Nine Surprisingly Illegal Things You’ve Almost Certainly Done
Most of us try to stay on the right side of the law : arrests, investigations and jail time can seriously impact lifestyle and complicate vacation plans. This does not mean that we always agree with the laws written in books or understand their purpose – or even realize that these laws exist at all. Although you may not knowingly break laws , it is likely that you have broken them recently or even frequently.
It’s not because you’re a crime boss. That’s because there are some normal, everyday things that most people do that are technically illegal, whether we realize it or not. While most of the activities on this list may seem fairly harmless to you, that doesn’t mean they aren’t still illegal, and saying “everyone does it” is usually not an effective legal strategy. Here are nine surprisingly illegal things you’ve probably done in your life.
Using Wi-Fi
You know you’ve done it: you’re somewhere else and for some reason you desperately need a Wi-Fi connection . Or you’re at home and your internet goes out during an important project. You frantically scan your surroundings, find an unsecured network and connect to it. No harm and no violation – all you do is Google and mess around.
But this is most likely illegal. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 makes it a federal crime to “intentionally access or exceed authorized access to a computer.” There’s some wiggle room here due to the age of the law—Wi-Fi didn’t exist in 1986—and the courts haven’t formally clarified whether this applies to Wi-Fi networks, but many state laws make it a crime to use someone else’s private network. without their explicit permission. So think twice the next time you connect to your neighbor’s Wi-Fi.
Public intoxication
You go out, have a few meetings with friends, and decide to walk—or in your case, stagger—home. You may have just broken the law.
This is because public intoxication is illegal in many areas of the country. Laws are usually meant to apply to people who are causing some kind of discomfort, so if you’re just minding your drunken business, you’re probably fine, mainly because people might not even notice that you’re drunk. In fact, in some cases, the laws are written in such a way that you don’t even have to be intoxicated to be charged – you just need to appear drunk . This is, of course, hype.
Gamble
Do you have weekly poker nights with friends? It’s probably completely legal – as long as the host doesn’t take the “rake” or profit from the game. Rake is often what pushes the “social” (and legal) game of poker in your lounge into murky legal territory . If you host a poker night with four partners that lasts 30 days in a row and you make $2,000 or more on any of those days, you could be violating federal gambling laws . Of course, the likelihood that someone is going to raid your garage for playing low-stakes poker with friends is very low, even if you do make $15 at the end of the evening.
Sharing passwords
We all know that streaming services and other companies don’t take kindly to you sharing your password and login credentials with friends and family, and that companies like Netflix are cracking down on this practice . Besides being a clear violation of the Terms of Service you clicked on when creating your account, it’s also technically illegal . In 2016, the Court of Appeal ruled that password sharing violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 , but this ruling has not yet been effectively tested in other cases, so there is a chance you could go free if you are ever charged .
crossing in the wrong place
Jaywalking is defined differently, but generally, pedestrians must follow traffic control signals , such as walk/no-walk signs or marked crosswalks. This means that in many places in this country, if you jaywalk in the middle of the street or dodge oncoming traffic to get to the other side, you are technically breaking the law. Congratulations!
Some states— California , Virginia, and Nevada—have taken jaywalking laws off their books, so you’re safe if you live there. Otherwise, think before you accidentally cross the street in flagrant violation of the law (and civilized behavior, monster).
Unreported profit
If you’ve ever sold something on eBay or other online platforms, or sold something personally in person and failed to report the profit to the IRS, you may have broken the law. If you’re someone who occasionally lists something for sale on an app or website to declutter your home, you probably don’t have anything to worry about – you probably didn’t make any “profit” in meaning, earning more than you paid for the item since you probably bought it all a long time ago and it got a lot of use.
But if you understand what people call money “profit” – you bought something for $1 and then turned around and sold it for $2 – you are breaking the law . Of course, whether anyone cares about your $1 in capital gains is another matter.
Throwing away mail
Have you ever received someone else’s mail and thrown it in the trash? Maybe a former tenant of your apartment or the previous owner of your home? Well, if you threw it away, you broke the law , specifically US Code 1702, which defines it as ” obstruction of correspondence .” You must either ensure that it is delivered to the intended recipient (unopened) or clearly mark it as misdelivered and return it to the post office. Even if it’s junk mail addressed to someone who moved away in 2015, it’s still illegal to throw it away.
Don’t update your license
Specific laws vary, but generally you are required to inform your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) any time you change your address so they can update your driver’s license (usually you will receive a new address sticker to place on your license). The laws usually state that this must be done in a timely manner, usually within a week or 10 days. This is something you can get away with for a very long time, but if you get caught, you could end up with a ticket and a fine (for example, up to $200 in Texas ).
Sharing medications
If you’ve ever given a friend suffering from back pain or another injury some old pain pills you had lying around, you’re a criminal . Simply put, you do not have the legal authority to distribute controlled substances. The whole point of a prescription is that people authorized by law (the doctor and the pharmacist) give some medicine to a specific person (you). You can’t transfer this prescription, and just because possession is nine-tenths of the law, doesn’t mean you now own these pills and can do whatever you want.
Now that you know you’re a habitual criminal, it’s time to make a fresh start: only cross the road at crosswalks, change your Netflix password and keep it secret, and don’t under any circumstances throw away anyone else’s junk mail.