Usually how this works is Congress passes an incredibly vague law, like a law saying that the US Mint has the power to protect the value of our money, and then Congress adds that they leave it up to the administrative agency (the mint) to fill in the "details" of the law such as what protecting money means. The administrative agency then tells the world what this impossibly vague law really means, which has the practical effect of passing a new law.
Re:Yet annother RPG plot prediction comes true
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Rat Brains Fly Planes
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· Score: 3, Informative
Still waiting on:
Use of non-lethal biological weapons to skew election campaigns (by lacing salads at restaurants frequented by campaign volunters with salmonela, e. coli, or influenza)...
From Wikipedia:
1984 Rajneeshee salmonella attack
In the small town of The Dalles, Oregon, followers of the Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh (the Rajneeshee Cult) attempted to control a local election by infecting salad bars with salmonella. The attack caused about 900 people to get sick. It is considered the first ever bioterrorism case in US history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_weapon
I think you're missing one of the biggest advantages of civil litigation over criminal litigation: burden of proof. In criminal litigation you have to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil litigation you only have to do a "preponderance of the evidence" standard which means more likely than not. That's a lot easier to convince someone on.
Also a lot of these laws only provide for civil remedies. That means suing is the way to make change. And really that isn't such a bad thing since all that you get additionally with criminal law is throwing the executives in jail, and that won't change the company.
And don't forget one of the biggest obsticles to successfully suing companies like this have been their user agreements. You are giving up serious legal rights when you click ok, and those things you agree to are enforceable against you. If you agree to spyware, they have done nothing wrong besides being a jerk.
The reason it is trespass is because that is where unauthorized computer use falls. Judges like to do it because they can draw more analogies that way to help them decide things. The name really doesn't mean what it seems like it should.
And last of all, there is nothign questionable as far as the illegality of copying music. But the government isn't the ones suing those people, it's the RIAA so it's not like they would sue more spammers if those people weren't brought to trial.
I'm not sure how the two are really comparable as rivals. LexisNexis (along with their rival in the legal profession, http://www.westlaw.com/ ) Provide excellent (as well as very expensive with searches running at over $70 per minute) coverage of court cases, codes, laws, public records, etc, which are all immensely helpful to legal types.
Sure they have public records containing some personal information, but very little that isn't already available as public information (so things such as deeds, criminal records, voter registrations, etc), and it's definately not their primary focus in life.
Slashdot Mirror
Usually how this works is Congress passes an incredibly vague law, like a law saying that the US Mint has the power to protect the value of our money, and then Congress adds that they leave it up to the administrative agency (the mint) to fill in the "details" of the law such as what protecting money means. The administrative agency then tells the world what this impossibly vague law really means, which has the practical effect of passing a new law.
Still waiting on: Use of non-lethal biological weapons to skew election campaigns (by lacing salads at restaurants frequented by campaign volunters with salmonela, e. coli, or influenza)... From Wikipedia: 1984 Rajneeshee salmonella attack In the small town of The Dalles, Oregon, followers of the Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh (the Rajneeshee Cult) attempted to control a local election by infecting salad bars with salmonella. The attack caused about 900 people to get sick. It is considered the first ever bioterrorism case in US history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_weapon
I think you're missing one of the biggest advantages of civil litigation over criminal litigation: burden of proof. In criminal litigation you have to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil litigation you only have to do a "preponderance of the evidence" standard which means more likely than not. That's a lot easier to convince someone on. Also a lot of these laws only provide for civil remedies. That means suing is the way to make change. And really that isn't such a bad thing since all that you get additionally with criminal law is throwing the executives in jail, and that won't change the company. And don't forget one of the biggest obsticles to successfully suing companies like this have been their user agreements. You are giving up serious legal rights when you click ok, and those things you agree to are enforceable against you. If you agree to spyware, they have done nothing wrong besides being a jerk. The reason it is trespass is because that is where unauthorized computer use falls. Judges like to do it because they can draw more analogies that way to help them decide things. The name really doesn't mean what it seems like it should. And last of all, there is nothign questionable as far as the illegality of copying music. But the government isn't the ones suing those people, it's the RIAA so it's not like they would sue more spammers if those people weren't brought to trial.
I'm not sure how the two are really comparable as rivals. LexisNexis (along with their rival in the legal profession, http://www.westlaw.com/ ) Provide excellent (as well as very expensive with searches running at over $70 per minute) coverage of court cases, codes, laws, public records, etc, which are all immensely helpful to legal types. Sure they have public records containing some personal information, but very little that isn't already available as public information (so things such as deeds, criminal records, voter registrations, etc), and it's definately not their primary focus in life.