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."

Comments

Let the heads roll

[treehouse]

And spammers, and people who put spyware in the programs you buy, and companies which design operating systems so they won't run a competitor's apps, and company lawyers who keep you so busy fighting their lawsuits that you eventually just give in.

"They never would be missed, They never would be missed."

Re:Let the heads roll

[fiannaFailMan]

And peope who drive too slowly in the fast lane.

A Better solution...

[baudilus]

They may not fear death. I'd suggest limiting them to 33.6 kbps internet connections. That's the real hell.

They should do it

[MrRuslan]

by putting them in a room with a bunch of spammers on penis enlargement pills and viagra.

Re:Along the same lines...

[Penguinshit]

"And then we nuke it from orbit; it's the only way to be sure..."

Re:Punishments go up, never down

[14erCleaner]

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).

Re:Punishments go up, never down

[corbettw]

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....

Re:Punishments go up, never down

[Q Who]

Judging from the fact that I am not from the USA, I render your comment void and purposeless.

Re:Punishments go up, never down

[pyro_peter_911]

People need to learn the mentality that crime can actually be low enough.

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