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Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

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Re: Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

#71
post #35

Everyone's talking about the title issue, but it's amazing that the Oregon board doesn't believe he should be able to publish or present his ideas. You can go on and on about what it means to be a certain title, but the man should be able to put forth his work and ideas.

But they don't. He's perfectly at liberty to do so, but not to assert professional standing which he lacks in order to make it seem more convincing. Did you read the Board's complaint? At first the asked the Board to investigate the city even though the Board had no jurisdiction to do so. they advised him of this and also cautioned him not to advertise himself as an engineer, in accordance with Oregon's code. He agre…

Look, you're not wrong. But you have to remember that none of that matters, because I can put the following notice out, and any government prohibition of such is a big payday for me:

"I, JB Reefer, am God, command you to stop driving. I am the king of all engineers, president of space, etc etc etc"

and it doesn't matter. You really do get to say whatever the fuck you want in this country, as long as it doesn't cause direct harm to someone else. There's no "this doesn't apply to job title" caveat.

Re: Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

#72
post #35

Everyone's talking about the title issue, but it's amazing that the Oregon board doesn't believe he should be able to publish or present his ideas. You can go on and on about what it means to be a certain title, but the man should be able to put forth his work and ideas.

[deleted]

Re: Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

#73

Good luck extracting that money from him, if I were him, I'd safely ignore the notice. They're going to have to prove what he does for work falls under the legal definition of engineering in that state. Also, if his job title includes "engineer" the board is going to have a very difficult time justifying the case. And.... this is a civil matter. His best option is to get a good lawyer and just ignore them. Yet anothe…

You really ought to read the Board's side of this in the linked documents before jumping to multiple incorrect conclusions based on his version of events.

Re: Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

#74
post #3

Honest curiosity: is it fraud (in the US) to claim that you are a member of a profession that you are not? (I am not saying that is what he intended to do here). For example, if someone owes me money, is it illegal for me to send them a letter, in which I purport to be a lawyer?

There are a number of professions in the US where yes, this is somewhat regulated. I can think of a few: 1. Medical doctors 2. Certified Public Accountants 3. Lawyers 4. Professional Engineers 5. Realtors Many other professions and certifying agencies will claim that a certification is necessary to practice, and that you should pay them for the privilege, but these are some of the few that are legally protected. You…

To be specific, a "Realtor" is not a profession; it is a trademarked term. To be a "Realtor" one must be a member of the National Association of Realtors, which is a trade association.

It is possible to be a "real estate agent" (the profession) without being a Realtor. There are licensing requirements, which vary by state, to be a real estate agent.

Re: Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they don't. He's perfectly at liberty to do so, but not to assert professional standing which he lacks in order to make it seem more convincing. Did you read the Board's complaint? At first the asked the Board to investigate the city even though the Board had no jurisdiction to do so. they advised him of this and also cautioned him not to advertise himself as an engineer, in accordance with Oregon's code. He agre…

Look, you're not wrong. But you have to remember that none of that matters, because I can put the following notice out, and any government prohibition of such is a big payday for me: "I, JB Reefer, am God, command you to stop driving. I am the king of all engineers, president of space, etc etc etc" and it doesn't matter. You really do get to say whatever the fuck you want in this country, as long as it doesn't cause…

> You really do get to say whatever the fuck you want in this country, as long as it doesn't cause direct harm to someone else

The Supreme Court disagrees.

Re: Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look, you're not wrong. But you have to remember that none of that matters, because I can put the following notice out, and any government prohibition of such is a big payday for me: "I, JB Reefer, am God, command you to stop driving. I am the king of all engineers, president of space, etc etc etc" and it doesn't matter. You really do get to say whatever the fuck you want in this country, as long as it doesn't cause…

> You really do get to say whatever the fuck you want in this country, as long as it doesn't cause direct harm to someone else The Supreme Court disagrees.

Can you cite a case? Hate speech etc has a long history of being court-supported.

Re: Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

#77
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went through an ABET accredited software engineering program, they pointed us to the NSPE. I'm not a PE but I still call myself a software engineer on everything except government forms. As far as the government's concerned I'm a programmer.

The NCEES absolutely offers a PE exam in the US for software engineers, for about 5 years now [1]. Most states offer PE licenses now in software engineering. 1. (note the "software" in the list of exams offered) http://ncees.org/engineering/pe/

Is California one of those states?

Re: Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

#78
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went through an ABET accredited software engineering program, they pointed us to the NSPE. I'm not a PE but I still call myself a software engineer on everything except government forms. As far as the government's concerned I'm a programmer.

> As far as the government's concerned I'm a programmer. I don't think so. It's been a bit since I read up on Visa stuff (and I imagine it doesn't matter to you as an American citizen) but there are distinctions between programmer / software developer / etc.

[deleted]

Re: Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look, you're not wrong. But you have to remember that none of that matters, because I can put the following notice out, and any government prohibition of such is a big payday for me: "I, JB Reefer, am God, command you to stop driving. I am the king of all engineers, president of space, etc etc etc" and it doesn't matter. You really do get to say whatever the fuck you want in this country, as long as it doesn't cause…

> You really do get to say whatever the fuck you want in this country, as long as it doesn't cause direct harm to someone else The Supreme Court disagrees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_words for example.

There are more limitations but that's an easy and possibly counterintuitive example.

Re: Man Fined $500 for Crime of Writing 'I Am an Engineer' in an Email to the Gov't

#80
I am frankly both surprised and unsurprised at the same time with the comments from those supportive of government regulation of software engineering. If your a hack who didn't learn to program until you went to school, I suppose I understand, you want to limit those entering your field to those who paid the same to play. However, how about all of those who are likely far smarter than you and learned to program as children and got into the industry right off the bat - does your jealousy dictate that they should have to pay some sort of admission cost?

It's pretty cute how the same yuppies who are supportive of strict regulation are lining up to praise childhood programming courses. By the time our children are grown, programming will be illegal without a license - ushered in by the mayhem created by hipsters programming insecure IoT devices. These are the same people who praise curiosity out of one side of their mouth, but insist no one should practice cryptography because it's far too hard for mortals to understand.

I would be delighted if academic America would get off it's high horse. You're starting to look an awful lot like Hollywood circa 1998.

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