Gary McKinnon

This case makes me so angry, and this is why…

A UFO fanatic who hacked into top secret US military computers today appealed to the Home Secretary to stop his extradition after losing a last-ditch legal appeal.

Gary McKinnon is due to be extradited to the United States within two weeks and faces up to 80 years in prison in a maximum-security prison if found guilty of computer fraud…

…Mr McKinnon is being extradited under the controversial legislation which allows the American authorities to extradite British citizens without any need to provide evidence proving their case.

Although the Extradition Act 2003 was originally intended to expedite requests in terrorism cases, it has instead been used mainly in cases of other alleged offences. The US Senate refused to ratify the treaty, meaning that Britain stilll needs a higher burden of proof to extradite Americans.

Source: Times Online

Why do we get walked on by the Americans? The USA can extradite British nationals without proof, while we can’t do the same. Plus the crime was committed in the UK, the guy did no damage, and he’s already served his sentence in the UK.

OK, I’m not defending the guy, he shouldn’t have hacked into USA Military computers, that was stupid. He isn’t really worthy of being called a hacker either as he just downloaded some scripts which searched their PC’s for blank passwords, which anyone could do. I think the main reason why the USA wants to extradite him and trial him is because they are embarrassed and want to make a show of him. McKinnon has stated that he thinks it’s because the US Government want to silence him after some of the things he has accessed, which may be a possibility depending on what he has claimed to have read.

Either way, this case is scary for us British citizens. The USA can claim any of us, without proof, if they wish to do so, and it doesn’t seem that the British Government even puts up a fight.

It’s a sad case of affairs…

Photo by W.Sharp Licensed under the Creative Commons 2.5 License