Re: This has to stop!
If convicted here he would most likely get 6 years.
If convicted in the USA he would get 60 years.
It cannot make sense to destroy someone's life for a foolish endeavour where nobody got hurt.
Ah, but the idea of such punishment is to act as a deterrent. There is a simple principle at work here: if you don't want to do the time, don't engage in activities that are illegal as it may eventually catch up with you. The "little harm" bit may influence things a bit, but I reckon that everyone who has been messing around with servers in the United Cauldrons States of America will now at least think a moment before they do it, which is the whole point of this circus and associated heavy fines in the first place.
Is it excessive? Given that law enforcement can even kill people over there without any punishment I'd say yes, but I don't think anyone can claim that they don't know the risk when they try to break into systems abroad. If you want to prove what a l33t hacker you are, first seek permission before you try or the site owner won't be able to distinguish you from the common variety criminal who is busy doing the same.
It's not rocket science.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
