HN treats it as the canonical video to link whenever talking to police or interrogations come up.
Topics › Politics, History & Society
The best law, policing & justice videos, according to Hacker News
187 videos about law, policing & justice that Hacker News commenters keep pointing each other to, ranked by how many separate months they were recommended. Part of Politics, History & Society.
The default link in copyright and takedown threads, recommended as an excellent, comprehensive explanation of why automated enforcement and the law work as they do.
Recommended often as a clear explanation of why the US system is built to be slow and why gridlock protects minorities.
HN commenters recommend it as a long, evidence-backed theory for what changed in the 1970s and why Congress is broken, even when they are unsure they agree.
HN commenters cite it in homelessness threads about San Francisco and Seattle as an eye-opening, widely viewed argument for treatment-first policy, though some see it as pro-law-enforcement framing.
HN invokes it constantly in debates over originality, copyright and AI training, and calls it the best explanation of creativity as remixing.
HN commenters use it as a short introduction to anarcho-capitalist ideas about private law and how disputes could be resolved without a state.
Cited over and over as an important talk, with commenters borrowing its ideas on cheap surveillance, offense-favoring security and liability.
HN commenters recommend the film itself as an eye-opening account of how drug laws drove mass incarceration and militarized policing.
HN treats it as the standard accessible explainer on civil forfeiture, linked in nearly every thread about police seizures.
HN uses it in TPP and trade-deal threads as a clear example of ISDS being used by corporations against governments.
HN commenters repeatedly recommend it as the clearest explanation of regulatory capture, and cite it in threads on AI regulation, GDPR and telecom.
HN commenters pass it around as an eye-opening first-hand account of patent trolling and the Texas courts that favor it.
Linked constantly in copyright and piracy debates as a short explainer of the difference between copying and physical theft.
HN recommends it as well-researched reporting on skin gambling, especially its effect on minors, in threads about gambling and Valve.
Offered as an accessible, well-made explainer to share in threads on scam texts, crypto fraud and scam compounds.
HN points to it as an informative, fact-heavy overview of the opioid crisis and Purdue Pharma.
It is HN's go-to link in threads on lobbying, campaign finance and political dysfunction, as a clear statement of Lessig's root-cause argument.
It is the go-to explanation of why games that die when servers shut down harm consumers, and it is repeatedly cited in Stop Killing Games and game-delisting threads.
HN commenters send it to anyone who thinks innocent people have nothing to fear from answering police questions.
HN cites it in threads on churches, tax exemption and religious fundraising, as the go-to explainer on seed faith televangelism.
HN commenters strongly recommend it as a clear examination of structural racism in the criminal justice system and the war on drugs, and note it is free to watch.
HN commenters quote it for the line that the opposite of addiction is connection, and recommend it as a more plausible account of addiction than the standard model.
HN shares it as a short summary of why copyright length matters and the history of Disney-driven term extensions.
HN recommends it as a comparison of German rehabilitative prisons with American retributive justice, backed by statistics.
HN commenters point to it as a clear account of how minor infractions punish the poor.
HN commenters recommend it as a great, hilarious talk about legal threats and cease and desist letters.
HN cites it as a clear explainer on sponsorship and ad disclosure rules and their inconsistency across media.
Commenters share it as a funny, memorable example of evasive depositions and of obstruction over public records requests.
HN cites it as a striking confession obtained through caller ID spoofing and social engineering.
Praised as a remarkable piece of social engineering, spoofed caller ID plus pretexting, that produced direct evidence of the poisoning.
Recommended in threads on prison labor and American history as a thorough account of the post-Civil War period.
HN cites it as the go-to example of a company defending its trademark, and many also find it funny.
HN commenters recommend it as a data-oriented discussion of race and police shootings.
Commenters cite it, with Oliver's other two opioid segments, as a well-researched case against pharma marketing and the Purdue settlements.
Strongly recommended as the best explanation of the ruling, in more depth and with more accuracy than press coverage.
HN recommends it as a detailed, well-sourced overview that helps viewers form their own opinion.
HN people point to it as a starting place for understanding how money corrupts American government.
HN points to it as a substantive debate on intellectual property from two libertarian angles, with Kinsella as the abolitionist voice.
HN resurfaces it during Boeing safety stories as early, firsthand evidence that production and management problems long predate the 737 Max.
Recommended as the accessible explanation to share with non-techies, family and politicians.
HN uses it as the go-to history of copyright, arguing it was a gatekeeping tool and that creators don't need it.
HN commenters point to it as a plain-language, well-conducted interview that explains what the FTC is doing about monopolization and antitrust.
Recommended in threads on big tech, monopolies and adversarial interoperability as the clearest statement of his argument.
It is the go-to explainer whenever HN discusses brute-forcing melodies, copyright, or AI-generated content, since it features the project's creators.
Recommended in threads about Purdue and Sackler immunity as a good primer on the issue.
HN links it as the clearest short explainer of jury nullification and how the jury system works, often in threads on prosecutors and trials.
HN recommends it as the best interview of Morris's series and as an insight into how the law and ordinary people's minds work.
Linked as the funny, famous porch-pirate revenge video whenever package theft comes up, with the faked-reactions caveat noted.
Recommended in copyright, patent and SOPA threads as a clear case for copyright reform.
Recommended in broadband and net neutrality threads as an overview of the US telecom monopoly problem.
HN recommends the series as an insightful, humorous account of why unleaded aviation fuel is so hard to approve.
Cited in threads about hard-to-cancel subscriptions and timeshare scams as an informative overview of the sketchy exit industry.
Recommended as an eloquent defense of free speech against laws on offensive or insulting speech.
HN cites it as a quick, entertaining explainer to correct the myth of the frivolous coffee lawsuit.
HN recommends the series for explaining why unleaded avgas has been so hard to approve, usually in threads about FAA and EPA fuel decisions.
Recommended as a sourced, nuanced corrective whenever the Japanese justice system's conviction rate is raised.
Pointed to in copyright and AI debates as a compelling case that all culture is remix.
HN points to it in Colorado River and water-use threads as an accessible explainer of why the Western water shortage keeps getting worse.
HN commenters cite it whenever passenger rail delays or expansion come up, as the clearest explanation of freight priority over Amtrak.
Commenters mostly use it as a lead-in to recommending interviews with Japanese lawyers about detention and the justice system, and one says they learned from it.
HN points to it as the original statement of the Stop Killing Games campaign.
Pointed to in threads on CS skin economy and Valve as an investigation arguing Valve is complicit in underage gambling.
HN commenters point to it as a well-researched primer when airport security theatre and Israeli-style screening come up.
Recommended as a thorough preparedness talk, and cited for specifics such as lawyers, password managers and gun ownership.
HN recommends it for anyone interested in legal systems, governance, or history.
HN recommends it whenever legal threats against critics or open-source authors come up, often as the best accessible primer on SLAPP suits.
HN users cite it as primary-source testimony, especially for the argument that weakening encryption is security versus security, not privacy versus security.
Recommended as a funny but serious critique of the show's portrayal of authority and policing.
HN points to it as a clear, lawyer-made summary during Nintendo emulator disputes like Yuzu.
Cited in copyright and patent debates to argue that creative works and inventions evolve by building on earlier ones.
HN commenters point to it as an eloquent defense of free speech with concrete examples of the slippery slope.
Recommended as a practical guide to knowing your rights during police encounters, alongside the well-known advice to not talk to the cops.
Pointed to in helmet-law debates as a watchable argument that helmet mandates may cost lives by discouraging cycling.
HN commenters use it as the standard example of an author who found piracy helped rather than hurt sales.
Frequently linked as a compact summary of the Princeton study when commenters argue Congress ignores public opinion.
HN points people to it as a good plain-language explanation of net neutrality during the 2017 FCC fight.
HN people use it as a quick, entertaining primer on territory status, citizenship versus nationality, and voting rights.
HN links it in piracy and copyright-lawsuit threads as a funny short demonstration of how inflated industry damage figures are.
HN cites it as a well-made explainer on police militarization that remains relevant years later.
HN commenters recommend it as an accessible, level-headed explanation of the UN definition of genocide in heated Gaza threads, though one notes it omits some context.
HN points to it as the informative explanation of US turn signal quirks whenever signal design comes up.
HN commenters link it as an overview of Seattle's deterioration when discussing homelessness and crime in West Coast cities.
Brought up in copyright, public domain and AI-training debates as a provocative argument for abolishing copyright.
Cited in threads on vehicle bloat as the explanation for why small pickups disappeared in the US.
HN brings it up in discussions of originality, invention, copying and attribution, including AI art.
The go-to short, accessible explainer for mains hum forensics, linked whenever recording authenticity or timestamps come up.
HN points to it as a companion to Don't Talk to the Police for knowing your rights during stops.
HN recommends the CSB's accident reconstruction animations as clear, worthwhile case studies of industrial disasters.
HN commenters use it as a researched, eye-opening reference whenever homeschooling oversight comes up.
HN recommends it in discussions of overcriminalization and prosecutorial overreach, notably after Aaron Swartz's death.
HN recommends the channel for clear coverage of the history, cabotage rules and debate around the Jones Act.
HN uses it as shorthand for the argument that car dominance was manufactured by deliberate propaganda.
HN points to it as the go-to explanation of how police can identify anyone through relatives' DNA tests, in privacy and genetics threads.
HN cites it as the clearest explanation of how broken Content ID is and of the deadlock trick for defeating forced monetization.
Recommended as a worthwhile, full-length statement of the free software philosophy, especially around the zero marginal cost of knowledge.
HN points to it in discussions of AI copyright enforcement and badly specified AI goals, and recommends it alongside his other fiction.
Commenters point to it when discussing the lax regulation of cruise ships and flags of convenience.
HN shares it as a humorous but accurate primer on patent trolling and why East Texas is a favored venue.
Pointed to as a true-crime story of cybercrime investigation, usually in passing.
HN cites it in discussions of occupational licensing and rent-seeking as a libertarian argument.
HN mostly brings it up as a funny, cocky artifact of the Hotz-versus-Sony fight, sometimes with a skeptical eye on how seriously he took the lawsuit.
HN commenters point to it as a humorous but pointed look at gun control and at learning from other countries' policies.
Cited as the example of turning raid footage into a hit music video, whenever the Afroman lawsuit comes up.
HN commenters use it to show that behavior in interrogations is not a reliable sign of guilt and that police lie to innocent people.
Used as a pop-culture shorthand explanation for the political origins of drug laws.
Mentioned in threads about financial fraud as support for the claim that outright fraud, not just bad luck, caused the Great Recession.
Pointed to as a relevant, recent deep dive whenever Monsanto, GMO seeds or glyphosate safety come up.
HN cites it as an accessible explainer of prosecutorial abuse, especially piling on charges to force plea deals.
HN cites it in threads about Japan's near-total conviction rate and what it says about the culture and legal system.
HN cites it as a famous talk on luggage security whenever TSA keys or baggage theft come up.
HN cites it as the first-hand account of video piracy on Facebook whenever the platform's treatment of creators comes up.
HN commenters cite it as a concrete example of police seizing cash from innocent people on flimsy pretexts.
HN uses it as the canonical link whenever daily fantasy sports comes up.
HN uses the scene to argue for due process and for protecting the speech and rights of people you dislike.
Quoted whenever HN debates due process and legal protections, even for people one dislikes.
HN mentions it in robocall and scam threads as an entertaining look at how phone scams work and how vigilantes fight back.
Cited as evidence that meditation can work as prison reform.
HN links it in threads on FAA modernization and controller shortages as an entertaining but substantive summary of the problem.
HN cites it in prediction-market threads as an accessible critical overview, including the Polymarket CEO's remarks on insider trading.
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