NY Attorney General Subpoenas Craigslist For Post-Sandy Price Gougers

TheSync writes "In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the New York State Attorney General has subpoenaed Craigslist, demanding that the site identify more than 100 sellers whose prices on post-Sandy gas, generators and other supplies were of an 'unconscionably excessive price' during an emergency. AG Eric Schneiderman said: 'Our office has zero tolerance for price gouging [and] will do everything we can to stop unscrupulous individuals from taking advantage of New Yorkers trying to rebuild their lives.'"

Comments

Re:Morons.

[causality]

Please read this article, look at the picture, and tell me you think the cop was wrong. The charge was violating the law on the handling of gasoline. This moron poured 150 gallons of gasoline into regular Home Depot buckets. By the time he was arrested, the tops of the covers were bulging. Yeah, that's dangerous because gasoline burns ... and gasoline vapors EXPLODE.

You are definitely correct about the nature of the charge.

All the same, don't you think that perhaps during a crisis/emergency people may have their reasons to take their chances? You would never, ever take a higher risk in order to provide something essential to yourself, your family, and your neighbors and community? Never ever? Honestly, if I could, I would. I'd manage the increased risk as well as possible (store it away from people, etc) but sometimes you do what you have to do, even if you don't really want to. I wish I had neighbors like him, who would think of other people and try to provide for them even if that means taking a legal risk.

Understand, if he did this during a normal time of no crises at all, I would agree that he was a moron and I would agree that he should be punished. But this was a crisis and he was looking out for other people as well as himself. I believe he weighed the options and made his choices accordingly. Sometimes adverse circumstances alter what you would normally do. If you have never before been in a serious situation where the shit was really hitting the fan, then you don't know what it's like. Sometimes you are forced to do what is expedient and sometimes we as Americans go so long without ever really knowing what this is all about that we feel too comfortable making armchair judgments about the intelligence of those who have been there.

There was no real intent here to violate a law. The man was merely using what he had available. If he had had flawless, approved containers for that much gasoline, do you not think he would have used them? Laws made during times of plenty should be reconsidered when people become desperate, with the only caveat being that no force or fraud was involved in this "crime".

Gasoline vapors are dangerous as hell, but they don't explode without a source of ignition. While I agree that there are better and safer ways to store and transfer gasoline, what was the alternative? No fuel at all during a time when it's cold and grid power is down? Should he have told his neighbors "well as much as I would like to share lots of gasoline with you, I lack an approved container, so all of you are screwed, tough luck?" What would you do?

Ever seen the movie Alive? Are you suggesting the survivors should all have been charged with incorrect handling of a dead human body? Because that is against the law, you know. Do you want a total law-and-order society that a computer could implement? Or could we perhaps consider basic survival as a form of coercion that quite legitimately makes people take options they would not normally consider? I have no problem with that, so long as no force or fraud is used to victimize another person (there is never an excuse for that, ever). That was the case here.