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Death Penalty For Hackers?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the you-can't-make-that-stuff-up dept.

EMIce writes "The New York Times Op-Ed page has a piece entitled Worse Than Death (Obnoxious but free registration required) that calls for harsher 'hacker' penalties as a deterrent, quoting one academic as recommending even well, the death penalty - as a deterrent for the likes of Sasser author Sven Jaschan. Let's face it, businesses are becoming more dependent on their computers but they continue to be a point of failure, and subsequently, frustration through lost profits. Perpetrated breakdowns are now pushing that aggravation towards an edge. The author suggests commuting the idea of a death sentence into a lifetime of servitude doing viral cleanup. What role should enforcement play in such cases and is this too harsh, even considering the billions in damage that is sometimes caused?"

2 of 1,096 comments (clear)

  1. Re:shutdown -f now by 44BSD · · Score: 5, Funny

    "shutdown"? Don't molly-coddle 'em.

    # kill -9 1

  2. Re:Obligatory BugMeNot Link: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear hedgehog2097,

    It looks like you've hacked our registration system.

    See you in the death row.

    Sincerely,
    The New York Times