Thread: David Cameron To Speak To Barack Obama About Gary McKinnon.

I have never been impressed by the judicial system here in the USA, in fact i think it's usually downright crap! If its not cruelty it is sheer incompetence and corruption.

Originally Posted by 1963

For god's sake , get it over with!...I mean, we all know that he's been a naughty boy and should have been made to sit on the naughty-step for half an hour!....but to drag it on for '10 years' is beyond a joke!!
Common sense dictates that though Gary's actions are not to be condoned...but neither is 10 years of mental torture inflicted on him and his family by the american government in retaliation for being lapse enough for a 'nerdy little autistic hacker' to highlight the shoddiness of their multi-million dollar security system , and thus causing them to suffer some embarrassment !

Over the years we've had a few threads about this and it's good to see this topic brought up again...

I still stand by my original thoughts about this...


Sure, Gary was a naughty boy for what he did, but the American government should be grateful to him for exposing the weaknesses and loopholes in their security system and thus give the Americans the chance to fix it and tighten up their system before someone else with malicious deliberate intent to compromise the system and cause widespread harm did so...

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I think the American Government is serving Gary McKinnon too much cruel vengeance over this matter...I mean after all what he did is nothing like what this group Anonymous is doing now, the should leave Gary alone and throw their hammer down on Anonymous...If nothing else this time frame of ten years now is a bit ridiculous, isn't there some sort of statute of limitations on something like this?...

Originally Posted by Dingo Brains

Sure, Gary was a naughty boy for what he did, but the American government should be grateful to him for exposing the weaknesses and loopholes in their security system and thus give the Americans the chance to fix it and tighten up their system before someone else with malicious deliberate intent to compromise the system and cause widespread harm did so...
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Exactly. They should be grateful it was him, and not someone pissed off at the US Government.
This has further complications which could effect the entire extradition system for Computer crime too though... Particularly when the US wasn't an actual target, but still request extradition like has happened in a few cases.

Thanks for the replies guys!
And it's good to see that the general consensus among 'the few that actually commented', is the view held by myself.
(Believe it or not...a couple of the other forums that I visit, generally holds a very different stance on the Gary McKinnon affair!..Some poster's even seriously positing that he should serve 'Life' in prison for his diabolic sins!)

I agree totally with the "They should be grateful that it was a harmless nerd that exposed the weakness in security" that you more or less said Dingo! ...I have said the same for years now..and even 'tongue in-cheekly' suggested that perhaps it would be of benefit for the NASA security department should actually give Gary and maybe even a few more adept hackers some kind of consultancy work!...Poacher turned gamekeeper if you like.


Cheers.

I fully agree with the sentiments of previous posters. The US is terrorizing Gary McKinnon and doing their best to make an example out of him. There are far bigger fish to fry, I would have to disagree with nivik on the Anonymous point though. They are serving a purpose, it is definitely personal opinion on how you see their actions, but they are a voice that people listen too. A voice that would otherwise be unheard. A voice that would be quashed by governments given half the chance. They are a reaction to our 'democracy'. Perhaps if we had a more equitable society, Anonymous would not need to exist?

edit: I guess another point that perhaps should be made is that Anonymous are also pointing out massive vulnerabilities across a whole range of sites and infrastructure, should they be commended for this, just as some have suggested GMcK should be? If there are significant flaws in systems that we rely on and a to quote many media sources "group of hackers" can take down such sites, then there is more of a problem than just the point they are trying to make, if you get my drift.

Originally Posted by Web Majick

I fully agree with the sentiments of previous posters. The US is terrorizing Gary McKinnon and doing their best to make an example out of him. There are far bigger fish to fry, I would have to disagree with nivik on the Anonymous point though. They are serving a purpose, it is definitely personal opinion on how you see their actions, but they are a voice that people listen too. A voice that would otherwise be unheard. A voice that would be quashed by governments given half the chance. They are a reaction to our 'democracy'. Perhaps if we had a more equitable society, Anonymous would not need to exist?

edit: I guess another point that perhaps should be made is that Anonymous are also pointing out massive vulnerabilities across a whole range of sites and infrastructure, should they be commended for this, just as some have suggested GMcK should be? If there are significant flaws in systems that we rely on and a to quote many media sources "group of hackers" can take down such sites, then there is more of a problem than just the point they are trying to make, if you get my drift.

So I guess its okay with you that a group like Anonymous declares war on sovereign nations?...

Anonymous has declared war on the US which now makes them a terrorist group in the eyes of the government...

Perhaps in your eyes it would seem harmless but many countries see their actions as cyber terrorism and justified in that view too...

I used to agree that he should be brought back and tried but I really don't think it matters anymore. Ban him from computer access and let him go. There isn't much threat from a man with asbergers as long as he doesn't have access to a computer.

Originally Posted by Spacemushrooms

I have never been impressed by the judicial system here in the USA, in fact i think it's usually downright crap! If its not cruelty it is sheer incompetence and corruption.

I hear that a lot, often used as an excuse. It's getting quite old imo (not the word, the system).