2 ms·
They also come down hard on arson. Why? Because it's really, really easy to get away with arson so they make the punishment really severe to alter the equatio
by bsdetector 13y ago
They also come down hard on arson. Why? Because it's really, really easy to get away with arson so they make the punishment really severe to alter the equation. If you got 3 months with probation for arson there would be fires all over the place -- at least that's the calculus.
Same thing with computer crimes. It could have been pretty easy to get away with the data if Swartz had been even slightly clever about it (like not physically returning to the scene of the crime...). It's not as easy to get away with as one might think (see Harvard bomb threat guy), but that's the perception of lawmakers.
- DanBC 13y agoThey come down hard on arson because it risks lives of people in buildings and firefighters, not because it's easy to commit. Many crimes are easy to commit. The reason that there aren't more fatal stabbings isn't because there's a long prison sentence but because most people are not stabbers.
- sinwave 13y agoI think bsdetector was referring to the expected cost of committing arson. (Probability of Getting Caught) * (Expected repercussions if caught) = (Expected Cost of Crime). bsdetector was saying that it is "easy to get away with" arson i.e. the "probability of getting caught" is low, so the heavy consequences are intended to address the low expected cost of the crime.