Photographers protest over UK terror search laws

[Miaow]

Photographers protest over UK terror search laws

[skieur]

That kind of law is illegal, because it violates basic rights that are present in the constitutions of several countries.

skieur

[Provo]

In this present world we live in government officials are getting more and more control of what our rights and what we can do in our daily lives, it's ironic that in school we were always taught that the government was elected by the people for the people and at any given time the people have a choice to remove that government official from office. I would love to see the "People" try to remove someone from office the politics and laws in place make it almost impossible for the people to regain any control should the government system get out of control.
What I also want to mention is due the high level of terroristic threats to both domestic and international, sometimes it is necessary to take extra precautions but with ought merit or red flag indications to search a photographer I just don't see the point of asking the stupid questions to account as to why you have the equipment and where did you shoot the images what does that have to do with any threats?
In the united states it's almost as if you are being forced to drive to a location or take other means of transportation due to the stupid TSA laws and fees it's not even worth the aggravation and God forbid someone does something suspicious or is incoherent because they are a foreigner and walk back through the exit all the sudden the airport is shutdown and everyone and all luggage is re searched screw that driving is for me within the continental us.
On last thing I figured I would beat the airline fee's and try save money and be less aggravated so I mailed down my luggage to Florida next thing you know they are asking me at the airport why am I only carrying a small bag and no clothes? Even when I explained I am trying to save money so I mailed it they look at me crossed eye like I am lying.

[Plato]

Quote: Originally Posted by skieur

That kind of law is illegal, because it violates basic rights that are present in the constitutions of several countries.

skieur

Those basic rights have been trampled on and it goes well beyond photography. Consider that you must prove yourself innocent of terrorist intentions before you are permitted to enter a public conveyance.

[c.cloudwalker]

Quote: Originally Posted by skieur

That kind of law is illegal, because it violates basic rights that are present in the constitutions of several countries.

skieur

So is the genocide of Indians. So is the killing of 3000 plus of your own citizens to start a war. So are a lot of other things that governments do. Only the people get hassled over the laws, governments get away with most anything because we are too fat and lazy and ignorant to demand accountability and take our rights back.

All I can say is good for those photographers fighting back.

@Provo = Does your screen name refer to the Provos of Holland?

[Formatted]

Be happy you don't live in China!

"35 Seconds"
"What the time that it takes to get a knock on the door after Googling Tiananmen Square?"

[c.cloudwalker]

Quote: Originally Posted by Formatted

Be happy you don't live in China!

"35 Seconds"
"What the time that it takes to get a knock on the door after Googling Tiananmen Square?"

although it is not funny at all. Probably part of why the young chinese do not even know what that refers to.

[KevinDks]

I have been stopped under s44 of the Terrorism Act, while taking this photo.

Two police officers asked me what I was doing, so I told them about my Charles Cushman photo project, including a brief history of Kodachrome, the basics of the K14 processing that only Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas, is able to provide, the unique qualities of that film, and so within 30 seconds they had checked the "Harmless eccentric" box in their mental list of possible explanations for my presence and behaviour. They didn't search me.

The serious point is that they had stopped me not because I was taking photos, but because I was taking photos and writing notes. Shooting film I would normally note down my camera settings anyway, but for the project I had printed off lists of all of Cushman's London images from the archive website, and I was writing my settings on those pages. I expect that I had been seen doing this on the extensive network of CCTV cameras in London, and the camera operator reported me to the police. The whole episode would be amusing if it wasn't such a fruitless waste of time and resources - out of many tens of thousands of s44 searches in London, I read somewhere that the number of actual terrorist suspects aprehended is precisely 1, and the number of annoyed and inconvenienced law-abiding citizens is, well, many thousands.

Skieur, you may be right, but the UK doesn't have a written constitution, so the government of the day can pass whatever laws it wants. The current lot will be gone this year; let's hope the next government has more sense.

Edit: It seems that the stop and search powers have been ruled illegal by the European Court (but naturally our government is appealing that decision):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8453878.stm

Kevin

[grafxman]

I had the misfortune to be carrying a shoulder bag from the Arc de Triomphe down the Champs-Élysées to the Louvre a week or so after some Arabs set off some bag bombs in that area. I was stopped and had my bag searched at least six or more times by machine gun wielding police. It was only a mile or two. FWIW, they showed no interest in my guide books or bottled water. That was a long, long time ago.

I guess my point is that no matter how bad things may seem, they can ALWAYS be a whole lot worse.