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British Libertarian Party Fights Surveillance with George Orwell
San Francisco, 10:42 PM
Wed Dec 16
24 posts in the last 24 hours
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British Libertarian Party Fights Surveillance with George Orwell |
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11/06/08
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Yourrightsandresponsibilities/DG_4003239
11/06/08
There is an argument that legislating a society to such a degree is an elastoplast for a country that is slowly losing sight of concepts like common decency, charity, family etc...
Cameras are just a single facet of this ethos. Plus they are there to help Police AFTER the event, not to prevent crime. Why do you think we banned Hoodies? Those clever little oiks actually put on baseball caps to foil our £3 billion surveillance Brave New World!! Inconceivable.
Also the British Public link all cameras to Speed cameras - which are just revenue generators (or as Jeremy Clarkson calls them - piggy banks) for council and government.
In the last 5 years Britain has become a place where as soon as you wake up you are bullied by various institutions for money, time and little bits of your soul. Unfortunately the biggest bully is the government. Don't believe me. Just look at the TV and Car Licensing adverts they use - they re based on fear and terrible consequences.
Cameras are there to do the same - behave or we will whisk you away under the name of the Court of Human Rights.
11/05/08
11/05/08
11/05/08
Cameras everywhere
government GPS on every car
anti free speech laws
UK is 2nd only to red China in the race to police state.
11/05/08
Oh, and they're making the standard Libertarian mistake that they have any statistical significance, and anyone cares what they think, of course.
-Kle.
11/05/08
11/05/08
11/05/08
11/05/08
Kan wee puhleez geht spale czech ahn heah?
And before your knee (or "nee" as it would probably happen) jerks any higher than it needs must as a result of your galvanic response to observation, the idea that these cameras prevent crime is more than merely silly. What they do is provide evidence to allow conviction of bad guys already in custody.
There is a fine, but vital, distinction between punishing criminals and making law-abiding citizens safe. It is, more's the pity, a distinction that has died in many of the formerly free nations of the world.
11/05/08
Now if every one was required to also be a public webcam, then maybe they might be a problem. Or perhaps a solution.
[1]Time to start putting up fake CCTV everywhere as an art project? Oi, Banksy...
11/05/08
These are the kind of people who read 1984 and thought it had some really good ideas on how to run a government. They are the kind of people who read dystopian books because they like the worlds they are presented with.
Some people just like the control.
Sadly, those are the same people who are often drawn to politics.
11/05/08
11/05/08
And elections are based more on popularity than politics these days anyways it seems.
11/05/08
I think purhapes what might be a solution would be to invent a completely sealed camera that has a weeks memory. Absolutely nothing can go in/out of the camera without a search warrent from a caught.
You could then stick these cameras littarly everywhere and *only* if a crime is commited would anyone see whats on them.
Would people still object even if they know that noone is behind the cameras?
If they were purely a just-in-case device which no one can view unless a crime happens?
I find it hard to rationalise fear of cameras anyway, but I *think* it must come from the fear of being watched rather then the device itself?
11/05/08
I think 1984 has done more damage to libbertys then good, because people use it to scare-monger, normaly at the wrong targets.
CCTV cameras are a typical example;
" but with four million CCTV cameras, Britain is the most-surveyed nation in the world"
quote like this are nonsense, because the majority of those cameras have nothing whatsoever to do with the govement.
Its either traffic cameras helping your cars GPS or shop-owners using them because its cheaper then a security gaurd.
And you know what? good for them!
Camera's are less biased then humans, cheaper to run and maintain, and have perfect recal of events.
Thanks to cameras we have cheaper products in supermarkers because they dont need so much security.
Because of cameras small stores can feel a little bit safer. If someone is going to rob you now, they need to hide their face and thus give you a good warning.
And even those CCTV cameras that our govement run?
So what.
I feel safer at night walking if I knew that criminals knew their was a camera there too.
CCTV cameras are a typical hyperbole scapegoat.
The *real* dangers are networking them, or govenment database's. Exactly like designguybrown above says.
No, my main worrys are about censorship, thats were the true dangers lie.
11/05/08
To be honest the most worrying thing about this article is the idea that their are "severe" restriction on free Speech in the UK, which is blatantly false. Even though i have lived in Britain all my life i have never had my right to free speech infringed or even heard of anything like that happening to anyone else.