Splish Splash

I was alarmed to read in Bill Thompson's BBC column today that new changes to UK law will affect the Computer Misuse Act of 1990 with new definitions of "hacking" and more severe sentencing for "hackers".

Since virtually none of the politicians in the UK would be able to outline what a port scan is, how a DDoS attack works or what a port is in the first place, it seems prudent to point out that they're probably not in a sensible position to legislate. What gives them the right to pass laws on an issue of which they have no real understanding?

Will this take the UK's computer laws from bad to worse? I suppose we'll be the ones that find out.