Suspected teenage LulzSec spokesperson 'Topiary' free on bail

When UK police announced they had apprehended suspected LulzSec spokesperson Topiary, who turned out to be an 18-year-old named Jake Davis, some wondered whether it was actually a grand trompe-l'œil - that the Topiary authorities nabbed wasn't actually Topiary. New information culled after Davis was released into his mother's custody under house arrest on Monday, however, confirms he is in fact the real deal.

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A Pastebin posting titled "Free Topiary," attributed to Anonymous by the site Death & Taxes, but dripping with the signature cyber swagger of LulzSec, heralded the nailed Davis as a sort of free speech messiah - a "purveyor of many lulz" and "the greatest digital graffiti artist of all time":

There was a great purpose and an important message behind these mischevious [SIC] acts of cyber-vandalism. Jake Davis brought lulz to the oppressed. He spoke in a voice that resonated globally and reached us personally. We are sick of the twisted corporatocracy that controls us through our government, our news media, and our internet. From the remote and desolate Shetland islands, Jake's voice reached millions.

The grandiose verbal dress-up offered by his associates both ignores some of LulzSec's more questionable dalliances and contrasts perfectly with the first released pictures of the cyber spokesperson following his London court appearance.

Davis is remarkable mainly because he looks unremarkable; a shaggy-haired guy in casual denim, donning sunglasses and carrying the book "Free Radicals: The Secret Anarchy of Science." He's either the last person you'd expect to be writing press releases for an international group of cyber security breaching-pranksters, or exactly who you'd expect.

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The collective's official website is now completely offline. The last message added to its popular Twitter feed (the group has earned over 350,000 followers in the three months it's been active) discussed the new PayPal protest launched in conjunction with Anonymous.

Forbes revealed that Davis will face five charges at his next court appearance on August 30th for alleged cyber crimes that speak to activity beyond just being the previously not-so-public face of LulzSec.

Davis joins an unenviable group of hackers arrested around the world this year, including more than a dozen picked up in the U.S. two weeks ago. Arrests in Spain, Turkey and Italy have also been made.

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