That's a silly question. Of course I think there are situations where a taxi driver should be jailed. For example, when they commit terrorism.
Being a taxi driver does not justify immoral acts. That would be absurd. Illegal acts, however, don't need to be justified. The fact homosexuality was once illegal should be proof enough that doing something illegal is not a sufficient condition for deserving punishment.
> They also screw over consumers by selling such products on Amazon and elsewhere, and many times when a consumer needs help, or a return, or thinks they have a warranty, the fake goods screw them over. Note nearly every product cloned with a software component is a copyright violation, most anything with a logo is a trademark violation, etc.
Trademark violations may also be called "piracy", but they have about as much to do with copyright violations as copyright violations have to do with theft.
>The fact homosexuality was once illegal should be proof enough that doing something illegal is not a sufficient condition for deserving punishment.
That there is an example of a thing is no argument that all things follow that pattern. So what if some past law was bad. That is not evidence a current one is also bad. By that simplistic reasoning, if I pointed out a law in the past was a good law, I could then conclude this particular one was good too. But that's just as ludicrous as going the other direction.
Edge cases, by definition, don't apply broadly.
And as far as the law goes, yes, something illegal does mean something deserves punishment, under the law. You and I and our grandmothers may not feel our flavor of "deserves" is the same as the legal one, but that is the benefit of having laws - we don't all get to impose our feelings on each situation.
And, if society someday thinks some law has outlived it's usefulness, then society can change that law.
That you personally don't think this particular case deserves punishment is irrelevant to whether or not these people are punished, just as someone who wants to punish them even more than the law allows will not get their way.
>but they have about as much to do with copyright violations
Ignoring that lots of items that are counterfeited are also copyright violations? Anything copying custom code is a copyright violation, and a massive amount of products now have some programmed component.
> as copyright violations have to do with theft.
Nowhere did I make such equivalencies. Please stop with the dramatic metaphors - they're not relevant to the discussion.
> That there is an example of a thing is no argument that all things follow that pattern.
Of course not. Nowhere did I argue that there are no good laws. Every law should be evaluated on its own merits.
> And as far as the law goes, yes, something illegal does mean something deserves punishment, under the law.
Under the law. The law is the opinion of the state. If something deserves punishment under the law, the state believes it deserves punishment. That doesn't mean it actually does.
> Ignoring that lots of items that are counterfeited are also copyright violations? Anything copying custom code is a copyright violation, and a massive amount of products now have some programmed component.
Then why did you bring trademarks into this? They're separate issues, even if they can occur at the same time.
> Nowhere did I make such equivalencies. Please stop with the dramatic metaphors - they're not relevant to the discussion.
Absolutely not. I'll continue to express my opinions and arguments the way I see fit.
Being a taxi driver does not justify immoral acts. That would be absurd. Illegal acts, however, don't need to be justified. The fact homosexuality was once illegal should be proof enough that doing something illegal is not a sufficient condition for deserving punishment.
> They also screw over consumers by selling such products on Amazon and elsewhere, and many times when a consumer needs help, or a return, or thinks they have a warranty, the fake goods screw them over. Note nearly every product cloned with a software component is a copyright violation, most anything with a logo is a trademark violation, etc.
Trademark violations may also be called "piracy", but they have about as much to do with copyright violations as copyright violations have to do with theft.