[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

That said, imagine the following purely hypothetical situation.

Let's say Canada legalizes marijuana for general use, and the US does not. I stand on the border of Canada and the US with an ounce of pot in my hand, and idly toss the bag across the border, near a US citizen. Perhaps the citizen asked me to do so, perhaps not, but picks it up anyway.

I think a more accurate comparison would be that the Canadian tosses the bag up in the air, and the American reaches across the boarder to grab it. The act of border crossing in each case is initiated by the user.

That is very different from me throwing the bag across the border. In your situation I have distributed the item, in mine he has retrieved it.

I'm in Canada, operating legally. The recipient is not.

• Legally, am I culpable under US law for my actions?
• Does that change based on whether or not someone arrests me?
• Although I have every reason to believe my actions are morally sound, am I at all ethically required to abide by or honor US laws when my actions affect US citizens?
• Does my intent matter -- e.g. what if the toss was an accident? What if I believed both I and the dropped bag were in Canada? What if I didn't see the US citizen, but assumed one would pick up the bag sooner or later? What if I made a conscious decision to flout US law?

With my change to the situation, no to all of the above. To take point 3 especially. Assume that the US still has legalised slavery, and Canada does not. A slave escapes to Canada. Is Canada ethically required to return the slave?

• Would telling the US citizen "marijuana is not legal in the US" absolve me of any legal and/or ethical responsibilities?
• Should the US citizen telling me "marijuana is not legal in the US" change my behavior in the future?
• Is telling the US citizen "marijuana is not legal in the US" a recognition that my action may not be legal?

No, it is telling him that his action may not be legal. I'm tossing something up in the air in my own country, he is the one importing it to the US.

When an Australian wants to purchase an ebook, and cannot do so because of Australian copyrights, it doesn't matter that "Australia is Australia" and local contracts, agreements and laws apply. When another Australian wants to share a book that is legitimately PD in Australia but not elsewhere, and a demand is made to remedy the situation somehow, now it matters that "Australia is Australia" and we invoke local copyright laws.

I don't think that anyone is saying that Americans should be legally allowed to download books from PG Australia which are not PD in the US. They are saying that it is not PG Australia's job to enforce US laws.