Pavol Matula

1 like = 1 dollar

State your name please. says a man in the court room.

Emily Tavish. says a woman at the witness stand.
Man who is talking to Mrs. Tavish is the states attorney general, Liam Juckster.
AG Juckster: Mrs. Tavish, you claim that the defendants - Mrs. Kylie Smiths, and
her friend, Seth Mewes - had been stealing money from your account, as well as
from others accounts as we saw and heard over the past weeks. How did this
happen?

Mrs. Tavish then starts her story:

Well, Mr. attorney general, about 7 months ago I saw a photo of one of the
defendants,
Mrs. Smiths, with her baby boy.
The caption on this photo said Mrs. Smithss son Joffrey has no father and
she alone cant pay the hospital bills...
I cant remember the name of the disease, but I know the caption ended with 1
like = 1 dollar from guardian angel.
I liked the photo, thinking that it cant hurt me and that Im showing support,
which is a good thing, when I cant help directly - I dont have that kind of
money.

AG Juckster: What happened next?

Mrs. Tavish: I almost forgot about that photo, you know, life is going forwards.
But then, probably after 6 or 7 weeks, I checked my account and I realized that I
m 3 dollars short. And I do my accounting very precisely!
AG Juckster: But it didnt stop, did it?
Mrs. Tavish: Not at all, a dollar seemed to be disappeaaring from my account
every two weeks. I didnt know why and neither did employees of the bank.
AG Juckster: And after three months and 7 dollars lost, you saw the photo of
defendant again.
Mrs. Tavish: Yes and in the caption there was gratitude for the donations as well
as praising for a little bit more.
AG Juckster: And you saw a comment section under this photo and it did upset
you. Why?
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Mrs. Tavish: Well, because people were complaining about losing a dollar every
other week. They were complaining about the fact, that nobody asked them, or
got permission to do that. And yes, its not a big amount of money, but still...
AG Juckster: Its the principle of the matter. The defendant seemed to get your,
and every one elses, money without your spoken or written approval.
Mrs. Tavish: Thats correct. Me, and other people that were robbed - at least we
considered ourselves robbed, tried to get some answers, but we didnt get any.
Untill one lawyer, who got robbed as well 2 or 3 months ago, started to press
charges.
AG Juckster: And the this whole thing started, ladies and gentlemen of the jurry.
Juckster then goes to jurry seats, talk to them face t face.

Juckster then has his speech:

Mrs. Tavish, as well as hundreds of other people, was robbed.
Not in a big way, but when you consider how many people unwillingly contributed
to this,
you realize that every two weeks Mrs. Smiths and Mr. Mewes got hundreds of
dollars for nothing.
Mrs. Smiths has a son, and yes, he is sick. But thats not a reason to rob other
people!
They used him, the poor little boy, to get people to like the photo,
so Mr. Mewes could trace the users accounts
and hack into their bank accounts afterwards, using his IT/programming skills.
Not only they lied and misued social media, they also broke the law
and some would even say that they didnt just take 1 dollar for that 1 like.
Nobody signed up for the actuall dollar, let alone a dollar every other week!
Please take in consideration how morally wrong the defendants actions are,
as well as illegal and for some even life-defining,
since those few dollars could help either the victims, or someone else.
But in the right way.
Thats all ladies and gentleman.

Juckster then goes and sits down on his chair.

Judge looks at defendants and their lawyer, Mr. Brian Seige.
Judge: Mr. Seige, the witness is yours.
Pavol Matula

Seige stands up and goes to witnesss stand.

Seige: Mrs. Tavish, why did you liked the photo in the first place? I mean, if
you werent willing to help the cause.
Juckster grins. They are desperate... he thinks.
Mrs. Tavish: As I said, I wanted to support the cause. But I didnt have the
money, so I thought this may help somwhow. You never know in this era. But
I didnt agree on your cients stealing the money!
Seige: You see, theres the thing. My clients never stole your money. They just
took what you agreed on when liking a picture saying 1 like = 1 dollar. In
this era, as you called the modern age of internet, THAT action of yours can,
and did, serve as an agreement.
Juckster chuckles quietly, Mrs. Tavish gets mad.
Mrs. Tavish: No, I didnt! If I could support the cause financially, I would! But
they just hacked into my bank account and STOLE m money!

Seige starts his strategis speech:

You dont need to get angry Mrs. Tavish.
Its not uncommon for people without university or college to not know about the
new internet law.
And this LAW states that a person is accountable for their actions on the internet,
if those actions were done willingly and as a choice of said person.
And you openly admitted here, in the court of LAW, that you willingly made the
choice.
The choice of supporting the 1 like = 1 dollar initiative for good cause.
So, by my lawyer knowledge,
you AGREED on giving the money to Mrs. Smiths andher assistant.

Juckster is watching and listening to this speech with curiosity. Seige is good and
has a point. But it doesnt mean that he is right and that his clients shouldnt go
to jail.

Mrs. Tavish reacts to Seiges speech:

You made a good point, Mr. Seige.
Yes, I dont have university or college eduucation and YES,
Im not familiar wth the internet law.
BUT, as stated here earlier,
Pavol Matula

I DID NOT agree on your clients TAKING my money without MY knowledge or

approval.
None of us did.

Seige grins and starts breaking Mrs. Tavish:

And theres where youre wrong Mrs. Tavish.
When I dont want to support some cause, then I DO NOT like the picture.
I just share it, to spread the word and thats what you should have done.
If you didnt want to support the cause financially,
you should have just shared the photo.
Because by liking it, you have shown your agreement with the photo, the
caption
and therefore the way the support works.
Thats according to the internet law.
Why else would you like a photo, with caption 1 like = 1 dollar?
If you want to support the cause just by spreading the word,
you should share the photo.
That way, no one can really call you accountable.
Liking is agreeing, it is a way of showing,
that you are on board of the thing you liked.
You show that you LIKE the idea, the photo, the caption
and therefore you agree with everything in that medium.
If you didnt agree, you should have written a comment,
where you would state your agreement policy/rules.
But you didnt do that and in terms of law you now cant complain
about what you allowed my clients to do by liking and therefore agreeing to
all that.

Seige then looks at the jurry and concludes: So, ladies and gentlemen of the
jurry, my clients arent guilty of anything Mrs. Tavish, and the others, didnt
agree to.
He then sits down on his chair. Smiths and Mewes are looking quiet happy.
Mrs. Tavish looks broken and defeated as she is being escorted from the court
room - her stand just ended. On her way out, she sees Juckster and his
determined, a bit angry and victorious look. He has something up in his sleeve.
Pavol Matula

Judge speaks:
Ladies and gentleman, dear jurry, media representatives and visitors.
This case has drawn a huge attention and everyone wants to see how it is
resolved.
But based on todays statements I am asking you to let AG Juckster and Mr. Seige
resolve this withme behind closed doors.

A massive disapointed and not happy chatter starts in the room.

Juckster looks surprised, as well as Smiths and Mewes. Seige looks happy, he is
grinning.
Judge: I would like to ask you to leave now. Everyone except AG Juckster and Mr.
Seige.
The police officers start to empty the room.
After a few minutes, the room is empty - visitors and media are out in the
hallway, defendants are in court cell room and jurry in their own room.

Juckster goes to Judge. What is this your honor? he asks.

Judge: I dont want this circus to continue. You two are going to resolve this here
and now.
Juckster shakes his head. Why?
Seige joins: Because we are moving in circles AG. My law-based arguments
against your law-based arguments. Plus the morality of the whole thing. Its
a show and people are excited to see what happens next.
Juckster: Now thats bullshit!
Judge: Hey! Just because we are behind closed doors doesnt mean you dont
have to behave!
Juckster: Sorry your honor.
Judge: Well then. Mr. Seige is right, this whole thing became a show for people.
Even the jurry is enjoying it, as they stated yesterday that they would be stalling
with their decision. Its sad, but its true.
Juckster: So what do you propose?
Judge: A fair deal.
Juckster, angrily: What kind of fair deal?! There is nothing fair about makind
a deal!
Pavol Matula

Judge: Lower your voice AG. A deal that wouldnt draw any more attention.
A deal that would be boring, so people and media would stop caring about this
case.
Juckster: Great...
Seige, excited: So whats the deal?
Judge: Dont be so excited Mr. Siege. Your clients did an illegal and amoral,
terrible thing and they will pay. The question is how.
Juckster: Prison. At least 10 years.
Seige: You can have Mewes.
Both judge and Juckster are shocked: What?
Seige:
You can have Mewes, he is the hacker who hacked into personal bank accounts.
Smiths is just a woman asking people for help and she got it - theres nothing
guilty or bad about that.
But Mewes, he broke the law and you have even evidence of him doing that.
Its a fair deal, you get one of my two clients. 50:50.

Judge looks at Juckster. He isnt happy with that.

Judge: AG Juckster, Liam, this is a really fair deal. And its boring enough for the
public to lose interest in the case. I suggest you take it.
Juckster: What if I dont?
Seige: Then I will propose this deal to the jurry, as a solution to this case.
And they will probably take it, since it would be medialized.
Judge: Do you want him to do that? Now you can send Mewes away for how long
you want.
Juckster thinks about it for a while.
Juckster: Alright. But I want Mrs. Smiths to return all the money to theit owners
as well. Plus 15 years for Mewes without parole option.
Judge: Im good with that.
Seige: Im not. Mrs. Smiths needs that money.
Judge: The money will be retrned and you can start legal charity, AG will support
it and Mewes gets a chance for parole.
Seige: 10 years with parole for Mewes.
Judge: Good.
Juckster: Not good. This is too much, we shouldnt even have this conversation!
Pavol Matula

Seige: Its a crazy world we live in, Mr. AG.

Judge: This is the best way Liam. Guilty person gets arrested, victims are
refunded, peace is restored and its all so boring and usual, that public and
media lose interest. Done, we can move on.
Seige: Or do you want to fight with the same lines and words for the rest of your
life?
Juckster is upset. But he knows he is overruled so he agrees to this deal.
-

And as judge said, after informing the media about the resolution, they lost
interest in the story, the case, the victims or the criminals. It was, in fact,
a boring resolution.
-

Juckster moved on and quit his job as Attorney General, even as a lawyer, and
started his own business - a website/blog where investigative reporters or brave
individuals can anonymously post their stories about how the law screwed with
them. Or how they screwed with law.
Later on, he and Seige met again - Seige was one of the writers on his blog,
writing about different ways of how to get your case done with succes, even
though your clients are guilty.
And Juckster and Seige became friends.
Their past conected them, their present showed them that they were just doing
their job.
-

The One like = One dollar case was never mentioned in the media again and
people are still, till this day, clicking on that small Like button every time they
see a post with that caption.

The End.