[schackbrian]

You suggest that the modern vilification of hackers (such as Bradley Manning) is analogous to the medieval burning of witches. I assert that hackers and witches also have something else in common.

The spells that witches cast are analogous to the code that hackers develop. They are both writing in esoteric languages that can create things and cause actions. Witches' power is magical, but hackers' power is virtual. Neal Stephenson uses the Sumerian word namshub to describe this idea in his novel Snow Crash.