When he wakes up on Sunday morning, Gary McKinnon will be 72 hours from learning whether he is on the fast track to a 60-year prison sentence, thanks to his obsession with aliens. McKinnon (42) from Enfield in north London, is accused by American prosecutors of illegally accessing top-secret computer systems in what they claimed in one legal document was "the biggest military computer hack of all time".The self-taught IT expert insists he was simply looking for information the US government had on UFOs and is adamant that he never damaged any of its computer systems. This argument, however, cuts little ice with the Americans, who are trying to extradite him. Five years after being told by British police that he would probably get a six-month community service order for his exploits, McKinnon finds himself still wanted by the US authorities. A 2006 High Court ruling granted the extradition request, and on Wednesday the House of Lords will decide on McKinnon's appeal against that ruling.
Legally, that is correct but you know how we are politacally connected to the US? We are affectivly their bitches. Think about is, not even Blair wanted to go in to Iraq (ask his father-in-law and see) but...
What pride?
They should have him to try and hack into it again and again so they can improve the security. In fact, make it his punishment. Free labor ftw, no?
So by your warped logic if you pop out for an hour, leave a window open and get burgled then it is you who should go to jail and not burglar.
So by your warped logic if you pop out for an hour, leave a window open and get burgled then it is you who should go to jail and not burglar.
And by your warped logic, you compare burglary to hacking into government computers. The home owner would be penalized by means of having to claim on their home insurance...
The US government should thank him for revealing how useless they are at protecting what they deem "Classified" information...
The truth must be known!
I do wonder how this would all be going if it was all reversed...
Also, it's a one-way street. The US refuses to have an equivalent treaty to extradite people to the UK.
Also, "Testimony" of the guy who is fighting extradition dosen't really, ya know, hold much water.
For those who say "boo hoo, your fault" consider yourselves lucky.
All this and other few recent stories lead me to believe that there is some phenomena (extraterrestrial or not) that the government is hiding, and we need to know what it is soon or people will keep doing what this dude did.
This is really creeping me out..
But hey maybe in 30 years we will live in Coruscant or something lol.
2. Where he should be charged is, as a previous poster said, really up in the air. The law is WAY behind technology. You can't murder someone from oversees, but you can hack into things. In my opinion, though, he should be tried in the US since you could argue his "presence" was in the US moreorlesskindasorta (but then what happens when a foreign host is used and someone hacks that? Like I said, law is behind.)
3. Boo hoo the US allegedly doesn't have a similar extradition treaty with the UK. That's the UK's fault for accepting a treaty and not making sure they weren't gonna get boned in the process. Sucks, but not our problem.
If he gets 60 years in prison that’s ridiculous, from what I read in the back page news of Neowin the computers he accessed had no security on them what so ever!
Maybe the person who left them computers so insecure should get 120 years in prison... I’m sure you would get less time for a more serious crime...
Surprising that just complaining about it on forums or signing internet petitions doesn't do jack **** isn't it?
Simple because there barely is any >
This guy should get a job. The Server admins should be fired.
It seems that we are better off committing murder, robbery...
He should have trial in UK, not US because every country has the obligation to see after its citizens (law breakers or not). In this case, the US will treat him worst than a murderer.
How long did Nick Leeson get? He took down a bank worth billions. I'll bet you a million dollars it wasn't anywhere close to 60 years.
Wow and I was about to say good on this guy but wtf. 3 Years I would do that straight up, f**king hell man 60 years is a joke.
He did the crime, well if it is a crime on British soil so our laws come into play.
If he gets community service then so be it!
Hypocrisy? If you want peace and tranquility in the world, try using it. Oh wait, no, be absolute dicks about everything American that you possibly can, because they we'll definitely want to come to terms with you.
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