Thread: UK Hacker loses extradition appeal, he was only looking for UFOs

Originally Posted by Norton

That would be in the US. Had he hacked into a computer in the UK he would be tried in the UK. The UK has no jurisdiction to try him. The UK has agreements with many countries including the US to arrest and detain hackers. Had it been someone in the US hacking into the Ministry of Defense computers, the US would be obligated to send the hacker to the UK for prosecution under UK law.

But you miss the point. At the time of the alleged offence, the defendant was in the UK. If he hacked into the computers he is said to have, he would have contravened the Computer Misuse Act 1990. A summary of the act is below:

Computer Misuse Act 1990

The Computer Misuse Act 1990 creates a number of criminal offences:

1. Unauthorised access to computer material ('hacking') including the illicit copying of software held in any computer. This carries a penalty of up to six months imprisonment or up to a £5000 fine.

2. Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences, which covers more serious cases of hacking, with a penalty of up to five years imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

3. Unauthorised modification of computer material, which includes the intentional and unauthorised destruction of software or data; the circulation of "infected" materials on-line; and the unauthorised addition of a password to a data file. This offence also carries a penalty of up to five years imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

Now, UK law takes precidence when a defendant was situated in the jurisdiction of UK law, so he should be properly tried and punished in the UK (if convicted). That is what he has been asking for all along.