The Virus Did It
scubacuda writes "The Inquirer and Get Reading report that a UK man accused of having pornographic pictures of kids on his computer was acquitted after a court heard that his machine was infected with a Trojan on his PC which probably auto-downloaded the images. (In light of moves like Operation Ore, we'll probably hear more defenses like this.)"
"the prevailing mood in the UK is such that he will still find himself stigmatised for a very long time."
And OTOH, I think he will shortly become a Consultant. Naming defendants in such cases is a double-edged sword - it can backfire... he has defended himself successfully against a criminal case, citing viruses and trojans. That makes him a valuable commodity for other crooks as well.
Secondly, this could open up a new avenue for viruses... new versions could be written and loaded by the user himself, as a defense tactic..
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....