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The was an article by a retired judge and law professor explaining how the law could be interpreted differently to suit the circumstances. Regardless of the rig
by teyc 15y ago
The was an article by a retired judge and law professor explaining how the law could be interpreted differently to suit the circumstances. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of what Aaron did, I'm very worried that the book is going to be thrown at him to make an example of activists in the area of intellectual property.
I telecommute. Most people today do most of their personal communication over the internet. A charge of wire fraud carries hefty penalties and would tax the finances of most people to be able to defend against such charges.
If the scope of wire fraud isn't reduced, then if I even do something like tell a lie on news.ycombinator.com, I could potentially be charged with it.
- tptacek 15y agoExactly how could you be charged with wire fraud for lying on HN?
- teyc 15y agoThe case of the bullying mum who pretended to be someone else on MySpace who eventually caused a suicide was charged with wire fraud.
- pyre 15y agoIt was smacked down by the courts, though I could see Federal prosecutors trying such a tactic over and over until they set a precedent.
- yardie 15y agoThe charge isn't the problem. It's the money (and time) sink of having to retain a lawyer and prove your innocence. The game is the prosecution load you up with charges and then leaves it up to you and your lawyer to chip away at each one. If you've read the news lately you'll see 100 counts of X and 24 counts of Y. They are trying to intimidate you into a plea. They know that a conviction would be hard to get on the charges as presented so they are trying to trip you up just once. Chances are you've done something illegal and don't know it yet. So, while you are burning through savings and equity the DOJ has unlimited resources and time to come to pin something on you. With all that pressure most people would just cop to something to have it be done with.