The technology editor of the far left extremist rag, The Guardian, has openly called for the illegal hacking of the BNP website on his blog which is hosted by his employers.
In a posting on his blog called “You decide: should you hack that hateful party's website?” Charles Arthur says that a “friend who's quite into hacking” says that he has “found a flaw in the website of a political party whose views he detests.”
Although he does not name the party, he adds that its “leader might have appeared on a high-profile television programme recently.”
The incitement comes in the next two paragraphs: “The flaw, your friend explains, would let you hack into the site and change everything around. Then you, with your expertise, could change the front page, leave scripts that would capture login details, pretty much anything. Maybe there would even be some useful databases hanging around there.
“You're interested -- but the Computer Misuse Act doesn't have a public interest defence, and you're unsure whether your friend has the hacking chops to do this undetected. Then again, that leering face on the website is soooo annoying...
What do you do?”
The post is signed as follows: “Posted by Charles Arthur Friday 23 October 2009 17.33 BST.”
This blatant incitement to commit a criminal act is clearly a contravention of part 2 of the Serious Crime Act, 2007, which has three new statutory offences of encouraging or assisting crime.
According to that act, sections 44 to 46, a person is guilty of an offence if he or she:
“44 Intentionally encourage[es] or assist[s] an offence
(1) A person commits an offence if --
(a) He does an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence; and
(b) He intends to encourage or assist its commission.
(2) But he is not to be taken to have intended to encourage or assist the commission of an offence merely because such encouragement or assistance was a foreseeable consequence of his act.
45 Encouraging or assisting an offence believing it will be committed
A person commits an offence if --
(a) He does an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence; and
(b) He believes --
(i) That the offence will be committed; and
(ii) That his act will encourage or assist its commission.
46 Encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed
(1) A person commits an offence if --
(a) He does an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of one or more of a number of offences; and
(b) He believes --
(i) That one or more of those offences will be committed (but has no belief as to which); and
(ii) That his act will encourage or assist the commission of one or more of them.
(2)It is immaterial for the purposes of subsection (1)(b)(ii) whether the person has any belief as to which offence will be encouraged or assisted.”
Relevant screenshots have been taken of the posting on The Guardian’s site and the matter is currently being referred to lawyers and the police for further action.
* Users of this website might expect minor disruptions while the technical web team takes measures to further secure this website. Readers who are offended by this incitement to commit an illegal act are encouraged to submit complaints directly to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
The SOCA website contact page can be found here.
