McKinnon slams gung-ho US hacking law

Gary McKinnon has questioned the extradition procedure being used by the US

Alleged hacker Gary McKinnon has accused the US of " using a hammer to squash a gnat" ahead of his 10 May extradition hearing.

"What I did was just unauthorised access," McKinnon told vnunet.com. "I'm pissed off that six months' community service has turned out to be 60 years in a foreign jail." 

McKinnon claimed that there is often an overreaction in cases of hacking that do not match the level of the supposed crime.

"I did not do any damage. Lovebug did more damage than my alleged damage did, not just to military systems but to ATMs, hospitals, power grids, all sorts of systems," he said. 

"It's just like when Matthew Bevan was arrested in 1995. They called him the biggest threat to national security since Hitler. What a load of rubbish. 

"I've only seen a few cases where the reaction has been in good ratio to the crime, such as the Citibank case. But that was the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars and it was all down to organised crime in Russia in the end."

The decision on whether McKinnon is extradited will be made at the 10 May hearing, and he rates his chances as 50-50. "I'm worried, and I know I've got a fight on my hands," he said.

While his case has been going on, McKinnon has questioned the whole extradition procedure America is using.

"The new extradition treaty, which isn't ratified by the US Senate yet, is a one-ended treaty. It is also retrospective, which is against international treaty laws," he said.

"It's also meant to be a fast track for combating terrorism, but it's being for used for people like me, people in finance, lots of businessmen. The US administration is completely misusing the law."