DDoS Attacks and the Law

2011 January 28

Earlier this week it was announced that five people had been arrested across the UK in connection with distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on "major US companies across several industries" and was done on request from the FBI. While few details have emerged, it is understood that they were arrested under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. The aim of this post will be to examine the relevant part of this law and how it applies to DDoS attacks. As always, it should not be taken as legal advice, and any corrections and thoughts are most welcome.

Glasgow, the Pirate Party Conference and the IRL Conversation

2011 January 26

One of the first things that attracted me to the Pirate Party was its willingness to do things differently and challenge the status quo- whether it is questioning the scared cow of copyright, or sticking our necks out to support Wikileaks. In that spirit our conference is not in the traditional autumn round, but is coming up in February.

UK ID Cards Are No More!

2011 January 21

In the last ten years, governments have fallen over themselves to try and obtain more information about their citizens. Sometimes it's databases, or new regulations, or cameras, but the one thing they have in common is that they can be used to identify you, and track you. Today is a positive step then, as in the UK, it's the last day for the "UK Identity Card" - after midnight GMT tonight, they will no longer be valid for use at all.

Voting for London RAO Now Open

2011 January 18

News Round-Up 14/01/11

2011 January 14