Angry in the Great White North

Who is Joshua? He's a student at Sheridan College in the Telecommunications Technology program.

Joshua has a virtual home at MSN's MySpace. He uses the name "represto". "Repressed in Toronto"?

My interest in Joshua began with this post to his blog:

Monday, May 01, 2006

Revolution!

The snowball is rolling...

http://gerrynicholls.blogspot.com/2006/04/railroading-harper.html

http://stevejanke.com/archives/174353.php

http://stevejanke.com/archives/174356.php

A link to the original story by Gerry Nicholls, followed by my two stories. But what was interesting was the tone. Revolution? And a reference to a rolling snowball?

Sure sounded like what the person who started this would say. But then maybe he's just happy someone else started the snowball rolling. But then he is a telecommunications technology student...

His post earned him two "kudos" -- something you would expect would be given to the person who pulled the prank, and not just someone documenting it.

My suspicions grew stronger when I discovered that Joshua is a member of the Toronto Area Security Klatch, a message board for computer security experts who examine hacking, among other things.

I returned to his blog on Tuesday. Joshua had written three more posts -- each a reprint of the main stream media coverage of the GO Train incident. The Globe and Mail. The Toronto Star. The Toronto Sun.

A hacker's scrapbook? Checking out how well his "snowball" is rolling?

Interesting but hardly an iron-clad case.

I returned on Wednesday. One of his MySpace friends, "dani elle", posted this comment:

You ingenious hacker; you electronic vandal, you...Look at the quality journalism produced, I'd kill for this quote "I worked with Stephen Harper for five years and never once did he in that time eat a baby"

But I'd change never to only and write a story backwards from it...in fact I think I may

So "dani elle", who, like Joshua, is from Niagara Falls and so might know Joshua, congratulates Joshua for being an "ingenious hacker" and an "electronic vandal". "Danzo" thinks the incident was "awesome".

So is Joshua are electonic vandal? I'll reserve judgment, but "dani elle" seems to think so. I've been in contact with Exclusive Advertising, and though they have not added any more to their statement released on their website, I know the firm has been in touch with GO Transit Security with the information I've discovered. We'll see where it goes from there.

This posting suggests Joshua is Joshua Arsenio.

Is the hacker, whoever it turns out to be, in serious trouble? From the GO Transit By-laws, Section 87:

No person shall, without authorization, handle or operate any part of the mechanical, electrical or electronic equipment of any vehicle or any part of the transit system operated by the Authority, except devices which are intended for passenger use, and then only in accordance with posted instructions.

Sentencing is covered under the Provincial Offences Act, and could earn the guilty party a fine of up to $5,000.

Of course, Exclusive Advertising could pursue of civil case to recover lost revenue from advertising that has not been running while the LED display system has been taken offline pending the software upgrade.

All in all, potentially a very expensive stunt.