Cyber-graffiti costs six months in slammer

Cyber-graffiti costs six months in slammer

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The country's first defendant in a cyber crime, Dani Firmansyah,
25, was sentenced on Thursday to six months and 21 days
imprisonment after he was found guilty of defacing the General
Elections Commission (KPU) website in April.

Presiding judge Hamdi ruled that the defendant had caused much
distress and had, he said, undermined the reputation of the
country's Internet experts.

"We consider the defendant's statement that he did not know
that hacking KPU's website was violating the law as an
incriminating factor in the sentence," he told the courtroom at
the Central Jakarta District Court.

However, the judge said, Dani had been very polite during the
trial, and considering his young age and intellectualism, the
panel of judges expected him to some day become an Internet
expert.

The judges said despite Dani's stated motive that he wished to
test the KPU's security systems, they said that a guilty verdict
was necessary to serve as a warning to the public.

"This case should remind all of us that in executing
democracy, people should not forget their manners," Hamdi added.

The penalty was more lenient than that sought by prosecutor
Ramos Hutapea, who demanded a one-year jail sentence and Rp 10
million (US$1,100) fine against Dani.

Dani was arrested by the police on April 22 at the office of
PT Danareksa in Central Jakarta, where he worked as an IT staff
member, and was made a suspect over the hacking of the KPU
website, giving participating political parties funny or
insulting names.

He was charged under Article 22 of the telecommunications law
for illegally accessing a telecommunications network and/or
service, and Article 38 of the same law for causing a physical or
electromagnetic disturbance to a telecommunications service.

The articles carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison
and/or a fine of Rp 600 million.

Dani's lawyer, Agus Nasrudin, said he felt satisfied with the
verdict. "But we will talk to Dani first about our next step," he
was quoted as saying by Antara.