Can we please consider deleting this question, on the basis that the poster, however sympathetic her personal situation might be, is asking for advice on something illegal or very potentially illegal?
posted by misha on Aug 31, 2009 - 184 comments

It seems like there have been several questions lately about how to do things that make it easy to do illegal things or hide one's identity generally in a way that does not seem to have a legitimate purpose, or at the very least seems to only have a vague "I want to avoid harassment" or "I want to protect my privacy" purpose. What gives? [more inside]
posted by iknowizbirfmark on Jan 31, 2008 - 110 comments

I don't want to break the law, I'm just curious where I could go if I did.
posted by miss lynnster on Jun 27, 2007 - 73 comments

I download what I imagine might be legally construed as "copyrighted material" all thie time. But I'm actually upset with this post because I know some people that worked on US v. John Lennon. (Double standard, I know.) So are there any guidelines about posting full-length, copyrighted movies? Is this post this even in good taste? Where's the context? Does it have any intent other than to illegally distribute a movie? Is this even a problem?
posted by phaedon on Jun 3, 2007 - 55 comments

Ask Metafilter: Help me become a professional shoplifter -- don't we have a guideline against helping people learn how to break the law via AskMe somewhere? Considering that repeat shoplifting is a felony, I think this would fall under that guideline.
posted by SpecialK on May 9, 2007 - 96 comments

"I forgot to mention that what I'm doing is not illegal and oh, I'm just asking for a friend anyways." (But it IS illegal.)
posted by IndigoRain on Jan 27, 2007 - 45 comments

We give smoking advice to minors.
posted by bigmusic on Jan 25, 2007 - 160 comments

Why is this thread still around? I know at least one admin has seen it, since my snarky response was removed. Is it now OK to ask for piracy how-to's?
posted by mkultra on Dec 23, 2006 - 123 comments

I thought I'd clear up some of the issues raised in this (now closed - gee, thanks) Ask MeFi thread about sewing machine warez.
posted by obiwanwasabi on Nov 14, 2006 - 54 comments

"Help me get this stolen property fixed. Given how I describe receiving it, and given that I'm asking how to get it fixed without getting in trouble, I clearly know it to be stolen property. Don't help the rightful owners get compensated for their losses, but please do help me get their laptops working for my benefit, mm'kay? Because I can't afford to buy a legit laptop, and apparently I can't afford a conscience either."
posted by orthogonality on Nov 13, 2006 - 102 comments

If you click the main link in jonson's post, you go to a known Holocaust denier's website -- maybe you're at work and you don't want to do that, or maybe Holocaust denial is illegal in your country. Or maybe you just don't want to give traffic to the guy. Anyway, the link is there, and it's not tagged as nsfw.
posted by matteo on Oct 22, 2006 - 6 comments

This is the kind of borderline/gray area/marginally illegal question I love to see in AskMe.
posted by Rash on Aug 27, 2006 - 30 comments

Do we need a note on the AskMe "post a question" page that says "Please don't ask for advice on how to do something illegal"?
posted by jjg on Apr 17, 2006 - 51 comments

If you answer this question on sneaking into Canada you could be breaking Canadian law. The poster clearly wants to scam Citizenship and Immigration Canada, since when is this ok?
posted by tiamat on Apr 15, 2006 - 66 comments

So questions about software piracy are not allowed, but discussions about other ways of dishonestly obtaining (discounts on) goods and services are OK? Seriously, where's the distinction?
posted by aberrant on Jan 30, 2006 - 48 comments

I've noticed that many AskMe threads (like this one) dealing with potential crimes and/or civil suits could be subpoened as evidence if the right person connected the dots. Should there be a notice on the anonymous question page that Metafilter may be compelled by law to release the IP address of anonymous posters?
posted by justkevin on Dec 27, 2005 - 40 comments

In this post about music downloading the subject of ask.metafilter questions being used for illegal means [+MI]
posted by filmgeek on Feb 11, 2005 - 27 comments

The AskMe thread on faking one's death seems to skirt the same grey area as several of the deleted warez-related inquiries. Not to be a prude, of course -it's ust that curiousity like this could be bad for our ponies.
posted by Smart Dalek on Nov 23, 2004 - 35 comments

Will MetaFilter soon be illegal? (or more likely Fark.COM)? The Ninth Circuit Count ruled in February that linking to copyrighted material was illegal. The actual ruling was that inline linking or framing of content (like Google Image Search) infringes on the public display rights for copyrighted material.
(more inside)
posted by patrickje on Apr 10, 2002 - 13 comments