address the urgent challenges facing our nation, our community, our families."

Rudd has called for the negative politics to stop. But that comes from a master politician who is accused by Gillard's supporters of being pretty negative himself.

 

Netflix Acquires Australian TV Series 'Mako Mermaids'

SYDNEY – Netflix has acquired the exclusive first run rights to Jonathan M. Shiff Productions’ live action kids series, Mako Mermaids for the USA/Canada, England, Ireland, Scandinavia, Benelux and Latin America.

Netflix will release the series simultaneously in those markets in line with the series' Australian premiere on Network Ten on July 26. ZDF Enterprises is the series' international distributor and ZDF will air the show in German-speaking territories.

The deal includes the exclusive premiere rights (outside of Australia) to the first season, including a first-run window, as well as a second season for the same territories.

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The show tells the tale of three mermaids who are tasked with protecting their magical Mako Island from trespassers, but are thwarted by the arrival of 16-year-old Zac. He acquires amazing powers and merman qualities. Threatened by his existence, the mermaid pod is forced to move away, abandoning the three young mermaids. In a bid for survival they must get legs, venture onto land, and take back Zac's powers -- or risk being outcasts forever.

A spin-off from the internationally successful series, H2O: Just Add Water, the 26 half-hour episode series is produced by Jonathan M. Shiff Productions, in association with Screen Australia, Network Ten, ZDF Enterprises and Screen Queensland, with assistance from Gold Coast City Council’s Business Gold Coast.

"This exclusive first-run deal, and Netflix’s commitment to the brand, is unprecedented -- not just for children’s, but for any Australian program. It is a game changer,” said executive producer Jonathan M. Shiff. “With the instant delivery of first-run series, as seen with their series House of Cards, Netflix is an exciting and prestigious platform.”

Screen Australia CEO Ruth Harley added: "This is an extremely significant deal for an Australian television program and reinforces that our children’s television sector is highly regarded internationally for the high-quality content it produces. There’s clearly an appetite for quality Australian children’s television content both at home and abroad."

Netflix is yet to launch its vod platform in Australia.