New York Photography ban

[foto_fool]

Amy Goodman brought up the ban on "Democracy Now" yesterday - the issue has been legitimized as a "Fascists vs. common man" matchup. Cindy Sheehan and Code Pink are planning protests.

But seriously - somebody call the ACLU already. Someone mentioned upthread that the threat of a lawsuit could result in a tightening of the language. Go for it.

And yes, memphis, I would be just as aggravated if this were happening in Saginaw (or in Memphis, for that matter). But the media would not know about it - and we are still mostly intermediated.

- John

 

[troym]

I'm watching the Today show on NBC right now ( don't ask me why ).. and I'm seeing the crowds of people gathered around the show hosts at Rockefeller plaza. I'm sure some of the people there have waited for hours with their camera/camcorder.. would they be law breakers if this passes?

They look mighty suspicious to me.

 

[troym]

Why don`t you rewrite the law to cover the just rogue filmers and terrorists and send it to the mayor?

BTW, what has terrorism got to do with photography. I don`t recall a single bomber needing a photo.

In fact, just try it as an exercise. it is difficult to write a law to cover just what you want and not cover anything extra.

Ah, the classic law school hypothetical: "No vehicles in the park." Does it cover baby carriages? Ambulances? Bicycles? Discuss.

Well, as much as I appreciate the difficulty of precision in drafting statutes, the solution is not, as City Hall appears to believe, to draft a law as broad and vague as possible. I'm not impressed by the "good enough for government work" defense.

By the way, the proposed regs go on and on and on for many pages. This isn't an example of an admirable attempt at simplicity and brevity that falls a little wide of the mark. They really did take out the blunderbuss and assume that eventually they'd hit a rabbit.

 

[Susan Cross]

NYC Photograpy Ban

NYC Photograpy Ban

In case anyone here was not watching MSNBC's "Countdown" tonight, Keith Olberman gave this measure's author his "Worst Person in the World" award, so, yes, the media is paying attention.

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[usayit]

Well, I do live in the city, and that is exactly my fear. The law will not be enforced as a reasonable person might expect but rather however an overzealous official wishes to enforce it. Of course, the more nebulous and overly broad a law is, the easier it is for officials to use it as a pretext to stop and harass whosoever they wish.

Thank you very much! People don't realize that the intent of the law is completely different from how it is leveraged on the street/public. This law is an open invitation to any overzealous official or even rent a cops who feel annoyed by anyone carrying a camera.

Broad loosely defined regulation rarely works in the favor of public good.

I have signed.