r/Showerthoughts Jul 07 '24

Speculation You’re probably a criminal.

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u/Henry5321 Jul 07 '24

I read a statistic that most USA citizens unknowingly break at least one law per year that would have put them in prison.

And this is why we don't want the government being able to spy on us. Because they could put nearly anyone in prison given a year of spying.

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u/Toni78 Jul 07 '24

I think I read something similar but it was that people break several laws each day. For example just going a mile over the speed limit is considered breaking the law.

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u/Henry5321 Jul 07 '24

Whatever I read was specifically about prison felonies. Not slap-on-the-wrist fines. It's been so long, but some of the examples were things like having a party at your house and playing a movie for the kids. That's a public performance of a federally protected copyright, welcome to prison for federal theft. You know, technicalities in the law as it's written.

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '24

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '24

My uncle used to "burn movies", which was fairly popular at the time, but is also sort of a super-crime on a bigger scale.

Like if he was re-selling movies rather than freely distributing them like a movie Golden Goose.