At 11:51 PM 7/31/96, Blanc Weber wrote:
From: tcmay@got.net
If the Centennial Park is a public place, not a private one, as I believe to be the case, then it seems to me a person is within his rights to turn down the offer to be inspected, frisked, interrogated, etc. ........................................................
But if the park was a private one, would it make any difference?
Of course, which is why stores can have "bags will be searched" policies, restrictions about atire, and all sorts of other policies which are not allowed in public places. Disneyland is a private park, and has rules which are not the rules a public park can have. Put it this way, "My house, my rules."
I mean, either it is, or it isn't, a "right". When could it really be okay to violate that definition. How are the law enforcers to do their job if they can't intrude into your shopping bag, when it's a critical National Emergency. This is what Denning is always referring to.
One needs to distinguish "rights" vis-a-vis government actions, and the policies of private actors. The usual point about "freedom of speech" applies. E.g., Blanc has "freedom of speech," but not inside Microsoft. Not to lecture, but this frequent blurring of public vs. private areas, of government vs. corporate actions, of "property rights," is hurting the cause of liberty. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."