Re: [atoca] Next milestone

[Art Botterell <[e-mail]>]

On Sep 25, 2012, at 2:28 PM, Mark Wood wrote:

> ...but if you want to say "leave your home and go to high ground now", this is
> completely different and only a properly authorised agent of the sovereign
> state may lawfully do that.

Well, not everywhere,  Here in the U.S. anyone may say that... and may be held accountable for the results afterwards.  (Which accountability can be so dire that folks generally hesitate before taking the risk, so the end effect is essentially the same, but arguably with a bit more flexibility for extreme circumstances.)

But that does vary from place to place.  As John Perry Barlow once reminded Americans, "the First Amendment is a local ordinance."

So... is it permissible to shout "fire!" in a burning theater?  Yes, but perhaps not in a burning theatre!  By which spelling variation I mean to suggest that in different places this question is subject to different laws and different notions both of sovereignty and of individual (and/or corporate) duty.

- Art