Originally Posted by
Steve in Olympia
I would agree that patent infringement is "unlawful" ..... because patent infringement violates a law (the U.S. Patent Act, Title 35 U.S.C.). [...]
Unlawful. That which is contrarary to, prohibited or unauthorized by law. That which is not lawful. The acting contrary to, or in defiance of the law; disobeying or disregarding the law. Term is equivalent to "without excuse of justrification." While not implying the element of criminality, it is broad enough to include it. See Crime; Criminal.
Term as applied to agreements and the like, denotes they are ineffectual in law, for they involve acts which, though not positively forbidden, are disapproved by law and are therefore not recognized as ground for legal rights because they are against public policy. See Illegal.
--Black's Law Dictionary with Pronunciations, Abridged Sixth Edition, Centenial Edition (1891-1991), page 1068
However, I think that the idea that "unlawful" does not always mean "criminal" should not be expected to be known universally among FlyerTalk readers, many of whom live in different countries. I think that using "unlawful" to fool people into thinking that something is criminal should be called out as inviting the question of why the arguer is trying to sow confusion rather than clarity. So, thank you to those who have pointed this out.