Now, here’s something you don’t hear about every day: A stupid law has been repealed in Rhode Island. A 1989 law made it illegal to give any sort of false information online. Here’s a quote from the article regarding why the law was stricken recently:

Legislators said it made no sense to keep a law on the books that is violated so often by so many people.

Legislators also use this reasoning to increase speed limits in some areas. It’s awesome. I wonder why they don’t use this reasoning more often to strike laws from the books. Plenty of people go to jail senselessly for drug use, municipal code violations, practicing a career without a license (even though nobody was injured). Like other crimes, telling white lies on the internet almost always victimless. I’m glad that the legislators had some sense this time. It’s high time we started seeing a few other things in this light, too.

Of course, Rhode Island’s tiny effort to legalize something won’t mean anything if the federal government decides to make lying on the internet illegal (as I reported last fall). As you are probably aware, the federal government uses force to assert its self-perceived dominance over the states all the time.

Related posts:

1. Emotional Distress in the Teen Years
2. You Must Not Keep Secrets From the Government
3. Illegal Nutrition Blog