Hopefully, the great publicity surrounding this particular trial will serve as a deterrent to any other epsilon semi-morons out there who are considering following their misguided example.
We can certainly hope it will deter some, but swatting is common enough that some police departments are taking measures to counteract it (finally), and like any country the US seems to have an inexhaustible supply of morons.1
Krebs noted that the idiot who (successfully) swatted him got 3 years probation, while some members of the gang that sent heroin to his home and "tipped" police were sentenced on unrelated charges. The sort of people who do this won't be deterred by the thought of probation. And note there have been two other attempts to swat Krebs, and he's just a well-known security researcher.
I think the real lesson here is: don't play multiplayer online video games. That seems to be the number-one attractant for such morons.
1Those who are so inclined may recall the relevant Einstein quotation at this point.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
