Gary McKinnon and UFO's and the CIA etc,

[Ignatius_S]

This was a good piece by Duncan Campbell, a while ago - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/01/hacking.hitechcrime  -

... whats the standard of proof here?...

The modern equivalent of throwing him in a duckpond and seeing if he floats?

A suggestion that it was just a stoned oddball having a nose around is hugely embarrassing for organisations like NASA – in the case of Mitnick, it appears very likely that there were trumped up charges of malicious damage.

On the subject of burden of proof, one thing that particularly concerns me is, as you have very rightly said, how one-sided the US-UK extradition treaty is.

When Richard Feynman was at Los Alamos working on the Manhattan project, he gained a reputation as a safecracker by opening safes all over the compound - including the big, ultra-secure safe used by the base commander....

Yes, he must have known what he was doing was wrong, but what was his intent and what damage did he actually do? Important factors that will no doubt be properly addressed (or ignored) if and when he goes to trial in the US justice system.

Ha! I like that story – how times haven't changed!

I think the intent/damage done is a tricky one – I suspect it's a case of 'Who are you going to believe? The authorities or a self-confessed criminal?' and I guess it really is going to be someone's word against somebody else's.

One thing that also struck me odd was for all the claims of the damage McKinnon did, he did leave messages pointing out lax security – always struck me that if he wanted to, he could have done far worse.

[copylight]

His left eye is busy hacking into the Old Bailey by the looks of it.

[The Widow of Brid]

Dunno, what he's worried about really. If he does end up in jail, he can always just use his powers as Kid Marvelman to escape.

[An tSaoi]

It has been claimed - and I'm not saying that this was the case or is an excuse for what he did - that the security was incredibly lax and in some cases it was the equivalent of using 'password' as a password.

So if someone leaves the door to their house unlocked I can walk right in because the security is lax?

[Danger Man]

So if someone leaves the door to their house unlocked I can walk right in because the security is lax?

Yes. And if all you do is have a look around and then leave quietly then you shouldn't really expect to spend the rest of your life in prison.

[rudi]

Nor would it be illegal, oddly enough. Just don't take/damage anything...

[biggytitbo]

Yes. And if all you do is have a look around and then leave quietly then you shouldn't really expect to spend the rest of your life in prison.

It's not even someones house, its more like having a walk around in the ministry of defense, having a bit of a peek in a few rooms then leaving.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Being a spy then.

[Ignatius_S]

So if someone leaves the door to their house unlocked I can walk right in because the security is lax?

Well, I'm sure you noticed I said "I'm not saying that this was the case [that security was lax] or is an excuse for what he did".

One reason I was mentioned that about the security being lax, is because McKinnon is sometimes portrayed as a hacker genius who managed circumvent heavy-duty security system - and I think that's worth remembering, as the reality may be rather different.

[biggytitbo]

The point is we're throwing him to the yanks were he'll get 500 years for an offense that might get a few years here, because we're on our knees and sucking the cock of as military empire whose own behavior and morals are in the sewer.

[Backstage With Slowdive]

I've sometimes wondered if "hacking" really exists, but is kept alive as a convenient fiction to cover up the truth that firms have security problems through the old-fashioned routes of insiders selling details, passwords etc.

[Emma Raducanu]

What we're forgetting is the really important thing; that he was discovered while downloading an image of an alien. Ckris, they're real and they're here.

[Pinball]

The extradition treaty is a modern discrace, and has been termed very aptly 'legal imperialism'.

Hopefully the European Court of Human Rights will tell the imperialists to fuck off and kill their mothers.

It really is time the EU threw off the shackles of control the post-WW2 US has over us. It is 64 years now for Christ's sake. Sadly, the UK will be the last country in EU to remove the cancer, as indicated by the pathetic behaviour of 'our' Home Secretary. I thought he was supposed to represent us and not the US government..

us vs. US.

hoho.

[chand]

Slightly less ranting analysis of the extradition situation from Channel 4; http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/factcheck+are+ukus+extradition+rules+lopsided/166700

Couple of other pieces attempting to give the other side of the story (ie. that it's fairly reasonable that he be extradited);
http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=4930
http://strange.corante.com/2009/08/06/gary-mckinnon-the-truth-is-out-there-just-not-in-the-british-press

I have to say, from what I've read of it I don't really see that there's a legal case for him to not be extradited. I think people defending him should stop trying to make so much of his Asperger's; it doesn't make you immune from trial and it should be up to the courts decide how much it mitigates his culpability.

[confettiinmyhair]

It's not even someones house, its more like having a walk around in the ministry of defense, having a bit of a peek in a few rooms then leaving.

So Cyber-Trespassing then?

[Baxter]

Can't he just whistle down a phone and have the charges dropped?