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10.8.2004
Induce Act Analogy
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Proponents of the Induce Act should be interested in a recent case in Michigan reported by the AP News. A woman was convicted of the offense of inciting to riot because during a riot she carried rocks through the troubled area, selling small ones for $1 and large ones for $5. Purchasers then threw them at police, who, not grasping that she was simply selling a technology that was also capable of non-riotous uses, regarded her conduct as criminal.
The analogy is an interesting one. Clearly, no one would pass a law outlawing the sale of rocks. At the same time, there are clearly circumstances under which the sale of rocks is an undesirable activity. The same is true of file-sharing software.
It should not be beyond the wit of humankind to delineate this distinction. Granted, there will be a grey area, but to paraphrase one of Richard Epstein's aphorisms, the fact that grey exists does not mean that black and white do not.
posted by James DeLong : 10/8/2004 01:42:06 PM
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