View Single Post
Old 04-14-2004, 09:46 AM   #7
SteveDallas
Your Bartender
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Philly Burbs, PA
Posts: 7,651
Quote:
Originally posted by BrianR
Ban em I say.
Do you mean ban them from being carried or used in specific venues? Or a more blanket ban? Or do you mean banning their manufacture?

See, the reason I'm interested is because of that distinction. If the RIAA had had their way, the first Rio MP3 player would have been declared illegal. And it goes back to the whole VCR argument from the mid 80s. At what point does an electronic device, which is in theory morally neutral, need to be banned because of the uses to which people put it?

Another question is how all this fits in with existing laws on public photography. The law now is that you can pretty much take a picture of whatever you want (even another person, or another person's property) as long as you are on your own property or on public property. (There are exceptions for government security and stuff like that.) So if you're in, say, a bar, the owner has every right to prevent people from taking pictures. But there's nothing to stop you snapping people out on the sidewalk or at the park. The difference is you have a much smaller, much less obtrusive camera now.
SteveDallas is offline   Reply With Quote