On 14/01/2013 11:59 PM, Warp wrote:
> They don't have to convince any judge or jury because the law says so.
> It doesn't matter *how* you get the software, if you don't have a legal
> license, you can't legally use it.

> It doesn't matter what they think. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

I am not a lawyer, however... I've seen plenty of systems which have 
written all over them "this is a secure system for use by authorised 
employees of [company X] only". Apparently this is legally required so 
that if somebody hacks in, they can't say "oh, I didn't know it was 
restricted".

So yes, apparently ignorance /is/ a valid defence. At least under UK 
law; I imagine this varies wildly by country.

(Next fun question: What law does the Internet operate under?)

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