From: "Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 15:28:26 -0800 (PST)
To: "John C. Randolph" <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: More on digital postage
Message-ID: <199702142328.PAA17058@toad.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 3:31 AM -0800 2/14/97, John C. Randolph wrote:
>Tim may says:
>
>>By the way, I think the "junk fax" and "junk phone call" laws are clearcut
>>violations of the First Amendment. I understand why the herd _wants_ these
>>laws, as it reduces the costs involved in replacing fax paper, running to
>>the telephone only to find someone trying to sell something, etc., but it
>>is quite clearly a prior restraint on speech, however well-intentioned.
>
>I have to disagree here.  The junk fax law is a restraint on unauthorised
>use of property, i.e. *my* fax machine, *my* phone, etc.
>
>That tort of unauthorised use of property applies, whether someone's sending
>me a fax to sell me spamming software, or whether it's some kid ringing
>my doorbell and running away.  It's not the speech that I'm fighting, it's
>the misuse of my property.
>
>Freedom of speech does not confer a right to use other people's property.

Fair enough, John. I can agree that _tort law_ (civil) might be used. If
Party A can convince a jury that Party B did it real damage and can
quantify that damage, maybe Party A can collect.

My main objection is to to blanket laws, known as "junk mail" laws. The
rules for what constitutes "junk" are unclear and give the government
regulatory power which I think it should not have.

Imagine a bureaucrat deciding that solicitations to join the National Rifle
Association are "junk" and ordering the U.S. Postal Service to scrap all
such solicitations. Imagine further that alternate delivery systems, such
as UPS and FedEx are also notified that delivery of NRA material constitute
a crime.

(This is not so far-fetched, especially the "alternate delivery" point. If
the regulators declare a communication to be junk, it remains junk even if
delivered via a different route. If CyberPromotions tries fiddling with the
domain names, as they have, it remains junk to CompuServe and to the
District Court which upholds their decision to censor mail to customers.)

To paraphrase what the CompuServe customer said: "I'll decide what's junk
and what's not."

--Tim May


Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside"
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  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."