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Privacy Entertainment

Amazon Studio Plans Lighthearted Show of Ring Surveillance Footage (arstechnica.com) 39

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: For some people, the term "Ring Nation" might evoke a warrantless surveillance dystopia overseen by an omnipotent megacorp. To Amazon-owned MGM, Ring Nation is a clip show hosted by comedian Wanda Sykes, featuring dancing delivery people and adorable pets. Deadline reports that the show, due to debut on September 26, is "the latest example of corporate synergy at Amazon." Amazon owns household video security brand Ring, Hollywood studio MGM, and Big Fish, the producer of Ring Nation. Viral videos captured by doorbell cameras have been hot for a while now. You can catch them on late-night talk shows, the r/CaughtOnRing subreddit, and on millions of TikTok users' For You page. Amazon's media properties, perhaps sensing an opportunity to capitalize and soften Ring's image, are sallying forth with an officially branded offering.

Ring Nation will feature "neighbors saving neighbors, marriage proposals, military reunions and silly animals," Deadline writes. But Ring Nation might be aiming even higher, according to Ring founder Jamie Siminoff -- to something approaching a salve for our deeply divided nation. "Bringing the new community together is core to our mission at Ring, and Ring Nation gives friends and family a fun new way to enjoy time with one another," Siminoff told Deadline. "We're so excited to have Wanda Sykes join Ring Nation to share people's memorable moments with viewers."
"Ring sharing its owners' moments with other viewers has been a contentious issue," notes Ars. Amazon's Ring can share footage with police during emergencies without consent and without warrants. The service has also reportedly partnered with hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the country to increase Ring installations and ease police access to footage.
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Amazon Studio Plans Lighthearted Show of Ring Surveillance Footage

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  • by systemd-anonymousd ( 6652324 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @07:21PM (#62785074)

    >We need a way to normalize the concept of livestreaming footage from your home to our corporation's servers and into the hands of the government

    • by MrKaos ( 858439 )

      >We need a way to normalize the concept of livestreaming footage from your home to our corporation's servers and into the hands of the government...

      ...and make it seem benign enough to prompt the naive amongst us to encourage everyone to leave their skepticism behind.

  • by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @07:31PM (#62785108)

    Because that is what this utterly creepy plan sounds like...

    • Because that is what this utterly creepy plan sounds like...

      Yep. Look at how fun the cameras are! You should all get one to avoid missing out!

      • I had one installed by a contractor as a "bonus" for some electrical work he was doing. Which lasted until I investigated how it worked when I activated it. Up to that point the only interaction with security cameras I had had were wireless ones that transmitted locally - and I assumed that this would connect through my wifi locally because this was sold as a security device.

        I was horrified to find out what it actually did and had it removed the next day, although I "cancelled" the account I had reluctantly

        • by gweihir ( 88907 )

          That contractor was probably paid for the infiltration of this crap into your home. As to the spam messages, just add a filter.

    • Amazon does seem to want to normalize surveillance, and moreso runaway corporate power. A running theme in many of their TV series is that abusive corporations are just accepted as unstoppable and characters can subvert them to some extent but never stop them - Upload, many of the episodes of Electric Dreams, and The Boys (at least the first 2 seasons I've seen) are all good examples.

    • Pervasive doorbell cameras might seem creepy to some, but to others it's an essential security blanket. Footage has led to justice that might otherwise never have been served.

      Grandmother’s doorbell camera video leads to arrest warrant for grandson in Pittsburgh shooting https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-... [wpxi.com]
      Doorbell camera leads to arrest in West Des Moines shooting https://who13.com/news/metro-n... [who13.com]
      Doorbell camera leads to arrest of Sioux City man connected to several package thefts https://www.siouxlandpr [siouxlandproud.com]

      • by aitikin ( 909209 )

        There are two sides to this coin. It's a trick to get it right, but it's certainly not all bad.

        Which is why my security cameras all record to a local micro SD card on each of the cameras and upload footage to my personal media server which then has a script that runs nightly to load it to my brother's server on the other side of the country and delete the data from 2-weeks prior on his server (to be respectful of his storage).

        I take advantage of the company that makes them's backend and app occasionally, but in my neighborhood, having the visible security cameras is more than enough of a deterrent fo

        • So you agree then that there is a good side to surveillance, as long as access is restricted. I'll buy that. Most people aren't going to be able or willing to set up their own media server or backup scripts, so it's necessary to have legal safeguards in place. Defining what is legitimate use, and what is overly intrusive, is a complex and controversial topic.

  • by pimpsoftcom ( 877143 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @07:32PM (#62785110) Journal

    In America there exists the idea of two party consent states, as well as single party consent states for recordings. What this means in real terms is that anybody who shows up on this that doesn't want to be can literally claim "I never consented to be recorded under state or federal law, and this violated my state rights over state lines, making it a federal crime".

    It's up to the courts to decide, but the idea of a company being able to randomly record you and make a show about it without your consent in violation of state or federal laws, doesn't seem very customer focused to me.

    • The two party consent thing applies to audio recording. Not video.
      At least until the laws change.

      Which they won't, because video is just far too usable for the gummint.
    • It's up to the courts to decide, but the idea of a company being able to randomly record you and make a show about it without your consent in violation of state or federal laws, doesn't seem very customer focused to me.

      They'll offer $100 rewards or something and people will queue around the block to get on TV.

    • Even in two-party consent states, recording is only prohibited in places where there is an expectation of privacy.

      https://recordinglaw.com/unite... [recordinglaw.com]

      If you come to my door or walk down a public street, you certainly don't have an expectation of privacy.

    • by Holi ( 250190 )
      Only applicable if they record audio.
  • Ya, but ... (Score:4, Funny)

    by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @07:33PM (#62785112)

    After watching the show won't viewers die after 7 days [wikipedia.org]?
    Seems like that would put a damper on repeat viewers and future ratings...

    • by Anonymous Coward

      We can only hope.

  • by bubblyceiling ( 7940768 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @08:08PM (#62785164)
    First start by sharing video, then share the mapping data from Roomba's and finally combine that with the Smart Locks that can let Amazon drones deliver inside.

    And there you have it folks! The full dystopian future as predicted in Black Mirror S4 E5: Metalhead
  • Lets put a positive spin on our corrupt dealings. Just gotta love Amazon
  • by DesScorp ( 410532 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @09:51PM (#62785292) Journal

    Amazon Studio Plans Lighthearted Show of Ring Surveillance Footage

    Considering how shitty their Tolkien adaption is, it might be the best Ring show they make.

    • Amazon Studio Plans Lighthearted Show of Ring Surveillance Footage

      Considering how shitty their Tolkien adaption is, it might be the best Ring show they make.

      At least it's easier to see how this Ring can rule them all ..

  • 'Cause if there's no "humerous" voiceovers in "funny" voices, and layers and layers of cut-price Hanna-Barbera-grade special effect noises, don't even waste my time.

  • If you see a video of me or my partner pressing our noses right up against our Ring doorbell's camera. It seemed hilarious at the time.

  • Wait until they add data and eventual footage from Roombas spying on people from within their own home!
  • Roomba [businessinsider.com] surveillance.
  • Won't be part of Ring Nation nor ever buy a Ring product.
    • It probably doesn't matter. I'll bet just about all of your neighbors have one, and some of those are probably pointed at your house.

  • Cloud hosting has gotten cheaper and cheaper over the years, and makes some things a lot more convenient. The cost of this convenience is that the hosts have found a way to monetize your hosted data, and that's why the service is "unbelievably cheap".

    "YOU are their product." They're not selling cloud storage and access, they're selling access to your data, which you are often paying them to take. Imagine a market where the grocer is selling tomatoes, and is also being PAID by the farmer to take his tomat

  • by ewhac ( 5844 ) on Saturday August 13, 2022 @04:00PM (#62786752) Homepage Journal
    Could someone please point to the clause in the Ring end-user service/license "agreement" that allows them to use stored footage in this way? 'Cause I don't tihnk it's there.

    There's also the issue of what happens when the user uploads their own Ring footage to YouTube or The Tweety. Does it get ContentID'd and taken down because AMZN already swiped it and used it on their show? Does the ContentID takedown happen immediately, or months later when AMZN finally gets around to broadcasting it?

    This idea is unbelievably poorly thought out. (Also: I'm disappointed Wanda Sykes would sign on to such a thing.)

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