- 2 - On 21 March 2000, the appellants pleaded guilty before Mr. Ian Candy, Principal Magistrate in the Eastern Magistracy to various charges relating to misuse of computers and computer accounts and in the case of the 3rd appellant to charges under the Copyright Ordinance, Cap. 528 relating to infringement of copyright. On 5 April 2000 the 1st and 3rd defendants were ordered to be detained in a Detention Centre and the 2nd defendant was sentenced to a period of 6 months imprisonment on all charges. All three defendants appealed against sentence and on 30 May 2000, Pang J directed that the appeals be referred to the Court of Appeal, pursuant to section 118(1)(d) of the Magistrates Ordinance, Cap 227, for determination of whether there should be any sentencing guidelines for the type of offences with which theses cases are concerned. At the commencement of the hearing before the Court of Appeal the 2nd appellant abandoned his appeal and his appeal was accordingly dismissed. Background Facts The 2nd appellant was a user of the Internet. While his computer was connected to the Internet he used a program called Back Orific which enabled him to gain access to computers of other users whilst they were connected to the Internet. Those other users whose computers were accessed by the 2nd appellant would have been unaware at the time