Comment Re:One big lawsuit waiting to happen (Score 1) 468
There's a lot of whistling in the dark here. And several straw (wo)man ("that can harm", "might fall victim", "if...pass through the mail").
First off, IANAL.
These devices would be unlikely to be considered man-traps in any way. For it to be a trap, it needs to physically, well, trap a man (or woman). I would think this falls more into the booby-trap category, but even that requires a ridiculous amount of squinting.
Even if we stick with the man-trap theory, some basic research leads me to believe that only man-traps that cause injury or death are illegal from a criminal perspective. This device does not cause injury or death, only embarrassment. Even if the (alleged) thief dropped dead from surprise, there is unlikely to be a DA in the country who would spend five minutes contemplating charges. And good luck seating a jury that wouldn't laugh the case out of the room.
Which leaves civil. While one of the people who removed the device from his property could try suing him in civil court, what exact damages would they be trying to recover? The cost of cleaning up the glitter? Being deprived of the value of what they thought they were stealing? An attorney who tried to bring this case might want to consider the strong possibility of sanctions for pursuing frivolous claims with no basis in law or fact.
Filing such a suit would also probably attract the attention of the local DA who generally won't appreciate the (alleged) thief trying to game the system. And with all the evidence already in hand (multiple video, audio, location tracking), it seems like it would a slam dunk for the DA to secure a criminal conviction. Which would almost certainly sink any civil suit filed.
The (alleged) thief could potentially expose themselves to a civil suit themselves, and depending on jurisdiction, this case could have actual teeth and real risk for the (alleged) thief.
If, as you say, our NASA Engineer here has committed a crime, he has posted that fact publically, with video and audio evidence for the world to see (15M views and counting). However, as much hand waving you want to do about the rights of (alleged) thieves and the possible liability that he might face, here is the simple proof he hasn't committed a crime in the eyes of the law:
The (alleged) thieves don't get to press charges only DA's do. The simple fact is that no DA has charged him with anything and none will. There have been and will be no civil suits filed because there is no basis for one, and any idiot coming forward to file one is exposing themselves to enormous amount of exposure to themselves on both the criminal and civil side.