Pentagon hacker in legal victory
 
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:11:37 -0500 (CDT)


This Brit.hacker is alleged to have broken into NASA and U$ military 
sites, and the U$ asserts the right to extradite him to the U$ for trial 
in federal court.  He lost lower-court requests to block extradition, but 
he argued for, and won, reconsideration by the House of Lords - the 
supreme judicial decision maker. There is no right for appeals to this 
highest court to be accepted - that's why having the appeal considered is 
a legal victory.

M.

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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/31/lords_mckinnon_appeal/

MCKINNON EARNS LORDS APPEAL

By John Leyden ->Tuesday 31st July 2007 10:30 GMT

Gary  McKinnon, the British hacker facing extradition over allegations he 
broke into US Military and NASA sites, has earned the right to take his 
case to the House of Lords.

The law Lords agreed to hear arguments that US authorities acted in an 
"oppressive"   and   "arbitrary"   manner   during   plea   bargaining 
negotiations,  for  example by allegedly threatening McKinnon over the 
loss  of  rights  to  serve  part  of his sentence in the UK unless he 
submitted to voluntary extradition.

The House of Lords was not bound to consider McKinnon's final appeal - for 
example  it  declined  to  hear  the  appeal of the NatWest Three bankers, 
so  the Lords' decision is a significant fillip for McKinnon and his legal 
team.

"Gary  McKinnon  is delighted to learn of this important development," his 
barrister, Ben Cooper of Charter chambers, told The Guardian.

McKinnon is fighting against extradition to the US on hacking offences 
after  losing an appeal in April. Only the Law Lords now stand between the 
Scot and a US trial for allegedly breaking into and damaging 97 US 
government  computers  between  2001 and 2002 and causing an estimated 
$700,000 worth of damage, in what US authorities have described as the 
"biggest military" computer hack ever.

The  former  sys  admin,  who  lives  in London, admits he infiltrated 
computer  systems  without  permission but disputes the seriousness US 
authorities attach to his attacks.

The 41-year-old has said he gained access to military networks - using a 
Perl script to search for default passwords - but describes himself as  a 
bumbling  amateur motivated by curiosity about evidence of UFOs rather 
than a cyberterrorist.

McKinnon  and  his  team  have consistently argued that he ought to be 
tried  in the UK. No date has been set for the House of Lords hearing. In 
the meantime, McKinnon remains on bail.

#############

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/30/mckinnon_appeal_latest/

JUDGES DEFINE SCOPE OF MCKINNON APPEAL

Arguing a legal point again

By John Leyden  Wednesday 30th May 2007 11:57 GMT Accused   Pentagon 
hacker   Gary  McKinnon's  final  appeal  against extradition  edged 
forward  on  Tuesday  after judges defined the two points that might merit 
consideration by the Law Lords.

The  Administrative  Court  (one  of  the  High  Courts) certified two 
questions  of  being  of  public  importance in the McKinnon case. The 
first  point  ise  the  status of a diplomatic note confirming that Mr 
McKinnon   will   not   be  treated  as  a  terrorist  under  military 
jurisdiction  and  the conduct of the US government in plea bargaining 
negotiations.

The  second  is the claim that the US tried to twist McKinnon's arm by 
saying  if he failed to cop a plea and submit to voluntary extradition he 
would lose the opportunity to be repatriated and serve part of his 
sentence in the UK.

The  House of Lords is not bound to consider McKinnon's final appeal - for 
example  it  declined  to  hear  the  appeal of the NatWest Three bankers. 
Tuesday's development clarifies the topics to be explored if the Lords 
decide to hear McKinnon's case.

After  losing  an  appeal  in  the High Court last month, only the Law 
Lords now stand between McKinnon and a US trial for allegedly breaking 
into  and  damaging  97 US government computers between 2001 and 2002. 
McKinnon  caused  an  estimated  $700,000  worth of damage, in what US 
authorities  have  described  as  the "biggest military" computer hack 
ever.

The  former  sys  admin,  who  lives  in London, admits he infiltrated 
computer  systems  without  permission but disputes the seriousness US 
authorities  attach  to  his  attacks.  The 41-year-old said he gained 
access  to  military  networks  -  using  a  Perl script to search for 
default  passwords  -  but  describes  himself  as  a bumbling amateur 
motivated   by   curiosity  about  evidence  of  UFOs  rather  than  a 
cyberterrorist.