zlacker

>>smnrg+(OP)
This begs the question: how could you reliably distinguish advertising from other forms of free speech?

The courts already distinguish "commercial speech" as a class of speech. Would we prevent all forms of commercial speech? What about a waiter asking you "would you like to try a rosé with that dish? It pairs very well together." Is that "advertising" that would need to be outlawed?

What about giving out free samples? Is that advertising, and thus should be illegal?

What about putting a sign up on your business that says the business name? Is that advertising?

I hate advertising and propaganda. But the hard part IMO is drawing the line. Where's the line?

>>toomim+12
We don't need to go into absurd discussions in order to prevent 99% of the harm that comes from modern advertising.

The line is clear: is money being exchanged in order to promote a product? That's advertising.

Someone I know mentioning a product because they want to recommend it to me? Not advertising.

Giving out "free" samples? Presumably someone is being paid to do that, so advertising.

We can later quibble about edge cases and how to handle someone putting up a sign for their business. Many countries have regulations about visual noise, so that should be considered as well.

But it's pretty easy to distinguish advertising that seeks to manipulate, and putting a stop to that. Hell, we could start by surfacing the dark data broker market and banning it altogether. That alone should remove the most egregious cases of privacy abuse.

>>imiric+77
Well money must be exchanged to put up a sign outside of your business. Therefore it would be illegal.

>>kodt+jt
exchanged with whom? If it's a small business, it's likely the owner puts the sign out themselves.

Or is it money exchange with sign manufacturer? In this case are outdoor signs OK if owner personally made them?

>>theamk+Kz
Most likely you paid someone to make the sign, and someone else to put it up. Even if you made and installed the sign yourself, you paid for the materials.

>>thayne+sK
I am thinking outside blackboard ones, where owners write message in chalk [0] - they don't pay anyone to write the words, nor do they pay anyone to "install" it (= take it out).

I suppose the sign itself must be paid for... but many eateries are using the same signs for menus, so if owner re-purposed one of the menu signs, is there money involved? Or does owner have to dig in garbage bins to find the blackboard for free? What about writing messages straight on the wall? What about printing signs on the printer your own and taping them to the wall?

Now, don't get me wrong, I think it would be an overall improvement if those professionally-made outdoor signs get replaced by artisanal handwritten (or at least handmade) ones, but I don't think that this is what the original idea was about.

[0] https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/text-written-on-cha...

>>theamk+PV
Even for a blackboard, what if it is a paid employee that writes on it? Is it required for the owner to write it themselves?

For that matter, would it be prohibited for employees to promote any product in any way?