this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2024
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[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

It used to be every American on average committed three felonies a day since breaking webservice TOS was a violation of the CFAA (a maximum of 25 years, so like murder in some states).

But a nice judge recognized in the late 2010s that no one reads those things and there are a lot of odious clauses in tech TOS. So they aren't criminally binding anymore.

That isn't to say we don't routinely commit felonies. We do, and they are generally not prosecuted until the state wants to make someone disappear (say a land developer wants your homstead and your hot spouse) or if someone has already companies angry and needs to pad out their rap sheet.