[ISN] UK hacker extradition appeal reaches law Lords

From: InfoSec News (alerts@private)
Date: Thu Jun 12 2008 - 01:34:03 PDT


http://www.vnunet.com/computing/news/2218838/uk-hacker-extradition-appeal-4064735

By Ambrose McNevin
Computing
11 Jun 2008

The fate of UK hacker Gary McKinnon will be considered next week when he 
appears before the House of Lords on Monday (16 June).

In a case going back to 2002, McKinnon is appealing against his 
extradition to the US under hacking charges.

McKinnon told Computing he is fighting the extradition, despite claiming 
that he would have voluntarily presented himself to a US court were it 
not for the high-pressure tactics used by the Americans.

He claimed that US authorities verbally offered him a plea bargain with 
the minimum sentence of four years, but that they refused to confirm it 
in writing and have now said they want to prosecute him to the maximum 
level. McKinnon said one US prosecutor said the US wants to see him 
"fry."

Former home secretary John Reid signed the extradition order on 
McKinnon, who has not denied hacking into US computer systems, including 
some of those mentioned in the American indictment. But he claims he was 
never a threat to security as he broke into Nasa and US defence 
computers to look for evidence of the existence of UFOs.

McKinnon said the legal basis for his appeal was that the extradition 
treaty under which he is to be sent to the US has not been ratified by 
the American government.

His defence team has two hours to present his case to five law Lords. A 
decision is expected within three weeks of the hearing.


_______________________________________________      
Attend Black Hat USA, August 2-7 in Las Vegas, 
the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts.
Featuring 40 hands-on training courses and 80 Briefings 
presentations with lots of new content and new tools.
Network with 4,000 delegates from 50 nations.  
Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in 
a relaxed setting. http://www.blackhat.com



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Thu Jun 12 2008 - 01:41:19 PDT