Criminalizing Direct Action against surveillance cameras

See this Politech article:

http://www.politechbot.com/p-03154.html

John Gilmore sez:

Subject: FC: Wisconsin may ban disabling spycams
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 01:48:02 -0800
From: John Gilmore <gnu [at] toad.com>

Why do they want to pass the new law? Because current law only makes
it a crime to *damage* or *misappropriate* a camera. If you merely
put a piece of cardboard in front of it, or some duct tape over it, or
unplug it, that isn't a crime today. But tomorrow it could get you
five years in prison.

SHEEP, WAKE UP! The police state is coming; it's already here if you
act like the cops have all the rights and you have none. Like all of
you people being herded into the pens at all the airports, with nary a
bleat. The only real security is in the grave -- and the totalitarian
control that the Bush team is hastily assembling, while you are silent,
will assist your entry into that blissful state.

The only useful part about this proposed law is that it should protect
citizens who are using cameras to record the illegal activities of law
enforcement officials. Any cop who seizes, breaks, or disables a
protester's camera would go to prison for five years -- assuming that
any DA would indict any cop for everyday activities, which is a hollow
fantasy 99.9% of the time. If you publish this, the cops will make
sure to write an exception into the law for themselves anyway.

Note that the "intent" of the camera is what matters; if they put it
into a bathroom "for security" then disabling it is a crime, while
if they put it into a bathroom "to ogle you" then disabling it is
legal (after they arrest you and try you for it).

The 9/11 attack has certainly brought out all the scum of the earth,
with their "put US in control of YOU" schemes to improve the world.
you would think that while fighting against the Taliban's tight
control of its populace, we wouldn't be imposing similar controls on
our own population. But the irony seems to be lost on the sheeple.

John

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The San Francisco Surveillance Camera Players perform direct action, guerrilla theater in front of cameras that surveill public space.
Worried about surveillance cameras as a fascist tool of social control? Don't want to live in the Panopticon? Give us an email at sfscp [at] kemokid.com.

http://www.notbored.org/sf-scp.html