Do I become immune to government prosecution if...?

Hey ATS, I was pondering something after making this thread:

Australian Net Filtering - Why is this not a big issue?

Let me explain.

It is safe assume that any book i find in an Australian bookstore, any video from a videostore, any film that makes it to cinema or any game sold in a game store is a legal product. It has been classified and is considered legal.

If the internet is being censored/classified by our government, why would i not assume that every site i am able to access is legal as well?

So...

If the government does begin censoring the internet. Does that then mean i almost have automatic exemption from any prosecution regarding illegal activities on the internet? Or at the very least a good case for my lawyer to argue?

reply to post by SilentShadow


Thats a good question. I dont know about Austrailia, but where I am that sounds a little like entrapment if an arrest was made for posession. If something is legal all the way to the top, Idont see how they ca even officially question you about it. They could just go to the store and buy it themselves.

reply to post by psyko45


Exactly.

My automatic assumption when i browse online will be that ANYTHING i stumble across MUST be legal.

reply to post by SilentShadow


Unless you are acsessing or obtaining legal items in an illegal way, like hacking or something. Though nothing prevents the authorities from investigating, as long as youre not breaking laws you should be fine.

[edit on 19-2-2010 by psyko45]

reply to post by psyko45


I could understand it if you were hacking, however, i cannot really think of any other way that it could be deemed an illegal way of accessing 'information'. If the information is there and you find a way to access it WITHOUT 'hacking' then it MUST be legal.

No.. Just no. Nice try but I'm not sure that ACMA would have let that little loophole exist. It's a blacklist not a whitelist.

I have a list of things that I wouldn't do in life but I don't give myself a free for all on things not on there. Otherwise I would be a bad, bad man.

The internet is just a communications medium, just like the telephone.

But both can be used for purposes that definitely are illegal.

If you are into making death threats, or blackmail, or soliciting underage children for casual sex on chat Forums, that would be criminal.

Using the internet to do it would not be the issue, but it is HOW the internet is used can put you behind bars.





[edit on 21/2/2010 by Silver Shadow]

Originally posted by Silver Shadow
The internet is just a communications medium, just like the telephone.

But both can be used for purposes that definitely are illegal.

If you are into making death threats, or blackmail, or soliciting underage children for casual sex on chat Forums, that would be criminal.

Using the internet to do it would not be the issue, but it is HOW the internet is used can put you behind bars.

Yes... but i am not talking quite about that. Let's just say i that i found 'questionable' material through legitimate ways. I found a website that piqued my interest, however, for some reason was deemed illegal and yet not blocked. How would i know? Why could i not assume that the government is looking after me and the site MUST be legal.

reply to post by SilentShadow


I think your mistake is thinking that the government is looking after you. At best they are indifferent and at worst they are trying to entrap you. Why do they allow dvd burners, blank media, hd camcorders, vcrs, and then prosecute people for piracy? Why do they allow people to pose as adolescents in order to lure pedophiles and then arrest the pedophile even though they have been talking to an adult? Admittedly my examples are extreme but they are indicative of the 'two-faced' world we live in.



[edit on 22-2-2010 by TheComte]

reply to post by SilentShadow

If you run up on something you think might be illegal..FIND OUT.. Call whatever Law enforcement you need to. If it honestly just fell in your lap by way of legal daily activities then you should be good.(Realize this is all my opinion) Plus if it does turn out to be illegal then you could have just saved a life or found a missing person or something.Crime begets crime. Never know.

Why do they allow dvd burners, blank media, hd camcorders, vcrs, and then prosecute people for piracy? Why do they allow people to pose as adolescents in order to lure pedophiles

Simply because there are many legitimate uses of blank media, besides knowingly stealing copyright material.

If you deliberately solicit some child over the internet, that turns out to be some forty year old veteran police officer, you deserve what you get. If they present all the evidence in court, any reasonable person would nail you.

Likewise if you try to buy illegal drugs, or banned weapons, from an undercover police officer, you can hardly claim it was entrapment.

Your own conscience should tell you if what you are doing is MORALLY wrong or dangerous.
If it is, then there is a fair chance it may also be illegal in some places.

i would tend to agree with you that ideally anything not filtered should be legal.
however governments in my experience don't use logic in their legal systems.
you would be in the right AND in a jail cell.*

*your government may vary but i wouldn't bet my freedom on it



[edit on 23-2-2010 by the_grand_pooh-bah]

If the government does begin censoring the internet. Does that then mean i almost have automatic exemption from any prosecution regarding illegal activities on the internet? Or at the very least a good case for my lawyer to argue?

No, that is not the way the law works. That is pretty much like saying drugs are illegal and since the governemnt prohibits the sale of narcotics im exempt from prosecution for buying and selling drugs, its illegal so i can do it.
But keep in mind part of the law is not only the commision of the crime but the intent. If you ever got into trouble for doing something illegal you kind of just admitted here (which would be found out should the suthorities ever get ahold of your computer) that you intend to and/or do use the internet for knoingly illegal activities.

edit to add:
"It is illegal so it is okay" is probably the worst defence you could ever use in court, 2nd to "i did it but i do not want to go to jail".

[edit on 23-2-2010 by zaiger]

Originally posted by zaiger
No, that is not the way the law works. That is pretty much like saying drugs are illegal and since the governemnt prohibits the sale of narcotics im exempt from prosecution for buying and selling drugs, its illegal so i can do it.

I am talking more in the sense that i cannot hope to know exactly which videos in a video store are legal or not if they weren't subject to censorship. Why is the internet not the same? The common person would have no idea they cannot talk about euthanasia and if they find a forum where a conversation takes place, they will join in not knowing they are committing an offence.

reply to post by SilentShadow


They are censoring the internet not you activities. The government is not gong to go around busting people for viewing porn they censor. They are blocking sites not making it illegal. For instance you are not allowed to use the F word on public television. They will not go around reounding up people who watch a television show that used the F word on TV. They are going to be censoring the internet so i would not worry about the video store. And you can talk about euthanasia but be warned, someone kills themselves or injures themselves on advice you gave them you may be liable.
Just do not do anything dumb and you should be fine.What is the law like in the AU? In the USA we go by the spirit of the law, in the UK they go by the letter of the law.

The OP's whole premise is flawed. Grounding to the earth is unimportant. In electronics, ground is just a reference point. You can pick up all the loose RF in the world on your circuitry, and as long as it's within the designed limits, it won't make a bit of difference if the ground you're referencing is tied to a metal stake driven into the earth, or if it's the chassis of your automobile, as long as you're consistent.

Earth ground is just used because it's reasonably consistent from place to place and time to time, and you get all your power from the mains, instead of from a battery and alternator contained in your house.

Originally posted by mdiinican
The OP's whole premise is flawed. Grounding to the earth is unimportant. In electronics, ground is just a reference point. You can pick up all the loose RF in the world on your circuitry, and as long as it's within the designed limits, it won't make a bit of difference if the ground you're referencing is tied to a metal stake driven into the earth, or if it's the chassis of your automobile, as long as you're consistent.

Earth ground is just used because it's reasonably consistent from place to place and time to time, and you get all your power from the mains, instead of from a battery and alternator contained in your house.

Methinks you have the wrong thread... lol.