Argentine judges want law update after crackers walk free

Argentine judges want law update after crackers walk free
John Leyden, The Register 2002-05-13

Argentina's top judges are calling for an update in the country's laws on computer crime after the collapse of a trial involving crackers who allegedly defaced the country's Supreme Court Web site.

Last month, Argentine Federal Judge Sergio Torres threw out the case of a group of defacers, called the X-Team, who were suspected of altering the Web site as part of a protest over the 'cover-up' by judges of the murder of magazine journalist Jose Luis Cabezas.

Torres ruled Argentina's law only covered crimes on "people, things and animals" and not digital attacks, so the group had no case to answer.

Last week, the Supreme Court said the case harmed the administration of justice in the country, and called for an anti-hacking law, Reuters reports. The Supreme Court is seeking to plug a gap in the country's laws that Torres identified, during Argentina's first computer hacking prosecution.

The status of the country's laws on computer hacking is of relevance outside the Argentina, not least because the author of the infamous Anna Kournikova worm, Dutchman Jan De Wit, used a virus writing toolkit created by an Argentine, [K]Alamar. ®