6 ms·

How is software "speech"? Do you consider all software "speech"? Do you think any form of software should be allowed, no matter what?

nnx 6y ago
Yes, all software is speech and any form of software should be allowed. If not, who decides what software is allowed or not? Will I need to get a license from the government before I push my PR to a repo?
- Minor49er 6y ago
  Do you consider blueprints and mechanical diagrams to be speech?
  - anonymousab 6y ago
    Under the US constitution and given legal precedent, absolutely.
- milktoast 6y ago
  What if you made the same argument for photography and freedom of speech? > Yes, all photography is speech and any form of photography should be allowed. > If not, who decides which photography is allowed or not? Will I need to get a license from the government before I publish a photograph online? You see the problem here, don't you? There are many cases where a photograph can be illegal.
  - anonymousab 6y ago
    Sure. There are also many cases where any kind of speech can be illegal, depending on the context and content of the speech. That does not mean that form of speech is not constitutionally protected. Legally, whether photographs are speech seems to come down to whether they are taken with communicative intent or not.
  - nnx 6y ago
    This is within the well known (and tested) limits of freedom of speech... which neither TikTok or WeChat software were found guilty of (with or without due process).
actsasbuffoon 6y ago
I don’t think software is speech, but to play devil’s advocate for a moment; if money is speech then why can’t software be speech? Both propositions seems equally ridiculous, but the Supreme Court has affirmed that money is speech.
- DennisP 6y ago
  The Ninth Circuit affirmed that software is speech in Bernstein. It's the reason cryptography is no longer heavily restricted by the US.

nnx 6y ago

Yes, all software is speech and any form of software should be allowed. If not, who decides what software is allowed or not? Will I need to get a license from the government before I push my PR to a repo?

Minor49er 6y ago
Do you consider blueprints and mechanical diagrams to be speech?
- anonymousab 6y ago
  Under the US constitution and given legal precedent, absolutely.
milktoast 6y ago
What if you made the same argument for photography and freedom of speech? > Yes, all photography is speech and any form of photography should be allowed. > If not, who decides which photography is allowed or not? Will I need to get a license from the government before I publish a photograph online? You see the problem here, don't you? There are many cases where a photograph can be illegal.
- anonymousab 6y ago
  Sure. There are also many cases where any kind of speech can be illegal, depending on the context and content of the speech. That does not mean that form of speech is not constitutionally protected. Legally, whether photographs are speech seems to come down to whether they are taken with communicative intent or not.
- nnx 6y ago
  This is within the well known (and tested) limits of freedom of speech... which neither TikTok or WeChat software were found guilty of (with or without due process).

actsasbuffoon 6y ago

I don’t think software is speech, but to play devil’s advocate for a moment; if money is speech then why can’t software be speech? Both propositions seems equally ridiculous, but the Supreme Court has affirmed that money is speech.

DennisP 6y ago
The Ninth Circuit affirmed that software is speech in Bernstein. It's the reason cryptography is no longer heavily restricted by the US.