Whenever we write about things like cable TV, DRM and paywalls, we get numerous comments and e-mails from readers about various ways — almost all illegal — people beat the system and get TV shows, movies, video games, software, etc. for free. Which has got us to wondering where you draw the line on these and other matters.
Almost everyone reading this — and perhaps writing it, though I confess nothing — has at some point copied music illegally. Many of us drank alcohol before we were of age, or drove a car before we were licensed. Speaking of which, who among us hasn’t gone over the speed limit?
What about people who pay for admission to one movie at the multiplex and then hop to another screen to make it a double feature for the price of one.
Does stealing toilet paper or office supplies from the workplace really count as stealing?
Also, that office pool for March Madness might not be legal; same with that $50 buy-in poker game you and your pals have every Tuesday night.
Are you going to turn in your friend who figured out a way to vacation in Cuba last year? Or the couple on the third floor whose apartment reeks of pot?
And what about those bastards who jaywalk?
But seriously folks, there are a lot of illegal activities that we either participate in or turn a blind eye toward. We’d like to hear your thoughts on this, so please share them below…
More From Consumerist
-
Report: House Of Representatives Apparently Can’t Get Enough Pirated Episodes Of ‘Dexter’
-
UPS Hit With $40 Million Settlement In Illegal Online Pharmacy Probe
-
Report Claims Payday Loans Result In Net Loss Of Money, Jobs
-
Can You Get Away With Complaining About Your Job Online? Maybe, Says NLRB
-
Judge Requires Strip Club Patrons To Tuck In Shirts, Dancers To Cover Rear-Ends
Believe these ten commandment and try to keep them.
The Ten Commandments
1Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Other “gods†can include possessions, power or prominence.)
2Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5Honour thy father and thy mother.
6Thou shalt not kill.
7Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8Thou shalt not steal.
9Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Cannabis, piracy when poor, stable underage relationships (I’m in one and have been for over two years), minor traffic violations like running stops when no one is stopping with me, etc. I don’t like other people, even if it’s 51% of the vote, telling me what to do. I’m an individual, and I demand to be treated that way until it changes and I’m swallowed up by some corporation or another.
Unfortunately, that’s not how living in a civil society works…
oral sex in Texas
I subscribe to the George Carlin Code of Legality: Cop didn’t see it, I didn’t do it.
Fan Art. Technically it’s illegal, but most companies and creators turn a blind to it. I wish the copyright law would allow for fan art, as long as it’s not for profit. Fan art is a compliment and free advertising. Why it’s not legal by now is beyond me.
Fan Scanlations of manga not currently released in the US. There’s lots of manga that never makes it over to the states. And the reason for this is because there’s not a big enough audience for it to sell well and make a profit. Many manga would never be known at all stateside if not for scanlations.
My favorite mangaka of all time (Hikawa Kyoko), I found online through a fan scanlation. She’s not one of those mangaka who’s super popular, or puts out a lot of “gold” hits. She’s not even all that well known in Japan. But all her stories are great. Yet if not for the scanlations that ONE website put up, I’d never have known about her at all.
And I’ll go so far as to say that VIZ would never have noticed her either, if they hadn’t noticed how well liked her stuff was online. Everyone was very surprised when VIZ licensed her stuff and brought it over.
I bought every single manga VIZ released. They only released one of her stories, From Far Away. I have all 14 volumes at home. I read them several times a year. I tell everyone how great her stuff is and encourage others to buy it. If they ever bother to publish the rest of her stuff, I’ll buy that too. (Doubtful with how poor the American manga publishers are doing right now, but here’s to the dream!)
Not all scanlations are bad. Yes some groups scanlate licensed stuff and even try to make a profit for it. But they are a minority. Most scanlate unlicensed stuff that will never make it into the US for free.
I am pretty law abiding, I consider it my duty as a citizen. But what gets a pass from me is breaking one law to uphold another. For example, the copyright act allows limited copying by a consumer for specific purposes. DRM prevents all copying, whether the consumer has a legal right to or not. The DMCA forbids circumventing DRM. I give people a pass if they violate the DMCA to exercise their rights guaranteed by laws that have not been repealed. If similar situations arise, I tend to overlook lawbreaking in those areas as well.
We need an edit button. Another example of where I’ll give people a pass on breaking the law is situations like selling someone a game, then DRM prevents them from using it at all. I fully support people downloading cracked/pirated versions of things they already own (such as a DVD) that doesn’t have all the crap the regular version has.
I speed a little and copy CDs for people sometimes. That’s about it. I don’t do dope or stuff like that, because whether I agreed or not that it’s fine (FTR I don’t), I’m not going to get in trouble for it. Don’t need that kind of aggravation. If I’m around and people are doing it, I leave. Besides, sitting around with high or really drunk people is incredibly boring. It’s like trying to have a conversation with an insane two-year-old.
US small dish satellite TV piracy, because where I am it’s illegal to pay for it anyways. Seems mighty unfair to punish people for pirating something with no value to start with.
If a law is in place, it is our responsibilities as citizens to follow said law. If we believe that a law is in place that is unjust, it is our responsibilities as citizens to have that law revoked and/or overturned. We are able to do this by electing officials at various community, city, state, and national levels, either directly or indirectly, who will attempt to make changes, or not, depending on what we want and expect.
A law may be silly, but it is still a law. Disobeying a law is not a form of civil disobedience. Smoking pot in your apartment will not get it’s illegality overturned. Disobeying a law is an invitation for law enforcement / the judicial branch of our government, as applicable to individual situations, to fine / incarcerate / execute / do nothing as is seen fit in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the nation in which you live freely and without restriction.
Don’t like it? Move to Canadia, eh!
I write stories with friends and I have one character who points out that morals are great; laws are stupid. There’s a lot of people in prison, she says, (and she would know) who, if you asked them why a person shouldn’t steal a loaf of bread, will answer “because it’s a month in prison,” not “because it’s someone else’s bread.”
My parents always raised us with Don’t do X because Y. Don’t do B because A. Very, very rarely was something “because I said so” or “Because I’m your mother, that’s why.”
I want to know the reason for a rule before I follow it, and if it’s a stupid reason, I may or may not toe the line. I don’t really see it as being “civil disobedience,” is why I’m not out smoking in a protest, speeding by cop cars. It’s more like, the reasons against this are not based in anyone being harmed (smoking with friends, speeding down empty stretches of road), so how exactly would they catch me?
If you don’t hurt any people or animals or natural wildlife.
Corporations are not any of those things.
Jay walking is an ART in NYC. Cant live without that!
Anything victimless, assuming all participants are consenting adults. Speeding, media piracy.
The **AA have spent alot of time/money building up the idea in the public consciousness that copyright infringement equates to stealing a tangible object. This line of reasoning is littered with logical fallacies.
A large business is based on selling shiny plastic discs for thousands of percent beyond their manufacturing cost. That business is threatened because illegal downloads obviate the need to buy the discs. The **AA is fuxored, because the content that comprises the entire value of the disc can be reproduced for free, because it is intangible.
The other part of the argument, that “stealing” the content deprives the copyright owner of income they rightfully deserve, begs the question of whether pirates would unfailingly buy the shiny disc, absent the piracy option. In the interest of brevity, I leave that logical exercise to the reader.
The **AA have spent alot of time/money building up the idea in the public consciousness that copyright infringement equates to stealing a tangible object. This line of reasoning is littered with logical fallacies.
A large business is based on selling shiny plastic discs for thousands of percent beyond their manufacturing cost. That business is threatened because illegal downloads obviate the need to buy the discs. The **AA is fuxored, because the content that comprises the entire value of the disc can be reproduced for free, because it is intangible.
The other part of the argument, that “stealing” the content deprives the copyright owner of income they rightfully deserve, begs the question of whether pirates would unfailingly buy the shiny disc, absent the piracy option. In the interest of brevity, I leave that logical exercise to the reader.
Weed