Just a thought: is 1 year of life in prison enough to deter most folks from messing with the law again in the future?
Yes for this kind of white collar crime. They are now unhirable as they have been found to be convicted for leaking IP, and this comes up in every background check.
Depends on the prison. US prisons have the goal to get you back into prison after release.
In the US at least, even if you don't find prison that bad, the charge itself can ruin your life. Having a felony extremely limits your prospects.