Right. For some reason I don't understand, destroying something isn't considered as bad as stealing the same thing from the owner. In some ways, it's worse - you cannot possibly restore the stolen item to the owner.

For example, some years ago, there was an uproar because an American teenager got caned in Singapore for some vandalism. He destroyed the paint job on some cars. Some people were outraged at such punishment for "mere vandalism". But at the time, I figured that he did $20,000 worth of damage. If he had simply stolen $20,000, he'd have been lucky to escape with just a caning...

[ reply ]

Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/287/29724#29724