Fake News for Big Brother

[Declan McCullagh]

On Wed, Apr 30, 2003 at 10:45:03AM -0700, Tim May wrote:
> I strongly disagree. And, fortunately, the First Amendment has none of 
> the language you apparently think is in it, the stuff about "lying" and 
> "political or financial gain."

Yes. Falsely saying "I love you" is, last I checked, constitutionally
protected. Political speech is by definition intended for political gain
and courts have said that lies at the heart of the 1A. As for financial
gain, the Supremes will have a chance to weigh in on this -- they heard
oral arguments in the Nike case last week -- let's hope they do the right
thing.

-Declan