U.S. 'threatened' alleged NASA hacker, defense says

U.S. 'threatened' alleged NASA hacker, defense says (CNet News.com)

The basic facts of this case seem fairly simple in my eyes. Assuming this hacker did do what NASA says, which seems fairly clear that he did, he should serve his time. The fact that the British are debating possibly letting him go seems absurd. The major issue comes in when you have to decide where he needs to serve his time. The first question is which country, the United States or the United Kingdom. McKinnon clearly wants to stay in the UK, being his home, and being see as more lenient then a stricter US prison. His defense claims that McKinnon will serve in a super high security prison, I am unsure if this is actually true, since he is a nonviolent offender. Also it is a debate over which state to prosecute McKinnon in since he damaged systems in both Virginia and New Jersey. There is also the problem of the threat apparently made by US officials. McKinnon claims that they threatened to fry him if he did not take the plea deal. Under European law you can not be extradited out of Europe if there is a risk of execution. It seems very likely that McKinnon was threatened, but it seems like no one actually felt that their was actually a possibility of a hacker being given the death penalty. This case brings up many problems that the law has with the internet, including jurisdictions and penalties. This case could have a big effect on future hacking trials.