8622666
submission
Vainglorious Coward writes:
Late last year, it appeared that UK hacker and Asperger's sufferer Gary McKinnon had failed in his bid to avoid extradition to the US. Now, in what his mother described as an outbreak of common sense, a high court judge has written to the Home Secretary warning that pursuing McKinnon's extradition may be unlawful. There will now be a judicial review of the case in April or May
7477076
submission
Vainglorious Coward writes:
Polygraph "expert" Bruce Burgess who has worked with several trashTV shows has received a suspended sentence for lying to police about a traffic offense. Burgess, whose website promises "testing your honesty in the only way possible" pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice after lying about being the driver recorded by a speed camera. It appears that good old-fashioned coppering is what broke the case, rather than any technological chicanery, with the police officer commenting "my advice is — put your hands up at the first opportunity"
7308526
submission
Vainglorious Coward writes:
When UK hacker and Asperger's sufferer Gray MacKinnon lost the judicial review of his case it seemed likely that he would be extradited to the US to face charges of hacking almost a hundred systems causing $700,000 worth of damage. Today the UK home secretary rejected his last-ditch attempt to avoid extradition adding that the "his extradition to the United States must proceed forthwith". McKinnon's relatives are expressing concerns for his heatlh, with his lawyer going so far as to claim that extradition would make the 43-year old's death "virtually certain".
149031
submission
Vainglorious Coward writes:
The hollywood lobbyist who once compared a video recorder to the Boston Strangler, Jack Valenti, has died at age 85. If I don't offer my condolences am I stealing from his memory?
89184
submission
Vainglorious Coward writes:
Reality continues to catch up with Nineteen Eighty-Four with the announcement of the development of a brain scanner that can read a person's intentions. 'It's like shining a torch around, looking for writing on a wall,' said the leader of the project, Professor John-Dylan Haynes . Demonstrating his own mastery of doublethink, Haynes continued 'We see the danger that this might become compulsory one day, but we have to be aware that if we prohibit it, we are also denying people who aren't going to commit any crime the possibility of proving their innocence.'
38840
submission
Vainglorious Coward writes:
http://slashdot.org/~Vainglorious+Coward/journal/1 52078
Sorry, I can't figure out how to submit journal entries as story submissions
15599
submission
Vainglorious Coward writes:
In the UK, a man has been sentenced to three years in prison for posting inflammatory messages to a website. Pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred on a site dedicated to the memory of a murdered black teenager, the 30-year old accused stated that he was not racist, and had intended to stir up an argument on the website, but did not believe in what he had written. The defending lawyer described her client as "isolated and living in a fantasy world, spending hours on his computer in his room where his persona could be as he made it, good or bad."
Criminalising inciteful behavior is one thing, but three years for six messages seems a stiffer penalty than he might have received if he'd actually physically assaulted somebody.
