airfields with a tower that doesn't control pilots?

Happy Dog wrote:

The "operator" can't give the kind of "clearance" ATC gives. But they can
grant permission to land and I don't know of any regulation that makes it
illegal for them to use the word "cleared" when doing so. I've never heard
them say "cleared" without following it with "at your discretion".

In ICAO terminology, the word "cleared" is reserved for ATC clearances
and it is most confusing and dangerous if the term is used carelessly by
other persons. At uncontrolled fields, AFIS just says "land at your
discretion" or simply "welcome", but without any clearance.

And sometimes they can give or refuse permission to land (private
facility) and sometimes they can't (public one).

Of course, they can always refuse the premission to land (except on
emergencies, of course). In this case, they simply say "you're not
allowed to land".

Stefan