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What STC should be doing is providing "expert" analysis (like, the
distilled essence of what we've been slopping around for the past week)
of the pros and cons of the various predictable outcomes.
The Law of Unintended Consequences applies, always and everywhere. The
only way to mitigate it is by open and thoughtful discussion of the
traps and pitfalls _before_ new law is made or old law is jettisoned.
As somebody else pointed out, having STC simply come down on one side or
the other of the question as it is initially framed, is bound to be a
disservice to a significant chunk of their paying membership.
Analyzing and reporting the analysis, and even helping to re-frame the
questions, if necessary, might be a useful public service.
So maybe the STC brass (or a committee) should gather facts and
opinions, deliberate for a while, then call in their lawyer(s) when
they've got a coherent position or set of positions, and ask what the
legal ramifications might be. Lawyers, asked to go away and come up
with the research and preliminary analysis by themselves could soon
bankrupt the STC. Lawyers asked to comment on the legal aspects of some
well-researched, well-discussed positions might come back in reasonable
time (and cost) with some useful advice beyond "duck and cover".
But then, I've been wrong before.
Kevin
(apologies if somebody said the same thing first - I'm only caught up
to Wednesday morning, so far)
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