Federal Crime Warnings
Users debate whether a specific action or tool constitutes a federal crime, frequently citing wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the US, RICO, and statutes like 18 U.S.C. § 1991 as grounds for felony charges and prosecution.
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You do realise using this would earn you a felony, right?
Why isn't this considered "grant piracy" and this guy charged with wire-fraud by the feds? Surely he mis-used the postal service, banking system, and inter-state commerce in here somewhere? Why not a conspiracy under RICO? there seem to be all kinds of ways to send a better message than...please wait three years to attempt your next crime!
IANAL, but isn't this technically wire fraud? I'm sure a few indictments from the feds will scare them into not committing a felony.
Looks like it's already a federal crime of it's own with possible prison time: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1991
Is their any way to use that without commiting a federal crime?
you can definitely be prosecuted for the latter in the US
What you're suggesting is a federal crime, just as a sidenote.
It's fraud, subject to jail just like other types of fraud.
The law they'd arrest you under would just be "conspiracy to defraud the United States" and they'd cite the rules you agreed to
Inaccurate. The crimes charged were identity theft, wire fraud, and obstruction. The prosecution has broad discretion to choose what to charge. They chose poorly here. There are US felony statutes that pertain to unauthorized statutes; they require a (low) threshold of quantified damages and have a lower penalty attached to them compared to identity theft, but had he been charged with them, he'd be doing significantly more than a year in prison.