Breaking the law is something most of us
strenuously avoid, but there are actually a slew of illegal things that even
the most conscientious people do just about every single day—and usually get
away with. These may be minor infractions we know we shouldn’t do (but make a
habit of when we see everyone else doing it), or laws we break without knowing
they are laws in the first place. Read on for 30 things you are probably doing
that are against the law.
1. USING PUBLIC WIFI
You need to get online and spot an open network, so you
hop on. Called “piggybacking,” this is a crime in many states, punishable by
fines and even jail time in extreme cases. For example, in Sparta, MI, a man
was arrested for checking his email from his car using a café’s WiFi and was eventually
charged a $400 fine and 40 hours of community service.
2. SINGING 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY'
“Happy Birthday to You” is the most recognized song in
the English language, according to Guinness World Records, but until 2016, it
was illegal for you to sing it (at least to sing it on a recording or film).
The song’s writers, Mildred and Patty Hill, had copyrighted it and the use of
it was prosecuted until a ruling two years ago stipulated that the song was in
the public domain.
3. USING A FAKE NAME ONLINE
When you just want to buy something online and they make
you “register” or if you’re signing up for something you might be embarrassed
to have found out, you’ve probably popped in some kind of generic name into the
fields to avoid disclosing your real identity. Well, that’s against the law
according to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which was used to prosecute
a Rhode Island prison guard in 2010 for creating a fake Facebook profile for
his boss.
4. DOWNLOADING MUSIC
Though streaming services have made it less necessary to
download albums, we all had our Napster phase where we scoured the service for
obscure tracks and classic albums. You’ve probably still got a library of
illegal mp3s buried somewhere on your hard drive—just don’t let Metallica find
out about it.
5. DRINKING UNDERAGE
C’mon… Who hasn’t? You may abstain from alcohol for
moral, religious, or health reasons, but it’s tough to find someone who has
held off on having a beer before their 21st birthday due purely to respect for
the law.
6. PLAYING POKER WITH FRIENDS
Yep, your poker night could very well be illegal—though
you’d have to be inviting some pretty high rollers. The Illegal Gambling
Act of 1970 states that it has to have revenue of more than $2,000 for one
day of gambling to technically break the law. But it’s not impossible that a
long night of high-stakes Texas Hold Em could lead you down that path of
illegality.
7. EATING SOMETHING BEFORE YOU BOUGHT IT
You’re dying of thirst and have a drink in your hand that
you’re planning to buy. You know you’re going to crack that open and enjoy it
as you do your shopping, rather than wait to fill your cart with everything you
need first. Just as long as you pay for it when you get to the register,
chances are low that you’re going to run into any issues.
8. DOWNLOADING MOVIES AND TV SHOWS
This one you’ve probably done more recently. Whether
trying to get the latest episode of Game of Thrones without paying for a monthly
HBO Now subscription, or tracking down an obscure movie you can’t find on
streaming services, we’ve all acquired a movie or show we had no legal right
to.
9. SHARING YOUR PASSWORD
Maybe you tried to save a friend from having to illegally
download movies by sharing your Netflix password with them…and in the process
broke the law yourself. It’s actually considered a federal crime to
share your passwords for subscription services—not that you haven’t already
done it.
10. USING YOUR CELL PHONE WHILE DRIVING
This one’s a bit more serious than most of the laws on
the list so far, in that it can actually get people killed. But many of us are
still getting over the habit of checking our texts or chatting on the phone
while we’re behind the wheel. Thanks to Werner Herzog and other
public service messaging, we are finally putting the phone down, but the bad
habit persists.
11. NOT UPDATING YOUR DRIVER LICENSE
WHEN MOVING
Most states require that you alert your Department of
Motor Vehicles that you have moved, and some are stricter than others. But when
you are moving to a new state, is getting to the DMV office really the first
thing you are going to be worrying about? Probably not until a year or two
later when you get fined for it.
12. SHARING MEDICATION
You knew that old bottle of Vicodin you got for your foot
surgery would come in handy someday, and sure enough, your buddy who was
visiting threw his back out and couldn’t make it to the doctor’s until he got
back home. But even if it helped him get through the return flight with a lot
less pain, you were breaking the law by helping him out.
13. JAYWALKING
This is illegal in pretty much every city, but
enforcement varies widely. While Los Angeles makes a lot of revenue by
ticketing those who cross the street illegally (though no longer for
those who enter a crosswalk after a countdown signal starts) while New York
City barely acknowledges it.
14. SMOKING MARIJUANA
While laws are changing fast from one state to the next,
you’re still more likely to be breaking the law when you light up than not.
According to a 2017 poll conducted by the Marist College Institute for Public
Opinion, a majority of Americans said they have tried marijuana “at some point
in their lives.” Forty-four percent of Americans say they currently use weed.
15. NOT GETTING A LICENSE FOR YOUR DOG
16. POSSESSING A PERMANENT MARKER
Anti-graffiti laws in states such as Florida and New York
make it illegal to possess “aerosol cans” and “broad-tipped indelible markers”
on your person. Chances are that if you are found with them, they would just be
confiscated rather than resulting in jail time or fines—unless you were using
them when you were caught.
17. WRITING 'DISTURBING' MATERIAL
If you enjoy writing genre fiction or blog posts that could
unsettle readers, you could potentially be in violation of laws in some states
that prohibit the writing of “disturbing material.” A high school kid in
Oklahoma found this out when he wrote a not-very-wise short story on
his school computer that got him into hot water.
18. LITTERING
All right, if you’re a decent person you hopefully don’t
do this too often, but we’ve all had dropped the occasional straw wrapper or
apple core and just let them lie. It’s not that we felt good about doing it,
there was just nowhere else to put it.
19. THROWING OUT CELL PHONES
Speaking of disposing of something properly, e-waste is
illegal in many places due to the chemicals and nasty metals that they produce
over the long run, which can end up in water supplies and cause other health
risks. That being said, you were totally lazy and just threw your phone into
the garbage when you finished with it, didn’t you?
20. DRIVING OVER THE SPEED LIMIT
21. DRIVING UNDER THE SPEED LIMIT
22. TURNING RIGHT ON RED
While it’s legal in many states, some do not allow it—not
that many people heed the law when they’re in a hurry and there’s no oncoming
traffic. You have probably treated it like a Stop sign: coming to a stop,
looking both ways, then getting on with your travels. As long as you didn’t do
it in front of a cop car, you were probably fine.
23. ROLLING THROUGH A STOP SIGN
Speaking of Stop signs, this is a bad habit of anyone who
has cruised through the suburbs trying to get back home after a long day or
taken the advice from Waze that sent you going through Stop-sign-filled
intersections that slowed you down much more than if you’d just stayed in the
stop-and-go traffic of the main streets. It’s against the law but you know
you’ve done it.
24. DRIVING THROUGH A RED LIGHT IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
You’re driving down a wide open street in the dead of
night when you get to a red light. You wait, and wait, and wait and it’s still
red. After a minute or so, you should probably be ticketed for not just driving
through and getting on with your drive.
25. DOING A U-TURN WHEN IT’S ILLEGAL
Like the “Midnight Red,” sometimes you just need to be
going the opposite direction from whence you came and there aren’t many options
for doing that. Are you really going to just keep driving for another mile
hoping a U-turn sign will pop up, or attempt one of those right-right-right
horseshoe turns, or are you going to do the easy option of flipping a U-turn
when you’re not supposed to?
26. ROLLING THROUGH A STOP SIGN ON YOUR
BIKE
If you are a bike rider than you have absolutely done
this before, looking both ways then cruising through the Stop sign to get on
your way. Nine times out of 10 you won’t run into any issues, but be extra sure
there are no cops around, just in case.
27. NOT WEARING A SEAT BELT
28. PUBLIC INTOXICATION
Another kind of law-breaking that we’ve probably all
done: public intoxication. Laws vary from one state to another about what
constitutes being “too drunk” in public and the consequences of doing so (for
example, in Indiana, it can mean up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine; in
Texas you’ll pay no more than $500), but there’s a good chance we’ve all bent,
if not broken the rule.
29. DRINKING IN PUBLIC
30. MAKING A MEME
Well, making a meme with media that is not in the public
domain, that is. Which is most material that you’re likely to see in memes,
such as movie and celebrity images. But while using copyrighted images may put
you in some potential legal trouble, the “fair use” rule can probably
keep you out of it. Beyond copyright, you can also be sued by the subject of
the meme—if it’s a really mean meme.
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