[118633] in North American Network Operators' Group
RE: ISP port blocking practice/Free Speech
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Richard E. Brown)
Sun Oct 25 10:05:27 2009
Date: 25 Oct 2009 10:04:43 -0400
From: Richard.E.Brown@dartware.com (Richard E. Brown)
To: nanog@nanog.org
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
> > Free speech doesn't include the freedom to shout fire in a crowded theatre.
>
> It most certainly does! There is absolutely nothing to prevent one from
> shouting "FIRE" in a crowded theatre.
Actually, it doesn't. When I was on-staff at the computer center at Dartmouth,
our provost also happened to be a first-amendment scholar, and he gave us an impromptu
speech about the first amendment at a staff meeting :-)
The US Supreme Court recognizes a couple exceptions to the broad permission to
speak freely:
- Shouting fire in a crowded theater is explicitly prohibited because of the obvious
danger and risk of injury.
- "Fighting words", that by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite
an immediate breach of the peace". [Wikipedia] The example he gave was this: someone
standing on a soapbox in Hanover NH, saying that we should storm the gates in
Washington and burn the place down is just exercising their free speech rights
- there's no credible *imminent* threat. However, standing there and saying that
we should burn down the Town Hall could clearly be believed to be a real threat,
and the government would be justified in stepping in.
Rich Brown richard.e.brown@dartware.com
Dartware, LLC http://www.dartware.com
66-7 Benning Street Telephone: 603-643-9600
West Lebanon, NH 03784-3407 Fax: 603-643-2289
