tomwaits
Frontier Psychiatrist
Offline
The Jeff Bezos thread on the PDB along with a podcast I heard recently had me thinking about blackmail in general. Why is it illegal?
The act of blackmail combines a request for something of value in exchange for doing or not doing something.
Now if both of these things are legal, why would combining the 2 things make it illegal?
Example:
Blackmailer requests $50 in exchange for not revealing embarrassing knowledge about the person being blackmailed.
Now the act of requesting money is not illegal. The act of releasing true information about someone (assuming it was attained legally) is also not illegal. So why is the combination illegal?
I am not saying that it is moral, but I don't see how this should be a legal violation.
Blackmail may also give the person being blackmailed more options than they would normally have had.
Example 1:
A has embarrassing information about B. A does not really like B to begin with and would receive pleasure in releasing this information about B.
In this case B has no options, and A can release the information that B does not want released.
Example 2:
A has embarrassing information about B. A does not really like B to begin with and would receive pleasure in releasing this information about B, but would receive more pleasure in $50 that B is willing to give in exchange for A not releasing the info.
In this case B and A are both now better off due to an agreement that B pays A $50. If blackmail was not illegal, they could have a contract for this interaction where if A did release the information anyway, A would owe B some agreed upon compensation.
This is also different from extortion where someone would be asking for something of value in exchange for not acting in a violent or destructive manner towards someone's person or property. In that case the 2nd action is already illegal.
Example:
Extortionist requests $50 or he will burn the other's store down.
The act of blackmail combines a request for something of value in exchange for doing or not doing something.
Now if both of these things are legal, why would combining the 2 things make it illegal?
Example:
Blackmailer requests $50 in exchange for not revealing embarrassing knowledge about the person being blackmailed.
Now the act of requesting money is not illegal. The act of releasing true information about someone (assuming it was attained legally) is also not illegal. So why is the combination illegal?
I am not saying that it is moral, but I don't see how this should be a legal violation.
Blackmail may also give the person being blackmailed more options than they would normally have had.
Example 1:
A has embarrassing information about B. A does not really like B to begin with and would receive pleasure in releasing this information about B.
In this case B has no options, and A can release the information that B does not want released.
Example 2:
A has embarrassing information about B. A does not really like B to begin with and would receive pleasure in releasing this information about B, but would receive more pleasure in $50 that B is willing to give in exchange for A not releasing the info.
In this case B and A are both now better off due to an agreement that B pays A $50. If blackmail was not illegal, they could have a contract for this interaction where if A did release the information anyway, A would owe B some agreed upon compensation.
This is also different from extortion where someone would be asking for something of value in exchange for not acting in a violent or destructive manner towards someone's person or property. In that case the 2nd action is already illegal.
Example:
Extortionist requests $50 or he will burn the other's store down.