"For it to be extraditable under their computer laws in America
you have to have caused $5,000 worth of damage and lo and behold
they say that every computer I was on I caused exactly $5,000 worth
of damage so it is patently a falsely structured argument," Gary
McKinnon told OUT-LAW.
McKinnon makes the claims in OUT-LAW Radio, a new weekly podcast
from OUT-LAW launched today.
Home Secretary John Reid signed McKinnon's order for extradition
to the US in July, a decision McKinnon is now appealing. McKinnon's
lawyers have warned that not only could he face a secret military
trial with no right of appeal, but that he could even be sent to
detention camp Guantanemo Bay.
"At first I laughed when this was first raised, I said 'come on,
don't be ridiculous', but as someone pointed out most of the people
if not all the people have never even proven to have been
terrorists and they've been languishing there for years," McKinnon
tells OUT-LAW Radio. "Whereas allegedly I've directly attacked
military networks, so that put it in perspective for me."
McKinnon admits accessing the secret computers in 2001 and 2002,
saying that he was looking for – and found – evidence of alien life
and reverse-engineered alien technology. But whereas UK prosecutors
said that he would serve community service, US prosecutors are
publicly threatening him with sentences of up to 70 years in
jail.
McKinnon argues that he should be tried, but that it should be
in the UK, where the offence was committed. He says that he was
working with very basic hacking tools from a simple internet
connection, and that the only reason he was able to access systems
was because security was so poor.
"When you look at the fact that my method for gaining entry was
scanning for blank passwords, technically you could say that there
was no security to begin with," he said.
Hear the interview: OUT-LAW Radio
