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Comment by ck2 | Hacker News Reader

How on earth would people legally sell netflix passwords in bulk anyway? This was something that needed to be addressed on the state level because no other laws were being broken in the process? But spam is okay?

The lobbyist force these industries have must be insanely powerful and expensive. Well, one more law that the people arresting and judging you are probably breaking themselves or their kids are.

I'm pretty sure the future of law enforcement is to make sure everyone is breaking some law at some point and they can basically arrest and prosecute you at any time, so you best obey, citizen.

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> I'm pretty sure the future of law enforcement is to make sure everyone is breaking some law at some point and they can basically arrest and prosecute you at any time, so you best obey, citizen.

That's not "the future", it's been true for a long time.

That's not what the law is meant to prevent. It's meant to prevent me from sharing my online service (Netflix) account with my mother. It's meant to persuade me to tell my mother to get her own account. Clearly these people don't love their mothers.

Doesn't NetFlix specifically allow you to have mutliple users on an account? I'd be curious if NetFlix was actually involved in the lobbying that became this law.

http://www.netflix.com/FAQ?p_faqid=2902 says you can have up to six devices authorized for one account, and you can use up to [# of discs in your plan] simultaneously, to a maximum of 4.

http://www.netflix.com/TermsOfUse#instant specifies that this is "within your household".

I'm pretty sure your use of Netflix terms of service is between you and Netflix, not you and local law enforcement. It's a private contract.

Does this law have provisions for "enablers"? Can Tennessee go after NetFlix for encouraging users to break the law (multi-user accounts)?

More importantly, if there is a dragnet investigation and a dorm room gets arrested for sharing NetFlix with each other, can they still go to jail if they abided by the TOS?

From the exact same Tennessee law, a person commits the offense of theft of services who: "(3) Knowingly absconds from establishments where compensation for services is ordinarily paid immediately upon the rendering of them, including hotels, motels and restaurants, without payment or a bona fide offer to pay."

Your stay at a hotel or meal at a restaurant is private business between you and that hotel/restaurant. Local law enforcement only gets involved if you choose not to pay.

The lobbyist force these industries have must be insanely powerful and expensive.

Is Tennessee really the most expensive legislature to buy?

Not sure, but it is home to Nashville, which has become the epicenter of recorded music in America.

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