I keep seeing this naive understanding of the law over and over again in tech circles. The justice system is made up of several people with a ton of leeway on how laws are applied. The letter of the law is just a small part of what "illegal" means. Being clever or cute about only breaking the spirit of the law will not save you in court, in fact many times trying to only break the spirit is what will get you convicted on the letter of the law. I hate to say it but I think Aaron Schwartz fell victim to this fallacy and in recent memory so did those flight sim guys who put a keylogger in pirated software.
I've spent a lot of time around lawyers and judges and I can tell you they have absolutely no tolerance for the kind of "well, actually" smart-asses that the tech community excels at churning out.
edit: I just want to add this exchange from the movie Blow which I think really sums up how I feel about the whole thing.
>Judge: George Jung, you stand accused of possession of six hundred and sixty pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute. How do you plead?
>George: Your honor, I'd like to say a few words to the court if I may.
>Judge: Well, you're gonna have to stop slouching and stand up to address this court, sir.
>George: [stands] Alright. Well, in all honesty, I don't feel that what I've done is a crime. And I think it's illogical and irresponsible for you to sentence me to prison. Because, when you think about it, what did I really do? I crossed an imaginary line with a bunch of plants. I mean, you say I'm an outlaw, you say I'm a thief, but where's the Christmas dinner for the people on relief? Huh? You say you're looking for someone who's never weak but always strong, to gather flowers constantly whether you are right or wrong, someone to open each and every door, but it ain't me, babe, huh? No, no, no, it ain't me, babe. It ain't me you're looking for, babe. You follow?
>Judge: Yeah... Gosh, you know, your concepts are really interesting, Mister Jung.
>George: Thank you.
>Judge: Unfortunately for you, the line you crossed was real and the plants you brought with you were illegal, so your bail is twenty thousand dollars.
It sounds like the smart-asses' only mistake is thinking that the same clever lawyering that protects the rich and powerful will work for them as well. The guys who put a keylogger in pirated software were in the wrong, but after seeing Sony do basically the same thing and get away with it[1], I can see how they might think that courts will give you a free pass if you come up with some loophole or something.
Martin Shkreli, like the rest of us, has no-doubt seen the rich and powerful flout the law and walk away clean after invoking some ridiculous legalism. Then he got rich, and figured he could do the same. Turns out that he's either not rich enough yet, or power flows from something other than money.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootk...
Or perhaps it merely attracts them.
When you're dealing with professional egos sometimes it pays to tread lightly. Shkreli learned this the hard way.
It's really satisfying when someone articulates so well that nagging sensation that you've had for a long time but failed to expressed. Like scratching an itch. Thank you.
I don't think delusions qualify as crimes. However, bending laws to judge someone on actions outside of the scope of a trial is a crime.
See his videos. You wouldn't stand a chance debating him unless you were a lawyer or pharmaceutical exec.
You are coming from emotions rather than facts. Really. His troll persona is only a small portion of his character.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2018/03/09/you-ha...
I have. He's seemingly a intelligent guy with some personality issues that have gotten him into trouble. I hope he takes time during his sentence to seek help because he seemingly has more to offer the world than trolling and unethical professional behavior.
Beside that, I don't care about Shkreli himself or the silly trolling (Wu Tang, Hillary Hair, etc). I have a fascination with fan club that feels the need to hand wave his behavior every time their is a discussion about him.
Yes, it's awful that we forgot about the pharmaceutical industry's price gouging schemes.
Yes, it's awful that people get away with worse financial crimes than Shkreli has been convicted of.
Yes, there are much worse people in the world than this small-time pharma player turned troll/media sensation.
None of that excuses the fact that he committed fraud and the handwaving of his behavior doesn't do anything to highlight the other injustices.
People that defend him may think that they are being profound by sticking up for him and possibly highlighting injustice. In reality, they appear to be diminishing the seriousness of unethical behavior and justifying self-indulgent and childish behavior.
Good point. Let's leave it at that because him helping the world is all that really matters.
Wouldn't you agree that his childish behavior is a response to the unfair reporting he received? Some people can actually see through that behavior and find more about the truth[1][2]. Would you like to receive thousands of calls every day? death threats? being told that you are are responsible for killing children in Africa? You see that he's smart and mature yet you focus on his OBVIOUS childish acting.
Yeah. A little hand waving is fine by me.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLP-2jD1eH0
[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2018/03/09/you-ha...
That entire line of reasoning is itself childish.
Shkreli always seemed like a personified 4chan teenager "memelord" with money. Good to see that playing out your delusions of grandeur and arrogance toward the justice system is met with consequences.
Maybe in prison he will mature a bit.