British Drivers Destroying Surveillance Cameras 259
miletus writes "A Wired article tells us that not everyone in Britain loves the surveillance state." The linked entry (part of Bruce Sterling's blog) quotes a story about British anti-camera groups, one of which claims its up-and-coming methods "will enable them to destroy a roadside camera in just a few seconds," and illustrates with a burned-out camera. I wonder how many Americans are similarly motivated.
The Revolution? (Score:4, Interesting)
Sweet! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Sweet! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Good Idea (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Not CCTV (Score:5, Interesting)
This is arguably worse than non-automated CCTV systems even though a human operator may never see the pictures that are recorded. The number plate information goes into a database, where it may be stored indefinitely for "crime prevention purposes". Bruce Schneier wrote [schneier.com] that 'It's not "follow that car," it's "follow every car."' So there are certainly valid political reasons to object to this type of surveillance beyond simply objecting to a speed limit. It is nice to see people who actually give a shit about this stuff, even if I do not agree with their methods, since most Brits couldn't give a fuck about anything the Government does.
Firefighters & paramedics get attacked too (Score:5, Interesting)
However, I think this sort of cowardly attack on public property is nothing new in the UK. Whereas citizens of other countries will attempt to use the law to defeat things, the British are typically content to moan and be passive aggressive about things rather than effect real change. One curious development in the last several years here has been the increase in attacks against firefighters and paramedics. You can't go a week without hearing about firefighters getting rocks thrown at them and their tenders by gangs of feral teens. Even paramedics rushing to people's aid have been attacked and beaten up for no reason at all. Why? The British underclass is powerless, and aggression is all they know, because our legal and political systems are so limp wristed that the ordinary man on the street cannot effect change.
PETHW condemns these senseless attack against hw (Score:4, Interesting)
What harm have the cameras done to these afwul people? They just take photos, that's all. They don't care what anyone does with the photos. If you have a problem with those photos PETHW suggests you either drive slower, or take it up with the local constabulary, who are, after all, ultimately responsible for taking the photos and placing the cameras where they stand.
We urge all citizens to act upon this travesty and rise against these lawless individuals. How can they sleep at night knowing what they've done???
Join PETHW in fighting hardware abuse at http://pethw.org/ [pethw.org]
Re:my safety (Score:3, Interesting)
1) Car comes to a complete stop at a stop sign, then hits the gas and runs into me (on my bike). Cause: not paying attention.
2) Accident ahead. Guy swerves inches in front of me (we're both 10mph _under_ the limit) and slams on the brakes. Cause: not paying attention.
3) Lady in minivan backs into my (non-moving) car in parking lot. Admits to being on cell phone. Cause: not paying attention.
4) Guy rear-ends me when I am stopped at a stop sign, because he was looking up the intersecting road to see if he had to actually stop instead of looking right in front of him. Cause: not paying attention.
5) Lady in minivan backs into my (non-moving) car in parking lot. Admits to being on cell phone. Cause: not paying attention.
6) Bus doing 10mph _under_ the speed limit runs me (on my bike) off the road. Cause: not paying attention.
6/6 not paying attention
0/6 speed related
No amount of pigs and cameras is going to prevent accidents as long as people don't pay attention.
Re:Good Idea (Score:3, Interesting)
London, England - to enter Central London TODAY, your number plate is read on entry and exit, stored, and you are sent an automated bill for that day unless you pay the "congestion charge" in a London shop (or by text, online etc.). The point is that by entering Central London you have already been spotted and recorded on CCTV, your number plate automatically read and you've been charged. Not paying is an offence - no matter what you were doing. Certain exceptions are made for taxis and low-emission vehicles (which has lead to many millionaires registering thier limos as taxis, but they are clamping down on that too!). The whole border of this "zone" and virtually every road inside the zone is CCTV-monitored.
While you are there, they are also matching your details against road tax, insurance etc. databases to ensure each car is legitimate and allowed to be driven. Even parking on a yellow box at a junction (a "do not stop here because you're blocking side-traffic box" - a relatively minor offence in Britain because we don't really enforce it anywhere but London, the worst you really get is a slap on the wrist from a police officer) is an automated, video-camera offence that you can find out you've committed WHEN YOU GET HOME and see an envelope in your door with a picture of you in your car committing the offence.
London's already there. This article is about British drivers who are moaning about speed cameras being Orwellian when, in fact, much more Orwellian things are going on already and the same people do not complain about them. I assume because you can't do over 20mph in Central London anyway, even if you wanted to, so they happen to drive elsewhere.
So, in response to your comment - London's ahead of you. Nobody cares. But because somebody is taking your picture ONLY when you do over the speed limit (and, in fact, the magic number is speed limit + 5% + 5mph or thereabouts) in certain, clearly marked areas , people are setting fire to the things. But having every detail of every car journey through the capital city logged? In place and nobody cares. Having "Oyster" cards that track every mode of public transportation that you use within Greater London (a much wider area)? In place and nobody cares. All in the name of anti-terrorism? Few question it. But try and stop the joyriders doing 40 on a 30 road and they start committing arson over their "rights" (which, incidentally, we Brits have never felt the need to actually write down but pretty much have all the same rights as the average US citizen, if not more).
Britain is one of the worst surveillance societies, it really is. We're way ahead of the US in such things, whether you know it or not. If it weren't for the fact that the newspapers caught hold of a story where Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs lost the personal and income details of MILLIONS of people on some CD's they put into the post, we'd have compulsory, electronic ID cards by now, linking all sorts of databases that are currently seperate. The only thing people cared about there was that the government wanted to charge £80 per person in the country for them and make them a compulsory purchase. Now that they've dropped the charging idea, people are happy to sit back and have them. Or would have been until sheer accident and incompetence made the government drop the ball.
This was my point and I (possibly mistakenly) assumed that the comment was made by a British speeder who was aware of those other things!