Quote:
Originally Posted by spellbanisher
Maybe damages isn't the right term, although i disagree that just because punishment is predefined doesn't mean that society (and really it is government doing the inflicting) doesn't inflict damages. Certainly, the United States legal system recognizes such possibility, which is why the bill of rights prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment." The Supreme Court, in Furman v Georgia, defined four principles that constitute "cruel and unusual punishment"
1. "that a punishment must not by its severity be degrading to human dignity," i.e. torture
2."A severe punishment that is obviously inflicted in wholly arbitrary fashion."
3. "A severe punishment that is clearly and totally rejected throughout society."
4. "A severe punishment that is patently unnecessary."
I think massive fines for copyright infringement falls under the fourth principle.
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If all of those rules are followed than again I don't see much inflicting going on. I know that they aren't always and that appealing often does no good. Two people committing identical offenses are not often punished equally unless it is a traffic ticket.
Personally I am not too concerned with the war on piracy. People steal. Not a new phenomenon. What irritates me most is the self justification. It's not really stealing because I wouldn't have bought it anyway is about as lame as you can get. Lots of stuff I wouldn't buy, but does that mean I should steal them. an especially spurious reasons with ebooks and videos, I don't want to wait or I don't want the commercials.
And like shoplifting it is practically harmless to society if few are doing it. But multiply it by millions and everybody pays higher prices for one thing. And possibly this is why there is the inconvenience of DRM although that is hard to imagine
Myself I prefer people to shoplift rather than break into my apartment, but still it should still be discouraged fairly vigorously. A slap on the wrist or a mild spanking just won't do it. I'm not advocating the guillotine here, but making the punishment equal or even close to paying what you would if you bought the item in the first place is not going to deter anyone. AS HarryT implied, if I could get out of paying on the transit by simply paying if caught, why pay at all.
Helen