Quote:
Originally Posted by frahse
Everyone should be accorded due process.
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We are all for due process. The problem is what the process should be. The process for a parking ticket is not the same as the process for robbery.
When a security guard thinks he or she saw someone pocket a book, and then physically detains the person as they confusedly remove a book from their pocket, and the accused then sues the store, at considerable cost in legal fees with little chance of success, that's due process.
If you want draconian fines, as Harry does, the accused will commonly countersue, and there be a routinely complicated process with lots of involvement by tax-supported law enforcement. If you want mild sanctions, as I do (example:
Copyright Alert System), then there still is due process, but appropriate to lesser harm done in case of injustice. If you want a full monty criminal beyond-a-reasonable-doubt process, expect full monty punishment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
That's the difference between - to use a US example - a landlord voluntarily informing a credit bureau that you have been evicted, and a credit bureau demanding that landlords give them information on all evictions.
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Evictions go through courts in some manner, and credit bureaus get eviction information from the government. So I don't think that is relevant to the thread.
Credit bureaus provide people who issue credit with a product they consider essential (reports on your credit history). In return, the creditors have to both pay money and pony up information about debtors. I don't see how this is different from "demanding information."
You could object that the whole US legal system is unfair. But if we are going to do that, I don't think you can argue that book pirates are an especially persecuted group.