Bounty (reward)
A bounty is a payment or reward of money to locate, capture or kill an outlaw or a wanted person. Two modern examples of bounties are the ones placed for the capture of Saddam Hussein and his sons by the United States government[1] and Microsoft's bounty for computer virus creators.[2] Those who make a living by pursuing bounties are known as bounty hunters.
Bounties have also been granted for other actions, such as exports under mercantilism.[3][4]
Examples
Historical examples
Written promises of reward for the capture of or information regarding criminals go back to at least the first-century Roman Empire. Graffiti from Pompeii, a Roman city destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD, contained this message:
A copper pot went missing from my shop. Anyone who returns it to me will be given 65 bronze coins (sestertii). Twenty more will be given for information leading to the capture of the thief.[5]
A bounty system was used in the American Civil War as an incentive to increase enlistments. Another bounty system was used in New South Wales to increase the number of immigrants from 1832.[6]
Bounties were sometimes paid as rewards for killing Native Americans. In 1862, a farmer received a bounty for shooting
In Australia in 1824, a bounty of 500 acres (200 ha) of land was offered for capturing alive the Wiradjuri warrior Windradyne, the leader of the Aboriginal resistance movement in the Bathurst Wars. A week after the bounty was offered, the word "alive" was dropped from the reward notices, but he was neither captured nor betrayed by his people.[7]
Bounties have been offered on animals deemed undesirable by particular governments or corporations. In
17th-century examples
Since after the
18th-century examples
In the 18th century, the English government episodically offered rewards by proclamation; in 1720, a royal proclamation offered bounties for the unmasking of murderers or highway robbers, sometimes worth as much as £100. When a statutory reward overlapped a proclamation, prosecuting or convicting of a highway robber could be worth £140 a head (£100 under proclamation, £40 by statute), £240 for a pair or £420 for a three-person group. These were huge sums at the time when an artisan earned about £20 and a labourer less than £15 per year.[12] Supplementary reward was part of the administration of the law for six years, then with the death of George I, it came to an end. After two years, in February 1728, a new proclamation reinstated the £100 reward by respecting the original terms. Private parties were also free to offer rewards in addition to rewards by proclamations, then this practice was taken up by governmental departments and local authorities.[13] In 1716, Robert Griffith was indicted for stealing from Thomas Brooks, one silver watch, value £51, and one gold watch, value £18, from Mary Smith. She offered a reward of £15 to anyone who gave information about the robber. The reward was received by Mr. Holder, after he brought Mrs. Smith the silver watch that was stolen.[14] In 1732, Henry Carey offered a reward of 2 guineas for the securing of Richard Marshall, and three more for his conviction. Marshall, together with Mary Horsenail and Amy Mason, were indicted for breaking and entering the house of Mr. Carey in Dorrington-street. They were also indicted for robbery. Marshall was secured by Mr. Parker, that received the 2-guinea reward as promised. Australian bushranger Ned Kelly held the most wanted bounty of the 1800s, for £8000; Ned was wanted dead or alive.[15]
Rewards and thief-takers
In creating incentives to overcome criminality, the rewards system risked overincentivizing. This led to the development of the profession of thief-taker. They were part of the criminal underworld, but they were seen as offering an advantageous service to the state.[16] Victims of theft in London, facilitated by the circulation of newspapers, took advantage of advertising to recover their stolen goods. They offered a reward "with no questions asked".[17] Since prosecutors usually resorted to the legal system, they had to pay for the proceedings at the Old Bailey; though the offender was convicted, they often lost their goods forever. For this reason, prosecutors decided to bypass the legal system, recovering their goods by resorting to advertising.[18] Thief-takers were the perfect intermediates between victims and offenders and received a portion of the reward offered. Jonathan Wild, a prominent figure of the underworld, successfully combined thief-taking with the activity of simplifying the return of stolen goods by paying rewards to the thieves.[19] In the early 1720s, he controlled London's underworld, but his activity became a threat to the community and the integrity of the penal system. In 1725, Wild was accused of stealing 50 yards (46 m) of lace, valued at £40, from the shop of a blind woman, Catherine Statham. He admitted accepting a reward of 10 guineas from Mrs. Statham for helping her to recover the stolen lace. He was acquitted of the first charge but with Mrs. Statham's evidence presented against him on the second charge he was convicted and sentenced to death.[20]
Fictional representations
The figure of Jonathan Wild inspired the character of Mr. Peachum in The Beggar's Opera, a satirical ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay. Peachum controls a large group of thieves, and is connected to the government and courts. Because of these connections, he can decide whether to allow a captured criminal to be hanged (in that case he receives a reward) or to be released. In scene II, Peachum gives evidence against another member of his gang, Tom Gagg, in exchange for a reward of £40. Then in scene IV, Mrs. Peachum, Peachum's wife, enters and inquires about Bob Booty, her favorite member of the gang. Peachum will accept a £40 reward for allowing Bob to be hanged.[21]
Steve McQueen played bounty hunter Josh Randall in the Western television series Wanted Dead or Alive (1958–1961).
The Star Wars universe features many bounty hunters, with the most famous examples being Boba Fett and Din Djarin.
Two films directed by Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight, focus on the stories of bounty hunters in the United States in the mid to late 1800s.
21st-century examples
The majority of prisoners held in
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston offered a $5 million reward for the return, in good condition, of the 13 works of art taken from its galleries in March 1990.[23]
Other uses
Mathematics
The term "bounty" is used in mathematics to refer to a reward offered to any person willing to take on an open problem. Bounties are offered for solving a particular math problem – ranging from small lemmas that graduate students solve in their spare time to some of the world's hardest math problems. Paul Erdős was famous for offering mathematical bounties.[24]
Economics
In economics the term "bounty" has often been used in the sense of a negative tax.[25]
Open-source software
In the
Bounties can also be awarded for non-technical contributions, such as for adding relevant information or digital media to a repository. On Wikipedia, one of several ways to incentivize users to expand articles is by offering rewards via the Reward board in exchange for a specified contribution. Bounties on the Reward board are provided by the requesting Wikipedia user and both monetary and non-monetary rewards are permitted. Wikipedia, and other open-source projects, place guidelines on compensation to maintain neutrality and reliability.
Poker
In poker tournaments, a money bounty is awarded for knocking a player out of the tournament. Some tournaments offer a bounty for any eliminated player, while others offer them only for certain players, usually well-known professional players, sometimes celebrities.
Cryptocurrency
In cryptocurrency, bounty campaign is a popular marketing tool used widely to support the launch of a new cryptocurrency, new dApp game or a new blockchain platform. In a bounty campaign, participants receive small amounts of cryptocurrency tokens in exchange for providing social media engagement (for instance, tweeting and retweeting) or for creating promotional materials (such as YouTube videos).[citation needed]
Motorsport
Often, if a driver or team has won multiple consecutive races, a race track or sanctioning body will establish a bounty on a team. This practice is common on local short tracks, especially if a driver has won three consecutive weeks or more. The bounty often is increased for every race the offending driver or team continues to win, and is claimed upon another driver or team ending that winning streak. After Chip Ganassi Racing won six consecutive Rolex Sports Car Series races, Grand American Road Racing Association established a bounty to the team that beats Ganassi. On May 14, 2011, Action Express Racing defeated Ganassi, and claimed the bounty.[28]
After
American football
Bounties, referring to bonuses for in-game performance, are officially banned by the National Football League, the sport's dominant professional league. Despite this, bounties have had a significant history within the sport. Notable examples include a 1989 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles that became known as the Bounty Bowl, and a bounty scheme organized by players and coaches with the New Orleans Saints that was uncovered in 2012, leading to substantial penalties.[30]
Recruitment
Bounty is also used to refer to bonus payments made to staff on recruitment (or for recommending others for recruitment). This practice used to be common in the military (it was standard practice in the British Army during the 19th century),[31] but has since been largely phased out, only to become relatively widespread amongst civilian employers. Many reserve armed forces also pay a retention "bounty" to personnel who meet or exceed participation and training thresholds.[32]
See also
- Bounty jumper
- BountySource
- Contract killing
- Bounty hunter
References
- ^ "Saddam bounty may go unclaimed". CNN. December 15, 2003. Retrieved August 12, 2007.
- Tech Republic. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
- ^ "Mercantilism | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- JSTOR 3488087.
- ^ "Graffiti from Pompeii". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
- ^ "Immigration". geocities.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2006.
- ISBN 978-0646156866. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
- ^ Early American Imprints, 1st series, no. 88.
- ISBN 978-0691101668.
- ISBN 978-0198208679.
- ^ William and Mary, 1692: An Act for encourageing the apprehending of Highway Men [Chapter VIII Rot. Parl. pt. 3. nu. 3.]', in Statutes of the Realm: Volume 6, 1685–94, ed. John Raithby (s.l, 1819), pp. 390–391 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol6/pp390-391 Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0199258888.
- ^ Langbein, J.H. (1983). Shaping the Eighteenth-Century Criminal Trial: A View from the Ryder Sources. Chicago: University of Chicago Law Review. pp. 106–108.
- ^ Old Bailey Proceedings Online (accessed November 28, 2015), Trial of Robert Griffith. (t17161105-5, November 5, 1716).
- ^ Old Bailey Proceedings Online (accessed November 28, 2015), Trial of Richard Marshall, Mary Horsenail, Amy Mason. (t17321011-29, October 11, 1732).
- ^ J.M. Beattie, Policing and Punishment in London, 1660–1750: Urban Crime and the Limits of Terror, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 55.
- ISBN 978-0340913758.
- ^ T. Hitchcock and R. Shoemaker, Tales from the Hanging Court, London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2007, p. 2.
- ^ T. Hitchcock and R. Shoemaker, Tales from the Hanging Court, London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2007, p. 17.
- ^ Old Bailey Proceedings Online (accessed November 28, 2015), Trial of Jonathan Wilde [sic]. (t17250513-55, May 13, 1725).
- ISBN 978-0803253612
- ^ Dedman, Bill (October 23, 2006). "Gitmo interrogations spark battle over tactics". msnbc.com. NBC News. Retrieved December 14, 2006.
- ^ "The Gardner Museum Theft". Federal Bureau of Investigation. March 18, 2013. Archived from the original on August 1, 2013. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
- S2CID 34952867.
- ^ "A tax may be taken as representative of those changes which may cause a general increase, and a bounty as representative of those which may cause a general diminution in the normal supply price." – Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics (1890 and many subsequent editions), V.XIII.4. "All of the action necessary to achieve a given ethical desideratum may take the form of lump sum taxes or bounties." – P. A. Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis (1947), p. 245.
- ^ Evers, Joris (July 25, 2005). "Offering a bounty for security bugs". CNET. Retrieved August 12, 2007.
- ^ "Mozilla Foundation Announces Security Bug Bounty Program". Mozilla Foundation. Mountain View, California. August 2, 2004. Retrieved August 12, 2007.
- ^ AP Wire. "Bill Lester becomes first black Grand-Am winner". Oklahoman.com. The Oklahoman. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- ^ Mayer, Matthew (May 27, 2020). "Chase Elliott collects bounty, mocks Kyle Busch after winning NASCAR Truck Series Race at Charlotte". CBSSPORTS.COM. VC. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- ^ "Saints Bounty Scandal".
- ISBN 978-0-674-08249-6.wars, so a recruit might enter the army in debt and not receive any pay for six months or more after enlistment.
The enlistment bounty never covered the cost of clothing and necessaries, except during the French and Crimean
- ^ "Territorial Army 'to be renamed the Army Reserve'". BBC News. October 14, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2013.