Blargh. Excellent point. I had totally forgotten that. I withdraw all suggested changes except a cross-ref to the section you mention. Sigh. My brain is getting soft.

Actually the rules referenced appear immediately above, so no reference is necessary. My original message was not suggesting a change to the report (though I don't know that I agree with it -- i can see arguments in each direction): I was primarily pointing out an infelicity in GHCs implementation... Out of curiousity, it's a bit strange that

data D = D !Int myD = D {}

in invalid, but

newtype N = N !Int myN = N {}

is not. Not that I'm proposing a change...I just think it's od.. - Hal