[IP] more on FEC considers banning Moore's 9/11 movie ads under McCain-Feingold...
Begin forwarded message:
From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-0406@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: June 26, 2004 12:30:35 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, 'Ip' <ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Hiawatha Bray <h_bray@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: [IP] more on FEC considers banning Moore's 9/11 movie ads
under McCain-Feingold...
[Warning: This message is self-referential and ambiguous -- your
reality may differ]
I agree with Hiawatha. It's part of the larger set of distinctions that
the legal system makes which puzzle and infuriate those who program and
deal with abstractions every day.
Perhaps it's why it is so hard to explain the concept of separating
transport and meaning. We can argue about it in tele/com as separation
of facilities and services. In the bigger picture it is about
separating intrinsic and accident properties and the general concepts
of abstractions and representation.
It's like trying to restrict pornography by banning the use of certain
colors. Or by segregating the bad stuff into the .XXX domain.
I realize that codifying social policies into laws is often done by
projecting intent onto actions or objects but it must be done very
cautiously and tentatively while allowing courts discretion (which then
is frustrated by random (arbitrary and unpredictable) and/or mandatory
sentencing). Does walking around with a large bolt cutter next to a
bicycle rack mean you are a thief or intend to be one or are likely to
have been one? Perhaps.
Given the ambiguities it's no surprise that politicians are adept at
gaming the election laws and the actual enforcement tends to appear to
be perverse because it is perverse.
But then, so is reality. I shouldn't blame the politicians themselves
as they reflect the popular belief and hope that there are unambiguous
rules if only "they" would enact and enforce them.
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