the issue of copyright violation and piracy have been muddied by the IRAA*
which have befuddled politicians and the public alike into believing
copyright violations (a civil matter) are the same as piracy (a criminal
extension of copyright based on copying for profit) - this is another
attempt to criminalize something that should be a civil matter.
I agree, revenge porn is unethical and not everyone has the money to pursue
civil action.. and getting stuff off the net is all but impossible.. but
this sort of legislative creep is not a good thing! Who knows where it
could lead? I can see clearly where it started!
*And I see now they are pushing to have their propaganda taught to children
http://phys.org/news/2013-11-group-antipiracy-curriculum-schools.html
and with both explicit language and examples of the proposed curriculum:
http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/7-moronic-ways-hollywood-wants-to-teach-kids-about-piracy/
as photographers we want to be aware of this
"It Teaches Third Graders That "Photographing" Is the Same as "Stealing"
Personally my take on it is, kids aren't allowed to drive motor vehicles
until they attain a certain age, have trained, and can prove themselves
responsible in a test situation.- it wasn't always this way, legislation was
created when cars became commonplace - why is it different with cameras and
instant digital distribution?
So kids had cameras in years gone by - but since we were shooting film there
were limitations placed on them, like cost, and there was the proxy censor -
the lady at the pharmacy who processed those prints, and possibly the
parents who supplied the film or collected the prints.. and wide
distribution was all but impossible.
Kids have little to no concept of the harm they can cause themselves or
others with images (or communication of any sort!) and the internet. Who
said it was a playground for the kids anyway? As far as I can see the
internet is a very scary place designed by adults, run by adults and should
remain te domain of adults - and not all adults either (!) . That schools
have lazily adopted computers and the interwebs as proxy teachers is a
failing in the duty of care AND the education of kids. Their argument is
that everyone uses computers these days, so let's start them at year one.
Yeah, no. Everyone drives cars too, but you had to wait to senior year
before schools (here at least) would offer driving classes!
I might sound like an authoritative arse, but I would ban kids from having
phones with cameras. They have no need of them, they are an unnecessary
expense, an abominable point of status with which wealthier kids show their
superiority over less well off kids, .. they're not even that robust - give
them the old text/phone Nokias that cannot be killed if they really NEED
phones! heck, if parents are concerned about where they grade school kids
are they could probably just GPS tag them - those units are cheap..
At a certain age kids could be educated as to their responsibilities in
making images, the laws that cover such things and the moral consequeces.
A friend of mine, near 50 years old, was horrified at a recent event that
took place outside his home when a car flipped, hit a tree and caught fire.
Two women were trapped inside - he ran from his house clad only in underwear
and having no other means of stopping the fire he resorted to scooping sand
off the road verge and hurling it in the engine bay to stop the flames
spreading. Another more senior neighbor joined him and attempted to break
the wondows to assist the screaming women to escape. Got the picture so
far? utter panic.. Then a late model car rolls past and stops and 3 young
males get out - and all pull their camera phones from their pockets and
start filming. Even when the police finally arrive (the flames are almost
out and a window is broken, but the women still have not escaped the
vehicle) these guys are still filming until an irate cop chases them off.
I can't begin to describe how it made me feel when I first heard him tell me
this..
k
