Re: Is code free speech?

[jeradonah lives <jeradonah@juno.com>]

On Sun, 11 Apr 1999 09:15:35 -0400 (EDT) "Woodchuck"  <djv@bedford.net>
writes:
>
>> >Is code free speech?
>> 
>> Yes
>
>No. "Free speech" is "political speech", and the only (US)
>guarantee is that it is protected from *governmental* interference.

ahhh, but what does one do with this definition in the digital age? 
granted, you are correct in defining "free" speech as political speech in
the newtonian/liberal era, but what does "protected from *governmental*
interference" mean when sovereignty is being pushed down to the
individual?  aren't new definitions required?  aren't new concepts
demanded?

for someone to argue that code is free speech in the conventional sense
may seem ludicrous, but with the effective isolation of government to a
mere few areas of modern life, the expansion of the commercial or
professional areas and the emergent capacity of the individual to pick
and choose among myriad social, political and economic options, why can't
code be defined that way?  the political definition is practically
useless...

ac












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