are perfectly innocent may, in fact, be illegal.

1. Imagine this scene, you’re in the pub with your mates watching the game, and you

decide to make a bet on the game’s outcome. If you bet over $2,000 you just broke the

law and it can land you up to 10 years in prison.

This actually happened in 2005 when a cop overheard a guy named Sal Culosi make a bet

of over $2,000 in a bar. The next morning a SWAT team arrived at his doorstep to arrest

him and shot him through the heart.

2. Number 2 is connecting to unsecure WiFi networks. Connecting to any wireless network

you don’t own or have permission to use, even if it isn’t password protected can

land you in prison for at least 2 years and you may have to pay up to a $10,000 fine.

Considering that most modern phones and wireless devices automatically seek out and connect

to nearby WiFi networks makes this an extremely easy law to break. It’s extremely unlikely

you’ll actually be caught in the act, despite this there have been at least 4 known cases

in the US where people have been arrested and locked up for using other people’s WiFi.

3. Speaking of the internet, at number 3 is using a fake name online. It may sound stupid

but the next time you signup to a website under the alias of SuperNinja66 you’ve actually

broken the law. It’s considered illegal under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to

fake your identity online and can net you between 5 and 20 years in prison.

4. At 4 is writing disturbing material. Okay this doesn’t apply everywhere but in some

US states for example, Illinois, it is illegal to write “disturbing fiction”. It doesn’t

even matter if you publish it or not, if someone finds disturbing material that you’ve written

and finds it offensive you could be fined up to $1,500 and face up to 30 days in jail.

It’s even worse in Oklahoma, where you can face up to 10 years in prison for writing

a fictional story wherein a person gets injured or killed.

5. At 5 is a peculiar law you’ve probably broken countless times in your life. In the

UK and certain US states, such as Alaska, it is actually illegal to be drunk in a pub

or a bar. The law defines being drunk as having “lost steady self-control”. Although very

few people are ever prosecuted for this, in practice the courts use markers such as glazed

eyes, slurred speech and unsteadiness to determine if one is properly badgered enough to face

charges for being drunk in a pub.

6. Number 6 is a law that you’ve probably contravened more than any. It is illegal to

sing Happy Birthday in public. Why? Because it’s copyrighted. In 1988 Warner Chappell

Music purchased the rights to the song for $25 million dollars. Meaning restaurants that

play the song have to pay royalties to Warner. Collectively these royalties net Warner a

handsome $2 million dollars a year. In 1995 the American Society of Composers, Authors

and Publishers tried to extort money from 2,300 girl scout groups because they regularly

sang Happy Birthday around the campfire without paying royalties.

However the American press released a PR nightmare upon ASCAP and they quickly backed down once

they realised what utter tits they were being.

7. And finally, in most of the US it’s illegal to possess a permanent marker or aerosol can

in public if you are under the age of 18. So if you ever took part in an arts and crafts

day as a child you’re technically a hardened criminal. There was a controversial case in

2010 when a 13 year old Oklahoma City boy was arrested for using a permanent marker

in class. The teen was writing on a piece of paper using a permanent marker and the

ink had bled through onto the desk underneath. His teacher actually made a citizens arrest

on the kid and he was handed over to the Police and arrested.

Thanks for the view, subscribe for more Thoughty2.