11-05-2010, 09:27 AM
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there's no $$$ in porn
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Join Date: Jul 2005
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Posts: 33,063
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reply from boingboing:
Quote:
Why can't we extend this obviously sensible law to other areas? After all, surely the onus should be on car owners to prove that they weren't speeding or illegally parked (possession of a motor vehicle should be taken as prima facie evidence that they had the means and possibly the motive to commit the crime).
Similarly, employees should be prepared to offer "valid reasons" to support their claim that they were paid by their employer for performing the activity described in their contract rather than, say, extortion or selling drugs. At tax time, everyone should be able to prove conclusively that they had declared all their income: an inability to demonstrate this to the satisfaction of the tax authorities would be taken as evidence of guilt.
To prevent possible abuses, presumption of guilt would not be automatic, but would only be made following a complaint from a recognized and impartial authority. For instance, speeding fines for presumed infractions would not be issued unless a police department had first declared that they had grounds to believe that such an infraction had occurred. The department would not, however, be required to reveal their grounds for this belief, as knowledge of police procedure might assist criminals in breaking the law. Counter-assertions to the effect that, for example, the department was facing a budget shortfall and therefore had a material interest in levying bogus fines, will not be considered 'valid reasons'.
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