what are you talking about? its a hardware issue. did you even read it? heres the actual recall"
"The recalled Model 3s and Model Ys could face a loss of power steering assistance "when the vehicle reaches a stop and then accelerates again" if they experience an "overstress condition" in the printed circuit board for electronic power-assisted steering (EPAS), Tesla said in a recall report submitted last week to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)."
wouldn't be necessary if merit & citizens rights were enough to get the agency to do the right thing, god knows their exuberant salaries aren't making them do it.
That press release does not name any actual laws which were violated. You might do better to link to the ruling itself[0]; it's hardly less biased than the DoJ's statement, but it is at least more specific about the charges. The government's argument was quite expansive in claiming novel exclusive powers for the federal government, but even so their success hinged on (besides a very sympathetic court and favorable jury instructions) the fact that the Liberty Dollars were not just any private currency but actual metal coins incorporating some phrases and imagery vaguely similar to official US coins. The key elements were the visual similarity for the charge of counterfeiting (they're round like most coins, and likewise silver in color, and contain design inspired by US history—though not any from actual US currency), and the constitutional prohibition on states minting metal coins, despite the fact that the defendant was a private individual and not acting on behalf of any state.
There is no particular reason to think the same issues would apply to "minting" a private currency which did not consist of metallic coins or incorporate any "patriotic" imagery.
> Von NotHaus designed the Liberty Dollar currency in 1998 and the Liberty coins were marked with the dollar sign ($); the words dollar, USA, Liberty, Trust in God (instead of In God We Trust)
So that is not a great example, as it is currency designed to confuse people into thinking they are real dollars.
2.
The USA is just one set of laws. Over the pond in the UK, it is fine.
> as it is currency designed to confuse people into thinking they are real dollars
That was the government's argument. The defendant clearly disagreed. Arguably they were closer to "real dollars" (defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to consist of 416 grains, or about 0.95 ounces, of standard silver) than anything the government has minted recently. A bit better, even.
The dollar sign and the word "dollar" are not unique to US currency and in fact predate the US entirely. Likewise for the word "liberty" or the phrase "trust in God"—if anything that last would probably be deemed a blatant violation of the separation of Church and State if the government actually put it on their currency. These are just generic elements common to many currencies and US culture. Even the initials "USA" don't actually imply any endorsement by the US government; you can find them on just about everything these days. The intent was patriotism, not confusion. The same would have been true if they had spelled out "United States of America" like the official coins, though of course they didn't do that.
Any actual confusion can more readily be blamed on the US Mint for making their coins too generic than on NORFED for making theirs too similar. At least NORFED put their name in their design; the US Mint did not.
The argument is not that "the dollar" is some kind of uniquely American concept, but that there is a legal object called the US dollar. There are laws applying to that object, including that you can't make a fake version of it.
The fact that the liberty dollar happened to cost more than a real dollar doesn't make it not a counterfeit; it makes its manufacturer a fool.
The Liberty Dollar was not a "fake version" of the US Dollar. It wasn't even a "fake version" of the Federal Reserve Notes (nominally denominated in US Dollars, but trading at a far lower value) which make up the vast majority of circulating currency and which too many people incorrectly refer to as the US Dollar.
> The fact that the liberty dollar happened to cost more than a real dollar doesn't make it not a counterfeit…
No, the fact that it was never intended as a counterfeit is what makes it not a counterfeit.
The cost in materials is comparable to a real US Dollar (not to be confused with a Federal Reserve Note); the full cost could actually be lower due to technological advancements.
There are, in the US, no laws against printing a private currency. There are laws forbidding you from calling your currency "dollars" or looking similar enough to US currency.
Cool, I've never gone up to another human while he barks at me, and pee directly in his face, but apparently it is now justified due to my "psychiatric disorder". Thanks science!
