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The First Amendment and Software Speech

Posted by timothy on from the hello-world-vs-the-state dept.

First time accepted submitter stanlrev writes "When is software, or content generated by software, 'speech' for First Amendment purposes? That is the question that Andrew Tutt seeks to answer in an article published today in the Stanford Law Review Online. He argues that the two approaches commentators and the Supreme Court have proposed are both incorrect. Software or software-generated content is not always speech simply because it conveys information. Nor is software only speech when it resembles traditional art forms. Instead, the courts should turn to the original purposes of the First Amendment to develop a new approach that answers this question more effectively."

2 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. It is about not lettting ideas be silenced by cjonslashdot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am not a Constitutional scholar (although I have read the Constitution and refer to it frequently), but I would presume that "freedom of expression" and "freedom of speech" are intended to ensure that ideas cannot be censored. And since the Constitution is about the rights of people and government, I also presume that the right pertains to people - not organizations. Organizations are not people, just as a pack of dogs is not a dog and a mob of people is not a person. And not machine generated content: such content is not necessarily the output of people, unless a person arranges for a _specific_ machine output in order to express an idea. If the 1st Amendment is truly about ensuring that ideas cannot be censored, then free speech is not about permitting anyone to say purposely offensive things (i.e., the form of their speech), but about their right to express (perhaps politely) the _ideas_ contained in their speech.

    1. Re:It is about not lettting ideas be silenced by Quila · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Organizations are not people, just as a pack of dogs is not a dog and a mob of people is not a person.

      However, an organization is made of people, and do they lose all of their rights as part of the organization? You and a bunch of friends don't like people killing kittens, and you use your full constitutional ights to fight the killing of kittens. To be more efficient, you decide to form an official organization to promote your cause and fight under its mantle. Now, because you did that, you lose your rights, making your efforts less effective?

      For machine generated content, I'll accept that when machines start having original ideas.