Illegal Advertising Revert Act

[xXTheoryXx]

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
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A BILL TO
RESTORE THE ILLEGAL ADVERTISING OFFENCE TO ITS ORIGINAL FORM
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The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:
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PART I — PRELIMINARIES

1. Short Title and Enactment

(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Illegal Advertising Restoration Act'.
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its assent.
(3) This Act has been authored by Speaker of the House xXTheoryXx.
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Representative Spyders_Crypt.
(5) This Act amends the following Acts:

(a) Criminal Code Act

2. Reasons and Intent

(1) A previous amendment restructured Part X §7 of the Criminal Code Act in a manner that introduced ambiguity and removed the existing prohibition on advertising illicit services, as well as the Black Market channel exception.
(2) This Act restores the offence to its original and intended form.

PART II — AMENDMENT

3. Restoration of Part X §7

(1) Part X, Section 7 of the Criminal Code Act shall be amended as follows:

"7 - Illegal Advertising
Offence Type: Summary
Penalty:
First Offence - 5 Penalty Units.
Second Offence - 10 Penalty Units.
Subsequent Offences - 25 Penalty Units.
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) advertises in a public chat not designated for advertising:
(i) a business, goods, or a political campaign; or in a public chat not designated for advertising.
(ii) advertises a gaming institution or gambling in a public chat designated for advertising.
Relevant Law:

7 - Illegal Advertising
Offence Type: Summary
Penalty:
First Offence - 5 Penalty Units.
Second Offence - 10 Penalty Units.
Subsequent Offences - 25 Penalty Units.
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) advertises a business, goods, or a political campaign in a public chat not designated for advertising; or
(b) advertises a gaming institution or gambling in a public chat designated for advertising.
(c) advertises an illicit service, item, or other form of transaction that is deemed criminal by this act.
(i) This offence shall not occur when it is advertising specifically for a BM's (Black Market's) services in a proper channel.
Relevant Law:"

 

[Franciscus]

Presidential Assent

This act does two things: (1) codifies the advertising of illegal goods and services as a summary offense; and (2) restores a black market exemption into law.

The first is more a change in enforcement practice than it is a change in whether an underlying act is illegal. At present, advertising of unlawful services or goods is a prima facie case for conspiracy to do that illegal thing. (See: Inknet v. Commonwealth of Redmont [2025] FCR 86, setting a standard for intent required for conviction of conspiracy as including an overt act towards a crime: that is, “that a Defendant’s conduct and/or action in a situation furthered, attempted to carry out, or was in the process of committing a crime”). Practically, however, this is not enforced. Charging conspiracy takes up substantial resources, both in the judiciary and in the Department of Justice. Both of these groups are overburdened by work as our server has so rapidly grown, and this has required certain prosecutions and cases to be prioritized. The judiciary cannot handle, nor can the DOJ prosecute, the large volume of crimes that already occur under the existing statute.

By moving this to a summary offense, the Department of Homeland Security becomes tasked with initial enforcement regarding the advertising of illegal goods and services. This is a much quicker and less administratively burdensome process for all involved. This saves judicial resources, makes prosecutions easier, and ultimately provides additional deterrence to unlawful operations.

As with all summary offenses, this moves the fine out of a trial and into something more akin to a traffic ticket. Contesting the charge begins in a DHS ticket, and one can still choose to contest in the District or Federal Court should they wish. And the punishment for illegal advertising in one instance is not so severe as to unduly burden rights in this regard.

For this reason, shifting from an indictable to summary offense in this regard is justified. The Department of Homeland Security, as is with all summary offenses, ought act conservatively in its prosecution practices; the point of summary offenses (outside of those issued by a judge, like contempt) is, after all, to quickly deal with offenses that are objective or obvious in nature.

Moving to the second operative item, the black market exception, the central point of the black market plots are to have this kind of trade as a form of roleplay. While it is indeed a bit odd to incorporate that into open advertising (black markets are not typically openly advertised to the whole world), the exception makes enough sense in the context of this Minecraft server’s material conditions; it is much better to have this in law than to try to divine staff intent every time some thing involving a black market comes up. Merely because it provides legal clarity as to the legality of the advertising of black market services, I believe the addition of the exemption is a net benefit, irrespective of the actual content of that policy choice.

As such, I grant assent to this bill. It is hereby signed into law.