You are of course entirely correct (well, outside of the mob, which is probably a realistic factor for quite a bit of business, but kind of out of scope for "ru

You are of course entirely correct (well, outside of the mob, which is probably a realistic factor for quite a bit of business, but kind of out of scope for "rules"). However, the essence of the matter isn't just about putting you in a cage - it's about excessive and capricious penalties with no real recourse. And those exist aplenty in the private sector. Nor do all laws broken necessarily equate to imprisonment. In practice, for perceived infractions against whatever rules the powerful organization has, private organizations are pretty ruthless up to but not quite reaching imprisonment. Pseudo-monopolists cutting service, or hefty financial penalties up to and including losing pretty much everything, holding your data hostage: that's all fair game. These two things aren't the same; but I do think they're both bad and scary enough to warrant not just concern, but in an ideal world, rules. You know, for example, constraints for government, and licensing rules for business.