William Genovese

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William Genovese is an American script kiddie who goes by the moninker illwill. Federal authorities charged Genovese with unlawful sale of a trade secret (US Code Title 18, section 1832) for selling the Microsoft Windows OS source code. His sales were ill-fated, taking place, respectively, to Microsoft investigators and federal agents.

The code Genovese sold was widely distributed on the Internet prior to his sale. Following an investigation, Genovese was arrested in November 2004. In January 2006, he was sentenced to two years in federal prison, largely due to an extensive previous criminal history.

Genovese sold two copies in total of the source code at $20 apiece to an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation officer.

Genovese was represented by Manhattan public defender Sean Hecker, who clarified his client's guilty plea by noting "Mr. Genovese was impatient to leave this history behind him ... (he) works full-time for the company of his father, and it is eager to be a productive member there."

District Judge William H. Pauley took a dimmer view of Genovese's character, calling Genovese "a predator who has morphed through various phases of criminal activity in the last few years." Court records list Genovese as a repeat offender, albeit often a minor one, with convictions ranging from breach of the peace to spray-painting.

At the time of his Microsoft-related arrest, Genovese was on probation for unrelated computer crimes.

Prior to his sentencing, Genovese related regrets to Wired News reporter Kevin Poulsen. "Basically, everything I do, I do ass-backwards," Genovese told Poulsen. "I like drawing, so I spray paint. I like music, so I took some radios of kids I hated in high school. I like computers, so I hack."

Genovese self-surrendered to US Bureau of Prisons officials on 14 March 2006.

In the past, Genovese had an ill-fated endeavor known as "hackchix." For a fee, customers could view images of unclothed girls that Genovese had captured via their webcam using Trojan Horses such as SubSeven.

Genovese is also mentioned[1] in news articles, in connection with the notorious internet leak of Paris Hilton's mobile phone address book.