NationStates Jolt Archive

An economist has done a cost/benefit analysis of the subject and has determined that society will benefit more from putting hackers to death than murderers.

Personally I'd be happy with life in prison for those who write viruses.

Here's a link to a relevant article.

www.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/opinion/12tierney.html?hp&oref=login

http://www.bugmenot.com

Bugmenot Firefox extension. (http://roachfiend.com/archives/2005/02/07/bugmenot/)

Personally, I'll go with the Swedish constitution in this matter:

There shall be no capital punishment.

Personally, I'm torn between giving life and giving the person a slap on the hand. One the one hand, it's a major threat to the world, on the other hand, there's no real need to ruin someone's life if it's just a bad joke.
The Sasser-author just got a light sentence because he's only a youth and the judges didn't want to turn him into a life-time criminal, they preferred to let him wander the path of a possible respectable citizen, since he had just started an internship.

Personally, I'm torn between giving life and giving the person a slap on the hand. One the one hand, it's a major threat to the world, on the other hand, there's no real need to ruin someone's life if it's just a bad joke.
How about you cut off his hand, that evens the difference.

How about you cut off his hand, that evens the difference.
Hm... I hope you're joking... Cutting off a hand would suck a lot, and I don't think the German constitution would allow it. I'm pretty sure that cutting off someone's hand would ruin their life more than a long prison sentence.

I think that if someone is caught having written an ifectious and harmful program, everyone whose computer was affected must be paid for all damage to their cyber-property. I suppose it will be up the courts to determine the monetary value of said cyber-property.





On a side note, you should also allow the each of the owners of machines infected by the program to kick the writer very hard in the balls. :D

Death Penalty for Computer virus writers? are you nuts? how about a fine, about the amount they caused damage in?

They caused money too loose, they pay money. They cause life too loose, they loose their lives(not really true but for the sake of argument).

An economist has done a cost/benefit analysis of the subject and has determined that society will benefit more from putting hackers to death than murderers.

Personally I'd be happy with life in prison for those who write viruses.

Here's a link to a relevant article.

www.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/opinion/12tierney.html?hp&oref=login
Err no. The death penalty is suggested for [insert crime] alarmingly often on these forums.

They caused money too loose, they pay money. They cause life too loose, they loose their lives(not really true but for the sake of argument).That doesn't really work in practice. A lot of companies that loose money are unwilling to admit it since they would have to let their customers know it happened and they'd have to open their networks for inspection. Ergo, the hacker wouldn't be fined with what he really caused.

Err no. The death penalty is suggested for [insert crime] alarmingly often on these forums.

And the jumped up reaction to everyone who raises the possibility is equally as alarming. He didn't even say he supported it, just that it had been suggested.

The question isn't what to do with virus writers and abusers of exploits, the question is what to do with users of Microsoft software.

Seriously, for every 1337 h4x0r (not!) or ZXploiter out there, there is a dumbass sitting in his living room, selfishly assuming that there is no social responsibility associated with computer ownership. Expecting to unpack the box, plug it in, switch it on, and have it do what he wants without having to understand any of it.

Those are the people who need a visit from the cops. The idiots with ten meg ADSL and no firewall. :mad:

Those are the people who need a visit from the cops. The idiots with ten meg ADSL and no firewall. :mad:

I have to concur! You should see my firewall logs. Just full of zombie machines that have the same high-speed ISP as I do. :mad:

Hackers deserve the death penalty more than Murderers? Maybe if you value your financial prosperity over the lives of others they do.

We know where that economist's allegiences lie, anyway.

I think that the sentence should be to a degree proportional to the financial damage done. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted because of these misfits.

Perhaps an attorney can comment, but I suspect that committing arson on a $100,000 house, without intent to harm people, will get you more jail time than spreading the Sasser worm to the tune of millions in cost.