[Nottingham] Is it theft to be live alive? (Was: Media Centre Linux distro?)

[Camilo Mesias]

On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 9:35 AM, Martin <martin at ml1.co.uk> wrote:
> That aspect is now covered by you MUST declare SORN when you take your
> vehicle off the road, or you must pay. Also, your MOT/insurance is now
> checked by whatever computer database when you pay your vehicle tax.
>
> So... It's similar to the TV licence argument/example. For the very
> small percentage that fraudulently declare SORN, or simply don't bother,
> does that justify *everyone* being assumed to be guilty?

That's what I was thinking of when I said there were enough
"reminders"... it's not really assuming that everyone is guilty at
all. With TV licensing there's the assumption that a household must be
using a TV but with ANPR it's spotting someone that is actually on the
road when they shouldn't be.

Also it's easy to buy insurance just to cover the point where you buy
tax (once a year maybe). A realtime check is a far better way to
verify that road users are legitimately insured.

> For just one small example: Would such surveillance by teaching staff be
> justified for tracking down truants from school?... Or even just for
> pupils arriving late?...

Absolutely! I get a text message from the school if my kids are late.
What kind of crazy world are we living in if libertarians are standing
up for the rights of kids to wander in and out of school with
impunity?

-Cam