"illegal" and "unlawful" mean the same thing : an act that is in violation of a statute. The statute that is violated can be either criminal or civil.
It is a common misconception that 'illegal' only means a criminal violation. For example : - It is illegal to exceed the speed limit while driving. This is a civil violation. - It is illegal to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. This is a criminal violation. You can s/illegal/unlawful/ in the previous two sentences and they mean exactly the same thing. On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM William Herrin via NANOG < [email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 10:25 AM Jay Acuna via NANOG > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Breaking Terms of Service you agreed to is Illegal. > > That is called a breach of contract, which is an illegal action or > inaction. > > Hi Jay, > > I have to pick a nit here: > > Illegal = something expressly forbidden by statute. Usually criminal. > You could go to jail. > > Unlawful = inconsistent with the law. You could be sued over it but > unless it's also illegal there is no future where you go to jail as a > result. > > Breaching a contract may be unlawful but it is almost never illegal. > > Regards, > Bill Herrin > > > -- > William Herrin > [email protected] > https://bill.herrin.us/ > _______________________________________________ > NANOG mailing list > > https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/4KJ2X6FUI3FW6LKATHQRNVVZBRXTJ6FX/ _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/BDMKUCFYQLP3DNQ7UIBJQHCVMGNDY2SA/
