Congressman wants to ban silent camera phones
If you think the biggest problem with a camera phone is the poor quality of the photos, a member of Congress might make you think again. Earlier this month, Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would ban camera phones from having a silent mode when taking a picture.
The Camera Phone Predator Alert Act (H.R. 414) would "require any mobile phone containing a digital camera to sound a tone whenever a photograph is taken." What's more, the bill would prohibit such handsets from being equipped with a means of disabling or silencing the tone. Enforcement would be through the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The text of the bill is short, and King's office has not released any public statements. Yet, the reasoning behind the legislation is clear. The text states that "Congress finds that children and adolescents have been exploited by photographs taken in dressing rooms and public places with the use of a camera phone."
At the time of this writing the bill has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce. The Camera Phone Predator Alert Act has no co-sponsors.
Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent. 
Could Mr. King focus on fixing the economy now?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2984780.stm
King's been known over the last 8 years for being "tough on terror" cause he's from Long Island. Whatever. Here's the political run down on King's future.
A) Run for Senate against Gillibrand or another democrat should she be beaten (not happening, watch her 2006 and 2008 campaign material, she is made of charisma).
B) Hold on to his Long Island Congressional District (CD-3) and hope that he can hold on in 2012. This will be the first time in New York history that Democrats have complete control over the redistricting process (Governor, State House, and State Senate). Expect King's slightly Democratic district to become a VERY Democratic district. New York will be losing one congressman in 2012 but that will be coming from upstate where the population loss has been occurring.
What about videos ? will it also tgo click click as long as it is recording ? Will it not affect the quality of recorded audio ? Or are they against only still pictures ?
Also if it's only law in the US then you just get a foriegn phone! Do they not think these things through!!!
This latest idea of his is almost too ridiculous to even address. Will this new "anti predator" camera make this loud, obnoxious "warning noise" when I'm taking photos at Grandma's birthday too? Dumb.
King was also one of the biggest cheerleaders for the Bush invasion and occupation of Iraq. King is one of those congressman who gladly handed over the lives of our kids and billions of our hard earned tax dollars for some bizarre fantasy about taking control of a country in the heart of Arabia that had never attacked us.
Peter King, blowhard, Bush-Lover, hypocrite: I think his days in office are running out and his actions will get more desperate and more strange. I think he needs to retire and give someone with a clearer head a fresh start. Bye, Peter.
The flip side to that is generally people will break rules if they think they can get away with it. We need to crack down so add a sound to camera's or make the penelties if caught very high. If caught with a camera phone in a gym your membership is revoked no questions asked the 1st offense.
i think king got caught doing something with silent camera phone
There are tons of victims of upskirt, downblouse, locker room and pedophile pictures, not to mention the corporate espionage implications.
There are NO victims if it passes. How does making a click sound hurt anyone?
Obviously a professional could disable the sound, but this is about taking the temptation away from 90% of the people who might voilate someone else's privacy, and leaving the remaining 10% to get busted by the cops later on.
For one, people need to be more aware of others around them for more reasons than just a possible photo taken up their skirt. They need to take some darn responsibility for themselves! Also, as others have said, there are multiple ways to get around this, and it's easy enough that more than 10% of people can do it. If someone is willing to take the risk, they are pretty motivated and will find a way. Any idiot with an internet connection can jailbreak and iPhone, for example.
This is the idea of an idiot, or a con man. Or both. "NO victims"? What about all of the manufacturers who now have to redesign all future phones so that they'll comply with this new legal requirement?
Also, where are you getting these silly numbers from "90% of the people" according to what source?
Did bimbo Peter King write this post himself, or did he tell an intern to do it?
Then again, following after Korea and Japan (where upskirt photos is a social problem) is perhaps as far as he can muster interest in anything but the next golf game...
Perhaps change a current law, and don't stipulate to phone manufacturers the need to make the damn phone beep, chime, etc.
Concentrate on other issues that need far more attention.
- by aka_tripleB January 27, 2009 7:54 AM PST
- I think the bill is too narrow. I understand why he proposed the bill, but it should span all cameras not just camera phones. If you're going to write a law, you should at least be efficient about how you spend the time and money so you don't have to go back an amend the bill to include standard and digital cameras.
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- by fleurya January 27, 2009 9:11 AM PST
- way too many cameras out there that already take photos without a noise. It would take years to filter them out. Plus, as someone already pointed out, you could simply get a camera from another country without the noise. The entire world isn't going to roll over for this US law and it's way too easy for these motivated perverts to get something like that online from overseas.
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