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The Economics of Executing Virus Writers
applemasker writes "Slate.com has an article titled Feed The Worms Who Write Worms to the Worms which argues based on economic theory (and somewhat tongue-in-cheek) that it is a 'better investment' to execute the creators of worms, virus and trojan authors, than murderers. Anyone who has tried to resurrect a network or computer after a nasty infection may agree. Although the author does not seriously argue for capital punishment for the script kiddies, it does raise some interesting issues about how much 'value' society puts on certain types of harm and the author's view of a government's role in protecting us from it."
"They never would be missed, They never would be missed."
They may not fear death. I'd suggest limiting them to 33.6 kbps internet connections. That's the real hell.
I say first we take their fingers and toes, and rub them down with sandpaper, taking a break every 5 minutes to dip the stumps in salt. How can you program viruses if you have no fingers, you fucking script kiddy.
by putting them in a room with a bunch of spammers on penis enlargement pills and viagra.
Same punishment could apply.
It could be worse, it could be Monday.
I think that it would be even better to execute the senior management at companies that release their software to the general public while it is still full of holes that can be exploited by authors of malcious code...
;o)
Infact... wasnt this what Tarintinos new flick is about... I havent seen it yet!
So why destroy Abu Ghraib prisons in Iraq? Seems like a worthy use of these facilities!
I swear to god, if they nerf archery, I'll write a worm that'll bring the world to it's knees!
Xel'Naga
"And then we nuke it from orbit; it's the only way to be sure..."
I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...
Maybe we should execute politicians whose districts receive more money than average (say $4.5 million more than average, since that was the "value" of a white-collar worker in the article).
Have you read my blog lately?
Saying "Killing people is wrong." is wrong. Simple. No matter who does it.
Somebody's gotta say it, might as well be me:
The Dalai LLama
...damn, I love this quote...
My sig could be your sig!
What about having them pose naked next to a sign "I'm selling penis enlargements"?
Politicians love to associate their names with "get tough on crime" laws that raise the punishment for certain crimes... but you rarely here about anybody supporting lower sentances for crimes.
Yes, you're right. Why, just this morning on the way to work, I stopped by the town square to throw tomatoes at two blasphemers currently locked up in stocks. And I noticed one of my neighbors now has a very red "A" on her forehead. May have to stop by her place after work tonight, see if her cows need milking....
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
From the article
Assuming that half the $50 billion cost of malicious hacking is concentrated in the United States and that you bear your proportionate share of that cost, we're putting about 83 cents in your pocket.
You mean every time someone kills a virus writer every US citizen gets 83 cents. Wow!! Did you guys switch to communism while I wasn't looking!
cL0h
And that Bonzai Buddy who just now is in the taskbar
The weird Linux kid -- I've got him on the list!
All spammers, 1337 speakers, and vb scripters by far
They'd none of them be missed -- they'd none of them be missed.
And apologetic astroturfers of a compromising kind
Such as what d'ye call him, Marc Fleury, and likewise, never-mind
And t-t-t and what's his name, and also you know who
The task of filling up the blanks I'd rather leave to you
Bravo, treehouse, on the Gilbert and Sullivan ref
What if it takes 262,980 hours worth of time distributed over 30,000 slashdotters trying to verify your math, and we find that it's off? Same thing?
slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
I for one welcome our organ-bank overlords!
actually... birth also has a 100% death rate. Thankfully, that disease usually takes 70+ years to finally kill it's victim. Unfortunately, though, It appears that 90+% of the population is infected.
Judging from the fact that I am not from the USA, I render your comment void and purposeless.
Chico: (menacingly)I kill people for money. (looks at Harpo) I kill you for money.
Harpo: (looks worried)
Chico: (smiles). No, I no kill you for money. You my friend. I kill you for free.
Harpo: (smiles in relief)
I'm sure killing spammers will be very economic as many people would be willing to do it for free.
P.S. We're currently looking for couriers, so if you've got mad bandwidth then apply within!
Breakfast served all day!
Personally, I think crime is too low. I mean, seriously, what is a guy supposed to do with his Glock if no one ever breaks into his home. I've kept this thing loaded under my pillow since 1993 and haven't had the chance to shoot a prowler in the middle of the night yet.
I'm beginning to feel that my investment in a weatherproof shotgun for the shower and a ten inch stiletto for my sock drawer will never pay off by proving that they're actually for self defense.
Instead, I'm forced to defend my home against scorpions and termites and, let me tell you, a .45 automatic is not the right tool for the job when it comes to termite control.
Someone did steal the knobs off of my Jeep's radio once, so if you see someone with an extra set of Jeep radio knobs let me know and I'll be right over to reduce the criminal population some more.
Peter
Downsize DC Today!
Don't foget that it's sexually transmitted.