Better Response To Crimes On YouTube: Force The Criminals To Apologize On YouTube

from the much-better-response dept

We keep seeing stories of proposed legislation to make it a crime to post video evidence of yourself committing a crime. This seems totally backwards. If the person is posting evidence of themselves committing a crime, that makes it that much easier for the police to capture them. Giving them reasons not to post evidence of their own crime seems backwards -- and even some of those advocating these laws seem to implicitly recognize this fact.

It appears one judge has a much more reasonable response in a case involving some kids who committed a dumb act and put the video evidence on YouTube: part of their punishment is to also post a video apology on YouTube. If the idea behind putting the video up on YouTube was to get some "fame" for filming themselves doing something stupid, shaming them on YouTube seems a lot more sensible than adding additional criminal charges.

Filed Under: apologies, crime, youtube
Companies: youtube

Think Tank Says iPods Are To Blame For Crime Wave, Despite Little Evidence

from the correlation-not-causation... dept

About a year ago, we saw UK politicians complaining that the iPod's white earbuds made it an attractive target for criminals. They even went so far as to suggest that gadget makers should design their products in a way that would not encourage such crime. We may start to see similar suggestions after a DC think tank has started claiming that the rise in crime over the last few years can be attributed to iPods. It makes for a compelling headline, but there seems to be little evidence to support it -- other than the fact that violent crime has increased over the same period that iPods have grown in popularity. Other than that, the actual evidence put forth by the think tank seems rather weak. At best there's a correlation, but that's hardly proof that the iPod is to blame. As the AP reporter notes, while there certainly have been more reports of iPod theft, that may often be larceny rather than violent crime. Also, while most of the reports of iPod theft shows up in urban areas in places like crowded subways, the increase in violent crime appears to be coming from small and mid-sized cities. In other words, there's nothing to see here, other than a catchy headline.

Filed Under: crime, ipods

The Internet Is Making It Hard To Be A Gangster

from the take-the-cannolis dept

One of the Sicilian Mafia's oldest and most steady revenue streams, protection money, called "pizzo" in Italian, is now at risk a new website that now provides extorted businessmen the support with which to stand up to the mob. Traditionally considered a death sentence to stand up to the Sicilian Mafia, Addiopizzo.org, which means "Goodbye Pizzo," voluntarily lists 230 businesses who openly defy the payment to the Mafia. There is safety in numbers, and the tide of pizzo payments is indeed starting to turn. Perhaps what the website organizers should offer next is the ability for the pizzo-paying business owners to list what they are each paying for "protection." That way, perhaps they can lend some transparency to the Mafia's business. After all, why pay 500 euros a month if your neighbor is only paying 100 euros a month for his "I-hope-nothing-bad-happens-to-you" policy? Or, perhaps, once again, the web has brought an end to an outdated business model, and the Sicilian Mafia needs to adapt with the times. From spam to porn to gambling, the Internet is rife with shady schemes in which the well-organized gangster can participate.

Filed Under: crime, internet, mafia

Felony Interference Of A Business Model Is Not A Crime

from the it's-called-competition dept

Last week, in writing about how Viacom boss Philippe Dauman appeared to be wrong on almost every one of his assumptions about the trends and economics facing his business, someone challenged my thoughts in the comments, saying something to the effect of that it is "illegal interrupt a business model." That's a laughable statement -- but it seems to be one that pervades many of the stories we write about on Techdirt. Rather than recognizing that markets change, many companies seem to think that there's something illegal about changing the model a market works on, just because it makes it harder for them to make money -- even if it actually improves things for everyone else. Reader tom mcmillan writes in to point to a blog post that does a great job making this point, sarcastically referring to the practice as claiming "felony interference with a business model." The point, of course, is that there's nothing illegal about interfering with a business model. It's called competition and both history and economics has shown that it tends to not just lead to better products for consumers, but also opens up new markets for producers to make even more money. If interfering with a business model was illegal, any competition would be illegal.

Filed Under: business models, crime