Stupid Technology Legislation - Make Camera Phones Beep

In their ongoing effort to show just how stupid they can be in congress when it comes to technology issues Pete King (R-N.Y.) has introduced a bill that would require all camera phones make a sound when they take a picture:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10150671-1.html

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

Why is this dumb, I'll list a few reasons in no particular order....

• Ever hear of video? These phones also double as video and of course video has audio. Any sound would render it useless for video.
• Do you think it's only cell phones that are small and can take picture?
• In some cases the user may have very legitimate reasons not to have it make a sound.

Bottom line is you can add this to the list of stupid technology laws often proposed by politicians. They are just looking to put another notch in their belt for voting time so they publicize "look what I did for you"... The people this law will be aimed at of course will just find a different approach, work around, different device or the inevitable hacks for the phones that will appear on the internet.

We are only safe when congress is out of session. Which should be more often.
I will introduce a bill that we will pay them double to stay home.

TSB

He doesn't want anyone else taking pictures of hand-cuffed black guys face down on the subway platform being shot in the back.

If your phone beeps, now two people get shot !

TSB

Piece of tape over speaker - problem solved.

Next?

The whole damn country is going to hell and some politician is worried they might get caught on cam or recorded telling what might be the truth if they didnt know somebody was taping it?
Humm will they have to put beepers on all the thousnands of cams they now have on all the streets and builldings eveywhere also?

I don't think they are looking out to protect themselves but instead stop the perverts from taking pictures up women's skirts and other pictures where the person should expect privacy. Apparently there is an epidemic of these images on the internet. Cell phones are so common it's easy for them to take them. The legislation at face value sounds great but in reality is pointless and in the end will only be nuisance to those that have a legitimate reason for it not to beep.

There's been many such laws passed in the past like COPPA, that law forbids websites from gathering personal information like an email address from children under 13 years of age. That is why many sites will ask you your birth date or ask if you were born before a certain date before allowing the registration. Kids under 13 of course know it and will simply use a false date of birth. For them to legally join a website they need to have their parents fax or mail a form to the website owner which ironically provides much more information than any email address will ever provide.