Hug a hacker - or just have them killed? [editorial]

How, when caught, should hackers be punished? There is widespread debate in the specialist and mainstream media on this question. Suggestions range from the sublime to the spiteful. Controversial economist Steven Landsburg asks "If we execute murderers, why don't we execute the people who write computer worms? It would probably be a better investment." Landsburg compares the deterrential cost benefits of executing a murderer against those of dispatching what he coins a `vermiscripter' (author of a worm, virus, or Trojan).