Canadian hacker gets a mauling in legal first

Will Knight ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 01 Mar 2000 16:27 GMT

A computer hacker was convicted by a Quebec court on Tuesday in a landmark ruling for the Canadian judiciary, according to a Reuters report.

Pierre-Guy Lavoie, a 22-year-old computer security consultant was convicted of gaining unauthorised access to numerous corporate and government Web sites, as well as stealing thousands of system passwords. He was sentenced to 12 months community service with 12 months probation. It sets a precedent for the treatment of computer criminals by the Canadian authorities.

Justice Andre Bilodeau stressed the need to crack down on this sort of crime. "The court cannot ignore the fact that the computer world is poised to face a dazzling expansion and will become, like other types of payment or communications means invented by our societies, the theatre of more and more fertile criminal acts," he said in a statement.

For full coverage, see the Denial of Service roundup.

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