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A Year In Prison For a 20-Second Film Clip?
PizzaFace writes "It's Jhannet's 19th birthday, so her boyfriend borrows a camcorder to memorialize the occasion, and they head to the mall. They goof around, recording each other in the food court, then decide to catch the Transformers matinee, which started a few minutes earlier. During a big action scene, Jhannet takes the camcorder and records a 20-second clip to show her little brother. A few minutes later, cops who were called by the manager come in with flashlights, arrest Jhannet, confiscate the camcorder, and, at the behest of Regal Cinemas, charge her with film piracy. 'I was terrified,' said Jhannet. 'I was crying. I've never been in trouble before.' If convicted, she could be sentenced to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine. The police say they lack discretion because Regal Cinemas chose to prosecute: 'They were the victim in this case, and they felt strongly enough about it.' The National Association of Theater Owners supports Regal's 'zero-tolerance' prosecution standard: 'We cannot educate theater managers to be judges and juries in what is acceptable. Theater managers cannot distinguish between good and bad stealing.'"
Taking a camcorder to a movie theater is just not very bright, is it? Time for "jhannet" and the submitter to wake up and smell the fascism -- this ain't your Dad's United States of America, after all. I mean what are you going to do next, joke about having a bomb in a government office and then submit a /. sob sory about going to prison?
I'm sorry, but IMO if this person gets punished it's just Darwinism in action.
Caveat Utilitor
What kind of idiot takes a camcorder into a theater? Unless she spent the last 15 years or so in a cave, she should know that they go out of their way to bust people for this. 20 seconds or so for her little brother? Even if this is true, she is guilty of being stupid. The judge will give her story as much credence as "some dude just handed me the stereo, your honor. I didn't know it was hot!" She's toast.
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what is punishment for stealing someone's innocence?
some would say execution, and i can understand where they are coming from
personally, i'm all for permanent exile. mainly because once a pedophile, always a pedophile. there is no cure. recidivism is guaranteed. society has a duty to protect future children from future victimhood by a confirmed pedophile
but not to some beautiful tropical paradise. perhaps canada should donate some arctic island for the exile of all world pedophiles, and the canadian government reimbursed for the burden of keeping them on that island
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
The world would be a better place if people told less "harmless" lies. Don't be an advocate for poor human behavior.
Section (2) is total bullshit.
There is a war going on for your mind.
If he was demanded to do so, it's not poor human behavior, it's called "doing your job".
"Doing your job" doesn't absolve you from all ethical concerns.
How well does the "I was just following orders" defense work?
The libertarian solution to the failures of capitalism is to apply more capitalism til the failures are fixed.