Transnational Computer Hacking—New British Laws

The British House of Commons has passed a new set of laws targeted at computer hackers.^[1] The laws were “proposed by Home Secretary Charles Clarke as part of the Police and Justice bill,” and hackers potentially face up to 10 years in jail.^[2] The Police and Justice bill [hereinafter Bill] amends a number of current laws, such as the Computer Misuse Act of 1990 [hereinafter 1990 Act] and the Extradition Act of 2003.^[3]

Section 33 of the Bill amends section 1(3) of the 1990 Act (referring to unauthorized access to computer material) by stating that a person guilty of an offense under that section will be liable

• on summary conviction in England and Wales, to imprisonment for up to 12 months, a fine, or both;
• on summary conviction in Scotland, to imprisonment for up to six months, a fine, or both; and
• on conviction on indictment, to prison for up to 2 years, a fine, or both.

Section 34 of the Bill amends section 3 of the 1990 Act (referring to unauthorized modification of computer material) by stating the following:

1. A person is guilty of an offence if—
   • he does any unauthorised act in relation to a computer; and
   • at the time when he does the act he has the requisite intent and the requisite knowledge.
2. The requisite intent is an intent to do the act in question and by so doing—
   • to impair the operation of any computer,
   • to prevent or hinder access to any program or data held in any computer, or
   • to impair the operation of any such program or the reliability of any such data,
   whether permanently or temporarily.
3. The intent need not be directed at—
   • any particular computer;
   • any particular program or data; or
   • a program or data of any particular kind.
4. The requisite knowledge is knowledge that the act in question is unauthorised.

Section 34(6) of the Bill provides the same punishments as section 33 for summary conviction, but for conviction on indictment, the prison sentence can be as much as 10 years.

Section 35 of the Bill adds a new section 3A to the 1990 Act. This new section makes it a crime for a person to make, adapt, supply, or offer to supply any article knowing that it is designed or adapted for use in a computer crime, or intending for it to be used to commit a computer crime. “Article” includes any program or data held in electronic form. The punishment for a violation of the new section 3A is the same as laid out in section 33 of the Bill.

According to the Financial Times, the amendments in the Bill are intended to make it easier to have a person suspected of committing computer crimes extradited to the United Kingdom.^[4]

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[1] Maija Palmer, Hackers to Face Increased Jail Terms, Fin. Times, Mar. 7, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] See Police and Justice Bill, 2006, Cm. 06119, at § 33-39.
[4] Palmer, supra note 1.