RSSBritish hacker will be extradited to US for trial
By Angela Gunn | Published July 31, 2009, 9:52 AM
A British hacker who broke into 97 military and NASA computer systems -- looking, he claims, for evidence about UFOs -- will be tried in America, where if convicted he may face a sentence of up to 70 years. Gary McKinnon has been appealing in the British judicial system to avoid extradition to these shores.
Mr. McKinnon doesn't deny that he hacked into the computers in 2001-02, but has stated that he wasn't attempting to compromise US security but to find secret information on unidentified flying objects -- a particular obsession for the 43-year-old man, who has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. He asked instead for trial in the UK, stating that trial and incarceration in the US could be highly debilitating due to his condition.
Mr. McKinnon's activities began in February of 2001 and continued until March of the following year, when he was first questioned by law-enforcement officials about his hacking efforts. Several of his incursions caused significant trouble, including a hack that knocked several hundred computers at a naval station in New Jersey offline immediately after 9/11. A New Jersey district court issued a warrant for Mr. McKinnon in October of 2002, and extradition efforts began in late 2004. In February of this year, UK officials announced that they would not pursue charges against Mr. McKinnon in Britain.
The Free Gary web site, which has ben the locus of much of the anti-extradition effort, was offline as of Friday morning. Meanwhile, Janis Sharp, Mr. McKinnon's mother, is reported to have made a personal appeal to President Obama to intercede.
A poll of 550 IT professionals conducted over the past two months by Sophos, the anti-malware firm, finds that 71% of those asked do not think that Mr. McKinnon should be extradited. That's up from just 52% three years ago.
He's either an idiot or a liar.
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|He is guilty and needs to be tried by the USA, however let us not forget. It was the USA who put norrega in power, Saddam Hussain and many other dictators. The USA has dirty hands and thus the chances of him getting a fair trial are as real the the USA sayin its solvent.
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|They ought to hire him to help them fix their lax security, which probably hasn't changed much since then.
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|Well lets seee how many times has the U S A violated laws and privecy of other nations and people ,how many times has the U S A violated rob ,other nations and people ,how may times has the U S A dictated to, how many times has the U S A violated it human rights on its own people
other contries,the world is changing and has for the security their is none you have terrist killing every body you goverments do the same all over the world ,they violate human rights every day ,A proverb ,from the bible HE WITH OUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE as for U F O if any idiot thinks we are alone in this one gallexy of billions go get brain transplant, and the end product of this we are all on one planet we need a world federated goverment and men and woman off honur truth to carry out the rights of all people not the lieing cheating robbing lot we all have all over the world
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|as far i can tell the USA is a country, and made up off many, so from that distinction, the USA has done nothing wrong,
it sounds like your holding the whole of USA responsible for crimes of individuals, or small bodies.
the fact is, in this context, this person has done something bad to another country without permission or authority to do so from there own government body,
it sounds to me you've taken this situation and blown it to full scale comparison, justice can only serve the guilty,
"U S A violated rob ,other nations and people ,how may times has the U S A dictated to, how many times has the U S A violated it human rights on its own people
other contries"
strange how you have stereo typed USA as a hole single body, justice can not judge an entire populous of a country, we as a person of good conscience should not judge innocent people of deeds that were done by others.
further more, show me one country that has not done what you have stated the USA has done at some point in the past,
to quote a passage from the bible as you have done,
"Judge not, that ye be not judged"
http://wiki.answers.com/...hat_ye_be_not_judged%27
http://www.afterabortion.org/sermon1.html
don't judge or stereo type an entire country from the deeds of the individuals,
and using quotes from a bible to help make your argument more true, is in it self SIN,
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|in aswer to your remarks try liveing their and have your eyes open but in your case eyes wide shut
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|i don't feel that living there could justify the single minded view's you have posted above, I'm sorry to say but your comments seem very single minded, and could never be justified, i feel you should embrace the concept of what judgment is, as you originally quoted from the bible, perhaps you should actually read some of it, the bible discusses a lot about, false judgment,
and if that doesn't ease your mind, then take this thought away with you,
USA is one of the youngest countries in the world, just like teenagers, they tend to have a loud attitude, always thinking they know what's right, and always want to be first, and very quick to kick off, (just like a teenager),
my advice, give them time, after all there was a time when UK was just the same, c***y, aggressive, and thinking they should own the world, just like other countries have also done, (ROME anyone) hehehe.
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|well, i think that the person here didn't think twice about the UK government when he was committing this crime,
to ask for help from the UK now after the fact, well i think he has some cheek, and i doubt very much the UK is going to step up and bat for him, after all, he has committed some very serious crimes, and also is now considered a national security threat,
his intentions will be heard no doubt, and will have some effect surely, but doubtful it will help in anyway,
the fact is, as a society we would not like nor tolerate all our homes being invaded by the police just on the off chance we had something there criminal, as a general rule, just cause must be first met before such action can be taken,
this person had no just cause, he has taken the law into his own hands, and commited so many crimes, i doubt very much they will all be accountable considering how many crimes has been commited by his actions,
the extratridition treaty has to be met,
the only controvcersial problem that remains is the fact that he does have Asperger's syndrome,
this aswell as other symptoms is known to cause obsessive and repetitive behavior,
he has had this obsession for UFO's for 43 years, i feel that if the court room is open minded , this disability he has will be the center of talks that will take place,
this is clearly a man who does not have his full faculties, and the human rights act clearly comes into play here, because justice has to accept that this man does have a clinical problem that could in part if not in full be the reason or at the very least a contributing factor why he has committed these crimes without full appreciation on the consequences of his deeds,
it is a controversial situation, and is probably why the UK government is having so much trouble settling this matter once and for all, should a person with Asperger's syndrome be held fully responsible for doing something that this person can not fully comprehend because of his disability, yes this man knows the simple things, like don't lie, or don't hurt some one, or even things like don't take what is not yours, these are simple concepts,
but breaking into computer systems, indeed this is a different matter entirely.
reminds me a little of a 1988 film called "Rain Man"
quite controversial indeed, the man has cheated, and broken laws, yet has he willingly, knowingly broken laws?
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|What about the concept of "If it's not yours, LEAVE IT ALONE!"?
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|Well now, the lad wasn't all that smart was he? He did get caught after all. Top-notch hackers don't get caught.
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|He should be extradited and tried for espionage against the United States. I am sure one of the maxinum Security prisons here has a medical facility that is able to treat his condition and his delusions of little green men. Hopefully Obama will not intercede in this matter. This guy is a Dangerous Criminal and needs to be sentenced to 99 years + Life and never allowed to touch a computer again.
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|Their green colouring is just warp sickness.
They go back to normal in a couple months.
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|Just the sort of over the top reaction that proves why he shouldn't be extradited- America's hysterical over anything that can possible be seen as terrorism and he'll probably end up with jail time vastly disproportionate to the crime.
Try him in the UK and jail him for a year or two- assuming he's found guilty.
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|The lad was looking for signs of little green men for heavens sake, true he was a smidge brighter than the average extraterrestrial hunter, and it would appear a whole lot smarter than the guys you have in charge at NASA . Now that's the truth of the matter isn't it, you're more than a little peeved that our guy was smarter than that crowd you have in charge. What say we all have a glass of what does us good, shake hands and let the guy go ? Then probably a good idea to fix that rubbish security you rely on as we do have quite a few more at home like him.
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|What he was looking for is 100% *irrelevant* -- would it have mattered if he was looking for a recipe for lemon tarts? He broke into a machine he had no legal right to be in. P-e-r-i-o-d. I don't see how anyone can argue otherwise. Any level of intelligence on the part of the hacker or the people on the other end is also irrelevant. I repeat, he broke into a machine that he had *no* legal right to be in. And the fact that he didn't deny it speaks volumes.
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