Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Sydney
Posts: 2570

The Australian Government has recently passed a law stopping criminals in jails from profiting by their stories.
We have notorious low lifes (however interesting) selling their stories to mags, and/or having them written by ghosts.
I must say, that a great Aussie film "Chopper" came straight from the pages of a hit man's book.
Written while in prison.

(ig)

we came across the thread about kevin mitnick auctioning his laptop on ebay and that sparked the discussion.
i see the point the australian government tries to make, preventing victims families from a slap in face by a criminal making big bucks out of their loss. nonetheless every convict is still free to promote his/her story after released from prison and fair enough you cant take their right to freedom of speech and expression from them once released.
the good thing that comes from it though is that the immediate media attention is gone once a criminal is up for parole or about to be released, making it very unlikely to sell a story to a mag or raise interest for a book.

what do you think about that law? is something similar in place in other countries as well ?

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Registered: May 2002
Location: No. California
Posts: 4175

Only if the crime is victimless, and the criminal is still "at LARGE."

Attachment: confessions1.jpg
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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Location Location
Posts: 26415

Chopper was a grand film.

*stabs*
"Whadya do that for?"
*stabs stabs stabs*
"Now 'ang on a minute."
*stabs*

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Beatrice, Nebraska
Posts: 18808

The thing with Mitnick is that he's selling stuff for his defense fund, so he isn't making a profit off of it.

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Registered: Sep 2001
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quote:

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Originally posted by absolut
what do you think about that law? is something similar in place in other countries as well ?

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35656

In the UK, they can't make cash while they are still in prison for it.

This is a topical debate, because Jeffrey Archer has recently written a book while serving his prison sentence (proof that prison doesn't work, if Archer is still writing, as someone pointed out on the radio) and it is being serialised in a newspaper; all proceeds are being given to drug rehabilitation charities, though.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Disgusting den of creepitude
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And who said crime didn't pay.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 10229

"The thing with Mitnick is that he's selling stuff for his defense fund, so he isn't making a profit off of it."

uh, how is that not a profit? it's paying his personal bills, sounds like a profit to me.

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Registered: May 2002
Location: No. California
Posts: 4175

We have the "Son of Sam" law, which basically says that criminals can't profit from the sale of their books. (I think. It might mean they can't if their father's name is Samuel.)

It was named after David Berkowitz tried to sell a book dictated to him by the voices in his head. He was the serial killer known as "Son of Sam," or ".44 magnum botherer of couples getting frisky in parked cars."

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Beatrice, Nebraska
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quote:

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Originally posted by Dingle
"The thing with Mitnick is that he's selling stuff for his defense fund, so he isn't making a profit off of it."

uh, how is that not a profit? it's paying his personal bills, sounds like a profit to me.

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Registered: Jul 2000
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I always thought profit had to do with the money recieved versus the money expended for a certain effort. That he eventually spent money doesn't mean it isn't profit. The equation would be: How much money did it cost him to put his laptop on E-Bay, and how much, over cost, will he recieve for it; the latter = profit.

If I bet on horses and bank out at 100 to one on a dollar bet, and then spend 100 bucks on a hooker, that doesn't mean I didn't make a profit off of gambling. It just means I spent a hundred bucks on a blowjob.

I would guess that the courts don't see it as overall zero-sum gain of a person's finances, but rather whether or not a sale lead to financial gain or not.

By your rational, Jay Leno, when he buys 50 classic cars, is not spending money he earned. Or that karyn chick from www.savekaryn.com, is not making any profit from her website, because she is using it to pay bills.

Don't be a moron, SP.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Beyond Mason-Dixon Line
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quote:

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Originally posted by Paint CHiPs
. . . Don't be a moron, SP.

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Registered: Jul 2000
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quote:

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Originally posted by absolut
. . . you cant take their (convicts') right to freedom of speech and expression from them once released . . . .

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Registered: Oct 2001
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Amen.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Beatrice, Nebraska
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Where I was looking at it from was making a profit AFTER expenses were taken care of, which as Paint and I talked about, was not what I was supposed to be looking at.

My accounting is pretty rusty.

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Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Van Diemen's Land.
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so is this nail in the shed which has rust on it.

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