CL Lecture 5/2 CH 13

Eminent Domain and Public Good

• Government can take private property for public use (e.g., highways).
• Must compensate the owner.
• Example: Interstate highway system in the 1950s under Truman.

Types of Taking/Theft

• Historically focused on tangible property.
• Key types:
  • Larceny: Simple theft.
  • Embezzlement: Misappropriation of funds or assets by someone in a position of trust.
  • Taking by false pretenses: Deception to obtain property.
  • Receiving stolen property.
  • Forgery.
  • Robbery: Taking property directly from a person with the threat of violence (violent crime).
  • Extortion: Threatening someone for money or protection.

Taking by False Pretenses

• Examples:
  • Scam emails (e.g., Nigerian prince scam).
  • Phishing emails.
  • Scam texts (e.g., toll notifications).
  • QR code scams to steal phone information.

Avoiding Email Scams

• Be wary of emails asking for immediate action.
• Hover over links to verify the destination URL.
• Check the sender's email address.

Extortion

• Differentiated from robbery: not imminent force, but a delayed threat.
• Common in gang activity: protection money.
• Failure to pay results in property damage and increased fees.

Larceny

• Unlawfully taking someone's property without consent.
• The intent is to permanently deny access to the item.
• If someone borrows something and never returns it, that's larceny.
• Example: A colleague in Finland borrows his neighbor's lawnmower and puts it back after mowing his yard.
• He is stealing their gas.

Intellectual Property

• Academics: Citations required to give credit to sources.
• Plagiarism: Stealing someone else's work and presenting it as your own.
• Copyright infringement.

Corporate Espionage

• Hydraulic fracturing example: company refusing to disclose chemicals used due to proprietary concerns.
• The person who's intellectual property has been taken is the one required to enforce it.

Intent in Theft

• Critical components: act and intent.
• Intent: to deprive the individual of their property.
• Taking something without using or selling it can still be theft.

Removing Property

• Picking up an item in a store with the intent of paying for it is not theft.
• Walking out of the store without paying for the item is theft.
• You must transport the object outside of whatever area it's being displayed.
• Returning to pay for an item you forgot to pay for negates the theft.

Value and Severity of Theft

• The higher the dollar amount, the more severe the legal consequences.

Embezzlement

• Theft from a position of trust and control over assets.
• Violating that trust by siphoning off assets.
• Example: Ponzi schemes.

Ponzi Schemes

• Based on geometrically expanding groups of investors.
• Promises of high returns (e.g., 200% in 30 days).
• Early investors are paid with money from new investors.
• Scheme collapses when new investors can't be found or too many people withdraw.
• Ponzi's initial concept involved buying universal postal stamps in Italy and selling them in the US for profit.

Example: Office Space and Superman

• A fraction of cent is skimmed off of each transaction.

Gas Prices

• Gas is sold at two dollars and eighty nine cents and nine tenths.
• Gas stations make the majority of there money from inside, not from gas.
• Gas companies are in a race to the bottom.

Euro Cents

• Some parts of Europe don't have a single cent because of rounding.

False Pretenses

• Representing yourself as the owner of property and selling it to someone else.
• Real estate larceny.
• Always do a title search when buying a home.

Mechanic's Lien

• If you don't pay an electrician, they can put a mechanic's lien on the house.

Homeowners Associations

• Never be a part of a homeowners association if possible.

Identity Theft

• Relatively new criminal action.
• Easy access to information makes it easy for identity theft to occur.
• Shred or burn credit card applications.
• Opt out of unsolicited applications.
• It takes around 80 hours to figure out identity theft.

Virtual Credit Card

• A virtual credit card that can be changed easily.

TapPay and Apple Pay

• Not recommended because of the danger of having financial information on your phone.

VPNs

• Good to have on your computer traveling overseas.