Tim writes:
I've never understood why this is not recognized by the courts as an ipso facto violation of the First Amendment.
This is because the courts have created for themselves from whole cloth the power to "interpret" the Constitution, as opposed to simply enforcing its letter. Once you allow the courts to do this, you have created a third branch of government, more powerful than the other two. Clearly, if the Constitution says one thing, and the Supreme Court says something entirely different, one should follow the Constitution. Most of the country, in the current political climate, would follow the Supreme Court. This makes the Constitution very weak. In fact, I would imagine that dispensing with the pretense of the Constitution altogether today would engender no more protest from the Sheeple than going off the gold standard did. There might be a few irate editorials, but no one would take up arms, particularly with the government doing its best to suggest that people who call themselves "Patriots" and know the Constitution too well are extremist whackos.
Requiring that a letter be in a certain form, or written in a particular language, would be a violation of the First Amendment.
Why is electronic communication any different?
It isn't. But in the classic words of Bill Gates to Steve Jobs about the Mac being technically superior to Windows, "You don't get it. It doesn't matter." The First Amendment already lies on the ashheap of history, thanks to the Dworks and the doctrine that the Constitution is unimportant if "it saves just one (metaphorical) child." First Amendment rot began with Miller, and continued with Ferber, and Knox, and Amateur Action. There is now very little left of the First Amendment that is not tiny fungus-coated balls en route through the digestive tract of worms.
Kapor is just another Cathy Young, just another fellow traveller supporting the total state.
Mitch needs to go back to the Maharishi for a tuneup. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of "Spore Wars." -- Eric Michael Cordian 0+ O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"