The divide between Mudcatters in the UK and the USA is a clear one. Wrongly or not, it irritates me to have a group immediately jump ON the US and OVER the UK.

From the BBC link:

"A statement by solicitors for McKinnon, who was not at the Lords to hear the judgement, said: "Gary McKinnon is neither a terrorist nor a terrorist sympathiser.

"His case could have been properly dealt with by our own prosecuting authorities. We believe that the British government declined to prosecute him to enable the US government to make an example of him.

"American officials involved in this case have stated that they want to see him 'fry'." (This sentence bothers me a lot; it is attributed to "American officials"? Ebbie)

"The consequences he faces if extradited are both disproportionate and intolerable."

My point is that it appears that the UK chose to wash their hands of him.

Allegedly, there have been many cases where a hacker/burglar/lockpicker has been subsequently employed by authorities, so if this man is not recruited, it may be because he is unreliable or unpredictable.

By the way, if an American hacked into British computers, military, governmental or whatever, what would the UK response be?