1. Hey but Nick Leeson is making a killing out of it. He was convicted and jailed. And so is Kevin Mitnick and a host of others. The whistleblower should go beyond the facts of his whistleblowing and start from his childhood. How he dreamt of freedom and how fiercely he fought to save it on his school playground. Defending the hapless kids from the bullies.... blah blah blah... That makes a wonderful story. Then he can go about narrating his life after he lost his job, making ends meet. How he was determined to fight it out, all alone vs the state. How he survived the fallout... How he is the savior of morals and values. Of courage, grit and determination. blah blah...
2. At least they should make an attempt. Even if the book doesn't fly and the movie never happens, they can become a public speaker. If not in the US, definitely abroad. They can get into talking about leadership skills, entrepreneurial skills, self help blah blah blah... there is a big market for it. I know of people who have not done anything noteworthy in their lives but are making a killing by going to companies and talking about leadership, emotional intelligence, x habits of a leader, innovation and bull like that. These guys atleast have some real life story to tell.
3. Mitnick, Leeson are on the top of my head. He can walk clear of those states where such laws exist. In fact they can walk out of US and not bother. Nothing much there anyways. Earth is a big planet.
4. Launch a fight against the ammo in full public view and make a story out of it too!! Like we read on slash the other day of that Italian restaurant that came up with a neat idea to fight the extortion attempts of Yelp!