3 ms·

- Not reporting large cash transactions (over $10,000) - Using someone else's ID can be interpreted as identity theft (sharing student ID discount, Costco card

- Not reporting large cash transactions (over $10,000) - Using someone else's ID can be interpreted as identity theft (sharing student ID discount, Costco cards, epic passes) - torrenting copyrighted content (textbooks, music, movies, TV shows, audio books). I'm sure most of my classmates in school torrented some of those $200 textbooks.

gruez 1y ago
>- Not reporting large cash transactions (over $10,000) If you're talking about Currency Transaction Report, only financial institutions have to file those. >- Using someone else's ID can be interpreted as identity theft (sharing student ID discount, Costco cards, epic passes) Is "identity theft" actually a distinct crime? Or is it just fraud? If it's the latter, it's not a felony unless you're getting absurdly high amounts of benefit. >- torrenting copyrighted content (textbooks, music, movies, TV shows, audio books). I'm sure most if not all of my classmates in school torrented some of those $200 textbooks. Copyright infringement is a civil infraction unless you're doing it commercially (eg. burning bootleg DVDs to sell)
- wcfrobert 1y ago
  I was thinking form 8300. Could seeding a torrent be interpreted as distribution? You're right most of these would result in a slap on the wrist or fines. Perhaps 3 misdemeanors a day? But I think the overall sentiment still stands - that it's hard to be a saint.
  - gruez 1y ago
    >I was thinking form 8300. It's only criminal for "willful" infractions. If you sold a car and forgot to file, that's probably not willful. Moreover, how often are people really doing >$10k cash transactions? "it's hard to be a saint" is a massive shifting of the goalposts from "3 felonies per day". https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/irs-form-8300-reference-guide#penalties https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employe... >Could seeding a torrent be interpreted as distribution? From wikipedia: United States v. LaMacchia 871 F.Supp. 535 (1994) was a case decided by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts which ruled that, under the copyright and cybercrime laws effective at the time, committing copyright infringement for non-commercial motives could not be prosecuted under criminal copyright law.
    - pixl97 1y ago
      "Willful" is one of those things highly dependent on whoever may be prosecuting you. If you have from some disliked class then the state is going to push very hard on you doing it willfully.
- qingcharles 1y ago
  I was in jail with tons of people with identity theft indictments. In Illinois it is absolutely a separate crime with a whole list of ways you can easily commit it.
kazinator 1y ago
I feel you are mixing something up here. Assume that the student ID discount or Costco card, etc, are being borrowed: used with the card holder's blessing. Or borrowing a Netflix password. It is the institution giving the student ID discount, or Costco or Netflix, who are not happy about it, and call it theft. But it is not theft of the identity.
kazinator 1y ago
> I'm sure most of my classmates in school torrented some of those $200 textbooks. That is so 2020. Today, AI pirates the textbooks; the student just generate the homework.

gruez 1y ago

>- Not reporting large cash transactions (over $10,000) If you're talking about Currency Transaction Report, only financial institutions have to file those. >- Using someone else's ID can be interpreted as identity theft (sharing student ID discount, Costco cards, epic passes) Is "identity theft" actually a distinct crime? Or is it just fraud? If it's the latter, it's not a felony unless you're getting absurdly high amounts of benefit. >- torrenting copyrighted content (textbooks, music, movies, TV shows, audio books). I'm sure most if not all of my classmates in school torrented some of those $200 textbooks. Copyright infringement is a civil infraction unless you're doing it commercially (eg. burning bootleg DVDs to sell)

wcfrobert 1y ago
I was thinking form 8300. Could seeding a torrent be interpreted as distribution? You're right most of these would result in a slap on the wrist or fines. Perhaps 3 misdemeanors a day? But I think the overall sentiment still stands - that it's hard to be a saint.
- gruez 1y ago
  >I was thinking form 8300. It's only criminal for "willful" infractions. If you sold a car and forgot to file, that's probably not willful. Moreover, how often are people really doing >$10k cash transactions? "it's hard to be a saint" is a massive shifting of the goalposts from "3 felonies per day". https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/irs-form-8300-reference-guide#penalties https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employe... >Could seeding a torrent be interpreted as distribution? From wikipedia: United States v. LaMacchia 871 F.Supp. 535 (1994) was a case decided by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts which ruled that, under the copyright and cybercrime laws effective at the time, committing copyright infringement for non-commercial motives could not be prosecuted under criminal copyright law.
  - pixl97 1y ago
    "Willful" is one of those things highly dependent on whoever may be prosecuting you. If you have from some disliked class then the state is going to push very hard on you doing it willfully.
qingcharles 1y ago
I was in jail with tons of people with identity theft indictments. In Illinois it is absolutely a separate crime with a whole list of ways you can easily commit it.

kazinator 1y ago

I feel you are mixing something up here. Assume that the student ID discount or Costco card, etc, are being borrowed: used with the card holder's blessing. Or borrowing a Netflix password. It is the institution giving the student ID discount, or Costco or Netflix, who are not happy about it, and call it theft. But it is not theft of the identity.

kazinator 1y ago

> I'm sure most of my classmates in school torrented some of those $200 textbooks. That is so 2020. Today, AI pirates the textbooks; the student just generate the homework.