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You've Got Indictments
Lam1969 writes "Reuters reports that South Korean prosecutors have started a program to start sending indictment notices via SMS. The program was started partly because of the high penetration of mobile phones among the South Korean population (75%, according to the article), and also because prosecutors want to save money by cutting back on paper mailings. One potential hitch in the program: You have to apply to the service in order to receive your indictment electronically."
Seriously, why would anyone make it easier for themselves to be indicted?
One potential hitch in the program: You have to apply to the service in order to receive your indictment electronically."
Uh, yeah...where do I sign up?
Nice, now they will get SPAM indictments as well.
no good for first offenders, but should make career criminals much more efficient...
"YOU'VE GOT JAIL!"
Reuters reports that South Korean prosecutors have started a program to start sending indictment notices via SMS ... One potential hitch in the program: You have to apply to the service in order to receive your indictment electronically."
Ok... so you have to *sign up* to be indicted electronically? wtf? We can't even get people to sign up for FasTrak toll payment, much less any form of electronic justice.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
As someone who has been on the good and bad side of government letters, I think I know how the U.S. will take advantage of SMS notices.
First, they'll create a US$40 billion law that will help the IRS notify taxpayers of refunds they haven't received. Of course, the majority of this money will be lost and forgotten and taxpayers who sign up will get little more than a notification SMS -- if even that.
Second, ten years later, they'll bring back the system but this time they'll use it to notify taxpayers of deliquency -- after spending another US$100 billion to "fix" the system.
Third, they'll repeat the SMS message at least 20 times more than necessary, due to a bug, and when the taxpayer comes to pay their bill, they'll find out that they owe 20 times the original amount because the IRS is sure they would never send 20 notices of the exact same bill due to the same person unless that person actually owed the entire amount.
Computers don't make mistakes, right?
One potential hitch in the program: You have to apply to the service in order to receive your indictment electronically
You have got to be kidding...
Next year...
South Korea embarks on a new plan to save law enforcement costs. South Korean police will no longer make arrests. Offenders will simply recieve an email instructing them to report to their nearest police station.
ObSimpsons
... who didn't leave his name.
Bart: Dad, you don't have ten thousand dollars.
Homer: Eh. How are they going to find me?
[at PBS Pledge Central, the "mercury" in a thermometer
display rises all the way to the top and rings a bell]
White: Folks, we've just reached our goal of ten thousand, seven
hundred dollars, and it's all thanks to one generous
caller
Homer: [laughs]
White: But thanks to Insta-Trace, we've learned it's Homer
Simpson, of 742 Evergreen Terrace. [a picture of Homer
appears on the screen. He screams]
Homer: Oh, why did I register with Insta-Trace?
http://www.snpp.com/episodes/BABF11
-- Is "Sig" copyrighted by www.sig.com?
I've only had a little personal experience, but I always thought that letters like these from the courts (indictments, notices of arraignment dates, etc.) were usually sent certified return receipt so that they can be certain that you've gotten the letter.
Am I wrong or are things just different in South Korea?
This is technology and information that has gone to the power of the police state. In the forseeable future, no one will be able to break the law and get away with it.
Pretty soon we will be living in houses with video screens on walls and will be constantly told that in order to have peace, you must have war...oh wait a minute...um nevermind.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
For most court things, delivery in person is how it's done. That's the only real way to make sure the right person got it. For criminal complaints, generally you are served by the police, and they arrest you in the process. For civil complaints, you can hire the police to serve the papers (which isn't a bad idea since they keep records) or have someone else do it, but it can't be you.
For things like jury duty notices it's mail, but I don't believe it's certified, just normal mail.
Seriously, Theres more than a little to be said about making the state at least spare the cost of a certified letter to start the process of removing your liberty. Many parts of society don't need to be more efficient and IMHO this is one of them.
just on the off chance that you might be indicted for some crime, and you want to make sure you don't miss your court date? Wacky. But this is the kind of thing that bureaucrats (not known for deep or particularly critical thinking) are famous for inventing, the whole world over. Like the time that the Social Security Administration here in the U.S. decided to make everyone's SS records accessible simply by typing in one's SSN at their Web site. Brilliant idea that would no doubt have made perfect sense in some Sliders-style alternate universe.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
I can see it now...
Name: [____]
Mobile Number: [____]
Postal Code: [____]
Number of Children in Household: [____]
Annual Household Income: [____]
Which of the following magazines do you subscribe to: ...
[ ] Time
[ ] Korean Weekly
[ ]
[ ] Check here if you would like to be notified if your indictment is dismissed
[ ] Check here if you would like to be notified about your indictments in our partner countries
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?t ype=topNews&storyID=2005-12-29T072325Z_01_MCC92648 5_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BRITAIN-TEXT.xml