thatguyinpc
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Posted - 2006.07.26 07:25:00 -
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Edited by: thatguyinpc on 26/07/2006 07:34:13
 Originally by: Eralus
Originally by: Volaxis
If a person in real life comes to you and says "Give me 10k and I promise Ill give you a car after", and they dont, you dont have a legal ground to complain, as its your word against his. In case you have the said recording of the deal, you still dont have a legal ground, as I can say right now "IM GOING TO KILL 10 PEOPLE", and be recorded, doesnt mean I will. A word is just a word. Thats why contracts exists in real life, to legally bind all deals made.
I hate it when people use comparisons when the situation they are comparing to is a pile of rubbish.
So, first, you have no idea what you are talking about.
In the REAL WORLD, when the following things are true, you have a BINDING, ENFORCEABLE contract:
- Both parties expressly agree to the terms
- Both parties get consideration (meaning, both parties get something from the agreement)
- The agreement is LEGAL
Your example of saying you'll kill 10 people is NOT a contract because there's no consideration (the guy promising to do the killing isn't getting anything for it, no consideration, no contract) *AND* because the act is illegal (contracts to kill people, steal, maim, commit fraud, etc, are all unenforceable.)
Of course, when it comes to enforcing your contract, it can help if you can prove it actually happened, so it helps if you record it, either on tape if it's an oral contract, or in writing.
If you go into a pub, and a guy says "I'll give you a porsche if you give me $10,000", and you record that, and he doesn't deliver the porsche, you can take him to court and you'll either get your porsche, your money, or the guy will likely go to prison for fraud. A contract is a contract is a contract.
And, in the real world, even if none of that were true, you can still track the guy down and break his knees to make him give you your money back (which I think would be the more EVE-appropriate solution).
But, back to the topic at hand, the reason scamming is legal on EVE is very simple: It's easier to allow it than to stop it. Can you imagine how much manpower EVE would have to invest into arbitrating scams everytime somebody thought they'd been scammed out of something?
(On the other hand, maybe they'd change some of their poorly designed user interfaces so cheap scams wouldn't be so easy.)
Very well stated. Only thing I would add is that while an oral contract is legal, it is quite often unenforceable, at least thatÆs the case here in the US.
An example would be that party A makes the claim that party B stole his down payment money. Party B claims that the agreement was that the monies paid were earnest money and not strictly a down payment. Meaning the balance of the money due would be paid the following day or the earnest money was forfeit, therefore the consideration was time.
In the absence of a written contract itÆs party AÆs word vs party Bs. IÆm not claiming that Party A couldnÆt successfully prevail in court, it all depends on the parties involved and the judges decision on who he finds more credible, but it is by no means an open and shut case due to caveat emptor (let the buyer beware).
Please understand that I am not making any kind of justification for scamming nor trying to undermine the OPÆs claim that he was in fact scammed, just elaborating on EralusÆs comments
Guy
PS: Mabelrode, I hate it that you got scammed, but appreciate you bringing this to our attention. You may not ever get your money back, but I do hope you get revenge and satisfaction.
(Edited to add PS)
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