Electronic press ?=? Paper press

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

Roy M. Silvernail wrote:

(quoting Duncan Frissell)

> > A BBS is a publication.  The
> > 1st Amendment was specifically written to outlaw the British licensing of 
> > publications.  No risk.
> 
> Until some case law comes about that recognizes this, It Just Ain't So.
> Right now, electronic publishing isn't recognized by the courts as
> publishing (because we don't kill trees, I suppose).

Not so.

Writers who use computers, journalists who write directly to
electronic distribution, etc., are just as protected against
censorship or prior restraint as paper-oriented journalists are.

Any law which required, for example, writers like us to submit their
writings to some government censorship agency would of course be
struck down immediately.

(Note: "Wartime" situations may be different, which is why I fear the
term "War" in "War on Drugs," "War on Money Launderers," and "War on
Barny Bashers.")

--Tim May


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."