Judges take hard line on computer hackers

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://www.scmp.com/news/HongKong/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20001017015526541.asp

Tuesday, October 17, 2000
By: Angel Lau

Computer hackers will be imprisoned for their crimes except in the
"most unusual circumstances", the Court of Appeal declared yesterday.
The warning came after police statistics revealed the number of
reported cases of access to a computer with criminal or dishonest
intent had risen from six in 1994 to 214 last year. There have been
164 cases during the first eight months of this year.

Declining to lay down sentencing guidelines for computer-related
offences, Mr Justice Anthony Rogers said: "While indicating that we
feel it inappropriate to lay down guidelines now, we would indicate
that, unless there are most unusual circumstances, a non-custodial
sentence would be inappropriate for such offences."

Director of Public Prosecutions Grenville Cross SC had invited the
Court of Appeal to give guidance on the sentencing approach for
computer hacking. Mr Cross supported the request with the police
statistics.

However, Mr Justice Rogers noted there had been fewer than 10
prosecutions. "In those circumstances, it is most unlikely that the
full range of crimes . . . would now be known or appreciated," he
declared in a written judgment.

Among the prosecuted were restaurant manager Tam Hei-lun, 19, clerk Po
Yiu-ming, 19, and student Mak King-ming, 18, who pleaded guilty to a
total of 49 computer-related offences.

The three sold log-in names and passwords stolen from the Internet.
Mak also admitted downloading songs from the Internet and then selling
them for profit.

Tam and Mak were each ordered to serve unspecified time in a detention
centre, while Po was given a six-month sentence.

The three appeared before Mr Justice Rogers, Mr Justice Michael
Stuart-Moore and Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing on October 9 to appeal
against their sentences.

Po abandoned his bid, but Tam and Mak pressed ahead with their cases.

The judges dismissed the appeals but reserved their reasons until
yesterday.

In rejecting their bids, the Court of Appeal noted: "While it is true
that the number of prosecutions . . . is at present small, the damage
which such offences can cause should not be underestimated."


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