The guy who ratted on his whole crew?
If he had just ratted on his colleagues and was apologetic about it, he wouldn't get a fraction of the hate he does.
You don't have to be a bad guy to accidentally hit someone with your car while driving. But if you don't feel bad about it afterwards, you're probably a bad guy. If you go out of your way to point and laugh at the person you hit ...
If one is engaging in activities to the detriment of said empire, they must consider the risk of being snuffed at any time, let alone betrayed.
See McAfee, Assange, and Snowden. Only Snowden had the OpSec not to get caught - by escaping the influence of the US.
This is ridiculous. You're deliberately limiting your list to only fugitives that also choose to be celebrities at the same time.
How does the game theory change?
It does not. I perceive the penalties for losing a prisoner's dilemma are much larger than the potential payoff.
Assange and McAfee worked hard to feed their adversaries.
anyway, the limbic portion of your brain is extremely loud and persistent, and principles do not matter to it. it is fight or flight with the limbic system (among other things).
I agree with you in principle, of course, but being human means that you sometimes make bad decisions when the shit hits the fan.