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last but not least celtic, i am not stealing anything here...stealing direct TV is a bit more of an offence than just buying seeds...i would guess. so the knowledge of you getting busted for stealing direct TV, doesnt really worrie me about ordering seeds, im not suprised that people got in alot of trouble for that.
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No you aren't stealing anything, BUT what you are doing is a MUCH greater offense in most states than decrypting a signal that is beamed onto your property.
Where does the drug trade start? THE PRODUCERS! The ones who grow or make it.
Every criminal (and yes, if you are living and growing in the US you are a criminal under federal law and quite possibly state law) attempts to make his crime look not-so-bad.
See the DTV hackers justified this way... I never gave them permission to beam anything on my property. If you throw money on my property, I will pick it up and spend it. beam a signal on my property, I will use it. Don't want me to use it? don't beam it on my property. I have never hooked up to cable illegally, I have never actually stolen any physical thing. Have I hacked a DTV card? Possibly. Have I downloaded a copywritten CD off the internet and burned it (illegal by the way)? maybe. Have I illegally imported marijuana seeds, cultivated them, and used them (with possibly selling just a bit to my friends)? It's just a lil' possible.
Now here's a question for you... Ask someone who is a general law-abiding citizen which of the above is the greatest evil. I doubt too many would rate downloading CD's or altering a DirecTV card in the same stato-sphere as the illegal criminal enterprise of producing narcotics.
Also you say it is a "waste of time and money" to bust you?
Sale OR Cultivation of less that 50KG (lowest penalty) is UP TO 5 YEARS IN JAIL and UP TO A $250,000 fine. HMMMMMM If you have some assets, it JUST MIGHT BE PROFITABLE TO BUST YOU!
Unencrypting a TV signal has the same penalty as burning a CD. Intellectual property theft it what it's called. have you ever downloaded and burned a cd?
Anyway,
don't think it can't happen to you. Also don't think the U.S. would rather bust someone unencrypting a tv signal more than they would love to bust A DRUG CULTIVATOR LIKE YOU.
Don't take this post wrong, I am not trying to flame you or anything. I just want to realize that even though all of us may consider weed growing not a big deal, there are others out there who would say we are part of the problem, not the solution.
Celticman
PS I just wanted to go to the lengths I did in this thread to show my point. Of course the U.S. isn't gonna bust you for some seeds they catch in the mail. That doesn't frighten me NEAR as much as them busting a seed company (or just hacking thier systems, you never know) and using the credit card info to get a search warrant to search my house.
If you seriously don't think you local police wouldn't LOVE to bust you with your seven (or whatever) plants, you are VERY mistaken. If they find you records of ordering seeds via your credit card, they don't know if you are growing 1 or 100 or 1,000 plants. You honestly think they would just say "We got the seed bank. We know this guy ordered 100 seeds, but who cares, we got the dealer."
All I am saying is you are much safer using cash. I have no idea where you live but you act like the DEA is too busy to bother with small busts. I would say you have you blinders on.
One more cut n paste
There have been over seven million marijuana arrests in the United States since 1993, including 755,186 arrests in 2003 an all-time record.
Cultivation of even one marijuana plant is a federal felony.
Lengthy mandatory minimum sentences apply to myriad offenses. For example, a person must serve a five-year mandatory minimum sentence if federally convicted of cultivating 100 marijuana plants including seedlings or bug-infested, sickly plants. This is longer than the average sentences for auto theft and manslaughter!
A one-year minimum prison sentence is mandated for distributing or manufacturing controlled substances within 1,000 feet of any school, university, or playground. Most areas in a city fall within these drug-free zones. An adult who lives three blocks from a university is subject to a one-year mandatory minimum sentence for even growing one marijuana plant in his or her basement.
More than 80,000 marijuana offenders are in prison or jail right now.
Civil forfeiture laws allow police to seize the money and property of suspected marijuana offenders charges need not even be filed. The claim is against the property, not the defendant. The owner must then prove that the property is innocent. Enforcement abuses stemming from forfeiture laws abound.
I hope you don't own your house or live within 1,000 feet of a school or park!
Peace out.... I have to refill my bong!
Celticman