[firebones]

Not to mention that a conviction under some of the charges he faced no doubt would have come with punitive terms that would bar him from computer and telecom use for many years beyond his actual sentence as terms of probation. For someone who grew up on the net, for whom much of his social support structure existed through virtual relationships, for whom identity and livelihood are defined by having access to these means of communication--the potential of that must have been a devastating prospect.