Just go for the rich trader with a Cheetah thruster. He will regret making that 24 million credit investment instantly. I do see the merit in death penalties, but on the other hand it will be hard on new low-level players, plus put a limit on simulation fights/training, which I for one really do need. But if a trader has been particularly annoying in his "haha just kill me", just wait at the same trade lane - that type is like a robot/NPC, and will keep coming back.
I do see some creative trends within the trading community. Last night in NY there was one guy who kept procrastinating, so I shot him a little to speed up the process, and he started crying "Admin, admin, admin!" and kept going like that, but eventually he paid. I PM'ed him quoting the lines from the pirate ID, and he pm'ed back saying that he knew perfectly well, but crying "Admin" detered a lot of noob pirates, so he has been able to pass freely by using that tactic for quite a while now. He was in a supertransport, so it must have worked out pretty well for him.