[aprssig] Broadcasting?

[A.J. Farmer (AJ3U)]

Shortly after the Air France crash today, a station sent out an APRS 
message addressed to "ALL" that said (paraphrasing from memory) "Air 
France crash in Toronto, 200 feared dead".  While I thought this was an 
interesting thing to know, it had me wondering if the message was 
breaking the rules.

If you brought up the local repeater and just blurted out the same type 
of "breaking news" message intended for anyone listening, I think it 
would be considered broadcasting.  It definitely was not a message that 
would be "of interest to the Amateur community only" which is supposed 
to be one of the broadcasting litmus tests.  On the other hand, unlike a 
analog voice transmission on a repeater, the average "non-Ham" would not 
be able to receive an APRS message, so I can see this argument going 
either way...

What are your opinions on this?

Thanks!

A.J. Farmer, AJ3U
http://www.aj3u.com