Rule of law demands it be clear what is and is not illegal. Make it illegal to film people in public and the guy who made the Rodney King tape is going to jail.
Rule of law demands it be clear what is and is not illegal.
The fact that we have lawyers who argue over definitions and whatnot suggests that this isn't possible except through case law. Almost all written rules/laws have exceptions. It's incredibly hard to codify even something we all agree on in terms of wanting to outlaw: murder.
In my country, its not illegal to film people in public. Using this film for anything but personal use w/o the explicit consent of every identifiable person on it is illegal and can be charged with jail time (its usually just a fee + public excuses though). I can easily see a similar legislation/formulation for personal data.
Your first sentence isn’t true. I was just looking at the laws regarding applying for a sellers permit and filing the tax status for my startup (deductions, compensation, etc).
A single example of the laws not being clear-cut and concrete, but hopefully covering enough ground that people can be reasonably expected to understand, is illustrated in IRS Publication 535 under 2. Employees’ Pay.
Reasonableness is defined as:
Test 1—Reasonableness
You must be able to prove that the pay is reasonable. Whether the pay is reasonable depends on the circumstances that existed when you contracted for the services, not those that exist when reasonableness is questioned. If the pay is excessive, the excess pay is disallowed as a deduction.
Factors to consider. Determine the reasonableness of pay by the facts and circumstances. Generally, reasonable pay is the amount that a similar business would pay for the same or similar services.
To determine if pay is reasonable, also consider the following items and any other pertinent facts.
- The duties performed by the employee.
- The volume of business handled.
- The character and amount of responsibility.
- The complexities of your business.
- The amount of time required.
- The cost of living in the locality.
- The ability and achievements of the individual employee performing the service.
- The pay compared with the gross and net income of the business, as well as with distributions to shareholders if the business is a corporation.
- Your policy regarding pay for all your employees.
- The history of pay for each employee.
It is LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE to cover all of the cases with laws. Arguing “common sense” also isn’t valid, “common sense” isn’t really “commonly shared”.
So, we do our best to create laws that cover bases but also give room for interpretation SO THAT WE CAN catch those people who are deliberately trying to break them.
If we said “you may not go over the speed limit” what happens if a bunch of people decide to go under, making it unsafe for other people?
They would have a basis to argue that they were not breaking the law.
