[LEAPSECS] inaugural effects of abandoning leaps

[Steve Allen]

On Mon 2013-01-21T12:13:26 -0700, Warner Losh hath writ:

> If it is the current mean solar time, then that ambiguity exists

> today without changes to leap seconds.  But no sane person would say

> that one should get the UTC date wrong because the UTC to GMT offset

> is a few hundred milliseconds during that gap.


Yes, the ambiguity exists today, but the difference is always small
and it is clear that there is an intentional connection between the
time as established by UTC and the date as established by earth
rotation in Radio Regulation 2.5.

If without leap seconds the ITU-R regulations and recommendations
become self-inconsistent then an unfortunate event happening within
the day-long ambiguous interval coinciding with a change of insurance
policies could be deemed to be covered by none, one, or both policies.
In that case "sane" falls victim to "corporate responsibility to the
shareholder" of insurers and insured.  Lawsuits seem inevitable.

--
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