Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Cities Get Into The Camera Phone Banning Business

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 12:04:26 -0500

Cities Get Into The Camera Phone Banning Business
Contributed by mmasnick on Wed, Dec 10 2003

Years from now, I think people will look back on the early days of camera phones
and laugh at how badly some people over reacted. The NY Times is reporting that,
not only our gyms and offices banning camera phones, but entire cities are
getting into
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/11/technology/circuits/11shoo.html?ei=5062&en=fdd8b44052b3e8c3&ex=1071723600&partner=TECHDIRT&pagewanted=all&position=the
act banning camera phones in public bathrooms and locker rooms. Again, this is
going too far. They're banning the tools that can be used to commit a crime -
not the crime itself. As a lawyer says in the article: "They've threatened the
rights of the majority of people to try to control the conduct of a few, and
that's just beyond the balance." Chicago is the biggest city so far to set up
such a ban, and when confronted about it, the response was that: "There is no
reason to have a cellphone while you're changing and showering." That's missing
the point. First, how is it the city's job to know when all of its citizens and
visitors need a cell phone? What if it's an emergency call? Furthermore, what if
someone needs a cell phone immediately after being in the locker room - such as
in the gym itself? One interesting thing in the article, which I had not heard
elsewhere, is that they mention a town in Ohio, Seven Hills, gave up on the idea
of banning camera phones after realizing that it would probably face a costly
court challenge which they didn't want to deal with.

www.techdirt.com

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

---

From: "Dave Warren" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 15:32:23 -0700

[email-masked] wrote:
> Chicago is the biggest city so far to set up such a ban,
> and when confronted about it, the response was that: "There is no
> reason to have a cellphone while you're changing and showering."
> That's missing the point. First, how is it the city's job to know
> when all of its citizens and visitors need a cell phone? What if it's
> an emergency call? Furthermore, what if someone needs a cell phone
> immediately after being in the locker room - such as in the gym
> itself?

So what exactly am I supposed to do with my cell phone when I take the bus
to the gym, and the only "safe" place to leave it is in the locker INSIDE
the dressing room...

I can't leave it in the car, because I don't have one.

I can't leave it at home because I may not go home from my job before I hit
the gym, I might not be going out later, or damnit, I might need to use my
phone on the way to, from, or even at the gym.

Instead, how about impose some outragious penalties, a $10,000+ fine (first
offense) for taking an unauthorized photo, second offense is a 12 month ban
from being able to touch any device with a digital camera and another fine
($25000 sound reasonable), third offense is 1 year in jail, and a lifetime
ban from camera phones.

-- 
Dave Warren,
 Email Address:  [email-masked]
 Cell: (403) 371-3470         Fax: (403) 371-3471
 Toll free: (888) 371-3470 Vonage: (817) 886-0860
 ICQ: 17848192  AIM: devilspgd  Yahoo!: devilspgd
 MSN/PASSPORT:   [email-masked]

---

From: Rick Parrish <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 22:22:42 -0600

Dave Warren wrote:

>Instead, how about impose some outragious penalties, a $10,000+ fine (first offense) for taking an unauthorized photo, second offense is a 12 month ban from being able to touch any device with a digital camera and another fine ($25000 sound reasonable), third offense is 1 year in jail, and a lifetime ban from camera phones.
>  
>
Dave,

You've got to be kidding ... I can do without the "cell phone police" 
patrolling the gym floor or the locker rooms. The major league teams 
dealt with this issue almost a decade ago - not over camera phones but 
with TV cameras and female sports reporters interviewing all-male team 
members trying to shower and clean-up after a game.

One team's solution (I can't remember which) was to ban all reporters 
from the locker room and hold an open after-game press conference. This 
gave the reporters equal access and allowed the athletes some measure of 
privacy.

Camera-phones are what I'd call a terms-of-use policy issue. I suggest 
fine print in your  gym membership contract stating that you can be 
expelled without refund if found *using* your phone in the locker room. 
Stick your phone in your gym bag - powered off. Lock it up while you do 
your workout routine.

Not every problem needs to be addressed by legislation.

-rick