On Wed, 23 Sep 2015 08:15:24 -0700, trader_4 wrote:

The other reason for criminal convictions is punishment,
regardless of deterrence. If you have no criminal laws
covering things like this, then it's open season and and
a whole lot of people who are already cutting corners,
going to the edge of what's legal or beyond, will just go
further.

Someone somewhere said it's not the severity of the punishment
that deters crime, but the certainty of it.