McKinnon to be extradited

[AlfredJPruffock]

In his weekly column for the Daily Telegraph today, Boris Johnson, the London mayor, called McKinnon a "classic British nutjob" who should be protected by the government.

In refusing to intervene, the government was committing "one of the most protoplasmic acts of self-abasement since Suez", he wrote.

As ever - an interesting point of view from Boris.

But he is correct - we need a tough Harold Wilson type politician who will say to the US ' Hands off our Citizen Uncle Sam - we will deal with him.'

* For those who dont know - Harold Wilson bravely defied the US by refusing to commit Britain's Milltary to the bloodbath of Vietnam


From the judicial perspective - the 'unauthorised access of a poorly secured IT system' was performed from Garys home in the UK - this means surely that a UK Jury should sentence him - otherwise it infers that if you hack a country who does not happen to have an Extradition treary with the UK - then you can hack these systems from the UK and would be immune from any penalties.

[expat]

In his weekly column for the Daily Telegraph today, Boris Johnson, the London mayor, called McKinnon a "classic British nutjob" who should be protected by the government.

In refusing to intervene, the government was committing "one of the most protoplasmic acts of self-abasement since Suez", he wrote.

As ever - an interesting point of view from Boris.

But he is correct - we need a tough Harold Wilson type politician who will say to the US ' Hands off our Citizen Uncle Sam - we will deal with him.'

* For those who dont know - Harold Wilson bravely defied the US by refusing to commit Britain's Milltary to the bloodbath of Vietnam


From the judicial perspective - the 'unauthorised access of a poorly secured IT system' was performed from Garys home in the UK - this means surely that a UK Jury should sentence him - otherwise it infers that if you hack a country who does not happen to have an Extradition treary with the UK - then you can hack these systems from the UK and would be immune from any penalties.

I bet that logic applies just as much as did Charles Kennedy's when he was caught smoking a cigarette, with his feet inside a railway carriage and his head and the cigarette outside the window. His argument that he was not actually smoking inside the train was rejected. But it was clear that if he had done it the other way round - feet on the platform and cigarette inside the train - then that would certainly have been guilty too.

Especially since in this case we are not talking about logic or criminality, but the US's imperial reach; or in other words the UK government's craven submission to an outside power that regrettable we can no longer unequivocally consider as friendly.

[threaded]

Because he isn't actually that clever at hacking?

Can anyone point to a source describing what he actually did in terms of breaking in? Was it just simple password guessing or elevation of privileges?

IIRC he connected up using RemotelyAnywhere using phone numbers from a list on a bulletin board. That's really all there is to it.

No password cracking required. Definitely nothing fancy like elevation of privileges.

[BrilloPad]

the link has been forwarded to my mum..

Remind her there is no trolling allowed...........

[centurian]

[I]In his weekly column for the Daily Telegraph today, Boris Johnson, the London mayor, called McKinnon a "classic British nutjob" who should be protected by the government.

Usually when a politician calls you a "nutjob" - that person's friends and relatives would want the politician's head on a plate.

In this case, they'll probably want to support his next election campaign...

[Cyberman]

Are you trying to get a bite? That's the biggest load of toss I've read since SandyDown fooked off...

Agreed. Even if you leave your front door open, it does not mean that all and sundry have right of access. It is still trespass. McKinnon will get what the US law states that he should get if he is guilty and he has no right to complain IMO. Malicious trespassers are vermin.

[RichardCranium]

Even if you leave your front door open, it does not mean that all and sundry have right of access. It is still trespass. McKinnon will get what the US law states that he should get if he is guilty and he has no right to complain IMO. Malicious trespassers are vermin.

He was not RatBoy, destroying your home and crapping on your carpet.

A better analogy is someone going into the unlocked and open office of a publicly-elected and publicly-funded individual to rummage through their files to find the evidence they are 100% sure exists that demonstrates their duplicity.

Sadly, he was delusional. (Although there are tens of thousands around the world who believe the data does exist, he merely did not know where to look.)

He firmly believed he would find proof of UFOs or extra-terrestrials or contact with other worlds.

He was not a terrorist, a thief, a burglar or a vandal. He was snooping.

And if you are responsible for state secrets, you have a responsibility to protect them. This was akin to the bank staff going home and leaving the doors open and the lights on. And not one branch but the entire chain. If a passing simpleton wandered in and was tempted, would you still demand they get 20 years for bank robbery?

[Cyberman]

He was not RatBoy, destroying your home and crapping on your carpet.

A better analogy is someone going into the unlocked and open office of a publicly-elected and publicly-funded individual to rummage through their files to find the evidence they are 100% sure exists that demonstrates their duplicity.

Sadly, he was delusional. (Although there are tens of thousands around the world who believe the data does exist, he merely did not know where to look.)

He firmly believed he would find proof of UFOs or extra-terrestrials or contact with other worlds.

He was not a terrorist, a thief, a burglar or a vandal. He was snooping.

And if you are responsible for state secrets, you have a responsibility to protect them. This was akin to the bank staff going home and leaving the doors open and the lights on. And not one branch but the entire chain. If a passing simpleton wandered in and was tempted, would you still demand they get 20 years for bank robbery?

... but couldn't members of Al Qaeda etc argue that they are simpletons that have been brainwashed and thus should be treated leniently. Aren't most convicted thieves simpletons that have been caught out. Once we start making excuses for criminality we are on a slippery slope IMO.

[RichardCranium]

Once we start making excuses for criminality we are on a slippery slope IMO.

A slippery slope called 'justice'. Where sympathy is applied before revenge. Where punishment is tailored according to intent.

[ace00]

.............
As ever - an interesting point of view from Boris.

But he is correct - we need a tough Harold Wilson type politician who will say to the US ' Hands off our Citizen Uncle Sam - we will deal with him.' .....

That is one of the things that I hate most about the current gov (& there are many).
Witness Bill Clinton going to negotiate in North Korea, while the poor sod(s) in Iraq (inc. the IT contractor lad) held hostage are simply not of interest to Labor. Just an inconveniance.

There is such a thing as "Statecraft" but I dont think Labor even know what that word means.