Getting away with illegal things, an everyday occurrence.

Started by Ryex, July 05, 2011, 11:35:36 pm

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Ryex

Sometimes I'm shocked at how often and how easy it is to get way with things that are technically illegal.  

THE most common by far in america is probably speeding. did you know that it is illegal to go even 1MPH over the posted speed limit? really it is. but the fact is that EVERYONE goes between 1-7MPH over the speed limit, and all but the strictest cops will let you go if your between 1-4 MPH as long as it isn't a school zone then they will give you 1-2 (though I've still heard of people pulled over for 2mph over)  and if your in a lard group of car that are speeding they will only pull over the guy who is passing or the leader. it simply isn't work their time or effort to go after everyone and keep people under the posted speed limit and thus it is the most commonly over looked "crime"

then there are what I refer to as "internet crimes" ranging from copyright breach, to pirating, to DMCA copywrite circumvention crimes. these "crimes" are so numerous and so hard to track that that only a tiny portion of them are ever known and damages pursued.

the reason I bring this up is that recently there has bee a few topics that bring up the fact that using the RTP outside of RMXP is a breach of the EULA and copywrite infringement. however that fact that such a crime is a civil matter most every where means that if enterbrain wanted to pursue damages then they would need to spend boat load on layers and legal processes to sue the target for damages and legal fees.  the fact that most of their targets would be people between 12 and 24 they people who likely don't have enough money to even cover the legal fees means that it is highly unlikely that they will ever do such a thing and are more likely to ignore it.

tl;dr it is common place for people to get away with crimes because it isn't work the effort to carry out a punishment

my conclusion is that the legal bloat in the world protects people my making so that companies and those with money cant just plague us with frivolous charges ect. but it also lets countess lesser crimes through, ignores because the legal bloat makes it too much work to rectify it.


what are your thoughts?
I no longer keep up with posts in the forum very well. If you have a question or comment, about my work, or in general I welcome PM's. if you make a post in one of my threads and I don't reply with in a day or two feel free to PM me and point it out to me.<br /><br />DropBox, the best free file syncing service there is.<br />

Spaceman McConaughey

Nobody cares if you're 14 and you pirate something. Kids have adult parents that they'd be more than happy to sue. ;)

winkio

Laws are an interesting thing.  Who makes laws?  Why do people follow laws?  I think the ones that get broken more often are the ones that have less popular support.  Obviously, not all laws are equal, because driving 5 mph over the speed limit is not the same magnitude of crime as killing 5 people in a shooting.  There are more than a few laws that I think should go away.  The thing is, I can't protest by breaking them, because then I will be prosecuted.  So I could start a legal movement and put in years of effort in order to make a small amount of change, or I could just ignore it, and maybe break it when nobody is watching.

Ryex

that's how I think most people think winkio. it's easy to get away with breaking those few laws and it taks far too much effort to change them.

@Branden my point is that even those parents in most cases arn't worth going after. and the vast majority of the time they can't tell who did what. thus they ignore it. for the most part. they do go through the trouble of making a few examples of people but so far such tactics have been ineffective as far as I can tell.  that's why recently there have been a lot of bills proposed in the US about making copywrite infringement a criminal offence instead of a civil one.

as for who makes laws, that gets really complicated. fact is that in the US any one can MAKE a law. but it takes a lot of political and monetary backing for it to get any where near being passed.

Why do people follow laws? a centuries old debate that is. I've found that the main two reasons most people I talk to about the subject answer a combination of fear of punishment and a moral standing the some actions are wrong.  usually its the laws with flaky moral backing that are commonly broken.
I no longer keep up with posts in the forum very well. If you have a question or comment, about my work, or in general I welcome PM's. if you make a post in one of my threads and I don't reply with in a day or two feel free to PM me and point it out to me.<br /><br />DropBox, the best free file syncing service there is.<br />

Vell

Y'know, some places outside the U.S with stricter systems to obtain licenses don't have speed limits posted ANYWHERE.

Power Hungry Midget

Actually, I heard about some Bill S.978. People on youtube were making quite a fuss, even though it didn't look like it would get passed. Game publishers don't want it to be illegal for their fans to stream game-play. The other issue I heard about, was the Protect the IP act, in which the US and the UK would block websites which have copyright infringement. So that's no tv shack, no sidereel, no blinkxremote, no torrents or pirate bay. I mean they have to get the ISPs to enforce that but if they pass a law then it'll happen. There was a case in Ireland in which a copyright group tried to sue UPC(an ISP) for not cutting off users who were engaging in filesharing. However cutting off the internet in that case was deemed unconstitutional.
We have to have some laws, otherwise there would be chaos, at least in today's social environment. And not everyone agrees on laws which don't really have a moral high ground, take marijuana for example or speeding or filesharing. People fileshare because it's easy to avoid getting caught, the risk is minimal and for some reason "stealing" on the internet doesn't make you feel bad in comparison to stealing a physical item from a shop, because the element of fear is removed.
Because of the subjectivity of morality, it's hard to have laws which keep everyone satisfied. Obviously there are plenty of things people agree on, murder, theft, kidnap and rape. The only debate in relation to those crimes are the punishments. But then there are the more subjective issues, such as drug prohibition, abortion, the environment, gay marriage, gun control, trespassing, filesharing etc.
Also, taking Sony as an example, prosecuting hackers and filesharers does nothing but damage their reputation. While doing very little to discourage illegal actions.
Whooops, kind of ramble there.

The plot thickens......

I have a mind to join a club and then beat you over the head with it.
     -Groucho Marx
I often quote myself. I find it adds spice to the conversation.
     -George Bernard Shaw

http://xkcd.com/303

Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same.
    -Oscar Wilde

The Niche

Quote from: Power Hungry Midget on July 08, 2011, 08:52:32 am
People fileshare because it's easy to avoid getting caught, the risk is minimal and for some reason "stealing" on the internet doesn't make you feel bad in comparison to stealing a physical item from a shop, because the element of fear is removed.


Funnily enough it's not actually that scary irl, people just presume it is.
Level me down, I'm trying to become the anti-blizz!
Quote from: winkio on June 15, 2011, 07:30:23 pm
Ah, excellent.  You liked my amusing sideshow, yes?  I'm just a simple fool, my wit entertains the wise, and my wisdom fools the fools.



I'm like the bible, widely hated and beautifully quotable.

Dropbox is this way, not any other way!

Power Hungry Midget

Niche, it is scary. Don't try and look all cool, like I've shoplifted something. I robbed something when I was 11 and I was scared shitless. I now realise some of that was adrenaline.

The plot thickens......

I have a mind to join a club and then beat you over the head with it.
     -Groucho Marx
I often quote myself. I find it adds spice to the conversation.
     -George Bernard Shaw

http://xkcd.com/303

Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same.
    -Oscar Wilde

Spaceman McConaughey

I once shoplifted Diablo I, and the only fear I had is afterwards when I wondered if there were security cameras in sight, when shortly after I realized there were none in that section. I came back and got the rest of that Diablo battle chest, came back to that Walmart a third time, all Diablo battle chests are now sealed and protected. Funny how they just did that game; it shows a side of laziness. :P

But I recommend nobody to repeat my actions. I was only but a stupid kid at the time.

G_G

When I was 8 I walked out with a movie on accident. I was holding onto it in hopes I could talk my parents into getting it for me. Set the alarm thingy off, my parents were pretty embarrassed. lulz Oh and I have 200GB of pirated movies, games, shows, programs, etc.. just on my external HDD alone :D

Taiine

rofl GG. Would have of those me Microsoft Office 2010? Mine some reason just became unregistered and it's erking me that it's not accepting my darn cd key. >.<

EntropyUSB

Quote from: Ryex on July 05, 2011, 11:35:36 pm
Sometimes I'm shocked at how often and how easy it is to get way with things that are technically illegal.  

THE most common by far in america is probably speeding. did you know that it is illegal to go even 1MPH over the posted speed limit? really it is. but the fact is that EVERYONE goes between 1-7MPH over the speed limit, and all but the strictest cops will let you go if your between 1-4 MPH as long as it isn't a school zone then they will give you 1-2 (though I've still heard of people pulled over for 2mph over)  and if your in a lard group of car that are speeding they will only pull over the guy who is passing or the leader. it simply isn't work their time or effort to go after everyone and keep people under the posted speed limit and thus it is the most commonly over looked "crime"

then there are what I refer to as "internet crimes" ranging from copyright breach, to pirating, to DMCA copywrite circumvention crimes. these "crimes" are so numerous and so hard to track that that only a tiny portion of them are ever known and damages pursued.

the reason I bring this up is that recently there has bee a few topics that bring up the fact that using the RTP outside of RMXP is a breach of the EULA and copywrite infringement. however that fact that such a crime is a civil matter most every where means that if enterbrain wanted to pursue damages then they would need to spend boat load on layers and legal processes to sue the target for damages and legal fees.  the fact that most of their targets would be people between 12 and 24 they people who likely don't have enough money to even cover the legal fees means that it is highly unlikely that they will ever do such a thing and are more likely to ignore it.

tl;dr it is common place for people to get away with crimes because it isn't work the effort to carry out a punishment

my conclusion is that the legal bloat in the world protects people my making so that companies and those with money cant just plague us with frivolous charges ect. but it also lets countess lesser crimes through, ignores because the legal bloat makes it too much work to rectify it.


what are your thoughts?



All and all, there is a level of "legal understanding" that I will never see.

Like for example, here in the USA... pedophilia-like anime is considered to be just straight up "pedophilia" and you can be charged as a criminal for it.

Now, on one level; I can understand where people are coming from, pedophilia is wrong and disturbing... plain and simple.
But on the other level... it is ANIME, not real people; so what is the big deal?

If anything, the way I see legality in the world of today is this:

"As long as it doesn't PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY, FINANCIALLY, or EMOTIONALLY harm someone else (with direct intent of course); then what the hell should it matter?"

Like yeah... child porn is WRONG, but ANIMATED child porn is just like... "lol, it isn't even REAL PEOPLE; how the hell am I a criminal for watching animations?"
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