The BBC program Panorama last night investigated claims that the News of the World hired a hacker to break into a subject's PC to steal emails. In fact, it appears that the unnamed hacker installed a Trojan on the victim's PC. Which sounds like a fairly unequivocal breach of the Computer Misuse Act, which outlaws

And a giant step for Internetkind. You really have to feel for the law enforcement officers throughout the world trying to bust the scum that attack your brothers, sisters, mother, father, grandparents, and everyone else. As hard as they try to catch and convict these dirt bags they run into all kinds of obstacles. One

The estimable Dan Raywood, of SC Magazine, forwarded me an interesting example of a hoax email, knowing that I have an unhealthy interest in these "electronic ephemera" as Martin Overton calls them. In fact, I have an email address (hoaxchecker@gmail.com) that I use to offer a free service to people who want information on whether