BBC fails to understand mens rea

[James Firth]

Richard Clayton said:
> "Although this exercise was not done with criminal intent, it was
> still
> illegal under s1 (and possibly also s3) of the Computer Misuse Act
> 1990
> and we should be prosecuted for our wickedness."

One could argue that prosecuting would not be in the public interest (where
have we heard that before) but one could equally well argue that not to
prosecute would send out a dangerous message.

What if I worked for a less scrupulous news agency and was attempting to dig
for dirt on celebrities or politicians and did this under the guise of an
investigation into computer security?

James Firth