From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 01:50:49 +0800
To: cypherpunks@Algebra.COM
Subject: What is Truth?
In-Reply-To: <199707171645.SAA09016@basement.replay.com>
Message-ID: <v03102802aff4087cae4c@[207.167.93.63]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



At 9:45 AM -0700 7/17/97, Name Withheld by Request wrote:
>On Wed, 16 Jul 1997 frissell@panix.com wrote:
>
>> What ever happened to "de minimus non curat lex."  The social damage from a
>> misrated website is too trivial to be believed.  Punishing it is like
>> executing you for farting.
>
>  In some cases that may not be a bad idea :). But getting back to the
>original point, if I'm going to be subject to jail for mislabeling my
>pages (and how do you tell, given that some systems use a numeric rating?

There are some core issues in this debate:

* What is truth? What is "adult material"? What is "violent material"? What
is "appropriate for 10-year-olds"?

* Who can possibly determine this?

I conclude that the only possible option (that will withstand review by the
courts, including eventually the Supreme Court) is "purely voluntary
labeling, including none."

Whether search engines or browsers will index or point to unlabelled
sites/material is of course up to _them_ (again, in a voluntary way).

The one possible legal sticking point is "misrepresentation" of labels. But
even this problem goes away.

Digital signatures prevent others from forging labels.

What's left is then the original issue, e.g., "What if Tim's Rating Service
says material is OK for children of all ages, and it isn't?" This is an
_opinion_ issue, and the State must not get involved in opinions.

There is no role whatsover for government in this issue, of course, any
more than there is any role for government in regulating, overseeing,
licensing, approving, or interfering with publishing in general.

--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,
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."