not saying I agree with these, but here's a couple of reasons: * prison is part punishment - lose your freedom as a consequence of your crimes. Most probably r

not saying I agree with these, but here's a couple of reasons: * prison is part punishment - lose your freedom as a consequence of your crimes. Most probably relate to this. * prison is to protect society from the individual - for non-violent crimes is this the optimal solution? * prison is super expensive - will you pay extra taxes to keep this guy in jail? * prison has a mixed record at best (and sometimes the opposite impact) at keeping people from re-offending or rehabilitating them - do you think there are programs in most/any prison tailored for white-collar tech crimes? Should there be when so few would benefit? * Prison hurts society as a whole if the opportunity cost for the individual is high - Could this guy get a legit job, pay taxes, participate in the community? I see the job of the legal system as weighing these factors (and more) to determine punishment. Every jurisdiction does that differently...