back to article McKinnon gets date for final showdown

A judicial review of the Gary McKinnon extradition case is being scheduled for 20 January, the same day Barack Obama assumes the US presidency. McKinnon's hopes of avoiding extradition to the US on hacking charges rest on persuading a judge that the Home Secretary's decision to disregard the former sysadmin's recent diagnosis …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Oh bloody hell

    Extradite him, try him (it won't take long he admits the offences) and then debate the extent of the "damage". He's a self-confessed crook and it is nice to see one country taking white-collar crime seriously.

    Unlike the UK.

  2. Adrian
    Coat

    Will this never end?

    I bet he's wishing he was a US citizen and had hacked a UK system, because in this case he'd never have been extradited...

  3. Adam Foxton
    Black Helicopters

    "contrary to mounting "the biggest military hack ever"

    He found a load of other hackers hacking away quite freely. And if the biggest military hack ever involves creating a script to search for systems connected to the internet without an admin password, that's hardly a sophisticated terrorist attack now, is it?

    You could say that this isn't a small exaggeration on the part of the US miltitary, it's a WOPR of a lie.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Let's hope the boy gets 20 years

    Hey, he did the crime, now he can do the time. It's obvious he is scared to be prosecuted in the U.S. and that's a good thing. Punishment is meant to be a deterrent. Now McKinnon will get a chance to see what life is like for criminals who hack.

  5. James Pickett

    Fair

    Perhaps Obama could give him a job as security advisor? He must be better at it than the present incumbent(s)...

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    RE: "contrary to mounting "the biggest military hack ever"

    'You could say that this isn't a small exaggeration on the part of the US miltitary, it's a WOPR of a lie.'

    Excellent!

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    RE: "contrary to mounting "the biggest military hack ever"

    "You could say that this isn't a small exaggeration on the part of the US miltitary, it's a WOPR of a lie."

    Excellent!

  8. John Band
    Flame

    Waste of time...

    "it is nice to see one country taking white-collar crime seriously."

    Why? It's harmless - unlike, say, mugging.

  9. Mark
    Paris Hilton

    re: Oh bloody hell

    What he admitted to was not a crime.

    So why extradite him for a non-crime?

    Idiot.

  10. Steve Walker
    Go

    @Paul Smith

    I do agree.

    He knows full well what he will get over there in court and what it will be like in jail., unlike here where he would have got a piss poor fine and some time mowing roundabouts.

    AND I do hope he is defending himself with HIS money and not MY tax pounds which I would rather have spent on new heating for my little ones school (fat chance).

    Think we need a "send him there and don't waste our time whining" campaign.

    S.

  11. Pierre
    Stop

    Paul Smith, go back to reading the Daily Fail

    He didn't do the crime, so he shouldn't do the time, shurely?

    More specifically, as everyone but hopeless morons know, the anti-terror law that is put forward by the prosecution was passed AFTER he logged in the unprotected, wide open systems. At the time, it was considered a very minor offense (which it is, btw).

    He is extradited on the pretense that he caused ~$6000 of damage per system he accessed, but these costs are actually the frigging costs for closing the frigging wide-open door he used (system shutdown+ password setting)... and thus should in no way be considered as GMK-ineduced. It's normal system administration, and it frigging should have been done frigging *before*.

    Please go clue-picking. On the icebanks. In the nude. Preferably with a pack of rabid wolves gnawing on your genitals.

  12. kain preacher

    @John Band

    Why? It's harmless - unlike, say, mugging.

    So when crooked CEO wipes out your lifes savings its harmless right ??

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    lets play......

    .... Thermonuclear war!

    So what..... McKinnon set the defense computers playing tic tac toe? I can see how that could constitute $700,000 worth of damage.....

    Love the way that the general populace think 'oooo, he's a hacker, he's a crook" rather than comparing it to a bloke walking up to a supermarket door, which opens for him with zero effort, followed by him wandering round, having a peruse of the shelves. Ok, maybe he dropped a mango and put it back on the shelf, and dented a couple of tins of beans... but thats about it really, isnt it.

    10 years for dropping a mango?

    "I'd like to see him fry" - Said by the chief prosecutor of this case in the US.... Now I'd be willing to put a small wager that he runs an unsecured wireless router at home, because he sounds like one of the most understanding and unbigoted (and not to mention technically savvy) people in that fair land.... (and the icon is for him)

  14. Tom
    Thumb Down

    Awesome

    Hopefully they'll sign that treaty with us so we can get a hands on some of their criminals.

  15. The Other Steve

    @Pierre

    "More specifically, as everyone but hopeless morons know, the anti-terror law that is put forward by the prosecution was passed AFTER he logged in the unprotected, wide open systems."

    In that case, can he STFU about having Aspergers, since his diagnosis was put forward AFTER he had been arrested and confessed to committing crimes ? Also, if you stabbed someone in the face today, but weren't caught for two years, during which time the offence was changed from GBH to something else, what what should the police do ? Let you go ?

    And "the unprotected, wide open systems" make no difference under UK law, any more than I imagine they do under US law, so honestly, give it a rest.

    I started off thinking maybe McKinnon should be tried here, and in some ways I still do, but arguments like this make me want to ship the fucktard to Gitmo out of spite. Shit, it might be the UK's only productive export of 2009. If only the whiny sKript Kiddie cheerleaders had kept their mouths (and blogs) shut, perhaps his 'plight' would have been taken a bit more seriously.

  16. amanfromMars Silver badge

    Myth #1 ...All Equal under the Protection of Just Laws?

    " Why? It's harmless - unlike, say, mugging.

    So when crooked CEO wipes out your lifes savings its harmless right ??" ..... By kain preacher Posted Wednesday 3rd December 2008 16:19 GMT

    kain preacher,

    How many crooked CEOs do you know doing hard time for their crimes/failures/toxic business plans?

  17. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

    if

    If I have to reject any more comments containing Hilarious Jokes about prison rape, I swear I'll do time. Can we grow up just a teensy bit, boys?

  18. Gareth Clough

    In his face

    He deserves what he gets. Even if ole Obama would let him off. They would do it after he was over there. As it would make them look soft on hackers. Just wish they would hurry up an put him on that plane. F***ing idiot thinking he couldnt get caught over here.

  19. Mark

    @Gareth Clough

    Yes, he deserves what he gets as long as it is justice, not revenge. ESPECIALLY revenge for making some people look like fools.

    He didn't get caught for the crime they accuse him of. The time he did it, that was not a crime.

    But if retroactive terrorist laws can be applied, the US are in deep shit for their terrorist activities in the 18th Century against the legal crown of the UK.

  20. Pierre

    The other steve...

    Read before answering. Thanks.

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