UFO-chasing hacker may be locked up for life, is this right?

Question

Gary McKinnon wasn't a hacker in the true sence. We shouldn't let him get extradited right?

He hasn't caused criminal damage to any machines, he didn't download files, he simply looked at computers terminals which weren't logged off He wanted to find alternatives to fossil fuels and free energy technology...

He was investigating why NASA were airbrushing the truth about what is hidden on Mars and the like...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10523789

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fNsah-0vpY

Answer 1

Wow. Even if there was no UFO conspiracy, he did the U.S a favor by exposing their lack of security. A 60 year sentence for this??? Even rapists and murderers escape with shorter prison terms! The disproportionate reaction makes me wonder if there's something more going on that isn't being revealed.

Answer 2

no he should not & we should tell america to p**s off he did them a favour, he is not american he is british,

i wonder if he told them it was just a friendly hack , they might let him off

after all its not half as bad as friendly fire,

he did not kill

Answer 3

If someone enters your house without permission, it is a crime. If some repeatedly looks into your bedroom window and makes a video, it is a a crime.  If someone illegally breaks into a computer sight, it is a crime.

Answer 4

that's the u.s. just-us system for you.

Answer 5

First, we spend millions of dollars trying to keep these computers safe from hacking.  But like any computer, they are all hackable.  So second we must have sever penalties for even attempting to hack them.  Whether you make it in or not, it is a crime to even attemp to hack government computers.  Third, we don't know exactly what he accessed, he could just as well be spying for a hostal foreign government.  OR he couold if he needed money either sell or be black mailed to gather information for a hostile group, ie. terrorist.

Then, even if he did find any information on alternitive energies, he would be stealling intelectual property, wouldn't he?

Yes he commited a crime. Yes he needs to be extradited. He needs to be questioned and possibly debriefed on what he did get access to, AND the government needs to know how he accessed it so they can close those loop holes.

   NOW for as far as NASA "airbrushing" any truths about things found on Mars.  Yes they are being careful and releasing what they know slowly.  If they release all the theories they are working on at once, and with the MEDIA jumping on the story that will make the biggest headlines, they don't want THEORIES taken as FACTS.  Modern News Reporters are very poor at actually reporting, and frequently print a lot of their own interprtation into stories now adays. This would lead to a lot of JUNK SCIENCE, just like the MAN MADE GLOBAL WARMING stories the Media has hyped up, where so many THEORIES are now taken as facts, eventhough there is NO EVIDENCE to prove them.

Answer 6

Define 'repeatedly' and define 'sight'...but above all: define crime.

You are no judge; we can all judge, but it doesn't make one right when they state something like an edict from Hitler.

Answer 7

No it is not.That sentence is way too long.

Answer 8

Well, we can say that he had good intentions, although it happened that the way that he chose to carry them out was somewhat unethical. However, if the government or any other organization is hiding information which affects the entire human race that we have a right to know, such as visits by extraterrestrials, I would consider that a crime against humanity, then arguably McKinnon would not be a criminal but rather a freedom fighter. Unfortunately most Americans (and in this rare case I have to say the same about other nationalities too, including my own) are too conservative to see this. Give it some time... eventually, perhaps not in your lifetime, and perhaps not in your children's lifetime, or even your grandchildren's lifetime - but, eventually - we will know right and wrong.