This morning the high court in London will be the setting for the latest – and perhaps last – act in a drama that has been running for nearly eight years. Its leading character is Gary McKinnon, a self-confessed computer nerd and, despite all the other stories swirling around the media this week, his fate should be of the utmost concern to anyone who believes in the principles of justice and the protection of the vulnerable against the bullying power of the state.McKinnon is facing extradition to the United States to stand trial for hacking into the computer systems of the defence department and Nasa eight years ago, in an eccentric search for evidence of the existence of UFOs. During the course of his trespass, conducted from a bedroom in a flat in north London, he left the odd message, such as “your security system is crap”. Although he agreed to plead guilty to computer misuse offences in the UK, where his punishment would probably have been a fine and community service, he is being zealously pursued by US authorities still locked in a 9/11 mindset over “cyber-terrorism” and embarrassed by the ease with which he entered the systems.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/08/gary-mckinnon-hacker-court
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