On Jan 20, 2012, at 2:25 AM, Robert Bonomi wrote: > > Mark Andrews <ma...@isc.org> wrote: >> >> I suspect most file sharing site don't have illegal content. Most >> would have some content that is there without the permission of the >> copyright holder. These are different things. > > <nitpick> > "Without the permission of the copyright holder" _is_ contrary to > statute, and thus 'against the law'. As such 'illegal' is _not_ > an incorrect term to apply to the situation. > > It may not be a _criminal_ violation, but it is still proscribed by law. > > "Illegal" and "criminal" -- _these_ are different things. > > Junk faxing is illegal, Telemarketing calls to cell phones are illegal, > Public distribution without the permission of the copyright owner is > illegal. > > Except in special cases, none of those actions are _criminal_, but > they are all violations of law, and thus _illegal_. >
Actually, they are all criminal violations. They may be infractions, or, they may not often get prosecuted, but, each is, in fact, a criminal violation. Owen
