We watched a DVD at home last night. I was amused to find that the preview on-screen warning about the dire consequences of piracy is now being policed by not just one government agency (the FBI) but two (the Department of Homeland Security is also now in on the act). Can the Departments of Justice and Commerce be far behind?
The whole warning thing strikes me as unnecessary and ineffective anyway. By and large, those who pirate films, music, and the like by copying them illegally know they're breaking the law. For the teenagers who do it for their own personal benefit, that's part of the fun - it's online shoplifting. For the Chinese cartels who pirate on a worldwide scale, it's the risk (albeit minuscule) of doing business.
In other words, common sense tells us that these warnings have zero practical effect.
But they're part of a fast-developing culture in which local authorities -- egged on by lawyers, I'm sure -- seem to believe that we won't know it's wrong unless there is a sign to tell us so.
We see it in many other places. Driving comes to mind. A few short decades ago, when the "right turn on red" rule was introduced and began spreading like wildfire, I knew it was a mistake. It would get out of hand, people would take it for granted. It did, and they did. Now, at nearly every intersection, every red light is decorated with a little sign advising us that we can't turn right on red ... "when pedestrians are present." Duh. That was part of the original rule, but now we have to have a sign to tell us so. A sign that most people ignore.
The same is true of running red lights. Everyone knows red means stop, and continuing against it is (and should be) reason for a fine or worse. Yet when the authorities put up cameras to enforce this clear and simple rule, they seem to feel obliged to tell people cameras are present, so they shouldn't run the light. These signs cost big bucks to install; they shouldn't be necessary; and unfortunately, the introduction of a few means more will be needed, as violators who choose to run lights without signage will go to court to claim they didn't know it was illegal.
There is worse to come, at least in my area, where we now are starting to see people who decide not to wait for a light to turn green; if they don't see anyone coming they will turn left, or even continue straight through the intersection, on red.
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