Special Reports & Tweets - 20130627_SpecialReport_Alex Aired: 2013-06-27 Duration: 03:32 === Laws You Might Break (03:00) === [00:00:00] So, the NSA is watching your every move. [00:00:13] Who cares, right? [00:00:14] You're not doing anything wrong. [00:00:15] Well, as NSA whistleblower William Binney pointed out, you don't get to decide what's wrong. [00:00:20] The central government does. [00:00:22] In fact, you could be breaking a law right now that you're not even aware of. [00:00:26] Take a look at some of these laws that, while they may be outdated and unenforced, most of them are still on the books. [00:00:33] It's against the law to take a bite out of someone else's hamburger in Oklahoma. [00:00:38] Sporting a goatee in Boston? [00:00:40] Well, you better have a permit for that, you whiskery wrongdoer! [00:00:44] In Iowa and Eureka, Nevada, it's illegal for a man with a mustache to, under any circumstances, kiss a woman in public. [00:00:53] Sorry ladies and hipsters. [00:00:55] A Chicago municipal code from 1911 banned people who were diseased, maimed, mutilated or deformed to the point of being an unsightly or disgusting object from going out in public. [00:01:06] Did you know that it is illegal to fart in public in Florida after 6 p.m.? [00:01:11] Yes, I've heard about that. [00:01:13] They're very serious about their clean air there. [00:01:15] Oh really? [00:01:17] In Indiana, a bill was proposed to make law that the value of pi is three. [00:01:21] Thankfully, a mathematics professor was present in the legislature that day, and the bill didn't pass. [00:01:27] In New Hampshire, you may not tap your feet, nod your head, or in any way keep time with the music played in a tavern, restaurant, or cafe. [00:01:36] Have you ever heard of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act? [00:01:39] Well, you've probably violated it. [00:01:42] Have you ever signed on to an unsecure Wi-Fi network? [00:01:45] What does unsecure mean? [00:01:46] Just like free? [00:01:47] You're sitting in your apartment and someone doesn't have their thing locked down so you're like, oh I'm gonna go on the internet. [00:01:53] Yes I have. [00:01:54] Well that is a federal offense. [00:01:55] Have you ever used a fake name when signing up for an internet account? [00:02:00] Yeah, of course. [00:02:01] Yeah, that's breaking the law too. [00:02:03] Also a felony. [00:02:04] Oh, okay. [00:02:06] Okay, okay. [00:02:07] So you did not mean to commit a federal crime of hacking when you logged on as Seymour Buns. [00:02:12] But it just goes to show how easy it is to pass a law simply to control behavior that some people find offensive. [00:02:18] In fact, you don't even have to break the law in order to get arrested for doing something others find disagreeable. [00:02:25] Jeff Olson is facing a 13-year jail sentence for writing anti-bank messages in water-soluble chalk on the sidewalk. [00:02:34] And a 14-year-old would never be facing a year of jail time just for refusing to change his shirt if Obama hadn't waged an all-out war against the Second Amendment. === Why You Should Care About Surveillance (00:47) === [00:02:45] And don't even think about bong waterboarding, snarky caricatures of political pundits, or your entire YouTube account will be wiped out. [00:02:54] What you're doing today could seem harmless, but a year from now it could be damaging just based on the whims of those in power. [00:03:01] And the police already abuse the immense power that they have. [00:03:04] So if the NSA is recording every move that you make, and somewhere along the line technically everyone is going to break the law, punishment becomes purely selective. [00:03:14] Basically, those in power will have whatever they need to punish whoever they like, whenever they choose. [00:03:20] So the question shouldn't be, I'm not doing anything wrong, so why should I care if I'm being spied on? [00:03:26] The question is, if I am not doing anything wrong, then why the hell do you think you have the right to spy on me?