Jail time for virus writers: Yes or No?

News that a 22-year-old Welshman has been sentenced to two years in prison for creating and distributing three computer viruses has drawn mixed responses from UK computer users and industry experts - with the sentence, rather than the charge, proving most controversial.

A court decided that Simon Vallor maliciously devised a series of computer viruses which he then released into the wild. The fact that he went into an internet chatroom to boast of his achievements - a foolish move which was eventually his undoing - suggests he took pleasure and satisfaction from causing chaos at companies around the world. As such he was found guilty and landed some time at Her Majesty's pleasure.

What he did was a crime. Agreed so far?

But silicon.com reader Chris Bond had this to say on the matter: "Surely prison is to keep people out of society who are a danger to the public. He is a computer programmer, not a murderer or rapist.

"How about a long period of community service and some form of tagging to restrict his freedom that way. He then puts back something useful into society for his crime."

A number of other reader comments we've received suggest the real villain of the piece is none other than Microsoft. After all, they argue, if it wasn't for the weaknesses in the software then such viruses wouldn't even be an issue. To some this may sound a little like suing Yale when you get burgled because the lock was breached - and letting the burglar go free - but to others it is a call to arms.

Marcus Dyson wrote: "Let's face it, it is Microsoft's laughable security that is to blame for the rash of email viruses. Anyone who gets caught out by an email virus is culpable for using Outlook in the first place and for not having a good virus checker installed."

silicon.com reader Peter Langford believes the issue goes beyond simple 'Microsoft bashing' and lumped more blame on naive users who often make things far too easy for virus writers.

He said: "Virus writers don't just exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft code but in all operating systems. And anyway, it's not Outlook that is inherently stupid. If you don't check email before opening it what do you expect? If you had an envelope through the door that was ticking you wouldn't just open it, would you (unless you ordered a clock of course)?"

Wherever you stand on the debate, there are many who share the same opinion as reader Melvyn Bell who wrote: "I'm afraid I have little sympathy for his plight when considering the time and money that businesses have to spend to avert virus attacks from morons."