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So 1) Rent a car from Hertz 2) Drink drive 3) Car gets forfeited Or 1) Rent a hotel room from IHG 2) Drug deal in room 3) Room gets forfeited Or

So 1) Rent a car from Hertz 2) Drink drive 3) Car gets forfeited Or 1) Rent a hotel room from IHG 2) Drug deal in room 3) Room gets forfeited Or 1) Hire an EC2 instance from AWS 2) Use it to try to hack NASA 3) AWS datacentre is forfeited Do I have that right? Or are there different rules for large organisations?

rtkwe 6y ago
There have always been different rules for large corporations (and the rich) because they have money to challenge the state in court. White collar crime isn't prosecuted as much because the laws were written with 'intent' clauses that make it easier to avoid convictions and difficult to prove so cases are more expensive and complicated. Most suits against corporations take years and millions of dollars to resolve. Civil asset forfeiture is legalized theft, the only reasonable justification for it is for unclaimed property, the second someone is found to be the owner you're seizing their property which there are (theoretically) [0] constitutional protections against. [0] I say theoretically because legal protections only 'really' exist when they're enforced against the government.
- deleted 6y ago
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eloff 6y ago
That would violate rule number one of being a bully, never pick on someone who can fight back. You have to look for that struggling single mother, she doesn't have the time, energy, or resources to protest if you steal from her.
dylan604 6y ago
If you read the fine print of your rental agreement, you will find that if for any reason the car becomes unrentable while you are in possession of it, you are responsible for the rental fee until the car is good to go. The cops would not be interested in the other scenarios though. They can only make money from the confiscated items if they can sell/auction them. I guarantee AMZN has more lawyers than any 3 letter agency, and will not get close to the front door. The hotel room concept is just too far even in a hyperbolic sense. Change it to rent an AirBnB that is a single family domicile, and you have a better leg to stand on
rbanffy 6y ago
> Do I have that right? Or are there different rules for large organisations? There are always different rules for those who can afford top lawyers.
josh_fyi 6y ago
Yes. This hotel got confiscated on that basis. Welcome to America! https://www.wbur.org/news/2012/11/14/tewksbury-motel-owner-fights-property-seizure https://www.wbur.org/news/2012/11/14/tewksbury-motel-owner-f...
- iso1210 6y ago
  Amazing, although I suspect it wouldn't happen to a corporation -- the constitution specifically gives incorporated entities far more rights than actual people.
stjohnswarts 6y ago
AWS has lawyers that we can only dream about. but Ex1 and 2 happen all the time.

rtkwe 6y ago

There have always been different rules for large corporations (and the rich) because they have money to challenge the state in court. White collar crime isn't prosecuted as much because the laws were written with 'intent' clauses that make it easier to avoid convictions and difficult to prove so cases are more expensive and complicated. Most suits against corporations take years and millions of dollars to resolve. Civil asset forfeiture is legalized theft, the only reasonable justification for it is for unclaimed property, the second someone is found to be the owner you're seizing their property which there are (theoretically) [0] constitutional protections against. [0] I say theoretically because legal protections only 'really' exist when they're enforced against the government.

deleted 6y ago
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eloff 6y ago

That would violate rule number one of being a bully, never pick on someone who can fight back. You have to look for that struggling single mother, she doesn't have the time, energy, or resources to protest if you steal from her.

dylan604 6y ago

If you read the fine print of your rental agreement, you will find that if for any reason the car becomes unrentable while you are in possession of it, you are responsible for the rental fee until the car is good to go. The cops would not be interested in the other scenarios though. They can only make money from the confiscated items if they can sell/auction them. I guarantee AMZN has more lawyers than any 3 letter agency, and will not get close to the front door. The hotel room concept is just too far even in a hyperbolic sense. Change it to rent an AirBnB that is a single family domicile, and you have a better leg to stand on

rbanffy 6y ago

> Do I have that right? Or are there different rules for large organisations? There are always different rules for those who can afford top lawyers.

josh_fyi 6y ago

Yes. This hotel got confiscated on that basis. Welcome to America! https://www.wbur.org/news/2012/11/14/tewksbury-motel-owner-fights-property-seizure https://www.wbur.org/news/2012/11/14/tewksbury-motel-owner-f...

iso1210 6y ago
Amazing, although I suspect it wouldn't happen to a corporation -- the constitution specifically gives incorporated entities far more rights than actual people.

stjohnswarts 6y ago

AWS has lawyers that we can only dream about. but Ex1 and 2 happen all the time.