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PosterGASM as vandalism?

Started by Oysters Rockefeller, March 15, 2012, 02:21:53 AM

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Oysters Rockefeller

I'm going to start off by apologizing if this is in the wrong place. I'm kind of unsure exactly where to put this.

Anyway, I love me some postergasm. It's essentially an excellent way to get out and do something when I would otherwise be playing video games, or being pretentious or some shit.

But there seems to be an area of some discussion among my cohorts and I about when postergasm potentially becomes vandalism, or at least morally uncomfortable. So...

Is posterGASM vandalism?
What is the distinction, if any?
Does the distinction matter?
If it can be taken too far, what might be an example?
Other thought?

This came up after I wanted to do a couple things that I was adviced might get me in a lot of trouble. Modifying stop signs to say "STOP following orders", stickering the bumper of cars being given away at the mall, and sneaking into a gated community to put propaganda in peoples mail boxes among a few other things.
I'm sort of in a gray area about all of the above questions, but I'd imagine there is a point where the extreme method counteracts the message. Hence why I didn't end up modifying those stop signs and have yet to sneak into the aforementioned gated community (although that one still might happen...)
Well, my gynecologist committed suicide...
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I'm nothing if not kind of ridiculous and a little hard to take seriously.
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Moar liek Oysters Cockefeller, amirite?!

Nephew Twiddleton

The stop sign and car thing i would say is vandalism. Propaganda in the maibox is just mail (or trespassing). I think it has to have postage on it but i dont think thats enforced since people drop keys and shit in them from time to time. I think massachusetts is a post no bills state so it depends on local laws for that but again i dont think its really enforced (but i heard that clubs can get fined for band fliers. Look into it if you feel you have to).
Strange and Terrible Organ Laminator of Yesterday's Heavy Scene
Sentence or sentence fragment pending

Soy El Vaquero Peludo de Oro

TIM AM I, PRIMARY OF THE EXTRA-ATMOSPHERIC SIMIANS

Oysters Rockefeller

Oh, yeah. I had to accept that the stop sign and car thing were bad ideas. I passed it along to some people and they gave me...

-cue dramatic music-

The Look.
Well, my gynecologist committed suicide...
----------------------
I'm nothing if not kind of ridiculous and a little hard to take seriously.
----------------------
Moar liek Oysters Cockefeller, amirite?!

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

The stop sign thing is technically illegal, but people do it anyway. You can even buy sticker packs made for that purpose.

Stickering cars is definitely illegal, but has been done with some success.

Using mailboxes for non-mail items is a pretty strict no.

"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Oysters Rockefeller

Eh. I'm more interested in the distinction between postergasm in general and vandalism (if any). BUT it's actually good to know what I get myself into (out of?).
Well, my gynecologist committed suicide...
----------------------
I'm nothing if not kind of ridiculous and a little hard to take seriously.
----------------------
Moar liek Oysters Cockefeller, amirite?!

navkat

Quote from: Nigel on March 15, 2012, 04:35:31 AM
The stop sign thing is technically illegal, but people do it anyway. You can even buy sticker packs made for that purpose.

Stickering cars is definitely illegal, but has been done with some success.

Using mailboxes for non-mail items is a pretty strict no.

You can fuck with the community, fuck with people, fuck with the State but don't fuck with the revenue branches of the US Government.

Oysters Rockefeller

Quote from: navkat on March 15, 2012, 05:17:34 AM
Quote from: Nigel on March 15, 2012, 04:35:31 AM
The stop sign thing is technically illegal, but people do it anyway. You can even buy sticker packs made for that purpose.

Stickering cars is definitely illegal, but has been done with some success.

Using mailboxes for non-mail items is a pretty strict no.

You can fuck with the community, fuck with people, fuck with the State but don't fuck with the revenue branches of the US Government.

Bah. The USPS is barely even a thing.
Well, my gynecologist committed suicide...
----------------------
I'm nothing if not kind of ridiculous and a little hard to take seriously.
----------------------
Moar liek Oysters Cockefeller, amirite?!

Q. G. Pennyworth

DO NOT FUCK WITH THE USPS.

Mail fraud is how they get mafiosos in jail.

LMNO

PosterGASM "is" vandalism depending on how the vandalism law is written in your state/county.  Recursive logic, sure.  But PosterGASM is merely an action.  You have to check the statutes to see if that action is restricted or prohibited.

On the other hand, you could check the dictionary: "Deliberately mischievous or malicious destruction or damage of property".  Provided you're not damaging anything (with glue, tape, staples, nails, arrows, rebar, or what-have-you), then it is, in the strictest sense, NOT vandalism.  But it still could be illegal.

AFK

Whether or not it is vandalism is an imporant part of the discussion.  But you eluded to another important piece towards the end of your OP...

Will your tactics override the message.  If you think what you are going to do is going to piss a lot of people off, whether or not it is actually vandalism probably doesn't matter.  It will be a pointless exercise.

Remember, there is a fine-line between illumination and just being a jackass. 

A good example, some asshat spray painted and Sharpie-d "Fnord" all over the place in Portland.  (Maine)

One day I was wearing my "fnord" hat and someone asked me about it.  What was fnord, what did it mean, and most impotant to me, did I know anything about the vandalism.  They honestly could give a fuck about what fnord was, what Discordia was, they were more interested in figuring out whether or not I was in cohoots with those idiots. 

So I think it is an important point to keep at the front of the discussion.  If your tactics will divert attention away from the message, whether or not it is illegal, it probably is a pointless waste of time. 
Cynicism is a blank check for failure.

navkat


East Coast Hustle

Sounds to me like you need to get friends that aren't anal-rententive pussies.
Rabid Colostomy Hole Jammer of the Coming Apocalypse™

The Devil is in the details; God is in the nuance.


Some yahoo yelled at me, saying 'GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH', and I thought, "I'm feeling generous today.  Why not BOTH?"

Oysters Rockefeller

Quote from: What's-His-Name? on March 15, 2012, 01:09:43 PM
Whether or not it is vandalism is an imporant part of the discussion.  But you eluded to another important piece towards the end of your OP...

Will your tactics override the message.  If you think what you are going to do is going to piss a lot of people off, whether or not it is actually vandalism probably doesn't matter.  It will be a pointless exercise.

Remember, there is a fine-line between illumination and just being a jackass. 

A good example, some asshat spray painted and Sharpie-d "Fnord" all over the place in Portland.  (Maine)

One day I was wearing my "fnord" hat and someone asked me about it.  What was fnord, what did it mean, and most impotant to me, did I know anything about the vandalism.  They honestly could give a fuck about what fnord was, what Discordia was, they were more interested in figuring out whether or not I was in cohoots with those idiots. 

So I think it is an important point to keep at the front of the discussion.  If your tactics will divert attention away from the message, whether or not it is illegal, it probably is a pointless waste of time.

Very good. I agree.

Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on March 15, 2012, 08:55:11 PM
Sounds to me like you need to get friends that aren't anal-rententive pussies.

Everything changed after we robbed that Chuck E. Cheese... :sad:
Well, my gynecologist committed suicide...
----------------------
I'm nothing if not kind of ridiculous and a little hard to take seriously.
----------------------
Moar liek Oysters Cockefeller, amirite?!