McKinnon will not be extradited to the US, says Home Secretary The Home Secretary has blocked Gary McKinnon's extradition to the US. In a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, Theresa May said that long-running extradition proceedings against the 46 year-old Asperger's Syndrome sufferer would be withdrawn on medical and human rights grounds. Psychiatrists warned that the Scot was likely to …
Not in the public interest as far as I can see. Or he will be put through the motions in the mags and found guilty, sentenced to what's effectively time served due to the passage of time.
IF it gets that far. I think he's suffered enough. Don't you?
If that's true then he deserves closure. Extradition or no there are still charges pending and even if they're dropped there'll still be the potential of them being pressed at a later date. Get him tried and either acquitted or convicted of what's already happenned or whatever. Just get this whole sorry mess into the past.
Gary should have been tried over here and given a community service punishment or suspended sentence. The real criminals here are the US military who set their network up in such a way as to allow a lone hacker from his bedroom in London to run rings around the so called system security. God knows how much further the Chinese and the Russians got, probably can read The President's emails as he types.
This has only served to make the US look like bullying overlords and the British government akin obsequious hand wringers.
Going on what I've seen from this mess so far, the Chinese and Russians should be able to remotely move a secret webcam around the Oval Office and watch as the President takes a crap and uses the Constitution to wipe himself afterwards...then hack into the brains of every congress person and order them to borrow another trillion dollars from China at egregious interest rates.
The CPS decided not to prosecute then, true, but there is NOTHING to stop the Home Sec from directing them to re-open the case, especially as McKinnon has coughed up a load of confessional evidence since, plus the US has supplied evidence as part of the extradition process.
Don't get confused by thinking McKinnon is covered by double jeopardy as he never went to trial, so it doesn't apply. Even if he had gone to trial, the new evidence would allow the case to be re-opened and a second trial mounted. With the UK authorities now aware of the full extent of his activities, plus the desire to want to be seen as "tough on crime", etc., it's highly probably that McKinnon will get tried here in the UK. And seeing as he has not been on remand, his last ten years of self-imposed "agony" would not count towards any sentence. McKinnon has been on bail for the period fo the extradition request process, not locked up.
"US authorities have described McKinnon as responsible for "the biggest military computer hack of all time""
I think it would be fair to say that this may be true, but it is almost certainly true that this guy highlighted that America's military network is probably the most insecure high-security network in the world.
I know which of those two i'd rather have attributed to me, no wonder America is so bent ouf of shape on it.
So....does this mean I could do the following?
1 - Pop over to the USA
2 - Commit a crime
3 - Come back home before the police catch on to me
4 - Back in Blighty confess to the crime but say that I'll top myself if I have to go to jail
5 - Totally avoid being extradited because I'm a suicide risk
Just asking, like.....
Twit. He did not go to the USA. Authorities here did not judge it as seriously or clear cut as you suggest. The question of "damage" caused is foolish. If you lose all the keys to your house and so do not lock doors, do you really think you could use the cost of new locks to estimate the damage suffered if somebody trespassed into your house? Of course, you are surrendering yourself to the American embassy for not transporting that tin of beer in a brown, paper bag, while driving on the left and not letting USA visitors carry a gun slung in the rear window of your car?
Some loyalty to your own system, if you are British and some distinction from USA (or Nigeria or anywhere else) would not come amiss.
"To quote Churchill:
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."
That could apply to the Jimmy Savile affair.
It's the right decision for Gary McKinnon. Now let's hope he makes a full and speedy recovery in the style of Ernest Saunders.
I think the quote is, (paraphrased),
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that public subsidised corporate, salaried, pension plan receiving people do nothing."
Sorry Edmund Burke, but although the seeds in " "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." were sown, not as snappy.
Am I the only one that thinks that this 'crime' is being approached in completely the wrong manner? I am at a loss as to why every hacker is considered a severe security risk and needs to be locked up.
Hell, if they can get through the best security that tax dollars can buy... GIVE THEM A BLOODY JOB!!!
Sorry, had to comment again. When you look at films of the nineties based on technical competence of the US's intelligence structure, it wasn't actually real. During the immediate post 9/11 thing, the FBI offices were being couriered information because their information access was dial-up and couldn't cope. They only started pumping real dollars into security after this, and that process isn't instantaneous. MiKinnon got in before.
"the best security that tax dollars can buy."
I wouldn't exactly call leaving the default password "the best security"... paid for or otherwise. Frankly, the fact I changed my systems password makes MY system more secure then theirs, and it didn't cost me a thing except 10 seconds of my time... They should be offering ME the job.
You'd think that, but on the basis of trust being few and far between these days, it's a far cry for that to happen. To be honest, McKinnon is probably one of the most sincere and honest people there is. Being Autistic myself, I could probably understand why he did it in the first place. Through obsession and a lack of empathy and awareness of actions on others (not understanding feelings, facial expressions etc); autistic people take a very direct, literally view of the world. That's difference between him and yourself who don't have Autism.
The difference with me is that I have come to understand that there are consequences with my actions and people have feelings, people own property and there are unwritten rules within society. McKinnon is likely to not understand those and for his age, Autism would never of been detected at an early age. So I'm not surprised he got a late diagnosis. Parents of children from that era would of just considered Autistic people are just extremely shy with no understanding of his needs.
I'm glad he's not being sent to the US as they'd probably rip him to pieces. To be fair, even if he got trialled here; he wouldn't understand the implications of punishment and the reasons why.
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I'm loving the hang 'em flog 'em brigade's indignation but a little context is necessary here.
Hacking into a computer under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (the relevant law at the time) would warrant a max £5,000 fine for unauthorised access. That seems from the facts made public to have been the offence allegedly committed. I've seen no other evidence of crime presented apart from embarrassment of senior US DoD security figures. There is no alleged destruction of data or deletion of files. The "damage" figure seems to be for closing the stable door after someone forgot to bolt it in the first place (or as it might otherwise be known: changing the passwords).
However, even if a higher burden of proof of fraud or extortion (which I don't believe anyone has alleged)were demonstrated a UK court could only hawe set a max of 5 years imprisonment for the computer hacking part of it not the 60 years under US law.
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"UK court could only hawe set a max of 5 years imprisonment for the computer hacking part of it not the 60 years under US law."
Which might be part of the reason the Americans want him banged up up on their side of the pond. We wouldn't dish out enough porridge to satisfy their cravings for revenge.
Violation of the extradition treaty between the UK and U.S. will cost Blighty dearly IMO. There was nothing to be gained for the UK by protecting this hacker but we will all pay for his criminal hacking. Nice decision by another worthless UK politician.
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