Re: BBC: UK hackers condemn McKinnon trial

[Drsolly <drsollyp () drsolly com>]

On Tue, 9 May 2006 Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu wrote:

> On Tue, 09 May 2006 18:40:49 +0200, Florian Weimer said:
> > * Cornali Remo:
> >
> > > Accused of hacking into US military computer networks, Mr McKinnon this
> > > week is expected to find out if he is to be extradited for trial in the
> > > US. 
> >
> > Is Mr McKinnon a citizen of the United Kingdom?  If yes, why does the
> > UK extradite its citizens?  IMHO, this is a very strange thing to do
> > for an independent nation.
>
> If I, a citizen of the US, came over to your country and committed a felony,
> would you expect your government to try to extradite me to stand trial, or
> would you just say I had a free pass on it?
>
> The rule is usually "a person can be extradited *if* the offense is criminal
> in the country he is in as well".  So for instance, the US was able to
> extradite that guy Entwistle on a murder charge (yes, I know he decided to
> return voluntarily) because Britain recognizes murder as an offense as well.
> However, if he had committed some stock irregularity that was illegal here
> but acceptable under British law, he wouldn't be extraditable.  Also,
> the extraditing country almost always has to promise not seeking more
> punishment than allowed by the country the guy is in - there have been
> times when US prosecutors have had to promise "life in prison" for a possible
> death-penalty case because the country the guy is hiding in doesn't have
> a death penalty for that crime.
>
> So - does the UK recognize "hacking a military computer" as a crime? If
> so, McKinnon is probably extraditable.
 
Computer Misuse Act, 1991. Unauthorised modification of a computer is a 
crime.

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