Re: Fraud and free speech

[dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM)]

nexus@eskimo.com (Brian Lane) writes:
> >The mistake has been to extend "fraud" laws to non-contract situations,
> >e.g., ordinary speech (as distinguished from contracts).
>
>   This is very true. We now live in a society that expects to be
> 'protected' from everything, including their own ignorance, by Big
> Brother. Free Speech is just that -- free -- and should be accepted as
> such. We have various private organizations that have made it their
> business to oversee the truthfulness of product advertising and
> quality and this is how it should be.

Cool - can I sue George "no new taxes" Bish for breach of contract?

>   I believe that we have actually given up some of our free speech
> rights in order to be protected against the 'big bad companies looking
> to rip you off'. This has resulted in the government making a grab for
> more and more of our rights, the building of a buearucratic
> infrastructure to support this grab, and a seperate society back there
> in Wasington DC.

Very good point. Again, in various traditional Europan and various Asian
legal systems, lying per se is never a crime.  Lying while swearing by a
deity or a king is a crime.  Lying in court while under oath to various
local deities may be perjury.  Lying in a written document endorsed by the
king may be fraud.  Claiming that the borshch (borscht) one is selling is
the miracle cure for all diseases and the secret of eternal youth on the
basis of one's own reputation is OK.  Claiming that and also claiming FDA
endorsement is fraud if the borshch is not really endorsed by the FDA.
If a patient wants to buy non-FDA-endorsed medicine, it's between the
buyer and the seller.

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<a href="mailto:dlv@bwalk.dm.com">Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM</a>
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps