Kicked Out Of Parliament For Looking At A Camera Phone

from the take-that! dept

Thu, Dec 18th 2003 11:44am — Mike Masnick

The latest slap down for daring to pick up a camera phone and (gasp! oh no!) look at it, was over in the UK where an MP was thrown out for checking his phone to see who had called. Someone noticed this, and informed the speaker, who kicked him out of the chamber for "using a camera". Except, he wasn't using the camera. Just looking to see who called. As he points out, if he wanted to use the camera it would be pretty obvious. Once again, you have to wonder why there's so much backlash against just having a camera phone, when the folks involved aren't doing anything bad with at all. Why are we making it a crime to possess tools that have plenty of perfectly good uses - just because there's the potential to misuse it?

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Tony Lawrence, 18 Dec 2003 @ 12:01pm

Just because of the potential?
Heck, that's nothing new..we are chock full of laws that have to do with what MIGHT happen if we let you do x, y or z..

Drug laws are a good example. I'm sure most of us know "casual" marijuana users - people who absolutely cause no harm to anyone (outside of helping to support organized crime, of course). But because the law assumes that they MIGHT start using other drugs, and MIGHT become addicts, thieves, burdens on society, whatever, we have laws.

Plenty of other examples; in fact I bet fear of what MIGHT happen generates more laws than anything else.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2003 @ 1:42pm

No Subject Given
"Why are we making it a crime to possess tools that have plenty of perfectly good uses - just because there's the potential to misuse it?"

Can everybody say "KazaA"? ;o)
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chris falco, 18 Dec 2003 @ 2:22pm

kicked out
I was at a stripclub once and was almost kicked out because the management thought my Hiptop was a camera. I think it was because of the full color screen and the clear pictures that were on the screen from a website. Now before you give me crap for being at a strip club and paying attention to my pda, let me defend myself by saying that there was an ugly amatuer on stage at the time, I was not ignoring the dancers ;)
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