- [Voiceover] Anonymous, you've probably heard of them.
They're the group of online activists that carry out cyber ops
to advance social and political change.
And sometimes, they need a lawyer,
a really good lawyer.
At first glance, Jay Leiderman seems like a regular guy.
He lives in the suburbs, drives a fast car,
and is a self-professed Deadhead.
Oh, and he loves whisky.
But there's more to Jay's story
than immediately meets the eye.
When Jay sits down at the computer,
he's anything but average.
- I represent accused cyber criminals,
many of whom are either affiliated with Anonymous
or closely related groups.
- [Voiceover] And it all started with a tweet.
- [Jay] I sent out a couple tweets
giving attention to the fact
that I would take a pro bono case.
The next morning,
there was an email in my inbox from Commander X.
- [Voiceover] Commander X, a prominent member
of the hacktivist group Anonymous.
- Commander X was the first hacktivist I represented.
Once he felt that I was his lawyer,
he determined unilaterally
that I was the lawyer for Anonymous.
There are a number of encrypted chat-type programs
that I would prefer to use.
I like to keep the NSA guessing
with which method of communication I'm going to use
with the idea that perhaps
they can't monitor them all at once.
When someone contacts me, and I do not know who they are,
it's the most beautiful, purest form of conversation,
because there is absolutely no judgement on anything.
Over the computer, everyone is equal.
- [Voiceover] One of the hardest things
about representing Anonymous
is working around digital laws
that were written decades ago.
His main gripe is with the CFAA,
the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
- The penalties are outrageous.
It's a bad law. It's a broken law.
It's not something that fits with today's technology.
Sharing your Netflix password with your friends,
that could be a federal crime.
I hope that by helping hacktivists,
by pursuing these cases in the courts,
by continuing to keep the issues alive in the media,
that we can enact some degree of change.
I hope it's not just a few of us crazies
running through the wilderness.
(soft music)