mmmmmm I'm glad I don't have to make decisions about stuff like that
My opinion
Send him to the US, hes guilty, end off
He is a very talented (if misguided individual)...
Try him in the UK... Find him guilty to please the Americans and then give him a new identity and get him working for the government.... Stupid to
waste that sort of talent especially given how vulnerable our digital infrastructure really is to cyber attack at the moment!
why should they not send him to us? its crazy. guilty is guilty whether hes suicidal or not.
Guilty or not, i would NEVER send a british citizen to face such a ludicrous sentence for a non violent crime. He is a british citizen who allegedly
commited a crime on british soil, as such there is no reason to send him to america. Try him in a british court and he'd get a couple of years
suspended sentence.
The aspergers aspect is irrelevant to me.
quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
He is a very talented (if misguided individual)...
Try him in the UK... Find him guilty to please the Americans and then give him a new identity and get him working for the government.... Stupid to waste that sort of talent especially given how vulnerable our digital infrastructure really is to cyber attack at the moment!
USA are trying to extradite people from across the world for stupid crap. Megaupload is another example.
On one hand we have radical clerics preaching jihad that we cannot get rid of for years on end on the other hand we are sending computer nerds off for
death sentences :s
The yanks have got double standards when they were funding IRA terrorism to blow up british kids and british cities nothing was done now they think
they rule the planet.
Cheers,
Bob 
Equally the case of Chris Tappin annoys me. It seems to me he's innocent and been set up in an FBI sting, but either way, how can they hold
people in solitary confinement before their trial? Solitary is clearly a punishment, lights on 24 hours a day, no windows, literally NOTHING to do at
all, just an empty box to stare at. Suspects should be held under conditions that respect the fact that they are innocent until proven guilty.
And you really wouldnt want to be at the mercy of an ignorant american jury.
quote:
Originally posted by Simon
quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
He is a very talented (if misguided individual)...
Try him in the UK... Find him guilty to please the Americans and then give him a new identity and get him working for the government.... Stupid to waste that sort of talent especially given how vulnerable our digital infrastructure really is to cyber attack at the moment!
Exactly. I'm sure in reality, the Americans are quite pleased that it was just a "nerd with a ufo affliction" rather than some complete utter nutter that really wanted to do some damage.
From what I gather, he's not actually broke any british law, which makes the whole reason for the extradition irrelevant anyway.
ATB
Simon
Both sides of the argument here then.... I wonder if any of our members over the other side of the pond have a view?
They got Abu Hamza, they're just being greedy now
Maybe what really upset the yanks is the way he showed the world just how bad their computer security really is...
...there is no way an amateur geek should be able to break into - how many? - 90+? - computers without hitting some decent security measures!
Apparently what he did was easy. He hit 1000s of computers with known logins and simple emails. He got lucky just playing with numbers. He is not a
genious, just read 101 ways to access a PC and relied on dumb ass complacent americans.
What intrigues me is that when asked he said he found proof of teleportation, anti-gravity and various other things.
Why does that not impress people?
My source - BBC Radio 1 news actual voice recordings played throughout today.
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
Apparently what he did was easy. He hit 1000s of computers with known logins and simple emails. He got lucky just playing with numbers. He is not a genious, just read 101 ways to access a PC and relied on dumb ass complacent americans.
What intrigues me is that when asked he said he found proof of teleportation, anti-gravity and various other things.
Why does that not impress people?
My source - BBC Radio 1 news actual voice recordings played throughout today.
Slightly ot, but it was one atom at a time. All computers built over the next thousand years won't be enough for the amount of processing power
required for a proper transporter
ATB
Simon
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
Apparently what he did was easy. He hit 1000s of computers with known logins and simple emails. He got lucky just playing with numbers. He is not a genious, just read 101 ways to access a PC and relied on dumb ass complacent americans.
quote:
Originally posted by steve m
My opinion
Send him to the US, hes guilty, end off
Interesting debate.
One of the key principles at stake here is forum. The US won't extradite its citizens for crimes committed on foreign soil. It's been
overdue that we redress this balance. Similarly, the level of proof in the US UK treaty is not balanced, with the burden lower on the US.
I declare an interest now - my son has aspergers and I work in IT (two software degrees, 20+ years experience, acedemic and industry). I know that
aspergers kids can do things 'because they can', have irrational, overwhelming obsessions, and I know that they take the world very
literally. This does not excuse the crime, but leads me to understand why the home secretary paid attention when one US senator did say words to the
effect of "when he gets here we'll fry him" and I can only imagine the Dante-esque images going through McKinnon's mind. This in
itself would lead me to think a fair trial wasn't on the cards - again another reason not to extradite.
I also seriously wonder if this wasn't a honey-trap. I would be staggered if genuine secure information was so close to the borders - we call it
'defense in depth' for a reason.
We have to remember that it was difficult to tell where george bushes arse stopped and tony blair's feet began, so it's also a good thing
that we are stepping away from these rotten agreements forged in the ashes of 9-11.
For me the issue is the "hack". If he had discovered a day-zero vulnerability (which by definition no-one could protect against) and hacked
in that way then it would seem reasonable to go for him. If he really did just spam a load of sites with default username:password combinations then
he's a script kiddy and if sites don't protect themselves against that then they can't really complain.
An analogy would be the difference between someone breaking into your house using force (which would be breaking and entry) and opening an unlocked
door (which wouldn't).
Using default username:password combos is so stupid that it really is the IT equivalent of leaving your front door unlocked.
I can't help but feel the US authorities feel they have to do something because it makes them look awfully stupid!
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
Apparently what he did was easy. He hit 1000s of computers with known logins and simple emails. He got lucky just playing with numbers. He is not a genious, just read 101 ways to access a PC and relied on dumb ass complacent americans.
What intrigues me is that when asked he said he found proof of teleportation, anti-gravity and various other things.
Why does that not impress people?
My source - BBC Radio 1 news actual voice recordings played throughout today.
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
Apparently what he did was easy. He hit 1000s of computers with known logins and simple emails. He got lucky just playing with numbers. He is not a genious, just read 101 ways to access a PC and relied on dumb ass complacent americans.
What intrigues me is that when asked he said he found proof of teleportation, anti-gravity and various other things.
Why does that not impress people?
My source - BBC Radio 1 news actual voice recordings played throughout today.
The in the end yanks setup a honey trap for they knew directories with titles such as UFO, teleportation ant-gravity, area 51 would be irresistible bait. Which on reflection actually proves theyknew he was just a UFO fixated nut job and largely harmless.
Whatever McKinnon has done the Yanks are behaving very badly on extradition, however full marks to who ever managed to get Captain Hook out the country before dealing with the McKinnion issue.
The crime was not committed in America, why should he be tried there?
Even his mum is saying she doesnt want him let off, just tried in the country of his birth by his peers.