For me it is difficult to estimate the consequences of legal affairs in other countries than mine. And even there (The Netherlands) it is hard enough to understand legal consequences. The meaning of laws is to create order, so the most effective way would be a maximum of order with a minimum of laws. But this can lead to dangerous simplicity like cut of the hands of the thief, so he can't steal anymore, or even worse, hang the horse-thief, so the problem is solved.
Piracy is of all times. In The Netherlands we had pirates that still are seen as heroes (Piet Hein, zijn naam is klein, maar zijn daden waren groot - Piet Hein, his name is small, but his acts were great - is still a well-known song), but also the USA tried to finance their civil war with piracy and not long ago during the Reagan period the war in Nicaragua was financed with drugs piracy.
In The Netherlands we tend to consider all possible aspects in a crime. This often leads to mocking bar-talk as: the criminal had a difficult youth, ha, ha. Sometimes the mocking birds are right, but the principle that the verdict should lead to order based on humanity is so valuable, that it is difficult to express that in money.
Thereby some aspects are difficult to understand.
- One of our top comedians - Fons Jansen - refused to do his shows on television. His argument: the people in the theater pay for my show and it would be unfair that others can see it for free. Several years later he was convinced by the reality that the effect of TV was mainly an easier way to popularity and money. So finally he appeared on TV, was very successful, but had to stop too quick to make big money because of the sickness of Alzheimer.
- I often hear that factories who own patents are confronted with the fact that their products appear on the market, a lot cheaper, manufactured in China, without their permission.
- Internet is an invention that has huge consequences for human communication (as the invention of printing books also has been). Freedom of speech means that you can say what you think. It means that at least you are free to think. Internet can help by creating thoughts. So freedom of speech seems only valuable in case of freedom of thoughts and creating them. A conflicting situation in a lot of countries (think of the burning of books in history).
- The porn industry needs money to make things. A factory needs also to make profit. The profitability of a product can depend on cir
stances. Sometimes new inventions need new approach to survive (see the Kodak factory). In our society porn has become accepted and therefore the profitability. With illegal stuff you can make more profit than legal stuff. By declaring providers illegal they will find without any doubt means to keep providing one way or another and even make more profit than ever. These are preconditions that must take into account.
Sex is a drug, they say. Drugs create illusions. Fighting drugs also, it seems sometimes.
We will see what the future brings.
