It’s an idea that Draco might have come up with: sentencing convicted hackers to death. But as crazy as it sounds, there’s a case to be made for it, says Steven Landsburg, an adjunct associate professor of economics at the University of Rochester.
Interpreting studies about the death penalty’s value in deterring crime, Mr. Landsburg estimates that executing a convicted murderer results in social benefits worth, at most, $100-million. Putting a hacker to death would save at least as much, he argues, because computer break-ins cost people about $50-billion annually and because a hacker is more likely to be deterred from committing crimes than a killer. (Slate)
John Tierney, the New York Times columnist, notes that “practical difficulties” might keep hackers from facing the electric chair and proposes a less-extreme alternative: forcing offenders to work long days at a helpdesk for computer novices. (The New York Times)
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