If you look at how interconnected stuff is these days it is really not that far away (if we haven't crossed that point already) were lives will be lost due to crimes like these.

The analogy for me is one of roads. If you block a road on purpose then an ambulance might not be able to reach an accident victim in time. The internet is infrastructure, just like roads and purposefully obstructing it wholesale is doing damage to a large number of parties.

What is sad is that these people get away with this stuff over and over again, it is very rare for DDoS organizers to be caught, rarer still (if it even ever happened) for them to be sentenced.