“If you must break the law, do it to seize power: In all other cases, observe it.” – Julius Caesar
Skirting laws to launch a business has been a common business strategy in the digital age.
Airbnb evaded zoning, hotel and tax laws. Uber dodged taxi regulations. Tesla said to hell with state auto dealership laws. And Lime and Bird littered sidewalks across America with electric scooters, violating public right-of-way laws and safety codes.
This break-it-’til-you-make it strategy has resulted in welcome revolutions, but unless you can afford to pay millions of dollars to lawyers and lobbyists, it does not alway work out.
On Tuesday, a federal judge issued final judgments for five guys who ran an illegal streaming company called Jetflix that offered access to 183,285 TV episodes for $9.99 a month.
Not even Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Amazon Prime, or any other licensed streaming service offers this many shows.
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