Online group accused in iPad hacking denies crime

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — An online group implicated in the theft of 100,000 e-mail addresses of Apple iPad users says two of its members arrested Tuesday did nothing wrong.

Daniel Spitler and Andrew Auernheimer face counts of fraud and conspiracy to access a computer without authorization. The counts each carry a five-year maximum prison sentence.

Spitler is a bookstore security guard from San Francisco. Auernheimer is from Arkansas. They’re involved in a group known as Goatse Security, described in Tuesday’s criminal complaint as a “loose association of Internet hackers.”

Goatse says Spitler and Auernheimer acted within the law and in the interests of public security by exposing a flaw in AT&T’s security system.

Spitler says he’s “not worried about this case at all.”

Auernheimer has mocked the case. He says the affidavit makes “fantastic reading.”