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Seems to me people often confuse something being illegal with something being an actual crime. They had the insight that these minor regulations can be easily
by vasilipupkin 8y ago
Seems to me people often confuse something being illegal with something being an actual crime. They had the insight that these minor regulations can be easily broken to deliver value with very few repercussions
- collyw 8y agoCould you explain the difference to me, as I am clearly in the minority in thinking that the two are synonymous.
- vasilipupkin 8y agosure. My town has a paid beach with lifeguard and a free beach without. It is illegal to swim on the free beach. It is not a crime. Worst case that happens is they kick you off the beach.
- otterley 8y agoLawyer here! Crime is the general term, and describes any offense against the people or the sovereign. Offenses are divided into severities, ranging from felony (worst) to infraction (least), with penalties to suit. In this case, swimming on the free beach is probably an infraction, much like failing to use your turn signal. The worst penalty you’ll face in the usual case is a fine. But if you swim on the free beach, get yourself in trouble, and a rescue party has to come save you, the fact that it’s a “crime” now gives the state the ability to recover their costs from you afterwards.
- collyw 8y agoNot sure that actually makes things any clearer to me. Is it actually illegal, or is it just "not allowed"? (Is the free beach public?) What would make it "a crime" as opposed to just being "illegal"?
- vasilipupkin 8y agoIllegal means against the law or against the rules. A crime is a function of how severe your illegal action is. Put it another way, people think if something is illegal, punishment for that must be a felony or something. But often times, it’s just an infraction so punishment is at most a fine or a minor action like getting kicked off the free beach
- dionidium 8y ago> Put it another way, people think if something is illegal, punishment for that must be a felony or something I can't imagine that anybody thinks that. We're all familiar with parking tickets, for example.
- vasilipupkin 8y agomany people do think that since they make a big deal out of Airbnb and Uber doing something illegal - not realizing that the illegality of what they did is equivalent to getting a parking ticket.
- fendy3002 8y agoIllegal can be things that hasn't yet regulated or made legal. Autonomous driving car, advanced ai even travelling to mars are things that yet not exists, thus are illegal at time they exists. Recent examples are GDPR, where before it isn't regulated to track user information without consent, now being prohibited with clear penalty. Next they should regulate personal assistance like alexa and siri
- emodendroket 8y agoWell, no, that's not the case. To the extent any of those things are illegal it's because they're doing things that are prohibited by existing law.