Anna virus writer released

The 20-year-old mystery Dutchman, known only as OnTheFly, arrested for the creation and distribution of the Anna virus, has been released by police after being charged with damaging private property and computer programs, according to reports today.

The suspect's real name is still not known. Dutch privacy regulations prevent details being released to the public, but it is understood he is a resident of the town of Sneek, in the province of Friesland, where he still lives with his parents.

Although no bail was set for his release, he is due to appear in court in less than a month's time and may face a jail sentence of up to four years for his crimes.

Prior to his arrest, the youth repeatedly posted apologies for his creation, saying he had no idea how fast it would spread and how much damage it would do. He also offered the rather lame excuse that he created the virus to direct attention to the Russian tennis star: "I am a big fan of her. She deserves some attention, doesn't she?"

He also admitted that he had been forced to use an automatic virus generation kit because he had no knowledge of any programming languages: "I have been using this programm [sic] because I don't know any programming languages," he said.

The Anna virus spread around the globe twice as fast as the Love Bug and caused thousands of mail servers to crash under the strain. Although it did not have a malicious payload, it has still been one of the most destructive viruses of this year.