Saturday, July 2, 2016

Apple Stopping iPhone Camera Filming Is Free Speech Violation

Apple Stopping iPhone Camera Filming Is Free Speech Violation
Apple Computer, or Apple, has filed a patent to produce a device that will allow the remote blocking of the use of iPhone cameras ostensibly at live shows. I'll cut to the chase and state that the permission of operation of such a technology amounts to not just a gross violation of the constitutional right of free speech, but an orwellian attempt to control it. Ironically, news of this comes on Independence Day Weekend in America. While laws regarding the recording of images vary in America, they do focus on what has come to be a case-by-case application of laws that vary from state to state, but are related to overall constitutional rights. For example, there is the given view that if you can see it you can film it, but we don't use that agreed upon permission to cause people to be filmed in ways that violate their privacy in a public place. However just what is done by the video person that may constitute such a violation can, again, differ from case to case. The Apple Blocking Technology, as I will call it, exists in stark contrast to the case-by-case nature of how an iPhone camera is used: it assumes that once I walk into an establishment that has remote control of my iPhone, all possible uses of it are prohibited. That is wrong both legally and morally and economically and socially. It's wrong legally and morally and economically and socially because I may be (and have been) a credentialed member of the media who uses his iPhone to record speeches and events. So, if Apple gets its way, I can't do my job as a member of the press and using fair use legal rights for news reporting. So now, we have an issue of the very freedom of the press curtailed. I could go on and on, but I think you see my point. This has to be stopped. If Apple wants to help artists, it should force Facebook and Google and other video-ad-serving organizations to run ads on live event videos and then share a percentage of that revenue with both the artist and the video maker. That is a much better and more lucrative and more fun way to solve the problem than what Apple CEO Tim Cook and his staff have in mind with this draconian technology. In closing, we must work to disallow the creation and use of technology that serves to violate our right to privacy and to free speech and free assembly. In short, that violate our basic constitutional rights. Elected officials must not be afraid to make laws that stop this behavior, even if it means the very large donations they enjoy from the tech community stop. What politicians give up in campaign donations is priceless because it means the maintenance of our basic democratic system. Apple seems bent on destroying it. Stay tuned and Happy Independence Day! - [ ] And this vlog was made with an iPhone 6s!
via YouTube http://youtu.be/uo54itPHmgw

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