at some point in our lives. Even the people that proudly called
themselves law-abiding citizens may have accidentally driven through
a red light or not so accidentally stolen candy as a child.
It's thought about 1 in 3 Americans have some kind of
police record, and the figure is about the same in the UK.
Research shows that in the USA, about 70% of the
population have done something that could have landed them in jail. That's a fairly
realistic statistic considering that the substance abuse in
mental health services' administration says that around half of the population admit
to having taken illicit substances. What you might not
know though, is you have probably broken the law on occasion and are
not even aware you did. Today we are going to explore the small crimes
in this episode of the Infographics Show: Illegal Things
That We Do Every Day. Don't forget to subscribe and click the bell button
so that you can be a part of our notifications squad. One thing many of us do is
watch our favourite shows and movies on streaming websites that haven't
paid for the right to show that content. While some of those look legal,
according to the UK federation against copyright theft, for fact,
they are unlawful. This is because they
don't have permission to provide that content from the people that own it.
As a viewer, facts say that you are committing unlawful
behaviour by supporting the criminals. IS it illegal in the USA?
According to the Intellectual Property Institute at the University of Richmond
Law School, yes it is. Uploading unlicensed content is
also illegal. Right now people are not prosecuted for watching
or uploading, so you are safe to watch something like Game of Thrones online.
Downloading stolen content has always been illegal but
streaming seems to be a bit of a grey area.
Nonetheless, this might soon change. An EU court in
2017 made what was called a landmark ruling
that essentially stated that anyone watching copied content streamed is
committing a civil offence. According to torrentfreak, about half of all
American millennials watch illegal content streams.
Staying with technology and the internet, have you ever used a fake name for an account?
Apparently your nom de plume of immajerk66
is actually committing a crime according to the Computer
Fraud and Abuse Act. In 2010, a prison guard in the US
was fined 500 bucks for using a fake Facebook name -.-
While in the UK,
the Crown Prosecution Service is cracking down on fake social media
profiles. It's not that governments want to arrest people making
fun fake names, but they 're more worried about online harassment
and the spread of false information by people they cannot trace.
One more thing: If you've ever jumped onto someone else's wifi
and used the internet without their permission, you've also broken the law. There are
probably a lot of law-abiding citizens out there now aware that
they are chronic law-breakers. But the next one will get just about everyone.
The song "Happy Birthday" is not yours to sing in public
although it is okay in the house. The song was copyrighted in
the 80s by Time Warner for $25 million
so you don't have permission to do a public rendition of it. Do so,
and you could be fined a hefty sum of money. That's why you'll hardly
ever see it performed in movies. It is sometimes used,
and that's why Time Warner receives about $2 million a year
in Happy Birthday royalties. Have you ever made a cash bet with friends?
Well, having a wager with friends is technically
illegal under the Illegal Gambling Act of 1970.
This is in the USA, at least. But it all depends on how much chance
is involved in the gambling and the amount of money. If the entire
amount is more than $2000, you are in fact running an
illegal gambling operation. This is quite common in places of work,
where many participants take part in inter-office sports gambling,
especially after the boost in popularity of Fantasy Sports
Games. According to online gambling site laserwager,
27% of Americans take part in such gambling and if you
are not living in Nevada, you are actually risking a stint in prison.
And what if you won the Fantasy Football Pool at work and celebrated
with one too many drinks and proceeded to wobble home? Well, that could
be illegal too, even if you were just happily minding your own
business. While it's unlikely that you'll get arrested, in many countries
public intoxication is illegal. In the USA, this is so,
but if you live in the states of Nevada, Montana, or Missouri,
you'll be fined as no public intoxication laws exist there.
In Texas, you don't want to get caught drunk on the streets, as it's a
class C misdemeanour. In the Uk, it's also
an offence to be drunk in public and you could risk a fine
if very drunk. Australia has such laws too, but
you are more likely to get escorted home than you are fined if you are not
causing trouble, as Australian cops apparently take
the humane approach. When you get home late, whatever you do,
don't start vacuuming the house. In the UK, it's actually
illegal to use a vacuum cleaner after 6pm and before 8am
on weekdays, and illegal before 8am and after
1pm on weekends. The Australians are a little more lax, at least
in Melbourne, where you are not allowed to use your vacuum cleaner between
10pm and 7am during weekdays and between 10pm and 9am during
the weekends. No such law seems to exist in the USA, but in Denver,
it's actually illegal to lend someone your vacuum cleaner.
According to a law website, if you have noisy neighbours, you have every
right to sue them. You may have to prove that the noise reaches a certain amount of
decibels, but if you can, you can expect about 30 bucks
for each day you were a victim of their loudness. In this case, if you've ever
been loud at night and have neighbours, you may have committed an offence.
According to research, the Brits consider themselves to be a very law-abiding
nation with 98% of people saying they don't break laws.
Well, other research says they break on average
5 rules every week, or 16,250 a lifetime.
These may be just small breaches, but nonetheless they are
laws. Some of the most common offences are dropping cigarette buds on the
floor and spitting out chewing gum in public places. Singapore was
said to have made chewing gum illegal, which isn't actually true.
However, it does have quite strict gum control
which means that the sale or importation of gum is illegal
today in the country. Spitting gum on the floor
will also get you in big trouble in clean Dubai and also in Thailand
where policemen have preyed on tourists who commit the act of cigarette
or gum dropping in public areas. In most countries,
littering is illegal and it doesn't have to be a lot of litter. It's illegal
in the USA, but Alabama, Michigan, parts of Florida,
Ohio and California, just spitting on the floor could end with a fine.
In 2013 in England, a man was fined for spitting
which was the very first time the court had charged someone with such an offence.
Staying with the Brits, according to some media
on the subject of braving laws, the most common offence
in the country is walking across a crosswalk when the little
green man is not flashing. 33% of
Brits have apparently done this. A similar street crime in the USA
is jaywalking, which means pretty much the same, but walking anywhere
on the street unlawfully. As some scary viral videos demonstrate,
this could even ignite the anger of the police. You might also
get an on-the-spot jaywalking fine in Germany, Singapore,
Spain, Poland, Slovenia and Australia.
The Dutch legalised jaywalking in 1997,
and has since reported absolutely no negative effects.
In many nations such as Japan, Hungary, Thailand, China
and Indonesia, putting your trust in the green man could be disastrous
as crosswalks are often ignored by drivers. Speaking of drivers,
the most broken law in the USA that people
actually get charged for is speeding. It's thought about
100 thousand people get a speeding ticket every day.
But after seeing this video, speeding might not be the most common offence.
Has anyone out there not committed any of the offences above?
Better still, has anyone ever been charged for one of these offences,
or know someone who has? Let us know in the comments. Also, be sure
to check out our other video called Americans vs Europeans. Thanks for watching,
and as always, don't forget to like, share and subscribe. See you next time! (English subs by Jessica Tay)