  Elaborating on a previous work by Marolf et al, we relate some exact results
in quantum field theory and statistical mechanics to the Bekenstein universal
bound on entropy. Specifically, we consider the relative entropy between the
vacuum and another state, both reduced to a local region. We propose that, with
the adequate interpretation, the positivity of the relative entropy in this
case constitutes a well defined statement of the bound in flat space. We show
that this version arises naturally from the original derivation of the bound
from the generalized second law when quantum effects are taken into account. In
this formulation the bound holds automatically, and in particular it does not
suffer from the proliferation of the species problem. The results suggest that
while the bound is relevant at the classical level, it does not introduce new
physical constraints semiclassically.
