Saudi Arabia's Camera Phone Legalization After Effects

from the no-more-black-market dept

Until very recently, the entire country of Saudi Arabia banned camera phones. While the phones were still popular on the black market, the government had decided that their method of dealing with the downsides of cameraphones was to simply keep them out completely. Public pressure was too much to take, however, and the country recently legalized the phones. However, there are some interesting "after effects." PicturePhoning.com notes that, despite the loosening of the rules, the government is still making it clear they will not hesitate to punish anyone who uses camera phones for immoral purposes. Even more interesting however, (though, not too surprising) is another story (also found on PicturePhoning.com) that the lifting of the ban has killed the black market in camera phones in that country, making some previous buyers of contraband phones upset.