The Newark Star-Ledger today reports the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a bill that would make it illegal to secretly view or videotape anyone in a private location where people undress or engage in intimate activity. The use of camera phones is one of the reasons the bill has been drafted.
"The old 'Peeping Tom' statutes, officials said, no longer cut it in an age when cameras that look like phones can be used to secretly photograph unsuspecting victims and then transmit those photos in seconds to the Internet for millions to see," reports Gabriel H. Gluck in the article.
One of the reasons for the Committee's action was a state appeals court overturning a conviction of a New Jersey man who hid a video recorder in a flower arrangement and recorded two women in his house when they undressed and showered in the bathroom. The judge ruled the current law only covered instances where someone peers into a window or other opening.
Concern about children
New Jersey YMCAs and other health clubs are concerned about camera phone perverts taking photos of children and are trying to determine how to deal with the potential problem, the article notes.
"But it is not just the ability of phones to take pictures that raises concerns. It is also the ability to transmit those photographs and post them on the Web. Unlike the Peeping Tom of another era, whose voyeurism had an audience of one, the Internet now makes it possible to record and share images for millions to see.
"State Attorney General Peter Harvey and other law enforcement officials have warned that New Jersey's current 'Peeping Tom' law is not adequate to address the threat to privacy posed by miniaturized cameras," the Star-Ledger reports.
No effect on Verizon Wireless?
The article quotes David Samberg, a Verizon Wireless spokesperson, who says new restrictions wouldn't hurt sales of camera phones. He says, "Verizon Wireless expects its customers to use common sense, be respectful, and be mindful of the laws out there."
Most customers will use common sense, but if there weren't lots of morons in the world there wouldn't be all the laws!
I will write and write and write again that the wireless industry has done an incompetent job of educating consumers and businesses about camera phones. Camera phones are being banned and laws are being written, and these very useful devices are looking pretty bad in the press.
Black eyes
The wireless industry had better damn well begin utilizing the talents of its advertising and marketing experts to provide customer education. How big a black eye does the camera phone industry want to get before it takes some action?
This is not about misleading the press. It's about doing more than running least-common-denominator TV ads. It's about promoting the value of camera phones for a variety of uses while, at the same time, providing information about how to be a "responsible" camera phone user.
Hey, cellular operators -- Do you want corporations to ban camera phones? Hey handset vendors -- Do you want to be forced to manufacture two versions of the same product (with and without a camera)? If you do, just continue to be incompetent in your marketing and public relations efforts and ignore the problem.
I AGREE WITH WHO EVER SAID THAT CUSTOMERS ARE MATURE ENOUGH TO REALIZE THE DIFFERENCE OF TAKING A SIMPLE PICTURE AND TAKING A PORNOGRAPHY PICTURE IS. I MYSELF HAVE A CELL AND IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IF I TAKE A PICTURE OF MY NEPHEW AND I HAVE IT ON THE CELL PHONE I'M GOING TO GET INTO TROUBLE JUST BECAUSE I THINK MY NEPHEW LOOKED CUTE.THATS MY OPINION. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Posted by: MAIRA | Sunday, February 27, 2005 at 05:54 PM