The EarthWaves Web site is a successor to the old QuakeNet Web site. And when the previous owner and I worked on getting it operational (she did most of the work) one of the first things we did was have someone who I believe is a civil rights specialist attorney provide an official opinion which stated that under the U.S. Constitution, earthquake predictions are what are called “protected speech.” And his opinion was displayed in a prominent location at the Web site. I still have a copy of it somewhere.

What that means, I believe, is that you can make all of the predictions that you like, in California or anywhere else in the U.S. They are protected under our free speech laws. What the California regulations pertain to if I understand this correctly are predictions which are made by people as part of a business arrangement. For instance, if you are selling them to cities for profit. In such cases I gather you would need to have certain qualifications.

That does not sound too unreasonable to me. If you have work done on a building I believe you often need to get a licensed engineer to review your plans.