On the extortion part, let's look at it a different angle.
-I was on Steam and my friend told me that the forums are being DDoS'd
-I start chatting with my friends who have done handicapped stuff like this before asking around to find out what I can
-I find out who it is, and decide to let Badspot I know who's doing it
-I start to realize that I honestly couldn't care less if the forums suffer, seeing as I'd left the community at the time
-I then ask for something in return seeing as if I just give him the information, it'll never make a difference in my life except for losing a friend and having the chance my friend will then attack me
I see it from your side now, and can relate to your choice of actions.
But I do hope you understand how it can be seen as an extortionate action.
The third option you had was to be neutral, and neither ask for anything, nor offer anything.
Might seem like withholding the information entirely is just as bad, but really, would that matter if no one ever knew you even had it to withhold? It would've saved you some trouble down the line.
And although it's mostly irrelevant, since it's all in the past and hindsight is cruel, I do think you should've re-thought about your friend.
Is it really a friend you want who DDoS's a small Indie game because of what are likely minor personal slights?
And especially if you're even afraid that your friend might attack you.
I get that all friendships are different, but personally, I've never considered anyone I've felt threatened by or frightened of to be a friend of mine.
