Posts by Justin Smith

No sacred cows in NASA spaceflight review, chairman says

Title? We don't need no stinking title!

I wonder if the review will include a re-evaluation of the canceled VentureStar project? I can only hope so.

Amazon waves DMCA in Kindle channel lock-down

DMCA abuse

This kind of thing is an abuse of the DMCA, and the U.S. Federal courts have already ruled several times that the DMCA cannot be used to enforce 'business models.' See, for example, "Chamberlain Group, Inc. v. Skylink Technologies, Inc." and "Lexmark International, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc."

McKinnon's lawyers hope UK prosecution will derail extradition

Extradition treaty strawmen should be torched

And once again, a group of ill informed people voice their ignorance about the state of the extradition treaty between the US and UK, which has indeed been ratified on both sides of the pond, as evident here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5395170.stm

http://www.politics.co.uk/news/foreign-policy/north-america/north-america/uk-and-us-sign-21st-century-extradition-treaty-$472197.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2948283/Caution-as-US-ratifies-treaty-on-extradition.html

http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=12657

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/27/eng20070427_370179.html

http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/UKUS-extradition-traety

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/ukpapress48.html

It would be nice if El Reg would actually say so in their articles, but then why let the facts and journalistic integrity get in the way of a few advertising dollars?

Pentagon hacker McKinnon earns extradition delay

@ AC

Gosh golly, the answer is "d) all of the above." You found me out, mate. My real name is George W. Bush. Har-dee-har-har.

Now how about you get real?

WHAT part of the treaty is "lop-sided?" I doubt you can answer that, as I doubt you have read the treaty.

I'll give you a hint: there is EXACTLY one inequity in the treaty, but I leave it to you to read the document, figure out what it is, and what the actual ramifications are (if any). If you're not willing to educate yourself, why should I try to do it for you?

Treaty: http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/pdf8/fco_pdf_usextraditiontreaty

Willful ignorance

Good grief, the level of willful ignorance displayed by so many readers is mind-boggling.

@ Hud Dunlap : why don't you try pasting the COMPLETE URL; the "9" at the very end is *necessary*. But if that's just too much for you, try another:

http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/UKUS-extradition-traety

@ Paul : wtf dream world do you live in? You're wrong about the treaty ratification. You're wrong about the imbalance. And you're wrong about the status quo ante.

Then you go on to say "The punishment should fit the crime." No s**t, Sherlock. And you don't think breaking into dozens of government computers is a serious crime?

Let me say "I agree that the security of those computers is/was crap," but THAT IS NOT AN EXCUSE OR A MITIGATING FACTOR. After all, do you really want that used (successfully) by people committing other kinds of crime? "Well, govnr, the security on that car I stole was crap, so no harm, right?" or "But the house's door was unlocked, so it was alright for me to just walk in, take a few things, and then spray graffiti on the walls, ya know?"

"Imprisonment in the US system may in itself be a violation of a prisoner's human rights." While you don't go on to explicitly compare US and UK prisons, the comparison is implicitly there, and the idea that UK prisons provide "protection from rape, assault and brutalisation from other prisoners and sometimes staff" is laughable.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/7485610.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7138324.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4150335.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2165943.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7005556.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1544567.stm

@ Daniel et al, treaty ratification

Really? Someone might want to tell "Britain's official website for the USA" (maintained by the British Consulate-General, no less) that it didn't really happen. Oh, wait, *was* ratified *and* signed by the President in 2006. Oops.

http://www.britainusa.com/sections/articles_show_nt1.asp?d=0&i=41029&L1=0&L2=0&a=46289

As for the prima facie imbalance, I'm afraid you have that backwards. Before this new treaty, it was the UK what only had to show probable cause, not the US.

So much for "checking the facts."

@ h4rm0ny

The US-UK extradition treaty is bilateral: the UK can request extradition of someone in the US under roughly the same terms as the US of the UK. (The difference in terms have much more to do with differences in the US and UK laws and legal systems than with the terms of the treaty itself.)

US - UK Extradition Fact Sheet, courtesy of the US Department of State: http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/fs/34885.htm

Of course the US can drag its feet, or even outright refuse, extriditing someone... not unlike the UK is doing with McKinnon right now.

Branson unveils Virgin Galactic mothership

Dirty laundry

What is with mentioning the 2007 accident over and over and over, in every article about "Virgin Galactic?"

Oh, yeah:

"We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who comes on at five.

She can tell you bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye.

Its interesting when people die-"

Russians probe depths of Lake Baikal

No record here, move along, move along...

It looks like they only made it to 1,580m, not 1,680m as originally reported.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7530230.stm

Upgrade drags Stealth Bomber IT systems into the 90s

But will it be able...

... to run Microsoft Flight Simulator?