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One can read the article and read the prosecution's argument and still disagree with it. I do. In the end you're buying something that doesn't exist. If you wa
by evandale 3y ago
One can read the article and read the prosecution's argument and still disagree with it. I do.
In the end you're buying something that doesn't exist. If you want to believe it exists that's fine. Complaining that you bought magic and someone sold you fake magic though? C'mon now. The fake predictions were just as real as the real ones would be.
- 1024core 3y agoI disagree. Let's say I believe in unicorns. Is it legal to then glue a horn on a horse and sell it to me as a "unicorn"?
- qzw 3y agoThat’s the thing though, what people believe they’re getting and the intent of the purveyor makes all the difference. For example, if you’re an atheist, then all of religion would amount to so much mumbo jumbo to you, but that doesn’t mean all religious organizations are free to commit fraud of any kind without consequence.
- hackernewds 3y agoHow does this compare to someone selling you a car that doesn't exist? It's criminal, and very similar if you distance your beliefs around magic from it.
- sb8244 3y agoA car can exist, though. That's the big difference. You can't say "Well I thought I was getting REAL magic", because that doesn't exist. You can absolutely say "Well I thought I was getting a REAL car", because it's expected to buy a car, and cars exist.
- another-dave 3y ago> You can't say "Well I thought I was getting REAL magic", because that doesn't exist. You can absolutely say "Well I thought I was getting a REAL car", because it's expected to buy a car, and cars exist. And Maria Duval exists, so it's possible that a bespoke letter from her to you could exist, even if you don't believe the contents. Feels more like saying — if you went to Disneyland & bought a ticket for "Get your photo taken with Mickey Mouse: $20", would you accept a photo with any random person instead because "of course you can't get a photo with Mickey Mouse, he doesn't exist"?
- sb8244 3y agoGot it. Reading the thread it's more about the idea of "buying magic", which is nonsense. "Buying magic from Maria Duval" changes it to fraud assuming that Maria Duval was not involved. Where things become slightly more tricky is that Maria Duval sold the rights to her name to the scam operators before they did the scam. So now the analogy is maybe "you paid for an autograph from Mickey Mouse, but Joe Schmo signed it instead (you didn't find out until later). Disney sold the rights for Joe Schmo to use the name Mickey Mouse in autographs." Mickey Mouse as a character does exist btw, as a point that doesn't matter much.
- bentcorner 3y agoAuthenticity is an interesting thing to think about. When we went to Disney, there's a thing where you can get signatures from the cast members. The actress playing Cinderella would sign my kids' little book in the way you might think Cinderella would, Tinkerbell would sign the book in the way you might think Tinkerbell would, etc. But I wouldn't be surprised if you could get into legal trouble selling autograph books that you signed yourself, presenting them as being collector's items from Disney. But really, the thing you'd be making is functionally identical to what you'd get at the park - it's a fictional character's signature, drawn by a person trained in making that signature.