If you want to get really technical, those are the federal penalties for armed bank robbery. Under state law, plenty of states have maximum sentences of life for armed robbery in general. Here's Virginia's law allowing a life sentence for armed robbery of anything (not just banks): http://law.justia.com/codes/virginia/2006/toc1802000/18.2-58...
Of course states vary, so a comparison to federal penalties make the most sense. For example, it seems California caps robbery sentences to 9 years. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen... I don't know what they give for armed robbery though.
One thing seems fairly clear though: at least in many states stealing harddrives (without using a gun) is probably better than copying the contents of harddrives with a computer. The punishments we have decided that 'hackers' should get are out of proportion when compared to crimes committed 'in meatspace'.
For example, just since I'm already looking at the Californian penal code:
> (c) (1) Any person who commits rape in violation of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 261 upon a child who is under 14 years of age shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for 9, 11, or 13 years.
Again, there are other statutes that make life in prison the maximum penalty for child sexual assault in California. The rape statute you quote expressly says that the 9-13 years you quote is stacked on top of the general crime of sexual assault of a minor:
>> This subdivision does not preclude prosecution under Section 269, Section 288.7, or any other provision of law.
>> 269: Any person who commits any of the following acts upon a child who is under 14 years of age and seven or more years younger than the person is guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child [statute lists all conceivable forms of sexual gratification] ... Any person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for 15 years to life.
Section 288 adds yet more penalties for using force, being in a position of trust, etc.
You keep using examples of "hackers get stronger penalties than these other crimes" (bank robbery, child rape), but the other crimes consistently have life in prison as a maximum sentence if you stop to read the full context of the law.
I think it's more realistic to do a "where are they now" style survey to see how long sentences end up being in practice. With overcrowded state prisons, not many people end up serving the max.
