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Fraud and free speech
At 5:51 AM -0700 6/8/97, William H. Geiger III wrote:
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>In <[email protected]>, on 06/08/97
> at 07:36 AM, Declan McCullagh <[email protected]> said:
>
>>I don't think commercial speech should be treated as second-class speech.
>>But my position is hardly surprising.
>
>Well I think that there are some that would confuse the issue between 1st
>Amendment free speech and the issues surrounding fraud. Especially those
>in government who write the laws that regulate commercial speech.
The mistake has been to extend "fraud" laws to non-contract situations,
e.g., ordinary speech (as distinguished from contracts).
If the Catholics say drinking the blood of JC and eating a piece of his
flesh (aka, "Jesus sashimi") will get you into Heaven, is this fraud or not?
In the increasingly popular notion of fraud, sure it is. It is a statement
or assurance which is almost certainly false. But then, aren't all
religions frauds?
Contracts, with clearly stated conditions and with judgeable or
falsifiable/testable conditionals, are a matter for the courts (private
courts, in fact), but vague promises, advertisements, propaganda, etc. are
not.
Clear now?
--Tim May
There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
[email protected] 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."