Way to go, gov! That'll most definitely be a deterrent to this individual and to others who may be thinking of doing the same thing. Remember, kiddies: Don't create a botnet, DDOS websites, use what were most likely stolen credit card (numbers) to purchase stuff and have that stuff shipped to vacant addresses. In short, don't do bad things. If you do, you'll be told to not do it again. You don't want that to happen, do you? If you do something really bad, we might even give you a stern look. And you know there's no recovering from that.

And since when does creating a botnet, even using P2P and AIM as the control channel, constitute "talent"? Sure, it's a level above script kiddie, but hardly difficult. All it takes is a bit of planning. Why is it that the people (specifically kids) who do illegal things with computers are rewarded while those with real talent who stay on the right side of the law are ignored? I know that ti's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, but that still doesn't make it right.

I was going to rant about how those of us who stay on the right side of the law get shit on by shitty managers etc. whilst those who break the law get rewarded, but you got there first.

+1