TOM THE DANCING BUG: YOU Are a Computer Criminal!

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• [TooGoodToCheck]

  It’s funny ’cause it’s true.  Wait, did I say funny? I meant sad & depressing as hell, because it’s true

• [Oi]

  It’s true because there’s no idea of leaving around a public service, so most cases you don’t have permission to access a site. There’s a catch 22 whereby accessing the site you violate the terms of the service trying to read the terms of service who say you can’t use the site unless you agree to the terms of service.

  • [Peter]

    Catch-22 means they are allowed to do anything that you can’t stop them from doing.

    • [vinculture]

       It also means they don’t have to tell you what Catch-22 is.

      • [mocon]

         That’s quite a catch, that catch-22.

        • [mocon]

           It’s the best there is.

• [Nell Anvoid]

  I call plagiarism!  This obviously came from a wall poster in the US Attorney’s office in Boston. They take this stuff seriously, you know.

• [thunderhammer]

  it’s like that annoying old saying – The road to hell is paved with good intentions.  Didn’t this stuff all start with charging bad guys like Al Capone with mail fraud?  Everyone could agree he was a bad guy.  

  • [dragonfrog]

    That’s different – Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion, a crime he really was committing, not one that most Americans commit because it’s practically impossible not to.

    He happened to be evading taxes because he wasn’t declaring his income from bootlegging, smuggling, extortion, gambling and prostitution, but it’s still a crime in its own right.

• [Christopher]

  Could someone please let me know what BoingBoing’s terms of service are? I can’t seem to find them, but I don’t want to be a bad guy. Also I’d rather not break any laws.

  • [iamlegion]

     Too bad, citizen – you already did! Our Minders will be along shortly to collect you…

    • [Christopher]

      Handcuff me and do with me what you will. You should probably arrest me as well.

      • [Antinous / Moderator]

        Handcuff me and do with me what you will.

        It’s conventional to include a recent photo with a request like that.

• [MrJM]

  It’s funny ’cause it’s true!

  No… wait… that’s not funny at all.

• [nixiebunny]

  That box in the lower right corner about the corporate criminal being sent a bill… Do they ever pay for their crimes, or do they just get government handouts as a reward?

  • [s2redux]

    It’s more like a rebate program.

  • [allotrope]

    It’s a comment on the practice of settling corporate malfeasance with a fine while spinning it as a great legal victory. However, when law-breaking executives don’t go to jail those fines merely become one of the costs of doing business. I suspect the propensity to settle is not merely a case of attorneys disliking legal grinders against well-paid defense lawyers, but also that many attorneys have political ambitions, or their superiors have political ambitions, and the last thing they want is to anger potential donors.

    • [pablo]

      costs, by the way, that they just pass on to the consumer while enjoying a nice fat bonus.

• [jbond]

  Frank Zappa (RIP) – Joe’s Garage: When music is illegal everyone will be a criminal.

  This. Is. The Central. Scrutiniser. 

  • [Preston Sturges]

    This is the CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER…it is my responsibility to enforce all the laws that haven’t been passed yet. It is also my responsibility to alert each and every one of you to the potential consequences of various ordinary everyday activities you might be performing which could eventually lead to *The Death Penalty* (or affect your parents’ credit rating). Our criminal institutions are full of little creeps like you who do wrong things…and many of them were driven to these crimes by a horrible force called MUSIC!

    Our studies have shown that this horrible force is so dangerous to society at large that laws are being drawn up at this very moment to stop it forever! Cruel and inhuman punishments are being carefully described in tiny paragraphs so they won’t conflict with the Constitution (which, itself, is being modified in order to accommodate THE FUTURE).

    I bring you now a special presentation to show what can happen to you if you choose a career in MUSIC…The WHITE ZONE is for loading and unloading only…if you have to load or unload, go to the WHITE ZONE… you’ll love it…it’s a way of life…Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…Hi, it’s me, I’m back. This is the CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER…The WHITE ZONE is for loading and unloading only…If yah gotta load, or if yah gotta unload, go to the WHITE ZONE. You’ll love it…it’s a way of life. That’s right, you’ll love it, it’s a way of life, that’s right, you’ll love it, it’s a way of life, you’ll love it. This, is, the CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER!

• [ocschwar]

  Permission to poster around Boston? 

  • [Category]

    Good question… Is this CC licensed? I’d love to paste this around my town!

  • [teapot]

    Why not ask Ruben himself?

    http://gocomics.typepad.com/tomthedancingbugblog/contact.html

    The little © would indicate no, not without permission, but considering the nature of Ruben’s work I assume he’d be happy to have someone posting these around the place in meat-space.

    • [Scary Boots]

      Dunno if anyone else already asked, but I just did. So we’ll see!

      • [Scary Boots]

        Ruben replied, said he’s fine with non-commercial usage. Go team impromptu wallpaper.

• [angusm]

  This could be a big timesaver, actually. Instead of cops having to charge protesters or members of ethnic minorities with catch-all offenses such as “disorderly conduct” or “causing an obstruction”, they can simply charge them with terms of service violations. Advantages: there’s no danger of having the charges dismissed just because some bystander happened to have it all on video, and the potential prison sentence is much longer.

  “No one is innocent, citizen. We are merely here to determine the level of your guilt.” — Judge Dredd

  • [Justin Martin]

    That is a disturbing thought….

• [James Smith]

  Was anyone thinking the USA is still a free county?   Now, they can arrest anyone at any time for any reason the please.  Piss of the authorities and you are incarcerated toast. 

  That’s why I will never set foot in Amerika again. 

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    You know that half the countries in the world can arrest you for insulting someone online?

    • [B E Pratt]

       I am sure we are working on that, however. Citizen.

    • [James Smith]

      Tell me what I have said that is not true.  Be prepared with proof.  I am.

      Exactly whom have I insulted?  If it’s the truth, it’s not an insult, it’s a description.  You may not care for the description but dislike does not make it untrue.  I, for example, do not care to be reminded about my lack of hair.  But how can I be insulted? It’s true.

      BTW, which countries did you have in mind? 

      • [ohbejoyful]

        Thailand, for one.

        • [James Smith]

           That is hardly half the countries in the world, even if true.  I do know that you can be arrested there for insulting the king.  They are very fond of him.

• [jbond]

  Of course this attitude is also exported. Maybe you’re not an American so maybe you think this doesn’t apply to you. Until the American justice system takes an interest in you and demands from their friends in your own government that you be extradited to the USA to face trial for something you’re not guilty of in your own country. We’re all Richard O’Dwyer now.